Simon Brown, always referred to as Aul’ Broon, was noted for recitations of poems he composed featuring local personalities. These were usually delivered in the New Inn, across the street from his house and most had been recorded on cassette tape by Ross Records of Turriff. However his daughter Elsie, who had collected his works in typed form, proposed they should be published in book form and sold to raise funds for the community. The book sold out quickly locally and abroad.