EPISODE 619 DIXIELAND BAND REMINDS US OF THE MUSIC OF W. C. HANDY, BENARES, JULY 4, 2022

EPISODE 619 DIXIELAND BAND LINKS US TO THE ST. LOUIS BLUES AND W. C. HANDY, BENARES, AUGUST 5, 2022

Alan skeoch

august 5, 2022

JOHN STEVEN (sp?)…led us deep into American music tradition, wiping our slates

clean…free from the nasty side of populism that we hear too much about today.

Who could forget W.C.Handy’s original St. Louis Blues…or his Memphic Blues?

All the music of Dixieland and the Blues is there in the long time storage part

of our brains. On Augst 5, 2022, we were reminded of these chestnuts at the

Friday concert at Benares, the historic mansion in Mississauga. Music

as the summer sun began to slip below the horizon.

BASIN STREET BLUES

Lyrics

Now won’t you come along with me
To the Mississippi?
We’ll take a trip to the land of dreams
Blowing down the river, down to New Orleans

The band is there to meet us
Old friends to greet us
That’s where the line and the dark folks meet
A heaven on earth, they call it Basin Street

I said, Basin Street, Basin Street
Where the elite always meet
Down in New Orleans, the land of dreams
You’ll never know how nice it seems

Or just how much it really means
Just to be, yes, siree, in New Orleans
The land of dreams where I can lose
My Basin Street blues

Now, you’re glad you came with me
Down the Mississippi
We took a trip in a land of dreams
And floated down the river down to New Orleans

Where to, Basin Street, Basin Street
Where the elite always meet
Down in New Orleans, the land of dreams
You’ll never know how, how much it seems

Or just how much it really means
Just to be, yes, siree, yeah, New Orleans
The land of dreams where I can lose
My Basin Street blues

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Spencer Williams

Basin Street Blues lyrics © Campbell Connelly And Co. Ltd.

John Steven’s deep knowledge of W. C. Handy made me seek

more about Handy when the concert was over…especially when John Steven sang the

lyrics to Basin Street Blues.

Now won’t you come along with me
To the Mississippi?
We’ll take a trip to the land of dreams
Blowing down the river, down to New Orleans

The band is there to meet us
Old friends to greet us

WHILE the Basin Street Blues remains part of North American culture there

is another blues favourite that was written by W.C. Handy who is regarded

as the father of the blues. His work in the late 1920’s rescued the music of

the blues, sung with feeling by so many black musicians. W.C.Handy’ s work

continued even after he had an accidental fall that made him permanently blind.

Keep him in mind when you read his lyrics to the St. Louis Blues.

SAINT LOUIS BLUES

Lyrics

I hate’s to see dat ev’nin’ sun go down
Hate’s to see dat ev’nin’ sun go down
Cause ma baby, she done lef’ dis town
If I feel tomorrow lak ah feel today
Feel tomorrow lak ah feel today
I’ll pack up my trunk, and make ma git away

Saint Louis woman wid her diamon’ rings
Pulls dat man ‘roun’ by her apron strings
‘Twern’t for powder an’ her store-bought hair
De man she love wouldn’t gone nowhere, nowhere

Got dem Saint Louis Blues I’m as blue as ah can be
Like a man done throwed that rock down into de sea
Got dem Saint Louis Blues I’m as blue as ah can be

These lyrics are quite familiar to most of us. The remaining

lyrics are not familiar to me at all. They tell a story about

specific people in W. C Handy’s life. At least I think they

do. Some readers of these episodes must know. Worthwhile to

EPISODE 615 .THE LITTLE SKEOCH AUTOMOBILE UPDATE ….NEW WALL MURAL update from episode 134, NOv.27, 2018

EPISODE 615 Skeoch mural in Dalbeattie, SCOTLAND….THE LITTLE SKEOCH AUTOMOBILE, Episode 134 REPEATED

alan skeoch

august 3, 2022

Geoff Allison just sent me this notice about a wall mural in Dalbeattie, Scotland, celebrating

the manufacture of the 1921 Little Skeoch Car.

