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
CONTENTS
-----------------
Electric Scotland News
Electric Scotland's 10th anniversary press release
The Flag in the Wind
The Scottish Nation
The Celtic Monthly
The Southern States of America
History of Inverness County, Nova Scotia
Scots Minstrelsie
History of Scottish Medicine to 1860
Scottish Canadian Newspaper
The Greatness and Decline of the Celts
Poems and Stories
Sketches of the Wild Sports & Natural History of the Highlands (New Book)
Scotland in the Middle Ages (New Book)
Clan Newsletters
Snodgrass family history
Robert Burns Lives!
ELECTRIC SCOTLAND
---------------------------------
Well we're now celebrating our 10th anniversary of ElectricScotland.com and
have now got our new header on the site. The main purpose of the new header
is to make the menu alphabetical making it much easier to find menu items.
We've also decided to replace our micro buttons with text links in the
header which we believe will be beneficial for our advertisers and at the
same time allow us to reduce the size of our header.
Today we have also implemented a new advertising feature by partnering with
Kontera to deliver ContentLink™ on our web site. ContentLink™ matches
relevant ads to specific keywords in the text based on the underlying
context of the page. These In-Text ads are relevant, unobtrusive, and
useful. The links will appear in green with a double underline. Where you
rest your cursor over the link a small box will appear providing you with
information on the advertiser and if you wish to learn more simply click on
the link or box and you'll go to that advertisers web site which is brought
up in a new browser window. These ads are NOT spyware, nothing has been
installed on your computer and your privacy has not been compromised in
anyway.
It takes Kontera around 10 days to work out the best links and so the longer
we use this service the more relevant the adverts. I felt this was a great
way to bring in more advertising revenue to the site without adding more
advertising space. I also hope this will provide an interesting new service
for you. The links are generally placed on up to 6 text words on the page.
Also within the new header I have managed to add a few new links, "Scottish
Nation", "Health", "Shopping". I have also renamed a couple of links...
"Events" is now "Calander of Events", "World" is now "World of Scots".
The Shopping link now takes you to a page where we feature our regular
advertisers so you can get more details about them.
You'll also note that we have a new Google search box. The default search
will search the ElectricScotland.com site but now you also have the ability
to check "Web" to search the web or "ElectricScotland.net" or "The Flag" to
search those domains. At the end of that line we have also added a link to
take you to our ScotSearch.org web search engine.
At the end of the day we're increasingly being used for research and so we
thought it was time to try and get a cleaner more easily read header menu.
I should also add that the link "Vacation Packages" points to a page on our
site where we provide a list of links for all kinds of holidays in Scotland.
Of course this service also offers you holidays anywhere in the world so
we've added a bunch of wee adverts around this page where when you click on
one you'll go to a page where you can see holidays for that part of the
world. The good thing about this service is that you can order free
brochures for any holiday you are interested in as well as ask questions of
the tour companies. You can of course book your holiday here as well. You
can see this page at
http://www.electricscotland.com/travel/vacation_packages.htm
Electric Scotland's 10th anniversary press release
------------------------------------------------------------------------
We figured as it's our 10th anniversary we'd issue a press release to see if
we can get some write ups in newspapers and newsletters. Should you have any
media contacts and can help push this out to suitable folk we'd certainly
appreciate your efforts :-)
Electric Scotland Celebrates its 10th Anniversary of being On-Line
We created electricscotland.com out of an idea and a dream back in the late
90s. The idea was to build a place, on the then emerging World Wide Web
(WWW), that was dedicated to exploring the history of Scotland, the Scots
and people and places of Scots descent around the world. Once the idea was
formulated the domain was purchased in March 1997 and went into immediate
production.
Alastair McIntyre, the owner, created and managed the site from his home in
Grangemouth, Stirlingshire, Scotland. The site was hosted at Stone, Kentucky
with Steve May (known as The Innkeeper or Papa Bear). They met at a
conference in the late 90s which was hosted by the Association of Online
Professionals (AOP now USIIA <www.usiia.org>), which was the first
Association dedicated specifically to Online Professionals, and things grew
from there.
Steve is a one person business and he provides hosting for the site and does
the overall technical support and takes care of the US side of the business.
Alastair, also a one person business, publishes content to the site each day
from wherever he is in the world and handles all the day to day operations
of the site and overall business. We were there before the big Internet boom
and survived the .com bust intact.
At the time of the site being initially created there was little information
about the history of Scotland and Scots on the web. In addition there was
very little taught in the Scottish or US education system as it related to
the immigration of Scots and the impact they had. It was felt that there was
a need for this type of information. The goal was to use the web site to
become a great resource for those interested in finding out about the
history of Scotland and the Scots. Another major goal was to investigate
what happened to the Scots who had immigrated around the world and, in
particular, to North America and Australia.
Today, electricscotland.com has some 150,000 web pages of information (and
growing each and every day) with sections on the USA, Canada, Australia, New
Zealand, Argentina, Germany, Spain, France, Sweden, Iceland, Poland, Africa,
Russia and also provides background information on the histories of England,
Wales, Ireland and the USA as well as other regions in the world. Some 120
antiquarian books have been made available on the site to enable researchers
to use these books for research into Scottish matters and we are striving to
purchase and obtain Web Publishing releases for many more. The site has also
made available information on the Scot-Irish, also known as Ulster Scots,
and provides background information on most Scottish clans and Irish
families.
The site is dedicated primarily to content and research but, as we grew, we
determined other resources were needed. We added another service to the site
that was a dedicated search engine focused on all things Scottish. We
established this under a separate domain of www.scotsearch.org and it is now
a highly rated site for all things Scottish. In addition we saw other needs
and niches and have tried to fulfill them as well for the Scottish Ancestry
Community that is out there; an estimated 50 million people.
Many of our visitors make contributions to the site as well. We look forward
to each and every contribution since it many times fills in gaps in Ancestry
and such for other visitors. We have also been sending out a free weekly
email newsletter to thousands of subscribers for many years and look forward
to continuing this service in the years ahead.
