A Burgess By Far - by Duncan Harley with thanks to Charlie Abel, Suzanne Kelly, Barney Crocket, Ronald Watt and the late Bob Smith
As of this week, Fred Arthur Wilkinson is a Burgess of the City of Aberdeen and that’s maybe a good thing. After all, he’s somewhat of a more than ordinary guy and I for one owe him a huge debt. In fact, mention Fred to any Aberdonian and you will either be met with a dumfounded ‘whose Fred?’ or an ‘Oh I ken the lad well. Fine chap and no question. Disnae he hiv some sort of plaque on a wall down by the Green alongside the likes of that loudmouth Lennox wifie?” Some folk are even minded to comment that they probably have a photo of the man and his ceilidh band on the mantlepiece following some family wedding or other. For my part, following a spell at the Big Issue in Scotland, I had been blogging for a wee while for not much money. But no-one in particular had paid that much attention. Then came a spell plugging my work on the likes of Bliphoto and Flickr and some unpaid but published pieces amongst the Aberdeenshire weekly squeaks and the various Banffies. I kept on the day ...