IT was a day for solemn reflection yesterday.

But a reader cheers us up by telling us: "A young girl rushed out of school on the south side of Glasgow last week, full of excitement. 'Mum! Mum! If we bring in some pennies tomorrow we can get a puppy!'

"Not wishing to squash her daughter's enthusiasm, the mother nonetheless replied: 'A poppy darling'."

Older than you think

AMONG those collecting donations for the Poppy Appeal last week were some green-bereted Royal Marines veterans at the Buchanan Galleries shopping centre in Glasgow, where one old timer told a woman who asked that he was 79-years-old.

When she had left, his collecting friend challenged him: "John - you won't be 79 for another nine months."

"I'm counting from conception," he replied

Piping up

THE best laid schemes ... as Norrie Rowan tells us: "After travelling all the way to Cayman Islands for a Sevens rugby tournament, which they won, Rugby Ecosse took with them at great expense a piper - only to be greeted at their hotel, by the manager, Tom, a bagpipe player from Ayr."

Back to the belt

TIME to coil up our school belt stories and put them back in the desk, but not before Roderick Slater in Edinburgh recollects: "In the 1970s there was a large and immensely imposing Modern Languages teacher, a veteran of Arnhem, in a school in the east of Edinburgh who so frequently resorted to the belt that he was nicknamed Big Ben by the pupils.

"Why? Because he struck on the hour, every hour."

Game for a laugh

MIXED reaction to the stage show of comedy series Still Game being shown on television, with many fans saying it didn't recreate the richness of the actual live performance.

Bearing in mind the criticsm that the BBC came in for over alleged bias during the referendum campaign, Stephen Graham explained: "The BBC edited Still Game, knowing it was written by Yes supporters, to make it look rubbish."

Plugged in

THE MTV pop music awards took place in Glasgow last night.

A colleague of a young woman in London who was attending the jamboree swears to us she asked before flying up: "Plugs are the same in Scotland, right?"

Popping up

ONE of the singers expected to win an award was Beyonce.

A reader tells us the tale of a chap declaring: "I love Beyoncé." "Whatever floats your boat," his pal replied. "No," said the first chap. "That's buoyancy."

Money talks

MEANWHILE in Cumbernauld, writer Deedee Cuddihy was speaking in the local theatre about her book Scottish Superstitions.

Says Deedee: "On asking the group if they had something they considered a 'lucky charm', that they carried with them at all times, and would feel bad if they lost, one sceptic called out, 'Aye - my wallet!'

Pub quiz

A COLLEAGUE wanders over to interrupt us with: "Made a staggering discovery the other day.

"You get home from the pub a lot slower that way."