In recent research we have calculated that the electricscotland.com web site
contributes over £20 million to the Scottish economy each year, mostly in
tourism revenue. In addition, we have also found that it adds tourism
dollars to the USA, Canada and other parts of the world as we explore the
impact on various areas of Scots and their descendants.
We strive always to add new content daily and continue to build this
reference resource which has grown in leaps and bounds. After working from
his home in Scotland for some 7 years Alastair realized that to expand the
site and gather even more information he must relocate and he now resides
and works from Canada.
In closing we note that it is rare to find a Site that offers all that we do
without other catches and fine print that many have become used to over the
years. We strive to provide EVERYONE a place where they can come and enjoy
themselves playing, browsing or researching free of charge. The site is
supported by our advertisers, many of whom have been with us for a number of
years. We also note that many sites have come and gone over the 10 years we
have been around and that we are very proud to have remained constant over
these many years.
Alastair and Steve look very much forward to the next 10 years and note
that, in this anniversary year, they will be adding some new and exciting
features to further enhance the site.
Alastair McIntyre
Electric Scotland
167 Raleigh St.
Chatham, Ontario
Canada N7M 2N4
(519) 351 7020
alastairi@electricscotland.com
Stephan May
Electric Scotland USA LLC
1495 Pond Creek Rd.
Stone, KY 41567
(606) 353 6118
innkeeper@inkeeper.com
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.
THE FLAG IN THE WIND
------------------------------------
Mind that The Flag is now in two sections (1) Political and (2) Cultural.
It's Jim Lynch's turn this week and amongst other articles he includes
various stories about the English attitude to Scots Independence.
This weeks issue included the Gaelic column from the Scots Independent
newspaper as well aa a Scots language column.
It's been a while since I featured the Scots Language section in The Flag.
As some of you may know Scotland had its own Scots language (not gaelic)
that was used for several centuries and also in the Scottish court. Peter
has for many years included real audio recordings of words and phrases in
the Scots language and this has built to the largest real audio resource
anywhere in the world. In this weeks issue of the The Flag he included...
A KIST O FERLIES
A Keek at the Guid Scots Tung
By Peter & Marilyn Wright
(Note: All words underlined in this section are RealAudio links)
blellum: silly talkative person
http://www.scotsindependent.org/features/scots/blellum.rm
clishmaclaver: gossip ; long discourse
http://www.scotsindependent.org/features/scots/clishmac.rm
lee-lang: livelong
http://www.scotsindependent.org/features/scots/leelang.rm
nyaff: contemptible person ; trifle
http://www.scotsindependent.org/features/scots/nyaff.rm
poke: bag
http://www.scotsindependent.org/features/scots/poke.rm
widdershins: anticlockwise ; backwards
http://www.scotsindependent.org/features/scots/widdersh.rm
Ye'll get yir heid in yir hauns an yir lugs ti pley wi: You will get a
humiliating rebuke
http://www.scotsindependent.org/features/scots/yellgety.rm
Tweed said to Till',
"What gars ye rin sae still ?"
Till said to Tweed,
"Though ye rin wi speed,
An I rin slaw,
Whar ye droun ae man,
I droun twa."
"Border Rivers" - Anonymous
http://www.scotsindependent.org/features/scots/borderri.rm
If you read the cultural page you'll get the real audio links but I've
included links to them here for this weeks entries. They have a complete
section for the Scots language at
http://www.scotsindependent.org/features/scots/index.htm
You can read the Flag, listen to the Scots Language, enjoy the Scots Wit and
lots more at
http://www.scotsindependent.org
You can view MSP Linda Fabiani's weekly diary at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/fabiani/index.htm
Email Linda at
Linda.fabiani.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
We did get in a two week diary entry since the last newsletter :-)
The Scottish Nation
----------------------------
My thanks to Lora for transcribing these volumes for us.
Now moved onto the F's and added this week are Forbes, Fordun, Fordyce and
Forfar
Here is a bit from the Fordyce entry...
FORDYCE, a surname supposed to be derived from lands in the parish of that
name in Banffshire, said to be a corruption of two Gaelic words, fure chess,
signifying ‘a cold place to the southward,’ or from fuar, cold, and deas,
south. It is more likely to have been a corruption of Forbes, – there being
a tradition to that effect, – the Fordyces having also three boars’ heads in
their coat of arms.
The family of Dingwall Fordyce of Culsh and Brucklay, Aberdeenshire, owes
its origin to an intermarriage between the Dingwalls of Brucklay and the
Fordyces of Culsh in 1744.
On the side of the Dingwalls it derives its descent from the Dingwalls of
Ross-shire, a clan of some note in ancient times, amongst whom were several
free barons who had considerable possessions in the counties of Ross and
Inverness. Of these the Dingwalls of Kildun, the Dingwalls of Pet (or
Petfure), the Dingwalls of Strabroke, and the Dingwalls of Cambuscarry
appear to have been the chief. It is believed that those families of the
name of Dingwall now resident in Aberdeenshire, are descended from the
Dingwalls of Cambuscarry, and that they came to Buchan about the end of the
fifteenth century, in order to escape from the violence of the Mackenzies,
their hereditary foes.
The first of the name in Buchan of whom there are any authentic accounts, is
William Dingwall of Seals-crook, parish of Monquitter, who was born about
1590, and married Barbara Barclay, from which union are descended in direct
line, the families of Brucklay, Culsh, and Rannieston.
Arthur, their eldest son, born about 1620, married in 1642, Lucres, second
daughter of John Irvine of Brucklay, a cadet of the ancient family of Drum.
He died in 1707. William, his eldest son, succeeded to Brucklay, while
Arthur, his second son, inherited Brownhill, and afterwards acquired
Lescraigie. The descendants of the latter succeeded to Brucklay in 1840,
when the elder branch became extinct.
