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 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
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
Sketches of North Carolina
John Knox, A Biography (New Book)
Artists and Architects from Scots in America
Ministers of the Gospel from Scots in America
ELECTRIC SCOTLAND NEWS
---------------------
We've now had a week to try out the new comment service and pleased
to say we've had quite a few comments in and as a result promises of
some articles coming to us as a result :-)
Of course we've also had a few idiotic comments but these are easily
deleted. Mind you I am aware that you'll only see such comments if
you actually visit a page that has them.
I've decided to just use the comment section so have removed the
navigation and poll services as they really aren't working that
well. I have noticed an odd glitch in adding a comment but if you
refresh the page that normally sorts it out.
-----
I have started work on a new book about Loch Etive which is due to
go up January or February and I've been given a couple of very good
colour photographs to go with the book. You can see them on the
index page of the book where you can also read the Preface at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/etive/
-----
I've also made a start at the John Knox biography for which more
below.
-----
I've come to the end of the David Hunter pictures so over the next
few weeks will be adding pictures of Glen Lyon in Perthshire.
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 Richard Thomson. Richard has produced
two main articles, one on the media and the other on the Calman
commission.
In Peter's cultural section he's telling us about Parks...
Scotland is fortunate that in cities and towns, the length and
breadth of the nation, have benefited from benefactors who made
public parks available, for the benefit of all. Such a park, was my
child-time and, indeed, continuing favourite, the Duthie Park, by
the banks of the River Dee, in Aberdeen. The 4 acres of land which
the park covers was gifted to Aberdeen Council in 1881 by Lady
Elizabeth Crombie Duthie of Ruthrieston, in memory off her uncle,
Walter, and brother, Alexander. The land cost £30,000 from the
estate of Arthurseat. The lay-out of the Duthie Park was designed by
the Dundee surveyor and architect William R McKelvie. The Earl of
Aberdeen and lady Duthie cut the first sod on Saturday 27 August
1881 and the park was formally opened on 27 September 1883 by
Princess Beatrice. Generations of Aberdonians and the many visitors
to the city have enjoyed the park ever since.
The Duthie Park is this week’s visitor attraction because regardless
of the weather a visitor can enjoy the splendid David Welch Winter
Gardens, with tropical and arid houses, in all seasons. The original
greenhouses were opened in 1891 but after a severe storm in May 1969
demolished. The rebuilt Duthie Park Winter Gardens were opened by
Lord Provost Lennox on 9 April 1970. The Winter Gardens were renamed
the David Welch Winter Gardens after the death in 2001 of David
Welch, who had been an outstanding Director of Parks for Aberdeen.
The gardens are the third most visited in Scotland and are a must
see on any visit to the Granite City.
An Aberdeen recipe, probably of Dutch origin, Aberdeen Cruella, is
this week’s tasty offering.
Aberdeen Cruella
Ingredients: 2 oz (50g) butter at room temperature; 2 oz (50g)
sugar; 7 oz (200g) self-raising flour; 1 egg; oil for deep frying
Method: Beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Beat in
the egg. Stir in the flour to make a stiffish dough. Knead until
smooth and divide into 6 portions. Roll each portion to an oblong
about 5”-6” long (120cm-150cm). Cut each portion into three strips
almost to the end. Plait the strips and seal the end with a little
water. Deep fry until they are quite golden. Drain excess fat and
lay them on kitchen paper. Dust with caster sugar or icing sugar and
eat either hot or cold.
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/081127.htm
The Scottish Nation
-------------------
My thanks to Lora for transcribing these volumes for us.
We're now onto the W's with Wellwood, Wemyss, Whitefoord, Whyte-Melville,
Wigton, Wilkie and William.
An interesting account of William I which starts...
