It's your Electric Scotland newsletter meaning
the weekend is nearly here :-)
You can view what's new this week on Electric Scotland at
http://www.electricscotland.com/update.html and you can unsubscribe to
this newsletter by clicking on the link at the foot of this newsletter.
See our Calendar of Scottish Events around the world at
http://www.electricscotland.com/familytree/calendar_help.htm
ELECTRIC SCOTLAND
-----------------
Sorry for the late delivery of the newsletter last week. I'd scheduled it to
go out on the Saturday by mistake. It only occurred to me that I didn't get
my usual supply of away on holiday email messags so when I checked to see if
it had gone out that's when I discovered my mistake.
I'd like to thank those that have completed my survey.... it's much
appreciated :-) It will remain open until 13th August for those that haven't
had the time to complete it. See
http://www.electricscotland.com/escgi/surveys/surveys.cgi?poll=1 to see
the most up to date results or to complete the survey if you haven't yet
managed to do so.
At time of writing 758 have now completed the survey and am still hoping
we'll reach at least 1000 by the completion date and so if you haven't yet
completed it would very much appreciate it if you would :-)
In general terms it appears most of you are happy with the newsletter and I
intend to continue it pretty much as is. I've now included a link to our
event calendar at the top of this newsletter. So if you are involved in an
event be sure to add it to our calendar.
As to clan events. I should mention that I am working on a project with the
Scottish Studies Society to see if we can't help Clan Societies in some way
by adding value to their memberships. The idea is to come up with added
value which would encourage more people to join and also to encourage them
to renew their memberships. The intention is to use the Society to go global
with this project. I'd be happy to hear from any official of clan societies
so that we can get their input to this project. I'd also be happy to hear
from individuals as to what might make you join a clan society and what
would encourage you to renew that membership.
For example, one of our thoughts is to produce a discount clan membership
card that you'd purchase through your clan society at an additional cost.
That cost is yet to be decided. Essentially if we all pulled together we
should be able to give you valuable discounts on entries to Highland Games,
hotels, flights, and a whole range of other benefits for products and
services. At a certain level of expenditure this new membership might
entitle you to also become a member of the Scottish Studies Foundation. This
membership gets you a quarterly newsletter and the annual "Scottish
Tradition" publication which comes from the Scottish Studies Dept. at the
University of Guelph. Included it that are the papers produced by students
on their Scottish research where they are studying for their doctorate in
Scottish Studies. I note that I have found old copies of these publications
being sold for between $40 and $60 in second hand book shops.
Anyway... this is a longer term project as we need to see what is possible
as well as seeing if the various clan societies would be interested in
working with us on this project. All proceeds made from this would be
ploughed right back into supporting Scottish ventures around the world. This
might be a small sum to a particular clan society to help them produce a
special one off newsletter. It might also be a larger sum to support a
Highland Games event where without it the Games might not take place.
Anything is possible.
Have also managed to source a few more books which I think will make some
excellent reading. Right now I am working on a book about Scottish Education
which is a bit of a pain as it has so many footnotes. I will soldier on
however as right now we have no real source of information on Education so
this will fill a real gap. Likewise I have just obtained a book about the
history of Scots medicine and will likely start that once the Education book
is complete.
For those that are in New Zealand I'm pleased to say that I've at last
obtained a book about the early settlers there and the order for that was
placed this Thursday.
On a lighter note I've acquired a few more publications one of which has me
intrigued in that it is meant to be a tourism book which follows in the
steps of Bonnie Prince Charlie when he came over in 1745 and purports to
tell you about what each place looks like.
Continuing on a lighter note have acquired "The Scots Week-End" which is
meant to be an instructional book for foreign tourists going to Scotland for
a holiday. Likewise "Scots Humour and Heroism" is the lighter side of
Scottish Life. Have had a read at this last one and in the first chapter it
includes some words from A. G. Gardiner, the author of those lively sketches
"Prophets Priests and Kings" where he said...
"To be born a Scotsman is to be born with a silver spoon in the mouth. It is
to be born, as it were, into the governing family. We English are the hewers
of wood and drawers of water for our Caledonian masters. Formerly they used
to raid our borders and steal our cattle, but they kept to their own soil.
In those happy days an Englishman has a chance in his own country. To-day he
is little better than a hod carrier. The Scotsmen have captured not our
cattle, buth, the British Empire. They sit in the seats of the mighty.
Westminster is their washpot, and over Canada do they cast out their shoe.
The head of the English Church is a Scotsman, and his brother of York came
out of a Scotch Presbyterian manse. The Premier is usually a Scotsman and,
if not Scotch, he sits for a Scotch constituency, and the Lord Chancellor,
the keeper of the King's conscience, is a Scotsman too. London has become an
annexe of Edinburgh, and Canada is little more than a Scotch off-hand farm.
Our single satisfaction is that whenever we want a book to read we have only
to apply to Skibo Castle and Mr Carnegie will send a free library by return.
It is a pleasant way he has of reminding us that we want educating."
Anyway.. lots more books on the way so hopefully something for everyone :-)
And now to address a few issues raised in your written responses within the
survey...
This is actually a one man business and I only use the royal "we" as the
business is as Limited Liability Company. I do get help from a few
volunteers to help me type in some of our books. Like Alan McKenzie who
lives in Ontario, Canada has typed in around 4 books for us. Lora from the
US has typed in a book for us and is currently working on the 3 volume The
Scottish Nation. Deb Beach from the USA has just completed the huge Annals
of Dunfermline for us. Regina from Austria is doing the Prehistoric
Scotland. And so it goes on. This help is very much appreciated. They
usually type in a chapter at a time and then email it over either in a .pdf
file or a word document and I then post it up on the site.
When it comes to the web site I am the only person that publishes to it.
I saw comments about wanting more antiquarian books. Well you can be assured
as this is the core reason for the site being here that more books will go
up every week and we always have a stock of them that are awaiting
processing.
I saw comments about "less on Canada more on the USA". Well one of the
reasons for settling in Canada was to get more historical information on
Scots in Canada and hence this content. At the same time it is not always
easy to find decent antiquarian books about Scots in the USA. There are
quite a lot of more recent books available for purchase but as they are not
out of copyright I can't use them on the site. I do have a couple of books
coming into me about the Scots-Irish in America and also have a book about
Scots in Northampton County of Pennsylvania.
I note also comments about my not producing this newsletter from Scotland.
To be frank I am getting more information on Scottish history and Scots
around the world here in Canada than I ever did in Scotland. The plain facts
are that local Scots are not good communicators when it comes to the web and
it was as much my frustration at getting no assistance from Scottish
organisations that decided me to move out of Scotland. I mean, Scottish
companies wouldn't help, Scottish Enterprise wouldn't help, Scottish
Executive wouldn't help, VisitScotland wouldn't help, Universities wouldn't
help, local councils wouldn't help, the media wouldn't help. So why was I
sitting in a country that obviously wasn't interested in communicating? I
spent a whole year of my life visiting all these organisations and companies
and got nowhere.
I am quite sure that this is a web thing. In the old days you employed PR
consultants and one of their remits was to plant stories in various media
for their clients. The more media that carried the stories the better the
organisations liked it. So why is the web different? It seems when a company
or organisation has a web site they feel they can then ignore the web as a
means of communication. In a recent BBC poll they claimed that most people
only visit around 6 web sites a week. Email is what drives things but when
you look at the web you find that when people use it regularly they end up
with no more than 6 web sites that they will visit on anything like a
regular basis. A bit like a magazine. If you love cars you might subscribe
to a car magazine but probably only one. So you will get your information
about cars from there. Same with the web... once you have explored it you
will find a few sites that you like to visit on a regular basis.
