The Real James Herriot by Jim Wight

happens, A GAS IS FORMED!’
    Pettigrew was not the only one to feel the lashing tongue of Professor Emslie. The inadequacy of the entire class was ruthlessly exposed until finally, as abruptly as it had exploded, the voice returned to ominous normality. Alf could never help feeling that somewhere along the line the stage had lost a great tragedian, Emslie’s ability to switch from berserk rage to glacial calm particularly impressing him.
    Professor Emslie was not just a frightening character. He was also a man of mystery which added to the sense of awe in which he was held by the students. Not one of them ever saw him either arrive at or leave the college; how did he get in and out of the building? Various interesting theories arose. One student claimed to have seen him flash through the wall of the Pathology lab leaving a strong smell of brimstone behind him. Another was positive he had seen him with a briefcase and a bowler hat emerging from a hole at the bottom of Buccleuch Street. Yet another was convinced that he flew into the college down one of the chimney pots.
    This extraordinary man was certainly feared by the students but, above all, he was respected – and he was a good teacher. Always having considered the professor to be a fair man, Alf actually grew to like him. Those who worked diligently were treated accordingly.
    In July 1938, Alf scraped through his professional Parasitology exam but he failed Pathology, achieving only a mark of 40%. He re-sat Pathology in December 1938, passing with 49%. He certainly had not distinguished himself in the subject and, upon graduating one yearlater, he did not expect a glowing report from Professor Emslie. All the teachers had a dossier on their pupils which could be read by them on graduation day and Alf Wight was not looking forward to Emslie’s considered opinion of him. He received a pleasant surprise.
    ‘Wight, James Alfred. Lacking in brilliance but showed a perception of the subject which I personally found rewarding. A pleasant-mannered, likeable boy of transparent integrity.’
    Alf did mention that he occasionally considered writing about his days at the Glasgow Veterinary College and, had he done so, I suspect that Professor Muldoon – a man about whom he spoke more than any other when recalling his student days – would have become another character to stand alongside Siegfried, Tristan and all those other famous creatures great and small.

Chapter Five
    During Alf’s time at the Glasgow Veterinary College, the classes were in a continual state of flux, with students failing their exams with monotonous regularity and sliding backwards, while other more dedicated students forged ahead. There is little wonder that the faces of his colleagues in his final few years bore little resemblance to his first year at the college. Some had given up altogether while others were lodged down the ladder, either desperately trying to make some progress or just happily playing cards in the college common-room.
    During his school years at Hillhead, Alf had made friends but none with whom he would keep in close touch after he left. His years at the Glasgow Veterinary College, however, provided him with friendships that he would never forget. Unlike school, where the pupils had been helped along their way with excellent teaching and strong discipline, the students at the college held their destiny very much in their own hands. This generated an intense feeling of comradeship within the bleak old building in Buccleuch Street.
    Alf’s closest friend at the college was a good-looking, open-faced young man called Aubrey Melville, an ebullient character who rarely missed a good night out and was frequently accompanied by a pretty girl and a laughing crowd. He epitomised the sort of flamboyant, extrovert character Alf was pitched amongst at the start of his veterinary career.
    Two of Alf’s friends had to raise the funds for their beer money in rather different ways. Andy Flynn