Monday Moments: Something Borrowed

This month marks the start of our new theme: ‘Borrowed’. I’ve been thinking about borrowed clothes, objects and heirlooms and about the stories we pass down through the things we own.

I’ve always been fascinated by the objects people are drawn to and what this says about them. And I’ve always loved second-hand things – vintage clothing, in particular – because these items come with stories attached. They might not be borrowed, per se, but I can’t help but think of pre-loved in those terms. Once, I found a little embroidered purse from the 1940s. Inside, there was a comb and two photos, and on the back of one someone had written ‘the gang’ or something to that effect. It was like finding treasure, a window to the past.

Borrowed clothes, books and bric-à-brac have their own unique charm and I think that’s because we can sense the stories in them. Objects carry the weight of history, and we’re reminded of the people and places we associate with them. They’re so intrinsically connected to memory, and memory is what shapes us.

The pieces I’ve chosen for my page this month explore how stories and memories are captured in the miscellany of everyday life.

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First, Alison Awbery writes about a precious (and literary) family heirloom and the touching story behind it.

A Borrowed Gift

A gift from father to daughter, Burns’ Complete Works. Everything that Robert Burns published, all within one small, thick book. Already pre-loved when purchased for two shillings, as noted within the cover in pencil, alongside a signature: Lily. B. Macdonald. I wonder who Lily was? My grandad Cameron bought the book for his daughter, Eileen, my mum, on returning home to Glasgow, after serving in Egypt throughout WWII.

Grandad Cameron was a very proud Scotsman and loved the works of Scotland’s most famous bard, Robert Burns. My mum was a lifelong fan too. I think poetry is embedded in my DNA. Mum would often quote a line or two from one of his popular works. She particularly liked and drilled me with the following: “These are the things sent to try us, what’s for us won’t go by us.” I’d spend much time daydreaming, considering what this really meant. I tried to puzzle it out, look between the lines, literally and metaphorically.

My mum loved reading but only one book stayed with her throughout her long lifetime. This special little book was often picked up to study and regularly brought into our conversations. It was gifted to me during my mum’s 90th year, and I was both delighted yet pensive to receive it, feeling the implications. I was probably the only child of six who she thought might appreciate and enjoy it.

Within weeks of receiving this book, Mum passed away peacefully in her sleep. I needed to find some inspiration for a meaningful verbal tribute to her for the occasion of her funeral, and I browsed through the book, looking for something I could read aloud at her final farewell. I found Epitaph: On A Friend and altered the gender to reflect the fact Burns was writing to a fellow man. I thought I could manage to read it and practiced it over and over. Taking a deep breath, through the tears, I managed to read from her little book, which was with her to the very end.

This burgundy-red leather-covered book is a trifle tatty and battered now, but very dearly loved and read. Its lightly padded cover and spine have recently parted company with the text block. Through a small tear in the cover, some exposed fibres can be seen –maybe horsehair – very unusual, in any case. The endpapers are pretty and decorative with a random black, white and gold print, shiny rose-gold paper edges and thin yellowing pages within.

Maybe I could get the book sympathetically restored by an expert conservationist so that I can handle it without fear of it disintegrating. It might last another 75 years, for the generations that follow when ‘I pop my clogs’ – an amusing saying of Mum’s.

This tatty little book of poetry is my most precious item and I’m its temporary keeper. A connection between me, my mum and grandad, it’s worth nothing per se, but totally priceless to me.

Epitaph: On A Friend by Robert Burns

An honest woman here lies at rest,
As e’er God with Her image blest!
The friend of woman, the friend of truth,
The friend of age, and guide of youth;
Few hearts like hers, with virtue warm’d,
Few heads with knowledge so inform’d:
If there’s another world, she lives in bliss,
If there is none, she made the best of this.

© Alison Awbery, 2026

Connect with Alison on Instagram: @plot59awellbeingwithnature

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In this next piece, Jilly Henderson-Long captures the joy of dressing up with an ode to charity shopping.

Hippy, Hippy Shake!

I’m going to a party.
The party has a theme.
I didn’t know quite what to wear
to tie in with this meme,
and so I hit the charity shops
and had a look around,
lots of lovely pre-loved clothes
made my ideas abound,
then suddenly I got it,
this great idea just hit me,
I know next year I’m seventy,
but I could go as a hippy!
First the floral, flowing skirt,
then the flowery top,
then a jazzy waistcoat –
why I’ll give it all I’ve got!
I put the lot together.
It didn’t look half bad.
I need some flowers for my hair
then I will look so grand.
Thank goodness for those charity shops.
They really helped me out.
I think I’ll look so grooooovy
as I dance and twist and shout!

© Jilly Henderson-Long, 2026

Follow Jilly on Instagram: @jillyhendersonlong.

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Finally, J Renton writes about a visit to the Royal Hospital Chelsea, where the history of the place is still felt.

Tour Of The Chelsea Hospital

It’s not a hospital, of course, but a place founded way back in the 17^th Century by Charles II as a home for retired soldiers. Opening in 1692, it provided all the luxuries a spartan bed and a windowless cubicle of six-foot square could provide; sergeants getting slightly larger premises of nine-foot square. When the women started to arrive in 2005, they sailed straight into the block which had en-suite bathrooms and separate ‘study’ areas. But most of these discrepancies have now been put right.

As we wandered round, it was really noticeable how happy and busy everyone seemed to be. We were shown both the grounds and the buildings by Albert, a former fusilier, resplendent in his warm scarlet coat. The grounds were extensive and once used to sweep right down to the bank of the River Thames. The world-famous Chelsea Flower Show is held there every year on the stretch along the river. And the Ranelagh Gardens used to be there too, in a corner of the grounds, as we saw on a scale model of the place as it used to be.

Evidently, the construction of the buildings was delayed by the mismanagement of Lord Ranelagh, who diverted many of the earmarked funds into his own coffers. I never found out the end of that rather intriguing story, as our guide had moved on to the Great Hall and The Chapel, and then onto the Museum.

We had our lunch in the Great Hall, sitting at long oak tables under crystal chandeliers and wondering at just how many battles and wars the British had been involved in since Napoleonic times. It was all there to see, written in gold lettering on polished wooden boards: Inkerman, Alma and no less than three Afghan wars, just to mention a few of the less obvious ones. But it was a good three-course lunch – typical fayre for the 300 residents – lucky them! Three pensioners sat with us, which greatly added to our enjoyment, but to retell even a fraction of their stories would take more space than this piece allows.

After we’d said our final goodbyes, we were whisked out of London along all the bus lanes by our intrepid driver in his still nifty, if rather elderly, minibus and were home in Kent by late afternoon.

An interesting footnote: evidently, Charles II gave the land to his mistress, Nell Gwynn, at one point. It was her refusal to accept this royal gift that enabled the Hospital to be built and has entitled her to be first on the list of beneficiaries. Her voluptuous portrait still smiles serenely down on all-comers, pensioners and visitors alike.

© J Renton, 2018

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Issue 27, featuring Sarah Westcott is out now. You will find it in libraries and other outlets. Alternatively, all current and previous editions can be found on our magazines page here.

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