© Robbie Kennedy Bennett









© Robbie Kennedy Bennett
BENNET o' DUNDEE ©
Robbie Kennedy Bennett


Bobbins flying and spinning
jute outdone the linen
weaving and leaving
leaving Dundee

Bennet o' Dundee
had a hand in industry
in and out the mill
in and around Dundee

Heads were real dizzy
for the port was bustling and busy
busy sailing in and out
in and out of Dundee

Bennet o' Dundee
searched for wealth and prosperity
carpenters craftsmanship
vessels on the sea

Bobbins flying and spinning
jute outdone the linen
weaving and leaving
leaving Dundee

Bennet o' Dundee
in the nineteen century
man, woman and child
avoiding poverty

Bennet o' Dundee © Robbie Kennedy Bennett










© Robbie Kennedy Bennett
The Morra Was On The Way to Pettycur Bay ©
Robbie Kennedy Bennett

Love, a laddie, he fell,
with his lassie he fell in love
in love with his lassie he fell

Love her figure, love her face
love, a feeling for a person, a place
love, he feels it now
as the morra was on the way,
coming to Pettycur Bay.

All you grooms and beautiful brides
bonnie little bridesmaids
playing outside
as the morra was on the way,
coming to Pettycur Bay.

Love her lips, love her eyes
love is alive as the daylight dies
the morra was on the way,
coming to Pettycur Bay.

Love, a laddie, he fell,
with his lassie he fell in love
in love with his lassie he fell

Love, a laddie, he fell,
with the east coast Caledonia as well
as the morra was on the way,
coming to Pettycur Bay.

© Robbie Kennedy Bennett



It was about 9.20pm on a July 2011 evening in the departure lounge at the George Best Belfast City Airport. I was admiring the late evening sunlight as a plane made its way for us passengers to board the flight to Birmingham. I was looking forward to getting home to my wife for our early drive to Fife where we were staying at the Bay Hotel, Pettycur.

It had been an interesting month or so as my job had once again taken me to Canada where I had the pleasure of seeing Niagara Falls and then Derry - Londonderry in N. Ireland. Since my last visit a peace bridge has been built over the River Foyle and it was a 'must do' of mine to walk over and back.

My colleague and I visited St Columb's Cathedral which was in the final stages of its restoration and it is an impressive building inside and out. The Cathedral is within the walled city in the Diocese of Derry. It was hard to believe that within 24 hours I would be marvelling at the equally impressive Dunfermline Abbey and the tomb of King Robert The Bruce.

I boarded the evening flight from Belfast and found I was seated next to a young lady who had made a day journey for her Grandmothers funeral. We were soon in conversation talking about family and other things and before we knew it we were landing at Birmingham.

I arrived back home late that evening and found it difficult in getting off to sleep. By 3.30am I gave up and decided to take the dog a walk around the fields in the dark. We set off for Scotland at 4.45am and had our breakfast break at Gretna services. Dunfermline was our next stop with a visit to the ruins and the Abbey before taking in the shops.

© Robbie Kennedy Bennett

By mid afternoon we opened the patio doors of our hotel room to see the magnificent views over the Firth of Forth to Edinburgh. The Bay Hotel at Pettycur really is true to their word with spectacular views. We had been warned of a wedding on the Saturday night and there may be a little noise but I am pleased to say it was not to be. There cannot be a much better view for a Bride and Groom to look out to after their wedding. As the evening light faded the lights of Edinburgh over the firth became more prominent and added to the setting. You could see tomorrow on its way to Pettycur Bay.

I had first noticed the hotel and caravan park when walking the Fife Coastal Path back in 2007. It is on the hillside over looking the Firth of Forth near to the monument where Alexander 3rd, the last Celtic king was killed when falling from his horse over the cliff side.

Early next morning I was down on the beach and around the wee harbour at Kinghorn for an hour before breakfast in the Bay Hotel and driving up to Broughty Ferry before going in to Dundee. I had other reasons to want to visit Broughty Ferry than it been a seaside place. All hands of the Lifeboat Mona were lost on the 8th December 1959 when assisting the North Carr Lightship which was reported to be adrift in St Andrews Bay. There is a song by Peggy Seeger sung by The Dubliners called The Lifeboat Mona describing the tragic event.