William Dingwall of Brucklay, just mentioned, died in 1733. He had a large
family, one of whom, John, having gone early to London, became an eminent
jeweller there, acquired a large fortune, and having no family, he in
September 1807 executed a strict entail of his lands of Brucklay and
Artamford, in favour of his grand-nephew, John Dingwall and a series of
heirs, whilst his personal property, constituting the bulk of his fortune,
was vested in trustees for the purpose of purchasing other lands in England
or Scotland, to be entailed on the same series of heirs. He resided for a
long time at a villa of his own at Croydon in Surrey, and died there in 1812
at the advanced age of 88. He was succeeded by his grand-nephew, of the same
name, who in 1813 married Mary, eldest daughter of William Gordon of
Aberdour, and died in 1825, leaving an only son, John Duff Dingwall, on
whose death in 1840, without issue, the elder branch of the family became
extinct, and the property thereupon devolved upon Arthur Dingwall Fordyce,
advocate in Aberdeen, representative of the younger branch of the family. He
died without issue on 30th December 1843, and was succeeded by his next
surviving brother, Alexander, more particularly mentioned below.
Upon the side of the Fordyces, this family derives its descent from George
Fordyce, who in the middle of the seventeenth century was settled near
Turriff, Aberdeenshire, at a place called Haughs of Ashogle. He died in
1681, leaving two sons, John and George, and a daughter.
From John are descended the family of Dingwall Fordyce of Culsh and Brucklay,
while George, afterwards of Broadford, and provost of Aberdeen in the
beginning of last century, was the father of that remarkable family which
numbered amongst its members Sir William Fordyce, F.R.S.; Professor David
Fordyce; Dr. James Fordyce, the famous preacher and author; George, M.D.,
F.R.S., the distinguished physician and lecturer on medicine in London;
Baillie Robert Fordyce, manufacturer, Aberdeen; and Alexander Fordyce (Roehampton),
the celebrated banker in London, of most of whom memoirs are given hereafter
in their proper place.
You can read more of this entry at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/nation/fordyce.htm
You can read the other entries at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/nation/index.htm
The Celtic Monthly
---------------------------
A magazine for Highlanders
Added the September 1912 issue at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/celtic/september1912.htm
This contains...
The Rev. John MacLean DD., The Clan MacLean, Tiree the Sanatorium of the
West, The MacLean Gathering at Duart 1912, After Culloden, Magnus MacLean,
The Adventures of Fionn at Connaught, Notes on the Celtic Year, Gaelic
Proverbs, Celtic Notes and Queries, Our Musical Page.
You can see the issues to date at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/celtic/index.htm
The Southern States of America
----------------------------------------------
Published in 1909.
Added this week are...
The History of Mississippi - Chapter IV
Mississippi a Part of the Nation, 1865 - 1909
The History of Tennessee - Chapter I
Colonial and Territorial Tennessee
The History of Tennessee - Chapter II
Tennessee as a State, 1796 - 1861
Here is how Chapter I - The History of Tennessee - Colonial and Territorial
Tennessee starts...
Early Explorations of Tennessee.
BEFORE the trader, the hunter and the explorer invaded the territory now
known as Tennessee, the land was held by several remarkable tribes of
Indians. The Chickasaws were dominant in West Tennessee and the Cherokees in
East Tennessee, while the middle division of the state was a part of the
famous hunting grounds of the Iroquois. At one time, probably in the
Seventeenth century, the Shawnees took up their abode in the hunting grounds
and gave their name to Sewanee, the town, Sewanee the mountain, and to the
beautiful river that now bears the name of Cumberland. They were expelled
about the year 1714 by the allied Chickasaws, Cherokees and Iroquois.
Tennessee was often visited by those wanderers of the forest, the Creeks,
whose home, however, was further south. The Chickasaws were inclined to
peace, though redoubtable in war. The Cherokees, who were warriors above
all, were unrelenting in their hostility to the white men. The Creeks, being
soldiers of fortune, gave the early settlers of East Tennessee not a little
trouble. Such were the inhabitants of Tennessee when the indomitable white
man put in his appearance.
The first white man to set foot within the boundaries of Tennessee was
Ferdinand De Soto who crossed the Mississippi near Chisca's village on the
Chickasaw Bluffs, where Memphis is now situated, in the spring of 1541.
Nothing came of this incident except to give Spain a phantom claim to the
country, which was afterwards ratified by the Pope. In 1584 Queen Elizabeth
with a royal flourish handed over to Sir "Walter Raleigh a patent granting
him all the land in America between the 33d and 40th parallels of north
latitude. The name of Virginia was given to this empire and Tennessee was a
part of it. The Spanish claim was allowed virtually to lapse, when the
French took up the work of exploration in earnest in 1673. Marquette and
Joliet were the first to explore the Mississippi valley and they made a note
of the Chickasaw Bluffs. In 1682 La Salle voyaged down the Mississippi and
claimed the country in the name of France, calling it Louisiana. He stopped
and built a cabin and fort which he called Prud-homme, made a treaty with
the Indians and established a trading post. It was here that the first house
was built by the white men in Tennessee. Subsequently the French trader
Charleville built a store at Salt Lick, where the city of Nashville now
stands.
Early Settlements.
Tennessee was thus included in English Virginia and French Louisiana at the
same time, with the shadowy Spanish claim hanging over. But while the French
were making the approach from the west and expected to hold the land through
a powerful chain of forts located at favorable points on the river, the
English from the east were casting longing eyes upon a territory reputed to
be of unrivalled charm and fertility and to be a paradise for the hunter. On
the eastern side of the Alleghanies there were hordes of adventurous spirits
who were eager to penetrate the land beyond the mountains where the western
waters flow. The first of these daring invaders was Andrew Lewis, who was
dispatched by the Earl of Loudon, governor of Virginia province, in 1756 to
build a fort on the Little Tennessee River. He established Fort Loudon
accordingly on the south side of the stream, about thirty miles from the
present city of Knoxville—the first structure built by the English on the
soil of Tennessee. The venture was unfortunate, however, for the promise of
becoming a permanent settlement was never realized. A clash with the
Cherokees resulted in the massacre of the garrison and the destruction of
the fort.