Having said all that I really don't need to be in Scotland as my site is
mostly about history and that I can find anywhere in the world. I might also
add that if there is a special historical event in Scotland local folks can
always take a bunch of pictures and then email them over to me along with a
wee article and I'd be more than happy to add that to the site.
I'll cover more of your issues in the next newsletter :-)
I also added another Canadian Journal entry at
http://www.electricscotland.net/canada_67.htm
ABOUT THE STORIES
-----------------
Some of the stories in here are just parts of a larger story so do check out
the site for the full versions. You can always find the link in our "What's
New" section at the link at the top of this newsletter and pick up poems and
stories sent into us during the week from Donna, Margo, Stan, John and
others.
Micro Button Advertisers
-----------------------------------
We welcome Glengall Scotland Ltd. this week and here they tell you something
of themselves...
We were sitting having dinner in our house, with friends, and the
conversation took to what the two wives were going to do for work in the
next few years. You see both ladies had left their careers to raise their
children and now that the children were of school age they wondered what
they could do to get back into the job market. The conversation eventually
came round to owning and running a web-site from home. Unfortunately not one
of us had ever owned a business never mind written a web-site but undaunted
we headed for the information highway and a shop on the Internet. Subjects
close to our hearts were Scotland, tartan and family genealogy. Glengall
Scotland Limited was incorporated as a legal company with it’s base in
Alloway, Scotland, and we have never looked back.
The Tartan Box
This is our main project with it being our Scottish Internet Product Shop.
We scoured the country for good manufacturers and attended at the Highland
Show in Glasgow whereby put together a large list of top class manufactures
for all our products. We sell kilts that are made traditionally in Scotland,
a wide variety of tartan skirts also made in Scotland, a large range of
pewter-ware including the world famous quaich and sporran flasks . We also
sell a large range of kilt and highland accessories which include neck-ties,
bow-ties and cummerbund. You can find these all in hundreds of different
tartans at prices to suit most pockets. We also pride ourselves in our
collection of sporrans and clan crest gifts which we believe not only depict
a part of Scotland’s heritage but also assist in promoting that heritage
worldwide.
Robert Burns
This site was built as a personal tribute to Scotland’s National bard. As we
have said we only live less than a mile from his birthplace in Alloway and
as lifelong admirers of his works we thought it prudent that we could write
and dedicate a site in his honour. The site contains stories of his life,
loves and mostly his poetry and songs. Scotland's National Bard is loved and
quoted all the world over. The site contains a large list of his works,
information on the man himsel’, the Burns Festival and a Burns community
board.
Clan Search
This is a web site dedicated to family names and the clans of Scotland.
Although very much a work in progress we started it in response to many of
our customers commenting and asking questions on Scottish names. We hope to
keep it up to date and we are most happy to receive questions on the subject
of your Scottish roots.
All in all we thoroughly enjoy running our company. With us customer service
is paramount. Many companies these days do not give any cognisance to
customer service and as a consequence their service is horrific. We accept
all types of communication including e-mail, mail and telephone and will
always be there to assist if we can.
I will leave you with a small excerpt from our company’s objectives which
you can see on our sites.
“To promote genuine Scottish heritage through our products, affiliations and
associations. To not only sell goods to our customers but to engage with
them in such a way that the Scottish culture and heritage is enjoyed to the
full by both parties and hopefully that this gets to such a level that our
customers are not only customers but they become our friends.”
We look forward to becoming your friends !!!!
Joyce & Stephen Dickson
Glengall Scotland Limited
http://www.thetartanbox.com/
THE FLAG IN THE WIND
------------------------------------
This weeks edition is by Allison Hunter where she covers Student loans,
Nuclear Waste and size of the civil service.
I also notice Peter has taken the opportunity to feature David Hunter's
pictures of the lands around Tom Weir's home.
The Scot Wit article this week...
Off The Rails
At one of the old manually-operated railway level crossing gates the
linesman started to close the gates over the road. He had only one of the
twin gates pulled over when the telephone in his signal box began to ring.
The signalman left one gate open after checking his watch to make sure there
was time and left to answer the telephone.
A minute later on his return he found an irate English motorist hopping up
and down.
"My good man" he exclimed "Why the devil did you leave the gates half shut?"
"Weill" said the old railwayman "A wis hauf-expeckin a train.
You can read this weeks issue, see the pictures and listen to the Scots
language at
http://www.scotsindependent.org
SCOTTISH GAZETTEER
------------------
Now working on the S's which you can read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/gazetteer/index.htm
Good accounts of Selkirk and Selkirkshire in the Scottish Borders and also
Shetland, the most northerly islands, in this week.
The Scottish Nation
----------------------------
My thanks to Lora for transcribing these volumes for us.
We are now on the C's with Campbell, Camperdown, and Cant added this week.
The Campbell account is around 50 letter pages and here is how it starts...
CAMPBELL, a surname of great antiquity in Scotland, and of frequent
occurrence in Scottish history. It is stated by Pinkerton to have been
derived from a Norman knight, named de Campo Bello, who came to England with
William the Conqueror. As respects the latter part of the statement, it is
to be observed that in the list of all the knights who composed the army of
the Conqueror on the occasion of his invasion of England, and which is known
by the name of the Roll of Battle-Abbey, the name of Campo Bello is not to
be found. But it does not follow, as recent writers have assumed, that a
knight of that name may not have come over to England at a later period,
either of his reign or of that his successors. Mr. Pinkerton has associated
with this account of the origin of the name a theory that the Campbells were
not only not Celts but Goths, in which, however, he is assuredly mistaken.
It has been alleged in opposition to this account that in the oldest form of
writing the name, it is spelled Cambel or Kambel, and it is so found in many
ancient documents; but these were written by parties not acquainted with the
individuals whose name they record, as in the manuscript account of the
battle of Halidon Hill, by an unknown English writer, preserved in the
British museum; in the Ragman Roll, which was compiled by an English clerk,
and in Wyntoun’s Chronicle. There is no evidence, however, that at any
period it was written by any of the family otherwise than as Campbell,
notwithstanding the extraordinary diversity that occurs in the spelling of
other names by their holders, as shown by Lord Lindsay in the account of his
clan, and the invariable employment of the letter p by the Campbells
themselves would be of itself a strong argument for the southern origin of
the name, did there not exist, in the record of the parliament of Robert
Bruce held in 1320, the name of the then head of the family, entered as Sir
Nigel de Campo Bello.
The writers, however, who attempt to sustain the fabulous tales of the
sennachies, assign a very different origin to the name. It is personal, say
they, “like that of some others of the Highland clans, being composed of the
words cam, bent or arched, and beul, mouth; this having been the most
prominent feature o the great ancestor of the clan, Diarmid O’Dwbin, or
O’Dwin, a brave warrior celebrated in traditional story, who was
contemporary with the heroes of Ossian. In the Gaelic language his
descendants are called Siol Diarmid, the offspring or race of Diarmid.”
Besides the manifest improbability of this origin on other grounds, two
considerations may be adverted to, each of them conclusive.
First, it is known to all who have examined ancient genealogies, that among
the Celtic races personal distinctives never have become hereditary. Malcolm
Canmore, Donald Bane, Rob Roy, or Even Dhu, were, with many other names,
distinctive of personal qualities, but none of them descended, or could do
so, to the children of those who acquired them.
Secondly, it is no less clear that, until after what is called the Saxon
Conquest had been completely effected, no hereditary surnames were in use
among the Celts of Scotland, nor by the chiefs of Norwegian descent who
governed in Argyle and the Isles. This circumstance is pointed out by Tytler
in his remarks upon the early population of Scotland, in the chapter in his
second volume of the History of Scotland. The domestic slaves attached to
the possessions of the church and of the barons have their genealogies
engrossed in ancient charters of conveyances and confirmation copied by him.
