Forgotten Ones

Armistice Day.

There are two war memorials in our village which are placed at opposite ends of the main road which connect us together and to the rest of the world.

The first to be built was placed next to the church and was moved when the church was sold. The names of men from the village killed in the first world war are engraved on the memorial.

After it was erected, the story goes, someone in the village pointed out there were a couple of names missing. These were 'puirhoose bairns' who had exchanged their labour for food and shelter in the village and surrounding areas. However, the Minister was unmoved and refused to include their names on the church memorial. It did not matter that they too had died for the freedom of others and, in death, had achieved equality.

One villager, fired up with a sense of injustice, created a memorial especially for those who had been neglected and placed it at the other end of the village. This is the one in the shot.

The two memorials act as a reminder of past division within our own communities and the inscription is particularly poignant.