Grandad's Honeymoon and Little Princess Margaret

My friends said I couldn't stop with one post. "You have to write more blogs!" they prompted. "Tell one of the Grandad's stories!" So I thought about my favorites -- Jimmy Turner and the Salmon, or Jimmy Turner and the Whiskey, and then I thought of the one I like best, Grandad's Honeymoon and Litte Princess Margaret. So I'll tell that one if you please. (Or if you don't. One thing about storytellers is that they always think you DO!)

Well, Grandad started out apprenticed as a Baker's Boy in a shop in Glasgow. He was slender all his life, but from boyhood he was strong and athletic, and quick as a wink he could lug giant sacks of flour out of the miller's cart and up and down the storage stairs in that baker shop. More important, he was a hard-working lad and a truly kind, gentle person whom everybody liked. So he got on.

I'm not sure when exactly he met Lily Anderson, but when she smiled he was done for. ( I want to say this straight off -- they were happy to marry and they loved each other every day of their lives.)

Now, they didn't have much money so they weren't about to take a luxurious honeymoon trip, but Grandad was a keen cyclist, and Lily agreed to his plan that they should pedal their way from Glasgow down into England, where a cousin of his had a position as one of the under-gardeners at Windsor Castle. Since this cousin had invited the newly-weds to stay with him in his wee cottage there, they had a free kip waiting for them at the bottom of their ride. Thus, the honeymoon trip promised to be a grand yet affordable adventure, so off they went. (You can see these two dear ones in the photo. Imagine Lily's cycling for miles and miles wearing a long skirt and a fashionable great hat!)

Here's a wee digression. I ask your patience for it's a true part of the honeymoon trip and sweetly revealing of Lily's innocent manner and Grandad's penchant for gentle practical jokes. As the day grew warm, Grandad suggested they stop for a drink. He went into the bar -- Lily waiting outside, of course. He told her he'd just nip in and get her a "shandy," and a little something for himself. (A "shandy" is a spiked lemonade.) Now Grandad, being a true born and bred Scot, knew how to knock back a whiskey while Lily customarily did not take any alcoholic beverage. She asked nervously what a shandy might be. Grandad assured her, "Tis a nice, cooling lemon drink, Lily. Ye'll enjoy it."

Indeed she did! Smacking her lips, she declared, "Tis quite refreshin' John. I believe I'll have another!" As the day wore on, she began to request that they stop at every little inn with a bar so she could have another "refreshing shandy drink." Grandad always laughed when reminiscing about this part of their honeymoon trip, "Lily never knew that her wobbly legs had anything to do with this 'refreshing' beverage. She thought she was just tired from the long ride!"

All right. We're coming to the part where John and his Lily get to Windsor and meet the cousin. We have to meet the cousin because he's the one who told the Princess Margaret part of this story. Since I've been warned not to make a blog posting too long, the rest of this story will have to wait. It's a fine little tale about a royal who is no longer with us, as told by a nice man who also passed from our midst, long ago. What harm can there be now in letting you hear the secret story I've loved for years? I'll write out that bit for you next time.