Dunblane

[curiouswombat]

I was so happy for Andy Murray, winning the US Open. There was coverage on the TV news this morning, not only of the match, but looking at how it was watched, and celebrated, in his home town of Dunblane.

And I thought of what the name Dunblane meant to people before Andy Murray became famous.

So tonight I would like to remember

Victoria Elizabeth Clydesdale (5)
Emma Elizabeth Crozier (5)
Melissa Helen Currie (5)
Charlotte Louise Dunn (5)
Kevin Allan Hasell (5)
Ross William Irvine (5)
David Charles Kerr (5)
Mhairi Isabel MacBeath (5)
Brett McKinnon (6)
Abigail Joanne McLennan (5)
Gwen Mayor (45) — Primary School Teacher
Emily Morton (5)
Sophie Jane Lockwood North (5)
John Petrie (5)
Joanna Caroline Ross (5)
Hannah Louise Scott (5)
Megan Turner (5)

Who were all gunned down in the gym of Dunblane Primary School on 13 March 1996 - whilst an 8 year old boy called Andy Murray hid, with his classmates, under his desk just up the corridor.

Comments

[keiliss.livejournal.com]

Your final sentence made me shiver. I suppose we're not meant to understand some things, like why one child and not another and what happens inside people's heads.

Nice post.

[lilachigh.livejournal.com]

Very bitter-sweet post. Thank you for remembering them.

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I'd never heard that about him; I wonder why? You'd think that would be a little better publicized!

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

Yes, I was thinking it's SO nice for that town to have something good for people to associate with it. I still remember that day - I was only 13 but it's one of those things you don't forget seeing in the news...

[spiced-wine.livejournal.com]

I don't follow tennis, so I didn't know Andy Murray came from Dunblane. I do remember when that happened; I went into the kicthen at the place I then worked and there were other women coming in for tea who had children, and they were all in tears. A dreadful, dreadful thing.

[jerusha]

Oh, wow. I didn't know that. Such events are so senseless, but I'm glad the folks in Dunblane have reason to celebrate today.

[kortirion.livejournal.com]

I hadn't realised he came from Dunblane - as you say, when I hear that word I automatically add 'massacre' in my mind. And I'd forgotten that they were all so very young... You're right, they should be acknowledged, and it is a good thing that the people of Dunblane can have a different focus, even when of course they will never forget the events of 1996.

[gillo]

I was thinking of them too. Who knows what they might have achieved?

Thank you for posting this.

[ayinhara.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the memorial to those killed at Dunblane.

[janedavitt.livejournal.com]

That day still haunts me. Eleanor was just a few weeks old and I hurt for those parents, the children, their teacher so much.

Horrific tragedy.

[dreamerjules.livejournal.com]

I was in the US Navy stationed at a NATO base outside of Lisbon when the shooting occurred and while I didn't remember the name of the town for the longest time, I could never forget the sight of the mums who were just devastated by it. I don't think they knew anyone there at all, much less lost anyone, but just the simple fact that something that evil could happen in a place of such innocence, some place their children could have been, tore them apart.

Thank you for the names. I'm thrilled for Andy - major tennis nerd and an Anglophile - and I'm pleased the town has something so positive attached to it now.

[minuial_nuwing]

My daughter was about almost four at that time, and my throat still aches at the thought of the tragedy. Maybe it is a mom thing, because of Sissy's age, but in a lot of ways my memory of hearing about the Dunblane shootings is more viscerally painful than recalling September 11 or even Columbine. :(

Very thoughtful post.

[inzilbeth-liz.livejournal.com]

Yes, isn't it wonderful that the people of Dunblane can now be associated with a happy event.

[debris4spike]

I hadn't realised that Andy Murray came from Dunblane ... such an awful day. My mum's best friends niece is one on that list.

It is good that the town now has a positive name to remember as well.

May they continue to R.I.P

[jay-of-lasgalen.livejournal.com]

It's surprising how a single word can come to mean so much and evoke so many memories, horror and emotion: Lockerbie; Aberfan; Dunblane. I'm glad Dunblane now has a happier reason to be famous.

I was working in a school at the time, and we all sat in the staffroom in stunned silence, some in tears, as the news unfolded.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

I remember the Dublane massacre..such tragedy... and I had no idea that Andy Murray had been in the same school at the time.
It does make one wonder about fate.
Thank you for this.

[chaotic-binky.livejournal.com]

I remember that day.

Several years later I was on a geology field trip near Dunblane. Our coach passed a church with quite a few people in one part of the cemetery and there were a lot of flowers decorating the graves. One of our party, a woman in her sixties, asked why so many people were in the graveyard. Our lecturer replied that the victims of the Dunblane massacre were buried there and he thought the people might be parents visiting their childrens' graves. Her eyes lit up and she asked if the coach could stop so she could photograph their gravestones. We protested and said that her request was in bad taste. We carried onto our destination while she complained sporadically about how we had all ruined her trip.

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

So good that the people of Dunblane now have a new, good memory to associate with their town.

[wildecate.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your post. I did remember all those children and their teacher when the news kept referring to Dunblane but of course Daniel is 5 so that stuck in my mind and the enormity of it just floored me.

[ballena.livejournal.com]

I didn't know any of that - but very vividly remember hearing the tragic news back in 1996. What a traumatic event for everyone at the school that day - but thoughts go especially to the families of those in that list.

Andy Murray has done amazingly well this year.

[wormwood-7.livejournal.com]

Shudder. I remember that day well. I had a daughter in primary school in Edinburgh at the time. When I came to pick her up I think every single teacher in the school was in tears. The horror was so close - Dunblane is only 45 minutes away by train.
Sometimes a Thomas Hamilton or Anders Breivik appear on the scene. Luckily it is incredibly rare, but the memory of such days stays with you.
Murray's victory was hugely deserved though.

[mylescorcoran]

Thank you for the reminder, and the thought that the town has happier memories too.