"I was an only child, but I had the good luck to be born into a household which was full of books so I was never lonely. I became an avid reader, discovering at an early age that reading is the most satisfying recreation of all. Like most children I began with comics but very soon I began to look through my father's shelves of books with authors like H. G. Wells, Conan Doyle and Rider Haggard, and that was the end of the comics. This love of reading has remained with me to this day and, in fact, I often think that as I grow older I enjoy it more than ever.
"When I was at school I didn't think I liked it--not, anyway, as modern children seem to like school--because discipline was very strict and, as I had the unfortunate habit of laughing in class I was a regular recipient of several strokes of the 'twase,' the leather belt which was used for punishment in Scottish schools in those days. In retrospect, I realise that I really had a good time and a first class education to boot.
"In fact, I had what I can only describe as an idyllic childhood, because, although I grew up in the big city of Glasgow, my home was only a few miles from the beauties of Loch Lomond and the Scottish hills.
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