|
 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 :-)
CONTENTS
--------
Electric Scotland News
The Flag in the Wind
The Scottish Nation
Clan and Family Information
Poetry and Stories
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1845)
Book of Scottish Story
History of Glasgow
The Scottish Historical Review
The Concise Household Encyclopaedia
Reminiscences of Cromar and Canada
The Story of the Scots Stage
Sketches of North Carolina (New Book)
Early Colonial Governors
ELECTRIC SCOTLAND NEWS
---------------------
Once again we are trying out a new service to add more interactivity
to the site. At the end of the day I don't want to be just a history
resource but rather a history resource and an interactive site where
you get to participate.
As you know some months ago I added our Article Service where I
hoped many of you would use to add articles on any subject you
wanted and thus share your knowledge and expertise with all of us.
While new articles go up each week we've really only got a very few
which contribute and I'd sure like that to improve.
We then added our AOIS Celtic Community and that's still in our beta
phase. Steve will hopefully be starting work on it next week as he's
now had three weeks to get sorted out and he did say to give him a
couple of weeks :-)
Essentially with the Aois service there are many updates we want to
do with it as well as customising it to our personal look. We're
told there is a major upgrade to the Arcade and we need to add more
functionality. We have made this a long term commitment to make this
a safe place to network with friends on the web and want it to be a
place where folk will enjoy visiting.
We are now trying out a new service which is meant to allow all
visitors to make a comment about any page on the site. You will see
this at the foot of each page where you'll see a comment box.
The idea of course is to encourage our visitors to add comments on
any page of the site. So if you spot an error in a date or have
additional information to provide you can use the comment box to do
so. In this way you can share your thoughts about any page you are
reading. When people read your comments they can reply and thus we
can have threaded conversations going on.
In addition, you have the ability to rate any page and we've also
added a navigation facility where over time the most popular of our
pages should appear. These will be based on your own rating of our
pages. In there we also have the facility to add Editor's Picks
where I can list what I consider to be good sections of the site.
Finally, there is also a polling facility where I can add polls and
invite you to participate. I did in fact add one to our index page
where you can participate to tell us which book you'd next like to
see on the site from a list of 10 books.
Like all new services there will be a settling in period as we learn
how to use it.
And so I hope you'll enjoy this new service and please feel free to
email me to let me know what you think of it.
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. Mark has produced an
interesting article about Scottish History this week.
In Peter's cultural section he's telling us about St. Andrews Day
celebrations...
This week sees the start of the St Andrews Festival, now in its 13th
year, which runs from 26 November to 3 December 2008. The week-long
festival celebrates Scotland’s Patron Saint and the Fife town which
bears his name and acts as a reminder, if one was needed, that
Andermas, St Andrew’s Day, 30 November, is drawing near. Visit
http://www.standrewsfestival.co.uk for full details of the many
events which include a ‘son et lumiere’ at St Mary’s Quad on 29 and
30 November. This will be a taster for the larger one which is
planned to celebrate ‘Homecoming Scotland 2009’.
Living in Fife, I have for many years made a point of visiting St
Andrews every 30 November and this year will be no exception but
events, unlike a few years ago, will be held throughout Scotland. It
used to be claimed that Scots out-with Scotland celebrated St
Andrew’s Day far more than those at home. This has most certainly
changed and a quick look at the Visit Scotland website shows events
in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Inverness, St Andrews, Stirling and
Blairgowrie. But I am sure that you find a St Andrew’s Day event
near to you – eg Kirkcaldy will, for the first time ever, celebrate
St Andrew’s Day with an afternoon of Scottish entertainment, pipe
bands, Highland and Scottish Country dancers, in the Town Centre
from 12 noon.
I am at one with Simon Thoumire, organiser of the Scottish
Traditional Music Awards, who has called on the Scottish Government
to make St Andrew’s Day a ‘real’ National Holiday. That would be a
major step forward and serve to encourage Scots to do their own
thing on our Patron Saint’s Day. Government can only do so much, it
is up to ordinary Scots, as indeed is already happening, to make St
Andrew’s Day a really special Scottish day.
This week’s recipe offers a tasty festive fare for St Andrew’s Day –
Sweet Haggis – which is just the ticket for a special treat at
Andermas.
