A short extract from "The Cromarty We Knew - A Walk through the 1930s" by Eric H. Malcolm

Eric is a friend of Douglas' parents and is something of an expert on Cromarty history. This section describes John Bain, Douglas' great grandfather.

On the corner, where we now have the Country Kitchen, was John Bain's draper's business, the Cromarty Shop, as he called it. John Bain was a most remarkable man and nobody took a greater interest in Cromarty's affairs than he did, or worked so tirelessly for the good of its townsfolk, often with scant recognition at the time. He got us a good, pure water supply; he improved the town amenities in the course of making it a popular holiday resort; he ran a weekly newsspaper; he was an accomplished photographer, producing many picture postcards of the town and its surroundings; he brought up a large family, he ran an ambitious draper's business; he galvanised the Town Council into action; he wrote to the press, often under a pseudonym, but always to the point; he was the instigator of the Invergordon steamer; he nearly got us the railway, and he was a good Provost. Clearly he was an indefatigable champion of Cromarty's interests.

Naturally, being a reformer, he made enemies. When he got elected to the Town Council in 1894, his arch-detractor, John Junner (Junner, not Junor) lodged an objection with the Sheriff, accusing him of illegal practice and demanding that the election be declared void. John Bain had said that he had had no election expenses, but he had had a leaflet printed and circulated. That must have cost money. Moreover, he hadn't put the printer's name on it — another fault. Bain admitted that these accusations were true but the Sheriffs judgement was that they were not sufficiently serious faults to declare the election invalid. His decision was that each of the parties should pay two guineas into the Cottage Hospital funds and he himself would waive his fee. Both Junner and Bain accepted this wise ruling and when John Bain got back to Cromarty, he was greeted by a cheering crowd on the pier, carried shoulder-high to a waiting trap and driven through the town to his home above the Cromarty Shop, preceded by torch-bearers. Such were Cromarty politics a century ago.

Bain's shop was very well stocked and he was usually in evidence himself, often wearing a velvet smoking cap with a tassel, as I recall. His daughter Gladys attended to customers and later, Margaret Reid was employed there. Some of the old shop counter is still in use as the tea-shop counter. I only wish that I had had the sense to buy a copy of each of his picture postcards, though. John Bain died after just a few days' illness, on Christmas Day 1938, aged 78.