Ayrshire has a weak strain like much of the rural community. It is something spiritually deficient, something that inhibits development. My relationship with Edinburgh and the need to break away from the home territory was to do with being free of that. My liking of city life in general is an instinctive preference and a response to the need to escape this debilitating factor.

Another aspect I dislike is Ayrshire’s deprivation mentality. An unhealthy relationship with money is prevalent to the point of lustful, leading to a degenerate morality. Past generations would not have seen themselves as such, protected as they were by the coercive power of community. It was born out of need more than anything else. People had to hold together to survive. With need diminished their selfishness becomes naked and is now wilfully encouraged. A bad prognosis.