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" The Tatties
"
[Digging potatoes from the fields]
I remember volunteering for " The Tatties " when I was at school.
Even in thon far off days I was nobody's fool. Apart from the 2
extra weeks we got away from our class, we got to glean the field
sort of en masse. The 2 weeks we got off was added to our 6
weeks holidays.
I went to St. Matthews R. C. School in Rosewell. As most of
the pupils were from Rosewell and its surrounds, that was where we
picked tatties.
One farm was on the road to Howgate, before the rubbish tip, There's
a firm working it as an opencast site now.
The
other farm was on the road to Lasswade. In my younger days we
only knew it as Cemetery Road. Willie, one of my pals at
school is buried there. Now that Rosewell has its by-pass its the
first farm on the left when you turn making for Lasswade.
Wartime
During the War they were allotted prisoners to help on the farm.
We only knew them as kind gentle souls, as at our age we never
thought of them as the enemy. I think most of them were German
as a lot of them returned to the area after the War.
I believe there were also Italian P.O.W.s in the area but I'm not
sure where they worked,
Play
As children, everything was to us play-acting. The cowboys
were still beating the Cree and the Sioux Indians at the Pictures
every Saturday matinee.
Just as long as we got our Pocket Money that was all that mattered.
As a wee boy I never thought of where the money came from, My Mum
was a Widow - Dad died when I was 4 of Pneumonia. Mum
had 5 of us to look after.
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