From There to Here: War, Peace, Pandemic
Romy Wyllie (née Rosemary Blair) (MA 1955) describes what it was like to live through World War II before coming to spend four of her happiest years at St Andrews, and how an unplanned fourth year produced an unexpected development.
On 19 March 2020, soon after the coronavirus pandemic hit the world, the Governor of California ordered everyone to stay home. In a state of shock, we worried how to fill the void left by the cancellation of public gatherings. I decided that this would be an ideal time to write a memoir of my early life. With the pandemic making us feel that we were at war, not with a nation or nations but with a virus to which we had no immunity, I was reminded of World War II (1939-1945) and how we coped with the many restrictions that interfered with our daily lives. Perhaps my story will help others realise that if the world managed to survive six years of war, it can survive and conquer this pandemic.
I was six when war was declared. An ideal childhood in the protective setting of a happy family, living in a beautiful Georgian mansion with extensive gardens near Hull, Yorkshire, was suddenly disrupted by the threat of invasion, nightly bombing raids, rationing, and shortages of food and essential supplies.
Though I spent much of the war isolated at boarding school, holiday visits revealed Hull’s destruction and the effects of war on everyone’s life. In applying to universities, I put all my eggs into one basket––the University of St Andrews. My father was Scottish, born in Markinch, Fife, and educated in medicine at the University of Edinburgh, and my brothers went to Fettes College in Edinburgh. I have never regretted my decision.
My four years at St Andrews (1951-1955) were some of the best years of my life. I confess that my memories focus more on social life, sports activities and drama rather than academic studies. My first year was filled with dances, parties, and Lacrosse matches (I was a member of both St Andrews and the Scottish Universities teams). As a member of the Mermaid Dramatic Society, I had the lead role in Bernard Shaw’s Major Barbara and played Mistress Marwood in Congreve’s The Way of the World, as well as helping to direct it.
It is impossible to spend four years at St Andrews without its medieval ruins making an impact on your life, whether they were places for quiet study or a romantic meeting with a boyfriend. Researching their history for my book helped me to appreciate more fully what role the Castle, Cathedral and many of the academic buildings played in the development of town and gown.
Golf is an integral part of St Andrews. For two years, three other students and I lived in a flat overlooking the 18th fairway of the Old Course. It was a spectacular location with an uninterrupted view across the course to the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and the ocean beyond. Our landladies, two spinster sisters, warned us never to sit in the walled garden facing the golf course, because a third sister had been killed by an errant golf ball.
In spite of failing some subjects along the way, and having to do an extra year, I did achieve an MA in English and History, but not the Honors MA I had set out to earn. However, my unplanned fourth year produced an unexpected development. From the beginning of life at university, I enjoyed the friendship of several young men, and never lacked a partner for the formal balls or Saturday hops. One evening while experiencing the camaraderie of students at the Cross Keys bar, a geology student and former rugby player named Peter Wyllie introduced himself and said he remembered me playing Major Barbara. Soon after, we met again on a ski trip to the Cairngorms. As we tried to ski on intermittent patches of snow, I discovered that Pete hadn’t brought any lunch so I shared my sandwich with him. Little did I know then that I would share the rest of my life with him.
Graduates are often asked what they took with them from St Andrews. My answer is simple: a degree and a husband. I never intended to find a husband because I worried that sharing the same learning environment would limit my outlook on life, but Pete was unique. Moreover, he had just spent two years on the 1952-1954 British North Greenland Expedition, mapping and gaining geological knowledge of unexplored territory. The expedition was an unforgettable experience, one that was toughening both physically and mentally.
We were married at a formal ceremony in North Ferriby, Yorkshire on 9 June 1956. Two weeks later we sailed on the Queen Mary to America where Pete had a research position at Pennsylvania State University and planned to complete his St Andrews PhD. We stayed for three years before going home to England. After two years at Leeds University, we made the difficult decision to return to America, where research opportunities helped Pete move on to a brilliant academic career. His many awards included an honorary doctorate from St Andrews.
My role as Pete’s wife has involved secretarial work, motherhood (four children), managing editor of the Journal of Geology, and President of my own Interior Design firm for 35 years. In my mid-sixties I started writing and have published five books: three on architecture and interior design and two memoirs. In spite of my less than successful academic career at St Andrews I did learn how to do research, how to study, dissect treatises, write papers, and most of all how to think and organise, now fulfilled in my publications. At age 88, I hope to continue writing.
Without question St Andrews had a formative and enduring influence on my life.
Romy’s memoir: From There to Here: War, Peace, Pandemic was published by F Rosemary Wyllie through IngramSpark on 16 October 2020.