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Weekly Mailing List Archives
22nd February 2008


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
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Electric Scotland News
Scotland on TV
The Flag in the Wind
The Scottish Nation
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1845)
Early Scotch History
Book of Scottish Story
Good Words - Edited by the Rev Norman MacLeod
Poetry and Stories
History of Ulster
Reminiscences and Reflections of an Octogenarian Highlander
Sketches of The Character, Manners, and Present State of the Highlanders of Scotland
Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland 1881
Household Encyclopaedia
Scottish Art Trading Cards
Electric Scotland Article Service
Antiquarian Scottish Books in Adobe Reader format
Frank Shaw Articles [New]


ELECTRIC SCOTLAND NEWS
----------------------
Have made a change to the site header this week for a couple of reasons...

Over the last few months I've had a number of comments about the site being a bit intimidating and the menu being too large. I confess to not understanding this as the menu is really there to get you quickly to the information you are looking for. As to being intimidating... I'm lost for words... but I have heard this comment several times so there must be something in it. And so I was considering how I might make the menu smaller when I got in an email from Google. They were suggesting I should carry their 300x250 advert box as that way they could serve up video adverts and that I may well make more money. Well I've never been adverse to making more money so I thought perhaps by incorporating this that would also force me to reduce my menu size and so the deed has been done. I have had a couple of emails saying that folk like the new header and none so far not liking it so hopefully I'm on the right track :-)

The Scots in the USA, Canada, etc have now gone back to under "Scots in the World". Quite a few items are now on our "Lifestyle" Menu. I've created a new menu item "Services" where our Postcard program has gone along with the Article and Recipe databases and also our Desktop page. The search box from Microsoft Live now fits more neatly into the header.

I might add that I'm using the Microsoft Live search engine as they offer a facility of having up to 10 web sites incorporated into the site search. So by using this facility I have been able to include both electricscotland.com and .net and also scotsindependent.org and so when you do a search it will default to just searching those domains. The facility is much better than the Google one and hence this change.

And so I hope this new menu header is more acceptable and friendly.

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Only heard back from a couple of you on the recipe database and thanks to you both for your suggestions :-)

While we only have a few recipes in the database it's now available for you to see at http://www.electricscotland.com/recipe

Hopefully you'll contribute your own recipes in here helping to make it a good resource for us all. Happy to receive any suggestions from you as you explore it.

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The Article Service is seeing good use and of course it can be used to discuss pretty well any topic you wish. As it happens there are several recipes, comment on the US Presidential race, some kitchen tips, poems, etc. So do have a look and add your own articles at http://www.electricscotland.com/article

I might add if you click on the actual article you can also rate the article and add some comments to it.

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For those of you in Canada or perhaps those of you in the US that are near Toronto...

On Thursday April 3rd, 2008 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Toronto's iconic landmark, the CN Tower, will be the venue for this year's Tartan Day and our 17th Annual Scot of the Year Award Presentation.

Unlike previous Tartan Day Dinners there will be "no entrance fee" so in lieu of this we have set an objective of raising $15,000 during the evening to support the Foundation in the funding of the Chair of Scottish Studies at the University of Guelph, the acquisition of significant materials for their library and bursaries for Canadian students studying in Scotland.

We do hope you will be able to join us for this memorable evening and make a contribution to our cause. As the Scottish Studies Foundation is a registered Canadian Charity all contributions are tax deductible and appropriate tax receipts will be issued for each donation.

The venue at the CN Tower is limited to approximately 250 guests so if you would like to attend this function, please contact David Hunter as soon as possible by telephone at 416-699-9942 or by e-mail at: davidhunter@scottishstudies.com 

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Do let us know if you'd like to see any new services on Electric Scotland. One we are looking at is an image hosting service.


ABOUT THE STORIES
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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.


Scotland on TV
--------------
Visit their site at http://www.scotlandontv.tv 

Loch Ness and the Legend of the Loch Ness Monster

There comes a time for every Scottish site when Nessie, the Loch Ness monster, rears her head! And on Scotland on TV we’ve decided we cannot ignore her any longer. The archive of stv (Scottish Television), our parent company, contains a number of news reports from over the years which deal with alleged sightings of Nessie. So we have decided to ‘do our bit’ to keep alive the Nessie debate by revisting some of these moments from our archive.

First things first though - what do we know about the home of Nessie? Well, Loch Ness is 23 miles long, 1 mile wide and, at its deepest point, is 754 feet deep. It is situated between Fort Augustus and Inverness and contains the greatest volume of water of any Loch in Scotland - around 16 million 430 thousand million gallons of water. The Loch's water is a tea-like brown colour due to staining from the surrounding peat - peat particles in the water can make it appear even murkier.

