|
 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
CONTENTS
--------
Electric Scotland News
The Flag in the Wind
New Statistical Account of Scotland
Clan and Family Information
Poetry and Stories
Book of Scottish Story
The Concise Household Encyclopaedia
Children's Rhymes, Children's Games, Children's Songs, Children's
Stories
Social Life in Scotland
Robert Burns Lives! Inspiration on Inauguration Day.
Banffshire
Wilderness Homes
Crofting Agriculture
The Writings of John Muir (New Book)
Frank Shaw's radio interview on Burns
Scottish Backhold Wrestling
A Family of Merchants by Marie Fraser
ELECTRIC SCOTLAND NEWS
----------------------
More of the South Loch Ness advertiser group have sent in write ups
about themselves and more great pictures as well You can see these
at
http://www.electricscotland.com/travel/lochness/index.htm
I might add that the Lovat Arms Hotel also sent in links to 3
videos, one about the Hotel, one an interview with the owner and the
final one being of a fiddle session at the hotel. You can view them
at
http://www.electricscotland.com/travel/lochness/lovat.htm
-----
A note for your diary... The 2009 Scottish Studies Spring Colloquium
will be on Saturday, 11th April, 2009 at Knox College, University of
Toronto. You can get more information at
http://www.scottishstudies.com or
http://www.uoguelph.ca/scottish
The keynote speaker will be Robert Crawford, Professor of Modern
Literature. He spoke at the Library of Congress to commemorate the
250th anniversary of Burns and has just completed his book "The
Bard" which you can purchase at the event.
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 Ian Goldie where he discussed some
happenings on the Homecoming Scotland initiative and other articles.
In Peter's cultural section he is telling us about Poetry...
This year with the spotlight very much on Robert Burns, as we
continue to celebrate the 250th anniversary of his birth, it is good
to be reminded that poets and poetry, before and after Burns, have
meant much to our Nation. This week sees the twelfth year of StXanza,
Scotland’s International Poetry Festival, Feis Eadar-Naiseanta
Bardachd na h-Alba, in the university town of St Andrews in the
Kingdom of Fife. The festival runs from Wednesday 18 March to Sunday
22 March 2009. Visit
http://www.stanzapoetry.org for the full five day lively and
packed programme.
The festival will be officially opened on Wednesday by First
Minister Alex Salmond in the Byre Theatre at 7pm. Having attended
university in the Fife town Alex Salmond is no stranger to St
Andrews and will join singer Dundee’s own Sheena Wellington, poets
Bill Manhire (New Zealand’s first Poet Laureate) and Kate Clanchy,
sculptor David Mach (and his fired up Burns sculpture!) and the
Ferryport Fiddlers in ensuring that the festival gets off to the
best of starts.
Honouring Burns and celebrating Scottish Homecoming will feature
widely in the five-day programme of poetry, drama, films and
exhibitions as Eleanor Livingstone. Artistic Director, points out –
‘The 2009 festival – our twelfth – comes with a range of events
which honour and re-interpret Scotland’s legendary Bard in
challenging and provocative ways. We consider his poetic legacy and
look at what else Scotland has given the world as, in this
Homecoming year to mark the 250th anniversary of his birth, we
extend a special invitation to the festival to returning Scots and
affinity Scots from all around the globe, by making Homecoming one
of our two themes for 2009.’
The festival offers a rare opportunity to hear songs and reading
from Robert Burns’ ‘Merry Muses of Caledonia’ (not for the easily
offended!), a chance to see a display of Lord Byron material from
the Scottish National Library’s John Murray Archive, and hearing
outstanding Fife-born author Ian Rankin tell how poetry and lyrics
have impacted on his life and work. The varied programme offers
something for all age groups.
A plate of Fife Stovies is just the dish to set you up for a full
and active day of visiting the exhibitions and StXanza venues -
enjoy both.
Fife Stovies
Ingredients: 6 large Baking Potatoes, peeled and cubed (2.5cm/1
inch); 240ml/8fl.oz. Meat Stock; 25g/1oz Butter; 1 large Onion,
roughly chopped; 350g/12oz Piece of Corned Beef, cut into cubes;
Salt and Pepper
Method: Place the potatoes and stock in a saucepan, bring to the
boil, then reduce heat, partially cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes
or until the potatoes are tender. Meanwhile, melt butter in a frying
pan over medium high heat. Add the onions and sauté gently until
soft and transparent. When potatoes are cooked, add the cooked
onions, salt, pepper and corned beef. Mix well and continue to cook
for 10 minutes, or until thoroughly heated through. Serve hot.