WILLIAM I., KING OF SCOTS, styled William the Lion, from being the
first Scottish monarch who assumed the figure of a lion rampant on
his shield, grandson of David I., and brother of Malcolm IV., was
born in 1143. He succeeded to the throne in 1165, and soon after he
repaired to the English court, to endeavour to obtain from Henry II.
of England the restoration of the territory of Northumberland, which
had been relinquished by Malcolm. Henry put him off with fair
promises, and, at length, finding all his solicitations fruitless,
William sent ambassadors to France, in 1168, and concluded a treaty
with the French king against England. In 1172 he joined with
Richard, Caeur de Lion, in a confederacy against the English
monarch, father of that prince, who promised to restore to him the
earldom of Northumberland, and to give to his brother, David, the
earldom of Cambridge. In accordance with this agreement, William
invaded England. He divided his army into three columns; the first
of which laid siege to Carlisle, the second he himself led into
Northumberland, and his brother, David, advanced with the third into
Leicestershire. After reducing the castles of Burgh, Appleby, and
Warkworth, William joined that division of his army which was
besieging Carlisle. The place was already so much weakened, that the
governor had agreed to surrender it by a certain day, provided it
was not previously relieved; on which the king, leaving some troops
to continue the siege, invested the castle with part of the forces
under his command, at the same time sending a strong reinforcement
to his brother David.
At this juncture, when his army was so much reduced, he received
intelligence that a strong body of English were on their march to
surprise him. Retiring to Alnwick, he laid siege to the place; but
was unexpectedly attacked by 400 Yorkshire horsemen, who, disguising
themselves in Scottish habits, had approached his camp unobserved.
William mistook them for a party of his own stragglers returning
loaded with spoil; but the display of the English banners soon
undeceived him. On perceiving his error, he gallantly charged the
enemy at the head of sixty horse; but being overpowered by numbers,
he was taken prisoner and conveyed to Richmond castle. He was then
carried in chains before Henry, at Northampton, and ordered to be
sent to the castle of Falaise in Normandy, where he was confined
with other state prisoners. Towards the close of the year he
regained his liberty, but only by consenting to do homage to Henry
for Scotland and all his other possessions; and, as a security, he
was obliged to deliver into the hands of the English monarch the
castles of Roxburgh, Berwick, Jedburgh, Edinburgh, and Stirling.
David, the king’s brother, with twenty barons, who were present at
the signing of this convention, were given to Henry as hostages on
the occasion. This took place in 1174, and in the succeeding year,
William, with the clergy and barons, did homage to Henry at York.
You can read the rest of this account at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/nation/william.htm
You can read all these entries at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/nation/index.htm
Poetry and Stories
------------------
Another poem from John Henderson called "The Abortive 1715 Rising"
which you can read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerel289.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 Dolphinton to the Lanark volume.
Name—Boundaries.—A Dolphin fish is represented in the arms of the
principal heritor; but the name of Dolphinstown, as it was anciently
spelled, seems with more probability to be derived from that of one
of the early proprietors of the manor. Dolfine, the eldest brother
of Coss Patrick, first Earl of Dunbar, acquired this property during
the reign of Alexander I., about the beginning of the twelfth
century. In the district of the country from which he came, a
village with the ruins of an ancient castle still retains his name;
and there are other places of the same appellation in Roxburgh-shire
and in West Lothian. [In Douglas MS. Chronicle of England, Thomas
Dolfine is recorded among the "grete lordes of Scoteland" who were
defeated at Halidon Hill in 1338.]
The parish is 3 miles long from east to west, 21 broad, and contains
2926 statute acres. Its form is nearly that of an oblong square,
bounded by Linton, Walston, Dunsyre, and Kirkurd.
Topographical Appearances.—Dolphinton hill is in height above the
level of the sea about 1550 feet. This and the hill of Walston
adjoining to it, are separated about a mile from the west end of the
Pentlands, and form with Tinto, which is five miles to the westward,
so many connecting links of one of the great collateral chains which
gird our island, from St Abb's Head to Ailsay Craig. With the
exception of Keir-hill, which rises in a conical shape about 250
feet high, the rest of the land in the parish is arable, with a
moderate acclivity in an altitude' of from 700 to 800 feet.
[Altitude of Garvaldfoot, as ascertained by Telford, 735 feet. The
top of Dolphinton-hill, as lately measured by the writer of this
account, is 816 feet above the site of the manse.]
You can read this account at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/statistical/dolphinton.htm
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...
Janet Smith
And here is how it starts...
