In November last year we moved house! The first time in 25 years, before that moving was a regular past-time for the Campbell's. When we moved to our new home, (it has a name in Hebrew it is called Mibtach, the translation is 'Sure Dwellings') it was supposed to be down sizing but turned out to be a sideways move to a slightly larger house - more floor space and it also has an attic space - previous house had a flat roof - Margaret (the lady I live with) reckoned it was not really a proper house not having a pitched roof.
Anyway, the new house has a large yard which up until this morning had quite a few shrubs - not any more - we decided shortly after our move to Dechmont that the shrubs should go. Shirley, my middle daughter, spoke with a friend in the village, who came across and had a look, indicating that she could find a home for the shrubs.
Today the shrubs have been removed from the garden, placed in the back of a van and off! Now you may wonder -'what's strange about that?' Well the thing is; where the plants have gone to! A community garden in Cranston Street, Edinburgh to fill a space beside the Women's Hostel. Many years ago - in the early years of the last century Cranston Street School (now used as the Hostel) was the School my father attended before he started work with William Younger and Co the brewers.
Some would say that it is quite a coincidence that plants in a garden in Dechmont have been donated to a garden just off the Canongate and that is it! I take the view that the plants from the garden in Dechmont turn the clock back even further coincidence or not - when I heard where the plants were destined for I immediately thought of my long since departed dad, of what he means to me, both as a father and friend. The principles he instilled in us by his gentleness and kindness, those plants will never make mutch of a statement, they will not be loud or difficult to handle, they will do the job that they were planted to fulfil - just like my dad.
Somethings you might like to know about Jimmy Campbell.
- I never heard him ever raise his voice in anger
- I never discovered the secret of his never losing his temper, he had plenty of reason to, my mother being one!
- I never heard him complain, even in his final illness after he had been used as some kind of test (guinea pig) for the medical profession
- He went off to war, willingly, he had a deep seated distaste of facism, he demonstrated against the brownshirts during the 1930s
- He made a great number of friends during his service time in the army, serving with the Royal Scots, the Kings Own Royal Rifles and finally with the Kings Own Scottish Borderers. His discharge papers from the Army have a short statement concerning his character and commitment - exemplary!
- He returned from the Burma Campaign physically a wreck, having contracted typhus fever, malaria and some kind of parasitic worm.
- He came back to Edinburgh and picked up where he left off 6 years before.
- He was born in 1912 at 19 Canongate, when he married in 1938 he lived with my Mother, brothers and sister at No 6 Canongate.
- Most of his adult life until about 1970 was spent half a mile away from Cranston Street, where those plants have been sent to.
I don't even need to close my eyes to see my 'Old Man', I can hear him whistling as he came up the stair, I can hear the tune 'D'you ken John Peel', it was his signature tune. The plants from Dechmont are now embedded in the Cranston Street of my father's youth and a reminder at least to me of where my roots are!
Quite a leap, by any stretch of the imagination. I honour his memory and the memories I have of my growing up in the Canongate.
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