Kippen welcomes two men from Front home on leave

Kippen villagers welcomed home two soldiers who were home on leave.

Pte William Buchanan, Seaforths, and Cpl Charles Lawrie, Motor Transport, were taking a well- earned break from the front.

In Fallin, Pte Thomas McPake, Black Watch, had suffered a thigh wound during the fighting. He was also hurt during the Battle of Loos in 1915 when he was shot through the neck.

The 24- year- old worked as a miner at Fallin Colliery before enlisting.

In St r a t h b l a n e , 50 convalescing soldiers were entertained to afternoon tea at the home of Mrs Donaldson, Campsie, Dene.

In Doune, the distinguished general, Sir Ian Hamiltion and Lady Hamilton were reported to be staying at Deanston House.

Si r Ia n s e r ved in Afghanistan in 1878, and was appointed Lord Kitchener’s chief of staff during the South African War of 1899-1902.

He had headed the expeditionary f o rc e assembled in 1915 for the invasion of Turkey but was recalled to London in 1916 after the mission to take control of the Dardanelles Straits failed.

During their stay, Sir Ian and Lady Hamilton attended worship at Doune UF Church with Lady Muir of Deanston and Sir A Kay Muir, of Blair Drummnond.

Employees of Deanston Mills contributed £1 and 12 shillings to a fund set up to help soldiers who had lost limbs in the fighting.

On the homefront , it was reported that two waggons of a goods train caught fire while on their way into Dunblane Station.

The waggons, loaded with “chemical refuse” were shunted into a siding where the fire was extinguished.

And a fire was also reported in a plantation between the railway and River Allan, south of Mill of Keir.

The blaze, thought to have been caused by sparks from a passing train, was put out by a police constable and railway employee.

Kippen’s special constables had not seen a huge amount of action since the start of the war. In fact, said the Observer, the posts were considered “a bit of a sinecure”. However, they had recently had to turn following an alert during a night of pouring rain. One even had to go to Gargunnock to raise the alarm there.

The correspondents in Kippen reported hearing the first sounds that year of the cuckoo and corncrake. It was also noted that the first cuckoo had also been heard in Doune.