|
 Electric
Scotland's Weekly Email Newsletter
Dear
Friend
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/rss/whatsnew.php 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
It's your Electric Scotland newsletter meaning the weekend is nearly
here :-)It's your Electric Scotland newsletter meaning the weekend
is nearly here :-)
CONTENTS
--------
Electric Scotland News
The Flag in the Wind
The Scottish Nation
Poetry and Stories including Poems for Kids
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1845)
Book of Scottish Story
Household Encyclopaedia
The Life of Tom Morris
The Industries of Scotland, their Rise, Progress and Present
Condition
Soldiers of Fortune
Commemorative Biographical Record of the County of Kent, Ontario.
The Cruise of the Betsey
Scottish Gardens (New Book)
DNA Testing and Native American Ancestry
Seeking Information
ELECTRIC SCOTLAND NEWS
----------------------
This coming Saturday I'll be at the local Chatham Highland Games and
Alan McKenzie is attending with his NEW Clan Tent which I look
forward to seeing.
I'm going to try a new system for covering the Clan Tents just to
see how it works out. I thought I'd try doing a video interview with
each tent and the people that organise them. Should it work out I'm
then intending to go to the Fergus Highland Games in August and try
the same thing with them. Mind you Fergus does have around 50 clan
tents so not sure how long that might take.
I think I need to have a script organised so that I get the
information I need :-)
-----
This coming week I'll be starting on "The History of Glasgow" which
is a 3 volume publication. I plan to add a chapter each day until
complete. This means it will likely take around 130 days to complete
this :-)
I've emailed around 7 people in Glasgow Council from the Provost
through to media and PR department and even the councillor
responsible for external links but not a single reply. I'd hoped
that they might send us in some information on modern Glasgow as we
went through the history.
I don't know what it is about marketing people as they never seem to
respond to these sorts of enquries and it's not just Scotland at
fault but folk in Canada, USA, etc. I can't help thinking that where
we feature a book on an area on the site then folk reading it would
also be interested in learning more about the area of today. This
then gives them an opportunity to promote their area to todays
potential visitors.
I still can't see what's wrong with that logic but obviously
marketing folk can :-(
-----
I have added a new section for Gaelic at
http://www.electricscotland.com/gaelic
Essentially I have added 3 pdf publications...
"Dictionary of the Gaelic Language", "How to Learn Gaelic" and "The
Illustrated Gaelic Dictionary" in 3 volumes, specially designed for
Beginners and for use in Schools.
All these pdf files are quite large but I figured if anyone was
serious in learning or studying Gaelic then downloading these books
would be worthwhile to have on your own computer.
I am still trying to get audio or video recordings of Gaelic so will
try to develop this new section.
-----
I have also started a new section for Heraldry at
http://www.electricscotland.com/heraldry
Heraldry is an International matter and thus we'll be covering this
from an International perspective. We have added two pdf books to
kick off the section, "The Law and Practice of Heraldry in Scotland"
and "A Complete Guide to Heraldry". We have also added an article,
28th International Congress on Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences,
Quebec City – June 23-27, 2008. By: W. Neil Fraser with photos by
Marie Fraser.
You'll also find links to the premier heraldry web sites. Our thanks
also to Neil and Marie Fraser for helping us get this new section
started and we hope to get a number of articles to expand this
section.
-----
Have started a new book "Scottish Gardens" for which more below.
-----
Douglas Stewart, and his master's research focuses on perceptions
held towards automobiles and their country of origin---reputation,
prejudices, perceptions, etc.
He currently is looking for individuals, particularly from Canada,
the U.S., and Britain to take a short online survey that can be
found at the following URL:
http://s-tagg.market.strath.ac.uk/q/ds/country_of_origin.htm
So any help you can give him, like completing this survey, would be
most appreciated :-)
-----
The Electric Scotland Aois Community is a social networking site and
we'll be working on adding extra functionality to this in the coming
months. Today I just happened to look at the Picture albums and only
saw my own so was wondering if anyone else had added a picture
album? And if no-one has added one perhaps someone could add one to
see if the system works?
I might add that when you do create a picture album you can add more
than 1 and you can make them public or private. I would guess you'd
need to make at least 1 public to see if I can view it.
You add a picture album under the "User CP" link which is short for
"User Control Panel". When you click on that you see an entry in the
left panel for "Pictures and Albums".
