Oldest person in Scotland reveals secret to long life on 110th birthday
19 January 2023, 07:24
The oldest person in Scotland's revealed the secret to her long life as she celebrates her 110th birthday today.
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Marion Dawson was born in 1913 and has lived through both world wars, the Spanish flu epidemic and the Covid-19 pandemic.
She's stayed in Renfrewshire her whole life and it’s where she got married to her late husband in 1941.
The centenarian went on to have two children and is now a great-grandmother.
Asked what the secret was to her long life she told LBC News it was a mix of luck and staying away from alcohol.
Marion said: "I've never touched drink of any kind. That's maybe why I've lived so long. Lemonade is my stretch.
"I've lived in this village since the day I was born. I didn't want to leave. I'm quite happy. I loved going to school here and being outside playing.
"I remember bits of the Great War and the Second World War. Watching fires from the hill".
Marion only moved out her own house in Renfrewshire last year, aged 109, and into the nearby Morar Living care home.
Staff joke she is "the biggest flirt in the home" and tell us she’s “still as sharp as a tack”.
And Home Manager Karen Armstrong said: "It's very good having Marion here she's a very interesting lady and she keeps all her community connections within the village.
"She has a lot of friends who come and visit and use the social areas in the home. Her daughter's a very good support to her too and she's living life to the full for a lady of 110
"Local schoolchildren have even written a play about her! It's a play all about her life and her hobbies and interest so hopefully at some point we'll get them in to perform it."
