AFTER we printed a poem from the 1940s by a mysterious Con McCool, our phone lines have been red hot.
The poem was about a soldier on the front lines in World War 2 who missed the banter of walking through his beloved Lurgan Town.
Esther Kinkead, living on the Avenue Road but originally from Banbridge spotted the poem and got on to us.
She is t
he niece of McCool by marriage and he was the alter ego of Davy Scott, who worked for the ‘MAIL’ Way Back When in the 1930s.
She said: “He would walk through the town on a Saturday night with a paper under his arm and the first person to pick him out won a prize.
“He never got far mind.
“He wrote many poems, they were not the greatest, but they would always bring a smile to your face.”
Davy was born in Milford in 1901 and died in Manchester in 1987. He lived on Victoria Street in Lurgan.
He volunteered for the RAF in the war and was posted to Manchester for a clerical job, he was deemed too old for the front lines.
Shortly after his return form Manchester his wife died and he decided to move back to Manchester and then later the Midlands.
Esther got on to the phone to David’s son , Maynard Scott and he helped put together this week’s history.
Esther has, kindly, donated a poem of McCool’s to the ‘MAIL’ to whet the appetite.
Ulster Memories is an epic journey through the province. Con is 20 minutes from Lurgan in Belfast and recounts his travels through Ulster and how he will always miss Lurgan.
The poem is an epic and takes 14 minutes to read, but we can bring you the highlights.
The full article contains 300 words and appears in Lurgan Mail newspaper.