You can read the Flag, listen to the Scots Language, enjoy the Scots
Wit and lots more at
http://www.scotsindependent.org
Christina McKelvie's Weekly diary is available at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/mckelvie/090312.htm
New Statistical Account of Scotland
-----------------------------------
Being accounts of the Parishes of Scotland produced in 1845.
This week have added the Parish of New Monkland, or East Monkland to
the Lanark volume.
Name.—The parishes of Old and New Monkland were formerly one parish,
under the general name of Monkland,—a name derived from the monks of
the Abbey of Newbottle, to whom the lands belonged. The parish was
divided into two in the year 1640,— the eastern division being named
New Monkland, and the western Old Monkland.
Boundaries, Extent.—The parish is in the middle ward of Lanarkshire,
and forms a part of the north boundary of the county. It is nearly
ten miles in length from east to west, and seven in breadth near the
middle, but narrower at both ends; bounded on the south by the
parishes of Bothwell and Shotts; on the east by those of Torphichen
and Slamannan; on north by those of Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch ;
and on the west by those of Cadder and Old Monkland.
You can read this account at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/statistical/monkland.htm
Clan and Family Information
---------------------------
Got in some new information on the Clan Grewar. You can read about
them at
http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/htol/grewar.htm
Poetry and Stories
------------------
John sent in another poem, "Ma Bonnie Weel Hodden Fa'" at
http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerel306.htm
And of course more articles in our Article Service from Donna and
others at
http://www.electricscotland.com/article
Book of Scottish Story
----------------------
Our thanks to John Henderson for sending this in for us.
This week have added a new story...
The Broken Ring
Here is how it starts...
Hout, lassie," said the wily Dame Seton to her daughter, "dinna
blear your een wi` greeting. What would honest Maister Binks say, if
he were to come in the now, and see you looking baith dull and dour?
Dight your een, my bairn, and snood back your hair—I’se warrant
you’ll mak a bonnier bride than ony o’ your sisters."
"I carena whether I look bonny or no, since Willie winna see me,"
said Mary, while her eyes filled with tears. " Oh, mother, ye have
been ower hasty in this matter; I canna help thinking he will come
hame yet, and make me his wife. lt’s borne in on my mind that Willie
is no dead."
"Put awa such thoughts out o’ your head, lassie," answered her
mother; "naebody doubts but yoursel that the ship that he sailed in
was whumelled ower in the saut sea—what gars you threep he’s leeving
that gate?"
"Ye ken, mother," answered Mary, " that when Willie gaed awa on that
wearifu’ voyage, ‘to mak the crown a pound,’ as the auld sang says,
he left a kist o’ his best elaes for me to tak care o’; for he said
he would keep a’ his braws for a day that’s no like to come, and
that’s our bridal. Now. ye ken it’s said, that as lang as the moths
keep aff folk’s claes, the owner o’ them is no dead,- so I e’en took
a look o’ his bit things the day, and there’s no a broken thread
among them. "
"Ye had little to do to be howking among a dead man’s claes," said
her mother; "it was a bonny like job for a bride."
"But l’m no a bride,” answered Mary, sobbing. " How can ye hae the
heart to speak o’t, mother, and the year no out since I broke a ring
wi’ my ain Willie !—Weel hae I keepit my half o’t; and if Willie is
in this world, he’ll hae the other as surely."
"I trust poor Willie is in a better place” said the mother, trying
to sigh ; " and since it has been ordered sae, ye maun just settle
your mind to take honest Maister Binks ; he’s rich, Mary, my dear
bairn, and he'll let ye want for naethin."
"Riches canna buy true love," said Mary.
The rest of this story can be read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/books/story/story80.htm
The other stories can be read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/books/story/index.htm
The Concise Household Encyclopaedia
-----------------------------------
Added another 4 pages containing Compass Saw, Compensation,
Complexion, Compo, Compost, Compote, Compress, Concertina, Concrete,
Concussion, Condensed Milk, Condenser, Condiment, Conduit,
Coneflower, Confectionery, Confetti, Confirmation, Conger Eel,
Congestion, Conjugal Rights, Conjunctivitis, Conjuring.
