One of my granny’s neighbours, the McKinnon family, were widely rumoured to be frequent smackers. On our regular visits up north, my cousins and their friends would gleefully share with us stories of being at the McKinnon’ house or in the local shops, even in church, and hearing Mr or Mrs McKinnon threatening to pull down their misbehaving children’s pants and smack them hard in front of everyone. 

This particularly amused my cousin Kenneth (one year my senior) and his friends, as Iain McKinnon was their classmate and friend; very popular, athletic and just a little bit cocky.