A Childhood in Argyll

Williamson spent most of his childhood living in a large tent in a forest outside the village of Furnace, Argyll. While his father worked as a quarryman by day and made baskets or scrubbers while at home, his mother would walk from door to door bartering items for a bit of food. Duncan attended the village school for the mandated number of days per annum. Each spring his parents would strike their tent and pack up a few belongings and the family would take to the road, travelling by foot, while his father picked up employment here and there. During these years Duncan mastered life skills that stood him in good stead, such as how to catch hares or poach salmon and how to sleep out on his own, kindling a fire by the shore and cooking shellfish. The chapter concludes with two children’s rhymes that Duncan learned at school.