The apprehension was general among the Indians that the English settlers
entertained the purpose of seizing their lands and driving them out, and
this fear was encouraged by the French, whose object seemed to be trade
rather than colonization. In order to allay the Indian unrest, King George
issued a proclamation forbidding the acquisition of lands from the Indians
or the establishment of settlements west of the sources of the streams which
flow into the Atlantic. But the restless frontiersmen could not be
restrained. They began to straggle across the mountains, to clear the
wilderness, and build their cabins. This steady invasion aroused the
resentment of the Indians, and in order to conciliate them, a conference was
held and the boundary line between the lands of the contestants was fixed by
treaty. The dauntless backwoodsman, however, cared little for imaginary
lines, and it is noticeable that the boundary was continually moving west.
When Virginia was divided in 1663, Tennessee became a part of Carolina, and
when Carolina was divided in 1693, Tennessee became a part of North
Carolina, though the boundary lines were so indererminate that some of the
early settlers were uncertain as to the colony in which they were located.
When the tide of English settlement became strong, Tennessee was a part of
the colony of North Carolina.
To the English colonists on the Atlantic coast Tennessee had all the charm
of mystery. The traders had been the first to penetrate it but they had done
little in the way of exploration. The hunters who were attracted by the
stories of abundant game to be found there, were the real forerunners of the
permanent settlement. In 1748 a considerable band of hunters under the
leadership of Dr. Thomas Walker, of Virginia, penetrated the heart of Middle
Tennessee. He gave to a range of mountains the name of the Duke of
Cumberland, and the mountain stream to which the Shawnees had given their
own name, he called the Cumberland River. In 1760 Daniel Boone and a large
party of hunters made their way into Tennessee, and an inscription on a
venerable tree crediting him with having killed a bear there testifies to
his visit. The hunters naturally carried back with them to Virginia and
North Carolina wonderful stories of the beauty and richness of the land; and
so the way was paved for the coming of the hardy pioneer whose purpose was
to make for himself and his family a home in the wilderness.
The trader, the hunter, and the explorer having performed their task, the
settler now took up the work. Tennessee had been in turn a part of three
English colonies, yet it was a terra incognita to all of them. The
settlement of the state was hardly due to any organized effort. The pioneer
settlers were of Scotch-Irish descent, and they came in small parties as the
impulse moved them. Their first settlement was made north of the Holston
River in the northeastern part of the state. The Shelbys were the leaders in
this settlement. The most famous colony, however, was that of the Wautauga
Association on the Wautauga River, which ran to the south of the Holston.
The most striking figure at Wautauga was James Robertson, who has been
accorded the honor of being the Father of Tennessee. Robertson was born in
Virginia, but his family moved to North Carolina while he was a youth. In
1770 he journeyed to the beautiful valley of the Wautauga, where he was
entertained by a pioneer settler. He remained long enough to raise a crop of
corn there and decided to return home and bring back his family. While
crossing the mountains he lost his way and would no doubt have perished had
not two hunters found and relieved him. He brought with him a considerable
party from North Carolina, and thus the settlement became an assured fact.
Robertson was not a man of much education or wealth but he was a splendid
type of the pioneer, hardy, brave and resourceful. Though virtually the
founder of the Wautauga settlement his name is more closely identified with
Middle Tennessee, and a county in that division of the state was named after
him.
Wautauga had a unique and eventful history. The settlement throve apace, and
in 1772, the families there were so numerous that a political organization
was effected, the first within the confines of the present state. The
settlement was considered by its inhabitants to be in the limits of
Virginia, but a government survey showed that the Virginia line was the
Holston River, and as land below that stream was forbidden territory, the
agent for the Crown among the Cherokees ordered the Wautauga settlers to
move off. They were living on Indian land outside the protection of any
organized colony. Singular as it may seem, the Cherokees expressed the wish
that they might be allowed to remain, provided they remained where they
were, and made no further encroachments on the territory of the Indians.
You can read the rest of this chapter at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/america/south/south39.htm
The book index page is at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/america/south/index.htm
History of Inverness County, Nova Scotia
----------------------------------------------------------
By J. L. MacDougall (1922)
Inverness County is part of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia. I am now up to the
District Sketches which contain a ton of genealogical information. You can
read the chapters at
http://www.electricscotland.com/canada/inverness/index.htm
The Districts added this week are...
South West of Margaree
North East Margaree
Here is how the account of South West of Margaree starts...
It were difficult to find any country section more typically Scottish than
the South West of Margaree. The inhabitants represent a variety of the
clans, but all are Scottish in woof and warp. They are hardy, hospitable,
kind and canny; and from the elderly portion of them, even at this day, "The
Gaelic wimples like a burn." All of them are Catholics, and their elegant
church and presbytery stand upon a charming eminence fast by the river near
the South West Bridge.
The district is well adapted to agriculture, and contains a goodly number of
staunch independent farmers. The main post road leading from Dunevegan to
Margaree Forks, and one on the eastern side of the river, running from the
Outlet at Scotsville to Margaree Forks, and one on the eastern side from
Scotsville to the South West Bridge aforesaid. The river starts from the
Lake somewhat slowly, the ground being nearly dead flat for half a mile. All
at once, it finds its course and makes "a sudden sally" down the braes.
The braes of this river were immortalized many years ago by the local
minstrel, Mr. Malcolm Gillis, in his exquisite melodies entitled "Cnoic's
Clinn a Braidh."
All the old settlers everywhere brought with them to this country many of
the ways and customs of the parent home. This was always made manifest in
the district of South West Margaree. The people there preserved the Gaelic
as they did their faith. They also practised the amusements and pastimes of
their forbears, such as singing, dancing and Scottish lore. To the mad
materialism of today such recreations would appear frivolous. We may have
something to say, as to that later on. In the meantime, we are but stating
the cold facts of history.