Old Janet Smith lived in a cottage overshadowed by an ash—tree, and
flanked by a hawthorn, called Lasscairn,— so named, in all
probability, from a caim of stones, almost in the centre of which
this simple habitation was placed, in which, even within the period
of my remembrance, three maiden veterans kept "rock and reel,
bleezing hearth and reeking lum." They were uniformly mentioned in
the neighbourhood as "the lasses o’ Lasscairn,” though their united
ages might have amounted to something considerably above three-score
thrice told. Janet, however, of whom I am now speaking, had been
married in her teens, and her husband having lost his life in a
lime-quarry, she had been left with an only child, a daughter, whom,
by the help of God’s blessing, and her wee wheel, she had reared and
educated as far as the Proofs and Willison’s. This daughter having
attained to a suitable age, had been induced one fine summer
evening, whilst her mother was engaged in her evening devotion under
the shadow of the ash-tree, to take a pleasure walk with Rob Paton,
a neighbouring ploughman, but then recently enlisted, and to share
his name and his fortunes for twenty-four months to come. At the end
of this period, she found her mother nearly in the same position in
which she had left her, praying earnestly to her God to protect,
direct, and return her "bairn.” There were, however, two bairns for
the good old woman to bless, instead of one, and the young Jessie
Paton was said to be the very picture of her mother. Be that as it
may, old Janet, now a grannie, loved the bairn, forgave the mother,
and by the help of an additional wheel, which, in contradistinction
to her own, was designated "muckle,” she, and her "broken-hearted,
deserted" daughter, contrived for years to earn such a subsistence
as their very moderate wants required. At last a severe fever cut
off the mother, and left a somewhat sickly child at about nine years
of age, under the sole protection of an aged and enfeebled
grandmother. It was at this stage of old Janet’s earthly travail
that, in the character of a schoolboy, I became acquainted with her
and her daughter,—for ever after the mother’s death, the child knew
her grandmother by no other name, and under no other relation.
You can read the rest of this at
http://www.electricscotland.com/books/story/story69.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 XIV
College Life
Chapter XV
A Glasgow Jacobite: John Walkinshaw of Barrowfield
Chapter XVI
The Shawfield Riot
Chapter XVII
Campbell of Shawfield and his Compensation
Chapter XVIII
Colonel William Macdowall and the West India Trade
Chapter XIX
James Macrae, Governor of Madras, and Glasgow's First Equestrian
Statue
Chapter XX
Results of Reviving Trade
Here is how Chapter XIX starts...
IT is not commonly known that Glasgow possesses what are probably
the earliest portrait sculptures in Scotland. It is matter of
frequent regret that no contemporary portraits exist of the great
national heroes, Sir William Wallace and King Robert the Bruce. Of
Wallace there is nothing but the verbal description by Henry the
Minstrel, and of King Robert there is only the rather unreliable
representation on a few coins of his reign. Glasgow, however,
possesses authentic portraits of royal and notable personages of
fifty years' earlier date. The only earlier portrait of any kind
known to exist in Scotland is contained in an illumination in the
Kelso chartulary, which is believed to represent King David I. The
Glasgow sculptures form bosses in the vaulting of the lower church
of the Cathedral, and are believed to date from about the year 1248,
and to represent King Alexander II., Bishop William de Bondington,
Comyn, Lord of Kilbride, and his lady, and King Alexander III. as a
boy. All these personages were concerned with the completion of the
building of the Cathedral, and their likenesses are vivid and
realistic after the lapse of nearly seven centuries. [Casts of these
sculptures, made for the Scottish National History Exhibition of
1911, are to be seen in the city's Art Galleries at Kelvingrove.]
Next in date of portrait sculptures in possession of the city is the
bust of the redoubtable Zachary Boyd, minister of the Barony, whose
faithful dealing with Oliver Cromwell on his visit to the city in
1651 is a familiar tradition. For two centuries it occupied a niche
above the doorway in the quadrangle of the old College in High
Street, and now occupies a place of honour in the University at
Gilmorehill. Of about the same period are the fine statues of the
brothers Hutcheson, founders of Hutchesons' Hospital and Schools,
which at first stood on each side of the tower of the original
hospital in Trongate, looking northward over the garden acre, and
which now look down Hutcheson Street from the front of the more
modern building.
You can read the rest of this chapter at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/glasgow/glasgow3_19.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...
The Western Highlands in the Eighteenth Century
IN the muniment room at Dunvegan, the seat of MacLeod of MacLeod in
Skye, are preserved a great number of documents which throw much
light on the conditions prevailing in the Highlands during the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Aesculapius in Fife: a Study of the Early Eighteenth Century
AMONG the many records of Scottish domestic accounts during the
seventeenth century which have been published there are few which
make any reference at all to expenditure on medical attendance,
though, as the papers dealt with in here clearly show, the doctor's
bill must have formed an appreciable item in the annual budget of
the family man.
