A really spooky place

“While enjoying a ‘smokie supper’ the other evening I was reminded of a long past smokie supper with my granny at her hoose in Bell Street,” writes Kenneth Milne of Monifieth.

“We sat in a small dark room in front of a glowing coal fire, while a hissing gaslamp illuminated the scene in a weird blue light: granny’s ‘smokies’ were, of course, large and very tasty indeed.

“Also present was my granny’s ‘bidiein’ auld Alec; dressed in a rumpled black suit and sporting a fell bashed looking ‘bunnet’. His ‘Desperate Dan -sized chin’ gave him a really pugnacious appearance as he munched his smokie.

“When the meal was over my granny placed the plates, one of which had a morsel of fish left on it, on a wooden draining-board upon which sat a black cat with a most penetrating stare. I remember thinking that Dundee seemed a really spooky place.”