You should have heard "the hills and glens" resounding with the stirring
strains of the bagpipes, or the more sweet and subdued renderings of the
educated violin. Malcolm Gillis, Teacher, and the late Ronald Macdougall,
Angus' son, were two of the best violin players in eastern Nova Scotia. Many
were the sad old hearts they made light and glad.
Another quality of the old people here was their unyielding devotion to race
and name. They knew the lives of their clans, and held them in sacred
memory. They doted on the spirit of their fathers and the prowess of their
chieftans. And their Scottish legends!—told with such gusto. When we were a
boy (which by the way, was not yesterday) we had a perfect craving for the
Scottish legends. Often did we sit for hours, silent as the grave, listening
to one of the old men telling these fantastic Scottish stories. They were
far more engrossing to our young ears, than Wilson's "Tales of the Borders."
By such means the pioneer settlers were wont to chase dull cares away, and
give wings to the long winter evenings.
The South West of Margaree was formerly a part of the old parish of Broad
Cove whose priests served it as best they could. For many years the veteran
shepherds of this flock were Reverend John Grant and Rev. Ronald McGillivray.
There are men still living who have a vivid recollection of the powerful
Gaelic sermons of the former, and the pungent, practical and always logical
discourses of the latter.
We think it was in 1872 the South West was erected and formed into a
separate ecclesiastical division. Its first resident pastor was the late
Father Joseph McLeod who died there in 1877 at the age of thirty-two. Father
Joseph was a pious thoughtful man of uncommon abilities. Men who knew, have
told us that he made a capital course in theology. Unfortunately, however,
he studied so hard that his health was fatally strained. His first charge
was that of a curate for the late Bishop Cameron at Arichat. Some of the
finest sermons we ever listened to were preached in Arichat by Father Joseph
MacLeod His ill-health and early death were a distinct public loss to this
diocese.
After the death of Father Joseph MacLeod came the present venerable
incumbent, Father Finlay Chisholm, than whom no pastor could receive or
deserve more sincere parochial love. His tenure of service here has now
exceeded forty years, and all the time "he was going about doing good." He
has given to these people the best that man can give—his life. There shall
be no other "Father Finlay."
You the rest of this chapter at
http://www.electricscotland.com/canada/inverness/chapter29.htm
You can read the rest of the chapters at
http://www.electricscotland.com/canada/inverness/index.htm
Scots Minstrelsie
-------------------------
Started work again on the final volume 6 of this publication complete with
sheet music. The index page is at
http://www.electricscotland.com/music/minstrelsie/index.htm
To volume 6 I added...
The Birks O' Invermay
Caller Herrin'
Wilt Thou Be My Dearie?
Pibroch O' Donuil Dhu
Lucy's Flittin'
Tullochgorum
You can see these at
http://www.electricscotland.com/music/minstrelsie/volume6.htm
History of Scottish Medicine to 1860
----------------------------------------------------
by John D. Comrie (1927).
I have now completed this book with the final four chapters which you can
read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/medical/scottish_medicinendx.htm
Chapter XIV - The Glasgow School in the first half of the Nineteenth Century
Glasgow Royal Infirmary - C.M. Glasgow - Progress of Medical School -
Hunter's Museum - The Andersonian College - The Medico-Chirurgical Society -
The Botanic Garden - Professorships of Midwifery and Surgery - Joseph Lister
Chair of Chemistry - First laboratory devoted to chemical research - The
Anatomy Act - Allen Thomson - Chairs founded by Queen Victoria - Easton's
Syrup - List of Teachers in the Medical School of Glasgow.
Chapter XV - Medicine at Edinburgh shortly after 1800
Gregory's Powder - Medical litigants - Public Lunatic Asylum opened -
Development of Chemistry - Professorship of Military Surgery - University
Chair of Systematic Surgery - Chair of Clinical Surgery - Edinburgh Medical
and Surgical Journal - Extra-academical Teachers of Anatomy - John and
Charles Bell - Anatomical Publications - Anatomical Museum - Knox and the
Resurrectionists - Anatomy Act, 1830 - Cellular doctrines.
Chapter XVI - Edinburgh Medicine to the middle of the Nineteenth Century
Chair of Medical Jurisprudence - Materia Medica - Discovery of Conine -
Chair of Surgery - Fergusson - Lizars: "Observations on Extraction of
Diseased Ovaria" - Liston: "Observations on Amputation" - James Syme -
Joseph Lister - James Young Simpson - Chloroform - Chair of Pathology - John
Hughes Bennett - Chair of Chemistry - Isolation of "Morphium" - Original
hypodermic syringe - Chair of Medicine - Public Health - Midwifery and
Diseases of Children.
Chapter XVII - Medical Legislative changes in 1860
Position up to 1858 - The Medical Act - Improvement of Scottish
Universities.
Scottish Canadian Newspaper
--------------------------------------------
Added another issue of this newspaper...
April 23, 1891 at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/canada/scotscan/issue22.htm
An intersting account of Lady Ann LIndsay in this issue.
The Greatness and Decline of the Celts
--------------------------------------------------------
by Henri Hubert (1934).
Added this week...
The Celts in the East - Part A
The Celts in the East - Part B
I. The Gauls in the Blkan Peninsula. II. The Galatians in Asia Minor. III.
Gallic Mercenaries in Egypt. The Civilization of the Galatians. IV. The
Celts on the Danube. V. Composition of the Celtic Armies.
The Celts in the West. Italy and Spain - Part A
I. The Belgae in Italy. II. The Belgae in Spain. The Celtiberians. III. The
Celts in the Punic Wars.
These are all .pdf files for which you need the Acrobat reader.
You can read this at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/celts/index.htm
Poems and Stories
----------------------------
Margo has continued her series "Apollo's Soldiers" at
http://www.electricscotland.com/kids/apollondx.htm
Margo has also commenced a series of Children's poems all of which tell a
wee story and here is one as an example...
