An Old School Buddy

Largely at my mother's insistence and as a testament to her determination I was educated at one of the top Catholic independent schools in Scotland, St Aloysius College, situated in Glasgow. In my time it was boys only and it was and still is run by the the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits, which was tasked at inception in the sixteenth century by the then Pope to spearhead the fight back against the Reformation. St Aloysius' status as a top school is perhaps more modern because in my day it was a fairly primitive, unreconstructed sort of place, though even then there was some kudos in sending your sons there...so much so that my mother had me sporting the blazer at mass before term began!

On Saturday night I went out to dinner with an old friend from that school, Stephen, whom I haven't had any dealings with for over 25 years. His brother David, another former pupil of the school joined us together with Stephen's wife Sheila and David's partner Mary and Stephen & Sheila's two teenage kids, Stephen Jnr and Lucy. What a delightful evening it was! Great reminiscences on people and situations and we even managed to listen to Elton John's Good Bye Yellow Brick Road and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Stephen and I were also great fans of Derek & the Dominos and I seem to recall we sat through three plus hours of the movie of The Concert for Bangladesh. Lovely to see Stephen and his family and to see that he is very well and happy. I hope we keep in touch.

I am very pleased I made contact with Stephen and equally pleased he came back so positively. Really pleasant evening and good that his brother David was able to join us. Joke for obscurantists; the difference between the Jesuits and the Dominicans? The Dominicans were formed to fight the Albigensian Heresy, dating back to the 12th century and the Jesuits to counter the Protestant Reformation. The difference between the two orders is that no one ever met an Albigensian in the street!

A pleasant Sunday with my friend Tony involved mass at St Aloysius Church Glasgow, a fine lunch in a Kurdish restaurant in the West End, followed by a spin down to Lochwinnoch where among other exciting birds we watched a Great Spotted Woodpecker, some Tufted Ducks and Golden Eyed Ducks. Then briefly to Largs where a terrible gale was howling and back to Deniston in the East End of Glasgow for a fine supper at Coia's Cafe, where I ate a very pleasant fish & chips preceded by an outstanding plate of home made minestrone soup. I enjoyed visiting Deniston: this is where my father grew up and on my way home to Hamilton we drove past my mother's family home in Carntyne. Dear Old Glasgow Town.