New edition of ‘Haste ye Back’
“Haste ye Back” the retrospective story of Dorothy K. Haynes’ upbringing at the Aberlour orphanage has been edited and launched this week by Dr Craig Lamont (FRHistS) lecturer in Scottish Studies at the Centre for Scottish and Celtic Studies at Glasgow University. This is a fresh and considered approach to the life of Dorothy K. Haynes. It includes an unedited original version of “Haste ye Back” as well as four additional texts – three of which are reminiscences of her time in the orphanage and the fourth an example of her short story writing “The Head”.
Dr Lamont first discovered the numerous writings of Dorothy K Haynes when he was at Trinity High School in Rutherglen. He was inspired by the hugely talented but relatively unknown Scottish authoress who specialised in short stories. Fortuitously when researching Dorothy K. Haynes Dr Lamont tracked down her son, Leonard Gray, who was able to supply him with access to her writing including the original edition of Haste Ye Back, her diaries and typescripts.
In this memoir Dorothy recounts how as a ten year old she and her twin brother Leonard were sent to live at the orphanage in Speyside following the death of their mother in 1929. Led to believe that they were going to boarding school the children embarked on their new lives at Aberlour. Details are given of events and activities including the annual trip to Lossiemouth where 500 children enjoyed the freedom of the beach and others the annual pilgrimage to the lighthouse. Upon leaving Lossie the locals called upon the children to ‘Haste ye Back’.
‘Haste ye Back’ was first published in 1973 by which time Dorothy was a housewife married to John, who also grew up in the orphanage, and mother of two boys living in Lanarkshire.
Dr Lamont says; “To edit and produce a new edition of Haste Ye Back fifty years after its first printing is a proud, personal achievement. I first read Dorothy K. Haynes in high school, and it kindled a sense of awe for literature. I have been working for many years on editing projects at the University of Glasgow, huge textual volumes on Robert Burns and Allan Ramsay. To apply the experience of working on these writers to a sorely neglected Scottish talent is something I am very proud of. To be able to rejuvenate Haynes’s legacy, not just for new readers but for her son Leonard and his family makes it extra special.”
CEO of Aberlour, SallyAnn Kelly OBE says; “We are very grateful to Dr Craig Lamont for keeping Dorothy and the children in the Aberlour orphanage’s stories alive. Between 1875 and 1967 our orphanage was home to over 6000 children. For some young people life in the orphanage was distressing and their stories are hard to hear. In her writing however, Dorothy paints a picture of the orphanage being a true home and for the most part a happy one at that. This new edition of ‘Haste ye Back’ with its additional texts has an important role to play in recording social history.”
The book launch event was hosted at at the Centre for Scottish and Celtic Studies at Glasgow University as part of their 2023/24 programme. It was attended by Dr Craig Lamont, SallyAnn Kelly in addition to Leonard and Anne Gray.
Books can be obtained in various bookshops including Waterstones for £14.95