You may remember an earlier story about the Little Skeoch (cited below)

but first see the mural using Geoff’s email

Dear Skeoch contacts,

You might be interested is a vlog which was posted this week about a mural in Dalbeattie about the Skeoch Cycle Car see https://www.dgwgo.com/community-focus/mural-commemorate-james-b-skeochs-utility-cycle-car-commissioned-dalbeattie/

Kind regards,

Geoff

EPISODE 134: ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A MOTOR CAR CALLED THE LITTLE SKEOCH

(also called The Skeoch Motorcycle Car)

alan skeoch

Nov. 27. 2018

REVISED OCT. 2020 (slightly)

It has now been two years since I touched base with the men rebuilding The Litle Skeoch Motor Car

in Scotland. It is a daunting task. We had planned on a visit to their workshop but sad events

got in the way…and Covid 19 makes such visits difficult today. How the world has changed.

Maybe I can get a progress report from Scotland. Meanwhile I feel this story should be part

of the Episodes (#134) just in case it gets lost.

alan

Maybe we should bring back the LITTLE SKEOCH MOTOR CAR. It was small,, cheap and simple…sort of a 4 wheel bicycle seating two people with a chain drive and small

motorcycle engine. So small that only two very slim people could ride in it since the

car was only 31 inches wide and a little over 8 feet long.

Some of you may think this is some kind of joke. Wrong. In 1920, James Skeoch built his first Little Skeoch, then entered it in a Scottish auto show and sold it

in ten minutes. All told less than a dozen Little Skeoch’s were built in his small factory. Ten were quickly purchased at that auto show. Price? 180 pounds…which was the cheapest car in the show. None have survived. Sadly in 1921 a fire consumed his little factory and as a result the Burnside Motor Company in Dalbeattie, Scotland, ceased to exist.

Pictures of the Skeoch production line were retrieved from Skeoch family albums. Not exactly an automated factory.

But the LITTLE SKEOCHS were real mini cars and seemed about to make a big splash in the booming car market of the 1920’s

until fire ended the enterprise. Everything became a blackened pile of scrap iron.

James Skeoch moved on. His skills were valued. He had a long successful career and died in 1954.

Not many people, by 1954, were even aware that there was such a car as the SKEOCH. Memories are short especially since

none of the Little Skeochs survived. Gone Gone Gone.

Well, not quite.

POSSIBLE REBIRTH OF THE LITTLE SKEOCH

HUMPTY DUMPTY SAT ON THE WALL

HUMPTY DUMPTY HAD A GREAT FALL

ALL THE KING’S HORSES

AND ALL THE KING’S MEN

COULDN’T PUT HUMPTY TOGETHER AGAIN.

…Then along came GEORGE ALLISON and his men from Dalbeattie, Scotland…who

plan to put Humpty togehter again.

i2-prod.dailyrecord.co.uk/incoming/article12137301.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/Mens-Shed-Dalbeattie.jpg 810w” src=”https://i2-prod.dailyrecord.co.uk/incoming/article12137301.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/Mens-Shed-Dalbeattie.jpg” alt=”Dalbeattie Men’s Shed members Geoff Thomas, John Forrest, Robin Gilchrist and Geoff Allison with part of the original engine and plans for the Skeoch car.” content=”https://i2-prod.dailyrecord.co.uk/incoming/article12137301.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/Mens-Shed-Dalbeattie.jpg” class=””>

“This is a truly local car, it was the only cycle car ever made in Scotland and it was manufactured right here in Dalbeattie.

“This was a Dalbeattie man building a car the likes of which has never been built since.

“We have already had a lot of interest from visitors staying here.

“It’s already attracting a lot of attention and when it is finally road-worthy will really put Dalbeattie on the map.”

Project manager, Men’s Shed member Robin Gilchrist, 73, reckons sufficient local skills exist to do the job “in-house”.

He said: “We will draw in a lot of expertise because some of the work is quite technical in nature.

“There’s enough specialists in Dalbeattie who can help us do the precision engineering work.”

Quotes from an interview with journalist Stephen Norris (Scottish Daily Record, March 6, 2018)

alan skeoch

Nov. 27, 2018

P.S. BELOW IS AN ARICLE ON THE SKEOCH MOTOR CAR WRITTEN

FOR BBC SCOTLAND NEWS , Feb. 27, 2018

Drive to rebuild ‘forgotten’ early car

By Nichola Rutherford
BBC Scotland News

Published: 27 February 2018

IMAGE COPYRIGHTDALBEATTIE MUSEUM

image captionThe Skeoch Utility Car was built using parts normally used to manufacture motorcycles

When James Skeoch designed and built one of Scotland’s firstaffordable cars, he must have dreamed of huge success.