Rent-Rolls of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem in Scotland
IN the years 1828-29-30 the late James Maidment, Advocate,
Edinburgh, published in very limited editions copies of certain
papers which had come into his hands relating to the history,
privileges and possessions of the Knights-Templars in Scotland and
their successors the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. These
pamphlets, five in number issued in paper covers, are now rare. To
one of them entitled Abstract of the Charters and other papers
recorded in the Chartulary of Torphichen from 1581 to 1596 is
prefixed an introductory notice wherein the loss, or supposed loss,
of the greater part of the Chartulary is deplored.
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, Cherry Pie, Cherry Pudding, Cherry
Sandwich Pudding, Cherry Wood, Chervil, Cheshire Cheese, Chess,
Chess Board, Chest, Chest of Drawers.
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
We have now completed this book with the following chapters...
Chapter XIX
Westward Ho
Chapter XX
Tilbury East
Chapter XXI
Friends New and Old
Chapter XXII
The Clerkship and Drainage
Chapter XXIII
A Generation Passes
Chapter XXIV
Stewarts, Farquharsons and Fletchers
Appendix
Proverbial Sayings in Use in Cromar
Appendix
Glossary
Here is how Chapter XIX, Westward Ho, starts...
THE terminal year of our farm lease at last had come, and the
question of renewal which, for years, had been, with our household,
an anxious matter for discussion, now demanded immediate settlement.
Some six years previously, my father had purchased in Canada a
hundred acre bush farm, and the thought of being able to make our
home in such a possession, free from rent and expiring leases, had
appealed strongly to the imagination of every one of our household.
Now rumour had it that our proprietor, with the consent of his
interested heirs, had succeeded in releasing from entail, or as
Burns would have it: "Riving his father's auld entails," in respect
of that portion of his estate situated in Cromar, and that our farm,
together with all those in that district, was to be sold.
WE DECIDE TO EMIGRATE
In regard to a change of proprietor such as that would involve, the
general experience amongst tenants had been that the new lairds were
less considerate of their tenants than had been the old hereditary
aristocracy, who were reputed to have retained a sort of fatherly
interest in their tenantry from generation to generation. The Cromar
estate was soon purchased by an English lawyer of the name of
Coltman, an estimable gentleman, I believe, who probably knew little
of the conditions of his new tenants or their peculiar needs. For
him, it must be said that he purchased the estate with a statement
in his hand, prepared by expert valuators employed by the vendor,
making their appraisal of the amount of yearly rental which might be
reasonably expected from the several farms on the estate. That
valuation may have been high, but most likely the purchaser had
depended upon it in making the purchase. My father, at least, had
the offer of renewal in terms of the appraised valuation, and I am
not aware that in any case was demand made for rental in excess of
the amount thereby indicated. If, therefore the rents were
excessive, the responsibility therefor would seem to rest not less
upon the former proprietor than upon his successor. Indeed it may
well be that, to the former, through the increased price realized,
may have accrued most, if not all of the benefit arising from the
increased rental.
You can read the rest of this chapter at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/canada/cromar/chapter19.htm
The other chapters can be read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/canada/cromar/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)
We've now added several more chapters to this book...
Chapter VI - State of Religion in Ireland from the time of the
Emigration from Scotland to the first effort to emigrate to America,
1631
The Emigrants from Scotland. Stewart's character of them. The
opinion in Scotland about the Emigration. Christian Ministers go
over to Ireland to the Emigrants:--1st, Edward Brice; 2d, John
Ridge; 3d, Al. Hubbard; 4th, James Glendenning; 5th, Robert
Cunningham; 6th, Robert Blair; 7th, James Hamilton. The Success of
these Ministers. Commencement of the Great Revival. Stewart's
account of it. The Monthly Meeting at Antrim. Stewart's and Blair's
account of it. More Ministers pass over to Ireland. The 6th, Josias
Welch; 9th, Andrew Stewart; 10th, George Dunbar; Andrew Brown, the
Deaf Mute; 11th, Henry Colwort; 12th, John Livingston, of Kirks, of
Shott's Memory; 13th, John McClelland; 14th, John Semple. Monthly
Meeting at Antrim improved. Bodily Exercises no mark of Religion.
