Teresa Wemyss
On a dark and gloomy December evening, as Niamh left work in southern Cumbria on her commute home to north Lancashire, her car was filled with the unexpected sound of ‘All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth’. Niamh couldn’t believe her ears, as she was immediately transported back into the company of her grandmother, Nell, who filled her and her sibling’s childhood with songs, riddles and jokes that were uniquely hers. Until that point, Niamh hadn’t realised this song existed outside of her nanny’s repertoire.
Born in Co Kilkenny in 1921, Nell grew up in a family of eight children, left school at 14 years of age and went into 'service' in the Butler household in Maidenhall, Bennetsbridge. She married young, and went on to have nine children of her own, all born at home, which made her very proud. In her twilight years, she spent her winters in our home in Co Wexford, where she tormented and charmed her grandchildren, in equal measure.
She insisted on watching Winning Streak, and both the 6 o’clock and 9 o’clock news, despite their wails of protest at having to switch over from their favourite TV programmes. She told corny jokes and set them unsolvable riddles which dated from a more innocent era. She sang them songs her father used to sing, and included corny Christmas songs her grandchildren were convinced she made up herself.
She argued with the 12-year-old Caitlin about the correct method of making scones, who, fresh from first-year home economics, thought her nanny couldn’t possibly know more about making scones than her home ec teacher!
She embarrassed Niamh by describing , within earshot, the friend she brought home from school as “a fine lump of a girl”, which, in her book, was a compliment.
As she watched these children, born in the 1990s, grow up in comfort and prosperity which was only dreamed about in the 1920s, she often remarked on their good fortune, and how the world had changed beyond recognition between her childhood and theirs. Sadly her death, four years ago, at the ripe old age of 91, left a huge void in all our lives.
As these now-adult grandchildren go about their daily lives in the Philippines, England or Ireland, they are reminded of their grandmother, in unexpected ways, every day. How does it go again Nan? 'All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth . . .
