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Memories of a childhood in wartime Leith. The trials and tribulations of the period, allied to the camaraderie of the community in facing up to an uncertain future made a lasting impression on John Stewart.
The extra daylight hours in Leith during the War were greatly appreciated and put to full use by us. Our games were numerous and were in the main influenced by the season of the year.
A game could be in fashion one day and the next day another had taken its place. We even played cricket but not one to satisfy even the most liberal purist of the game. A flat piece of wood would fill in for a bat with the stumps chalked on to a wall. All bowling had to be underarm.
Most of these pastimes involved no expense and for those that did, our weekly pocket money would be sufficient. One such game was bools - marbles being the proper term.
Our bools consisted of various types - plain glass with colour inners, cherries and steelies (ball bearings). They were kept in old stockings or a leather bag with a drawstring.
As in all sports, there were good players and bad players. This led to a system of buncing. Buncing was the pooling of bools by two or more persons with the best player or players doing the playing.
The game involved a circle being drawn on the ground, ideally on a soft surface where it could be indented. This was achieved by pivoting on your heel, turning through 360 degrees and at the same time marking the ground with your instep.
From an agreed distance the competitors pitched their opening bool at the circle and the one landing nearest the centre had the first plunk. Plunking was the art of flicking a bool by the action of the thumb against the forefinger that held it.
The idea was for the plunked ball to strike an opponent's and this would be deposited in the plunker's bag. From where it landed, the plunker would then take aim at the next nearest and so on until he missed the target.
The nearest to the circle from the original pitch would then be given the opportunity to access it. This game went on until all bools had been taken and then a new game began.
A successful bunce could accumulate a fair profit, and this was shared out according to the original investment. I was only a fair player so I was content to allow another person to play for me.
A lad called Tam Veitch was recognised as our best player and no wonder. He could hit another bool with almost 100% accuracy. Such was his skill, I bunced with him as often as possible.
John Stewart, 2001
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