A young Edward Martin set out from his village one morning in the 1950s to see the annual Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh. He carried with him the forehammer you see here in his hands. It was bought in 1893 in anticipation of his grandfather's first shoeing competition, which he won...and was used by Edward up to the time that illness forced him to stop work. It took me a lot of work to find the source and acquire the rights to this photo, which I finally did in 2004, and Edward always seemed a little amazed that I could have found a photo he had never seen of himself, on such a special day.
After I sent him the photo, Edward added this note, in addition to the hammer explanation: "I was striking to James Lawson, of Edinburgh....James had lost his father, his normal striker, some time before. He had no one to strike for him. I stepped in to do the job. It was a big occasion for me. It was the great Scottish poet Robert Burns who said, 'Nae man con tether time nor tide' and that is true."
Edward Martin's funeral has been moved to Monday, February 23, 2009 at noon in the Closeburn Church, Closeburn by Thornhill, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. I hope to have information soon on how (or if) to send flowers or messages. Stay tuned.
