Ewen Bain – A Biography, by Sheila Bain
It was midsummer when Ewen Campbell Bain was born in Maryhill, Glasgow, on 23 June 1925, the youngest of three children born to John and Flora Bain from the isle of Skye. His father from Waternish and his mother from Staffin had moved to Glasgow after their marriage in 1912. Surrounded by the tenements and streets of Maryhill they never forgot the lovely island they had left, and their city home became a place of highland hospitality where Ewen’s first words would undoubtedly have been in Gaelic.
Ewen had very happy memories of his childhood in Glasgow where a favourite treat was a walk with his father to see the ships lined along the busy docks on Clydeside – sadly empty today! Margaret, his sister, does not remember Ewen drawing much at home though he was good at art in school. She does remember him clowning and carrying-on with herself and his brother James. When this got out of hand, the two children would get a row from their parents, but rarely Ewen. He told me escaped trouble by making them laugh: this I can believe as he used the same tactics with me!
Ewen had even happier memories of idyllic summer holidays. Each year at the beginning of July there was great excitement when the hamper was brought out for packing – the signal for the early morning departure on the train to Mallaig where Macbrayne’s steamer was waiting to speed them over the sea to Skye. Ewen’s mother stayed with the children during July and august and there was more excitement when their father arrived in Staffin for his annual holiday. This was much more than a family holiday – it was ‘coming home’ and the welcome, of course, would be in Gaelic. Ewen loved Skye and was very keen that I should share its magic with him. My choice of view to express that magic would be of rounding the bend of the road at the monument in Staffin to behold the superb Quirang against a lilac, evening sky with Brogagig and Stenscholl spread below it. Following that would be the welcome awaiting us at Riverside.
The carefree summers of Ewen’s boyhood ended with the advent of the second world war. His brother was already in the merchant navy when Ewen left woodside secondary to enrol in the Glasgow School of Art. Before he was called up to join the royal navy he had to take his share of the fire watching rota in the mackintosh building ‘a skylark’ he called it, never being one to take life too seriously.
Ewen trained as a coder and spent most of the war sailing between Gibraltar and west Africa on convoy- escort duty. He had funny stories about his wartime experiences. It would happen to Ewen, of course, that his office was in the bowels of the ship next to the ammunition store.
When he was demobbed, he returned to Glasgow School of Art where he was one of many ex-servicemen and women who had priority of entry. It was there that we met as students, and we married in Glasgow in 1950. I remember only one cartoon at that time which was published in Ygorra, the students’ charities magazine.
Ewen trained as a teacher in Jordanhill college of education and taught in a number of schools in Glasgow until he left in 1969 for a full-time career as a cartoonist. he started drawing single cartoons to supplement our income when i resigned from teaching after our daughter, Rhona was born in 1955. to guard against disappointment from early rejections he always made sure that several batches of cartoons were in the post. it was a great thrill when some were accepted and the welcome cheques arrived. his talent spotted, he was advised to attempt a strip cartoon and from this encouragement Angus Og was created, his first adventure appearing in the Glasgow bulletin in 1960. shortly after that the bulletin ceased publication and ‘Angus Og’ joined the daily record and later the Sunday mail. it was midwinter when Ewen died suddenly and unexpectedly on 18 December 1989, from pneumonia. this was a dark day for me and, though I greatly miss his cheerful, kindly presence, the brightness of his humour lives on in Angus Og.”
Is obair latha tòiseachadh: Beginning is a day’s work’
‘There’s a Gaelic proverb that says it’s a day’s work starting, and I find that true’ says Bain. ‘Once I get into it, it all goes smoothly. I don’t worry about running dry. I suppose I have quite a lot of confidence in myself. I’m not trying to put any kind of message across. Sometimes I put political comments in, but they spring from the story. I draw for a living because I can do it. It’s better than working.’ – Ewen Bain.
The Angus Og cartoons appeared in the daily record every weekday from 1960 – 1989. Each cartoon works as a humorous mini story whether you have read the strip before or not. However, from the outset the cartoons were intended to form a series and Ewen Bain’s storytelling genius lies in the way in which he combines these strips into an overarching story. In the early days editors asked for an outline of each story but Bain worked best with artistic freedom to allow the story to develop as it unfolded. In 1982 Bain was asked ‘after 22 years of Angus Og, are you finding it more or less difficult to come up with entertaining situations?’ he replied that ‘it’s no more difficult – nor any easier- than it was 20 years ago.
We know from his Og Logs – working notebooks- that each story was detailed in bullet points on the right-hand page accompanied by draft drawings of characters or equipment featured in the story. We can see in the Og Logs ideas developing as stories were planned, character’s names changed, and prototypes developed.
From the Og Logs each cartoon began to take shape. Ewen Bain marked out frames in pencil and drew lines to ensure the text appeared in straight lines. Editing continued throughout as the drawing process and once satisfied with the layout Ewen would draw in the detail with pen and ink.
From the Og Logs each cartoon began to take shape. Ewen Bain marked out frames in pencil and drew lines to ensure the text appeared in straight lines. Editing continued throughout as the drawing process and once satisfied with the layout Ewen would draw in the detail with pen and ink.
In 1971 the daily record became the first European newspaper to be printed in ‘full colour’. Ewen Bain developed an innovative technique of colour overlays to provide the print room with a guide to the finished colour featured in each cartoon. editing continued even after the strips had been submitted to the paper with notes from the editor in the margins of cartoons and occasionally sections of text literally cut out and new text pasted on top where it was felt that the original text may have been a bit too risky!
Bain, on being asked what benefits he got from an art school education, replied ‘art school training, though by no means essential for a cartoonist, is bound to improve one’s draughtsmanship, powers of observation, etc.’ the Angus Og cartoons are beautifully drawn with a sense of depth and perspective not often seen in newspaper cartoons. for all Bain was a serious artist his sense of fun shines through. he plays with frame boundaries and illustrated onomatopoeia, adds humorous detail in the background of images and enjoys breaking the third and fourth walls.
Drambeg existed vividly and in colour in Bain’s mind even as it was drawn and printed in black and white. The cartoon was an important part of cultural life in Scotland throughout the latter part of the 20th century. Do you remember Angus Og? Share your memories with us here.
