what the contributor might most want to say. There is therefore some

repetition, but to eliminate it would have been unfair to some, and in any

event repetition itself is valuable in revealing what seemed most interesting or

important to more than one person.

The part of the second section of the book which contains reports of

what is going on in the village today will be, I hope, as well as of interest

to present generations also a useful source of information for anyone in

the future, perhaps many centuries hence, who may undertake a study of

this community.

The whole project has been interesting from start to finish, and the

temptation was often strong to follow a fascinating by-way. Dr. John

Thompson, former Rector of Madras College, observed in this connection,

“The lanes and by-ways of history are often more interesting than the main

road”, to which my husband replied, “Yes, but don’t forget there is a main

road.” He is right, and yet local history is in a way an exploration of many

side roads which come together to make the main road.

It has been an enjoyable task, but having finished it I feel as Mr. Mauch line,

schoolmaster in Strathkinness, must have felt when he wrote in 1903 with

just a few weeks left before the inspection and examination of the school.

“History has been got over — at last — the remainder of the session will be

occupied in revising the period 55 B.C. to 1903”. My undertaking is even

greater, in attempting to cover Strathkinness from the ice-age to the future.

Strathkinness

October, 1986.

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