Crosshouse boys joined the BBs after being in the Life Boys.We were chuffed at getting to wear the 'big boys' uniform if you could call it that.It consisted of a white sash with a wee pouch attached,a leather belt with a brass buckle and your 1st Crosshouse Boys Brigade hat affectionately know as a chip poke hat.Most other BB companies had the round hat we called the pill box hat. Ours we felt  other BBs were jealous of.I remember various BB Captains over the years. Wee Johnny Montgomery,Bill Milliken, Willie Gibson and I believe Bert McCauley of the Carmelbank McCauley brothers Willie and Andrew. We would march up and down the school gymnasium doing various drills,doing PT and playing different games.It was always a thrill for us going on Church parade, strutting our stuff marching up Irvine Road from the school playground to the Church.In Church we were always warned to be on our best behaviour, we would sing the BB Anthem ' Will Your Anchor Hold' at the top of our lungs and stick our chests out. BB camp was always a huge thrill for us. One year we went to Morecambe but really it was a village close by called Torrisholme. We never camped as such, instead the officers had us pack palliases to sleep on, which were just like big tattie bags with straw. Comfortable they were not and you might as well have slept on the Church Hall floor, no we were not in tents. Our cook was big Angus Mitchell who at that time owned the store across the street from the Post Office. Angus was a big jovial man who always had a smile on his face.He was also shrewd, for when it came time to peel spuds Angus had us convinced that this was a prime fun job, not like the Army where spud peelin was considered a punishment, so there was no shortage of volunteers. One time we all went to a local park to kick a ball around when this wee English boy came up and asked us to play cricket. Cricket 'whit end o the bat dae ye hawd ?' These local boys didn't have any cricket pads for the batter to wear and so when my turn came to bat this wee fella bowled and I missed the ball which hit me on the inside of my left knee. In true Crosshouse response, the bat was promptly dispatched towards the bowler, who immediately grabbed ball and bat and went hame to his mammy.We all got a good laugh out of it and resumed our game of fitba.