You can read about these at
http://www.electricscotland.com/household/c.htm
Children's Rhymes. Children's Games, Children' s Songs, Children's
Stories
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Book for Bairns and Big Folk by Robert Ford (1904).
The pages we have up this week are...
Children's Songs and Ballads
The Marriage of Cock Robin and Jenny Wren
The North Wind
Little Bo-Peep
The House that Jack Built
Simple Simon
Old Mother Hubbard
Old Mother Goose
We will now have the curious tale of "The House that Jack Built." In
no sense a curious house, perhaps, but famous because of the
fortuitous events which issued in regular sequence from the simple
fact of the builder having stored a quantity of malt within its
walls. It is told best with the accompaniment of pictorial
illustrations, but here these are not available.
This is the house that Jack built.
This is the malt
That lay in the house
That Jack built.
This is the rat
That ate the malt
That lacy in the house
That Jack built.
This is the cat
That killed the rat
That ate the malt
That lay in the house
That Jack built.
This is the dog
That worried the cat
That killed the rat
That ate the malt
That lay in the house
That Jack built.
This is the cow with the crumpled horn
That tossed the dog
That worried the cat
That killed the rat
That ate the malt
That lay in the house
That Jack built.
This is the maiden all forlorn
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn
That tossed the dog
That worried the cat
That killed the rat
That ate the malt
That lay in the house
That Jack built.
This is the man all tattered and torn
That kissed the maiden all forlorn
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn
That tossed the dog
That worried the cat
That killed the rat
That ate the malt
That lay in the house
That Jack built.
This is the priest all shaven and shorn
That married the man all tattered and torn
That kissed the maiden all forlorn
That milked the cow with the crumpled horn
That tossed the dog
That worried the cat
That killed the rat
That ate the malt
That lay in the house
That Jack built.
This is the cock that crowed in the morn
And waked the priest all shaven and shorn
That married the man all tattered and torn
That kissed the maiden all forlorn
That milked the cow with the crumpled lion,
That tossed the dog
That worried the cat
That killed the rat
That ate the malt
That lay in the house
That Jack built.
You can read the other pages at
http://www.electricscotland.com/kids/bairns/index.htm
Social Life in Scotland
-----------------------
From Early to Recent Times by Rev. Charles Rogers in 3 volumes
(1884)
I now have up...
Chapter VIII.
The Municipal and Mercantile
Chapter IX.
Arts and Manufactures
Here is how Chapter IX starts...
Ere the discovery of the metals, Caledonian chiefs wore ornaments
formed of sea-shell, flint, and stone. Necklaces were formed of the
perforated shells of the limpet, cockle, and oyster, which were
strung together with a sinew or vegetable fibre. Ossian's heroes
used cups of gem-studded shells. Perforated discs and plates of
slate and flint were in primeval games used as table-men. Horse
collars of trap and granite have been found in Aberdeenshire.
["Prehistoric Annals of Scotland," by Daniel Wilson, LL.D., Lond.,
1863, 8vo, 2d edit., vol i. pp. 221-6.] In the circles and weems are
to be picked up fragments of pottery, including portions of Samian
ware. Gold and silver torcs were worn by the Scots and Picts, and
the specimens of those preserved in the Scottish National Museum are
certainly of native metal. As gold could be wrought without smelting
or moulding, it is not improbable that it was in use in the
Neolithic age. Armillas of pure gold formed into rounded bars and
bent to suit the arm were in a cinerary urn found in Banffshire.
Malcolm Canmore and his queen were served on plate of gold, and we
learn from Turgot, the queen's confessor, that she granted to the
Church many vessels of pure gold.
A search for native gold is noticed in a grant by David I. to the
Abbey of Dunfermline in 1153 of a tithe of all the gold which should
accrue to him from Fife and Forthrif. By Gilbert de Moravia gold is
said to have been discovered in 1245 at Duriness in Sutherland. In
1424 Parliament granted to the Crown all the gold mines in Scotland;
also all silver mines in which three halfpennies of silver could be
found in the pound of lead.