Sweet Haggis
Ingredients: 8oz (225g) medium oatmeal; 4oz (110g) flour; 8oz (225g)
chopped suet; 2oz (50g) brown sugar; 2oz (50g) currants; 2oz (50g)
raisins; salt and pepper; water to mix
Method: Bind in all the dry ingredients with sufficient water to
make a stiff mixture. Place in a greased 2 pint (1 litre) pudding
bowl and cover with a round of greaseproof paper and aluminium foil.
Secure tightly with string. Put the bowl into a pan of boiling water
so that the water reaches ¾ the way up the bowl. Cover and simmer
for about 3 hours. Serve hot.
Traditional additional benefit – as with left-over Cloutie Dumpling,
Sweet Haggis can be used up at breakfast time, sliced and fried, or
warmed in the oven. Waste not, want not!
You can read the Flag, listen to the Scots Language, enjoy the Scots
Wit and lots more at
http://www.scotsindependent.org
we've got another diary entry from Christina McKelvie MSP at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/mckelvie/081120.htm
The Scottish Nation
-------------------
My thanks to Lora for transcribing these volumes for us.
We're now onto the W's with Wauchope, Waugh, Webster, Weddell,
Wedderburn, Welch and Welsh.
An interesting account of Wedderburn which starts...
WEDDERBURN, a surname assumed from lands of that name in
Berwickshire. About the year 1400, James Wedderburn, of the family
of Wedderburn of Wedderburn, settled in Forfarshire. A descendant of
his, Sir Peter Wedderburn of Gosford, was bred an advocate, and
having been appointed a lord of session during the reign of Charles
II., assumed the title of Lord Gosford. His eldest son was a privy
councillor, and member in the Scots parliament for Haddingtonshire.
His second son, Peter, married the heiress of Halkett of Pitfirran.
His third son, Alexander, became a member of the faculty of
advocates, and having exerted himself in favour of the Union,
received by way of recompense an appointment as a commissioner of
excise. Peter Wedderburn of Chesterhall, the son of this youngest
brother, like most of his immediate ancestors, was bred to the law,
and passed advocate, Feb. 1715. He was also secretary to the excise.
In 1755 he was appointed a lord of session by George II., and took
his seat on the bench as Lord Chesterhall. He died August 11, 1756.
He was the father of the celebrated Alexander Wedderburn, first earl
of Rosslyn, whose only sister, Janet Wedderburn, having married Sir
Henry Erskine, 6th baronet of Alva, her son, Sir James St. Clair
Erskine, baronet, succeeded in 1805 as second earl of Rosslyn.
You can read the rest of this account at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/nation/wedderburn.htm
You can read all these entries at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/nation/index.htm
Clan and Family Information
---------------------------
Clan-Alliance of Clan Mackay, Clan Mackenzie and Clan MacLaren in
Germany
With pride and happiness we announce a historical event. On the 1st
of November, coevally with the celtic New Year, a new era for
Scottish Clans in Germany began. The only three Clan Societies which
are officially recognised by the Clans, met in a friendly atmosphere
to bundle their power for the future. The aim is to organize common
events, to strengthen the relationship between Scotland and Germany,
to establish friendships between the Clans and to convey authentic
Clan culture in Germany. Wherever possible we will act in concert,
without giving up our separate identities. United in our spirit,
strong in the alliance! With this motto Siggi Schierstedt from Clan
MacKay, Markus Kewitz from Clan Mackenzie and Dieter Deckert from
Clan MacLaren built the basics for a Clan-Alliance which has never
been before in this way.
As a sign for the unity a common headquarters was set at the Castle
“Sophienburg” in the beautiful landscape near Münster in North
Rhine-Westphalia. From here, our spirit shall go around the globe
and send the message of friendship.
May other Clan Societies follow and contribute to unite the
clansfolk all over the world.
