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Johnstone, my
earliest memories (or, “ Is the grun no high enough for ye”)
My
earliest memories of Johnstone go to 1959 – 60, we stayed at 41 Dundonald
Avenue, (the buildings from this half of Dundonald Avenue have gone).
Playing outside on a Saturday morning with my young brother who was 4, me
I was 5, we done a runner when mum wasn’t watching, heading down to the
park at the end of the road, to play on the swings, we had a great time
for a while, then while playing on the ‘Frying Pan’ (looked like a witch’s
hat), a couple of big kids started to spin it fast and being a little ‘un
I got scared and jumped off in to the middle by the centre pole. It didn’t
take long for the seat to hit me on the leg just below the knee, grazing
the skin, it didn’t seem to hit me that hard, I started to squeal, and the
big kids done a runner, as the Parkie came over to see what was going on,
I remember this wee man with the wrinkly face and scone bunnet on his
head, he took me over to his wee office in front of the pond, and put an
Elastoplast on the graze, all the while I am still screaming that my leg
was broken, while this was going on my wee brother had run home screaming
to my mum that “Robbies broken his leg aff”.
The parkie was getting a wee bit annoyed at me telling me “dinna be silly,
get yersel’ hame tae yer maw”, of course being a little ‘un I tried to do
as I was told, and was limping badly, all the while crying real hard, he
must have sensed that maybe there was something really wrong, because he
picked me up and carried me across the park just as my mum was hurrying up
with my wee brother in tow, and carried me home, where she went to the
corner phone box and Phoned Dr Cameron (there were three doctors at the
Collier St surgery, can’t remember their names, but as I was growing up
they seemed to be have been there for ever), who told her I had broken my
leg, so off to the RAI Hospital in Paisley to get a stookie put on.
Monday morning I had just learned to walk on this full length Stookie, and
was supposed to start school, Gee’s I can still remember that day like it
was only Yesterday, anyway lined up with the rest of the wains to go into
class, Mrs McBride was the teacher in room 1, she had a sister who taught
in room 2, Mrs McBride 2, at that time St David’s school was still using
the little desk and separate chairs, well Rabhaw here couldn’t sit down,
with the full length stookie going all the way to the top of my leg I kept
falling off the chair, so Mrs McBride called Mr Graham the headmaster who
got in touch with my mum, and I got taken home had the next 8 weeks off
school.
My Grannie got to take me back to the hospital, to get the stookie off,
while I was taken in to the room for the doctor to cut the stookie off, he
used a little circular saw, which to me being just 5 years old looked
huge, and I was scared out of my wits and crying, my Grannie was sitting
in the corridor outside, and this Big Irish Sister who was assisting the
doctor told me in no uncertain terms to stop being a cry-baby, “the Doctor
will no be hurting you”, What did she know, I had wee hairy legs, and the
saw was ripping the hairs out, (I still cringe when I think about it),
anyway I was screaming by this time and the sister decided enough was
enough and rattled my ear just as my Grannie came in to see what all the
commotion was about, and the next thing I know this sister is out of there
with my Grannie threatening to rip her head off if she ever laid a finger
on me again.
Anyway, that little drama over the Doctor strapped my leg up with one of
those elastic bandages and my Grannie took me home to her House, at
Johnstone Castle, where my mum was to collect me, in the afternoon.
Well, Grannie had some visitors and said I could go out to play, but “No
Climbing, stay oan the ground”, Ok I said, and away I went, 2 doors up to
my cousins house, who stayed in the tenements on Tower Road, these
buildings had these square windows on the side of the close doors, with no
glass in them, they were just like a wee ladder, well while waiting on my
cousin coming out to play, I climbed the wee ladder, and you guessed it...
fell off, right on to the bad leg, and started to scream blue bloody
murder, that I had broken my leg again, my grannies next door neighbour,
saw all this going on and came running to pick me up and carry me to my
Grannie’s house, Dr Cameron was called again, and yes I had broken the
same leg again, he phoned an ambulance to take me and my Grannie back to
paisley, and yes the same doctor who took the stookie off that morning,
put another one back on, and we had no problems with any sister that time.
Back at my grannies house my mum was waiting for us when we got back and
wanted to know why I hadn’t got the stookie off as I was supposed to, and
after some long explanations about how I had got it off and this was a new
one. And I got another 8 weeks off school.
After writing this down it brings back some more memories of my childhood
in Howwood Rd, and the frequent visits to Paisley RAI Hospital, after some
escapade at school went wrong. Broken arms, cracked skulls, nearly losing
an eye, Gee’s my mum had a hell of a time when I was a wain. And her
favourite saying “ Is the grun no high enough for ye”.
Robert Houston
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