During the reign of James IV. gold mines were discovered at Crawfurd
Muir, for the working of which Sir James Pettigrew in 1511 and
subsequently received numerous payments. In 1524 the gold of
Crawfurd Muir was coined in the Cunzie House; and two years later
the mines of that locality were, with the sanction of Parliament,
leased to a, company of miners from Germany and Holland for the
period of forty-three years. The project proved unsuccessful, and
after a trial of five years was abandoned. In 1539 miners from
Lorraine operated at Crawfurd Muir under the charge of John Mossman,
royal goldsmith, and the produce was sufficient for constructing
coronets for the king and queen; also other ornaments. The earlier
coins of the reign of Queen Mary were of native gold.
You can read lots more from this chapter at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/sociallife/chapter9.htm
You can get to the index page of the book at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/sociallife/index.htm
Robert Burns Lives!
-------------------
By Frank Shaw
Inspiration on Inauguration Day
Several years ago, thanks to Walter Watson, then President of The
Robert Burns World Federation, my wife Susan and I were luncheon
guests of a dozen or so members of The Burns Club of London at the
world renown Caledonian Club not far removed from the very heart of
London. Walter had been our superb Burns Night speaker at our
Atlanta Burns Club earlier in the year and he, along with his lovely
wife Liz, had visited with us to see our Burns book collection.
Included with the London invitation and directions to the club from
the Honorary Secretary, Jim Henderson, was this phrase that any
Scotsman worth his salt would love and chuckle over…”There is no
sign outside but the large Saltire over the entrance is as good”.
Those who turned out to greet us were mostly past presidents and
council members of the club. James Fairbairn, then Vice President
and member of the Caledonian Club, had reserved a private dining
room, replete with statuary of Robert the Bruce on horseback which
was placed in the middle of the mantel piece. Not only did we enjoy
some of the best haggis I’ve ever eaten, prepared by their very own
Scottish chef, but we met some of the best Burnsians we’ve ever had
opportunity to meet on our trips throughout America, Europe and, in
particular, Scotland and England. It was at this luncheon that I met
Clark McGinn, and we have kept in touch ever since. It is my
pleasure to welcome him to the pages of Robert Burns Lives! I also
look forward to his sharing another article with us in the future.
But first, let me tell you a bit about Clark.
Clark McGinn was born in Ayr and started talking at an early age
(and has hardly stopped since). Educated at Ayr Academy and the
University of Glasgow, where he debated actively: winning the UK
national competition (The Observer Mace), representing the UK (on
the ESU Tour of the U.S.), and founding the World Student Debating
Competition (which is now the second largest student competition in
the world and in its 26th year). He passed enough exams in between
speeches and debates to graduate with an MA with honours in
philosophy. He qualified as a banker and has worked in major
institutions in London and New York. He is happily married to Ann
and lives in exile on Harrow-on-the-Hill in North West London. Since
1976 Clark has performed at Burns Suppers across the globe and is
now known as a writer on Scottish subjects with The Ultimate Burns
Supper Book and The Ultimate Guide to being Scottish, both published
by Luath Press. He is an occasional columnist for the Scottish
Government's 'Scotland Now' e-magazine (http://www.friendsofscotland.gov.uk/scotlandnow/issue-14/index.html)
and has written for The Scotsman and other national newspapers.
Clark supports two charities: The English-Speaking Union and Glasgow
University's development campaign.
His article... "Inspiration on Inauguration Day" by Clark McGinn
(with reflections on Lincoln, Jefferson, and Washington) can be read
at...http://www.electricscotland.com/familytree/frank/burns_lives39.htm
All other articles by Frank can be read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/familytree/frank/index.htm
Banffshire
----------
By W. Barclay (1922)
Added more chapters this week...
Chapter 12. Distilling and Mining
Chapter 13. Fishing and Fishermen
Chapter 14. Shipping and Trade
Chapter 15. History of the County
Chapter 16. Antiquities
Chapter 17. Architecture—(a) Ecclesiastical
Chapter 18. Architecture—(b) Military
Here is how "History of the County" chapter gets under way...
The history of Banffshire touches national events at a number of
interesting points. Whether the county was ever invaded by the
legions of Rome is a matter that has been hotly disputed by
antiquarians and historians, but in any case it was certainly
unconquered by them. A few centuries later it formed, with what is
the modern county of Aberdeen, one of the seven provinces of
Pictland.
