Diary of James Fyffe

The Abertay Historical Society will launch its latest publication on Saturday, January 14, in Kirriemuir. The book, “Quite Happy” The Diary of James Fyffe, Cattle Dealer, 1836-1840, is the latest in a long line of publications from the society which was founded in 1947.

This volume reproduces the mid-19th Century diaries of a remarkable young Angus farmer and cattle dealer named James Fyffe. His writings reveal intimate details of life in Kirriemuir, as well as showing people and places he encountered whilst travelling to market at Edinburgh.

As well as giving a valuable insight into what the long-distance droving of livestock was like in the period just before the arrival of the railways killed the practice, the diaries also tell us much about their author’s everyday life and his strong religious beliefs.

As co-editor and Abertay Historical Society President David Orr explains, the diaries have an interesting history. “They were found in a cupboard in the Old Parish Church, Kirriemuir, by the minister, sometime in the 1960s, but no one is able to say how they came to be there,” he says. “In all probability it was handed in by someone who thought his record of the sermons he so meticulously recorded every Sunday in the ministry of the celebrated Thomas Easton, would be of interest.

“The diaries were given to Jean Dundas who did the transcriptions of the handwritten diaries and researched their contents. Jean and I collaborated on many projects, including her attempts to publish the diaries.”

Sadly Jean Dundas died in 2012, but her family passed all of her research notes onto David, who is delighted to see the diaries published in her memory.

As well as an introduction by David Orr, the book also includes a new contextual essay by Professor Richard Oram (University of Stirling) as well as a piece considering the background and context of James Fyffe’s writings on religious matters by Dr Kenneth Baxter (University of Dundee).

Appropriately, the launch will take place in the Old Parish Kirk, Kirriemuir. The event starts at 11am and is open to all.

The latest book from Abertay Historical Society. See above.