The names are all Celtic, but in no one instance does the son, even when
bearing a second or distinctive name, follow that of his father.
According to the genealogists of the family of Argyle, their predecessors,
on the female side, were possessors of Lochow, in Argyleshire, as early as
404. In the eleventh century, Gillespic (or Archibald) Campbell, a gentleman
of Anglo-Norman lineage, acquired the lordship of Lochow, by marriage with
Eva, daughter and heiress of Paul O’Dwin, lord of Lochow, denominated Paul
Insporran, from his being the king’s treasurer.
Sir Colin Campbell of Lochow, sixth in descent from this personage,
distinguished himself by his warlike actions, and was knighted by King
Alexander the Third in 1280. In 1291 he was one of the nominees on the part
of Robert Bruce in the contest for the Scottish crown. He added largely to
his estates, and on account of his great prowess he obtained the surname of
More or great; from him the chief of the Argyle family is in Gaelic styled
Mac Chaillan More.
According to the universally received opinion for several centuries, the
distinctive Mac is understood to imply son, or the son of, and Mac Chaillan
would accordingly imply the son of Chaillan. But it is not anywhere said or
supposed that Sir Colin’s father or any of his immediate ancestors bore the
name of Chaillan. He is described as Dominus Colinus Campbell Miles, filius
Dominus Gileaspec Camp-bel, in an acquisition referred to in a charter of
the monks of Newbattle abbey of the lands of Symontoun in Ayrshire, the
reddendo of which Sir Colin made over to that abbey in 1293. The father of
this Gillespic is said to have been Duncan Campbell, married to a lady of
the name of Sommerville, of the house of Carnwath, and the father of Duncan,
an Archibald Campbell, but there is no authentic instance of their being
styled of Lochow. Other instances occur where the prefix Mac is used without
signifying son, as, for example, in Macbeth, who is not known to have been
the son of Beth, and whose son Madoch did not bear that name; and also in
the genealogies of the Celtic slaves already referred to quoted by Tytler in
his history, where the word Mac occurs in the name of a son which is not the
same as that of his father. It is also found in compound words, as
Macpherson, Macfarquharson, &c., where the English word son is also
incorporated. We are therefore led to look for another explanation of this
frequent prefix. It is not found in Welsh names. In the few Irish names in
which it appears, a Scotch origin can frequently be traced, and it is often
used in the form of Mag, as Maguire, Maginnes, as it is also along with the
C in the Scotch names MacGlashan, MacGillivray, &c. In the oldest Irish
records the word Mic occurs, and is translated son, and this mic is
frequently found combined with Mac, as Mic Mac. There is a curious instance
in Irish history of the prefix Mac being employed to signify great or big,
as in a chief in the reign of Elizabeth, who is said to have been called Mac
Manus, great hand, from the length of his arms. It is not therefore
improbable that the word mac or mag may have originally been a contraction
of Magnus, great or big, employed in the first instance by the priests, the
only chroniclers and namegivers in the corrupted Latin of those ages, either
as an independent personal distinctive, or to designate, among several of
the same name, the individual of greatest size and strength, and which in
later ages, when surnames came into use, might be continued by their
descendants to distinguish them from the children of others of the same
name, on whom such a personal distinctive had not been bestowed. It may be
remarked, that in this sense it sometimes occurs in British or Welsh, as
well as in Celtic or Irish, topography, as Mackinleith, the great place on
the Leath, a hundred and town of great antiquity in Montgomeryshire;
Maginnis, the great island, the ancient name of the peninsula between Lough
Strangford and Dundrum; also, corrupted into Muck or Mug, as Mucross, the
great cross; and in composition as Carrickmacross, the rock of the great
cross. It is probable that it has been used in other countries in
composition of names, as Magellan, or Magalhaen, the great stranger, the
name of the discoverer of Capt Horn.
On this supposition also the word Mac Chaillan appears to be the Celtic
orthography, according to their pronunciation of Mag Allan, or Alaine, the
latter a word which is not only a frequent name in the Romance language
(with which the Norman-French, as spoken in Scotland in the twelfth century
is nearly identified), but was also used in that language to signify what
that word actually meant, viz., aleanus, stranger, or alien, and Mac
Caillane would thus imply the tall or large-bodied stranger. The appellative
mor or more, although frequently used in modern Celtic, in a physical sense,
as great, was in earlier times more properly a distinctive of superior rank,
as maormor, the ancient name for the Pictish chiefs, viz., chief of the
heads (maors, or mayors, a corrupted Gotho-Latin term,) of the tribes. This
term mor is still preserved in the Spanish and Portuguese languages, which
are descended from the Romance, to express such a distinction of rank or
order, as alcayde mor, the head alcade; captain mor, head captain, an
officer equivalent to commander-in-chief of the military force in Portuguese
colonies; thesaureiro mor, head treasurer, &c. The identity of many of the
Romanceiro terms preserved in peninsular languages, with those occurring in
the earliest forms of Celtic words, presents matter of speculation to the
philologist and antiquary, but may perhaps be accounted for by the earlier
prevalence of that tongue and its larger use also in the north of Scotland
than even the Saxon itself, as the conquerors under Canmore and his
descendants were chiefly of that race, and in mixing with the natives, they
may have retained a number of these Gotho-Latin terms whilst adopting along
with them in the course of that amalgamation, the general idiom of the
conquered people.
It is therefore suggested that the Celtic name Mac Ghaillan Mor, is in
reality a compound of corrupted Latin and Romance words implying the great
or tall stranger chief, a suggestion which singularly aids the opinion
which, after considerable attention to the matter, we have formed, viz. that
the first of the Campbells or Campobellos was a military knight, one of
whose ancestors may have assisted Alexander the Second in his conquest of
Argyle, and received, along with the Steward of Scotland, who obtained all
Bute and Cowal on the same occasion, the adjacent lands of Lochow as his fee
or reward, when these were forfeited by the rebellion or death of the
original possessor, probably receiving the hand of the daughter of the
latter as a further security for his acquisition. Whether this latter
circumstance occurred or not, it was not until a later age, when the fourth
earl of Argyle had acquired the jurisdiction over that region, that the
Norman bearing gyronny of eight for Campbell, came to be quartered in the
armorial bearings of the family, with the galley having furled sails, oars
in action, and flag and pendants flying for the lordship of the Isles. The
surrounding people, compelled to acquiesce in this arrangement, would
naturally describe a knight, or the son of a knight, so injected into their
midst, by the appellation of the great stranger chief. In the account given
of the origin of the name Campbell, by Jacob in his English peerage, under
their English title of Sundridge, vol. ii. p. 698, London, 1767, there is a
statement apparently contradictory of the foregoing theory, viz., that the
name Mac Chaillan, or as rendered by him Mac Callan, is that of Sir Colin
himself, “so called by the Irish.” Admitting this to be the case, although
its similarity is not apparent, its only effect would be that instead of the
great stranger chief, the distinctive Mac Caillan More would mean Colin the
great or tall chief.
You can read the rest of this account at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/nation/campbell.htm
You can read the other entries at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/nation/index.htm
St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church of Carlton
---------------------------------------------------------------
(The Gaelic Church) By W. A. Sanderson, M.A., LL.M. (1905)
This is the Jubillee edition telling the story of the Gaelic Church in
Carlton in Australia. The Congregation of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church,
Carlton, has had an interesting and varied history, and it is hoped that the
following pages will meet with approval as an attempt to give an impartial
and accurate account of the work carried on since the Congregation first met
in the old Protestant Hall. I regret that I have not been able to obtain a
picture of that interesting old building, the foundation-stone of which was
laid on 5th April. 1847.
Here is how the first chapter starts...