Alba gu brath – Scotland forever!
http://www.clanmackay.de/sophienburg-german-home-of-scottish-clans.html
http://www.clanmaclaren.de/buend_e.html
http://www.mackenzie-society.de/3.html
And if you'd like to know more about the Scots in Germany visit
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/germany/index.htm
-----
Clan Leslie International - We have the November 2008 newsletter and
an article about the new Clan Leslie Library at the University of
Guelph. You can read this at
http://www.electricscotland.com/familytree/newsletters/leslieint/index.htm
-----
Utley Family have sent in their November/December 2008 newsletter
which you can read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/familytree/newsletters/utley/index.htm
Poetry and Stories
------------------
Another poem from John Henderson called "A Shepherd's Mornin
Faar-Ye-Weel" which you can read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerel288.htm
We also have some new poems and articles from Donna, Alastair and
others in our Article Service at
http://www.electricscotland.com/article/
I might add that I post up a story or two each week about things
happening in Scotland.
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1845)
------------------------------------------
We have now added the Parish of Ratho to the Edinburgh volume.
Name. - The parish of Ratho is so called according to Chalmers in
his Caledonia, from the ancient baronial residence of that name,
which was within its bounds. According to the same authority, the
name is of British origin, being derived from the word Rhath, plural
Rothuu, [In ancient charters, the name of the parish is written in
the different forms of Raihcw. Rathcu. Rathow. On two communion
cups, which bear the date 1684. it is spelt Rutha and Rotlia. The
ortliography is the same as at present on other two church utensils,
which bear date only a year later.| signifying a cleared spot, a
bared place or plain; which derivation, although not consistent with
the features of the parish as a whole, is yet in accordance with
that part of it upon which the present mansion, like its
predecessor, stands. It may be farther remarked, that the Celtic
Rath, which has the same primary meaning with the British term
already mentioned, signifies secondarily, a fort or artificial
mount; so that possibly the name of Ratho may have been conferred
upon the place, not more on account of its natural situation than
the artificial works by which it was defended.
Extent, Boundaries, d-c. - This parish is 4 miles long by 2/4 broad
at an average; and contains about 10 square miles of surface. It is
bounded on the north, by the parishes of Kirkliston and Corstorphine;
on the east, by Corstorphine and Currie; on the south, by Currie;
and on the west, by Kirknewton and Kirkliston.
You can read this account at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/statistical/ratho.pdf
The index page for the New Statistical Account of Scotland (1845)
can be found at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/statistical/
Book of Scottish Story
----------------------
Our thanks to John Henderson for sending this in for us.
This week have added...
Perling Joan
And here is how it starts...
Our Laird was a very young man when his father died, and he gaed awa
to France, and Italy, and Flanders, and Germany, immediately, and we
saw naething o’ him for three years; and my brother, John Baird,
went wi’ him as his own body-servant. When that time was gane by,
our Johnny cam hame and tauld us that Sir Claud wad be here the next
day, an’ that he was bringing hame a foreign lady wi’ him — but they
were not married. This news was a sair heart, as ye may suppose, to
a’ that were about the house; and we were just glad that the auld
lady was dead and buried, not to hear of sic doings.
But what could we do? To be sure, the rooms were a’ put in order,
and the best chamber in the hale house was got ready for Sir Claud
and her. John tauld me, when we were alane together that night, that
I wad be surprised wi’ her beauty when she came. 'But I never could
have believed, till I saw her, that she was sae very young — such a
mere bairn, I may say; I’m sure she was not more than fifteen. Such
a dancing, gleesome bit bird of a lassie was never seen; and ane
could not but pity her mair than blame her for what she had done,
she was sae visibly in the daftness and light-headedness of youth.
Oh, how she sang, and played, and galloped about on the wildest
horses in the stable, as fearlessly as if she had been a man! The
house was full of fun and glee; and Sir Claud and she were both so
young and so comely, that it was enough to break ane’s very heart to
behold their thoughtlessness. She was aye sitting on his knee, wi’
her arm about his neck; and for weeks and months this love and
merriment lasted. The poor body had no airs wi’ her; she was just as
humble in her speech to the like of us, as if she had been a
cottar’s lassie. I believe there was not one of us that could help
liking her, for a’ her faults. She was a glaiket creature ; but
gentle and tender-hearted as a perfect lamb, and sae bonny! I never
sat eyes upon her match. She had never any colour but black for her
gown, and it was commonly satin, and aye made in the same fashion;
and a’ the perling about her bosom, and a great gowden chain stuck
full of precious rubies and diamonds. She never put powder on her
head neither; oh proud, proud was she of her hair! I’ve often known
her comb and comb at it for an hour on end; and when it was out of
the buckle, the bonny black curls fell as low as her knee. You never
saw such a head of hair since ye were born. She was the daughter of
a rich auld Jew in Flanders, and ran awa frae the house wi’ Sir
Claud, ae night when there was a great feast gaun on,—the Passover
supper, as John thought,—and out she came by the back door to Sir
Claud, dressed for supper wi’ a’ her braws.
