I considered quite a few of my Arran ancestors before deciding on great, great grandfather William. William's dad Donald/Daniel, his daughter-in-law's father Alexander Hunter (both 3xGt grandpa) were but two of the many on the short list. I decided on balance that William was the best bet, as he would have had some knowledge of all these lines. Then came the question of at what age - too early and some events would not have happened - too late and the memories might be fading. So I think I would have invited him to dinner when he was about 65 i.e. a few years after his youngest son Ephraim Stewart Cook's wedding to Jane Hunter (1879). The meal needs to be a slow and leisurely one with plenty of time to chat and allow for digestion - last thing needed is for subject to take an early after dinner nap! Where to start the questions ? Well, first and foremost I would like to know where William was at the time of the 1841 census (6-7 June 1841) - he and his first wife Susanna Findlay (Not my 2xGt Grandma) gave their names for proclamation in Dundonald, Ayrshire on 15th June 1841 - to date I haven't found where he was 8 days earlier - not in Dundonald RD, nor in Saltcoats/Ardrossan RD :-( Once the reminiscences start, the flow-on questions begin - e.g. tactful digging to find out what happened to his first wife (we currently believe she died in child birth), where he met his second wife, etc. When did William leave Arran, was that on his own, or did his parents and/or siblings move to the mainland as well? This would lead into requests for his grandparents names - the earliest information we have is that William's parent's were married in the parish of Kilmory on 13 March 1794. Father Donald of Clauchog, has three possible sets of parents, while mother Mary (nee Stewart) has five or six possible sets. I would also like to find out when and where they ended their time - whether on Arran or elsewhere. If on Arran it was pre 1855, as they don't appear in McKirdy's Death Index. If/when the reminiscences from these questions slowed - e.g. what happened to his siblings, aunts/ uncles etc, etc ... ... I would then delve into his knowledge of the Hunter & Hamilton lines (his son's wife - Gt Grandma Jane Hunter's parentage) - what exactly was the link here? William was a Master Joiner as was Jane's father Alexander Hunter; did they work together in Ayrshire in the early 1840's, and was that how their children met and subsequently married? We know that Alexander Hunter left Arran before 1831 when he married an Arran lass Margaret Hamilton in Saltcoats, Ayrshire; before returning with four children to Inverclay nr Brodick, Arran in 1846 - fleeing the sickness that pervaded the cramped accommodation available in Saltcoats at that time - Jane was the last born of their Arran children. Did William & Alexander keep in contact or was the meeting of Stewart and Jane purely co-incidence? If Gt Gt Grandpa William isn't ready to call it a night, then I expect we could dredge up a few more questions, however I suspect all this might be interwoven with us giving details of how his descendants had made their way in life. That's my dinner guest - who is yours ? Peter