Welcome to Litsy!

An historical novel based on real people and places in the period 1861 to 1913, set amidst the poverty and overcrowding in the miners' rows of Ayrshire Scotland. The author has put words into the mouths of her ancestors to create a picture of life for large mining families and how they battled sickness and disease, and barely eked out a living. The story begins with Thomas and Margaret McMurdo and their growing family and describes their simple lives crowded into a two-room dwelling in a miners' row. There are many highs and lows for the family. You will be introduced to their children, and particularly their eldest son George who (against her mother's wishes) marries 18-year-old Mary Hamilton, a carefree, educated young woman. You will read of the family's friendship with well-known union activist Keir Hardie. It's a story about the struggles of the miners and their families - the men who slaved away underground facing daily dangers, and the women who worked hard bearing and raising large families and praying that their men would return unharmed from the pits. The overwhelming sadness will tug at your heartstrings - and to make this story more poignant, it really happened.