The Gaelic Congregation—Revs. D. M. Sinclair and Dr. Mackay
The Congregation now worshipping in St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church,
Carlton, had its origin in a band of Highlanders, who commenced to meet
statedly for divine worship in both the Gaelic and English languages in the
old Protestant Hall, Stephen Street, on the same site as the present
Protestant Hall, towards the end of the year 1851. The Congregation is thus
practically the same age as the State of Victoria, which became a separate
Colony to the parent Colony, New South Wales, on 1st July, 1851.
During the early years of the reign of the late Queen Victoria, a great
number of the Celtic race, hailing from the Highlands and the Islands,
emigrated to the Colonies, and societies to encourage their emigration were
founded under distinguished patronage in Scotland, and these efforts were
helped on by Government. As early as 1840, there were a goodly number of
Highlanders about Melbourne and the immediate neighbourhood, and also in the
Western District. They earnestly desired a preacher in their own tongue, and
in October, 1840, they joined with other Presbyterians in a petition to the
Colonial Committee of the Church of Scotland, asking for ministers to he
sent out to supply the needs of the Port Phillip settlement.
On 29th February, 1842, the Rev. Peter Gunn arrived, having been ordained by
the Presbytery of Caithness on 11th August, 1841, to specially minister to
the Gaelic-speaking people. He was appointed to form a congregation in
Melbourne, but was unsuccessful, the chief causes of his failure being that
the Highlanders were mostly poor and unsettled in their prospects, and lived
at such scattered distances from one another, as not to be able very
conveniently to meet together as a congregation. After ministering to his
people, and doing a great deal of pioneer evangelistic and educational work
all over the Port Phillip District, Mr. Gunn at length gave up the idea of
forming a congregation of Highlanders, and in August, 1845, was settled as
minister of an English-speaking congregation at Campbellfield, where,
however, a number of Highlanders were settled. Mr. Gunn laboured here till
his death, in 1864, and "even to the last he journeyed to the full extent of
his strength to preach the gospel, particularly to the Highlanders, to whom
he felt himself in a special sense called upon to minister " (Extract from
memorial minute of General Assembly, 2nd Nov., 1864).
The Highlanders about Melbourne, for many years after this unsuccessful
attempt to form a congregation, had only to depend upon an occasional sermon
in their own tongue to satisfy their spiritual wants. As year after year
went by, they increased largely in numbers, and with the discovery of gold
in 1851, larger numbers still were attracted to the Colony from the Old
Land.
In the meantime, the great Disruption had taken place in Scotland in 1843,
and, unfortunately, ministers arriving from the Old Country brought their
prejudices out with them, so that before the end of the decade there were
three different bodies of Presbyterians in the Colony, corresponding to the
three great divisions at Home. The Highlanders in Scotland were warmly
attached to the Free Church, and the Highlanders in Victoria had the same
sympathies for the local body bearing the same name. Accordingly, a number
of them in 1851 formed themselves into a congregation, under the
jurisdiction of the Free Presbyterian Synod of Victoria, and on 11th
February, 1852, the Rev. Duncan McDiarmid Sinclair, their first pastor, was
ordained to minister unto them. Thus originated the congregation which was
afterwards to worship in St Andrew’s Church, Canton.
Mr. Sinclair was born on 1st March, 1816, in Argyleshire. His father was a
sheep farmer. He was descended from some of the oldest Highland families,
and was educated at the Glasgow University. About the close of his student
days the Disruption took place. Being grieved at the state of Church affairs
at Home, he decided to go to Australia. Along with his wife (a sister of the
Rev. William Fraser, afterwards minister of St. Andrew’s), and sister and
brother-in-law (Dr. Anderson), he landed at Sydney, and went to New England,
where he bought and carried on the Newstead Station in partnership with his
brother-in-law. But his heart was more in preaching the gospel than in sheep
farming, so, abandoning his station, he went back to Sydney to preach.
Learning of the large numbers of his countrymen who were arriving in
Melbourne, many of whom could only speak Gaelic, he felt that there was a
Macedonian cry ringing in his ears, and he accordingly went over to help
them. A lease was taken of the Protestant Hall, a Committee of Management
was formed, sittings were let to the worshippers, and a properly organised
congregation was instituted. The preacher was given a stipend of £300 a
year, but he rented his own house, paying £500 per annum therefor, which was
by no means an excessive rental for a moderately good house in those days.
He lived in Albert Street, East Melbourne, near where the Presbyterian
Ladies’ College now is, and afterwards in Nicholson Street. He is described
as a man of fine appearance, and a good preacher.
You can read the rest of this chapter at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/australia/carlton_1.htm
We have the first three chapters up which you can read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/australia/carltonndx.htm
Scots Minstrelsie
-------------------------
A National Monument of Scottish Song
Edited and Arranged by John Greig, Mus. Doc. (Oxon.)
Have added the following songs...
The Hundred Pipers
I'm A Scot!
and you can read these in our current volume at
http://www.electricscotland.com/music/minstrelsie/volume4.htm
A Third Chat with Randy and Carolyn Bruce
---------------------------------------------------------------
By Frank Shaw
Q: Well, Randy and Carolyn, we meet again. I’ve never interviewed anyone
three times, and now I wonder if this is the last time. Is Bannok Burn going
to be the final book on Robert de Brus or will there be a sequel or two? If
there are others to follow, what will they cover since Brus is now on the
throne, and when can we look for them to be published?
A: We are happy to chat with you again, Frank. Our original intent was to
publish four books in the series, which would create a dilemma for us at
this point since in our research we have found many additional fascinating
facts and historical events around which we really want to build more into
the story of this great period in Scottish history. Of course, ahead of us
lie the momentous events of the Irish Campaigns in 1315, the Declaration of
Arbroath in 1320, and the rest of the lives of all of the main characters…
every bit as intriguing but perhaps not as well known as the stories we’ve
already told. At this point, then, we can say there will be at least one
additional novel in the Rebel King series, and hopefully more. To this point
we have been able to publish one novel every two years, so perhaps our next
first edition will be in 2008.
You can read the rest of this article at
http://www.electricscotland.com/familytree/frank/brucechat.htm
From Fox's Earth to Mountain Tarn
--------------------------------------------------
Days among the wild animals of Scotland by J. H. Crawford (1907)
We have now completed this book and here is a bit from the final chapter...
THE tarn is a mountain lake gathered into a cup wrought out in the slope. It
is solitary, remote, wild—sometimes very wild—with much of the weird,
unexpected, and startling. The scene is bare, save for the dwarf birch, or
some crawling willow. Rude also to a degree. The scratch of the iceplough
enters it, as though it had passed but yesterday. The waste lies around.
Of Scottish tarns, two—one to the north, and the other to the south—always
appear to my mental vision. Dark Loch Skene is among the uplands of
Peeblesshire. It has all the features of a tarn. It is bare of trees.
Indescribable; the desolation must be felt. Nor have long ages greatly
softened the ruin. Vainly do a few club mosses and fern clumps strive to
hide; or scarlet sorrel, and the white-starred cushions of saxifrage to
beautify. Quite a little flock of roclies moulonudes, in the attitude of
eternal grazing approach the water edge.
Anglers go up there. Not of the scant natives—at least not often, save to
guide the curious stranger by the elusive way through the peat bags. They
who go lunch in solitude, to the croak of the passing raven. The environment
is impressive; to the susceptible, overpowering. It is cumulative. At first
more easily resisted, it settles down. Lightest in the morning, it gathers
as the sun passes the meridian, and the shadows incline to the east. With
some, a very little is enough. A morning hour, to say they have been there,
and a wide margin of the day, to make sure they will get back. For the
hardiest, the fall of evening and the thought of the peat bags, tricky
enough in the sunlight, quicken the preparations for departure.
There are, on whom it has a fascination. As certain voices in a room awaken
sympathetic chords in a piano, so certain temperaments touch the finer
chords of a scene; even such a scene as this. We are not all tuned alike. I
remember one, who came from beyond the Tweed—though Loch Skene is really
south of the infant Tweed. He was drawn by the spell, held in the glamour.
