A knock at the door Soothing sounds

Recent correspondence about the former Fernbrae Nursing Home in Dundee prompted Fife reader Anne Fraser to get in touch. “When I was about five years old,” she says, “I was in Fernbrae to get my tonsils removed. This was around 1950.

“My doctor was a Mr Gibson, a lovely man. I was in Fernbrae for several nights and, every night, there would be a knock at the door. A hand would appear round the door and this was ‘a fairy’ bringing me a present.

“The gifts were things like a little purse, then some pennies and other items that a five-year-old would be delighted with. I don’t know who arranged it, but it helped to make the time spent there a little more bearable. I am sure that the ‘fairies’ would have been visiting other children, too.

“I came back home with a bag of goodies and still remember that kindness.”

New Spotify research, undertaken by parenting expert and nursery retailer Kiddies Kingdom, has studied songs across a range of birthing playlists to reveal the top 10 songs people listen to when faced with hours of tears, screams and contractions.

Ed Sheeran is in the No 1 spot with Thinking Out Loud. The song, released in 2014, is a gentle ballad often chosen for first dances at weddings, so it is perhaps unsurprising that it’s also popular with welcoming a child into the world.

Women seem to like to listen to the sound of a man’s voice while in the delivery room, with nine out of the top 10 song being performed by male solo artists.

The top 10 were – 1. Thinking Out Loud, Ed Sheeran; 2. Blinding Lights, The Weekend; 3. Say You Won’t Let Go, James Arthur; 4. All of Me, John Legend; 5. Take Me to Church, Hozier; 6. Let Her Go, Passenger; 7. Stay With Me, Sam Smith; 8. Wake Me Up, Avicii; 9. Riptide, Vance Joy; and 10. Hello, Adele.

While most women opt for soothing pop songs when they’re waiting for their little one to arrive, more humorous tunes feature further down list including Stayin’ Alive by Bee Gees, Push It by Salt-N-Pepa and I’m Coming Out by Diana Ross.

In 1950, Scott Sutherland, the sculptor of the Commando Memorial at Spean Bridge, was working on a three-foot model of his creation at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art where he was head of sculpture. The monument’s location was chosen because commandos trained in the Lochaber region during the Second World War.