Blue smoke and "bogey roll"

My father - Murdo Morrison - who was the village Post Master for many years had installed bench seats on the customer side of the Post Office /shop counter.
The Post Office was the destination for many people of the village for many reasons. The older men always wanted some "Murray's Irish Bogey Roll" which was similar to a length of narrow rope folded over in ounce weight quantities.
This tobacco gave off a very strong aroma and when two or three men were gathered there was a blue smoke. In summer time, with the door open, that could escape, in winter time there was a smog effect.
The Post Office was a central gathering point and a place where village information was exchanged long before the growth of telephones.
During WW2 the arrival and departure of the men and women serving in the armed forces added great interest to me. Most of them were in the Royal Navy and that must have sparked my very young interest. Some years later I did join the Royal Navy and in four years service the only time I went to sea was on the Loch Seaforth going home on leave to and from Stornoway.



MURDO MORRISON
WISHAW,
LANARKSHIRE