Chapter VII - The Eagle Wing, or first attempt at Emigration from
Ireland to America
Cause of the attempt at Emigration. Four Ministers forbid the
Ministry. Delegates appointed to New England. Cotton Mather's notice
of the matter. The Eagle Wing sails, 1636, with a band of Emigrants.
Livingston's account of the Voyage. Child Baptized at sea. Vessel
driven back to Ireland. The reception of the Emigrants. The
Ministers return to Scotland in 1637; their flocks go over to
receive the Sacraments. The Influence of these men on Ireland and
the World.
Chapter VIII - Formation of Presbyteries in Ireland
First Meeting of a Presbytery in Ireland, 1642. Steps Preparatory.
Convocation of the Irish Clergy appointed Usher to draw up a
Confession of Faith. Its character. Heylin's account of the Church
in Usher's time. Blair and Livingston's course respecting
Ordination. Laymen conduct public worship after the Clergy retire to
Scotland. The Scottish army introduced to crush Rebellion, 1641.
Massacre of Protestants. Six Chaplains accompany the Scotch
regiments; also Mr. Livingston. Regular Presbyterian Churches formed
in the Regiments. The Presbytery Constituted. Sessions formed in the
country around. The people petition the General Assembly of Scotland
for Supplies. Six Ministers sent to regulate the Churches. The
Congregation take possession of some of the vacant Parish Churches.
Some persons Episcopally ordained., join the Presbytery. Solemn
League and Covenant adopted in Scotland, 1643, and in many parts of
Ireland, 1644. Its effect. Number of Presbyterian Ministers in
Ireland from 1647 to 1657. The first Presbytery divided into five
Presbyteries. Number of Ministers in 1660 and in 1689. The
Presbytery of Lagan license the first Presbyterian Minister settled
in the United States; Francis Makemie.
Chapter IX - The Political Sentiments of the Scotch-Irish Emigrants
They were Loyal. Reasons for their ancestors being chosen to
colonise Ireland. Their views of the authority of Parliament after
the King's Death. How the Magistrates are to be chosen. 2d. They
insisted on choosing their own Ministers of Religion; this the
source of all their trouble; Republicans in their nations. 3d. They
demanded ordination by Presbyters instead of Bishops. 4th. Strict
discipline in morals and in the instruction of Youth. Their views of
Education. Connection of their Religion with their politics. Their
agreement in fundamentals; and disagreement in smaller matters.
Chapter X - The Settlement of the Scotch on the River Cape Fear and
the Reverend James Campbell
Some families Settled as early as 1729. The Clark family as early as
1730, from the Hebrides. Charles Edward, the Pretender, appears,
lands in Scotland. The heads of the great Clans against his plans;
joined by the young men. Is for a time successful. Is ruined at
Culloden. Executions follow his defeat; the country laid waste; but
the Prince escapes. Anecdote of a Scotch gentleman. Anecdote of
Kennedy. The Rebels condemned; 17 suffer, the rest exiled, go to
Cape Fear; causes of settling there. The Religion of the Scotch. No
Minister came with the first Emigrants. The Rev. James Campbell;
birth-place; emigrates to America; gives over Preaching. By means of
Whitefield resumes his Ministry. Emigrates to Cape Fear. His
extensive labors; his regular preaching places. Bluff and its
Elders. Barbacue and its Elders. Use of the Gaelic Language. The
Rev. John McLeod.
Chapter XI - The Political Opinions of the Scotch Emigrants
The Scotch not Radicals; desired a Government of Law. The Bible
their guide. Revolution. Natural right in given cases. Their
National Covenants; their object. Hetherington's view of the
Covenants. Rutherford's Lem. Rex. Charles 2d and James 1st, swore to
the Covenants; the Oath. Division of sentiment about the Revolution.
The Association in Cumberland, drawn by Robert Rowan, 1773. Governor
Martin commissions Donald M'Donald as Brigadier. He erects the Royal
Standard, Feb., 1770. The Camp at Campbellton, or Cross Creeks. Col.
Moore marches against him M'Donald sends an Embassy. Moves down to
Moore's Creek, Makes an attack on Caswell and Livingston, and is
defeated. The action of the Provincial Congress respecting the
Prisoners.