He fished all day. Sad, or rather wistful, St. Mary’s was hard by, within
easy reach. Douglas burn, of border and ballad fame, ran but a little way
off. Most seductive of all, redolent of story and swarming with trout,
Yarrow watered its dowie holmes.
You can read the rest of this chapter at
http://www.electricscotland.com/nature/earth/chapter21.htm
The book index page is at
http://www.electricscotland.com/nature/earth/index.htm
Poems
----------
Donna sent in a whole collection of poems about "Poems of my cousin, Ura
May" which you can read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/america/donna/uramay/index.htm
Kenneth Shaw has sent in some more poems at
http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/shaw/index.htm
Grandfather Tells the Story of the First Ne’erday
--------------------------------------------------------------------
By Francis Kerr Young
I am sure some of you remember when Francis sent in the "Grandfather tells
the story of the Great Flood". It was a real hit with many of our visitors.
Well Francis has been in touch again telling me about his new book "Hang on
a Second!" A story about a young Scots engineer on his first voyage aboard
an old passenger liner. In that book he has included this new story and I'm
delighted to say he had made it available for us to read on the site at
http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/young/neerday.htm
You can read his other three stories at the foot of the page at
http://www.electricscotland.com/bible/index.htm
The stories are in the Scots vernacular and here is how this story starts
just to give you a flavour...
Angus pondered for a moment. “Ah’ll cheer ‘em up. Ah’ll tell them a Bible
story that my Grandfaither telt me. He cleared his throat and in a loud
clear voice began to recite Grandfather Tells the Story of the First
Ne’erday.
“Noo accordin’ tae some devout mathematician wha coontit back a’ the years
recorded in the Holy Bible, the world wis created in the year 4004 BC, at
nine o’clock, oan the mornin’ o’ October twenty-third. But that isnae quite
true. Ye see, he never took leap years an’ such things intae accoont because
there wisnae ony guid wind-up clocks then. The maist accurate measurement
tae date calculates oot tae be December, the thirty-first, fower thoosan’
an’ three years BC. So if we gang back tae yon time, we micht get an inklin’
o’ whit happened:
“If bells had’ve been invented then they wid’ve been jist aboot ready tae
ring midnicht when Archangel Gabriel came daun’erin’ alang the road. He
noticed Oor Lord sittin’ oan a mountain lookin’ a’ pecht oot. Gabriel had
been ower busy practisin’ high notes oan his new horn an’ quite forgoat that
his Maister hid sterted a new project jist six days afore. He felt fair
ashamed o’ himsel’ for no’ offerin’ tae help. Still, it wis never too late.
‘Ah’ve come tae gie ye a haun’ wi’ yer project, Lord.’
“Ach, ye’re too late Gabe,” rebuked The Lord, feelin’ fair wabbit. ‘The
joab’s aboot done.’ He swept His Haun’ acroass the hivens, the seas, an’ the
Earth an’ said, ‘Ah’ve jist goat this wee haun’fy stour left an’ Ah’ve been
wonderin’ whit tae dae wi’ it.’
‘Man, a’ yon looks braw,’ whispered Gabe, his e’en wide-open in awe at the
stors an’ the moon an’ a’ the planets birlin’ their wey through the
black-velvet nicht. He gazed up at His Lord an’ pondered for a meenite afore
makin’ his suggestion. ‘Ye ken Lord, a’ great artists sign their work yince
they’re done. Why don’t ye dae same?’
The Life of James Stewart
-------------------------------------
D.D. M.D. Hon. F.R.G.S. by James Wells, D.D. (1909)
Am continuing this book and we are now up to chapter 12. Here is how Chapter
11 starts...
IN November, 1866, Dr. Stewart was married to Mina Stephen, youngest
daughter of Alexander Stephen, shipbuilder, Dundee and Glasgow. Accompanied
by Miss (now Dr.) Jane Waterston, as Principal of the Girls’ School, they
arrived at Love-dale on January 2, 1867.
The Rev. John Knox Bokwe, then a little Kafir lad, thus describes that
arrival ‘As a lad of eleven or twelve years old, the writer, along with
three companions from the native village, heard of the arrival at Lovedale
of a new missionary accompanied by two ladies. Heavy rains had fallen during
the week, and these little boys felt some pleasure in puddling the muddy
pools of the main street that passed the house where the new arrivals lived.
We were anxious to get a sight of them, and be the first bearers of news to
our parents what they looked like. A thick pomegranate fence partly hid the
front view of the mission-house, and it was not easy from the street to gain
the object of our visit unless by entering a narrow gateway which led into
the house. Halting there, the quick ear of one of the little fellows was
arrested by sounds which he thought never to have heard before. He stood
still to listen, while his mates continued their puddling excursions. At the
gate, the listener stood entranced at the music strains coming from within.
Peeping in to explore, he saw a young lady seated before a musical
instrument. [It was in a thatched house, which had no bedstead.] The lower
sash window was open. The temptation to the dusky, mud-bespattered lad to
enter the gate, even at the risk of rudeness, was too strong for him. The
lady observed his slow, frightened approach, and quickly wiped off something
trickling down her flushed cheek. The music was "Home, sweet Home." No
wonder the tear! Recovering herself, with a winsome smile she encouraged the
intruder to come nearer.’ Thus began the friendship with the Kafir who, for
twenty years, filled the post of private secretary to Dr. Stewart.
The names of ‘Stewart’ and ‘Lovedale’ have been wedded for forty years, and
this is the title by which he will be remembered, so long as men can
appreciate Christian heroism.
It was very like Stewart to explain that the name of Lovedale was not given
from any sentimental reason, or because the place was some happy valley
where love was more common than elsewhere. It was named after Dr. Love of
Glasgow, one of the earliest promoters of Foreign Missions. After the same
fashion names were given to many of the neighbouring missions—Burnshill,
Pine, Blythswood, Rainy, Main, Somerville, Macfarlane, Gordon Memorial,
etc., etc. This habit is indigenous to the soil: witness Rhodesia, Pretoria,
Stellenbosch, Port Elizabeth, Alice, etc., as also the names of streets.
Lovedale lies near the eastern boundary of Cape Colony, 700 miles N.E. of
Cape Town and 8o miles N. of East London. It is on the western edge of what
was Independent Kafraria, the home of the Kafir race before they became
British subjects. It has been often desolated during the nine Kafir wars.
Thrice has the mission-work been interrupted by war, while the class-rooms
were turned into barracks. What is now the mission land was originally the
military station of Fort Hare, on the banks of the beautiful river Tyumie.
The site was then a barren veldt, with bare hillsides and a flat valley
covered with mimosa-trees. But Lovedale has completely verified Darwin’s
saying, ‘The presence of the missionary is the wand of the magician.’ The
traveller could scarcely find in South Africa a more beautiful or better
kept spot than Lovedale. It now literally blossoms like the rose. A Scottish
visitor wrote, ‘The Lovedale buildings are prettily nestled among the grassy
hills, reminding us of Moffat.’
In the early twenties, a mission was planted in that valley by
representatives of the Glasgow Missionary Society. The Church of Scotland,
then dominated by moderatism, was not prepared to espouse Foreign Missions.
After some twenty years, the necessity for the training of native agents had
become apparent. Thus in the year 1841, the Lovedale Missionary Institute
was founded by the Rev. W. Govan, an admirable missionary and
educationalist. He began with only eleven natives and eight Europeans, the
Sons of missionaries, magistrates, and traders, for whom there were then no
schools within convenient reach.
