BEING A FRIEND OF BOBBY

Anyone who knew Bobby Clow would be impressed by his great knowledge and a visit to Struan House was a pleasurable and an informative experience. During the time there many topics would be covered accompanied with a dram and a cup of coffee. Many visitors would receive an acrostic connected to the visit usually outlining your skills as a tradesman or your personality as a friend, my regret is I never received one.

Bobby was one of life’s characters, in fact I think I could go as far as say he was ever so slightly eccentric, but what a boring world this would be if there were no Bobby Clows.

We probably all have our own memories of Bobby and if you feel like putting pen to paper The Crier would love to hear them.

I have many memories of him but two stand out above the rest.

Cycling around the village to an old age, from time to time Bobby liked to impress the ladies with his push bikes acrobatics. Freewheeling along past Janet Paton and her sister one day, getting off and on his bike while moving, unfortunately not seeing the pot hole, well, skint knees and elbows were the result.

Bobby loved to dance and was a lover of all kinds of music. However, indoors was not the only place he enjoyed a waltz. My wife Susan was wandering down the High Street doing a bit of shopping and met Bobby coming in the opposite direction, before she knew it both were spinning their way down the centre of the Fair City.

The next time you meet a friend in the street have a dance in memory of Bobby.

The housing  immediately before the Old Abernethy Hotel, on the east side called Clow Square, was once the site of the Clow family business. (pictures of the building can be seen in the Museum of Abernethy). The company manufactured high quality nightwear for retailers such as Harrods and Jenners.

 “He had a guid innings” is a common saying when somebody lives to a ripe old age, in Bobby’s case it was “a full guid innings”.

He will be sadly missed by many.       

Jimmy S