The sun was hot that summer’s day;
No rain, no clouds, no sign of gray.
Four hippos sank deep in the mud,
With a plop, a splash, a splat and a thud.
The water soon began to dry
As the sun moved across the morning sky.
By afternoon the mud baked hard,
Trapping the hippos who’d let down their guard.
“We can’t get out! Help us please!”
One hippo shouted, another sneezed.
“We’re stuck! We’re stuck! What can we do?
Rescue us from this hardened brown goo!”
An elephant came wandering by.
“Pull us out,” a hippo let out a cry.
The beast used his trunk and pulled so hard.
“I can’t pull you out! You’re as heavy as lard.”
Off it went; the hippos wiggled around.
They spotted a snake slithering across the ground.
“Help us snake! We’re stuck and can’t move.”
The snake kept on going down a deep dirt groove.
The hippos wriggled and shook to each side.
A flamingo flew past in a very smooth glide.
It laughed when it saw four heads poking out,
Trapped in the hardened mud, each wearing a pout.
They soon gave up and accepted their fate,
To be stuck in the mud all day till quite late,
But then something happened; clouds passed above;
Raindrops fell on the leopards, ants and dove.
Soon the mud grew soft and the hippos were free.
They danced all around shouting, “Yahoo! Yippee!”
“Let’s head for the river!” They ran and jumped in,
Scraped off the mud with a piece of old tin.
“This is better,” one said and lay on his back;
“Bathing’s quite fun once you’ve got the knack.”
From then on the hippos, one, two, three and four,
Never soaked in the mud when the temperatures soared.
You can read the rest of these poems at
http://www.electricscotland.com/kids/poems/index.htm
Sketches of the Wild Sports & Natural History of the Highlands
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
by Charles St. John (1878).
Have made more progress with this book which you can read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/nature/sketches/index.htm
Chapter IV
The Wild Cat: Strength of; Rencontre with — Trapping tame Cats:
Destructiveness of — Poisoning vermin — Trapping vermin.
Chapter V
Poaching in the Highlands — Donald — Poachers and Keepers — Bivouac in Snow
— Connivance of Shepherds — Deer killed — Catching a Keeper — Poaching in
the Forests — Shooting Deer by Moonlight — Ancient Poachers.
Chapter VI
Salmon-fishing — Salmon ascending Fords — Fishers — Cruives — Right of
Fishing — Anecdote — Salmon-leaps — History of the Salmon — Lampreys —
Spearing Salmon — River Poaching — Angling — Fly-making — Eels.
Chapter VII
Short-eared Owl: Habits of — Long-eared Owl — Tame Owl — White Owl — Utility
of Owls — Mice —Rats: Destructiveness of — Water Rats: Food of — Killing
Rats — Rat-catchers.
Here is a wee bit from Chapter V...
I HAD a visit last week from a Highland poacher of some notoriety in his
way. He is the possessor of a brace of the finest deerhounds in Scotland,
and he came down from his mountain-home to show them to me, as I wanted some
for a friend. The man himself is an old acquaintance of mine, as I had
fallen in with him more than once in the course of my rambles. A finer
specimen of the genus Homo than Ronald I never saw. As he passes through the
streets of a country-town, the men give him plenty of walking-room; while
not a girl in the street but stops to look after him, and says to her
companions — "Eh, but yon's a bonnie lad." And indeed Ronald is a "bonnie
lad" — about twenty-six years of age—his height more than six feet, and with
limbs somewhat between those of a Hercules and an Apollo—he steps along the
street with the good-natured, self-satisfied swagger of a man who knows all
the women are admiring him.
He is dressed in a plain grey kilt and jacket, with an otter-skin purse and
a low skull-cap with a long peak, from below which his quick eye seems to
take at a glance in everything which is passing around him. A man whose life
is spent much in hunting and pursuit of wild animals acquires unconsciously
a peculiar restless and quick expression of eye, appearing to be always in
search of something. When Ronald doffs his cap, and shows his handsome hair
and short curling beard, which covers all the lower part of his face, and
which he seems to be something of a dandy about, I do not know a
finer-looking fellow amongst all my acquaintance—and his occupation, which
affords him constant exercise without hard labour, gives him a degree of
strength and activity seldom equalled. As he walked into my room, followed
by his two magnificent dogs, he would have made a subject worthy of Landseer
in his best moments—and it would have been a picture which many a fair
damsel of high, as well as low, degree, would have looked upon with
pleasure. Excepting when excited, he is the most quiet, good-natured fellow
in the world; but I have heard some stories of his exploits, in defence of
his liberty, when assailed by keepers, which proved his immense strength,
though he has always used it most good-naturedly. One feat of his is worth
repeating. He was surprised by five men in a shealing, where he had retired
to rest after some days' shooting in a remote part of the Highlands. Ronald
had a young lad with him, who could only look on, in consequence of having
injured one of his hands.
Ronald was awoke from his sleep in the wooden recess of the shealing (which
is called a bed), by the five men coming in,—and saying that they had
tracked him there, that he was caught at last, and must come along with
them. "'Deed, lads," said Ronald, without rising, "but I have had a long
travel to-day, and if I am to go, you must just carry me." "Sit quiet,
Sandy," he added to his young companion. "They'll no fash us, I'm thinking."
The men, rather surprised at such cool language from only one man with
nobody to assist him but a boy, repeated their order for him to get up and
go with them; but receiving no satisfactory answer, two of them went to his
bed to pull him out " So I just pit them under me" (said Ronald, in
describing it), "and kept them down with one knee. A third chiel then came
up, with a bit painted wand, and told me that he was a constable, but I
could na help laughing at the man, he looked so frightened like;—and I said
to him, 'John Cameron, my man, you'd be better employed making shoes at
home, than coming here to disturb a quiet lad like me, who only wants to
rest himself:' and then I said to the rest of them, still keeping the twa
chiels under my knee, 'Ye are all wrong, lads;' I'm no doing anything
against the law; I am just resting myself here, and rest myself I will : and
you have no right to come here to disturb me; so you'd best just mak off at
once.' They had not caught me shooting, Sir," he added, "and I was sure that
no justice would allow of their seizing me like an outlaw. Besides which, I
had the licence with me, though I didn't want to have to show it to them, as
I was a stranger there, and I didn't wish them to know my name.
