Author Fay goes back to her roots
Scotland visit 40 years ago inspires book
Stirling-born author Fay Knowles has published a nostalgic new book inspired by a trip home to Scotland almost four decades ago.
Although born in Stirling, Fay had not seen Scotland since the age of 11 and, along with her mother and two young sons Gavin and Rory, then aged 10 and eight, set out to revisit their Scottish roots.
En route Fay stopped off at Aberfoyle, where her mother Josephine McMurtrie Johanson (nee MacDonald) had lived with her family from the age of 10 until she joined the Women’s Royal Air Force at the age of 21.
The old Bailie Nicol Jarvie Inn, a former two-star hotel at the time but soon after turned into flats, was among the stops, as was the Sporran Shop in Main Street - whose owners brought tears to her mother’s eyes when they remembered her family living there over 40 years before.
The visitors also found Craigenveoch Lodge, Josephine’s former home and from where her father had worked as a gardener for the Craigenveoch Estate.
Fay (71), who lives in the Bahamas, said: “The MacDonald family had no luxuries but my grandfather’s employers were kind to them. Every Christmas the son, dressed as Santa Claus, brought a bag of toys to their door. The ‘MacDonalds of Craigenveoch’ as they were known, sat in the same church pew as their wealthy employers, never encountering any class distinction.
“It was a nostalgic visit and my mother, my sons and I picnicked beside Loch Ard where, as a child, mum had romped with her brother Jack and sister Ray.”
On the way back they stopped at Boquhan Old House, a 20 acre estate between Killearn and Balfron.
“My mother and I lived in a cottage on the grounds with my grandparents when I was small (my father being stationed elsewhere in the war) and for a while on our return from Australia,” said Fay.
“Then we visited them at Boquhan many times after my parents and I moved to England. My grandfather worked on the estate and sometimes my grandmother helped in the main house, which is now a listed building.”
During the 1978 journey, Fay scribbled notes and researched books and local brochures about the parts of Scotland they were exploring and later continued to write down what she had learned about their Scottish ancestors, calling her mini-memoir The Scottish Connection.
“At the time, I didn’t know what I had in mind for this personal journal,” says Fay. “I just knew I was moved to record as much as I could of our Scottish family history and of Scotland in general.”
That journal became a 4,000-word article, which later came close to being published, including in a prominent Canadian magazine.
As a trained newspaper reporter Fay has had many articles published in British and Bahamian publications; short stories in “The Lady” and “The Broadkill Review”, as well as poetry in “Evergreen”.
She put “The Scottish Connection” aside for a while and released “Sunbeams from the Heart – A Collection of Twelve Romantic Short Stories” and her romantic suspense novel “Love at Sunset” on Amazon as e-books and in paperback. Their success inspired Fay to turn The Scottish Connection into a book.
“After my mother passed away, I had added more information to the mini-memoir about my ancestors, obtained from birth, death and marriage certificates that had been in Mum’s possession. I scanned old photos from that 1978 trip to Scotland and others from later trips there, as well as getting permission from online tourism sites to use some of their photos, to include in the new book.”
Finally it was ready for publication, designed and formatted by bestselling and Bahamian author Tanya R Taylor.
The book contains a wealth of information Scottish ancestry, historical facts, genealogy, nostalgia, geographical descriptions, personal anecdotes, nostalgia and precious old photos.
On the day of release on Amazon, the e-book for The Scottish Connection hit the top 100 in various categories. It is also available on Amazon in paperback.
“I hope readers find The Scottish Connection a fascinating look back at another time, another place,” said Fay.
Connect with the author at fayknowles.com.