A Paddy tale
The Paddy was the London – Stranraer Irish Mail train.
It called at a number of stations as it wended its way through Galloway, and, because of this, this part of its journey from London was easily the most tedious.
It stopped for nothing as it hurtled on its way between stations. A flock of sheep straying onto the Paddy track would have been instantly converted into mutton before any single one of them could utter a startled bleat.
It stopped at stations on its way only for as long as was absolutely necessary and not one moment more.
One of its obligatory stops was at the tiny station of Dunragit, near Stranraer. Dunragit, oddly enough, was considered quite an important station, for it was at this junction passengers wishing to catch the Glasgow train disembarked.
One can only wonder at the thoughts of strangers from the distant city when they found themselves turfed out into a winter blizzard in the middle of the night in this rather desolate outpost seemingly in the back of beyond.
One story (probably apocryphal) told about this station, told to me many years ago, concerned the station porter at the time. A bitterly cold night saw him on duty, waiting on the arrival of the Paddy from London. The old man, knowing that the pubs would all be closed by the time he knocked off work, had taken the precaution of purchasing a half bottle of whisky before he came on duty.
He had not intended to broach it before he clocked off work for the night, to be fair to him, but the caul' was fair deeleteerious, so it was, and the oul' arthuritis was giving him gyp, so what's a man to do? But perhaps if he had been stone cold sober at the time and his feet a bit more steady, this story need never have been told.
The Paddy duly arrived. The porter began his platform duty call: "Change here for Girvan, Ayr and Glasgow. Change here for Girvan, Ayr and Glasgow. Change here for Girvan, Ayr and Glasgow…." as he marched up and down the platform.
He never completed his sentence in the manner intended, for his feet slipped on the icy platform. As he tried wildly to regain his balance, the bottle slipped from his pocket, smashing to pieces on the platform, and the final call the startled passengers from London heard was "Change here for …. Hell, damnation and buggery."
Story taken from "Travels In Galloway."
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Weather for Newton Stewart
Thursday 17 May 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 6 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 6 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 23 mph
Wind direction: East
