Laddie

When I hear the word Laddie, I and many others think of the Scottish word with the meaning of a young man. My wife Cindy Morrison Beck was of Scottish descent. Her ancestors came from the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides Islands northwest of Scotland.

I also have memories associated with the word Laddie. My uncle Charles Bottomley owned a long haired dog of collie mixture. His shaggy coat was black with some brown patches on its body and a white star on its chest. My recollection was of my uncle on the porch laughing at Laddie and me. What caused him to laugh? I was holding Laddie’s chain leash and Uncle Charles called, “Here, Laddie.” When he did, the dog was off like a shot. I was pulled from my feet and suspended in the air like a flag before gravity claimed me and I was dragged behind this canine rocket. I was either too surprised or too stupid to let go of the leash.

The second memory falls back to a time when I was exploring in the woods behind our home. I heard a whimpering sound and followed it. I found a puppy in a decayed hollow space at the bottom of a tree. Carrying him back to our house, Sybil my mom said, “We can’t keep him.” Then she said, “Look at those paws. He’ll be huge. Let’s see if we can find him a home.”

I’m not sure who she asked, but the dog ended up at my grandparents Ray and Rebecca Miner’s farm. Grandma immediately called him Laddie. This could easily been the end of the story, but my grandfather had a way with animals and Laddie became his guardian angel. Laddie arrived at a good time, Granddad’s dementia was worsening. He would sometimes wander around the farm to care for animals that he no longer had. Laddie was his constant companion. Wherever Granddad strayed, Laddie was at his side.

The incident I recall occurred when Granddad got lost in a wooded section of his farm. When he didn’t come back to the house, Grandma became worried and called the family to search. They came and scoured the farm. They checked everywhere in the unused buildings and the rubble of the collapsed barn, then expanded the area to search the fields and woods. They found Laddie at Granddad’s feet, watching over him. When questioned, Granddad said, “I was tired and sat down to rest.”