But what of the monster? The Loch has been studied for centuries and a number of sightings made. In modern times, the first recorded signing was by Mrs Mackay in 1933 although a sighting of a big fish was noted in 1868. Father Gregory Brusey had the most famous sighting of all time from the monastery at Fort Augustus.

Theories abound as to what type of creature the monster is and over the years Scottish television news has kept up with all the monster action. Now, on Scotland on TV, we have collected together some of the best news reports from our archive and made them available online.

You can read the page and find links to all the videos here:
http://www.scotlandontv.tv/scotland_on_tv/news/Nessie_The_Loch_Ness_Monster.html


THE FLAG IN THE WIND
--------------------
This weeks Flag is compiled by Richard Thomson and I'm kind of surprised he isn't commenting on the US Presidential elections. There seems to be a real change going on in America and I'd have been interested in learning what that might say about Scottish elections as for the first time in a heck of a lot of years the turn out is hugely up on what it has been. In the past we've always talked about our concern on the low turnout for elections in Scotland.

In Peter's cultural section he tells us...

The 7% increase in the profit of Whisky giant Diageo, announced last week, shows that the Whisky industry is still a major factor in the Scottish economy. This comes on top of an announcement in 2007 by the same firm of a massive investment in Scotch, including a new distillery. The Whisky industry looks set to continue to be, perhaps, the best known symbol of Scotland world-wide.

"FREEDOM and WHISKY gang thegither" wrote our National Bard and one man who firmly believed in the poet's adage was the late Jock Mackie of Kirkcaldy. Jock, an Ayrshire man, born and bred, was both a great fan of Robert Burns and of our National Drink. For Jock, an avid Scottish Nationalist, Whisky and Freedom did indeed "gang thegither". Not only did he fervently believe in Scottish Independence but in the belief that every Scot should distil his own Whisky. A baker to trade, Jock added distilling to his bakery skills! For many years he made his own Whisky until he fell foul of the authorities in the early 1960s. An appearance in Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court resulted in a £50 fine and the confiscation of the still. Unabashed Jock appeared on Scottish Television that night and much to the consternation of the interviewer produced a bottle of his own "illegal" hooch!

Unfortunately we cannot give you Jock's recipe for distilling Whisky but the "water of life" is the basis of an excellent use of oatmeal - Atholl Brose.

Atholl Brose

Ingredients for one serving: 2-4 rounded tablespoons medium oatmeal, toasted; 2-4 fl oz ( 50-100 ml ) double cream, stiffly beaten; 1 glass Malt Whisky; 1-2 tablespoons heather honey.

Method: Put the oatmeal into a bowl, mix in the cream and leave to thicken. Pour in the Whisky and add honey to taste. Divine!

Atholl Brose ( The Duke of Atholl's recipe )

Ingredients for a house awthegither: 6 oz (200 g) medium oatmeal; 4 dsp heather honey; 1 1/2 pt (750 ml) Whisky; 1/4 pt (150 ml) water.

Method: Put the oatmeal into a small bowl and add water to make a paste. Leave for one hour, then put into a fine sieve and press all the liquid through. Add the honey to the sieved liquid and mix through. Pour into a large bottle and fill up with Whisky. Shake well and always shake before use.

And always think of independent Scots like Jock Mackie when you tak aff yir dram!


You can read the Flag, listen to the Scots Language, enjoy the Scots Wit and lots more at http://www.scotsindependent.org

Christina McKelvie MSP's weekly diary for 21st Feb can be found at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/mckelvie/080221.htm


The Scottish Nation
-------------------
My thanks to Lora for transcribing these volumes for us.

We are now on the Mac's with MacNaughton, McNeill, MacNicol, MacNish, Maconochie and MacPherson

Here is how the account of MacPherson starts...

MACPHERSON, the name of one of the two principal branches of the clan Chattan, the badge of which was the box evergreen. In the Celtic the Macphersons are called the clan Vuirich or Muirich, from an ancestor of that name, who, in the Gaelic MS. of 1450, is said to have been the “son of Swen, son of Heth, son of Nachtan, son of Gillichattan, from whom came the clan Chattan.” The word Gillichattan means a votary or servant of St. Kattan, a Scottish saint, as Gillichrist means a servant of Christ; hence Gilchrist.

