The Secret Diaries of Two Auld Grannies
A tale of two Farmer’s Wives 1882 ~ 1944
by
Mary Holmes & Marion Orr
Edited by Jo Johnson
In 1956, my father cleared out his mother Janet’s house after she died. Among her stuff, he found three old diaries, written by his grandmother and her mother (his great-grandmother). When he retired he took on the mammoth task of transcribing the handwritten diaries. He shared the transcripts with family but never got around to publishing them. I decided it was time to give them a more permanent form. They are now available as paperback, hardback and large print books as well as an Amazon Kindle e-book.
Both diarists were born and brought up on farms in the countryside surrounding the villages of Kilmacolm and Bridge of Weir in the West of Scotland. Both married farmers.
Spanning the years between 1882 and 1944, their diaries paint a fascinating picture of the lives of these hard-working country folk during those sixty-two years.
Not only did the two grannies record family fortunes and tragedies, they also mentioned international events of interest to them, such as the International Glasgow Exhibition, the ‘Spanish Flu’ epidemic and other events that affected them during the First and Second World Wars.
You will be fascinated by the details recorded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by these strong and characterful women.