You can read the rest of this at
http://www.electricscotland.com/books/story/story68.htm
The other stories can be read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/books/story/index.htm
The History of Glasgow
----------------------
By Robert Renwick LL.D. and Sir John Lindsay L.D. in 3 volumes
(1921)
We are now onto the final 3rd volume and added this week are the
following chapters...
Chapter VII
Provost Walter Gibson and his Troubles
Chapter VIII
Union Riots in Glasgow
Chapter IX
Glasgow at the Union
Chapter X
Town Council Activities
Chapter XI
Glasgow in "the '15"
Chapter XII
The Rise of Industry and Trade
Chapter XIII
Social Life and Manners
Here is how Chapter XIII starts...
IT is to be feared that the increase of prosperity which followed
the Union tended to lessen the ecclesiastical fervour of the people
of Glasgow, whose interest had previously been concentrated largely
on affairs of the Church and religion. New fields of activity were
opened up, and the world was becoming a wider place. There was less
time and less inclination, there- fore, for consideration of points
of church government and religious doctrine. The Rev. Robert Wodrow,
of the neighbouring Renfrewshire parish of Eastwood, and historian
of the Covenanters, found occasion to regret the change. The
increase of wealth, he perceived, had a tendency to abate the godly
habits of the people. There was already a party in the city who were
no longer inclined to pay absolute deference to ministers, and who
were disposed to mock at serious things. Where there had been
seventy-two prayer meetings in the year there were now only four or
five, and in their stead there were meetings of secular clubs at
which subjects of mere mundane interest were discussed. In view of
this change Wodrow seems to have rather approved than otherwise the
blow struck at the tobacco trade and the prosperity of the city by
the jealous competitors in England. "This, they say, will be twenty
thousand pounds loss to that place. I wish it may be sanctified to
them! " [Wodrow's Analecta, iii. 129.]
There was quite evidently a new process of development going on.
Wodrow complains that young men who went abroad to hold mercantile
positions, came home again with ideas modified by the customs of
other countries. Church discipline was less reverently regarded and
less devoutly submitted to than formerly, and after a noted " heresy
hunt " of the time, carried through presbytery and synod against the
too enlightened views of Professor Simson, some of the college lads
had even gone the length of writing a play poking fun at the city
clergy. Such a state of things, in the view of Mr. Wodrow, might be
expected to bring upon the city some devastating stroke of
Providence. [John Simson, professor of divinity—not to be confounded
with Robert Simson, the celebrated professor of mathematics, was the
subject of a "case" which occupied the church courts and the
University authorities for many years. Its progress is fully
detailed by Coutts in his History of the University, pp. 210-232.]
You can read the rest of this chapter at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/glasgow/glasgow3_13.htm
The index page of the book is at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/glasgow/historyndx.htm
The Scottish Historical Review
------------------------------
I have added a few more articles from these publications...
John of Swinton: A Border Fighter of the Middle Ages
Close on five hundred and fifty years ago, on 22nd February,
1370-71, died David the Second. The male line of Bruce failed, the
Stewarts succeeded, and Froissart tells us that a truce was
established between England and Scotland with a provision that the
Scots might arm and hire themselves out like to others for
subsidies, taking which side they pleased, either English or French.
Of this provision John of Swinton availed himself, and rode south to
make his name and fortune.
The Highland Emigration of 1770
It is worth while to analyse the nature and the causes of the first
great exodus from the Highlands, an exodus which reached its highest
point of activity in the early seventies of the eighteenth century.
The Causes of the Highland Emigrations of 1783-1803
THE first great period of Highland emigration ended in 1775 with the
outbreak of the American War of Independence. Then followed a
perceptible pause, not broken until- the Treaty of Versailles, which
formed the starting-point of a fresh movement.
Eighteenth Century Highland Landlords and the Poverty Problem
During the latter part of the eighteenth century the inhabitants of
many parts of the Highlands and Hebrides were living permanently in
a state that bordered upon destitution. They were badly housed, they
were poorly fed, and they had a continual struggle to pay their
rents.
