A Kindly Man

This article continues Dr Sutherland’s reminiscences of his Glasgow childhood.

One man owned a lot of pubs, and he was a very kind man because he gave silver watches to little boys whom he met walking with their fathers on Sunday afternoons. First of all he would speak to the boy’s father. “I’ll bet you five pounds to a shilling I’ll not get that licence.” The father might shake his head, and then the kind man would say: “Has this fine laddie got a watch? No! That’s too bad. Here, laddie, you have mine.” If the boy had a watch the kind man exchanged watches, and his was always the better. Alas, when walking with my father, we never met the kind man, and when I asked if I would get a watch should we meet him, the answer was: “No, he only approaches licensing justices.” At the time I did not know the meaning of this, but many years later, when I saw the kind man’s name in the Honours List, I remembered and understood.

From A Child’s Guide to Glasgow (1934)