Weel, we went on in this way, till at last the laird's keeper, who I knew
well enough, though he didn't know me, whispered to the rest, and all three
made a push at me, while the chiels below me tried to get up too. The keeper
was the only one with any pluck amongst them, and he sprang on my neck, and
as he was a clever like lad, I began to get sore pressed. Just then,
however, I lifted up my left hand, and pulled one of the sticks that served
for rafters, out of the roof above me, and my blood was getting quite mad
like, and the Lord only knows what would have happened if they hadn't all
been a bit frightened at seeing me get the stick, and when part of the roof
came falling on them, and so they all left me and went to the other end of
the shealing. The keeper was but ill pleased though—as for the bit constable
body, his painted stick came into my hand somehow, and he never got it again
! One of the lads below my knee got hurt in this scuffle too, indeed one of
his ribs was broken, so I helped to lift him up, and put him on the bed. The
others threatened me a great deal, but did na like the looks of the bit
constable's staff I had in my hand. At last, when they found that they could
do nothing, they begged me, in the Lord's name, to leave the shealing and
gang my way in peace. But I did na like this, as it was six hours at least
to the next bothy where I could get a good rest, so I just told them to go
themselves—and as they did na seem in a hurry to do so, I went at them with
my staff, but they did na bide my coming, and were all tumbling out of the
door in a heap, before I was near them : I could na help laughing to see
them. It was coming on a wild night, and the poor fellow in the bed seemed
vera bad, so I called to them and told them they might just come back and
sleep in the shealing if they would leave me in peace—and after a little
talk they all came in, and I laid down in my plaid at one end of the bothy,
leaving them the other.
I made the lad who was with me watch part of the night to see they didn't
get at me when I was asleep, though I didn't want him to join in helping me,
as they knew his name, and it might have got him into trouble. In the
morning I made my breakfast with some meal I had with me, and gave them the
lave of it. They would have been right pleased to have got me with them,—but
as they could na do it, like wise chiels, they didn't try—so I wished them a
good day, and took the road. I had my gun and four brace of grouse, which
they looked at very hard indeed, but I did not let them lay hands on
anything. When I had just got a few hundred yards away, I missed my shot
belt, so I went back and found that the keeper had it, and would not give it
up. 'You'll be giving me my property, lad, I'm thinking,' I said to him; but
he was just mad like with rage, and said that he would not let me have it.
However, I took him by the coat and shook him a bit, and he soon gave it me,
but he could na keep his hands off, and as I turned away, he struck me a
sair blow with a stick on my back; so I turned to him, and 'deed I was near
beating him weel, but after all I thocht that the poor lad was only doing
his duty, so I only gave him a lift into the burn, taking care not to hurt
him; but he got a grand ducking—and, Lord ! how he did swear. I was
thinking, as I travelled over the hills that day, it was lucky that these
twa dogs were not with me, for there would have been wild work in the
shealing. Bran there canna bide a scuffle but what he must join in it, and
the other dog would go to help him; and the Lord pity the man they took hold
of—he would be in a bad way before I could get this one off his throat
—wouldn't he, poor dog ?"—and Bran looked up in Ronald's face with such a
half lear, half snake-like expression, that I thought to myself that I would
about as soon encounter a tiger as such a dog, if his blood was well roused.
The life of a Highland poacher is a far different one from that of an
Englishman following the same profession. Instead of a sneaking
night-walking ruffian, a mixture of cowardice and ferocity, as most English
poachers are, and ready to commit any crime that he hopes to perpetrate with
impunity, the Highlander is a bold fearless fellow, shooting openly by
daylight, taking his sport in the same manner as the Laird, or the Sassenach
who rents the ground. He never snares or wires game, but depends on his dog
and gun. Hardy and active as the deer of the mountain, in company with two
or three comrades of the same stamp as himself, he sleeps in the heather
wrapped in his plaid, regardless of frost or snow, and commences his work at
daybreak. When a party of them sleep out on the hill side, their manner of
arranging their couch is as follows:—If snow is on the ground, they first
scrape it off a small space; they then all collect a quantity of the driest
heather they can find. The next step is for all the party excepting one to
lie down close to each other, with room between one couple for the remaining
man to get into the rank when his duty is done, which is to lay all the
plaids on the top of his companions, and on the plaids a quantity of long
heather; when he has sufficiently thatched them in, he creeps into the
vacant place, and they are made up for the night. The coldest frost has no
effect on them when bivouacking in this manner. Their guns are laid dry
between them, and their dogs share their masters' couch.
You can read the rest of this chapter at
http://www.electricscotland.com/nature/sketches/chapter5.htm
Scotland in the Middle Ages
-----------------------------------------
Sketches of Early Scotch History and Social Progress by Cosmo Innes
(Professor of History in the University of Edinburgh. 1860).
Here is the Preface for you to read here...
These Sketches were read in the shape of Lectures to a class in this
University; but it cannot be said they thereby received much publicity.
In now publishing them, I have something to disclaim. I trust the origin of
the little work may be a sufficient excuse, if it be found wanting in that
originality of facts or views without which no one would deliberately
compose a book of History. The same cause may obtain pardon for some
unacknowledged plagiarism, which it might savour of ostentation more
specifically to point out.
If the Sketches have any merit, it is in teaching that true History is best
to be learnt from the study of its genuine materials, and not from the
twice-told tale of the historians of the book-shelves. Here, as in other
studies, . . . . Juvat integros accedere fontes Atque haurire.
