My Sister, Minnie

I was three years old when my younger brother Noel was  born in our home, The Cross, on Christmas day 1929. At this time my elder brother John was six and our sister Minnie was ten. With four children now in the family our mother Katie had her work cut out for her as homes and families in these days had none of the labor saving devices, appliances and conveniences that today we take for granted. Mothers worked from dawn till dark at a hundred and one tasks. At an early age, older children pitched in to share the day to day workload and with the arrival of Noel my sister Minnie took responsibility for the caring of me which greatly assisted my mother until I was old enough to take care of myself.

Minnie was a studious young lady and she did well in school at both the Elie school and the Waid Academy.

Minnie left the Waid when she was seventeen and with good math, language and secretarial skills she went to work at the Elie branch of the Clydesdale bank.  However that didn't last for long as she married Matthew Mills who with his parents and his brother Fraser actively farmed the lands of Kincraig.

As a teenager one of Minnie's passions was playing the piano and she became a member of the Mills dance band which was composed of Matthew and his brother Fraser, Minnie and one other musician. 

Friday night was the time for the regular dance that was held in the Earlsferry town hall and the Mills band were popular with the local dancers. Each and every dance night was well attended.  This was in the days before television and the weekly dance was the way for the locals to let off steam. In these days most every one danced.

For many years, Matthew, Minnie and family lived in the white house at Grange Hill which looks on to the Firth of Forth.

In due time Minnie and Matthew had three children, Irene, Margaret and another Matthew.