To view picture albums I went to "Quick Links" and selected
"Pictures & Albums".
The Community is at
http://www.scotchat.org/vbull and you do need to be logged in to
add pictures. I might add that Guests can come in and view the
system but can't add any messages or pictures to the community.
-----
Have added a bit at the foot of this newsletter "Seeking
Information" in which hopefully you can help two individuals with
their enquiries.
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 or on our site menu.
THE FLAG IN THE WIND
--------------------
This weeks Flag is compiled by Mark Hirst and he has some
interesting articles in this issue including one about appointing a
giraffe to be the labour candidate for the Glasgow East constituency
:-)
In Peter's cultural section we find...
In common with many Border towns, the
Royal burgh of Annan enjoys an annual Riding of the Marches when a
cavalcade of horse perform an inspection of the town’s boundaries.
There was extra joy in the town’s celebration last Saturday as Annan
had featured widely in the Scottish media – all thanks to Scotland’s
favourite sport, Football. On Thursday 3 July 2008, the local East
of Scotland side Annan Athletic , founded in 1942 as part of the
Dumfries and District Welfare League, took a major step forward with
entry to the Scottish Football League. “Where is Galabank?” will be
the question on the lips of many football fans, especially those in
the current Scottish Third Division. The answer is simple as
Galabank, the 3,500 capacity home of Annan Athletic and its
successful social club, lies a short 15 minute walk from Annan
Railway Station. En route you will pass the town’s museum, well
worth a visit, the excellent chip shop, Café Royal, on the site of
the building where Robert Burns wrote ‘The Deil’s Awa Wi The
Exciseman’, and the Blue Bell Inn, where a splendid pint of Real ale
can be enjoyed.
The demise of nearby neighbours Gretna FC , following a
roller-coaster funded by English businessman Miles Brookson, led to
the SFL having to fill a vacancy in the Third Division. After three
rounds of voting, Annan Athletic beat off the challenge of three
fellow East of Scotland sides – Spartans, Edinburgh City and Preston
Athletic – and Highland League champions Cove Rangers to gain a
foothold in Scottish senior football. Ahead in every round, Annan in
the final vote gained 17 votes to Cove’s 12. Annan will kick-off
life as a SFL side away to Clyde in the Challenge Cup on Saturday 26
July 2008 at 3pm, and Galabank will host its first-ever home Third
Division league game on Saturday 9 August 2008 when Stenhousemuir,
The Warriors’, will be the visitors.
Annan is the third largest town in Dumfries and Galloway, with a
population of some 10,000, and now join the largest town Dumfries
and second largest Stranraer in Scottish senior football. This
well-run club makes an interesting addition to the towns on the SFL
circuit. Apart from football Annan is well worth a visit. A Royal
Burgh standing near the mouth of the River Annan where it enters The
Solway, since at least the days of James V, King of Scots, has much
to offer any visitor. Famous folk from Annan include the noted
preacher Edward Irving, a statue to him stands in the old
churchyard, and the blind poet Thomas Blacklock, whose friendship
and approval helped dissuade Robert Burns from emigration. Any visit
to the Borders is not complete without a slice of Scottish Border
Tart along with a fly cup.
Scottish Border Tart
Ingredients: 225g (8oz) Shortcrust Pastry; 140g (5oz) Mixed Dried
Fruit; 50g (2oz) Butter; 50g (2oz) Dark Soft Brown Sugar; 25g (1oz)
Walnuts, chopped; 25g (1oz) Glacê Cherries, chopped; 1 Egg, beaten;
110g (4oz) Icing Sugar; 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
Method: Pre-heat oven to 190°C: 375°F: Gas 5. Lightly grease a 7
inch round baking tin. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and
line the baking tin. Gently melt the butter and sugar together in a
saucepan. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Add the dried
fruit, walnuts and cherries. Stir in the beaten egg. Place the
mixture into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 25 to 30 min or
until the pastry is slightly browned. Allow to cool. Mix the icing
sugar and lemon juice together. Spread over the top of the tart,
allow to set before serving.
See the Scottish Food, Traditions and Customs in the Features
section at
http://www.scotsindependent.org/features/food/index.htm
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 this week did not arrive.
The Scottish Nation
-------------------
My thanks to Lora for transcribing these volumes for us.