With a price-tag of just £180, the first Skeoch Utility Car was the cheapest on display at the Scottish Motor Show in 1921.

It sold within 10 minutes and a further nine were quickly snapped up by customers keen to join the automobile revolution.

But within months Skeoch’s business was in ruins. His uninsured workshop in Dalbeattie, Dumfries and Galloway, burned to the ground.

Since then the Skeoch Utility Car has been largely forgotten by all but keen historians of Scotland’s motor industry.

Now, almost 100 years later, plans are are being drawn up to recreate the so-called “cycle car” in the town where it was manufactured.

IMAGE COPYRIGHTDALBEATTIE MUSEUM

image captionThe Skeoch car was the cheapest on show at the Scottish Motor Show in 1921 and apparently sold within 10 minutes

The ambitious project has been taken on by a group of mainly retired local men, known as Dalbeattie Men’s Shed.

Using some of the original parts and working from the original drawings, they hope to build a working Skeoch car in time to mark its centenary.

Motoring enthusiast Martin Shelley approached the Men’s Shed with the idea for the project after reading about the group on the BBC Scotland website last year.

IMAGE COPYRIGHTDALBEATTIE MUSEUM

image captionBurnside Motor Works in Dalbeattie, where the Skeoch was manufactured, was devastated by fire in December 1921

The group, which meets in a workshop in Dalbeattie twice a week, was named Shed of the Year for its efforts to “help as many local people as possible”.

“Using the Dalbeattie Men’s Shed’s energy, enthusiasm and skills to recreate the car seemed like a match made in heaven,” Mr Shelley said.

He said “cycle cars” were first invented in the early 1900s and they got their name after using motorcycle engines and wheels.

They became increasingly popular after World War One, when soldiers returned home from the front line, having become used to driving.

image captionThe Skeoch radiator badge was among the original parts found in the home of Mr Skeoch’s son following his death last year

image captionDalbeattie Men’s Shed have also been given an original engine and gearbox with which to build a Skeoch car

Mr Shelley said: “After World War One, the ordinary working man was much more used to the idea of riding a motorcycle or driving a car so they knew about the technology and now they wanted to try and build their own cars.

“In the early 20s, there was a huge flowering of people making these cars. As it turned out, Skeoch in Dalbeattie were the only people in Scotland to ever attempt to make these things commercially.”

The original drawings and parts – including the radiator badge – were found in the Wishaw home of Ron Skeoch, James Skeoch’s son, after he died last year.

Mr Shelley said he hoped they could be used to capture the “spirit” of the 1920s vehicle.

“You could make a replica of the car which would pass muster, using a modern engine and a modern gear box and using modern parts. But the spirit of the car is very much based on the parts that were available in 1920,” he said.

“This project will be very like the original car and that to me is what the joy of the whole thing is.”

image captionFiona Sinclair hopes to be able to sit in one of her grandfather’s cars

image caption“It’s going to be something for posterity,” said Geoff Allison of Dalbeattie Men’s Shed

The granddaughter of James Skeoch, Fiona Sinclair, is also involved in the project.

She never knew her grandfather – he died in 1954 – but she hopes that her mother – Skeoch’s daughter – will get the chance to ride in one his cars.

“I think it’s going to mean a lot to my family,” she said. “It’s tragic that the fire put an end to his ambition.

“I’m actually rather hoping I can physically get to sit in the car, I’m not quite sure I could be trusted with driving it.

“It’s only got two gears apparently but I think it would be rather wonderful. What I really hope is that my mother gets the opportunity to actually sit in the car as well.”

The project is “immensely exciting”, said Geoff Allison, the secretary of the Dalbeattie Men’s Shed, which has members with engineering and mechanical skills.

“It’s engineering-rich, it’s Dalbeattie-rich, it’s community-rich, it fills so many of our requirements,” he added.