Interesting memorials still remain of the Celtic missionaries who
introduced Christianity among the northern Picts. Brandon Fair, a
feeing market in Banff, and "the Brannan Howe," as well as the ruins
of St Brandon's Church, remind us of the famous saint. Mortlach was
named after St Murthlac; and, of old, Aberlour bore the name of its
patron saint, St Drostan, Alvah still possesses St Columba's well.
Forglen parish used to be called Teunan or St Eunan, i.e. St Adamnan,
the biographer of St Columba. The parish of Marnoch commemorates its
patron saint in Marnan Fair. St Maelrubha was one of the most
notable of Fathers of the Faith in Northern Scotland, where more
than twenty places show traces of his presence. He was the patron
saint of Keith, and his name is buried in Summer-eve Fair, formerly
one of the most important September markets in the North.
"Summer-eve" is an easy popular etymology of one of the corrupted
forms of St Maelrubha's name.
While civilising influences were thus affecting the "barbarians" of
the North, other movements that had been for long in progress, came
to affect profoundly the national life. The pagan Vikings made
descents on the growing wealth of the monastic communities, and
Banffshire was the scene of three events of more or less national
importance. On the muir of Findochty, in 961, the followers of Eric
of the Bloody Axe and the Scots under King Indulphus, met in what is
known as the Battle of the Baads. The invaders were routed, but the
Scots King was slain, a collection of stones commonly called the
"King's Cairn" near the farm of Woodside traditionally marking his
grave. To the same epoch belongs the battle of the "Bleedy" Pits in
Gamrie, where the Scots defeated the Danes with great slaughter on
the top of Gamrie Mhor. The date assigned is 1004, the year
inscribed on the ruins of the old church. The Scottish chief vowed
to St John to build a church on the spot where the invaders were
encamped if the Saint would lend his assistance in dislodging them.
One who wrote in 1832 recalled that three of the Danish chiefs were
discovered amongst the slain, "and I have seen their skulls grinning
horrid and hollow, in the wall where they had been fixed, inside the
Church, directly east of the pulpit, andwhere they have remained in
their prison house Soo years." Principal Sir W. D. Geddes has
written how
Over brine, over faem,
Thorough flood, thorough flame,
The ravenous hordes of the Norsemen came
To ravage our fatherland...
The war, I ween, had a speedy close,
And the "Bloody Pits" to this day can tell
How the ravens were glutted with gore,
And the Church was garnished with trophies fell,
"Jesu, Maria, shield us well"
Three grim skulls of three Norse Kings
Grinning a grin of despair,
Each looking out from his stony cell—
They stared with a stony stare.
Yu can read the rest of this chapter at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/moray/chapter15.htm
You can read the other chapters at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/moray/index.htm
Wilderness Homes
----------------
A Book of the Log Cabin by Oliver Kemp (1908)
Completed this book with the final chapter...
Chapter X - A Few Plans
Wild Wood
Crow's Nest
A Club House
The Block House
Idlewild
The Jolly Pines
The Antlers
It starts...
WILDWOOD is a thoroughly comfortable camp, easily constructed. The
living room is large enough to contain a fireplace and chimney of
ample dimensions. A thimble should be put in the chimney to
accommodate the pipe from a stove in the dining room in the event of
very severe weather, though the stove in the kitchen will keep the
dining room very comfortable late in November in Maine.
The doorway between the living room and dining room might be made
wider than is shown on the plan, with a simple drapery hung. The
stairway is two feet wide, with a rustic balustrade made of peeled
poles about three inches in diameter. Underneath, in the dining
room, is a low closet. The stairs wind half way up and cut through
the partition, making a large closet underneath in the bedroom.
Upstairs there is quite a large room over the dining room and
bedroom, ten by fourteen feet, with the space on either side of the
room, where the eaves slope to the floor, partitioned off with a
series of frame doors, covered behind with burlap, and hinged at the
top to swing up against the roof. These are about four feet high,
and so a very considerable storage space is obtained behind them.
The room is used as a sleeping room, and contains one window.
And you can read the rest of this and see the plans at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/logcabin/chapter10.htm
The other chapters can be read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/logcabin/index.htm
Crofting Agriculture
--------------------
Its practice in the West Highlands and Islands by F. Fraser Darling
(1945)
Have added more chapters to this book...
