Born At Cothill Farm And Schooled In Duns

A Memory of Duns.

I was born at Cothill Farm in 1947, about 4 miles from Duns. I attended Duns Primary School and Berwickshire High School. My father (James) retired in 1965 at age 70, he and my mother located to the west coast to Tighnabruaich, Argyll. My father died in 1981 and my mother in 2009. I emigrated to Canada in 1965 and have lived here since. I have returned many times to Scotland and I always make an effort to re-visit my 'calf country' as my dad called it. It still draws me, the local countryside is truly beautiful. I remember when as a child my sister and I played constantly in the glen on the farm, usually in the burn (Kirk Burn) building dams, swimming in it in the summer and playing in the bracken etc.. We had a very free lifestyle on the farm, I have found it quite interesting when I relate to the farmers of Saskatchewan (I was working in SK) how similar are the thoughts, attitudes and type of people that enjoy to be a farmer. Saskatchewan is not the borders nor is it 'flat' like most believe! I worked in the North West Territories for over 33 years and in SK for almost 15, and will be retiring this year to British Columbia in the Okanagan Valley in the town of Summerland. When one leaves their country of birth and all of your family, one is constantly drawn to back to it. The borders are a truly beautiful area of Scotland, the roads are lined with hedges and trees, it is green and it rains. Canada is diverse and large (6000 km coast to coast) and is also very beautiful, each province is distinct in it own way. The NWT has boreal forest, tundra, pre-Cambrian shield, ice and snow and it can be very hot and very cold. I have worked in the Arctic at -63 deg and in the summer in BC at +42 deg C. These are not temperatures we endure in Scotland. I can remember biking to Polwarth to catch the bus to school in rain and snow in short pants(we were not allowed to wear long pants till we were 15!). I did not wear 'long' pants till I was 15. Mr Vandore the Vice Principal would not allow us to walk with our hands in our pockets! I remember how the High School was (there is a new one now) and some of the teachers, Mr Bell, Mr Vandore, Miss Mack, Anne Hall, Sheila Tennant, Mr Boyd, Mr Robinson etc. What I found even though I did not fully complete my education was the one that was given me has stood me in good stead all my life and has enabled me to be very succesful in my career in the Canadian mining industry. I have never had contact with any of my school classmates till recently. I have always had some regret in this. Duns has changed a lot over the years, one does not truly see it as we look at through our eyes of the past. But the building in the square has gone where Mr Plews's grocery shop was and they moved to where Grahams was or next door I think, Cossar & Frisken is no longer and the hotel above it where the Heleks operated it, Mosgroves is not there and Cochranes the bike shop is gone, also the Border Series and County Cafe, the Swan Hotel is still there. Jackie Elliot's barber shop is gone and Ramsey Brack who took over after apprenticing with Jackie has also just retired. The little sweetie shops are gone. But to me when I walk the streets I still truly enjoy them even though it is now a fleeting memory. There is a huge amount of pleasure in viewing the area every time. When I go up the Longformacus road and view the merse from there it is a stunning view on a clear day looking towards the Cheviots. I always find the scenery changes so quickly as one drives west to Peebles and beyond. I also find that Scotland is a much smaller country than Canada, where one drives 1500 km in a day as I do from Saskatoon SK to Summerland BC. The prairies become the foothills of the Rockies and then you drive through those majestic peaks and passes to reach the Okanagan Valley. I orignally worked for the Hudsons Bay Company in the western arctic and move to Yellowknife in 1967 where I lived for 30 years. The west coast of Scotland had some similarities to Yellowknife NWT which is locate on the N shore of Great Slave Lake, the lake and surrounding area has the pre-Cambrian shield rock exposed. I was astounded when I noted the area of the lake to be 11,000 sq miles, almost the 1/3 the size of Scotland and all fresh water with depths over 2000 feet! I will continue to visit as long as I am able to and hope that I will connect with some of the people I grew up with, although it has been almost 45 years I would enjoy that experience. My family has shrunk over the years, Dad died in 1981 and Mother in 2009, I have 2 cousins - Andy lives in Nothumberland and Betty in Peebles. My sister lives in Neilston, Glasgow and she has visited me a lot over the last few years. We both have very fond memories of this area and the town. I finally re-connected with a few of my former classmates and keep in touch with them. Not fully retired but am doing contract work from time to time.

David Dickson
Summerland, BC
Canada