When Angus Sword first met his future wife Elizabeth at a dance, he thought she was “prim, proper and a wee bit bossy”.
But after getting to know each other better, the couple decided to marry and have now celebrated 60 years of wedded bliss.
Mr and Mrs Sword said the secret to their long marriage was a spirit of “give and take”, and mutual respect for the other’s wishes.
They marked their diamond anniversary with a family get-together in Aberdeen, filled with laughter and reminiscing.
Nestled among cups of tea and thick slabs of cake on their sitting room table was a card from the Queen, congratulating the pair on the occasion.
Mr and Mrs Sword, known as Gus and Liz and now 85 and 84 respectively, both grew up in Dundee.
They met at a dance at Balgay Church Hall in 1950 when both were 18.
Mr Sword, said it “wasn’t love at first sight” but that he felt a definite “spark” between them.
Their romance was put on hold while he completed national service, which took him to Malaya.
When he returned to Dundee, Mr Sword undertook a five-year apprenticeship at the Caledon Shipyard while Mrs Sword was working at the Hydro Board.
It was seven years on from their initial encounter at the church hall that Mr and Mrs Sword returned to Balgay Church to tie the knot on Saturday September 7, 1957.
Their first daughter, Linda, was born in 1960 and their youngest, Margaret, followed in 1964.
On a visit to Aberdeen, working for the George Angus and Co engineering firm as a north-east representative, Mr Sword noticed “giant silos” had started springing up at the city’s harbour.
The Sword family relocated to the Granite City in the 1970s as Mr Sword got into the booming oil industry on the ground floor.
They moved into the Bridge of Don home – which Mr and Mrs Sword still share – in 1979.
Mr Sword’s career took off in the 1980s, as he established the Hydrasun firm as the largest industrial hose and fittings supplier in Scotland.
In 1987, he and Mrs Sword set up Sword Hose Ltd in Torry, and ASD Fire Protection Ltd in Motherwell – having been appointed to create hoses and other items of firefighting equipment.
The pair retired in 1997, and spent much of their newfound free time exploring the world.
They ventured to India, China, Peru, New Zealand and Australia on their travels.
And they even took in the spectacle of the Grand Canyon in America.
Mr Sword joked that the only real disagreements the couple had were over where they would next visit on holiday.
He added: “The biggest arguments I can think of were about holidays, but we would always find some compromise.
“That idea of give and take, and working with each other, is why we have been together for so long.”
The couple intend to bring their grandchildren over from far-flung places such as Abu Dhabi and Melbourne to stage a large-scale celebration in the near future.
Lady Joan Catto presented the diamond duo with a carriage clock on behalf of the Lord Provost of Aberdeen, Barney Crockett, during the get-together at their home.
