Taylor, Alistair
There's nae a village at Dess. There wis naebody near at haun tae my hame apart frae Geordie Cormack. Geordie Cormack's father wis the gairdener at Dess Hoose. Yon wis a fair distance awa. Ye'd tae gae doon frae the station, doon the brae, across the briggie, roon bi the Falls o Dess, up throw the wid, an up tae the gairden. Oh, it wid hae bin aboot ten miles awa.
Weel, afore the war broke oot, when Germany had invaded Poland, ae summer's nicht I wis ower playin wi George an his mither telt me tae g'wa hame. It wis gettin late an Mrs Cormack said tae me, 'Ye see that fire up there?' And I said, 'Ay". 'Well,' she said 'That's the Germans burnin doon Warsaw. an if you dinna get the hell ooto here they'll be ower here an efter you anna!
An I ran aa the wye through the wids an doon bi the falls o Dess, hame tae ma father an mither an said 'My God the Germans are comin, Mrs Cormack saw the fire!'
Fin I wis aulder I gied on ma bike on a Setterday mornin tae Kincardine o Neil. Mr Forbes bedd there, Willie Forbes, a retired gamekeeper. I overtook him ae Setterday mornin doon bi the beech hedges o Dess Hoose. An he wis walkin doon wi a shovel ower his shouder. I said "Ay ay Mr Forbes, fit like". An we hid a normal kinno conversation fur a whylie.
Aa o a sudden he stopped. An he turned an he said tae me 'Hae ye seen the elephants? An I said, 'Fit elephants? 'Well', says he, 'the elephants are aboot, an I've got my gun ower ma showder an by God, I'm gaun tae finish them aa aff.' And I got sic a scare I took tae ma bike an flew aa the wye hame. I can see my fathers' face yet. 'Mr Forbes is sheetin elephants!!'
I ken noo the elephants war pink. Bit he wis a fine auld man fur aa that.