Rest in peace, Mary Docherty

My friend Mary (known to her family as Maureen) Docherty passed away this morning. Mary was a huge lover of Scotland and a long time supporter of independence. Mary was one of the first people I met through this blog. Back in the blog’s early days, before the independence referendum when my late husband Andy was still alive, and we were living in Riddrie in the East End of Glasgow, Mary left a comment on the blog which mentioned that she had popped into Riddrie library. Realising she must live nearby, I contacted her privately and discovered that I passed her house every day when walking the dug. I began to drop in for a cuppa and a natter and we quickly became firm friends. The dug loved her and she always kept a supply of cooked sausages for him.

After Andy passed away I moved a few miles away to a different part of town, but I continued to visit Mary regularly and we chatted on the phone every other day, a habit which continued right up until she was admitted to hospital a few weeks ago, suffering her final illness. She adored my second husband Peter and when she was healthy she often came to visit us here in South Ayrshire. We visited her every time we went to Glasgow.

Mary was the archetypal Glesga wummin. She was indominitable, fearless, opinionated and a force of nature. She didn’t suffer fools gladly. Mary was unbowed and unbeaten right to the very end. She defeated cancer several years ago and we all hoped that she’d confound expectations yet again this time. Sadly it was not to be.

Mary was kind, thoughtful, creative, and a generous spirit. One of her visits to Peter and me in South Ayrshire coincided with a visit from my mum, and we discovered that when she was a child, Mary’s aunt and uncle used to live in the same close as my mum in Langness Road in Cranhill. Mary was a regular visitor and remembered my mum’s family who lived two floors up. My mum remarked of Mary’s uncle – “Did he no die when he fell off the Kincardine Bridge?” Mary replied – “He didnae fall off.” That’s a mystery we will never get to the bottom of.

Mary was more than just a friend, she was part of my family and knowing her was an honour, a pleasure, and a joy. I’m going to miss her, and I wanted to honour her memory in this blog, which is how she first came into my life and that she will forever be a part of.

Rest in Peace, Mary. I’m going to miss you. As long as I have a breath in my body I will continue to campaign for the independent Scotland that you longed for. That’s the best way I know to honour your memory.

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Having abandoned Twitter I will be actively posting on BlueSky from now on. You can find me at https://bsky.app/profile/weegingerdug.bsky.social follow me there and I will generally follow back.

My Gaelic maps of Scotland are still available, a perfect gift for any Gaelic learner or just for anyone who likes maps. The maps cost £15 each plus £8 P&P within the UK. P&P to the USA or Canada is £18 and P&P to Europe is £14. P&P to Australia and New Zealand is £20. You can order by sending a PayPal payment of £23 to [email protected] (Please remember to include the postal address where you want the map sent to).

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I am also now selling my Cornish language map of Cornwall which was produced in collaboration with Akademi Kernewek, the umbrella body for Cornish language organisations. The approximately 1200 place names on the map were researched and agreed by the Akademi’s place name panel. The map is A1 in size. The Cornish maps cost £15 each plus £8 P&P within the UK.  P&P to the USA or Canada is £18 and P&P to Europe is £14. P&P to Australia and New Zealand is £20. You can order by sending a PayPal payment for the appropriate amount to [email protected]  or by using my PayPal.me link PayPal.Me/weegingerdug
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Within Cornwall the map is available at Kowsva, 6 Artists Muse, Heartlands, Poll/Pool – The Kowethas shop. They are also available from The Cornish Store in Aberfala/Falmouth. Other outlets in Cornwall will follow soon.

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