Interview With my Grandad Lyall Compton Inkster
Lyall Compton Inkster born Grangemouth 1915
This is an interview with my Scottish grandfather whose family was from the small Shetland island of Burra, and who recalls so well the crofting lifestyle there.
My name was registered in my birth certificate as Lyell. My mother said my dad had made a mistake with the registrar. I was named after an Aunt Lily Compton who lived in Toronto, Canada. She died and her husband remarried. I wore Shetland jumpers and had a 6 foot long scarf. My mother used to make some, but she didn't have a habit of knitting a lot. Robina up in Shetland would do them and send them to my mum.
Of family life in Shetland:
Our homeland, the island of Burra had two parts, West Burra and East Burra, joined by a bridge to each other. There was no bridge to the mainland. We had to do a boat journey to the mainland, three miles to Scalloway. The family would go to the hills and cut peat and bring it back in a boat loaded down to the waters edge. They would cut the peat and stack it, it would dry through the summer months and then they would bring it back. My mother used to sing to herself all the time. She was in the church choir. They used to sing Sankey's hymns. All the work was done up till midnight on a Saturday and on Sunday no work would be done, not even cooking. My family was very church conscious. They used to bake bannocks, which were oat cakes, and a lot of fish which they caught. They fished in little boats in the Atlantic. The women looked after the land, sheep and cattle, and tilled the land by hand, and carried the peats in a big basket, called a cushy, slung on their backs and walked for miles. In summer the fishing fleet would come down as far as Yarmouth and women would come too, to gut and fillet the fish before it was sold.
Our homeland, the island of Burra had two parts, West Burra and East Burra, joined by a bridge to each other. There was no bridge to the mainland. We had to do a boat journey to the mainland, three miles to Scalloway. The family would go to the hills and cut peat and bring it back in a boat loaded down to the waters edge. They would cut the peat and stack it, it would dry through the summer months and then they would bring it back. My mother used to sing to herself all the time. She was in the church choir. They used to sing Sankey's hymns. All the work was done up till midnight on a Saturday and on Sunday no work would be done, not even cooking. My family was very church conscious. They used to bake bannocks, which were oat cakes, and a lot of fish which they caught. They fished in little boats in the Atlantic. The women looked after the land, sheep and cattle, and tilled the land by hand, and carried the peats in a big basket, called a cushy, slung on their backs and walked for miles. In summer the fishing fleet would come down as far as Yarmouth and women would come too, to gut and fillet the fish before it was sold.
Of life in Scotland:
My father George and mother Helen followed the way of simple living. Dad worked in a Caledonian Railway hut, a bothy, down the docks in Grangemouth. My mother was the family manager and my dad had to answer to her. They went to the United Free Church of Scotland. In Grangemouth from whatever direction there were whiffs on the wind, from the oil refinery, soap works and dying works. I went to West Church in Old Town and Sunday School. I was born in Old Town in Basin Street. My first school was an infant school in Grangemouth, then Dundass School on Dundass Street, and lastly Grangemouth High. I raided apple orchards when I was a child. I wasn't the fighting kind. I was set on once outside of school, at the age of 10, but the bloke ended up getting worse. His mother came and grabbed me, but while my brother was making faces I got away. My hobbies were athletics and high jump. I competed for the YMCA and got medals for high jump and long jump. I broke the Scottish YMCA high jump record at 5ft 3 and a half. I played football too, and snooker and billiards. I was a good singer and always liked singing when I was happy. I was asked to go in the choir at school but didn't want to. The music teacher was expert and made each pupil sing up and down the scales. I left school in the 4th form when I was 14. It was the time of the slump and unemployment was bad. I got the chance of a job in an office and took it. It was a Shipping Office and I was there for five years.
My father George and mother Helen followed the way of simple living. Dad worked in a Caledonian Railway hut, a bothy, down the docks in Grangemouth. My mother was the family manager and my dad had to answer to her. They went to the United Free Church of Scotland. In Grangemouth from whatever direction there were whiffs on the wind, from the oil refinery, soap works and dying works. I went to West Church in Old Town and Sunday School. I was born in Old Town in Basin Street. My first school was an infant school in Grangemouth, then Dundass School on Dundass Street, and lastly Grangemouth High. I raided apple orchards when I was a child. I wasn't the fighting kind. I was set on once outside of school, at the age of 10, but the bloke ended up getting worse. His mother came and grabbed me, but while my brother was making faces I got away. My hobbies were athletics and high jump. I competed for the YMCA and got medals for high jump and long jump. I broke the Scottish YMCA high jump record at 5ft 3 and a half. I played football too, and snooker and billiards. I was a good singer and always liked singing when I was happy. I was asked to go in the choir at school but didn't want to. The music teacher was expert and made each pupil sing up and down the scales. I left school in the 4th form when I was 14. It was the time of the slump and unemployment was bad. I got the chance of a job in an office and took it. It was a Shipping Office and I was there for five years.
