T H E C O V E N A N T E R
and it went over the tube and the bile built I am sure the rate of interest will be a shock
up. to readers but it must be accepted that the
I was sent home to get fit, then went loan period was short and people borrowed
back for the operation. I was in for two just for a week at a time. It made cash
weeks again and had so many visitors who, available between pay days.
I discovered, expect you to do most of The band, seeing me as an honest
the talking. One morning I suddenly felt clarinettist and the least likely to fiddle,
miserable, the walls were closing in, the
surgeon said ‘stitches out and go home’
praise be I’d survived.
I got around driving the car. Milly lifted
the shopping and coal etc, so between Milly
& John, I managed not to strain, however,
it was about six months until I felt normal.
1964
The Bn had been posted back to Scotland.
I personally was glad to be nearer Ian and
the fact that I could visit to take him out for
the day, was a good prospect. Packing up is
always a chore, we now had two children’s
bikes to crate up. However some goods
could be taken by car. We drove home to
Harrow, and stayed with mum and dad,
then the trek north, back once more to asked me to run the club. They would
Redford Barracks in Edinburgh. accept my using the funds for the occasional
The circle is complete, we are back in NAAFI supper or trip to the cinema but
an old house 18 years later. The house was would not have tolerated any step towards
pretty small and no garden, it was built living beyond my means. As nobody ever
about 1890’s. It stood opposite the NAAFI gave me any reward for my efforts, I knew it
- so it was quite noisy from the troops. would be acceptable to cost in a modest fee,
John was very busy as the Bn was now on which I showed in the accounts.
Royal Duties. This consisted of placing daily I worked out double-entry bookkeeping as
guards at Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood an obvious way to keep the accounts. It was
Place. I have an excellent picture of John only during my pay sergeants’ course that I
in full regalia, sword, etc, The Guard was realised that I was being taught something
marching down the Royal Mile and the that I had worked out for myself.
morning sun shone all over the silver. It is At the beginning of each period shilling
the best picture of John in uniform. shares were sold. Most of the shareholders
bought shares valued between 10s and a £1
Joyce Sneddon (Mrs) payable weekly over ten weeks. Although
Musical Usury. I did not know the names, bandsmen also
invested on behalf of those outside the
The credit card interest and the rate band. In the same way, borrowers came
charged by loan sharks does not seem from without the band. To prevent bad
excessive when compared with the rate debts such loans were made and repaid on
charged by the Military Band loan club. a weekly basis.
For every £1 borrowed the interest was The weekly cash amounted to about £25.
1s 8d per week or just over 8%, which if With the high rate of interest, combined
borrowed for a full year, even without using with the continuous compound interest,
the accumulated compound interest, would someone who did not borrow could
amount to 400% per annum. expect a return of between £6 or £7 on an
The band loan club lasted for ten weeks investment of £10 after ten weeks.
at a time to avoid continuous excessive The anomaly was it cost interest to borrow
debts and the likelihood of bad debts. Each your own shares. Some people always took
period of the club finished before a posting their shares as a loan and borrowed more
or the beginning of a leave: sometimes the in addition. Borrowers had to have the
club continued through the time of a tour. permission of the investors who had to

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