A sad tale
I must start by saying I wish to apologise to any living relatives of this wee boy as I don’t want to upset anyone but I was so moved and puzzled when I heard this story that I had to write about it. Also, I’m sure the headmaster concerned, did what he did out of concern for the children. Times have changed!
By Lily Byron
A few years ago, I took my sister Catherine to visit an old friend. They had been in the same class in Gledfield School and were reminiscing about their childhood days in Ardgay.
“Remember what happened to wee Bobby Matheson?” her friend said.
“I’ll never forget it or what the headmaster made us do!” replied Catherine.
My ears pricked up as I didn’t know what they were talking about. I was six years younger than my sister.
“What happened?”
“You would only have been about two at the time, so you wouldn’t have known anything about it.”
I tried to work out the date. It must have been around 1944.
“Well, Bobby Matheson was a nice wee boy. He was in our class in school. I think he was about eight at the time. He lived in one of the houses on the right hand side of the road, beside the gates to Gledfield house. One night he went missing and everyone was out looking for him.”
“Yes, his mother came to our door,” said her friend “and my mam went out with her to look for him. She was so worried, because they couldn’t find him anywhere.”
“The next day, we heard that his body had been found floating in the mill pond at Gledfield. He had gone out in the boat on his own and it had overturned.”
“Oh, how sad! How awful for his parents and the rest of his family.”
“It was but that wasn’t all that happened,” said Catherine.
“The next day, or maybe a day later, the master lined us all up, marched us up to Bobby’s house and knocked on the door. His poor mother answered and took us in. (She must have been expecting us). She led us through to the best room, where a little white coffin was resting on two chairs. We had to walk round the coffin in which Bobby was lying peacefully. I was scared to look but I did. He looked as if he was just sleeping. Then we left and walked back to school. I don’t remember if his mother said anything.”
“Good heavens! Why did he do that?” Neither Catherine nor her friend could answer that.
“Maybe it was to teach you a lesson, but what a shocking way, to do it!”
“I couldn’t get that picture out of my head for a very long time,” said Catherine.
“Nor me” said her friend. “In fact, I’ve never forgotten it.”
“ARDGAY BOY LOST LIFE IN POND The body of Robert Calvin Matheson, aged five years and four months, was recovered in a pond at Gledfield, Ardgay, at which he had been playing. At first it was thought that he had wandered away, but when the water was drained, the body was discovered. He was the youngest son of Mrs Matheson and the late Mr Robert Matheson. One brother is in the Navy and the other is about to enter military service. The only sister is a student in Edinburgh.” (Aberdeen Press and Journal Wednesday 30 August 1944)