You can read these articles at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/articles/review
The Concise Household Encyclopaedia
-----------------------------------
This week have added...
Four more pages which include, Cheese, Cheese Hopper, Cheese Mite,
Cheese Cake, Cheese Croquette, Cheese Fondu, Cheese Fritter, Cheese
Pudding, Cheese Sauce, Cheese Straws, Cheese Toast, Cheese Turnover,
Chef, Chelsea Bun, Chelsea Cake, Chelsea China, Chelsea Pensioner,
Chenille, Cheque, Cherry, Cherry Brandy, Cherry Cake, Cherry Cider,
Cherry Jam, Cherry Laural, Cherry Pie or Helietrope.
You can see these at
http://www.electricscotland.com/household/c.htm
The index page for this publication is at
http://www.electricscotland.com/household/index.htm
Reminiscences of Cromar and Canada
----------------------------------
By Donald Robert Farquharson
Chapters added this week are...
Chapter XII
Our Schools and Schoolmasters
Chapter XIII
Parish Ministers of Coldstone
Chapter XIV
The Disruption
Chapter XV
Manners and Customs of my Younger Days
Chapter XVI
"The Parks" and the Corn Laws
Chapter XVII
Tales of our Childhood
Chapter XVIII
Toils and Joys of our Youth
Here is how Chapter XVIII - Toils and Joys of our Youth, starts...
OUR life at the Parks was pleasant, though toilsome, and its
strenuousness was relieved by many an interlude of pleasant
experience which, in prospect and retrospect, not less than in
actual participation, cast over the whole field of our existence the
lustre of their brightness. We were a happy family. Differences of
opinion there were, which were stoutly maintained, but there was no
strife. In all the years which have followed, a like harmony has
been maintained, something for which all surviving members are truly
thankful. All the families, Fletchers, Farquharsons and Stewarts,
can, I believe with equal truth congratulate themselves on the
possession of a like spirit, though, alas, many of those who in
earlier years were bonds of unity are with us no more.
Around the Christmas season we visited back and forth with the young
folks of Kinaldie, Knocksoul and Loanhead. As time went on, the
round was extended and more varied from year to year. Newkirk came
into the lime-light more and more. With Mrs. Anderson, who believed
in the efficacy of "the rantry and the red threed," we usually had a
yearly meeting. We also met occasionally with Mrs. Milne of
Bogarierie, the Inneses of the Moston of Blelack, and still more
frequently with Mr. Michie, where we would meet with Mr. James
Davidson, the parish minister's brother whose general information
and natural eloquence were above the ordinary, Dr. Cameron who was
an accomplished violinist, Mr. Samuel Innes, Miss Paterson of Grodie
and others.
BALLATER AND AUCHOLZIE
To all of our family the great event of each recurring year was a
trip to Ballater and Aucholzie in the end of harvest which,
instituted by our parents before memory had begun to inscribe her
record, continued to brighten the successive seasons to the last of
our stay in Scotland. At Ballater, we were entertained royally by
our aunt Margaret and cousins. There we could see the soldiers who
formed Her Majesty's Body Guard perform their daily evolutions on
the village green. Thence we made excursions to the top of
Craigendarach, the Pass of Ballater, the Wells of I'ananich, or the
old Caitic of the Knock, in which the Gordons of the ancient times
had feasted friends and retainers or from stone-arched vaults, now
crumbling from the teeth of the passing centuries, had drawn liquid
refreshment for the casual visitor or for the entertainment and
encouragement of allies, in common with themselves, on some wild
purpose bent. To what scenes of barbaric splendour had those
tottering walls been witness, and what secrets of direst tragedy may
not those crumbling dungeons guard.
You can read the rest of this chapter at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/canada/cromar/chapter18.htm
The other chapters can be read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/canada/cromar/index.htm
The Story of the Scots Stage
----------------------------
By Robb Lawson (1919)
We have now completed this book by adding the final chapters...
