Bill Scott's Blog - Posts Tagged "clermiston"

I have never been a fan of dry historic facts so, when I wrote 'The Buttercup', I was determined to write it as a story that brought out the spirit of the company and its employees, as well as the compassion and generosity of Andrew Ewing – the man I so fondly remembered from my childhood. The book is, of course, factually accurate, but I also wrote it 'from the heart' and in a style similar to that used by a writer of fiction.

I knew I was writing something a little different but I had no idea that it had a name, until I recently came across the term 'creative non –fiction' - where the goal is to make nonfiction stories read like fiction, "so that your readers are as enthralled by fact as they are by fantasy". That was certainly my aim but it is up to readers to decide whether I succeeded.

What do you do if you want to write a true story that is fifty to a hundred years old, with few written references or published photographs? That was the problem that faced me when I decided to write the story of The Buttercup and it's remarkable founder, Andrew Ewing, who gave away a fortune in his wish to die a poor man.

I knew the basic story, since I was born and brought up on Andrew Ewing's farm and my grandparents had told me the tale - but there was barely enough for an article, never mind a book, and all I had to illustrate it, were a few family photographs. The only answer was to track down down and interview those who worked for the company and the nieces and nephews of Andrew Ewing - for he had no children. But how, and also, many would be well into old age, since Andrew Ewing died in 1956?

I must have been mad to take on the challenge but I then commenced a three year period of research, which involved appealing for information in every local newspaper in Scotland and going through the birth death and marriage records of the Ewing family.I was lucky, since enough former employees responded to my appeal - some well into their nineties - and amazingly I eventually found most of Andrew Ewing's nieces and nephews. However,for a long time, key pieces of the story were missing and it took me ages to find Andrew Ewing's family photos.

To make my task even harder, I had decided to write the book as a story - which is a bit of a problem when there are key pieces missing and you can't just make it up!

Eventually and amazingly it all came together, but then came the next problem - I had to publish quickly since so many of the people who had contributed were very old and I wanted them to see it. But that's another story and subject for a later blog!The Buttercup: The Remarkable Story of Andrew Ewing and the Buttercup Dairy Company

Five million eggs given away every year by Andrew Ewing's Buttercup Dairy during the 1930s - and that is only the headline in the life of a man who gave everything away in his desire to die penniless!

You would think that such a man would be well known - but Andrew Ewing didn't want any credit and avoided all publicity. I only know the story because I was born and brought up on his farm in the 1950s and have been able to track down many former employees and members of the Ewing family.

The result is my book - The Buttercup: The remarkable story of Andrew Ewing and the Buttercup Dairy Company, which tells the tale from his lowly birth in south west Scotland through the building of a business empire and finally the giving of it all away.

The 17th century English churchman once wrote "The great and the good are seldom the same man". He obviously didn't know Andrew Ewing.The Buttercup: The Remarkable Story of Andrew Ewing and the Buttercup Dairy Company

One of the joys of writing 'The Buttercup' was meeting some wonderful old ladies who worked for the company as far back as the 1920s. The oldest was Euphemia Murray, who was 96 when I interviewed her in 2009.Unfortunately,I broke my ankle a couple of weeks before our meeting, so I arrived at her home on crutches sporting a big blue plaster cast. Euphemia, by contrast, was the picture of health!

Although I had never met Euphemia before, it felt like going home and there was an immediate affinity between us. The forty years age difference made no difference - we had both grown up at the Buttercup and understood the 'magic' that was hard to share with others.

Euphemia enthusiastically related many tales of her time as a Buttercup message girl, where she started work in 1926, as a fourteen year old. Although it was hard work, she was happy there - she also instantly recognised the picture of Andrew Ewing I had brought with me.

Two years after I met Euphemia I paid a surprise visit to her nursing home, with her family, to give her a signed copy of my newly published book. The staff gathered round to watch the presentation and treated her like a celebrity. She was so pleased to receive the book that it brought tears to my eyes.

Up to that point I had mainly been thinking of book sales, but that experience made me realise that there was more to life than commercial success - something that was well understood by Andrew Ewing! The Buttercup: The Remarkable Story of Andrew Ewing and the Buttercup Dairy Company

A significant part of researching the story of the Buttercup involved the tracking down and interviewing of former employees of the company and relatives of Andrew Ewing, most of whom were well into their 80s and 90s, with the oldest being ninety-six. They were all wonderful people and I felt an obligation to finish the book and publish it as quickly as possible, so that they would still be alive to see it.

I carried out most of the interviews in 2009 and by the middle of 2010 had a working draft, which I thought was good enough to send off to potential publishers. Little did I know, at this stage, how difficult this would be and the length of time it can take to have a book accepted and published. I was also pretty peeved at the standard response which was along the line that if you haven't heard from us in six months you can assume that we don't want it! I rang a few firms to explain that I didn't have time for this but it mostly got nowhere, although one manager did give me a positive answer, saying that nobody had heard of Andrew Ewing. He didn't seem to understand that this was the whole point of the book – rescuing a great man from obscurity! It was also a great story.

I put up with this for a few months and then thought "to hell with it, I haven't got time for this". So I decided to form my own publishing company and Leghorn Books Ltd was born – the name being my grandmother's maiden name and also the breed of hen used at the Buttercup Poultry Farm!

Thereafter it was full speed ahead with editing and then design – both a lot more involved than I had thought, with the pursuit of perfection being particularly time consuming. However, I was glad to be in control of the process since this was my 'baby' and I wanted it to be right – a fact confirmed by both my editor and designer who both thought I was a pain in the ass!"

