A great 50s shot of Dundee, Scotland…note the man coming along the ally behind the dustbins, and the people hanging about on the balcony’s on the right side, and the heed oot the windie.
You can take the bhoy out of Lochee, but you can never take Lochee out of the bhoy
A saying gone on for decades, but I first heard it from my old uncle Roy
We had flags flying behind the washing lines, I’ll never forget
The Irish flag with the Scottish flag, some hanging as a set
Sitting on my Auntie’s doorstep, mid 50s.
Lochee was very Irish, the surnames bearing witness to that
In school my mates had Irish names, I was surrounded where ever I sat
They came over in the industrial times to work in Dundee’s jute mills
And Lochee was where they settled, “Little Tipperary” became the shrills
I was born into a mixed family, of Irish and Scots
I grew up not knowing the difference, who am I, shall I draw lots?
I would hear some sarcastic comments, especially about the Irish from the old
But for me, my mates to play with, without doubt I was sold
My best times there were all outside, in all weathers playing about
Take me to my tenement flat, and I’ll only scream and shout
I didn’t know at the time, but I was adopted at birth
My parents were horrendous, just put me anywhere else on earth
Drunken screaming and fighting, my dad would batter my mum
There were times when so wee, that I’d just want to hide up the lum
Eventually I got it, Lochee’s not for me
As I sit freezing on the balcony’ cludgie having a wee
At fourteen I decided it was now time to run away
Even though I was scared that I had no where else to stay
Off to England I went with the help of a teacher
I trusted this man more than any preacher
He helped me with a trial for a football team in an English city
For the next two years I had to be pretty gritty
However, I didn’t make the grade of a footballer being paid
So a move to the military, and there I definitely had it made
About ten years later I went back to the toon of Lochee
I wandered around to see what I could see
Not much money spent here, compared to the rest of Dundee
It was sad to see my tenement gone, actually heartbreaking for me
Pletties, the right side containing the stairs down and the cludgie (toilet). Ours was shared with three other families.
I’ve been back a few times since with my kids and my wife
just to show them my beginnings within the Lochee strife
From windows of modern tenements I still see the flags are hanging
Decades later the flags of Ireland and Scotland for me are “banging”
The people of Lochee are one, even though there’s not much fun
The mixed Celtic blood of this wee toon has never let them doon
Whether you stay or go from the cold and damp Lochee show
One day you’ll just stand in the high street, and look up with pride, and crow
Aye, just maybe it’s not the greatest place, ever to be
But I know now, you can never REALLY take the bhoy out of the wee toon of Lochee
Bob Shepherd 