This is the text of a newspaper cutting found among my Granny's papers. Bella Webster was my Grandpa's sister.

Entertains Guild

But Mrs. Webster

Needs New

Me'odeon

MRS WEBSTER, an elderly Montrose lady, has embarked on a strange request.

She wants a melodeon to play.

Not for her own amusement, however, but for the entertainment of her friends.

Mrs. Webster has been playing to the Montrose guilds throughout the war on a patched-up instrument, and she cannot get another.  She had never played in public until the war broke out.

"I am always scared when I have to appear before an audience" Mrs. Webster said "but my friends evidently like it. They would have me play a lot more than I do."

When she was a girl of 12 at Old Montrose gardens, which her father cultivated for a lifetime, her brother bought a melodeon.

She stole surreptitious "shotties" when he wasn't about, and soon became more proficient than he.

It wasn't until she went out to service that she got an instrument of her own. Her employer, hearing of her talent, helped her to but one.

She has had three or four since. The present one is over 15 years old.

Patched and Repaired

"It has been patched and repaired, for I cannot get another, " said Mrs. Webster. "Recently I saw one advertised similar to this one, , but it was snapped up by someone on the spot.

"not that I want it for my own amusement. I play very little at home now. I used to get a lot of fun out of it. I read the sol-fa notation. That helped me to master the tunes. For the rest I rely on my memory.

"At some of our guild functions during the war a lady of over 70 joined me in playing for the dances. She played the piano and I played the melodeon."