The book was finally ready for printing in mid 2011, which posed yet another dilemma. The cheapest option was for black and white with pictures inserted in sections, but I wanted it to have colour pictures running through the text, which was much more expensive and required a higher quality paper. Initially, the sums just didn't add up but after a bit of shopping around and negotiation I finally got a price that worked and 'The Buttercup' was published in July 2011.

Getting it reviewed was a bit of a problem, with one sniffy individual saying that he didn't review self published books! I was pleased to respond that I didn't really care since the Scotsman newspaper (The national newspaper of Scotland) was going to run a two page feature article in full colour!

As for the old ladies and gentlemen - they all survived to read the book and I had great pleasure in hand delivering their copies.The Buttercup: The Remarkable Story of Andrew Ewing and the Buttercup Dairy Company http://www.buttercupdairycompany.co.uk/

Everybody likes a good story but how many story books change history?

When I wrote The Buttercup, I had two thoughts in mind. The first was to tell the story of the remarkable man I knew as a child - the second was to restore Andrew Ewing to his rightful place in history.

I had long thought that Andrew Ewing should be up there with fellow Scots, like Carnegie and Livingstone – since, for me, you don’t get much better than building a business empire then secretly giving it all away to a point where there was nothing left. It was the secrecy which got me, since he really didn't want any credit - and that must be very rare.

His success and generosity weren't entirely unknown, and the oldest generation of Scots were very familiar with the Buttercup Dairy shops. Many also knew the name Andrew Ewing. The story of giving away all of the eggs laid on a Sunday was also relatively well known at one time, although those who knew the story – and I have spoken to a few - never knew that it was over 100,000 a week!

There is no doubt that since I wrote and publicised The Buttercup, the story has spread, and Edinburgh Council recently announced plans to build a new city park - to be known as the Buttercup Farm Park. How much of that decision was due to my book – published the year before – is not clear, but it must have had an impact.

Some local history societies are now featuring the Buttercup and Andrew Ewing on their websites and the story is beginning to be associated with Buttercup antiques. It is not yet mainstream, but that will take time and at least the seed has been sown. The Buttercup: The Remarkable Story of Andrew Ewing and the Buttercup Dairy Company http://www.buttercupdairycompany.co.uk/

This short article titled Buttercup Farm Honour has just been published in the Herald Scotland
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/ho...
More details can be found at http://www.buttercupdairycompany.co.uk/ and The Buttercup: The Remarkable Story of Andrew Ewing and the Buttercup Dairy Company

When my grandfather was becoming seriously unwell from working in the pit, Andrew Ewing offered him a healthy job on his farm and a rent free cottage. I have no doubt that it saved his life.

This is an extract of a letter from Andrew's wife(Ruth) to my grandmother in 1934
'This move on Mr Ewing’s part to take your husband from the coal pits has made me particularly happy. It is no life at all for a man but somebody must do it. However John has had his share and done his bit in the war so deserves a little bit of sunshine and air into his lungs more. These he will get at Clermiston Mains. You too deserve this wonderful change. Mr Ewing is taking such an interest in getting the cottage ready for you and has just phoned to say he thinks it should be ready in about a week’s time.' The Buttercup: The Remarkable Story of Andrew Ewing and the Buttercup Dairy Company See also http://www.buttercupdairycompany.co.uk/

I was fortunate to be born and brought up on the estate of Andrew Ewing – the man who founded the once famous Buttercup Dairy Company and gave away all of his wealth in his desire to die a poor man.

He was over eighty when I knew him but I still remember him well as the kind old man who used to give me 2/6 (50 cents) every time I met him on his afternoon walk - a lot of money in the 1950s. His kindness reverberated around the estate and my grandfather and Uncle Tom were eternally grateful to him for taking them out of the pit and giving them healthy jobs on the estate with a rent free cottage.

Sometimes Andrew Ewing's generosity verged on the ridiculous, like the time he turned up at my grandfather's door with an unexpected present – a new van, so that my grandfather could take my grandmother out for drives! A proud man, my grandfather wouldn't accept the gift. However, Andrew wasn't finished and turned up the following day to declare – "John, I'm making you a van driver!"The Buttercup: The Remarkable Story of Andrew Ewing and the Buttercup Dairy Company. See also http://www.buttercupdairycompany.co.uk/

Shortly after 'The Buttercup' was published, I visited a number of bookshops in 'Buttercup' towns and cities to try to persuade them to stock the book. I had some success but many were non-committal and the national chains told me to contact their head office - a veritable nightmare! So it was with some trepidation that I went through the door of Kesley's Bookshop in Haddington, just south of Edinburgh - my final visit of the day

The owner invited me into his office, where he looked through the book. I sat there for many minutes, like a nervous student waiting for an exam result, and fully expected him to say 'not for me'. After he had finished, I tentatively asked the question as to what he wanted to do. "I'll take twenty copies now" he replied, adding that if he couldn't sell it he shouldn't be in the book trade! After the day that I had experienced and all the work I had put into the book, it felt like winning the lottery.

By the following day, Kesley's had put together a window display and soon placed more orders for the book. Although I have had many other bookshop sales, none matches Kesleys, who showed what could be done by giving a book a bit of prominence and enthusiasm.

I would recommend Kesleys to anyone. It also has a great coffee shop.The Buttercup: The Remarkable Story of Andrew Ewing and the Buttercup Dairy Company. See also http://www.buttercupdairycompany.co.uk/ where the book is on special offer.