Embo (School?) Ladies circa WW1
Photocopy of monochrome photograph depicting thirty-four Embo ladies circa WW1, taken at the old School, presently a community centre and tearoom. The following individuals are identified left to right:
Row 5 -- ?, Barbara MacKay, Bella Paul, Jenny Cumming, Grace Cumming
Row 4 -- "Teeny'' (owned shop in Back St.), Jessie Bell, Maggie Fraser, Margaret ?, ?, Jean Fraser (King St.), Lena MacKay (Gate St.)
Row 3 -- ?, Katie Buckhart, ?, Margaret Fraser or MacKay, Isabel Sutherland, Joan MacKay, Betty McQuacker [sic], Margaret Bell (Jessie Bell's sister, see row 4).
Row 2 -- ?, Daisy Sutherland, Barbara Ross, ? Jessie Kay
Row 1 -- George [Georgina?] Jugg, Maggie Meir, Margaret MacKay (of 7 Back St.), ?, Maggie Bonar, Maggie Macleod and Mrs. Calder (Headmaster's wife).
Dimensions: Width 160mm - Height 110mm
Groups: Hidden Gems
2 Comments
Maggie Bonar (5th from left in row 1) was my godmother, and known to me as Auntie Meg. She was Taylor, nee MacKay. Lived at 3 Terrace street, with her sister Jean Ann. She also appears in photo 7031 centre of middle row, and I believe that's her husband on the right in top row.
Teeny (on left in row 4) I think is Catherine Ross, also in photo 10075. I knew her as Katie, and found her a bit scary when I was a child!! I don't think she was at all though really. Comment left on 08 December 2022 at 17:04 by DIane Ross
In Row 5 Bella Paul was known in Embo as Bella aig Paul, she was an Isabella Ross. "Teeny" in Row 4 did indeed run the shop on Back Street and she was known in Embo as Tennie aig Peter Ross and was a Fraser through marriage. The lady given as Jessie Bell was Jessie Mackay who lived at 8 Front Street. I think that her Embo byname was Jessie Bell aig Nansa. The Maggie Fraser next to her was my father's sister and she was known in Embo as Maggie Moyse. She was called after the Embo School headmaster's wife Margaret Moyse who was then the village midwife. My father was always known in Embo as 'Willie M' as when he entered Embo school in 1905 he was by then the 13th William Mackay scholar in the school. At that time all the school teachers were English speaking and were thus unable to tap into the well-used Embo by-name system. (For a full explanation of this by-name system Google Gaelic researcher Nancy C Dorian's thesis on 'A substitute name system in the Scottish Highlands')
Daisy Sutherland in Row 2 was known as Daisy aig Dollie and the lady next to her I always knew as Babbie aig Broon. She was closely related to my father and she worked with me in the summers of 1954 and 1955 at the Dornoch Hotel. Jessie aig Kay (Kay as in Mackay) in the same row was a Jessie Ross whose son David (born 10/12/1939) was my classmate at Embo school and he left for the USA while still very young and spent his work life in the US marines and the State Police in Colorado. Her other son Alastair served in the Met police in London but spent some years working in Glasgow before that.
Now what really puzzled me was the name "George (Georgina) Jugg" for the lady of the extreme left of Row 1. I knew her as Georgag Watt and she had three daughters about my age. They were Jenny, Annabelle and Aileen. I have never heard the name 'Jugg' before. Georjag was a Fraser by birth and was related to my mother who was known in Embo as Maryann aig Dannagh. -
Comment left on 14 January 2020 at 08:14 by Kenneth Mackay Many thanks for this additional information; the entry date has been updated. Administrator