A Personal blog for Aileen McHarg

As you may have noticed, my wife Maureen died last week and indeed was buried today. I had so many stories about our life that in the appreciation I wrote I had to omit much more than I included. But here is a tale that you might appreciate. I think I may have told Andrew Tickell it before.

In 1977 I ended up with a jurisprudence oral. To be honest, that was probably down to hubris.  I say with due modesty, I had cruised the class exams.

My principal lecturer had been Eslpeth Atwool but for the oral an external examiner was brought in. None other than Professor Neil McCormick.

"So" says the great man, "explain to me the difference between positive and negative rules." I waffle at length. "I see", says the prof. "Thus an example of a positive rule would be "X", while the example of a negative rule be "Y?" I readily agree."I see, although, personally, I would have thought it was the exact opposite of that". By some miracle I still passed the oral.

Anyway,  as I write in the longer blog about our life, ten years later, Maureen and I go on holiday together for the first time. When, at the encouragement of her older friend,  Charles McKay, we end up in the Alto Adige alongside him. Half way through the holiday, Charles announces that he has a pre-arranged meet up with an old university friend who is also on holiday locally and invites us along. That friend is none other than the self same Neil McCormick and his family.

We meet up on what could have passed off as the set of the "Tomorrow belongs to me" scene of Cabaret. Trestle tables, steins of beer, sausages and an oompah band dressed, literally, in lederhosen. I am so in awe of our fellow guest that I insist on addressing him as"Professor" throughout.To which, while I am not quite thirty at the time, he in turn reciprocates with a consistent "Mr Smart".

I am confident he will have no recollection of our previous encounter.

Until, beer and sausages finished and the band on a rest break, we fall in to one to one conversation.

"And what kind of lawyer are you exactly?"

"I'm a legal aid lawyer in Cumbernauld."

"And, tell me, Mr. Smart, do you still not understand the difference between positive and negative rules?"