The descent of the heads of the Macphersons from the ancient chiefs of the clan Chattan has been unbroken, and tradition is uniformly in favour of their right to the chiefship of the whole clan. The claim of the Macintoshes, the other principal branch of the clan Chattan, to the chiefship has been already disposed of. Their own traditional story of their descent from Macduff, thane of Fife, is extremely improbable, and if it were true, it would prove that they were not a branch of the clan Chattan at all. On their own showing, they obtained the chiefship by marriage, and that from the head of the Macphersons, whom they acknowledge to have been at one period chief of the clan Chattan. The rule of clanship excludes females from the succession, and the heir male, not the heir of line, became chief of the clan Chattan.

It was from Muirich or Murdoch, who succeeded to the chiefship in 1153, that the Macphersons derive the name of the clan Muirich or Vuirich. This Muirich was parson of Kingussie, a religious establishment in the lower part of Badenoch, and the surname, properly Macphersain, was given to his descendants from his office. He was the great-grandson of Gillichattan Mor, the founder of the clan, who lived in the reign of Malcolm Canmore, and having married, on a papal dispensation, a daughter of the thane of Calder, he had five sons. The eldest, Gillichattan, the third of the name, and chief of the clan in the reign of Alexander II., was father of Dougal Dall, the chief whose daughter Eva married Angus Macintosh of Macintosh. On Dougal Dall’s death, as he had no sons, the representation of the family devolved on his cousin and heir male, Kenneth, eldest son of Eoghen or Ewen Baan, second son of Muirich. Neill Chrom, so called from his stooping shoulders, Muirich’s third son, was a great artificer in iron, and took the name of Smith from his trade. Ferquhard Gilliraich, or the swift, the fourth son, is said to have been the progenitor of the MacGillivrays, who followed the Macintosh branch of the clan Chattan, and from David Dubh, or the Swarthy, the youngest of Muirich’s sons, were descended the clan Dhai, or Davidsons of Invernahavon.

You can read the rest of this account at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/nation/macpherson.htm

You can read the other entries at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/nation/index.htm


New Statistical Account of Scotland (1845)
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The first volume I am dealing with is the one on Aberdeenshire. There are some 85 parishes in this volume and a write up on each.

This week have added...

Parish of Keithhall and Kinkell at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/statistical/keithhall_kinkell.htm

Here is a bit from the account...

Name.—Keithhall became the name of the parish after the greater part of it-was possessed by Keith, the Earl Marischal of Scotland. It was anciently called Montkeggie. Kinkell was a parsonage of seven parishes, and retains the ancient name, which signifies the head or principal church. The annexation was in 1754.

Extent.—The length of the parish is about 5 miles, and the breadth is rather less, but very unequal. It contains 11½ square miles.

Boundaries.—The rivers Don and Ury form the boundary with Kintore and Inverury. The parish adjoins Chapel of Garioch, Bourty, Udny, New Machar, and Fintry. The figure is irregular.

Eminent Men.— Caskieben, the ancient name of the estate of Keithhall, was the birth-place of the distinguished scholar, Arthur Johnston. He was born in 1587, and died at the age of fifty-four. Kinkell is the burial-place of a distinguished warrior who fell at Harlaw, as appears from a monumental stone, with the figure of a knight in armour, and an inscription on the outer part in old English characters:—"Hic jacet nobilis armiger Gualterus de Gre------ 1411." The other part of it has been destroyed.

Land-owners.—The Earl of Kintore is proprietor of about three-fourths of the united parishes. Balbithan, the property of Benjamin Abernethy Gordon, Esq. forms an eighth part. Kin-muck, which is rather less, belongs to Alexander Irvine, Esq. of Drum. The Synod of Aberdeen hold in trust the small estate of Newplace, which rents about L. 80; and the Society of Friends or Quakers are proprietors of three acres, on which they have a meeting-house and cemetery.

You can read the rest of this account at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/statistical/keithhall_kinkell.htm

On the index page of this volume you can see a list of the 85 parishes and also a map at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/statistical/volume12.htm 


Book of Scottish Story
----------------------
Our thanks to John Henderson for sending this is for us.

This week have added "Mary Queen of Scots and Chatelar"

Here is how this story starts...

There are no mysteries into which we are so fond of prying as the mysteries of the heart. The hero of the best novel in the world, if he could not condescend to fall in love, might march through his three volumes and excite no more sensation than his grandmother; and a newspaper without a breach of promise of marriage is a thing not to be endured.