I would warn the young student of history against translations; against
abridgments. Let him not think that he learns history by committing a big
table of contents to memory. If he takes my advice, his will be the pleasure
as well as the gain. He will find endless amusement in the contemporary
chronicler, and his rough and vivid pictures of events, which fall very flat
and dull, even in the elegant summary of Hume, and the glittering-narrative
of Gibbon. But books are not all. The history of a nation has to do with
things which books never quite supply ; the manners of the people, their
modes of life, action, and thought. We know more of old Rome from a day
among its ruins—from a visit to Herculaneum or Pompeii—than from all the
compilations of modern historians, or even the mythical narrative of Livy,
charming as it is.
Above all, look to the real evidence, as the lawyers call it. Judge a people
by their institutions and laws; by the cultivation of their soil; by their
literature; by their achievements in science and art; by what they have done
for civilization, and the happiness of the world.
After these Sketches were printed, my friendly publishers, taking, I fear,
an exaggerated view of their importance, urged me to prefix some Maps that
might serve to illustrate my notions of old Scotland, and its progress. I
saw the danger, and it was not without reluctance that I complied. As was to
be expected, the Maps led to explanatory Notes and Lists of Places, and
other topographical apparatus, which now form such a bulk of preliminary
matter. I am not willing to think that the labour bestowed has been useless.
Indeed, I believe the information here brought together has not been
collected in print before, and may be serviceable to many readers ; and, if
so, perhaps I should not be much concerned though critics may discover that
my little craft was not built or rigged for such a ponderous freight.
No one can hold the book at a lower rate than I do, but that must not
prevent me from mentioning the names of some of those who have assisted me,
and on whom lies none of the blame of any shortcoming.
Mr. Joseph Robertson, my old friend and fellow labourer, has now, as always,
been as ready to give, as I to ask assistance. He would be a rash man who
should write on Scotch charters or records, or on Scotch church
architecture, without taking counsel with Mr. Robertson. Dr. Reeves of Lusk,
the historian of St. Columba, who has shamed our Scotch scholars by the
light he has thrown upon the christianizing of our western shores, has also
assisted me cordially and cheered me on. Mr. W. F. Skene, a Celtic scholar
and antiquary of the first order, whose fault is that he will not give his
collections to the world, has not withheld them from me. To the last two
gentlemen I am indebted for learned and ingenious suggestions upon early
Scotch geography, and I feel that I ought to explain why I have not availed
myself of them. I am, unfortunately, quite ignorant of the Celtic languages,
and the only expositors in whom I have confidence not being entirely at one,
I have thought it best not to set down on my map what I could not personally
verify.
I now have up Notes on the Maps as a .pdf file but the rest of the book are
ocr'd into text pages and I also have up Chapter 1 which includes...
Modern political society originating with the era of Charlemagne — The state
of Europe in his time — The population — Celts — Franks — Sclaves — Wends —
Bavarians — Northmen or Danes — Saxons — Teutonic races — Superstitions of
the Northmen — Virtues of the Germans — Saint Boniface's Catechism — Pagan
Saxon prayer — The Moors — Their accomplishments — Their activity and
enterprise — The Lombards — Rome — Her missions and adoption of co-operating
missionaries — Her danger from the Arian heresy — The Church, its influence
and power — Used for the advantage of mankind — Constantinople and the
Eastern empire — The dominions of Charlemagne — Vestiges of Roman
Institutions — Municipia — Defects of those institutions for patriotic union
— Charlemagne himself, his appearance, habits, dress, arms, ornaments — The
amount of his education — His buildings, fleets, his ordinances, his country
houses — His gardens, flowers, fruit trees, poultry, game — His ordinance
for schools — Keeping of Sunday — Preaching — Charlemagne the champion of
Christianity — Saxon Resistance — Duke Radbod — -Witikind — Final
subjugation of the Saxons — Charlemagne's other triumphs — Harun-el-Rashid's,
and the Greek Emperor's embassies — Crowned as Caesar — His achievements.
You can read this at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/middleages/index.htm
Clan Newsletters
------------------------
Gotin the Winter 2007 newsletter from Clan Ross of Canada at
http://www.electricscotland.com/familytree/newsletters/ross/2007Winter.pdf
Snodgrass family history
------------------------------------
Got in a good update on this family history which you can read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/stoz/snodgra2.html
Robert Burns Lives!
----------------------------
By Frank Shaw
To introduce this chapter Frank tells us...
It is a pleasure to welcome to these pages once again a good friend who has
a great love for Robert Burns. It would be safe to say that Tom Burns, kin
to the Bard, is a real “lover of Burns”, as seen in this article. He is a
student of Burns and has over the years emerged as a scholar on Burns who
ranks with the best you can find among global Burnsians, in my humble
opinion. Tom has graciously consented to sharing with us the Immortal Memory
he delivered at the Atlanta Burns Club, Burns Night, January 27, 2007. Tom
and I are fellow members of the Atlanta Burns Club. He recently completed
his two year term as president with dignity and humor. His love for all
things Scottish is evident by the Scottish events he participates in each
year. Simply put, if Tom Burns is your friend, Robert Burns would approve!
Tom Burns wrote to say...
I am related to the bard. William and Robert Burns each named a son after
the other. William's son Robert became the poet. The poet's uncle Robert is
my direct ancestor. His son, named William, came to the US via Ireland and
fought in the revolutionary war. For his service, he was awarded a land
grant in north Georgia, near Commerce. He is buried there in the Hebron
Presbyterian Church, along with virtually all his descendants, down to my
grandfather. It was Robert (the poet's uncle) to William to David Mitchell,
to William Brantley to James Crawford to Samuel Mitchell to me. That would
make Robert, the poet, my great, great, great uncle.
You can read Tom's Immortal Memory at
http://www.electricscotland.com/familytree/frank/burns_lives26.htm
And that's all for now and I hope you and your families all have a great
weekend :-)
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com
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