Scholarship information offered by MacLellan's
The Clan MacLellan Scottish Cultural Scholarship offers grants to support the study of Scottish music, dance, language, history or society.
Each year an applicant is chosen, and applications are open for the 2004 award. Forms are now available. Applications must be received by May 1 of the award year. The committee will announce the recipient by July 1.
We seek donations from clan members to support the scholarship fund. Additional information and applications can be obtained by contacting Ernie McClellan, Chairman, Scholarship Committee, Think On, quarterly newsletter of the Clan MacLellan, P.O. Box 397, Simpsonville, Kentucky 40067.

The Chinese in California now online
The Library of Congress has released a new online collection, The Chinese in California, 1850-1925, which contains some 8,000 images and pages of primary source materials. Included in the online collection are photographs, letters, excerpts from diaries, business records, legal documents, broadsides, speeches, sheet music, and other printed materials pertaining to traditional Chinese life in California.
The collection can be searched by keyword, subject, group, or theme. Group topics include Collection of Chinese textbooks and San Francisco Early Views. Themes range from Chinese American Communities to San Francisco's Chinatown Business and Politics.
Browse the collection at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award99/cubhtml/cichome.html.

Kenneth J. Campbell newly elected SSMV president
The Reverend Kenneth J. Campbell was elected president of the Scottish Society of Martha's Vineyard at the annual meeting held September 26th, having previously served for several years on the board of directors.
After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree from Suffolk University in Boston, Ken Campbell received his Masters of Business Administration from Fairleigh Dickinson University, as well as Master of Divinity degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
Following a career at IBM (International Business Machines) as an executive in various management and staff positions, spanning more than thirty years, Campbell became a consulting director for Genesis Consulting in Ridgefield, Connecticut, and then retired with his wife Cathy to make their home on Martha's Vineyard.
In 1997 he began his service as pastor of Faith Community Church of Martha's Vineyard.

Clan Commander recognizes three distinguished members
During the year 2001 Clan Commander Sandy McPhie recognized three Clan members as being Truly Distinguished Members of Clan Macfie. He commented: The contributions over many years by Fritz McDuffie (USA), Boyt Cathey (USA), and Iain McFie (Scotland) have been outstanding in many areas of Clan activity over several decades be it as Clan society presidents or committee members, chairs of Clan committees or as active members of Clan Macfie and Clan Macfie Societies.
Fritz and Boyt have specialized in Clan history and genealogy research, while Iain has been the Clan Commissioner in Scotland and Keeper of Clan Macfie Records. He has been coordinator (with his wife, Fiona) for the last four Clan gatherings in Scotland.
Source: Cathey Kith and Kin Newsletter, Year 2002 Edition, Boyt Cathey, Editor, 400 Webber Road, Apartment B-2-4, Spartanburg, South Carolina 29307-2486.

Clan McFie history is available on a compact disk - a musical poem
Clan member James McFee and his son, Robin McFee, have created a lovely musical history of Clan Macfie that tells how they left their native Scotland and now have a presence throughout the known world. (NOTE: It appears the Catheys left Scotland in the 1600s and migrated to Northern Ireland (Ulster). Later in the early 1700s, they came to the New World (America); now specifically the United States of America, after the country was organized.)

If interested in this matter, check the Internet and see photos of James and his son, Robin. The MP3 file can be downloaded at www.mcfee.co.uk and is called "Macdubhsithe Diaspora".

The Great Philadelphia Wagon Road: A New Look-an audio recording by Jo White Linn now available for your research library
Many years ago, Jo White Linn spoke to a Cathey Reunion audience on the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road. Now a generalized version is available through a commercial firm. For those new to Cathey Family history, the Catheys along with hundreds of thousands of other Scots-Irish migrated from Pennsylvania to Virginia and other southern colonies prior to the Revolutionary War.
The tape was recorded on October 15, 1994 in Richmond, Virginia. The conference was called On to Richmond and was sponsored by the Federation of Genealogical Societies.
For more details, check the WWW on http://audiotapes.com. The price is $8.50 and ships "usually in 2-3 days." The product number is #VA-97.
Source: Cathey Kith and Kin Newsletter, Boyt Cathey, Editor, 400 Webber Road, Apartment B-2-4, Spartanburg, South Carolina 29307-2486.

