Tweet
CONTENTS
--------
Electric Scotland News
Electric Scotland Community
The Flag in the Wind
Geikie's Etchings
Historical Tales of the Wars of Scotland
Robert Chambers - Songs of Scotland
Notes and Reminscences of Partick
History of the Gipsies
Lays of the Covenanters
The Scottish Reformation
Essays of Hugh Haliburton
History of Scotland
Glencreggan: or A Highland Home in Cantire
Arran of the Bens, The Glens and the Brave
Harry Lauder
Robert Burns Lives!
Dr Duncan of Ruthwell (New Book)
Lord Elgin (New Book)
Scots in Asia
Pentland
Electric Scotland News
----------------------
I've discovered a book about a Scots missionary in Jamaica which reveals an amazing tale of his work there and how he made a very positive contribution to that country. The book has very faint type but I believe it's important to reveal yet another country where the Scots played a major role. And so I'll struggle through ocr'ing this onto the site.
-----
I got in a communication from Scottish Development International but whether than means they will actually provide content for us or not is still up in the air.
-----
Far too much time taken up this week with domestic issues. I did also squeeze in a Knights Templar meeting in Toronto. This was an important meeting as it was time to decide the way forward on many issues that had been deferred due to us running the International convention. We have excellent new Kinghts and Dames that are enthusiastic and some are suggesting novel ways to raise money for our charitable projects and being very ambitious on the sums they think they can raise.
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 in our site menu and at http://www.electricscotland.com/rss/whatsnew.php
Electric Scotland Community
---------------------------
Some interesting new messages this week with one about some arial pictures of WWI battlefields. Quite a few messages also include YouTube videos and certainly worth a browse.
I also added some messages about Scottish Business this week and quite by chance I also stumbled upon a lecture by Professor Tom Devine - An Empire of Commerce: Three Centuries of Scottish Enterprise in the East. You can view this at http://www.electricscotland.org/show...se-in-the-East
I also did a wee profile on Andy Stewart and also Dad's Army.
And I also put up a music video from India. On this last one I used to enjoy Indian music when I used to work in Birmingham in England and often played a tape of it in the car. As I note India is now our fifth most visiting country thought I'd add one in for them.
Our community can be viewed at http://www.electricscotland.org/forum.php
THE FLAG IN THE WIND
--------------------
This weeks issue is now available compiled by Donnie MacNeill.
You can get to the Flag at http://www.scotsindependent.org
Christina McKelvie's weekly diary is available at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...lvie/index.htm
Geikie's Etchings
-----------------
This week we've added more articles...
The Jolly Beggars
Dinna Mak' Ower Bare
And here is the story of "Dinna Mak' Ower Bare"...
THE humblest individual amongst mankind has frequent opportunities of performing kind and friendly actions to those around him, without making any sacrifice of his own interest, or trenching materially upon his own particular duties, which, independently of a most valuable and sure reward — the approval of his own conscience — may be, and often are, returned manifold, with the grateful thanks of a deeply-obliged brother. We are therefore clearly of opinion that were mankind truly alive to their own interest, and felt anxious to promote their own happiness, we would witness many more instances of practical philanthropy, and gratifying proofs of the fact, that the whole human race constitute in reality but "one vast family of brothers," and that every member was fully aware of the moral obligations under which he was laid to sustain and reciprocate all the duties which arose from such a connection, and that it was also imperative on him often to step beyond the contracted sphere of mere self-interest, that he may accomplish something beneficial to society at large. To those who feel in this way, we are sure this graphic etching will prove a study at once pleasing and instructive.
This group is composed of four "Scotsmen," evidently belonging to the class of agricultural labourers, who in all probability, after having received an ordinary share of education, left their paternal roof at the age of eight or ten years, to act in the capacity of herds to farmers in the neighbourhood, where, during their leisure hours, they acquired the habit of performing many little thrifty jobs, both for themselves and their fellow-servants, such as knitting and darning their own stockings, sewing on a button, and mending their own shoes — the finer sort of needlework, such as making a new or mending an old shirt, or hemming a handkerchief, being invariably done by the females; while the males in return mended the shoes of the former, besides shaving themselves when that came to be necessary, and cropping one another's heads; and many of this class we have known to have acquired a wonderful proficiency and no small degree of celebrity as gratuitous hairdressers.