Chapter IV. The Conservation of Winter Fodder
23. Haymaking
24. Ensilage
25. Grass Drying
Chapter V. The Control of Weeds
26. What Weeds Tell Us
27. Eradication of Rushes
28. Corn Spurrey or Yarr
29. Ragwort
30. Dockens, Thistles, Onion Couch and Twitch
31. Bracken
Chapter VI. Planning for the Spring Work
32. Choosing our Crops
33. Turnips, Swedes and Curly Kale
34. Carrots
35. Mangolds
Chapter VII. Growing Early Potatoes
36. Intensification
37. Choice of Seed
38. Sprouting or Chitting
39. Cultivation
Chapter VIII. The Problem of Shelter
40. Shelter from Wind
41. Fences as Cover
42. Growing Cover and Shelter
43. Growing Shelter for a Garden
44. Further Thoughts on Shelter
Chapter IX. The Crofter's Cow
45. What Type do We Need for the West?
46. Crossing for a Desired Type
47. Making a Breed
48. Care of the Milk Cow and Her Calf
Chapter X. The Principles of Feeding Animals
49. The Constituents of Food
50. The Nutritive Proportions of Foods
51. The Nutritive Ratio in Practice
52. Compounding a Ration
Here is how the account from Chapter VIII starts...
The biggest enemy in the climate of the West Highlands and Islands
is wind. Many people think rain is the worst, but those of us who
live on islands, in places open to the Atlantic or on some treeless
stretch of the coast, know that wind is more exasperating and
wearing on the nerves than rain, and certainly more devastating to
plant life. We can adapt our husbandry to take advantage of rain;
for example, only rainy parts of the country can grow the best of
grass leys, and the practice of ensilage overcomes the difficulty of
haymaking. It has always struck me as interesting how soon the hill
ground looks parched and needing rain when we get fine weather in
May and June. There is no doubt at all that rain suits this
countryside, and the smell of a wet south-west wind after a spell
from the east is sheer physical delight.
But wind! A breeze of wind is one thing, and many a time have I
heard folk living at the head of a glen complaining of the
windlessness of July and August weather, whereas their neighbours on
the coast are getting breeze enough to dry their hay. Certainly on
the promontories and islands we get some real snorters of gales in
those months. Sometimes our hay is blown out to sea; our turnips
have much of their tops broken off, which means their power of
making big globes is affected; such few apple trees as we have
suffer loss of fruit, and a flower garden can be ruined in a night.
The windward side of whin bushes are scorched by salt even half a
mile from the sea, such is the penetrating and pervading power of
the great winds from the western airts. And then in spring there is
the killing quality of east wind to contend with, just as unpleasant
and cold as if we lived on the east coast.
To beat the wind we have to use all our resource. The thatched black
houses of the Hebrides and the semi-subterranean houses of North
Rona were a very good answer to it. The small netted and
stone-weighted round stacks also beat the wind, but the growing
crops and living animals are sorely tried. What can we do about it?
Long years ago we had a certain amount of shelter near the sea. Dean
Munro's description of the western islands of Scotland in 1549
mentioned places being covered in birch scrub which are to-day quite
bare. Still earlier, there were the pine trees, remains of which we
find as bogwood. These trees were numerous here on Tanera within a
few yards of the open Minch, yet to-day even a rowan or birch finds
it difficult to get established. We have lost all this valuable
cover by burning, cutting and grazing. Co-operative action is needed
now to help grow and build up a body of cover about our crofts and
townships, and where it presently exists we should exercise all care
in conserving it. It is not a one-man job. Here on this island I
have been fiddling about for five years with limited resources of
money and labour and I have not had much success in growing cover.
Nevertheless, I have at least learned something about the problem,
and I propose to pass on some of this information.
The rest of this chapter can be read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/crofting/chapter8.htm
The other chapters can be read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/crofting/index.htm
The Writings of John Muir
-------------------------
I gave you the introduction last week and have now started on these
10 volumes of his writings. This week have up...
The Story of my Boyhood and Youth
Chapter I. A Boyhood in Scotland
Chapter II. A New World
Chapter III. Life on a Wisconsin Farm
Chapter IV. A Paradise of Birds
Chapter V. Young Hunters
Chapter VI. The Ploughboy
Here is how the first chapter starts...