Chapter VII - Early Glasgow Drama
Town Drummers and Town Minstrels--Vain plays at Ruglen—The Council
decide to imprison strolling Players—The Temple of Beelzebuh—Giddy
young Glaswegians—Teaching of dancing—The Beggar's Opera—BurreII's
Close—The first Glasgow Theatre -George Whitfield gets angry—The mob
burn the Theatre—Alston Street Theatre—Fanatical mob set fire to
it-3lrs. Bellamy—Dunlop Street Theatre erected, 1781—Mrs. Siddons—John
Jackson, lessee —The School for Scandal—Master Betty—Jackson's
economies.
Chapter VIII - The Glasgow Stage
Erection of Queen Street Theatre--The Black Bull Inn—Harry
Johnston—George Frederick Cooke—Edmund Kean—Charles Kean—Miss
O'Neill—Theatre illumination by gas—First Scottish performance of
Rob Roy—Sheridan Knowles—Ellen Tree-James Aitken—The rival lessees
in Dunlop Street—Duerow's Stag Hunt—York Street Theatre—G. V.
Brooke—Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kean — Adelphi Theatre—Samuel Phelps—Mumford's
"Geggie"—Edmund Glover—Helen Faucit—Professor Anderson's City
Theatre—Calvert's "Queen's" Theatre.
Chapter IX - Perth Dramatic Records
Guisards—Saint Obert's play—Church licenses Coinpany of Players—
Spectacle at South Inch—Pageant to Charles I.---Perth Grammar School
presents flays —Theatre in a flat—Guild Hall Theatre—Glovers' Hall
Theatre—The Theatre accident—St. Anne's Lane Theatre—Neil Gow—Mr.
and Mrs. Henry Siddons—Corbett Ryder, actor-manager—Mackay as
mimic—Rob Roy—Opening of Theatre Royal —Macready—First
Pantomime—Edmund Kean—Caledonian Theatre Company—C. Bass, lessee—A
Penny Gaff—Hooper's Touring Company—John Wilson, the Scottish tenor—Paganini—Cooke's
Circus—Wombwell's Menagerie —Sheridan Knowles —The African Roscius—Helen
Faucit.
You can read these chapters at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/stage/index.htm
Sketches of North Carolina
--------------------------
Historical and Biographical, illustrative of the Principles of a
portion of her Early Settlers by Rev. William Henry Foote (1846)
A new book we've started and here is part of the Introductary to
give you a flavour of this book...
NORTH CAROLINA, in the days of colonial dependence, was the refuge
of the poor and the oppressed. In her borders the emigrant, the
fugitive, and the exile found a home. Whatever may have been the
cause of leaving the land of their nativity—political
servitude,-tyranny over conscience,-or poverty of means, with the
hope of bettering their condition,-the descendants of these
enterprising, suffering, afflicted, yet prospered people, have cause
to bless the kind Providence that led their fathers, in their
wanderings, to such a place of rest.
Her sandy plains, and threatening breakers jutting out into the
ocean, met the voyagers sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584, and
the island of Wocoken afforded the landing-place, "as some delicate
garden abounding with all kinds of odoriferous flowers," and
witnessed the ceremonial of taking possession of the country for the
Queen of England, who soon after gave it the name of Virginia. The
island of Roanoke, between Pamtico and Albemarle Sounds, in the
domains of Granganimeo, afforded the first colony of English a home
so quiet, with a climate so mild, and with fruits so abundant, that
the tempest-tossed mariners extolled it in their letters to their
countrymen as an earthly paradise. So no doubt it seemed to them the
first summer of their residence, in 1585; and notwithstanding the
disastrous conclusion of that and succeeding colonies, so the
adjoining country has seemed to many generations that have risen,
and flourished, and passed away, in the long succession of years,
since the wife of Granganimeo, in savage state, feasted the first
adventurers.
Her extended champaign around the head streams of the numerous
rivers that flow through her own borders, and those of South
Carolina, to the ocean, cherished into numbers, and wealth, and
civil and religious independence, the emigrants from a rougher
climate and more unfriendly soil, of the north of Ireland and the
Highlands of Scotland. The quiet of the vast solitudes and forests
of North Carolina lured these hard-working men, who, in their
poverty and transatlantic subjection, cherished the principles of
religion, wealth and independence, to seek in them the abode of
domestic blessedness, and the repose of liberty. Far from the ocean,
in a province without seaports, and unfrequented by wealthy
emigrants, the clustered settlements had space and time to follow
out their principles of religion, morality and politics to their
legitimate ends; and the first declaration of Entire Independence of
the British crown was heard in the province that afforded a
resting-place to the first colony.
