We have had a short break over the Christmas and New Year but do not worry new articles are being created right now. We shall be out visiting old friends, making new friends and of course reporting on what is happening locally.

We had been hoping to run some competitions last year but due to unforeseen technical difficulties this had to be delayed. Now, due to the pure hard work of our excellent I.T. department all the gremlins seem to have been caught so keep checking out URsTV for competition updates.

It’s the beginning of a brand new year so let’s see what’s out there…..

Big Buck Bunny tells the story of a giant rabbit with a heart bigger than himself. When one sunny day three rodents rudely harass him, something snaps… and the rabbit ain’t no bunny anymore! In the typical cartoon tradition he prepares the nasty rodents a comical revenge. 

Video Produced by Blender Foundation using Free & Open Source Software, check their website out for more details.

The man who wrote Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson – who used the pseudonym Lewis Carroll – was a Deacon and mathematician.  In later life he would deny that Alice was based on anyone in particular. But there was a little girl called ‘Alice’ who, it would appear, inspired him to write the stories.

Dodgson wrote, very successfully, under the name Lewis Carroll, a word play on his own christian names, and at the end of Through The Looking Glass there is an acrostic poem which spells out her full name Alice Pleasance Liddell. As well as spelling out Alice’s name, the poem itself is laced with references to the origin of the stories.

It therefore seems that the inspiration for the ‘Alice’ of Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass was Alice Liddell, perhaps better known by her married name Alice Hargreaves.

Alice was the fourth daughter of the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, Henry Liddell.  The Liddells arrived in Oxford in 1856, and Dodgson, also a keen photographer, first met them while out with his camera taking pictures of the cathedral.  They soon all became firm friends.

The story itself originates from a rowing trip which took place on July 4 1862.  Dodgson, the Reverend Robinson Duckworth, and the three Liddell girls Edith (8), Alice (10) and Lorina (13) rowed between Oxford and Godstow intending to picnic.  During the journey on the River Isis, Dodgson entertained the girls by telling them stories.  One story, in particular, about a little girl called ‘Alice’ who fell down a rabbit-hole proved extremely popular.

Alice Liddell asked Dodgson to write it down for her.

More significantly, however, was the reaction of the McDonald children in 1863.  The McDonald children read the story and loved it so much Dodgson decided to re-write the story and attempt to have it published.

Children, of course, grow up into adults themselves.  As a young woman Alice Liddell seemed to have that spirit of adventure Carroll had given the character of ‘Alice’ in his books.  She travelled Europe, and was said to have attracted the attentions of Queen Victoria’s son Leopold when he attended Oxford.

On September 15 1880, however, Alice Liddell, then 28, married cricketer Reginald Hargreaves at Westminster Abbey.  They had three sons, naming one ‘Caryl’ which Alice always denied had anything to do with Lewis Carroll.

Alice was widowed in 1926 and times became difficult, so much so that she was forced to sell her copy of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground (the original title of Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland).

Aged 80, during a trip to the USA she met Peter Llewelyn-Davies, one of two brothers who inspired J.M Barries’s Peter Pan.  The two could have started a club for accidental celebrities who gave authors inspiration for their stories.

Alice Liddell died in 1934, aged 82 in Westerham, Kent and is now buried in the graveyard of St Michaels and All Angels Church, Lyndhurst, in the New Forest (where I found her).  Whether Alice is in Heaven or, indeed, Wonderland is, of course, open to debate.

This radio play was directed by Rosie Kellagher of Newcastle’s Theatre Live, and starring Scott Hoatson as Kirkpatrick Macmillan and John Kazek as the Machine.

Kirkpatrick Macmillan and his Invention

Set in the summer of 1840, Kirkpatrick Macmillan (Pate) has been working away into the wee small hours over a period of two years on what he initially refers to as a “pedestrian accelerator”.  Everyone is amused at Pate’s first attempts on the completed contraption but nonetheless Pate heads on an amazing journey from Dumfries to Glasgow – 70 miles over rough country roads with no brakes!

Kirkpatrick Macmillan never took out any patents for his invention in 1840 and today there is estimated to be over 1 billion bicycles in the world! Local Kilmarnock man, Thomas McCall is supposed to be one of the first to sell them commercially from his workshop in Kilmarnock. He declined any recognition for his inventions and, like MacMillan, never took out any patents!

Isabella Jarrett & Gavin Mitchell as the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch

The life and crimes of Dumfriesshire bicycle inventor Kirkpatrick Macmillan will be revealed in a new BBC radio play by former DGAA writer in residence Jules Horne on Thursday 19^th May.

MACMILLAN’S MARVELLOUS MOTION MACHINE is based on the story of Kirkpatrick ‘Daft Pate’ Macmillan, the Dumfriesshire blacksmith who invented the pedal bicycle, rode from Penpont to Glasgow and committed the world’s first cycle crime in 1842. It includes a cast of thousands played by six Scottish actors, including John Kazek (Spooks, Batman Begins), Isabella Jarrett (Faust, Barry) and Gabriel Quigley (Festival, Rab C Nesbitt), and is directed by Rosie Kellagher of Newcastle’s Theatre Live.