Chapter XII - Flora MacDonald
Her first appearance in the Trials of the Pretender. Roderick
Makenzie. The Prince lands on South Uist; is followed by three
thousand armed men. Plans for his escape in disguise. Appeal to
Flora M'Donald; she accepts the offer. O'Neill joins. Interview with
the Prince. A Passport procured for the Prince disguised as a
servant. The danger of discovery. They set sail. A tempest. Land at
Kilbride. New dangers from Soldiers; escape. The Prince's farewell.
His escape from Scotland. Flora M'Donald seized and conveyed to
London. The companions of her confinement. The nobility become
interested in her favor. Prince Frederick procures her release. She
is introduced at Court, loaded with presents and sent home. Marries
Allen M'Donald and emigrates to North Carolina. Her stay at Cross
Creeks, at Cameron's Hill, and in Anson County; joins the Royal
Standard at Cross Creeks. After her husband's release they return to
Scotland. Attacked by a Privateer on the Voyage; her heroism. Her
family; the close of her life; her burial-place.
You can read the rest of this and the first five chapters at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/america/nc/
John Knox, A Biography
----------------------
By D. MacMillan M.A. (1905)
The Preface states...
THIS biography of the great Scottish Reformer has been directly
inspired by the quarter centenary of his birth, which is to be
celebrated this year. This is at once its excuse and its
justification. The book is intended to fill a place midway between
the larger and the smaller biographies of Knox already in existence.
It is meant to meet the wants of those whose desire is to have a
full sketch of the Reformer's career, but one which, at the same
time, is not overburdened with unnecessary details.
I have to express my indebtedness to writers who have gone over the
field before me: to the historians of the period, and in particular
to the two chief biographers of Knox, Dr. McCrie and Dr. Hume Brown.
Among the smaller biographies I have found that of Mrs. Maccunn the
most suggestive. Dr. David Laing's well-known edition of Knox's
works has, of course, been my chief source of information. Two books
recently published are also of special note; these are the Baird
Lecture of the late Professor Mitchell and the Croall Lecture of the
late Professor Hastie. Dr. Mitchell's work, edited with great care
by Dr. Hay Fleming, gives a very luminous sketch of the polity of
Knox, and Dr. Hastie's volume is invaluable for its exposition of
the Reformer's theology.
The question of the date of Knox's birth, recently raised, is
discussed in the Appendix. It is not pretended that the matter has
been finally settled, but no evidence yet adduced seems to me strong
enough to cause us to depart from the date mentioned by Spottiswoode
and Buchanan. Knox's spelling has been in most instances modernised,
but the original form has been preserved where it appeared most
effective.
Whatever value the book possesses is, I feel, greatly enhanced by
Principal Story's Introduction, in which he gives an appreciation of
the Reformer at once distinctive and illuminative.
My best thanks are due to Mr. William Wallace, LL.D., for valuable
suggestions made while the work was passing through the press, to
the Rev. P. H. Aitken, B.D., and the Rev. George Drummond, B.D., for
kindly revising the proofs, and to the Rev. R. S. V. Logie, M.A.,
for preparing the Index.
D. MACMILLAN.
February 20, 1905.
I felt it was important to place a biography of John Knox on the
site and I chose this biography as it states in the biography "It is
meant to meet the wants of those whose desire is to have a full
sketch of the Reformer's career, but one which, at the same time, is
not overburdened with unnecessary details".
Anyone wanting to know more can of course search out the larger
biographies that are available.
I have the Introduction up now which can be read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/knox/index.htm
Artists and Architects
----------------------
A chapter from the book "Scots in America". Here is how it starts...
PAINTINGS from Scotland by Scottish artists do not seem nowadays to
find much acceptance in America. They are rarely found in the
catalogues of the many art sales in New York or Boston or the other
large cities, and in the art dealers' establishments the best-known
painters of Scotland are unknown either by name or by example. In
art circles, in periodicals devoted to art, and in the columns of
newspapers which make a feature of artistic matters, hardly any
attention is paid to collecting and presenting news from the
Scottish studios, and even the gossip of American professional
critics seldom troubles itself concerning what may be passing in
Scotland, where so many recognized masters have gained their
reputation and established a national claim to artistic recognition.
The amateur lovers and professional creators of art in America talk
glibly of Chalon, of Palmaroli, of Gamier, of Gerome, but of
Thomson, Phillip, Macnee, MacCullough, Allan, Faed, or any of the
recognized Scottish masters they seem to know nothing.