John Layton Murray (1928-2003) travelled on his last journey July 11th surrounded by his loved ones. He had lived a creative, adventurous and gracious life and the Clan Urray will be less without him. He will also be very much missed in countries like Guatemala, Sri Lanka, Kiev and Guyana where he taught furniture design with Canadian Executive Service overseas. More recently, John began painting using watercolors and had highly successful exhibitions in Quebec, Prince Edward Island and Ontario.

The Family Tree was advised by the Clan MacLellan of the following losses:
David R. McLellan of Newport, Washington, who died in September of 2002.
Lorna MacLellan West of Tulsa, Oklahoma, who died in June of 2003.
Donald R. McClelland of Henderson, Nevada, who dies in August of 2002.

Jean Bradely McConnell Echols was a member of the Clan Graham Society for two decades and was always very supportive of all their endeavors. Jean died Tuesday, May 27, 2003, at her home in Marion, Virginia. She was born in Abingdon, Virginia, the second child of the late Charles Lee and Catherine Sanders McConnell.

Ronald J. Thomann, a career Navy enlisted man who served in two wars, died of complications from Parkinson's disease at his home in Columbia. He was 68.
Born in Niagara Falls, New York, Mr. Thomann attended St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute in Buffalo, New York, before joining the Navy in 1953.
Early in his 20-year career, Mr. Thomann was a member of the elite Underwater Demolition Teams, precursor of the SEALs, and served in Korea at the end of the conflict there.
Later, he was trained as an intelligence photo analyst and was involved in the Cuban missile crisis. He also served in the Vietnam War.
During his career, Mr. Thomann served in, or visited, 44 countries and all 50 states. Among his decorations were two Bronze Stars and the Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon.
After retiring in 1973 as a chief petty officer, Mr. Thomann moved his family to Columbia and worked as a photographer and bonded courier in the Linthicum area.
He served as a lay reader and usher at Christ Episcopal Church in Columbia.
Survivors include his wife of 44 years, the former Alta Garrison, a son, a daughter, 11 brothers and sisters, and three grandchildren. A daughter preceded him in death.

The memorial service for EDITH "DEDE"SHIGLEY BINFORD GREEN TIGNOR, 65, of Kennesaw, was Monday, November 3, 2003 at All Saints' Episcopal Church in Kennesaw. She died at Tranquility Hospice of malignant melanoma. The body was cremated.
Mrs. Tignor had many interests. She was a painter of vivid landscapes and portraits. She enjoyed snorkeling along the coasts of Caribbean islands. She created an English garden in her yard and recently finished a book, yet to be published, about wildflowers.
She delved into her family's English and Scottish roots and found she was descended from Robert the Bruce of Scotland through his daughter Marjorie.
Survivors include her husband, C. Wesley Tignor; her mother, Mary Shigley of Tacoma, Washington; two stepsons, Charles W. Tignor, Jr. of Snellville and Michael Tignor of Lilburn; a foster son, Richard Pinson of Dallas; two sisters, Mary Carhart of Vashon Island, Washington, and Elizabeth Anderson of Gainesville, Florida; and four stepgrandchildren.