A total of 8 men were lost and within 2 weeks of the disaster, remarkably 38 volunteers had put their name forward as the new crew. Further research of mine found that the Mona was burnt in the night as in a Viking ritual at Cockenzie harbour on the Forth.

Another reason to want to come to Broughty Ferry as I believe it to be the birthplace of Francis Munro. He played for Wolves when I were a boy and I wrote a poem called Munro o' Broughty Ferry. Below is a part exract;


Munro o’ Broughty Ferry ©
Poetic Writing of Robbie Kennedy Bennett www.rkbpoetry.co.uk

Ower th’ Tay to Broughty Ferry,
A name I throw, Francis Munro.
Tentsmuir to Tayport I take a mo,
I take a mo and think of Frank Munro.

Munro o’ Broughty Ferry,
Good? Aye he was very.
Consider I would as sacrilege
If forgetting I should nearing the Tay Road Bridge.

We were soon in Dundee and my eyes were everywhere looking at the street names where my ancestors have lived. I imagined Dundee in their day and wondered what they would have thought of the changes and that someone of theirs would come so far to see.

It was getting late in the afternoon but I talked my wife into us driving up to Carnoustie, where she found a golf ball and to Arbroath where we had a famous Smokie. Arbroath was perfect with its working harbour and lifeboat station. As we approached Arbroath I noticed the football ground to my right where the game against Dundee was nearing the end.

I received a text message while in Arbroath from Gareth, my elder brother. He was planning to be at Pettycur Bay on Sunday night.

© Robbie Kennedy Bennett

He is a character within himself and was doing the 4 points. He started his 2 week journey from Wolverhampton by arriving at Lizard Point in Cornwall the most southerly point in Britain. Then it was the journey to Lowerstoft, Suffolk the most easterly point where we were taken to many times as lads by our dad. From there to he drove to Ardnamurchan, which is the mainland's most western point. He finished at Dunnet Head the most northern point where he describes birds learn to fly sidewards and washing hangs horizontally on a line. Then he had the short drive home!

The interesting fact is that he drove this remarkable journey in a home made car, not a kit car he pointed out. It was based on a Triumph Herald Convertible with a body made of marine plywood and a aluminium bonnet. He had finished building it in 2000 and still retained the original registration number. It was classed as a Historic Vehicle with just a name change to ' Midge' as that is the body design name.

The caravan he was towing was built of plywood sterling board and aluminium panels. The size was determined by the 8 x 4 sheets. He used the chassis of a motorbike trailer that he had built in just 2 weeks before his trip. He'd be a rich man now if he had taken a pound of everyone who wanted to take a photograph. I added my bit by treating him next morning to a good Scottish breakfast in the Bay Hotel.

On Sunday before we met my brother we visited St Monans where again I had walked past on the Fife Coastal Path and I was still reading books by Christopher Rush and Willie Fyall. I felt drawn to the lovely east Neuk coastal village to experience as near as can be first hand what they were writing about. The church and graveyard is most unique with it being on the lands end next to the sea.

There was a Sunday morning service ending as we were were looking around and my wife and I were kindly invited into the church to admire the inside of the building. It was easy to imagine whilst in the church all those families of earlier generations who depended on the sea for a living praying for a safe return home of their love ones. Also the marriages, christening and funerals of the people that Christopher Rush and Willie Fyall have mentioned.

By lunchtime we were in St Andrews parking up on the east side at the leisure centre. The weather was brilliant and never in all my time have I seen so many people on the beaches. We spent a while, probably too long as I tested my wife's patience looking at names on grave stones.

The day proved to be lucky as we soon found a name going back to the early 1800's although I needed to confirm it. After time spent in St Andrews and on the way back to the car I twisted my wife’s arm to have one more look before finally going back to the hotel. It was on my mind that it may be a long time before I am able to return to St Andrews. Within minutes I had found the stone of my Gt. Gt. Grandparents who had been born and died in St Andrews.

In 2006, four years after first coming to St Andrews with my elder brother I wrote Sojourn in St Andrews, and now 2011, I felt more closer than ever. Seeing your ancestors names gives a belonging and a reason to be there. What I had achieved is answering the questions I had asked in the poem.

Did they walk the same streets?
Stand in the same place,
Hear the waves crash,
Feel the wind in their face.

Yes they had, because I have seen the proof.

