{"id":742,"date":"2017-06-14T09:57:20","date_gmt":"2017-06-14T08:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/metaltype.co.uk\/wpress\/?page_id=742"},"modified":"2023-01-28T10:52:59","modified_gmt":"2023-01-28T09:52:59","slug":"the-gutenberg-boys","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/metaltype.co.uk\/wpress\/the-gutenberg-boys\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gutenberg Boys"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ian Boyter recently contacted me to tell me about a book he had written about his days as an apprentice at a book printers in Edinburgh in the 1960s. The publication is only available as an ebook.<\/p>\n

An excerpt is reproduced below, it is written in a Scottish dialect (try to imagine Billy Connolly or Sean Connery after a few beers!).<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

The Black Girl<\/h3>\n

\u201cI cannae stand it. That stupid Yankee bastard’s playin’ games wi’ our lives. I shouldnae have come in the day at all,\u201d whined wee George Barrie as he locked up a forme of type, hammering furiously at the quoins with his wooden mallet and shooting stick. \u201cMary’s in an awfy state. She wanted me to take the day off an’ bide at hame wi’ her.\u201d George was about four foot nine and he needed a box to stand on to reach across the stone.<\/p>\n

\u201cAye it’s a gamble right enough George,\u201d said Davy Collins. \u201cA day’s wages or the chance of your very last ride from bonnie wee Mary. It’s a tough one.\u201d He laid a sheet of paper into the hand feeder and pressed the button on his machine. Growl, clank, grind, and a proof came off the delivery. He checked it over with a practised eye. \u201cIt’s high time I put a new blanket on this cylinder, the impression’s all to cock.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAw Davy, I don’t know how ye can even think a thing like that the day, wi’ all this Cuban palaver goin’ on,\u201d said Barrie.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I look at it this way, it’ll save me bother in the long run, no’ havin’ to fart about all day tryin’ to get the impression right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAch, ye ken fine that’s no’ what I meant. An’ there’s no’ gonnae be a long run at all if Kennedy goes through wi’ this carry on. It’s a bloody serious business. Have ye seen the paper this mornin’? It’s goin’ to be a bloody war if that Khrushchev doesnae back doon.\u201d George gave a mighty wallop with his mallet, and a wooden quoin flew out of the forme, rocketed across the caseroom and whacked off the wall, inches from Jock Cadell’s head.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeeeerist! Never mind Khrushchev. Ye nearly had my eye oot, George. Ca’ cannae wi’ the guided missiles if ye don’t mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSee that, I cannae concentrate at all,\u201d said George, stepping down off his little wooden box and retrieving the quoin. \u201cAn’ you lot can just carry on as if nothin’s happenin’.\u201d Look at the lot o’ you, you’ve all got your heids stuck in the sand.\u201d He waved his mallet around indicating the whole caseroom. Blackie, walking past pushing a trolley with a forme of pages on his way to Davy Collins’s press had to swerve suddenly to avoid Barrie’s swinging mallet. Elsewhere the appearance of normality reigned. Compositors were getting on with their various jobs as if they believed there was going to be a tomorrow, but there was a tense mood in the air. The date was Wednesday the twenty-fourth of October, nineteen sixty-two \u2026<\/p>\n

If you liked this story you may also like Printers’ Tales<\/strong><\/a> a compilation of similar stories, available in ebook and paperback formats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ian Boyter recently contacted me to tell me about a book he had written about his days as an apprentice at a book printers in Edinburgh in the 1960s. The publication is only available as an ebook. An excerpt is reproduced below, it is written in a Scottish dialect (try to imagine Billy Connolly or … Continue reading “The Gutenberg Boys”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-742","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-storiesanecdotes","category-ukeurope"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Gutenberg Boys - Metal Type<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An extract from Ian Boyter's book "The Gutenberg Boys" about his days as an apprentice at a book printers in Edinburgh, UK\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metaltype.co.uk\/wpress\/the-gutenberg-boys\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Gutenberg Boys - Metal Type\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An extract from Ian Boyter's book "The Gutenberg Boys" about his days as an apprentice at a book printers in Edinburgh, UK\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metaltype.co.uk\/wpress\/the-gutenberg-boys\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metal Type\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-28T09:52:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.metaltype.co.uk\/images\/Gutenboys-cover-2.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MTPrinting\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/the-gutenberg-boys\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/the-gutenberg-boys\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Gutenberg Boys - Metal Type\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/the-gutenberg-boys\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/the-gutenberg-boys\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.metaltype.co.uk\\\/images\\\/Gutenboys-cover-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-14T08:57:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-28T09:52:59+00:00\",\"description\":\"An extract from Ian Boyter's book \\\"The Gutenberg Boys\\\" about his days as an apprentice at a book printers in Edinburgh, UK\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/the-gutenberg-boys\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/the-gutenberg-boys\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/the-gutenberg-boys\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.metaltype.co.uk\\\/images\\\/Gutenboys-cover-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.metaltype.co.uk\\\/images\\\/Gutenboys-cover-2.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/the-gutenberg-boys\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Gutenberg Boys\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/\",\"name\":\"Metal Type\",\"description\":\"Yesterday\u2019s Technology . . . 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