Homage to Caledonia by Daniel Gray sampler

Acknowledgements
I have been stimulated and encouraged by the kind help and knowledge of
widows, sons, daughters and nieces of those who participated in the Spanish
Civil War. In particular, David Drever, Annie Dunlop, Sandra Elders, Alan
Murray, Sonna Murray, Sheila Stuart, Liz Pettie, and George and Nan Park
all offered me stories, wisdom, and copious amounts of tea, cakes and soup.
The words of Willy Maley were almost as great a motivation as the actions
of his father. I am grateful, too, for their cooperation in allowing me to use
the letters and archives of their relatives. Mike Arnott, Jim Carmody and
Marlene Sidaway of the International Brigades Memorial Trust have been
enormously helpful. Ian MacDougall’s written and spoken words have been
of immense value, as has been the advice of Richard Baxell, Alan Warren and
Don Watson. A grant from the Strathmartine Trust facilitated an extremely
useful study trip to Spain.
Thanks are due to David Higham Associates for permission to use a quote
from Muriel Spark’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. The unendingly patient
and obliging Dr John Callow of the Marx Memorial Library deserves special
praise, and thanks for permission to use quotes from the library’s International
Brigades archive. Images and quotes appear courtesy of private collections
belonging to the relatives of International Brigaders, and holdings of the
National Library of Scotland (see Archival Sources, page 213). Photographs
of the Scottish Ambulance Unit originally appeared in the Glasgow Evening
Herald. Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders of material
reproduced in the book. In case of any query, please contact the publisher.
At the National Library of Scotland, Maria Castrillo, Kenneth Dunn,
Lauren Forbes, Cate Newton, Stephen Rigden, Robin Smith and Chris Taylor
have been supportive in the extreme. Special thanks go to my translator Elena
Fresco Barreira, the only Spaniard I know who uses the word ‘ken’. Gavin
MacDougall has made Luath Press the ideal publishing house to write for, as
well as supplying some outstanding ideas for the book, including the title. The
support of his colleague Leila Cruickshank has also been invaluable, as has
the assiduous work and treasured advice of my editor Jennie Renton.
The opinions expressed in Homage to Caledonia are those of the author
and not of the publisher or any institution.
On a personal level, my mum and dad’s encouragement continues to know
no bounds, and I cannot give thanks enough for the faith shown in me by
Marisa, first a football widow, and lately a Spanish Civil War widow. Finally,
my greatest, sadly posthumous, thanks must go to Steve Fullarton: quite
simply, an inspiration.
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