WHEN I was a boy in Scotland I was fond of everything that was wild,
and all my life I've been growing fonder and fonder of wild places
and wild creatures. Fortunately around my native town of Dunbar, by
the stormy North Sea, there was no lack of wildness, though most of
the land lay in smooth cultivation. With red-blooded playmates, wild
as myself, I loved to wander in the fields to hear the birds sing,
and along the seashore to gaze and wonder at the shells and
seaweeds, eels and crabs in the pools among the rocks when the tide
was low; and best of all to watch the waves in awful storms
thundering on the black headlands and craggy ruins of the old Dunbar
Castle when the sea and the sky, the waves and the clouds, were
mingled together as one. We never thought of playing truant, but
after I was five or six years old I ran away to the seashore or the
fields almost every Saturday, and every day in the school vacations
except Sundays, though solemnly warned that I must play at home in
the garden and back yard, lest I should learn to think bad thoughts
and say bad words. All in vain. In spite of the sure sore
punishments that followed like shadows, the natural inherited
wildness in our blood ran true on its glorious course as invincible
and unstoppable as stars.
My earliest recollections of the country were gained on short walks
with my grandfather when I was perhaps not over three years old. On
one of these walks grandfather took me to Lord Lauderdale's gardens,
where I saw figs growing against a sunny wall and tasted some of
them, and got as many apples to eat as I wished. On another
memorable walk in a hayfield, when we sat down to rest on one of the
haycocks I heard a sharp, prickly, stinging cry, and, jumping up
eagerly, called grandfather's attention to it. He said he heard only
the wind, but I insisted on digging into the hay and turning it over
until we discovered the source of the strange exciting sound — a
mother field mouse with half a dozen naked young hanging to her
teats. This to me was a wonderful discovery. No hunter could have
been more excited on discovering a bear and her cubs in a wilderness
den.
I was sent to school before I had completed my third year. The first
schoolday was doubtless full of wonders, but I am not able to recall
any of them. I remember the servant washing my face and getting soap
in my eyes, and mother hanging a little green bag with my first book
in it around my neck so I would not lose it, and its blowing back in
the sea-wind like a flag. But before I was sent to school my
grandfather, as I was told, had taught me my letters from shop signs
across the street. I can remember distinctly how proud I was when I
had spelled my way through the little first book into the second,
which seemed large and important, and so on to the third. Going from
one book to another formed a grand triumphal advancement, the
memories of which still stand out in clear relief.
You can read the rest of this chapter at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/muir/vol1_chapter1.htm
The rest of the chapters can be read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/muir/vol1.htm
Frank Shaw's radio interview on Burns
-------------------------------------
Frank was the guest of the show at a local radio station in Atlanta
and he's kindly sent in a recording of the show. I wasn't able to
just click on the links but was able to right click on them and save
them to my hard disk and then had no problem in listening to them.
Track 1 (12.5Mb) 13.3 mins 3 songs start the session
Track 2 (11.9Mb) 12.1 mins Frank starts his interview and introduced
"John Anderson, My Jo"
Track 3 (14.4Mb) 15.5 mins The song is sung in this track and the
interview continues.
Track 4 (11.3Mb) 12.2 mins More songs and and the end of Frank's
interview
You can find these links under his Immortal Memory at
http://www.electricscotland.com/music/videos/es24.htm
I might add that Frank does a great amount of work on promoting
Burns and I know he'd love to hear from you and you can email him at
jurascot@earthlink.net
Scottish Backhold Wrestling
---------------------------
Trev Hill sent us in this article on Backhold Wrestling which also
includes 3 links to video on YouTube.
Scottish Backhold Wrestling is one of the traditional wrestling
styles of the British Isles. Like the other styles, Cornish
Wrestling and Cumbrian-Westmoreland it has a long history and sister
styles throughout Europe. Noted as one of the major “Celtic” styles
it differs from the Cornish and Breton (Gouren) styles, which
involve different holds, throws and require the wrestler to wear a
special jacket.
You can read this at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/sport/backhold.htm
A Family of Merchants
---------------------
by Marie Fraser
Marie sent us in an article about Fraser Merchants culled from the
Inverness Kirk-Session Records and includes connections with the
founding of the North West Company in America.
You can read this article at
http://www.electricscotland.com/canada/fraser/merchants.htm
And finally, several people have sent me the link to watch a
wonderful rendition of Amazing Grace, performed by Il Divo in the
coliseum in Rome. We think it's the first time a Piper has played at
the coliseum!
The link is at
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid271552717?bctid=1913313052
And that's it for now and hope you all have a good weekend :-)
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com
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