School’s out
A HERALD article about the late, great Kilmarnock novelist and one-time teacher, William McIlvanney, sparks a childhood memory from David Clark of Tarbolton, who attended McIlvanney's English class at Greenwood Academy from 1972 until ‘74.
As the students approached the end of their fourth year of secondary education, and with many on the cusp of entering the working world, Mr McIlvanney inquired how they planned to earn a crust in the future.
Some girls revealed they were entering the nursing profession; several boys planned on doing an apprenticeship, as there was still plenty of industry in the area.
After hearing these bold ambitions, Mr McIlvanney turned to the class ragamuffin and said: "And what about you, Willie? You cannae depend on the dugs winning every race."
W-holey confusing
PUZZLED Bryce Drummond from Kilmarnock says: “I’ve noticed there are parking meters with advice to pay by cash, bank card or telephone, yet don’t provide slots big enough to put my phone in.”
Cheesy rock band
WE’RE celebrating next year’s tour by the world’s greatest-ever band, Oasis.
(Greatest ever, that is, if you exclude a few others, such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Kinks, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich…)
Gordon Fisher from Stewarton is thrilled about the forthcoming reunion, and recalls a family incident in the 1990s, when the Gallagher brothers were in their pomp.
If Gordon was unsure whether he was middle-class or not, all doubt was removed by his five-year old daughter.
For she insisted on dancing and jumping round the house to the Oasis anthem Some Might Say, while innocently chanting the lyrics: “Fromage Frais…”
Food for thought.
SOPHISTICATED reader Adam Morrison adores French cuisine, and was chatting to a pal about the delights of Gallic grub.
His pal was not especially moved by this stirring encomium, and dismissively retorted: “To be honest, I don’t see the big deal.”
“For a start,” replied Adam, “the French don’t like fast food.”
“Must be why they keep eating snails,” said the pal.
Growlers love Goth
HAVING learned that dogs are being allowed in Edinburgh libraries, we’re curious to discover what the scholarly pooches are reading.
Jim Pairman claims they’re intrigued by gothic dramas set in windswept locations, such as… Wuffering Heights.
Hero to zero
“I'D make a terrible superhero,” admits reader Lisa Barr. “I'd be at home and spot the signal lighting up the night sky, calling me to action, and think: ‘C’mon! I literally just sat down.’”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here