Macmillan worked in the smiddy at Drumlanrig Castle, and Jules was inspired by seeing a velocipede at the Vintage Cycle Museum there. To find out what it was like to build and ride the first bicycle, she worked closely with the museum’s velocipede expert Tony Dymott, and carried out research at Dumfries Museum and the Ewart Library.

Jules Horne

She says: ‘Macmillan’s design was way ahead of its time, but he didn’t get proper recognition. It was a fascinating period in history, with so much social and industrial change, and it’s wonderful to think a rural blacksmith was in on the start of such an important invention. It’s been great fun to bring his story to life. ’

The play will be broadcast in the Afternoon Play slot on Radio 4 at 2.15 on Thursday 19th May, and on iPlayer.

Contact: Jules Horne  01835 862530 (o) or jules@texthouse.co.uk

Note:

1. MACMILLAN’S MARVELLOUS MOTION MACHINE by Jules Horne was directed by Rosie Kellagher and produced by Marilyn Imrie for Catherine Bailey Limited and BBC Radio 4. It was recorded at Castlesound Studios in Pencaitland. Transmission will be Thursday 19^th May at 2.15pm on BBC Radio 4 and iPlayer.
   

   Scott Hoatson as Kirkpatrick Macmillan with Lee McPhail on spot FX

Cast
Macmillan                                                                       Scott Hoatson
Machine/Burnie/Johnny/Dalziel/Todd                        John Kazek
Wull/Duke/Stott/Judge/Uncle                                       Gavin Mitchell
Catherine/Meg/Maid/Mother/Jeannie                        Gabriel Quigley
Deef Agnes/Duchess/Old Mrs Mac/Mrs Scott             Isabella Jarrett
Wee Todd/Child                                                               Leo MacNeill

Writer Jules Horne is originally from Hawick and now lives near Kelso. She spent two years living in Dumfries and Galloway as D&G Arts Writer in Residence, where she heard the story of Kirkpatrick Macmillan. Her plays include THE WIFE OF USHER’S WELL for Quondam Theatre; GORGEOUS AVATAR for the Traverse Theatre; LIFE: AN AUDIO TOUR and A PLACE IN THE RAIN for BBC Radio 4; INNER CRITIC for BBC 7; and LEFT AT THE LIGHTS and OVERDUE SOUTH for Radio Scotland. www.texthouse.net.

Laughing and joking around the camp fire
They drank whiskey and sang stupid songs
Talking about how they’d change the world
And how to right its many wrongs

Then out of the woods he approached them
A hunched, stumbling, old stranger
Seeing his face and his wrinkles
They didn’t think he could be any danger

They offered him food and sat him down
Gave him a stiff drink and a smoke
He ate his meal quickly in silence
And then ever so slowly he spoke…

Tam and Meg

“Aw, come on, baby! I’m cold, wet and – I’ve got something to tell you!”

“I know what you’ll tell me – that you love me. You only say that when you’re pished.”

“I’m no pished. Come on – let me in!”

“Git yersel hunted. You ken what I said last time – when you roll up like this, you’re sleeping in the barn.”

With that, the bedroom window slammed shut, and the light went out.

Tam gave the front door a good kick, shivered, and looked behind him. There was no-one coming up the track – as far as he could see – but he still had that awful feeling that he was being watched. Surely he was safe now – at his own home, if not in it?

Meg snorted and pawed at the ground. She seemed to have calmed down a bit, at least – although Tam could still her breath erupting from her nostrils like two steaming kettles. Unbolting the barn door, Tam wondered whether he had any of his stash of whisky left underneath the hay. He could certainly do with a wee nip after the night he’d just had.

More on next page…

Beauty

The gentle rains stopped falling and Selisha stomped her front two hooves and shook out her silvery mane. She pointed her long shining horn towards the east and stared longingly. A tickling nudge from her mother Shanara and she turned to meet her.

The strong passionate love emanating from her mother was almost overwhelming but Selisha’s saddening heart ached for every moment of that love and she could not even put into words what was causing her torment. The large gentle brown eyes which now held her spellbound also looked saddened. Impulsively, Selisha reached out to comfort her and her mother regarded her with surprise.

“Daughter of my heart, your sadness searches so desperately for help and yet you seek to aid me? Could such compassion not have spread over my entire family so it would not overburden you, my once bright eyes of my herd? We are so close to the celebration of the Day of Ochra and yet your dark burdens seemed to weigh you down so painfully now. What ails you my child? Just by telling me your burden will be so much lighter.”

