Home  >  Features  >  Looking Back: Livingstone's Boys

Looking Back

Image: archives-pic_cropped.jpg

Friday May 3 2019

Looking Back: "Nursed by Livingstone's 'Boys'"

Published in May 1959, one man's proud connection with David Livingstone


I WAS NURSED BY LIVINGSTONE'S 'BOYS'

by DAVID STEVENSON

MY father was head forester on the Kelly estate at Wemyss Bay at the time when the railway was being constructed.

The owner of the estate, Mr. Young, was a great traveller, much interested in other lands. When Susa and Chuma, David Livingstone’s African “boys,” were in this country, he brought them to Kelly House so that they could build there a replica of the hut in which their master died near Chitambo in Northern Rhodesia.

My father was brought in to give them their tools and to show them suitable trees for their purpose.

As they stood at the lodge talking with him they heard a child’s cry. “Baby,” they said, delightedly, and asked if they could see him. They came indoors and stood smiling over the crib, touching the little fingers gently.

Could they take the baby for a walk? My mother said they could. So off they went along the shore road, carrying me in their arms.

An hour later they returned, their faces wreathed in smiles. They laid me in my crib and sang a verse of a cradle-song in their own language over me before beginning their work.

Every morning after that the door opened and they waited, smiling, to be given the baby for his walk; and off they would go singing to the shore road.

I am proud to have been held in the same arms and lifted by the same loving hands as David Livingstone. May I meet them again in the heavenly kingdom and thank them for their love for the little baby.


The owner of the Kelly Estate, James Young, was a chemist who invented a method of distilling paraffin. He was a friend and sponsor of Livingstone, and had the hut built as a memorial following the explorer's death in 1875. Young himself died in 1883, his mansion was pulled down by subsequent owners, and the estate was broken up in the 1950s. If anyone has any information on what became of the hut we'd love to hear it!


Previous: Refugee Work in Scotland, 1939

Looking Back menu

Our cookies

We use cookies, which are small text files, to improve your experience on our website.
You can allow or reject non essential cookies or manage them individually.

Reject allAllow all

More options  •  Cookie policy

Our cookies

Allow all

We use cookies, which are small text files, to improve your experience on our website. You can allow all or manage them individually.

You can find out more on our cookie page at any time.

EssentialThese cookies are needed for essential functions such as logging in and making payments. Standard cookies can't be switched off and they don't store any of your information.
AnalyticsThese cookies help us collect information such as how many people are using our site or which pages are popular to help us improve customer experience. Switching off these cookies will reduce our ability to gather information to improve the experience.
FunctionalThese cookies are related to features that make your experience better. They enable basic functions such as social media sharing. Switching off these cookies will mean that areas of our website can't work properly.
AdvertisingThese cookies help us to learn what you're interested in so we can show you relevant adverts on other websites and track the effectiveness of our advertising.
PersonalisationThese cookies help us to learn what you're interested in so we can show you relevant content.

Save preferences