Шон Байтелл - The Diary of a Bookseller

Till total £157.48

20 customers

Online orders: 2

Books found: 2

At about 10 a.m. Nicky and I were gossiping about the perils of lending things to people when we were interrupted by a customer who asked if we had a ‘rest room’. Blank looks were exchanged for some time before Nicky broke the silence, saying, ‘There’s a comfy seat by the fire if you need a rest.’ For moments like this, Nicky’s value is beyond measure.

Smelly Kelly appeared, doused, as always, in Brut 33. He now has a walking stick but assured me that he will be fighting fit in no time. His relentless pursuit of Nicky is most inspiring, particularly considering that not only has she failed to give him any positive signals, but on several occasions she has also told him quite bluntly that she is not interested.

Drove to Glasgow and bought fifteen boxes of books from a retired couple in Bearsden.

Till total £115.50

10 customers

Online orders: 2

Books found: 2

Laurie was in, covering for Nicky, who put in an extra day yesterday, so I went fishing on the Luce. Didn’t catch anything, but a worthwhile break from the shop. Eliot emailed to say that The Bookshop Band are going to be in the area this weekend and are looking for a venue for a gig, and could he come and stay for a few days. I replied that I would be happy to open on Sunday for them, and yes, of course he was welcome to stay too.

Till total £109.49

7 customers

Online orders: 2

Books found: 2

Laurie fronted the shop today, which turned into a beautiful sunny day.

Her first customer was a Welsh woman who had brought ten boxes of Scottish books with her while she’s here on holiday, with a view to selling them. Her husband brought them in from the car. Some were interesting – perhaps 20 per cent of the total – but they were all in terrible condition. As I was going through the first three boxes, the woman made a note on her list of the books that I had removed. This is always, without exception, an indication that someone has overvalued their books. Occasionally she would pick one up and mutter, ‘Oh yes, that’s very rare’, or ‘valuable’ or ‘first edition’, as if this would somehow influence what I would offer her for the collection. When she eventually stopped talking, I offered her £60 for about twenty books. Immediately she replied, ‘Oh no. Oh no no no no no’, so I left the room at this point and went to make a cup of tea. When I returned five minutes later, both she and her beleaguered husband, and the books, were gone.

Eliot arrived at 4 p.m. and made himself at home, which, as always, meant dispersing the contents of his overnight case as widely as possible throughout the house.

Till total £128

20 customers

I opened the shop at 2 p.m., just as The Bookshop Band arrived. They set up and started the gig at 3.30 p.m. They were wonderful. The Bookshop Band are Ben, Beth and Poppy. They were doing a tour of Scotland and the north of England, and Eliot persuaded them to come to Wigtown and perform in the shop. They brought their friend John along to give them a hand with setting up. Their USP is that they mainly play in bookshops, and all of their songs are based on books they’ve read. The shop was full for their gig: Callum brought his children along too. In the evening, once we’d eaten, the instruments came out again as the wine and beer began to flow and they sang folk songs (John’s speciality). We drank and sang until 3 a.m.

Online orders: 3

Books found: 2

Awoke and opened the shop with the hangover from hell.

On Facebook today was a message from hater Paul: ‘We’ve crossed swords before and before you patronise me with your explanation of exactly what your site is meant to be portraying, remember that due to the wide coverage of the internet, you are possibly doing your business more damage than good. I, for one, stopped visiting your shop a few years ago, due to your pathetic postings on Facebook and over-inflated self-belief and attitude. I really think you should stop doing this, as it is quite patently a childishly backhanded way of being rude behind your customers’ backs. Grow up and find a more beneficial hobby for crying out loud.’

In the evening I went for a pint with Eliot and Natalie McIlroy, who is one of this year’s festival artists in residence. Natalie’s project is to find thirty-one Galloway pippins – apple trees native to this area – and create an indoor orchard in an empty building on the square. She is going to raffle them off at the end of the festival. I already have one in my garden. The fruit it produces is huge. This year there are three artists in residence – Natalie, a woman called Anupa Gardner, who paints on textiles, and Astrid Jaekel, who did an extraordinary silhouette installation in the windows of the County Buildings last year. This year Astrid is making plywood cut-outs of figures to go in front of each shop. Astrid is German but grew up in rural Ireland before moving back to Germany. She has a very unusual blend of accents.

Among the books from the Glasgow deal last week was a set of Scottish Mountaineering Club journals, which, with hindsight, I wish I had left behind. They are nearly impossible to sell, and the shelves in the Scottish climbing section are already bulging with them.

Till total £294

17 customers

Online orders: 3

Books found: 2

Today Laurie was in, and I spent most of the day in the garden, so my only interaction with a customer was during her lunch break at 12.30 p.m. The customer asked, ‘Do you have any pamphlets about the history of the area?’, to which I replied, ‘No, but we’ve got plenty of books about local history in the Scottish room. You’re welcome to have a look there.’ The customer parted – on the way out of the door – with ‘Oh no, we don’t want books. We’re only interested in free pamphlets.’

The garden behind the shop is long and narrow (50m by 7m) and would have been a vegetable garden for the house during its heyday in the late Georgian period. Consequently it has been fertilised with lime, and as such is not conducive to the growth of rhododendrons, magnolias, azaleas and other ericaceous plants, which I like to grow. There is a healthy looking camellia, which flowers in April, but the flowers turn brown within days and fall off shortly afterwards.

When I bought the place, the garden was mainly rock gardens and dwarf conifers, but over the years I have replanted all of it, and now in spring it is an explosion of colour and scent, with gardenia, scented clematis, wisteria, viburnum, laurel, all manner of ground cover, native trees and shrubs. With the help of pots and ericaceous compost there are even azaleas and rhododendrons. It is my favourite place, and at this time of year, when the days are long and warm, sitting out there alone at night is a singular pleasure. At dusk the bats appear, and it is a joy to sit on the bench with a glass of whisky watching them flitting, silhouetted against the fading light. Once, one came so close to me in pursuit of its prey that I could feel the breath of its wings against my face as it wheeled away. Older Gallovidians refer to them as ‘flittermice’, probably something that fans of operetta would recognise.

Till total £184.89

19 customers

Online orders: 2

Books found: 2