It was a day of very small things, but despise it not. Among these eleven
natives was a herd-boy, the son of a raw Kafir, and clad in sheepskin. He
became a cultured Christian gentleman, received a complete university
training at Glasgow, was the first ordained preacher of the Kafir race, and
the first translator into Kafir of the Pilgrim’s Progress. A learned and
eloquent preacher, he gained the entire respect, both of the natives and the
Europeans. The opening day of the tiny Boarding School was the birthday of a
new era for the native races. Then for the first time in South Africa the
principle was adopted and avowed that blacks and whites should meet in the
same classes, and dine in the same hall, though at different tables. [This
is due to the fact that the whites pay a larger sum for board than the
natives do, and receive more costly food.] This was the first practical
recognition that the Africans are our fellow-men; that they have the rights
of British subjects, and must be treated according to the laws of the
Empire; and that earnest efforts must be made for the healing of racial
prejudices. This was an entirely new thing in South Africa, and there was
not then such a full recognition of the native anywhere else, in Africa or
America, in educational circles or in Christian churches. Lovedale and
Blythswood have been from their origin embodiments of the precept ‘honour
all men’ in its application to the natives. Mr. Govan invented a new thing
in philanthropy, which Stewart enlarged and perfected. This new thing was
very old, for it was the application of the principle of the common origin
of the race.
You can read the rest of this chapter at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/men/stewart/chapter11.htm
You can read the other chapters at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/men/stewart/index.htm
Prehistoric Scotland
-----------------------------
We have now completed chapter 6 of this book about Progress in Culture and
Civilisation during the Bronze Age.
There are five parts to chapter 6 as there are many illustrations. I will
say that these are all .pdf files and likely a bit too large for easy
download where you have dial-up access. We discovered that if we scanned in
these pages as images at 300 dpi then when found on Google they are able to
give you an html file of the text. Were we to do them at reduced resolution
this would not be possible. And so there is a bit of a trade off on this. In
many respects it is the pictures and illustrations which make this an
excellent book and so well worth a read.
You can read the concluding three parts of this chapter at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/prehistoric/
TV Scots
-------------
I think we're about to get quite a few new videos from TV Scots over the
coming weeks. They have been working hard at improving the quality of their
videos and now are offering them in .mp4 format which means you'll need the
Qucktime player to view them. The first one is now available for viewing but
have to say these are really only good for broadband visitors as they are
huge! The one we have up now is...
"Bus Tour of Glasgow" which is a 271Mb download and runs for 58 minutes.
Climb on a Glasgow double decker tour bus at Georges Square and share the
ride with fellow tourists and native Scots. Highlights, aside from the
passengers and the guide themselves, the Glen Lee Tall Ship on the Clyde,
the new Clyde projects, Kelvin Park, Glasgow University, and the Green City
itself.
We recommend you right click on the link and then select "Save target as" to
download it to your hard disk. We also provide a link where you can download
the free Quicktime player if you don't have it already.
The previous videos from TV Scots appeared quite dark to me but these new
ones are much better quality and very clear so well done them on doing a
much higher quality albeit at the price of making them a larger download.
You can get this video at
http://www.electricscotland.com/tvscots/mp4/index.htm
Annals of Dunfermline
--------------------------------
We now have the final part of the addendum in which now completes this book.
Our many thanks to Deb Beach for completing this book for us and we wish her
a speedy recovery from the heart attack she had recently. She tells us she
had to take it easy for a while and that gave her the opportunity to
complete the book :-)
You can see this final entry at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/dunfermline/addenda2.htm
To A Mouse
-----------------
By Robert Burns
George Wilkie got in touch this week to tell me about his book
"Understanding Robert Burns". Essentially the book gives you a lot of Robert
Burns's poems but alongside the poem he has added an explanation of the poem
and translates some of the words into English so that you can better
understand the words.
In actual fact I noted one of the answers in my survey mentioned the persons
inability to understand the old Scots words and so this may well be of great
assistance to many of our visitors. George has kindly let me use a few poems
on the web site and is sending me a copy of his book so I can select a few
to post up on the site. I have the text for "To A Mouse" up already and for
example in his introduction to this poem he says...
Surely one of the finest poems written by Burns, containing some of the most
famous and memorable lines ever written by a poet, yet, to this day not
really understood by the mass of English-speaking poetry lovers, for no
other reason than that the dialect causes it to be read as though in a
foreign language. All readers of Burns know of the "Wee sleekit cow'rin
tim'rous beastie" but not many understand the sadness and despair contained
within the lines of this poem. What was the Bard saying when he was inspired
by turning up a fieldmouse in her nest one day while out ploughing? - George
Wilkie
Against the first two verses you'll see...
Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim'rous beastie,
O, what panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee,
Wi' murd'ring pattle!
His comments against this verse are...
The poet is doing his utmost to assure this terrified little creature that
he has no intention of causing it any harm. bickerin’ brattle =scurry, run;
laith = loath; pattle = a small spade for cleaning a plough
I'm truly sorry Man's dominion
Has broken Nature's social union,
An' justifies that ill opinion,
Which makes thee startle,
At me, thy poor, earth-born companion,
An' fellow-mortal!
His comments against this verse are...
He then goes on to apologise to the mouse for the behaviour of mankind using
beautiful prose which requires neither translation nor interpretation.
Listen to what he is saying, and you will be well on your way to understand
what made Burns such a greatly loved man. Note how he equates himself with
the mouse in life’s great plan.
You can read the rest of this at
http://www.electricscotland.com/burns/mouse.html
I might add that on this page you can also listen to the poem being read by
Marilyn Wright of The Flag.
Bits of Electric Scotland
-----------------------------------
Again from the survey it was suggested that I might highlight bits of the
site that I thought might be of general interest. I think the suggestion was
made due the site being so large and so I'll try and bring you something
each week so you better understand what's available. I thought I might start
by explaining what you can find under the various menu items in the header
of our site. I would also add that I have done a number of video clips to
explain each menu item and you can find these at
http://www.electricscotland.com/espeople/index.htm
WORLD
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/world.htm
This menu item leads you to information on Scots in various parts of the
world. In here you will see sections for...
USA, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, France, Russia, Germany,
Argentina, Iceland, Sweden, Poland, Africa, Serbia and Montenegro, Spain,
Scots around the world, Mini Bios, Scots and the American Indians, England,
Wales, etc.
Mostly when highlighting a country we send you to a special page for that
country where we may add links to various web sites where you get to learn
about the news from that country as well as their government and tourism
pages. The topmost links are generally to our own pages where we have
historical information about Scots in that country.
To illustrate the amount of content I'll provide the menu page from the link
"Scots around the world" which is quite large. Note that where you see an *
against the link this leads you to another menu. This page can be viewed at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/world/index.htm
Scots Descendants *
This is a page of mini bios of Scots descendants mostly in America. In here
you can learn some of the background of people of Scots descent and how they
contributed to the American way of life.
American History and Scottish Connections *
The history is mostly where Scots and their descendants were involved.
Includes mini bios of Scots-Americans.
Canadian History and Scottish Connections *
The history is mostly where Scots and their descendants were involved.
Includes mini bios of Scots-Canadians.
New Zealand History and Scottish Connections *
The history is mostly where Scots and their descendants were involved.
Includes mini bios of Scots-New Zealanders.
A Listing of Scots and Scots Descendants [External Link]
This is a huge listing of mainly Scottish Americans but does also include
pure born Scots and ones who also worked in other countries around the
world.
The Scots-Irish in the Hills of Tennessee
According to the Tennessee census bureau, one in five Tennesseans can trace
their roots directly to the Scots-Irish settlers of the 18th century.
Bios on Our Scottish Ancestors in KANSAS [External Link]
A collection of around 30 bios on folks of Scots descent in Kansas.
Australia
Australia was fortunate in having a great many Scottish immigants many of
whom went on to play a large part in the early formation of the colony.
