When the fire was the focus of the kitchen
Ardgay Girl, by Lily Byron
By Liz Treacher, Author
I f you have read and enjoyed Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee, you will love Ardgay Girl (Byron, 2023) by local author Lily Byron. It’s a journey back in time, a dive into Highland life in the post-war era and I relished every minute of it. These were the days when the kitchen was the heart of the house and the circle of chairs around the fire was made bigger when neighbours dropped by for chat, songs, stories and laughter.
Lily Byron was born at East Cornhill. She arrived in a hurry and was named after a neighbour who helped to deliver her. Lily’s grandfather rented the house from Balnagown estate when he retired from gamekeeping at Inveroykel. Lily’s father was a tailor and his reluctance to run the croft led the family to leave for the Old School in Church Street, Ardgay. The book describes the joys and hardships of growing up in a Highland village without electricity or indoor toilets.
Lily brings the tales of her childhood to life with vivid memories from the time. Here is one example: ‘How was I to get home on my own, in the dark... having to pass the ‘bottomless’ pond of Miss Brown’s, the haunted house at Daisybank up on the hill and the ‘bush of misfortune’ where I had once fallen off my bike when the milk pail caught in my knee.’
I don’t know how Lily remembers these wonderful, colourful details but she does and the result is magical. Reading the book plunged me back into the 1940s, 50s and 60s and into the head of a delightful, headstrong schoolgirl. Lily also describes leaving home, working as an auxiliary nurse and training to be a teacher in Edinburgh, but it is her reminiscences of her childhood that are the most captivating part of her memoir. Her evocative writing recreates a whole world of places, events and characters that have stayed with me. More please, Lily!
Liz Treacher is a writer based in Skelbo. Her latest novel, Vegan Recipes for New Age Men, is a romantic comedy set in the local area. It’s available to buy from Dornoch Bookshop.