It is not my intention to affect any singular exception from this natural propensity, and I am ready to confess that the next best thing to being in love oneself, is to speculate on the hopes, and fears, and fates of others. How truly interesting are the little schemes and subterfuges, the romancing and story-telling of our dove-eyed and gentle-hearted playfellows! I have listened to a lame excuse for a stolen ride in a tilbury, or a duet in the woods. with wonderful sensibility; and have witnessed the ceremony of cross-questioning with as much trepidation as I could have felt had I been the culprit myself. It is not, however, to be maintained that the love adventures of the present age can, in any way, compete with the enchantment of days agone; when tender souls were won by tough exploits, and Cupid's dart was a twenty-foot lance, ordained only to reach the lady's heart through the ribs of the rival. This was the golden age of love, albeit I am not one to lament it, thinking, as I do, that it is far more sensible to aid and abet my neighbour in toasting the beauty of his mistress, than to caper about with him in the lists, for contradiction's sake, to the imminent danger and discomfort of us both. After this came the middle or lark ages of love, when it had ceased to be a glory, but had lost nothing of its fervour as a passion. If there is here less of romance than in the tilting days, there is considerably more of interest, because there is more of mystery. In the one, the test of true love was to make boast, in the other it was to keep secret. Accordingly, for an immense space of time, we have nothing but such fragments of adventures as could be gathered by eavesdroppers, who leave us to put head and tail to them as best suits our fancy; and the loves of Queen Elizabeth, who lived, as it were, only yesterday, are less known than the loves of queen Genevra, who perhaps never lived at all.

The rest of this story can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/books/story/story36.htm

The rest of the stories can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/books/story/index.htm


Good Words - 1860 Edition
-------------------------
Edited by Rev. Norman MacLeod

You should note that as this is a weekly publication you'll find larger articles are continued week by week.

This week have added articles on...

Good Words for Every Day in the Year (Pages 335-336)
What Has Been Done In The Fiji Islands (Pages 337-349)
Saul of Tarsus, A Choice Vessel (Pages 349-343)
What of Lay-Preaching? (Pages 343-344)
Old Betty (Page 344)

Here is the short story of "Old Betty"...

Betty had learned to know and love the Lord in her old days; and because she had loved Him so late, she longed to live to His praise and glory for the short time she might be spared on earth. When her heart was opened, she spoke of Him with a thousand joys, and with a full hope of the crown of glory which He had promised her. She tended the sick, visited the oppressed, prayed for the poor and the heathen, and distributed to the needy as the benevolence of Christian friends put it in her power. In short, she was always abounding in labours of love.

However, in the midst of all this happy work she was seized with a dangerous illness, and confined to her bed. She lay there from day to day, and week to week; and I believe she lay there till the Lord took her to Himself. Betty was as happy on her sick-bed as she had been in her activity; she prayed much, and repeated hymns and passages out of Holy Scripture; and she thought over the good things which she had learned, and the good land to which she drew near. One day an old friend visited her—a teacher, who had long known her. He was amazed to find his neighbour, who had been once so busy and useful, so patient and happy in her room, and said it must be a heavy trial for the lively spirit to lie there so quiet and inactive. "Not at all," replied the old woman, "not at all! When I was well I used to hear the Lord say from day to day, Betty, go here—Betty, go there—Betty, do this—Betty, do that—and I was accustomed to do it as well as I could. And now I hear Him say to me every day, Betty, lie still and cough!"

You can read the other articles at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/goodwords/index.htm 


Poetry and Stories
------------------
John sent in a doggerel, Easedom, at http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerel249.htm

Added a wee article on the Honourable Alastair Gillespie, Doctor of Letters at http://www.electricscotland.com/ssf/alastair_gillespie.htm

I might add that further articles have been added to our Articles Service where the likes of Donna has been adding poems and recipes at http://www.electricscotland.com/article/ 


The History of Ulster
------------------------------
We are now making a start at Volume 4 being the final volume. Added this week are...

VI. King William in Ulster
VII. The Battle of the Boyne
VIII. After the Battle
IX. The New Life
X. Linen and Latitudinarianism
XI. Unhappiness and Halfpence
XII. French Attack on Carrickfergus

This is how "Linen and Latitudinarianism" starts...

Ulster unaffected by the Penal Laws—A Determined Effort to destroy the Woollen Industry—Address to the King on the Subject—The English promise to encourage and support the Linen Industry of Ulster—How the Promise was kept—The Case of Ireland, by Molyneux—Death of James II — Death of William III—James, Second Duke of Ormonde, Lord-Lieutenant—The Attitude of Ulster towards Jacobinism—Presbyterians and the Sacramental Test—The Bishops attack the Nonconformists—Wharton, the Viceroy, supports them—He is recalled—Death of Queen Anne.

During the later years of William's reign and during the whole period of Queen Anne's, Ulster, in the language of Wordsworth, was "as silent as a standing pool", or, to use imagery more exclusively Hibernian, she may perhaps be more appropriately likened to the famous Harp of Tara, which after a period of notable activity hung "mute on Tara's walls", leading those who had delighted in its strains to believe that the soul of music had for ever fled from its strings.

But if at this period Ulster, like Canning's needy knife-grinder, had no story to tell, it was because her career, like his, had become uneventful, not because she was no longer alert in the cause of freedom. Important matters like the Penal Laws, which greatly agitated the south and west of Ireland, did not affect the north, which, being almost wholly Protestant, did not to any great extent suffer from them. A matter, however, in which Ulster took an intense interest was referred to at the meeting of the Irish Parliament on the 27th of July, 1697, when the Lords Justices (the Marquis of Winchester, the Earl of Galway, and Viscount Villiers), addressing the House, said: "All think the present occasion so favourable for inviting and encouraging Protestant strangers to settle here, that we cannot omit to put you in mind of it, especially since that may contribute to the increase of the linen manufacture, which is the most beneficial trade that can be encouraged in Ireland".

You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/ulster/vol4chap10.htm

The rest of the chapters can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/ulster/ 


Reminiscences and Reflections of an Octogenarian Highlander
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By Duncan Campbell (1910)

We're almost at the end of this book now and this week we've added the following chapters...

Chapter LXXX.
Land and People
Chapter LXXXI.
The Latter Days' Invasions of the Highlands
Chapter LXXXII.
Deer Forests and Sheep Farms
Chapter LXXXIII.
The Crofters
Chapter LXXXIV.
The Cry of "Back to the Land"
Chapter LXXXV.
The Restlessness of the Present Age
Chapter LXXXVI.
The Urban Invasion of the Country

Here is a bit from "The Urban Invasion of the Country"...

COUNTRY life, with all its drawbacks, is the natural life ; and Nature, though expelled with a fork, will now and then return to the most cynical and selfish and sensual of city men. What a pleasure it must be to London slum dwellers to go a-gipsying once a year to the Kent hop-gathering? How glad are peers and commoners to scurry away on week-end excursions to the country by trains and motor-cars? How sadly washed - out by pursuit of pleasure become Society ladies, and how good it is for them to seek rest in the country and forget balls, operas, and all junketings and racketings of city life among trees and flowers, listening to the songs of birds? What a mistake they make if they rush off to the Continent instead of going to the far more pleasant rural retreats at home which belong to them, where they have duties to discharge? Well, the shooting season does fill halls and manors with owners and guests. And it is just to acknowledge that both classes of land-owning people the old and the new are far from being negligent in the discharge of their duty to those who live on their estates. Still the number of noblemen and gentry who spend the greater part of their time on their estates, and shun city life unless taken in small dozes, is not so large as should be desired for their own and their people's good, and for the union of classes and masses in a critical transitional period of national history.

The industrious, prudent workman who is earning daily wages can afford to pay one visit to the Continent. Paris and Rome, the Rhine, and even Egypt and Jerusalem, with Jericho thrown in, are quite within his reach. But why should his fancy roam so far away? Is it not far wiser for him to be content with what he can so readily find at home beautiful scenery, mountain air, and refreshing sea- breezes ? As a matter of fact, the well-to-do, comfortably-off, middle-class inhabitants of our Scotch cities and towns are not much given to roaming abroad. Neither are those of the wage- earning class, unless in the way of employment. It was not the case of old, but now "the Scot abroad" is usually one who has emigrated to a British colony, or one who holds a position in the public service or in a banking or business establishment.

There are many scenes of beautiful landscape in England besides the Lake district, which exhibits in miniature form, with the omission of sea lochs, firths, and rocky shores, the features of Highland scenery. The Scotch Borders, Wales, and Ireland put in rival claims to favourable comparison. But Highland scenery is alone and above comparison with anything of its kind in the United Kingdom, It laid its spell upon the stranger who saw it before railways had been dreamed of, and before passable roads joined glen to glen. The romance of Highland history likewise laid hold upon those who knew about it, or who merely observed with intelligence the picturesque peculiarities of the Highland people and their clannish propensities. The peculiar people romance has now almost become as shadowy as Ossian's ghosts.

The rest of this chapter can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/octogenarian/chapter86.htm

The other chapters added so far can be read at the index page of the book at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/octogenarian/index.htm 


Sketches of The Character, Manners, and Present State of the Highlanders of Scotland
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by Major-General David Stewart (1822)

We have now moved on to Volume II and the next several chapters are all about the various Highland Regiments. When those accounts are complete we'll be moving onto the Fencible Regiments.

This week we've added...

Seventy-third Regiment, or Lord Macleod's Highlanders; now Seventy-first Regiment, or Glasgow Light Infantry, 1777
Seventy-fourth Regiment, or Argyle Highlanders, 1778
Seventy-sixth Regiment, or Macdonald's Highlanders, 1778
Athole Highlanders, or Seventy-seventh, 1778
Seventy-eighth Regiment, or Seaforth's Highlanders, now the Seventy-second Regiment, 1778
Eighty-first, or Aberdeenshire Highland Regiment, 1778
Eighty-fourth, or Royal Highland Emigrant Regiment, two battalions, originally embodied in 1775, but not regimented or numbered till 1778

Here is how the account of the Royal Highland Emigrant Regiment starts...

This corps was to consist of two battalions. Lieutenant-Colonel Alan Maclean (son of Torloish), of the late 104th Highland Regiment, was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel-Commandant of the first battalion, which was to be raised and embodied from the Highland Emigrants in Canada, and the discharged men of the 42d, of Fraser's, and of Montgomerie's Highlanders, who had settled in that country after the peace of 1763.

Captain John Small, formerly of the 42d, and then of the 21st, regiment, was appointed Major-Commandant of the second battalion, which was to be completed in Nova Scotia from emigrant and discharged Highland soldiers. The establishment of both was 750 men, with officers in proportion. The commissions were dated the 14th of June 1775.

Officers sent to the back settlements to recruit, found the discharged soldiers and emigrants loyal and ready to serve his Majesty. The emigrations from the Highlands, previous to this period, had been very limited. With many the change of abode was voluntary, and consequently their minds, neither irritated nor discontented, retained their former attachment to their native country and its government. But there was much difficulty in conveying the parties, who had enlisted, to their respective destinations. One of these detachments from Carolina, had to force its way through a dangerous and narrow pass, and to cross a bridge defended by cannon, and a strong detachment of the rebels; "but aware that the Americans entertained a dread of the broadsword, from experience of its effects in the last war, with more bravery than prudence, and forgetting they had only a few swords and fowling-pieces, used in their settlements, they determined to attempt the post sword in hand, and pushed forward to the attack." But they found the enemy too strong, and the difficulties insurmountable. They were forced to relinquish the attempt with the loss of Captain Mcleod, and a number of men killed. Those who escaped made their way by different routes to their destination. Colonel Maclean's battalion was stationed in Quebec, when Canada was threatened with invasion by the American General Arnold, at the head of 3000 men. Colonel Maclean, who had been detached up the river St Lawrence, returned by forced marches, and entered Quebec on the evening of the 13th November 1776, without being noticed by Arnold. He had previously crossed the river, and on the night of the 14th made a smart attack, with a view of getting possession of their outworks, but was repulsed with loss, and forced to retire to Point au Tremble. The fortifications of the city had been greatly neglected, and were now in a ruinous state. The garrison consisted of 50 men of the Fusileers, 350 of Maclean's newly raised emigrants, and about 700 militia and seamen. General Guy Carleton, the Commander in Chief, being occupied with preparations for the general defence of the colony, the defence of the town was intrusted to Colonel Maclean, an able and intelligent officer.

You can read the rest of this at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/sketches/highlandsketches75.htm

You can read the other chapters at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/sketches/highlandsketchesndx.htm 


Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland 1884
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This week have added a huge account (110 book pages) of The Agriculture of Lanarkshire and here is how it starts...

By James Tait, 4 Argyll Crescent, Joppa, Midlothian.
[Premium—Forty Sovereigns.]

The county of Lanark, sometimes designated Clydesdale, is bounded on the east by the counties of West and Mid Lothian and Peebles, on the south by the county of Dumfries, on the west by the counties of Ayr and Renfrew, and on the north by those of Dumbarton and Stirling. Its greatest length from north to south is about 47 miles, and its width from east to west about 32 miles. According to the agricultural returns issued by the Board of Trade the area of the county is 568,840 acres; and in extent of surface it is exceeded only by those of Aberdeen, Argyll, Ayr, Dumfries, Inverness, Perth, Ross and Cromarty, and Sutherland. Its gross annual value, exclusive of the municipal borough of Glasgow, as given in the Return of Lands and Heritages in Scotland, 1872-73, was £1,736,268, 7s., inclusive of Glasgow it was £4,078,434, which is pretty nearly thrice the valuation of any other Scottish county. The gross annual value of Edinburghshire at the same date was £581,603, 6s., exclusive of Edinburgh and Leith; including these municipal boroughs the total valuation of the county was £1,547,435. The next highest is Perthshire, with a valuation of £959,364, 18s. In 1883-84 the valuation of Lanarkshire was £2,211,444, 15s. 7d,, an increase of £66,991, 17s. 5d. on the previous year. The census returns for 1881 give the area of Lanarkshire as 564,284 acres, divided into 41 parishes, besides fractions of others. There were 180,259 inhabited houses, 193,731 separate families, and 904,412 inhabitants. Of the population 770,314 were resident in towns, 72,197 in villages, and 61,901 in rural districts. The county contained 1076 persons to every square mile. Next in density of population were the shires of Edinburgh and Dumfries each containing 1075 persons to the square mile. Then conies Clackmannan with 539. The lowest in the scale is Sutherland with 12 persons to the square mile, and it is followed by Inverness with 22, Argyle 24, Ross and Cromarty 25, and Peebles 39. The next county to Lanarkshire in respect of population is Edinburgh, with an area of 231,724 acres, and a population of 389,164. In 1S71 there were, in Lanarkshire, 147,962 inhabited houses, and 765,339 of a population. In 1861 the population was 631,566, showing an increase of 272,846 in twenty years. For parliamentary purposes the county consists of a northern and a southern division, of which the former is at present represented by Sir T. E. Colebrooke, Bart., and the latter by J. G. Hamilton, Esq., of Dalziell. The city of Glasgow has three representatives; and, in the county, there are the burghs of Rutherglen, which forms one of the Kilmarnock group, and Airdrie, Hamilton, and Lanark, which are joined to Linlithgow and Falkirk. For administrative purposes the county is divided into upper, middle, and lower wards. The upper ward comprehends the twenty parishes of Carluke, Lanark, Carstairs, Carnwath, Dunsyre, Dolphinton, Walston, Biggar, Libberton, Lamington, Culter, Crawford, Crawfordjohn, Douglas, Roberton, Symington, Covington, Pettinain, Carmichael, and Lesmahagow. The middle ward includes the parishes of Dalserf, Stonehouse, Avon-dale, Glassford, East Kilbride, Cambusnethan, Shotts, New and Old Monkland, Hamilton, Bothwell, and Blantyre. The lower ward, lying immediately around the city of Glasgow, contains Carmunnock, Cambuslang, Rutherglen, Cadder, Govan, part of Cathcart, and the Barony parish.

You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/agriculture/page62.htm

The other articles can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/agriculture/index.htm


Household Encyclopaedia
-----------------------
I have added a few more pages to the B's which you can see at http://www.electricscotland.com/household/b.htm

The index page of this publication can be seen at http://www.electricscotland.com/household/ 


Scottish Art Trading Cards
--------------------------
Margo has done some Scottish Art Trading Cards which you can print out on 2.5" x 3.5" cards and build them into a collection. These are great for kids and also anyone interested in collecting cards. We have the sixth page of 10 cards up at http://www.electricscotland.com/kids/cards/index.htm


Antiquarian Scottish Books in Adobe Reader format
-------------------------------------------------
I said I'd do my best to add a book each week and so this week I've added...

A Volume of Verses
Scot in America

The Volume of Verses is a nice wee collection of poems and I was told about this book by John Henderson who has given us a wee bio of the author. A sample poem is...

'Tis A Beautiful World
from
'A VOLUME OF VERSES' - Serious, Humorous and Satirical (1866)
by Reverend William Buchanan, B.A., (1821-1866)
Minister of Kilmaurs Parish Church, Ayrshire (1844-1851)
Editor of 'The Ayr Observer' (1857-1866)

'Tis a Beautiful World! Whatever the time
We look upon Nature - in sunshine or shade,
In storm or in calm, in the Winter or Prime,
Or when Summer flowers flush, or when Autumn leaves fade.
The eye that delights o'er the landscape to range,
Or scan the bright glories that sparkle on high,
May own to fatigue as they endlessly change;
Yet still it is Beauty, in Earth, Sea, or Sky!

There is Beauty in Life ! Where the lowly ones dwell,
Or the great ones have planted the parterre or hall;
Where the young their fond longings so gleefully tell,
And the old their past pleasures as pensive recall.
In Joy's loudest music, in Grief's deepest wail,
Or Love whose strange medley of both is combined -
In Life's every scene, every season, and tale,
Some snatches of beauty you surely shall find.

Yet o'er Nature as Life, there be breasts that unfold
No rapturous thought, no sensation of bliss,
And eyes that look stony, and tearless, and cold
On a scene so resplendent, so lovely as this.
And why? 'Tis not Nature and Life are to blame;
Their wonderful issues for ever they roll;
To the blindly insensate the sights are the same -
'Tis the lookers who want but the Beautiful Soul.

Then, Fortune, take all of thy favours away-
How little, at best, of true joy they impart! -
But heaven, preserve us, we earnestly pray,
The clear thoughtful spirit, the warm loving heart!
Oh what wealth in such treasures ! Nay, feeble the word,
For wealth may be squandered, and treasures run waste;
But these, while we spend them the most, most we hoard,
And the more that we scatter, the longer they last.

You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/books/pdf/william_buchanan_poetry.htm

The Scot in America was actually a book that was being typed in for us but it has been a long time since we have added anything to this book and so getting a copy of the entire book is excellent.

The Preface starts...

THE materials for the present volume have been gathered from many and varied sources, and their collection has provided for the author a pleasant relaxation from other studies during several years. A wide acquaintance among Scots resident in this country and in Canada has not only directed him to original sources of information, but has, in various ways and for many reasons, shown him the desirability of the compilation of such a work.

Even as now presented, the theme cannot be said to be exhausted. What is printed has been mainly selected from a mass of material, for it was found that the subject was too extensive to be fully covered in a single volume, while every day brings to the front some fresh incidents in this history-making age which deserve a place in such a record. Still, enough has been written, it is thought, to bring out into clear relief the main purpose the author had in entering upon its compilation, the demonstration of the fact that in the building up of this great Republic in all that has contributed to its true greatness and perfect civil and religious liberty, Scotsmen have, at least, done their share.

It is a pity that a work like this was not attempted a century ago, for much of the early history of the Scot in America has now been lost or has become so mingled with the general trend of events that it has become undistinguishable from the mass. Most of the early Scotch colonists crossed the sea in search of fortune, but a large number found a domicile in America under circumstances which, though sad, reflected honor upon themselves. Devotion to principle is a wonderful factor in the greatness of any country, and such prisoners as those landed in Boston from the John and Sara in 1652 (as related at Page 48) must have done much to supplement and strengthen the stern uprightness inculcated upon New England by the Pilgrim Fathers. These expatriated Scots fought for a principle at Dunbar, and the principle that makes men take up their arms in its defense on the field of battle is one that is not likely to be abandoned merely on account of worldly reverses or a backward tide in the fortunes of war. So, too, in the time of the Covenant, we find many traces of men and women who, after suffering imprisonment at home for their religious sentiments, were shipped to America as the easiest way to further punish and silence them. Thus the student of Scottish history comes across many items like the following, which is quoted from the statistical account of the Parish of Glassford, Lanarkshire, written in 1835 by the Rev. Gavin Lang, whose son, bearing the same name, afterward became a minister in Montreal and one of the best-known clergymen in Canada. It is an extract from the records of the Kirk Session of Glassford. "Item - In 1685 Michael Marshall and John Kay were both taken prisoners for their nonconformity, and banished and sent over sea to New Jersey in America. The said Michael stayed several years in America. After the late happy revolution, (1688,) designing to come home, he was taken prisoner at sea and was carried to France, where he was kept a year and a half in prison and endured great hardships before he was delivered."

You can read the rest of this Preface and the entire book at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/america/scotinamericandx.htm

You can get to this new section at http://www.electricscotland.com/books/pdf/index.htm


Frank Shaw Articles
-------------------
Frank has sent us in a couple of interesting articles...

"Professor Ross Roy’s Gift of Robert Burns Manuscripts to the University of South Carolina" is the first article. In it you'll also see a picture of Robert Burns' Porridge Bowl and also a picture of one of the manuscripts. You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/familytree/frank/burns_south_carolina.htm

"2008 Prayer of Remembrance which was given at the Kirkin' of the Tartan in Atlanta, Georgia" is the second article. In this one we also see many pictures taken at two of the events and you can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/familytree/frank/remembrance2008.htm


And that's it for now and I hope you all have a great weekend :-)


Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com 

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