Friends of the Ochils Newsletter 16: Summer 2000

Blairlogie Boyhood, by Robin Kelsall

from the author, Kirklea Cottage, Blairlogie, FK9 5PX, £7 plus £1.20 postage

Reviewed by Rennie McOwan

THIS reviewer has to declare an interest: I was once a member of Blairlogie Thistle football club, and, as musician and historian Robin Kelsall still has the team's signing-on forms, I can prove it. This book is not, of course, just about a boyhood football team (although that is part of Robin's memory trip), but tells of a world that has changed to some extent. Blairlogie was and is the home of Robin, son of actor, writer and conservationist Moultrie R Kelsall and pianist Ruby Duncan, and he developed a great love for it which shows through the pages of this moving book.

It tells of the war years, of the peace celebrations, of local people of great character, of farm life, of light-hearted feuds with boys from Menstrie - and it includes some highly personal anecdotes, some of them moving and one very tragic. Blairlogie is now a conservation village and Moultrie Kelsall showed what could be done by renovating Kirklea Cottage and not knocking it down to be replaced by a bungalow. Moultrie also spearheaded the campaign to save Menstrie Castle. It is a special place and Robin's musings and recall stories do it justice.

But back to the football team. It had jerseys of orange-yellow and we reckoned we got them cheap (sixpence a week) because no one else wanted them. Someone found a pewter cup in Menstrie Burn which looked like the real thing presented at cup finals, so Blairlogie played Menstrie for it. Because Blairlogie did not contain enough boys, those (such as myself) who had Blairlogie friends played for them. Menstrie won, but did not want the cup and gave it to Blairlogie - the only instance I can think of where the losing team in a final got the trophy.

Robin's book contains some moving photographs, and the sections covering the celebrations to mark the end of the war make particularly poignant reading. Children were given commemorative badges which most have lost over the years and which are now sought after by collectors. The book is gentle in tone and rich in cameos of people and events. Ochils devotees should have it on their shelves: it is part of the history of our hills and communities and many will feel a pang in reading about a way of life they once shared.

Newsletter 16 Index