The Kintyre Antiquarian and Natural History Society Magazine

    Mrs Agnes Stewart has pointed out that authorship of the song about Campbeltown United, quoted from in ‘Campbeltown Former Pupils AFC and a Short History of Football in Campbeltown, Part II’, which appeared in the previous issue of this Magazine, was incorrectly attributed to Charlie Farmer.  In fact, two versions of the song were written by her late father, Willie Mitchell.  Charlie obviously composed, and added, the verse about himself, ‘a fairly usual thing with traditional song’, as Agnes observes.  The attribution was made in good faith by the author, Alex McKinven, who now has copies of the originals, which he will incorporate into the booklet he is compiling on the history of football in Campbeltown.  Mrs Stewart is at present working on a memoir of her father which should appear in the next issue of the Magazine.

   I received in July a letter from a Canadian subscriber to this Magazine, Mr Earle Lockerby, who expresses dissatisfaction with the contents.  I quote the relevant passages:

   ‘It is my perception that over the years there has been a gradual shift in the content of The Kintyre Magazine - less and less “hard” history (based on thorough research) of places, events, individuals and families relating to southern Kintyre, and more and more “soft” or “chatty” non-historical material.  I appreciate that the magazine is a publication of the Society and that the name of the latter includes the words “Natural History” as well as “Antiquarian”.  Obviously, therefore, there must be a balance.  However from what I am seeing, the content is becoming progressively unbalanced.  Less and less are we seeing the type of articles which A.I.B. Stewart and John Cormack were capable of producing and contributing - the kind of articles which are of more interest to me.

   ‘From reading the section “By Hill and Shore” from its inception, I have an appreciation for the local landscape, topography and wildlife, and I recognise just how important in your own personal life the treks over the countryside are - this is something with which I can personally identify.  However, for someone on this side of the Atlantic, there are only so many recounts of rambles to Ben Gullion and the Inans that one can read about before wondering whether the limited space in The Kintyre Magazine could be more optimally used.  The “By Hill and Shore” section almost always takes up more pages than any other article and Issue No 49 is no exception - the section accounts for over 45% of the issue (reckoning from page 2, inclusive, onward).

   ‘Obviously the Society’s goal is not to cater for folks living on this side of the Atlantic!  However, it is possible that many of your subscribers have views somewhat similar to my own - perhaps it would be useful to attempt to gauge readers’ views on this ...

   ‘Your comments on the matter ... will ... be welcome.  I have myself edited books and periodicals, and I well appreciate the work that you put into The Kintyre Magazine, as well as the fact that it is sometimes not easy to obtain the needed material for such a publication.’

   Editor’s responses:

   ‘By Hill and Shore’ - the main target of Mr Lockerby’s criticism - came into being at the suggestion of the late Mr AIB Stewart, my editorial predecessor, as a means of introducing a greater natural history element into the publication.  It became, for him, a central feature, not least because it regularly filled space.  He didn’t - and I don’t - have the luxury of a stockpile of articles.  When I took over as editor, I pondered the question of whether or not ‘By Hill and Shore’ should continue.  I am not, in principle, in favour of editors publishing their own work, but I judged that since the feature was popular and had become a satisfying part of my own life, it should continue.  To these factors may be added, retrospectively, its function as a regular space-filler.  As to whether it is a space-filler of the meanest variety is for readers to judge.

   I cannot fathom how Mr Lockerby arrives at ‘over 45%’ in his computation of the amount of space ‘By Hill and Shore’ occupies in issue no 49.  It runs to 13 pages and the remainder of the material runs to 18 pages.  Of these 13 pages, 2 are devoted to Society archaeological field-walks and a further 2 - more or less - to natural history observations communicated to me by readers and others.  I try to keep ‘By Hill and Shore’ to 12 pages maximum, and generally succeed in that.  The limit in the last issue was exceeded in order to make up the magazine in the absence of other material.

   I am entirely comfortable with Mr Lockerby’s suggestion of ‘gauging readers’ views’ on the magazine’s contents.  If anyone feels strongly, one way or the other, please contact me in writing and I’ll report, in the next issue, on responses received.  Suggestions and opinions, however, don’t fill magazines.  If anyone - Mr Lockerby included - is able to research and write history, ‘hard’ (by any definition) or otherwise, then I’ll be delighted to consider it for publication.  The same goes for natural history, genealogy, social history and memoirs.  Since I took over as editor, I have rejected only one contribution, so there is certainly no prejudice, on my part, against the earlier model of magazine whose demise Mr Lockerby regrets.  Those ‘hard’ historians whose contributions he harks back to are, as he knows, regrettably no longer with us.  I can only work with the material I am given or am able to solicit.

No.50 Autumn 2001

Wee Drams  - E-mails, comments, queries and enlightenment from around the world.

Page  2:       A History of the Gilchrists...............continued

Page  3:       A 'What if?' Tale from Cindy Nunn

Page  4:       Ian & Helen's Scottish Trip - May 2003

Page  6:       The Editorial from Number 50 - Autumn 2001

Page 7:        By Hill and Shore - Angus Martin

Page 8:        Mesolithic Flints at Rosehill Farm