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ABOUT THE AUTHOR... IT ALL BEGAN WITH A DREAM...
BY HELEN MOIR.
Over eight years ago I began having a recurring dream. It came quite out of the blue and initially I made no connection with THE BLACK LADY. I suppose there may have been some subconscious prompting since the stories were all known to me. This recurring dream,in time, developed into a succession of other dreams that took me on a path that became,at times, overwhelming and most certainly revealing.
It was my extensive and meticulous research into the Black Lady of Broomhill that began my career as a local historian and writer. My grandmother Helen Perrie, nee Henderson,(of whom I am reputed to be a replica ) began working on the estate in the house which belonged to the McNeil-Hamilton family at the tender age of twelve in 1869, a common occurrence at that time. Her position through the years was to grow in status until she became first housekeeper then companion to Captain McNeil-Hamilton until her death in 1939. My granny's account of the Broomhill story never altered, an account she had no reason to fabricate.
My research took me to many places and I have had the delight of making the acquaintance of many interesting people. It was from this starting point that I began looking into the existence of the real Black Lady. Two years ago, after many years of time consuming, painstaking work, I produced a booklet on my research into the Black Lady. The reason for publishing the booklet was to put an end to the myth and mystery surrounding her and to justify my research. At this point in time I had a number of historical articles published in both local and national newspapers, not just covering the Black Lady but history in general. I have no desire for my work to be thought of only as the Broomhill story, fascinating as it is. I enjoyed doing it.
I had also become caught up as secretary of the Larkhall Heritage Group and, now, am still with the group as chairperson. I truly enjoy my work with the group, they are a smashing bunch of folk, hard working, knowledgeable people whom I count as both friends and workmates. I would love to see as many folk as possible joining us.
Just prior to completing my research I began work on the fictionalised novel 'The Captain's Secret'. The idea came from my factual research into the Black Lady. At present, Ned McCann in Australia, an established journalist and author who made contact with me, is editing the format. The novel is a powerful piece set between India and Scotland full of murder, mystery and suspence. I had the pleasure of working with Margo Wilson, who also contacted me, her company then Ogram, She is a very talented young woman and we became friends. Margo and myself worked on a screenplay called Avondale, adapted from the factual research into the Black Lady. This project due to other commitments at the time was shelved but it was great fun and we have both gone on to do all sorts of things and have and will remain good friends.
At the same time, I also began working with Haldane Duncan, a top Scottish director who was most impressed with the story. Hal and I worked for many months adapting the novel format to screenplay for film and TV. The screenplay of The Captain's Secret is at first draft stage with Ron Haliday and myself working on the second draft. The market is there for this period piece and this type of material is coming back into vogue. The screenplay, like the novel format, is a powerful drama that would make exciting viewing for a varied audience. The research has had many off shoots encompassing the whole history of the Dalserf Parish along the way. This resulted in my publishing two other booklets one on the history of the Applebank Inn Millheugh and one called The Cradle of Christianity, which partly surrounds the beautiful old church at Dalserf village built in 1655. My name when I began these works was Helen Sykes. I became Helen Moir last September when I remarried to a great man known simply to me as my Bill.
Last November, Tempus Publishing published 'Images of Larkhall' written by myself and dedicated to my late mother. Six years ago ,when I was laid really low by ill health, I found that I could go, even sick, into my writting. The wee small hours drag past when you are struck by illness. Prior to that I was a very busy home help working in the community, a job I loved, and my role included housewife and mother. My research had begun prior to this, so when I had to give up work on the grounds of ill health I suppose my writting and research was an added bonus and maybe it was my form of escapism. I have now written and completed a similar format for Motherwell, 'Images of Motherwell' which is being dedicated to Bill and his family, who have been most supportive of me. I have also completed 'Images of Wishaw' which was launched this month. This book is dedicated to my beautiful little granddaughter, Nicole Tollan.
'Images of Wishaw' is my third book published by Tempus Publishing available for sale. Next month 'Images of Lanark and The Clyde Valley' is due to be published and will be available with 'Images of Coatbridge and Airdire', Bellshill pending with other towns to follow.
I work from a room in our little home in Wilson Street, sitting there in the quiet with all my thoughts and documents around me. Ideas flow fervently around in my mind.
'Grime and Grace' was created in a room like this. The title comes from the grace of the folk and the grime of the pits. The piece, a period drama documentary, is set in miners rows around one family. It tells how they shared their joy and sorrow with a great deal of humour woven through, which they both had and needed. We are currently seeking a production company for this work.
I go out giving talks on history to all types of organisations, such as women's guilds, men's fellowships etc I have travelled throughout Lanarkshire and thankfully, the talks have gone down well. I have been very fortunate meeting so many marvellous folk. It was at one of these talks that the idea to produce a video cropped up.
Last year, 'The Dalserf History' was released onto the market. Douglas T Miller of Rosebank Productions, whose filming expertise was excellent, produced the video. The script for the video,which lasts 40 minutes, was written and narrated by myself and tells the story of the parish of Dalserf, covering 3,000 years from Bronze Age. Douglas has other videos under his belt, all first class and available for sale locally, along with The Dalserf History.
Over eight years ago, little did I know that my recurring dreams would take me down so many strange but fascinating paths...
THE TRUTH IS TRULY STRANGER
(The above was produced in 1999, when Helen first joined us at NYK)