Written Text of Frederick Buchanan's Story

Frederick Stewart Buchanan tells his son, Alan about two of the most important events in his life.

FRED: It just so happens Alan that 55 years ago next month I arrived here in New York on a Scotch Whiskey ship. Well, the first challenge I faced is that people couldn’t understand me. I spoke perfectly plain English, but they couldn’t understand me – especially when R’s got in.

And I was speaking to some woman on the train and she said, “What kind of vegetables to you have in Scotland?” I said, “We have carrots.”

She said, “What?”

“Carrots.” And she said, “I’ve never heard of those.”

ALAN: Tell me about meeting mom, and…

FRED: I was playing my bagpipes with the Salt Lake Scots. And your mother was in the audience. That was the first time she saw me. My mother-in-law says that she saw my legs and fell for them. I had my kilt on [laughs].

I got engaged the following August. As we stood on the banks, I asked her if she’d marry me. I held up my hand and I said, “Look at those diamonds up in the sky” – the stars were just like diamonds – and when her hand was up there, I slipped the ring on her finger.