WOVEN into the fabric of the Tour of Mull Rally are the names and places associated with ‘The Best Rally in the World’.
The Mishnish Hotel, Aros Hall, Neil Mackinnon, Callum Duffy, Scridain and Calgary Bay are just some.
But there are two that standout more than any: Mull Murmurs and Jaggy Bunnet.
John Fife’s incredible live account of the event as it happened, hour-by-hour, is the stuff of legends.
Eagerly awaited by crews, spectators and officials, each bulletin was packed with information, quotes and stage times, all hand-printed by John and given out by the course cars.
Written under the pseudonym of Jaggy Bunnet (given to John in his early years by Drew Gallacher), Mull Murmurs was the only source of reliable information in an era before mobile phones and the internet.
Now John has compiled all the Mull Murmurs into one book, and paid a welcome visit to the 2300 Club, founders of the rally, for a hugely-popular book signing session. First in the queue with a crisp £20 note was the man who gave Mull its title, ‘Best Rally in the World’ – Ian Grindrod.
“He flourished what looked like a cherished slip of paper from the deepest darkest recesses of his wallet,” joked John
“Getting him to part with cash has been as easy as extracting a stripped wheel nut from a wheel stud!
“Brian Molyneux’s book covers the start of the adventure in 1969 and takes it up to 1993, so the book can be seen as a follow-on, although the writing styles couldn’t be more different.
“The bulletins were written under tight deadline pressure, so inevitably there were mistakes and spelling errors. But I’ve kept them in to retain the authenticity.”
Club chairman Neil Molyneux said: “Written in John’s inimitable style, the book is an amazingly accurate record of the Tour of Mull and a real work of genius.”
*‘Mull Murmurs’ by John Fife is available from https://fife-motor-