Carolina was settled by emigrants from different parts of the
kingdom of Great Britain and her American provinces, in such
numbers, and in such remote situations, that it is comparatively
easy to follow the line of their descendants, and trace out the
workings of their principles and habits upon themselves, the
commonwealth, and the country at large. Every state of society owes
much of its character for excellence or demerit, to the generations
that preceded; the present is a reflected image of the past; and men
must search among their ancestors for the principles, and causes,
and springs of action, and moulding influences, that have made
society and themselves what they are. The present generation of
Carolinians look back to the men that drove the wild beasts from the
forests, and displaced the savages, as the fathers of a republic
more blessed than the most favored of antiquity; and may well ask
what principles of religion and morals,—what habits made us what we
are. In answer to these questions there is no good civil history of
the State; and with the honorable exception of the life of Caldwell,
by Mr. Caruthers, there is no church history; and the traditions
that reached back to the settlement of the country, are, for the
most part, passing away, or becoming dimmed in the horizon of
uncertainty. The prospect, then, is, that the coming generations
will be ignorant of their ancestors and their deeds, and like the
Greeks and Romans, be compelled to go back to a fabulous antiquity
to search in dreams and conjectures for the first link in a chain of
causes, the progression of which is so full of blessedness.
You can read the rest of this and the first five chapters at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/america/nc/
Early Colonial Governors
------------------------
This is a chapter from the book "Scots in America" and here is how
it starts...
ONE of the most interesting figures in the military service of King
William III. and of Queen Anne was Lord George Hamilton Douglas, son
of Duchess Anne of Hamilton and her husband, William, Earl of
Selkirk, who was created Duke of Hamilton at her request. Lord
George was born in 1666 and was bred a soldier. In 1690 he was made
a Colonel and two years later was in command of the Royal Scots
Regiment. His skill and bravery in the field, in Ireland and
Flanders, commended him to King William, who awarded him the rank of
Brigadier General, and in 1696 conferred on him the old Scotch title
of Earl of Orkney. To complete his happiness, the King gave the wife
of the new peer a grant of most of the private estates in Ireland of
King James II. Queen Anne was profuse in her favors to the Earl of
Orkney, who served with distinction in her wars, under Marlborough,
and helped very materially to win such victories as Blenheim,
Ramillies, and Oudenarde. She commissioned him a Lieutenant General,
made him a Privy Councillor, a Knight of the Thistle, and he was one
of the peers of Scotland who were returned to Parliament after the
Union. King George I. continued the series of royal favors which
marked the career of this favorite of fortune. He appointed him a
"Gentleman Extraordinary" of the Bedchamber, an honorary office
which gave the Earl a position at Court; Governor of Edinburgh
Castle, Lord Lieutenant of Lanarkshire, a Field Marshal, and he died
at London in 1737, in possession of all his faculties and honors.
Another of the honorary offices held by this much favored individual
was that of Governor of Virginia. The Earl of Orkney never saw
America and knew nothing of Virginia except its name, and probably
cared little about it except for the emoluments his office as its
Governor brought him. Such titular honors were very numerous in the
history of the royal families of Europe, and America since its
discovery has furnished a goodly share of them. If Lord Orkney did
Virginia no good, he certainly did it no harm, and that, at all
events, is more than can he said of many of those who tried their
hands at serious statesmanship by muddling and marring its affairs.
Isis possession of the office gives him a sort of left-handed claim
to recognition in a work like this, although he more properly
belongs to the story of the Scot in Europe, in which, indeed, his
achievements and honors make him a striking figure. Hardly as much
can be said of a later Governor of Virginia, whose connection with
the province was also merely titular, and who never saw it, although
he served with the army in America. That was John Campbell, fourth
Earl of Loudoun, whose rather inglorious military career in America,
as commander in chief of the forces, lasted a little over a year,
and was terminated by his sudden recall. He was appointed Governor
in 1756, but his time in America was devoted entirely to his
military duties. His transatlantic failure did not apparently affect
his standing at home, and he continued the recipient of many honors
until his death, in 1782.
And much more to read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/america/scotinamerica_chap3.htm
And that's it for this week and I hope you all have a wonderful
weekend :-)
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com
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