This took me back to my Presbyterian upbringing in the north east Ulstger Bible Belt in the Sixties and Seventies and some of the supposedly unbreakable traditions and interpretations relating to the Biblical Fourth Commandment - remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.
Being a minister’s son, it was usually a ‘full-on’ day in terms of activities. The itinerary could be intensive - 10 am: opening devotions prior to the morning Sunday school or Bible class; Noon: morning service which lasted until about 1.20 pm; 3 pm, after lunch, there was an independent Sunday school, usually run by either the Brethren denomination or the Faith Mission movement in a hall; 7 pm: after the tea time meal, there was an evening church service of about an hour; 8.15 pm, while the adults would go to a late evening service hosted either by the Faith Mission, or the Christian Workers’ Union, us young folk would attend a Youth Fellowship event in a church hall, which lasted until around 10 pm.
There was to be no television watched on the Sabbath, apart from the BBC evening television news bulletin, so the World Cup soccer final was a real challenge as it was usually played on Sundays.
I recall the 1974 final between West Germany and Holland. It was billed to be an exciting showdown and it seemed I was bound to miss it. I needed a cunning plan.
By sheer good fortune, a Loyal Order annual divine service was taking place that afternoon in dad’s church and the speaker was the Rev Martin Smyth, then Grand Master of the Orange Order. My mum was rather bemused when I offered to help her with the post service refreshments in the Presbyterian Manse, but it meant I was able to skip the service.
Dad had a small black and white portable TV which I sneaked into the so-called ‘good living room’ where the refreshments would be served. A sitting room blanket was delicately placed over it and the TV set tuned into the match coverage with the sound muted.
I offered to bring in the cutlery and china plates and cups to the ‘good living room’ while mum prepared the sandwiches and tray bakes. She was so busy with these preparations that she didn’t notice I brought the cutlery and china in one knife or plate at a time! And it took me around five minutes to put each fork in its place!
By the time dad and Rev Smyth came to the room for their refreshments, I’d managed to see both halves of the final, but not the presentation ceremony.
But there is a saying - be sure your sins will catch you out. I told mum I couldn’t go to church for evening worship as I had a history test on the Monday and there was a documentary on World War Two on TV that would help me with my revision.
It was actually the 1949 war movie ‘Twelve O’Clock High’ starring Gregory Peck, about the American air force raids on Nazi Germany. It’s a great film which I still watch today even in my late sixties!
Unfortunately, mum arrived back in the Manse just as the closing credits were running and before I could get the TV switched off! When she checked the television schedule, she realised it was not a ‘documentary’ as I had told her.
The Bible was the only book to be read on the Sabbath; there was to be no revision of school books, unless there was an important exam to be sat on the Monday morning. Traditional Sixties and Seventies comics, such as the Victor or the Topper were banned on Sundays.
I recall getting a severe dressing down when visiting one of my chums’ home on a Sunday, seeing some comics sitting on a chair - and picking one up! Judging by the reaction from the mother, you would have thought I had tried to petrol bomb the house!
And there was to be no buying of sweets or chocolate on the Sabbath. During the summer months, instead of the youth fellowship, we would decamp to the coastal town of Portstewart for the annual convention tent mission.
This would be followed by a walk along the promenade. We once met some attractive girls from another church, but the dirty looks I got from fellow Christians were severe when I asked the girls if they would like me to treat them to an ice cream! Apparently you could be theologically Hell-bound for buying a 99 cone ice cream on a Sunday!
I’ve always been a horror movie fan and for a period of time, there used to be a Hammer Horror double bill on TV starting late on a Saturday evening and running into the early hours of the Sabbath.
Obviously I was not allowed to watch it mainly because it ran into Sunday morning, but also because my parents had received complaints that the minister’s son’s interest in horror films was a “bad example” to set to the other young people in the community!
As Sunday was an exceptionally busy day for my parents, it was always off to bed as soon as the BBC’s Match of the Day had finished. There would be no half hour watching of Hammer Horror until midnight!
So I devised a mind map of the creaky staircases in our Victorian Manse, waiting until my parents went to bed, and then silently made my way downstairs to the sitting room which contained our black and white TV.
I’d open the back door and bring in my pet miniature Shetland sheep dog called Pluto, and with both of us snuggled under a blanket and with the TV audio well turned down, we’d watch Dracula, the Wolfman, Frankenstein, monsters, aliens and zombies into the wee small hours of the Sabbath.
Mum and dad never suspected a thing, even when an elder mentioned to them about me constantly dosing off during the afternoon Sunday school! My late parents would be well into their eighties before I would finally confess about the Hammer Horror movie sessions in the Manse!
Given the increasingly secular society developing in Northern Ireland, I wonder if the Province’s Bible Belt will ever witness a return of the ‘gud auld dayes’ of traditional Lord’s Day observance we enjoyed in the Sixties and Seventies?
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| Follow Dr John Coulter on Twitter @JohnAHCoulter Dr Coulter has been a journalist since 1978 and is currently a political commentator with GB News. |
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