“It’s big, it’s going to be eye-catching, it’s going to be something for posterity. It’s got a lot to recommend it.”

August 2, 2022August 30, 2022

: EPISODE 623 ASNWER TO “WHY Ontario barns had wheels” (Thanks to Robert Root)

EPISODE 623 “WHY ONTARIO BARNS HAD WHEELS?” ROBERT ROOT ANSWERS

alan skeoch

july 2022

Most Ontario barns also had wheels high up on the high beams. Why ?

This was time when barns also used teams of horses , lots of long ropes, pulleys attached

to the floor and lots of two and three pronged forks. About now, end of July, those wheels were moving

as were the horses, ropes and pulleys….and the pitch forks.. Why?

This is BoB Root, who I call “Rooter” for no particular reason other than friendship. Our life paths

have crossed many times. He has answered my questions about the rack lifters in detail.

And even sent a note about another method of getting loose cut hay into hay mows on

either side of the threshing floor of Ontario barns. Both methods were a lot of work. But

hay had to be stored as winter feed.

MY MEMORY IS FAULTY. I THINK UNCLE FRANK USED THE HAY CAR METHOD

DESCRIBED BY BOB ROOT RATHER THAN THE HAY RACK METHOD. I HOPE TED

FREEMAN WILL CORECT ME. S BOTH METODS ARE DESCRIBED BY BOB.

Hi Alan,

Those wheels were used as rack lifters. The wagon load of loose hay or straw would be pulled up by the team of horses

so that the load would be positioned under the wheel assemblies.

Ropes would be attached to the wagon rack and the axles of the wheel assembly.

Horses would then pull on the ropes around the wheels and the wagon rack would be lifted off the wagon frame and

raised to the level of the haymow where the farmer could fork the load off of the wagon rack and into the haymow.

The unloaded rack would then be lowered back onto the wagon frame where it could return to the field for another load.

This was all a lot of work in the days before hay balers and elevators were invented.

MY UNCLE FRANK FREEMAN AND HIS WIFE LUCINDA

(Cousin Ted Freeman had grown up when this picture was taken)

Of all my farm relatives, Uncle Frank and Aunt Lucinda Freeman worked the hardest and got the least

reward for their labour That is my opinion. They would never say this. I am not sure if cousin

Ted would agree. Their farm was in a nest of hills that drained into a large pond that was dead

centre. Tough land. Lots of stones and lots of danger. I spent a lot of time with them, more

than with any of our legions of Skeoch farms around Fergus. I never appreciated how hard they

had to work to make a living until they were gone.

This picture of them at rest is inappropriate because they never had

much time for rest since they had to squease an income from the piles

of glacial till left for them 10,000 years ago when the Laurentian ice sheet

melted.

Bob Root has explained the rack lifting system.

Hi Alan,

Those wheels were used as rack lifters. The wagon load of loose hay or straw would be pulled up by the team of horses

so that the load would be positioned under the wheel assemblies.

Ropes would be attached to the wagon rack and the axles of the wheel assembly.

Horses would then pull on the ropes around the wheels and the wagon rack would be lifted off the wagon frame and

raised to the level of the haymow where the farmer could fork the load off of the wagon rack and into the haymow.

The unloaded rack would then be lowered back onto the wagon frame where it could return to the field for another load.

This was all a lot of work in the days before hay balers and elevators were invented.

This is what a hay wagon would look like when driven into the barn…only this

is a load of sheaves of wheat being fed into a threshing machine by cousin Eleanor and her

husband James Calder other Bellwood farm.

Robert Root

“On our farm we didn’t use this method but the Awrey farm across the road from us did.”

“On our farm we used a hayfork system. The loaded wagon was pulled up onto the driving floor and the large hayfork was plunged into the load of hay. Horses with a rope attached would then walk out the gangway pulling the rope behind them and this would lift the hayfork loaded with a large bundle of hay up to the roof level where a 4 wheeled trolley ran along a track and it could carry the hayfork forward or backwards and also sideways into various mows. At the desired location the jaws of the fork would be opened and the bundle of hay or straw would be released and fall down into the mow. By the time I was a kid the horses were replaced by a tractor which pulled the long rope up and down the gangway. I remember one day that my cousin Ken and I were sitting in the sand playing at the base of the gangway and the rear tire of the tractor ran over Ken’s outstretched legs as it pulled the rope to lift the hayfork.