Now I was ready to go as my elder brother Gareth had sent me a text earlier telling me he had arrived at Pettycur Bay. We met up and had our picture taken with the Firth of Forth behind us before walking to Kinghorn. We turned by the War Memorial that was unveiled by Sir Ralph Anstruther in 1923 commemorating the 60 names from the First World War and 16 from the Second World War plus one from the Korean War. On an additional note since being in Kinghorn I have found that we may have an ancestral connection there by the name of Murray going back to at least the late 1700's but that has to be confirmed.

We had a couple of pints in the Carousel to celebrate our meeting in Fife and Gareth's 4 point achievements.

Next morning as my wife and I were about to drive out of the Bay Hotel, Pettycur I called to a bloke from Glasgow who was on the site talking to my brother the night before. “Has he gone yet?. “Aye” he replied, “went about half hour ago”.

His plans were to head for Edinburgh for a few days and if someone had seen him along the way they were sure to notice him.


Before breakfast Gareth and I had an early morning walk down to the sands at Kinghorn, He admired an old Austin A 40 Devon that was parked up and we presumed it to be a lobster fisherman's who was out there in the firth. We also noticed it again as we were speaking about it driving towards Burntisland while we were having breakfast. I also took a photo on my mobile phone of a thistle that was growing near the quayside wall.

Seeing the thistle in Scotland at that moment seemed perfect timing.

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© Robbie Kennedy Bennett


SOJOURN IN ST ANDREWS © Robbie Kennedy Bennett 2006

Walking along the historical streets of St Andrews,
I love to leisure timelessly.
I stroll on beyond the famous Old Course
And absorb the wash of the sea.

The sound of the ocean is tranquil
And the springtime weather is mild,
I’ve so much to learn about life and belonging
I feel like a newborn child.

The coastal grey stones
Break the waves by the shore,
I stand and admire
Like my forefathers before.
Did they walk the same streets?
Stand in the same place,
Hear the waves crash,
Feel the wind in their face.

In thought I pass the family divide,
My feelings are stirring deep down inside.
What’s in my character?
And inside my blood,
Is there anything of value or misunderstood.

Images appear in my picturesque mind,
They tempt and they tease
Are they being unkind?
Ancestors before with faces unknown,
By this sea and this land
Seeds they have sown.

Strolling back and forth to Shorehead,
The castle for a while mesmerised me.
This ruin contends the test of time,
And still stands proud majestically.

Tis like an old parent with the sense to protect,
Even though their prime has long gone.
The elements surpass this armoury of stone,
And pilgrims still appear to look on.

My ancestors would have seen this too,
The Cathedral and the coastal view.
Ancient steps to an image of a door,
The sea as it blankets the rocky shore.

Along the east coast
I gaze with a naked eye,
Hills far away change shades of their colour
As the sun breaks a cloudy sky.
The Firth of Tay is over the horizon
Too far for me to see,
Blue skies are afar
A sunny day up in Dundee.

A stroll by the coast at St Andrews
Is a walk back in time for me,
Of all of the sands I have trod in my years
This is the shore I should be.

These thoughts as I pass the family divide,
Is there more than St Andrews stirring inside?
Bennet and Kennedy, Cramond and Traill,
With roots all around I shall prevail.

One day will I hold another by hand?
One day if I tell them will they understand?
There’s a spiritual call to this coast, this shore,
I’m part of this land, a Bennet and more.

© Robbie Kennedy Bennett




Frank Munro sadly passed away August 2011 aged 63, within days of adding this story to my site. RIP





POETIC WRITING OF ROBBIE KENNEDY BENNETT ©
www.rkbpoetry.co.uk

www.scotlands-enchanting-kingdom.com/in-my-blood.html

www.poetryofscotland.co.uk/bennett.php

www.footballpoets.org/p.asp?Id=22949

www.blackcountrybugle.co.uk/blackcountrybugle-news/displayarticle.asp?id=104273

www.fifetoday.co.uk/east-fife-mail-news/Wolverhampton-wanderer-muses-on-coastal.3926209.jp

www.wolvesheroes.com/2009/01/13/an-ode-to-hugh/#more-2360

pub10.bravenet.com/forum/849684916/show/1013616

www.smartcommunityfife.org.uk/collessie-and-letham/history/

www.smartcommunityfife.org.uk/ladybank/history/