Of brothers and sisters:
The first of my brothers was Laurence and then came John. Laurence was simple and died at around 75 years old. John who was in the Gordon Highlanders got killed in the battle of the Somne. My brother James, who had three kids, was a deserter in Italy in World War 2. He brought his Italian mistress back to Grangemouth with him. My brother William was 2 and a half years older than I. He started off as a butchers assistant in Grangemouth. Then he was a jack of all trades. He got fed up and went down to London, where he was oddjob man at a college in Hampstead. He met his wife there. He was last heard of in Corby with a garage business. My sister Phyllis married Thomas Anderson and had John and Eleanor. Jacky, another brother, was very weak and died at about 3 years old in Grangemouth. My brother Charles used to take on contracts demolishing buildings in Grangemouth. He returned to Shetland and became foreman of a timber company Heyam Company Sawmills, then emigrated to Canada where he met Nancy. Tommy returned to Shetland and waorked with Charles. He married Lily there and died in Lerwick. He died in about 1980. My brother Robert was in the Black Watch Scottish Regiment and had 3 children. Hugh, his youngest child, died in a car crash. My sister Helen worked in the soap works for a time. She married Robert Little and had Lena, John and Margaret. Her daughter Lena lived in Ghana and had 7 children, John went to America, married May and had 2 children, and Margaret went to Canada, had 13 children and died of a heart attack. My sister Kate devoted her life to our parents, looking after them. In London she got a job in service. Kate was a good sister who prompted me to get on in life. She never married. She died in 1960 at the age of 40 from throat cancer.
The first of my brothers was Laurence and then came John. Laurence was simple and died at around 75 years old. John who was in the Gordon Highlanders got killed in the battle of the Somne. My brother James, who had three kids, was a deserter in Italy in World War 2. He brought his Italian mistress back to Grangemouth with him. My brother William was 2 and a half years older than I. He started off as a butchers assistant in Grangemouth. Then he was a jack of all trades. He got fed up and went down to London, where he was oddjob man at a college in Hampstead. He met his wife there. He was last heard of in Corby with a garage business. My sister Phyllis married Thomas Anderson and had John and Eleanor. Jacky, another brother, was very weak and died at about 3 years old in Grangemouth. My brother Charles used to take on contracts demolishing buildings in Grangemouth. He returned to Shetland and became foreman of a timber company Heyam Company Sawmills, then emigrated to Canada where he met Nancy. Tommy returned to Shetland and waorked with Charles. He married Lily there and died in Lerwick. He died in about 1980. My brother Robert was in the Black Watch Scottish Regiment and had 3 children. Hugh, his youngest child, died in a car crash. My sister Helen worked in the soap works for a time. She married Robert Little and had Lena, John and Margaret. Her daughter Lena lived in Ghana and had 7 children, John went to America, married May and had 2 children, and Margaret went to Canada, had 13 children and died of a heart attack. My sister Kate devoted her life to our parents, looking after them. In London she got a job in service. Kate was a good sister who prompted me to get on in life. She never married. She died in 1960 at the age of 40 from throat cancer.
On life beyond Scotland:
I went to London, where my brother Bill was working. Bill had convinced my mum and dad to go and I went as well, to a flat in West Hampstead. I got an office job in Bishopsgate for a year, a Chartered Shipbrokers, by recommendation from the firm in Grangemouth. After that I joined the Customs at Pool of London, between Tower Bridge and London Bridge. I sat exams for the customs in 1936. I was transferred to Harwich after a year. I found a flat there and the family moved with me. They didn't like London much. I was a water guard at Harwich. I went aboard ships and sealed up what they weren't allowed to have. Once I got someone with cannabis. I took him to question him, he grabbed the cannabis and put it in his mouth and I got bitten trying to get it. He swallowed so much that he was too ill to go to court and had to be pumped out. A colleague then found a bigger lump in his bag. Once I found cannabis in an unaccompanied bag and had to go to Liverpool to tend the court case. Another time I found a gun in the bag of an American actress, Lana Turner. Sometimes I found sex things in peoples bags. I got the smugglers using intuition and experience. The troops were smuggling cameras and watches after the war. I only let people off on the quiet. I liked playing football in the local Customs team, and also played bridge in the Customs.
I liked dancing, which I started in Dovercourt after my girlfriend Doris left me.
Doris was my first love. I was 23 when my ear trouble started. I had a mastoid operation for an ear infection at Ipswich hospital. Doris was a student nurse there and I chatted her up and followed her around so she got into trouble and was moved to another ward. After hospital I kept meeting Doris. She was engaged to be married at Xmas to a man called Roy. I was hurt when she married him. It put me off my food.
In 1939 I met my wife-to-be, Isabelle Bane, at a dance after an introduction through friends.