Heritage of Braxton County, West Virginia
History of HAYMOND--WILSON Families.
Clan MacKay and Multiculturalism
Scots are an important component of the multi-cultural fabric of Nova
Scotia. So much so that the clans have sometimes regarded being Scottish as
the norm in Nova Scotia and other cultural expressions as abnormal or at
least on the fringes.
Forster & Maclain
My mother's great grandfather was a Forster.
Our Highland cattle
The cattle and the people of the highlands maybe spread all over the world,
but nothing says Scotland like the highland cow.
Ruddell's Station
America was just a baby in 1780. The frontier had been made available to
settle. The Wilderness was everything west of Virginia. A group of
Virginian’s wanted to go west. Captain Stephen Ruddell was one to settle in
Kentucky.
William Landsborough
Most will know a little about William Landsborough who explored much of
Queensland. He had done a lot or exploration and was rewarded by the
Queensland Government with about 2000 acres of land which he named "Lamerough".
From a front poarch in West Virginia
Two Hundred and fifty years ago many bannished and out-lawed Scots came to
the colonies to settle. One of the places the Scots chose to settle was the
hills of Northern Virginia.
Allen Thomas Stewart
Is one of the younger business men of Doniphan County and has established
himself firmly in business and civic esteem at Denton, where he is
proprietor of the only drug store and is now serving his second successive
term as mayor.
A few hard working Scots
Six ordinary folk of Scots descent living in America.
Cape Fear
In September 1739, the quiet lapping of dark waters against the thickly
wooded banks of the Cape Fear river would have been disturbed by the sounds
of men, women and children talking excitedly in their native Gaelic, "
Feuach, 's briagha a th'ann!" - (Look, isn't it lovely!).
History of the Old Bluff Presbyterian Church
The Presbyterian Church in the Upper Cape Fear Valley was organized October
18, 1758, with the signing of a contract with Rev. Campbell by "Presbyterian
Gentlemen"
Rutherford County, N. Carolina
Rutherford County was formed, along with Lincoln County, out of Tryon County
in 1779. The first session of court was held at the home of Colonel John
Walker
Capt. Samuel Chester Reid
Louisana and the Northwest Territory might now be British if Reid had not
engaged them in what has been called one of the world's most decisive naval
battles.
Scotland, South Dakota
In the spring of 1870, General Charles T. Campbell established a stagecoach
stop for the Firesteel Trail. This stop, which included his residence, an
inn, a general store and a large horse barn became the original town of
Scotland South Dakota.
Senator Edmund G. Ross of Kansas
This American Scot is little known but undoubtedly a man whose indomitable
courage, at a crucial moment in U.S. history, certainly made a difference.
Guthrie's
Besides John, there were four other Guthries, who came somewhat later than
he to the American Colonies in the same century. The little that is known
concerning them is given here.
Henry Joseph
The leading American scientist after Benjamin Franklin until Willard Gibbs,
was a professor at Princeton from 1832 to 1846.
Brackenridge, Hugh Henry
A powerfully built, twenty-year-old Scotsman with a booming voice and fierce
countenance, must have captured the attention of his younger classmates when
he entered the class of 1771.
James McCosh
Eleventh president of Princeton, took office in 1868, precisely a century
after his fellow-Scot.
Scottish Rite Dormitory
In 1920, Samuel P. Cochran, the Executive Head of the Scottish Rite Masonry
in Texas, recognized that there was a lack of suitable housing for young
ladies who were attending The University of Texas. He asked the Scottish
Rite Bodies in Texas to donate the necessary funds to build a dormitory and
the Bodies responded generously.
William R. Alexander
Mr. Alexander was born on his father's farm in this county March 13, 1863.
He is of Scotch ancestry.
Archie Markland Baird
One of the additions to the manufacturing interests of Topeka, Archie
Markland Baird has for many years boon known in railroad circles of the
state, and has been connected with numerous movements national in their
character.
David Bowie
David Bowie was born in Stirling, Scotland, July 26, 1869, one of four
children born to his parents Thomas and Margaret (McLintock) Bowie. In 1875,
when David Bowie was six ears old his parents moved to Alloa, Scotland.
Will R. Black
A native Kansan, grew up and received his education in this state, and is
now one of the capable oil inspectors under the state government, with
headquarters and home at Coffeyville. He traces his ancestry back to a
family of Scotch origin, and one that was planted in Virginia during
colonial days.
Women of Scots Descent in History
A menu to over 50 women of Scots descent who made a mark on the world.
Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas
My family comes from the Ozarks of Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas.
The Ozarks were settled in the early 1800's by Scots.
Check out the Stewarts History
A menu to some signifcant accounts of Stewarts in history.
Family History of Randolph County, West Virginia
Benjamin Wilson, although he left Randolph county soon after its formation,
was one of the most widely know and influential men the county has had in
its century or more of existence. The following biography is from the
American Historical Record, 1873, edited by Benson J. Lossing.
History of the Scots in Nova Scotia
New England, New France and New Spain were already established on this side
of the Great Atlantic Roar" when New Scotland was founded by Sir William
Alexander, and King James of Scotland in the early 1600s
Scots to Carolina
What can account for the furious transformation of the Highlanders, who in
Europe had rallied round the Stuart flag in the Jacobite uprisings known as
the 15 and the 45, in memory of the years of their occurrence, but who in
North Carolina were the loyal supporters of the House of Hanover.
A love story
The year was 1910 in a small West Virginia town named Webster Springs. Rosa
Jane Howell and her cousins had went into town shopping. There was a man
with Black wavey hair and sky blue eyes. He wore a thin black mustache and
was he dashing!
The Hotel Warren
There was no room for them at the Inn. How many times have we read that
statement and always have we seen the venerable Joseph anxiously waiting for
the Innkeeper to bid him bring his wife in to shelter, when she, the Blessed
Mother of our Lord, calmly waited outside, indifferent to the beauties of
the valleys through which they had passed and the careless declaration of
the Innkeeper.
Hundred Years of Being "Liberal"
The year was 1872 and western Kansas consisted of mile after mile of waving
prairie grasslands and one large, flowering river. Settlers traveling west
on the Santa Fe, Jones and Plummer, and western cattle trails simply passed
through thinking this area "uninhabitable".
Stewartsville Cemetery
This cemetery is located four miles southeast of Laurinburg. It was named
after Honorable James Stewart, a wealthy and highly esteemed gentleman, who
founded the Stewartsville homestead.
Archibald Kelly
ARCHIBALD KELLY b. ABT. 1740, Scotland, (son of JAMES KELLY & MARGARET
STUART) m. c1759, in Scotland.
Cumberland County, North Carolina
Check out the Cumberland County web genealogy site for information and if
you are looking for Scottish names then Old Bluff and Galatia cemetery sites
will provide you with lots of names to check.
James & Maria Snedden, Australia
In 1854, my great great grandparents James and Maria Snedden left their
Scottish homeland forever and travelled half way around the world to
Australia in search of a better life.
The Scottish Heritage Society of Iowa
Scottish-Americans have a saying, "Scratch most any American and you'll find
a Scottish grandmother just about skin deep!"
Col. John H. Patrick
Raised: Hamilton County in 1861. Mustered in at Camp Dennison in Cinncinatti
June 21, 1861.
Commander: Col. John H. Patrick of Scotland (1820-1864), mortally wounded at
New Hope Church, Ga)
Alex's Stories
A small collection of stories from a Scot now living in Canada.
William Paterson
one of the principal founders of the governments of New Jersey and the
United States, was brought up in the village of Princeton, where his father,
a Scotch-Irish immigrant tinsmith and shopkeeper.
Freneau, Philip [Morin]
Philip entered Princeton as a sophomore in 1768, but the joy of the occasion
was marred by his father's financial losses and death the year before. In
spite of financial hardships, Philip's Scottish mother believed that her
oldest of five children would graduate and join the clergy.
