Members' Night: A Visitor to Scotland: Thursday 21st February 2019

The theme of this year's Members' Night is "A Visitor to Scotland", interpreted in whichever way the participants wish. In other words, the visitors could be human, animal or inanimate, and from any era in history. The format of the evening will be as in previous years - each contributor has the opportunity of speaking on his or her topic for about five minutes with or without illustrations. If you are thinking of contributing, please let Ivan Ruddock know of your intention, and if you intend to have some images included in the composite PowerPoint presentation, please give them to him at the 7th February meeting or send them using the Society's email address that can be found under "Contact Us".

Visitors from Achill Island at the dedication of the commemorative plaque to
the 1937 Bothy Fire in Kirkintilloch's Eastside, September 2007. © I.S. Ruddock)

Evening meetings of the Society are at 7.30 pm in the Park Centre, 45 Kerr Street, Kirkintilloch, G66 1LF. The annual membership subscription is £10; visitors are welcome at all of the Society's activities.

David McVey: Neil Munro and "The New Road": Thursday 7th February 2019

Neil Munro is chiefly remembered for his Para Handy stories, later immortalised on BBC TV. These 'stories' were really journalistic pieces that appeared under one of his many aliases. Munro's real literary speciality was historical novels such as "The New Road" and his treatment of Scottish history in these offers an interesting contrast to the historical perspective of Walter Scott and John Buchan (also covered in previous visits to the Society by David McVey) and many others writers of Scottish fiction. The talk will look at Munro, his background, his use of history in fiction and also look at a remarkable incident in which Munro was involved.

1903 pastel sketch of Neil Munro
by William Strang RA

David McVey was educated at Hillhead Primary School and Kirkintilloch High School amongst other places. He is currently a part-time lecturer at New College Lanarkshire and a part-time writer. He has published over 120 short stories and hundreds of non-fiction pieces that focus on history and the outdoors.

Evening meetings of the Society are at 7.30 pm in the Park Centre, 45 Kerr Street, Kirkintilloch, G66 1LF. The annual membership subscription is £10; visitors are welcome at all of the Society's activities with a donation of £3.