I went into the forces in 1940, in the Scots Guards, with the initial training at Chelsea Barracks. After Chelsea I went to Surrey Camp Depot for more training, then the 3rd Battalion Scots Guards, moving to Rose Park Chigall on Buckhurst Hill in Essex. There were exercises and drills and it was a tough life but you got used to it. I was then sent for Royal Signals training in Yorkshire. I transferred to the trade in Signals thinking I'd got away from it, only to be sent back to Englefield Green Park in Surrey. As a signaller I did morse, semaphore, etc. I was an ex guardsman and in Royal Signals. I was in Divisional Headquarters so didn't have to fight. I only had to man a gun once and never had to use it. I was on communications at Falley's Gap when we surrounded the Germans and captured Faelise. We captured Brussels. I went over 7 days after D Day. I could hear the battle going on in my vehicle, relayed from one set to the other. I was Guards Armour Division at Arnhem. The idea was to cross the bridges over to Arnhem. The Nijmegen Bridge was down but recaptured. I was then evacuated sick with ear trouble. I was sent back to England and was 6 months in hospital, then I was at Royal Signals in Whitby until the Customs called me back. I got leave every three months.
Isabelle and I lived in an ex army hut at the Fieldy Estate.
All became very different when Isabelle went 'funny'. Isabelle's friend had died, and then her father. I used to get accused of all sorts of things. It got so bad that we had to move out of our council house to live with her sister Connie.
I went to London, where my brother Bill was working. Bill had convinced my mum and dad to go and I went as well, to a flat in West Hampstead. I got an office job in Bishopsgate for a year, a Chartered Shipbrokers, by recommendation from the firm in Grangemouth. After that I joined the Customs at Pool of London, between Tower Bridge and London Bridge. I sat exams for the customs in 1936. I was transferred to Harwich after a year. I found a flat there and the family moved with me. They didn't like London much. I was a water guard at Harwich. I went aboard ships and sealed up what they weren't allowed to have. Once I got someone with cannabis. I took him to question him, he grabbed the cannabis and put it in his mouth and I got bitten trying to get it. He swallowed so much that he was too ill to go to court and had to be pumped out. A colleague then found a bigger lump in his bag. Once I found cannabis in an unaccompanied bag and had to go to Liverpool to tend the court case. Another time I found a gun in the bag of an American actress, Lana Turner. Sometimes I found sex things in peoples bags. I got the smugglers using intuition and experience. The troops were smuggling cameras and watches after the war. I only let people off on the quiet. I liked playing football in the local Customs team, and also played bridge in the Customs.
I liked dancing, which I started in Dovercourt after my girlfriend Doris left me.
Doris was my first love. I was 23 when my ear trouble started. I had a mastoid operation for an ear infection at Ipswich hospital. Doris was a student nurse there and I chatted her up and followed her around so she got into trouble and was moved to another ward. After hospital I kept meeting Doris. She was engaged to be married at Xmas to a man called Roy. I was hurt when she married him. It put me off my food.
In 1939 I met my wife-to-be, Isabelle Bane, at a dance after an introduction through friends.
I went into the forces in 1940, in the Scots Guards, with the initial training at Chelsea Barracks. After Chelsea I went to Surrey Camp Depot for more training, then the 3rd Battalion Scots Guards, moving to Rose Park Chigall on Buckhurst Hill in Essex. There were exercises and drills and it was a tough life but you got used to it. I was then sent for Royal Signals training in Yorkshire. I transferred to the trade in Signals thinking I'd got away from it, only to be sent back to Englefield Green Park in Surrey. As a signaller I did morse, semaphore, etc. I was an ex guardsman and in Royal Signals. I was in Divisional Headquarters so didn't have to fight. I only had to man a gun once and never had to use it. I was on communications at Falley's Gap when we surrounded the Germans and captured Faelise. We captured Brussels. I went over 7 days after D Day. I could hear the battle going on in my vehicle, relayed from one set to the other. I was Guards Armour Division at Arnhem. The idea was to cross the bridges over to Arnhem. The Nijmegen Bridge was down but recaptured. I was then evacuated sick with ear trouble. I was sent back to England and was 6 months in hospital, then I was at Royal Signals in Whitby until the Customs called me back. I got leave every three months.
Isabelle and I lived in an ex army hut at the Fieldy Estate.
All became very different when Isabelle went 'funny'. Isabelle's friend had died, and then her father. I used to get accused of all sorts of things. It got so bad that we had to move out of our council house to live with her sister Connie.
Kate and Tommy and my mum went off later to a flat up in Edinburgh, a tenement flat. Tommy worked on the railway there. After mum and Kate died he went back to Shetland. My mother died of a stroke. She and my dad were labour voters.
I met Doris again on outport relief. I had been sent to Ipswich from Harwich and looked her up on the voters list, Doris Grimwood. I taught Doris how to play bridge and we're in a club. We still go dancing.