David Hosack
A leading physician of his day and an eminent botanist and mineralogist, had
strong ties with both Princeton and Columbia.
Robert M Blair
He was awarded the Medal of Honor on June 22, 1865 for his actions on board
the USS Pontoosic during the caputre of Fort Fisher and Wilmington from
December 24, 1864 to January 22, 1865.
Dr. Thomas McCulloch
In November 1803, a ship arrived at Pictou from Scotland. Among its
passengers were Reverend Thomas McCulloch D.D., his wife and their children,
all bound for Prince Edward Island, where McCulloch was to minister a
Presbyterian congregation.
Robert Algie
A physician and surgeon of exceptional attainments, Doctor Algie has been
engaged in a large and growing practice at Linn for the past fourteen years.
His home has been in Kansas since early youth.
Scotland and the Victorian West
Telling the story of Scots in the North American West.
A Scots Cowboy
Jim Gray in Ellsworth Kansas, a Scot of MacClean ancestry is the owner and
operator of the Drover's Mercantile in Ellsworth.
Orlin M. Balch
The mercantile interests of the thriving and prosperous Town of Earleton, in
Neosho County, are well represented by Orlin M. Balch, who has resided in
this community all his life.
Edgar M. Forde
Is now grand recorder for Kansas of the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
Col. John Fraser
Second chancellor of the University of Kansas.
Samuel V. Fraser
Rev. Samuel V. Fraser, pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception at
Minneapolis.
Australian MacDonalds
An account of a McDonald family that emigrated to Australia at the time of
the Highland clearances.
General MacPherson
Major General James Birdseye McPherson was one of the most promising
generals of the Union army and at the time of his heroic death was in
command of the Army of the Tennessee.
Stories and Stovies
These are stories by Charlotte Marie Alvoet Bleh of her memories of being
brought up in Dundee, Scotland which she's written to pass on to her
children.
Chief John Ross
John Ross was chief of the Cherokee from 1828-1866, during some of the most
turbulent times of their history. He led the tribe through the removal,
rebuilding in Indian Territory, and the American Civil War. He was the son
of a Scotsman, Daniel Ross, and a quarter-blood Cherokee, Mary "Mollie"
(McDonald) Ross.
Scots and the Secret Services
Scots played a significant part in the formation of the British Secret
Service Bureau (SSB) established by the Committee of Imperial Defence in
July 1909.
Panton, Leslie and Co.
Panton, Leslie and Company, established in 1783 and headquartered in
Pensacola from 1785-1830, was the Sears and Roebuck of its day, dealing in a
variety of goods and servicing over a large geographical area.
Chief William McKintosh
Called Tustunnugee Hutkee (White Warrior), William McIntosh was the son of
Captain William McIntosh, a member of a prominent Savannah, Georgia family
sent into the Creek Nation to recruit them to fight for the British during
the Revolutionary War. His mother, a Creek named Senoya, was a member of the
prominent Wind Clan.
Peter W. Stewart
Is the owner of a good farm of one hundred and nine acres situated on
section 4, Warren Township. He has been a resident of this county since
1841, and is therefore numbered among its pioneer settlers.
John McAlister
Born in Falkirk, Scotland, October 2, 1802, and was a son of Alexander and
Elizabeth (Brash) McAlister.
James Jamieson
Mr. Jamieson is a veteran of the late war for the Union, and bears several
scars received on the field of battle. He enlisted April 22, 1861, on
President Lincoln's first call for three months' troops.
John Murrie
For many years has been engaged in general farming on section 10, Newport
Township, is a native of Scotland, and was born in Perthshire, November 22,
1816.
George H. Kennedy
A prominent citizen and old settler of Antioch Township, has the honor of
having been born in Lake County, upon the farm in Section 2 where he still
resides.
David J. Minto
Is the manager of an excellent farm of two hundred acres situated on section
21, Antioch Township. His life occupation has been general farming and
stock-raising and in that pursuit he has shown marked ability which places
him among the well-to-do citizens of the community.
George S. Smith
The owner of a highly improved farm of one hundred and forty acres situated
on section 25, Antioch Township, and ranks among the leading agriculturists
of the county.
John Strang
Who resides on section 31, Newport Township, is not only a representative of
one of the honored pioneer families of the county, but upon his own merits
has won the title of a leading and influential citizen of the community in
which he makes his home.
Robert Strang
Resides on section 36, Antioch Township, where he has a palatial home, and
one of the finest farms of the county. He is a prominent and influential
citizen of the community.
William Thom
Who is engaged in general farming and stock raising on section 24. Antioch
Township. is a native of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, born April 7, 1838.
Alexander Trotter
Who is engaged in general farming on section 25, Antioch Township, has for
fifty-two years been a resident of Lake County.
Andrew T. White
Who is engaged in general farming on section 20, Antioch Township has spent
almost his entire life in this county.
A Family of Golf Pros
The Nashville American newspaper described Robert as "Master of the Golf
Links".
Scots in the American North West
A chapter from the book "Scots in the American North West.
Scottish Hillbillies and Rednecks
Terms commonly used in America today which have their origins in Celtic
roots.
Jack, John George
A professor by nature.
And as you can see you'll be reading for months if you want to study this
lot :-)
A Canadian Story
-------------------------
I got in this email today and I admit I do get a number of these but this
time I just thought it was a good story so after humming and hawing I
decided I'd include it here for you to read. I do have quite a lot of these
types of stories for US folk so I figured it would be good to include a
Canadian one for a change :-)
Subject: Proud to be a Soldier !!! From the daughter of a Soldier..
Last week I was in Trenton, Ontario, attending a conference. While I was in
the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to
clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed one of the
greatest act's of patriotism I have ever seen.
Moving thru the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camo's, as they
began heading to their gate everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly to
their feet with their hands waving and cheering. When I saw the soldiers,
probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and cheered for it hit me. I'm not
alone. I'm not the only red blooded Canadian who still loves this country
and supports our troops and their families.
Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung
heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go
to school, work and home without fear or reprisal. Just when I thought I
could not be more proud of my country or of our service men and women a
young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old, ran up to one of the male
soldiers. He kneeled down and said "hi," the little girl then asked him if
he would give something to her daddy for her. The young soldier, he didn't
look any older than maybe 22 himself, said he would try and what did she
want to give to her daddy.
Then suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the
biggest hug she could muster and then kissed him on the cheek.
The mother of the little girl, who said her daughters name was Courtney,
told the young soldier that her husband was a Corporal and had been in
Afghanistan for 11 months now. As the mom was explaining how much her
daughter, Courtney, missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up.
When this temporarily single mom was done explaining her situation, all of
the soldiers huddled together for a brief second. Then one of the other
servicemen pulled out a military looking walkie-talkie. They started playing
with the device and talking back and forth on it.
After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to
Courtney, bent down and said this to her, "I spoke to your daddy and he told
me to give this to you." He then hugged this little girl that he had just
met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying "your daddy told
me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is coming home
very soon."
The mom at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young
soldier stood to his feet he saluted Courtney and her mom. I was standing no
more than 6 feet away from this entire event unfolded. As the soldiers began
to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their applause. As I
stood there applauding and looked around, their were very few dry eyes,
including my own. That young soldier in one last act of selflessness, turned
around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear rolling down his cheek.
We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their families and
thank God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of the day, it's good to
be a Canadian.
And finally a wee plug for a Hebridean web site...
Highland Move
Thinking of moving to the Scottish Highlands & Islands? This blog has all
you need to know to inspire and inform you for where to locate and have a
better life. Visit us at
http://www.highlandmove.blogspot.com/
And that's all for now and I hope you all have a great weekend :-)
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com
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