Magical

Almost at the same moment as Selisha was about to voice her sorrows, her caring mother had voiced the one day of the entire year which she did dread. The one day when her whole herd celebrated the day of the birth of the Great Stallion Ochra who fathered all the children of all the herds of their world. The one day when she felt more alone than ever before, and as each year passed, as much as she tried to fit in, it just got harder. All her brothers and sisters and cousins and friends were beginning to notice her separateness, for want of another word, and the more they noticed the wider the gap became. They didn’t understand. Selisha celebrated every day of the year as she believed each day was a gift from the Great Spirit of Nature and every day should be celebrated until she returned to the place of her birth for the very last time. Selisha also believed that very last day should be the greatest celebration of all because then she would be returning to where she truly belonged.

Bewitching

Lifting her head and with as much pride as she could put into her stance, Selisha replied, “Mother of my heart, my sadness is nothing to your love and devotion to me and my family. Your troubles are like tall trees to my fine pieces of grass. Come, let us prepare for the celebrations….” And she jauntily trotted off, head high in the air towards the main group of the herd. Sighing and determined her mother followed, overtaking her daughter at a fast gallop. Selisha watched her mother proudly, noting how many members of her family and the rest of the herd lifted their heads to watch the beauty that was her mother.

St Joseph's Players' first panto!

Yes, we have a winner! Suze Laing has sent in the very first review of The Lion, The Witch and The Wedding which was performed over the weekend by the St. Joseph’s Players.

Here is what Suze thought of the show:-

“What can I say…
Where do I start…

I guess like all great stories ~ at the beginning!

Once upon a time there was a small amateur dramatics group in Kilmarnock, which consisted of a bunch of talented and humorous individuals of all ages and experience.

Leading Ladies Line Up

One day they decided it was time to perform for the very first time, and here begins our story.

The panto started off with a Town Crier and ended with an audience song.

The end.

Ooooh no it isn’t!!!

Ooooh yes it… ermmm, actually no, it isn’t

So ‘what happened in the middle?’ I hear you ask.

That’s an easy question to answer…

Kate Charlwood as Robin Hood

A very funny, and more amazingly, original script, was brought to life by this close knit cast, making this panto definitely one to remember!

The acting was brilliant, the lines were delivered with enthusiasm and belief, the dancing was fun to watch, and the songs were pelted out with gusto, and a special mention must be made of Moira (‘Belle’) a truly wonderful singer!

The prince was regal, the witch was very wicked, and the lion was very cowardly. Robin was thigh smackingly good, the princesses were just that ~ total princesses ! and the younger cast members were full of life and looked like they were totally enjoying themselves too!

Teaching the Audience to Sing

The audience giggled and sang in all the right places, and the kiddies were even invited on stage to tell jokes, which was lovely to watch, and added a very ‘personal’ touch to it all.

Everyone was made to feel part of the panto, and the true spirit of Christmas could be felt throughout the church hall.

To bring my story to a close, I would say that we were all totally captivated by the whole magical production.

Mrs Busybody trying to cook!

To think this was their first show, and the script was written by the very talented Nicola (who also played ‘Snow White’), shows that from small acorns, mighty oaks do indeed grow!”

By Suze Laing

A huge thank you to Suze for an absolutely fantastic review. Your have now won two free tickets to the next performance of the St. Joseph’s Players.

Mr Roger used to be a pirate.

Mr Roger was a very good pirate. By that I mean that he was very good at BEING a pirate and as pirates are always bad, Mr Roger was always very good at being very bad.

When Mr Roger was the captain of the bad ship Fish Finger he liked everything on his ship to be, well, ship-shape.

Mr Roger’s favourite food was fish fingers and chips shaped like battle ships. He even had a special chip shop on the Fish Finger, and to please Mr Roger, the ship’s chip shop chef often made ship-shaped chips.

Pirate crews love to steal and rob and fight. Pirates sometimes attack other ships and even sink them. But if you happen to be a pirate, it’s a good idea to take any treasure off a ship BEFORE you sink it. Pirates don’t always do this.

We hope you will keep in touch with your thoughts and opinions via the comments and be sure to let us know of any unusual (hi)stories you may want to share.  You can use either the comments or send us your story via the contact form.

The Laigh Kirk

Tragedy at the Laigh Kirk – On Sunday 18th October 1801, 29 people were killed in a panicked stampede when a piece of plaster falling from the church ceiling caused the congregation to believe that the building was collapsing and in the ensuing panic to get out, some were crushed due to the narrow stairways of the upper level and because there was only one exit.  The church itself had been too small for the ever increasing congregation.

In 1802 the builders of the new, replacement church made sure this type of tragedy would not happen again and added no less than 13 exits.  This replacement Kirk is the one which still (safely) stands today, less than a stone throw from Killie Cross.

Kilmarnock Cross looking toward the Laigh Kirk

The Laigh Kirk as it looks today

Footnote

Images sourced from:-
Top left: The Ayrshire Page Website
Bottom left: East Ayrshire Council Website
Right: Geography High