This whole process was very dusty and so when balers became available we quit the hayfork business but the hayfork track always remained hanging from the inside peak of the barn roof.”

“Rooter….how much hay would 1cow need for winter…or a horse…miscalculation = starvation…I wonder how farmers made this calculation””

“Trial and error, Alan, If it looked like the farm was going to run out of hay then a couple of animals would have to be butchered.”

August 2, 2022August 30, 2022

EPISODE 622 ZINNIAS CAN OUTRACE THE WEEDS august 2, 2022

EPISODE 622 ZINNIAS CAN OUTRACE THE WEEDS

alan skeoch

August 2, 2022

The Dundurn Kitchen Garden is terrific. Helped along by gardeners who diligently fight the

weeds wheeling them to the compost heap. Marjorie and I are not that lucky. The weeds get ahead of us

and defeat us. And that is why we love our zinnias. They now how to outrace the weeds to find sunshine.

Dundurn has nice clear footpaths. We do not.

Did you notice? No weeds insight. Why? Because a team of gardeners in full costume

of the 1830’s spend their waking hours searching and then thumping weeds to death

with sharpened hoes.

On our farm in Erin Township, Wellington County we always lose our race with weeds.

This year we gave up the battle and decided to let the zinnias fight the weeds.

We expected defeat but have been astounded to discover that zinnias can outrun weeds in

the race to get sunlight.

No big deal. Finding victory in defeat.

Speaking of victory here below is another picture of our elephant ear. Thriving on a

cold winter day in a farmhouse that is cool enough that our grand daughter Nolan feels

the need to wear a winter coat. That is one tough elephant ear. So tough that we have

given it a permanent window.

August 2, 2022August 30, 2022

DUNDURN CASTLE KITCHEN GARDEN aug. 2,2022

EPISODE 621 DUNDURN CASTLE KITCHEN GARDEN AUGUST 2,2022

alan skeoch

aug. 2, 2022

“Alan, we must drive to Hamilton today.”

“To damn hot”

“Best day tos ee the Dundurn Castle kitchen Garden”

“Sounds unimpressive…a kitchen garden!”

“You will be surprised…probably one of the best gardens you will ever see…

full of things to eat.”

“Kitchen gardens are often full of weeds….like the Borage which has

taken over our farm garden. Borage…bah, Humbug!”

“Yes,they have Borage. Did you know it is edible…like cucumber. And the

flowers are a delicacy….accent a cool drink.”

“It’s a weed.”

“Not so. Loosen up, Alan. The garden is nearly two acres…stands on the south side

of the castle at Dundurn.”

“Wouldn’t it be betters of my time for me to try and control the borage at our

farm…stepping on it, slicing it, trying to get the blessed roots.”

“Silly. There is another reason you should go…

At Dundurn, one whole wall is devoted to espaliered apples and pears just

like your grandfathers’ Victorian Garden at Eywood.

in Herefordshire.”

“Eywood was demolished in 1954 just like many other immense estates after

the war. I don’t like to be reminded. Granddad was a very proud head gardener…like

Capability Brown.”

“Ok, start the car…I think you will ve surprised….It will take less than an hour

to get there.”

“Who maintains the Dundurn Kitchen garden?”

“You will see..by he way, the garden tour is free.””

And so we went to Dundurn Castle to see their kitchen garden. It is magnificent…

criss crossed with trails and plantings. Rather starling. Borage is valued. I

thought it was a weed. Bet no reader of this introduction has ever heard of borage.

I must look up recipes.

DUNDURN CASTLE KITCHEN GARDEN

Marjorie is cautioned about seed seeking.

Marjorie found one Elephant Ear, about 3 feet high. Our Elephant Ear has now reached 7 feet and cannot be moved from

the farm kitchen to the bright sunlight outside the farm house. No big deal I suppose but we do have bragging rights

with Elephant Ear enthusiasts.

“One problem , Alan, “

“like?”

“Elephant Ears are inedible.”

“As far as we know.”

“Alan, what did you think of the Dundurn Kitchen Garden? Seriously!”

“I thought it was terrific…worth three hours of our lives.”