This is singular when we consider that so many other professional,
as well as business and working, men from Scotland, and Scottish
products generally, find such a kindly reception in America. The
Scottish artisan is always welcomed in every section of the United
States as a superior, thorough, and industrious workman, one with a
degree of intelligence above his fellows; the Scottish farmer is
hailed as an accession in each agricultural community, and it is
safe to say that there is not an American steamer afloat on which
the services of Scotch engineers are not in use or in demand. In the
higher walks of life the influence of Scotland is everywhere seen.
Scottish architecture has been closely studied, and the old Baronial
style has been copied, adapted, or "applied" to the majority of
American modern villas, and, in fact, along with the so-called
Colonial style, was the main foundation for the exteriors of such
places until recently supplanted by the nondescript "Queen Anne" and
pseudo-Elizabethan styles. Even in many public buildings, although a
sort of mongrel renaissance is the prevailing fad, the towers and
peaks and gables of the Scottish school take the place of the
"Grecian" front elevations, with their wooden pillars and impossible
pediments. Scotch financiers stand above the tumults, the reactions,
the bull-and-bear movements of the stock exchanges, veritable
pillars of strength in a seething, sonic-times repulsive, sea of
dishonesty and dishonor.
Scottish theology has been gratefully accepted by Americans, and not
even in Scotland have the writings of such men as Prof. A. B. Bruce,
Dr. Calderwood, the late Dr. John Ker, Dr. Oswald Dykes, and Dr.
Buchanan more appreciative readers. Scottish poetry, too, is also in
great vogue; Robert Buchanan, for instance, used to be a favorite;
several editions of "Olrig Grange" were readily disposed of when
that poem first appeared; Shairp's verses also found a ready sale,
and even Pollok's "Course of Time" has been printed in a dozen
different forms. There are a half a dozen editions of Aytoun's
"Lays," and there are numerous editions of Motherwell, Montgomery,
Campbell, and most of our poets, printed and sold in this country.
Scots songs are sung on every concert platform, and students of
Burns are as numerous as in Scotland. Indeed, probably the most
ambitious edition of the works of the Ayrshire bard—six large
volumes with notes, steel engravings, and all sorts of editorial
paraphernalia—was published in Philadelphia only a few years ago. Of
the Waverley Novels there are over twenty-five distinct editions in
the market, and editions of Scott's poetry seem to grace, either
completely or singly, every publisher's catalogue. One firm has
printed over 300,000 copies of Barrie's works, and there is a choice
of various editions of any of the writings of Stevenson or Black.
Excepting art, everything Scotch, from curling to philosophy, seems
to find congenial soil in America.
You can read the rest of this at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/america/scotinamerica_chap6.htm
Ministers of the Gospel
-----------------------
Another chapter from the book "Scots in America". Here is how it
starts...
NO class of men have done more to direct public opinion and conserve
public morals in North America than the preachers of the Gospel who
have settled in the United States and Canada from Scotland. In
speaking of the Scotch clergy on this continent, and particularly in
the United States, we generally think of them as Presbyterians. The
majority of them certainly were, and are, of the Kirk of John Knox,
but we also find them in all denominations, Episcopalian and
Baptist, Methodist and Roman Catholic. Indeed, one of the Bishops of
the latter Church in the United States who died a year or two ago
was a native of Scotland, and as proud of the fact as he was of his
crozier. Presbyterianism, however, is so much associated with the
history of Scotland that when we speak of a Scottish clergyman in
America he is generally supposed to be a Presbyterian—until the
contrary is made known. Then, many Scotch preachers ordained in some
one of the Presbyterian denominations in Scotland become
Congregationalists when they reach America, believing that that form
of Church government is more suited to the requirements of the
country than any other, and many have found in the pulpit of the
Reformed Dutch Church a haven from which they could preach the Word.
Such changes may, of course, be made without sacrificing one iota of
the preachers' early notions of the unity of the denomination and
the inter-dependence of individual congregations taught in the
policy and practice of the religious organization under which their
fathers had -worshipped, and in which they themselves had been
trained for the work of the ministry.
You can read the rest of this at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/america/scotinamerica_chap5.htm
And that's it for this week and I hope you all have a wonderful
weekend and our American friends enjoy their Thanksgiving holiday
:-)
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com
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