We are onto the R's now with Ritchie, Robert, Robertson, Robison,
Rocheid, Rodger, Rollo and Rollock.
A quite large account of Robertson this week and here is how it
starts...
ROBERTSON, the name of a Highland clan, called in Gaelic the clan
Donachie, of which Robertson of Strowan in Perthshire is the chief.
Tradition claims for the clan Donachie a descent from the great sept
of the Macdonalds, their remote ancestor being said to have been
Duncan the Fat, son of Angus Mor, lord of the Isles, in the reign of
William the Lion. Skene, however, in his History of the Highlanders,
traces them from Duncan, king of Scotland, eldest son of Malcolm
III., their immediate ancestor being Conan, second son of Henry,
fourth and last of the ancient Celtic earls of Atholl. This Conan,
in the reign of Alexander II., received from his father the lands of
Glenerochy, afterwards called Strowan, in Gaelic Struthan, that is,
steamy. His son, Ewen, had several sons, one of whom was the
progenitor of the family of Skene (see SKENE, surname of).
Ewen’s grandson, Andrew, was styled of Atholl, de Atholia, which was
the uniform designation of the family, indicative of their descent
from the ancient earls of Atholl.
Andrew’s son, Duncan, gave the clan their distinctive appellation of
the clan Donachie, or the children of Duncan. He married, 1st, a
daughter of a certain Callum Rua, or Malcolm the red-haired, who,
being styled Leamnach, is supposed to have been connected with the
earls of Lennox, and by his wife he acquired a considerable
accession of territory, including the southern division of the glen
or district of Rannoch. The clan Donachie were adherents of Bruce,
and on one of the two islands in Loch Rannoch a Macdougal of Lorn,
taken prisoner in one of their clan battles, was confined for some
time, but contrived to make his escape. By his first wife he had a
son, Robert de Atholia. Duncan married, 2dly, the co-heiress of Ewen
de Insulis, thane of Glentilt, and got the east half thereby. By her
he had, 1. Patrick de Atholia, first of Lude. 2. Thomas de Atholia
of Strowan. 3. Gibbon, who had no legitimate issue.
You can read the rest of this article at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/nation/robertson.htm
You can read these entries at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/nation/r.htm
Poetry and Stories
------------------
Another doggerel from John Henderson called "Fit Like? [How are
you?]" which you can read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerel269.htm
Margo Fallis has sent in a few more of her poems for Children. See
http://www.electricscotland.com/kids/poems/index.htm
We also have some new poems and articles from Donna and others in
our Article Service at
http://www.electricscotland.com/article/
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1845)
------------------------------------------
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's of Rhynie and Cairnie
Both of these are quite short accounts.
Rhynie.
The old parish of Essie was, very long ago, united to that of Rhynie.
The parish is bounded on the north by Gartly; on the south, by
Auchindoir; on the west, by. Cabrach. Its figure is nearly square.
The soil is various. There is but one mountain in the parish : it is
called Noth, about 1000 feet above the level of the sea.
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/statistical/rhynie.htm
Cairnie
This parish is bounded on the north, by the parish of Keith; on the
south, by Glass and Huntly; and on the east, by Huntly.
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/statistical/cairnie.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 in for us.
This week have added...
Macdonald, the Cattle-Riever and here is how it starts...
ARCHIBALD MACDONALD was perhaps the most perfect master of his
hazardous profession of any who ever practised it. Archibald was by
birth a gentleman, and proprietor of a small estate in Argyllshire,
which he however lost early in life. He soon distinguished himself
as a cattle-lifter on an extensive scale; and weak as the arm of the
law might then have been, he found it advisable to remove further
from its influence, and he shifted his residence from his native
district of Appin to the remote peninsula of Ardnamurchan, which was
admirably adapted to his purpose, from its geographical position. He
obtained a lease of an extensive farm, and he fitted up a large
cowhouse, though his whole visible live-stock consisted of one
filly. His neighbours could not help making remarks on this subject,
but he begged of them to have no anxiety on that head, assuring them
that his byre would be full ere Christmas; and he was as good as his
word. He had trained the filly to suit his purpose, and it was a
practice of his to tie other horses to her tail; she then directed
her course homeward by unfrequented routes, and always found her way
in safety.
His expeditions were generally carried on by sea, and he annoyed the
most distant of the Hebrides, both to the south and north. He often
changed the colour of his boats and sails, and adopted whatever
appeared best suited to his immediate purpose. In consequence of
this artifice, his depredations were frequently ascribed to others,
and sometimes to men of the first distinction in that country, so
dexterously did he imitate their birlings and their insignia. He
held his land from Campbell of Lochnell, into whose favour he had
insinuated himself by his knowledge and address.
You can read this at
http://www.electricscotland.com/books/story/story56.htm
The other stories can be read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/books/story/index.htm
Household Encyclopaedia
-----------------------
This week added pages about Catarrh, Catchfly, Catering,
Catterpillar, Cathartic, Catheter, Cathode, Cattleya, Caul,
Cauldron, Cauliflower, Caustic, Caustic Soda, Caviare, Cayenne,
Ceanothus, Cedar, Ceilings, Celeriac, Celery.
I might add that articles like Celery and Cauliflower show you how
to grow it and cook it.
You can read these pages at
http://www.electricscotland.com/household/c.htm
The Life of Tom Morris
----------------------
By W. W. Tulloch, Member of the Royal & Ancient Club of St. Andrews
Have added the following chapters...
Chapter XIII
Father and Son - Their styles and their successes
Chapter XIV
Young and Old Tom in match play
Chapter XV
Tommy wins Open Championship for fourth time, and plays David Strath
Chapter XVI
Tommy's place in the Golfing World - He and old Tom play Strath and
Anderson
Chapter XVII
Young Tommy's matches, Bereavement, Death and Memorial
Chapter XVIII
Tom and Gold at St. Andrews in 1876
Chapter XIII starts...
BEFORE we begin to chronicle the great feats of Young Tommy, who for
a time alas! it was for too short a time quite overshadowed even his
father's great reputation as a golfer, let us consider what Tom
Morris was in his prime as one of the greatest players of his day.
Let his friend, Mr H. S. C. Everard, introduce him. "Turn we now to
his golfing capabilities," says that excellent player and equally
excellent writer in the Badminton Golf (Longmans). "As to that,
there is no doubt he was, when in his prime, a very fine player,
though perhaps there has been a tendency in some quarters to
with-hold from him that recognition of his merit which is
undoubtedly his due, and to make use of such a phrase as
'respectable mediocrity' when referring to him; and, indeed, as one
writer has well remarked, we really are perhaps apt to forget how
good a player he was owing to the fact of his fame in a great
measure being over-shadowed by that of his son, Young Tom, with whom
he freely admits he never could cope.
Then, too, the standard of play has reached a height never
approached in Tom's younger days: so many men, professionals and
amateurs alike, are so very good that his best performances are
equalled and excelled every day; this, too, tends to the belittling
of his deeds of fame.
"But," Mr Everard goes on to say, "it is to be borne in mind that
four Open Championships have fallen to Tom's share, viz., in 1861,
1862, 1864, and 1867, with scores of 163, 163, 160 and 170
respectively, over Prestwick, and that he was at least the equal of
any man living for a great number of years."
Then Mr Everard comes to what, amongst the greatest living players,
has been his besetting sin, judged from the standard of perfection.
"True it is that but for one peculiarity he would have been better
still; one weak place there has been in his armour, and not a golfer
but will know to what we refer. Those short putts! Put him 12 feet
from the hole and not a better holer-out could be named. But with 18
inches or 2 feet as the measure to be negotiated but it were kinder
to allow the figure of aposiopesis to come to the rescue. Candour,
however, compels the admission that of late years he has evinced
(the first edition of the Badminton Golf was issued in March 1890)
an enormous improvement in this latter respect. In his own words, 'I
never miss thae noo! but it is improbable that he will ever live
down his shady reputation regarding them; and if he were to hole
5000 consecutively, but miss the five thousand and first, it is a
moral certainty that the taunts of the scoffers would be levelled at
him as of yore. One day, many years ago, he had a most successful
encounter with a putt of some six or seven inches, not with his
putter, which he habitually used, but with his iron, and for many a
long day afterwards, being convinced that he was now at last happy
in the possession of the magic secret, he toiled on valiantly with
this weapon with varying, but, on the whole, tolerable success. His
one theory is (and few golfers will be prepared to question it) that
whatever the club used, 'the ball maun be hit,' but the trouble is,
or rather was, with him, that he couldn't hit it. 'Gin the hole was
a yaird nearer him, my fawther wad be a guid putter,' Young Tom used
to say of him, with a touch of unfilial satire; and Mr Wolfe Murray
once went so far as to address a letter to 'The Misser of Short
Putts, Prestwick,' which the postman took straight to the champion."
You can read the rest of this chapter at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/sport/morris13.htm
The other chapters can be read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/sport/morrisndx.htm
The Industries of Scotland, their Rise, Progress and Present
Condition
----------------------------------------------------------------------
By David Bremner (1869)
Have added a number of new chapters...
Linen and Jute Manufacturers
History of the Scotch Linen Trade—Curious Acts of Parliament
relating to the Making and Use of Linen—The Board of Trustees for
Manufactures and their connection with the Trade—The British Linen
Company —Domestic Character of the Linen Manufacture in its Early
Days— Vicissitudes of the Trade in the Rural Districts—Rise and
Progress of the Linen Trade in Forfarshire, Fifeshire, and
Perthshire—Dumfermline: its early connection with the Linen Trade,
and present celebrity for the Manufacture of Table Linen—Early Days
of the Linen Trade in Dundee—Introduction of Jute, and its Effect on
the Manufactures from Flax—The Great Factories of Dundee—The
Processes of Manufacturing Flax and Jute.
Cotton Manufacturers
Early Days of the British Cotton Trade—The Invention of Spinning and
Weaving Machinery, and its effect in extending the Manufacturing
Industries of the country—Introduction of the Cotton Trade into
Scotland—Notes on the First Factories—The Manufacture of Muslin
Trade-Unions, Strikes, and Riots—Progress of the Cotton Manufactures
in Scotland—Effects of the American War on the Trade—The Cotton
Famine—Description of a Glasgow Cotton Mill.
Calico-Printing and Turkey-Red Dyeing
Antiquity of the Art of Dyeing and Painting Cloth—Its Introduction
into Europe-Progress of the Art in Britain—Various styles of
Calico-Printing—Cordale Printfield and Dalquhurn Dyeworks—Description
of the Processes of Calico-Printing and Turkey-Red Dyeing.
Manufacture of Sewed Muslin
Antiquity of the Art of Embroidering—Its adoption as a Fashionable
Recreation in this country—Made a Branch of Manufacture in Glasgow
—Extended to Ireland—Improvements in Printing Designs—How the Trade
is Conducted—Embroidering by Machinery.
Manufacture of Fishing-Nets
Net-Making by Hand—Story of the Net-Loom and its Inventor—the
Musselburgh Net-Factory—How Nets are made by Machinery—Extension of
the Trade, and decline of Hand-netting.
You can read these at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/industrial/index.htm
Soldiers of Fortune
-------------------
In Camp & Court by Alexander Innes Shand (1907)
This week have added the following chapters...
The Condottieri
Sir James Turner
Sir John Hepburn and Colonel Robert Munro
Count Leslie of Balquhain
Prince Eugene
Marshal Keith
Here is how the chapter on Count Leslie of Balquhain starts and is
an interesting account of the times...
THOUGH "the Lion of the North and the Bulwark of the Protestant
faith had a way of winning battles, taking towns, &c., which made
his service irresistibly delectable to all true-bred cavaliers," the
discipline was severe, the pay small and precarious, and the
promotion slow. It was not often that an inferior officer dropped
into such a good thing as Rittmaster Dalgetty when he commanded the
whole stift of Dunklespiel. The Imperial service offered greater
attractions to cavaliers of fortune, especially when they had left
their consciences at home. There was Wallenstein, a living proof of
what military talent and soaring ambition might attain to, and Tilly
and Pappenheim were scarcely less famous. Did they want wealth, as
they all did, had not Wallenstein within a few years of. his mark
bought landed estates to the value of 8,000,000 florins. Yet he had
long been maintaining the pomp of a Court and had given away as
freely as he gathered. The secret was that soldiers of all ranks
lived on contributions levied on the country. Gustavus, with only
the scanty Swedish treasury to draw upon, from policy was bound to
conciliate the states he overran and to respect the privileges and
purses of the wealthy free cities. The Imperialists and the soldiers
of the Catholic League cast all such scruples to the wind. Like
Napoleon, they made the war support itself, but then it was Germans
who preyed upon Germans. When Wallenstein, recalled into the field,
sent his summons around for a second army, as when Bourbon raised
his standard after Pavia, adventurers flocked to him from all
quarters. As Mitchell remarks, they knew the terrible severity of
his punishments, but they also knew how magnificent were his
rewards. In his own camp the discipline was strict, and any breach
of it was summarily punished, but that was due rather to pride than
principle. Personally he set the worst possible example. Nothing can
be more damning, or more illustrative of the misery of the provinces
he had ravaged, than the charges brought against him by the Bavarian
Elector and the Electoral College of Ratisbon. They were subscribed
alike by Catholic and Protestant. They told how the Duke of
Friedland in Pomerania had exhausted the revenues of the Duchy in
keeping open house; they told of plundering and fire-raising; of men
beaten, tortured, and murdered ; of women violated; and they wound
up: "Turks and heathens have never behaved as the Imperial troops
have done, nor could the devils have behaved worse."
Wallenstein had drained Pomerania to keep a sumptuous table when the
Pomeranians were starving, and his officers in their degree imitated
or surpassed his example when charged with local responsibility and
released from restraint. The ordinary adventurer pillaged and
squandered from hand to mouth; the more prudent or avaricious turned
the screw that they might save against the day of their discharge;
and between the two the citizens were ruthlessly fleeced and the
helpless peasantry burned out and beggared. But there were men of
birth, breeding, and talent, with broader views and definite
ambitions. Deliberately careless of their lives and free of their
money, they took Wallenstein or Pappenhcim for their models, and
hoped to rise like them. Soldiers first, they could be courtiers on
occasion, and at Vienna or Munich some happy chance might give them
rapid promotion and the pay of the colonel of a regiment. Once well
on the ladder they were fairly safe, unless tripped up by some court
intrigue or the caprice of a court beauty.
The soldier of fortune when he had seen something of the wars was
seldom more scrupulous than Rittmaster Dalgetty over his war cry.
When he left his native islands he was generally influenced by
religion or home politics, and he enlisted on the side whither
friends had gone before him. The Catholic Irish had no hesitation;
to a man they followed the standards of the Church and the Empire.
The Scottish Presbyterians from the far North, like Munro, cast in
their lot with Swedish Lutherans and German Calvinists, and at least
so long as Gustavus lived they seldom changed their colours. But
though in Aberdeenshire there were Forbeses, Frasers, and many
others who were staunch to the blue of the Covenant, in the Gordon
country and the Garioch the most of the gentry were High Church,
High Tory—the epithet had not been invented then—and often Catholic.
In the heart of the Garioch, "at the back o' Benachie," as the old
song has it, stands one of the square, bartizaned towers scattered
broadcast over Aberdeenshire, memorials of the days when every man's
hand was against his nearest neighbours. The Leslies of Balquhain,
who claimed to be heads of the name, had always been a fighting
family. Poor as they were proud, it was only natural that a younger
son, with little but his sword for an inheritance, should seek
honour and fortune abroad. The Leslies were bred in prelatic
surroundings, and it is singular that Walter, associated with a
Gordon in the death of Wallenstein, should, like Gordon, have been
bred a Calvinist. Judging by the subsequent careers of both, it is
probable that religious tenets sat lightly upon them. None could
have foreseen that the penniless youth who left the Garioch to trail
a halberd in the ranks would have played the leading part in the
death of the great captain, gone with the collar of the Golden
Fleece as imperial ambassador to the Sultan, married the
well-dowered daughter of a princely house, and died a Count of the
Holy Roman Empire. Of all the foreign soldiers he had the most
exceptional luck.
The rest of this chapter can be read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/scotreg/soldiers5.htm
I'll be getting started on this book tomorrow and you can read it at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/scotreg/soldiersndx.htm
Commemorative Biographical Record of the County of Kent, Ontario.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Nola sent in a couple more biographies from this publication which
you can read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/canada/kent/index.htm
This week we've added bios on Leitch, Alexander - Corbett, David and
McCulloch, John
The Cruise of the Betsey
------------------------
This was a book that we were adding to the site some time ago but
was never completed. We've now found a pdf file of the book and so
we've now added this to the site so that any of you that were
reading it can complete the book.
The Preface of the book says...
Naturalists of every class know too well how Hugh Miller died - the
victim of an overworked brain and how that bright and vigorous
spirit was abruptly quenched for ever.
During the month of May (1857) Mrs. Miller came to Malvern, after
recovering from the first shock of bereavement, in search of health
and repose, and evidently hoping to do justice, on her recovery, to
the literary remains of her husband. Unhappily the excitement and
anxiety naturally attaching to a revision of her husband’s works
proved over much for one suffering under such recent trial, and from
an affection of the brain and spine which ensued; and, in
consequence, Mrs. Miller has been forbidden, for the present, to
engage in any work of mental labour.
Under these circumstances, and at Mrs. Miller’s request, I have
undertaken the editing of "The Cruise of the Betsey, or a Summer
Ramble among the Fossiliferous Deposits of the Hebrides," as well as
"The Rambles of a Geologist," hitherto unpublished save as a series
of articles in the "Witness" newspaper. The style and arguments of
Hugh Miller are so peculiarly his own, that I have not presumed to
alter the text, and have merely corrected some statements incidental
to the condition of geological knowledge at the time the work was
penned. The "Cruise of the Betsey" was written for that well-known
paper, the "Witness," during the period when a disputation
productive of much bitter feeling waged between Free and Established
Churches of Scotland; but as the Disruption and its history
possesses little interest to a large class of the readers of this
work, who will rejoice to follow their favourite author among the
isles and rocks of the "bonnie land," I have expunged some passages,
which I am assured the author would have omitted had he lived to
reprint this interesting narrative of his geological rambles. Hugh
Miller battled nobly for his faith while living. The sword is in the
scabbard: let it rest!
We have the first 6 chapters up as normal web pages but there is a
link on the index page of the book where you can download the entire
book. You can get to this at
http://www.electricscotland.com/books/betseyndx.htm
Scottish Gardens
----------------
By the Right Hon. Sir Herbert Maxwell
This is a new book we've started and here is how the Introduction
starts...
AFTER the withdrawal of the Roman legions from Britain in the fifth
century, to quote the graphic words of the late Dr. W. F. Skene,
[Celtic Scotland] the British Isles seemed, as it were, to into the
recesses of that western ocean they had emerged in the reign of the
Emperor Claudius. In the following century, Procopius, writing from
Constantinople a scanty description of the lost Roman provinces of
Britain, said that he believed that part of the island nearest Gaul
was still inhabited and fertile, but that it was divided from the
rest of the island by a wall, beyond which was a region infested by
wild beasts, with an atmosphere fatal to human life, wherefore it
was tenanted only by the spirits of the departed. Now the wall
referred to was probably that rampart erected by Lollius Urbicus for
the Emperor Antoninus Pius about A.D. 140. It stretched between the
Firths of Forth and Clyde, and connected the detached forts built by
Julius Agricola seventy years before; but the reference may have
been to the earlier wall, that great fortification drawn by the
Emperor Hadrian from the Tyne to the Solway, roughly parallel with
the line dividing England from Scotland at the present day.
Whichever barrier Procopius had in mind, whether it was the whole of
modern Scotland, or only the Highlands, that he included in his
un-complimentary estimate of the climate, the fifteen centuries
which have run their course or nearly so, since he laid down his pen
have not served wholly to efface the unfavourable estimate of
Scottish seasons entertained by many travelled, and all untravelled,
southerners. "As in the Northerne parts of England," wrote Fynes
Moryson in the seventeenth century, "they have small pleasantnes,
goodnesse, or abundance of Fruites and Flowers, so in Scotland they
must have lease, or none at all."
You can read the rest of this from the index page for the book at
http://www.electricscotland.com/gardening/gardensndx.htm
DNA Testing and Native American Ancestry
----------------------------------------
As you may know many Scots married into Native Indian Tribes. This
article gives you information on how you can confirm if you have an
Native Indian DNA.
You can read this at
http://www.electricscotland.com/bnft/archives/dnanative.htm
Thanks to Beth Gay for sending this in and remember that Beth's
Newfangled Family Tree can be read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/bnft
Seeking Information
-------------------
Got two enquires in that you might be able to help with. The first
is about seeking information on a Scottish monument, possibly the
"Riddell Monument". The second is helping to identify a 400 year old
spoon which was sent from Scotland to the USA around 1800.
If you can help provide any information on either of these we'd be
delighted to hear from you. Pictures are available at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/articles/seeking.htm
And that's it for now and hope you all have an enjoyable weekend :-)
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com
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