IAIN MACNEACAIL of MacNeacail and Scorrybreac passed away on Thursday, October 16, 2003 at his home in Ballina, Queensland, Australia, having suffered a severe stroke earlier in the week. He was 83 years of age.
The Chief, a quiet and distinguished man, was always very giving of his time and efforts to his Clan throughout the world. In 1994 he was quoted as estimating that some ninety percent of his extensive correspondence and a good deal of his reading was connected with the Clan.
Born in 1920, Scorrybreac was brought up on his father's sheep and cattle property near Campbell Town, a small town some forty miles south of Launceston in northern Tasmania. Educated at Scotch College, Tasmania, from 1931 to 1938, he then joined the staff of a daily paper as a cadet reporter until early 1940 when he volunteered to transfer from the part time militia to the 28th Field Regiment, 9th Division Artillery, A.I.F. He remained with the regiment throughout the war and served in the Middle Eastern campaigns and later in the invasion of North Borneo.
After the war, he returned to the family property and in 1946 married Pamela Fish. Pam was born in Launceston, Tasmania and educated at Fahan School, Hobart. She enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force in 1941 and served as a radar operator at various Australian stations.
They commenced their farming life on a War Service Settler's block in northern Tasmania but by 1955, his father's failing health made it imperative that they should return to manage Scorrybreac, the family property of some 6,000 acres named after the old clan lands on the Isle of Skye.
Following his father's death in 1962, he purchased his brother's interest in Scorrybreac and together with Pam their property continued to produce good quality wool. They also founded a Galloway cattle stud as a side interest. Five years later they moved to an undeveloped property - which they named Kanangra - some twenty miles north west of Canberra, where their elder daughter Robin was attending a university.
In 1987 part of the Clan ancestral land by Ben Chracaig, Portree, Isle of Skye, which was earlier the home for nearly eight centuries of the Nicolson of Scorrybreac Chiefs and their clansmen, was put on the open market. MacNicols and Nicolsons the world over formed Urras Clann MhicNeacail (The Clan MacNeacail Trust). It took great effort worldwide, but sufficient monies were raised and the Clan was able to purchase the 130 acres by Ben Chracaig, a most beautiful headland opposite Portree "for preservation and public enjoyment."
Following the purchase of Ben Chracaig, a cairn was built from stones sent by Clan Associations all around the world. Scorrybreac at the dedication of the cairn in October 1989 said, "I regard this cairn as a memorial to my father; this because of a small stone incorporated into the face of the cairn - a stone my father (Norman Alexander Nicolson) picked up when visiting the ruins of old Scorrybreck House (in Skye) in 1917 while on furlough from the Western Front. He took it back to Australia and later had it set into the keystone of the main fireplace of our home in Tasmania. When we moved to New South Wales, I took the stone with me and now 72 years later, and after a return trip of some 22,000 miles, it has been returned to Skye." This cairn is now a great source of interest to the many visitors to Skye.
1988 saw the recognition by the Lord Lyon of Scorrybreac as the only Chief of the Highland Clan, thus ending a long drawn out challenge to that claim. While they must have drawn comfort from the worldwide support extended to Scorrybreac and his family, it was apparent to those who followed this case that this caused the Chief must heartache and anxiety.
In May 1992, there was a Dedication on the Isle of Skye to mark the birthplace of Christianity in Scotland and the legendary burial sites of 28 Nicolson Chiefs known locally as St. Columba's Isle at Snizort.
Scorrybreac's beloved wife Pam passed away on June 3, 1995. He sorely missed his soul mate, her delicious sense of humour and her keen sense of the ridiculous; there had always been much laughter in their life together.
The Clan continued to progress and it gave Scorrybreac much pleasure to announce the formation of the Highland Clan MacNeacail Federation, and that a Grant of Arms had been made to the Federation, under Letters Patent dated January 6, 1997, by the Lord Lyon King of Arms. He was also very proud to learn that the Federation had been accepted as a "Founder" of the new Scottish Museum thanks to a generous donation made to the Museum on behalf of the Federation by Burke Nicholson of Balvenie and Harman Nicholson of Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
In 1998 there was a further recognition of Scorrybreac's Chiefly status with the announcement that by a warrant of May 28, 1998, the Lord Lyon King of Arms had approved a grant to him as Chief of the Clan MacNeacail of Supporters, a Plant Badge, and a Pinsel. He had also approved a Change of Motto from "Generositate non Ferocitate" to "Meminisse sed Providere" (Remember, but Look Ahead). Through the generosity of Burke Nicholson of Balvenie, the Clan was presented with the newly granted Pinsel, a four and one-half feel length and two feet high flag, which show the Chiefs' Crest (a Hawk's Head) and within a circlet his Motto and chiefly title, as well as his Plant Badge.
Clan MacNeacail has not only lost a Chief, but one who was a treasured friend to many who knew him, a linchpin that held together a widespread clan in warm kinship, caring and understanding. The word gentleman is often casually used, but thoughts of Scorrybreac are remembrances of a gentle man. That gentleness never failed him, his physical and moral strength was evident in his service to his country and to the wider community within Australia and throughout the world.