Here they are now, in the afternoon of life, busily engaged in practising the same virtue, when the more important labours of the day were ended. We have here also a little dog, the only creature not actually employed; nevertheless, no one will fail to observe the peculiarly complaisant and contented look which the artist has given him, and which harmonises so admirably with the other personages, and the grave work in which they are engaged. He appears just now in his own natural shape, and in his own proper character; but we would not be at all surprised to learn that the most frolicsome of the bipeds, when their own cropping was finished, had put himself to no small trouble, and exposed himself to some degree of danger, in attempting to transform the docile, unassuming, and affectionate Luath into the similitude of a beast of prey—namely, a lion. At present, however, all of them are "sober as judges, and gentle as lambs," and the work goes on "slowly but surely."
One of them has just escaped from the hands of the chief operator, and is kindly assisted by another, who is waiting his turn to be shorn, in rubbing and blowing away the troublesome short-cut hairs which have been left loose on his head and neck. Now, we request the reader to contrast this man's conduct with that of the man who is constantly seeking, and who is overjoyed when he finds, "a hair in the neck of his neighbour," and that for a malicious purpose, when he will appreciate more fully this act of kindness; and, in the meantime, another unshorn personage has laid aside his hat and neckcloth, wrapped himself in a sort of sheet, probably borrowed for the occasion, and seated himself on the ground, submitting his venerable head to the same operation — a head, by the way, on which we can plainly trace the sad effects of time's tweezers, and on his face a "line engraving," in a state of great forwardness, by the same hand. The poor old man thus situated, at once perceiving that the would-be barber had commenced a furious attack on a part of his head where there was certainly no redundancy of hair, solemnly exclaims, "Dinna mak' it ower bare;" but he, notwithstanding the reasonable request and seasonable admonition of him who is fairly in his power, goes on with the work, and probably finishes it according to his own fancy or caprice. Reader, this is the way of the world. Those who have the power very often have also the will to exercise it, as in this case. In a thoughtless, others in a harsh, and not a few in a tyrannical manner.
Now, to ilka gudewife in Scotland, when buttering a bannock for the herd-laddie — when making the shearers' parritch, or skimming the milk which is destined to be served up along with them—when besieging her gudeman's purse, in order that she may purchase for herself and for her daughters various expensive articles of holiday dress — when serving the poor wandering mendicant wi' an amous, or giving out the straw, old sacks, and blankets for his humble couch, when he happens to lodge a night with them, we would address the same request, "Dinna mak' it ower bare."
And to ilka gudeman, when about to pay his servants' well-earned wages — when plucking the tails and manes of his horses, for the purpose of making a hair tether — when he feels inclined to allow his cattle to graze beyond his own "march" — and when he is superintending reapers in his own field—we would earnestly address the same petition, and that principally for the sake of the poor gleaners who may come after — not only those of his own species, who "glean through the day and gang name at e'en," but also many a wee sleekit, cow'rin', tim'rous beastie," that is doomed to pass the dreary months of winter In the same field—Oh, "dinna mak' it ower bare!" And to some others we would say, and, if possible, still more emphatically — When invited to partake of your neighbour's bread and cheese, share the contents of his snuff and tobacco box, and, above all, when you are granted the privilege of exercising the scissors and comb on the head of a man of three-score years, "Dinna mak' it ower bare."
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ikie/index.htm
Historical Tales of the Wars of Scotland
----------------------------------------
And of the Border Raids, Forays and Conflicts by John Parker Lawson (1839). This is a new publication we're starting on which is in 3 volumes. We intend to post up 2 or 3 stories each week until complete.
This week we've added...
Conflict At Tannach - 1464
The Raid of Lauder - 1482
The Battle of Sauchieburn - 1486
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/wars/
Robert Chambers
---------------
Robert Chambers is a famous author and publisher and we do carry a few of his publications on our site such as the 3 volume Domestic Annals of Scotland and his 4 volume Biographical Dictionary of Significant Scots.
John Henderson found his 2 volume Songs of Scotland which we both agree is a fabulous resource and so we are going to add this to the site in small chuncks in pdf format for you to enjoy.
This week we added...
Pages 319 to 386
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ers_robert.htm
Notes and Reminscences of Partick
---------------------------------
By James Napier (1873)
This is another of those books that don't have any chapters and is around 300 pages. We're splitting this book up into a logical sequence of pdf files for you to read and will be easier to download. Partick is now a suburb of Glasgow.
We have up this week...
Part 10 (Pages 206 - 230)
This can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/partick/
History of the Gipsies
----------------------
By James Simson (1866)
All these chapters are a substantial read but certainly most interesting. There are a huge amount of footnotes in this publication so have done my best to incorporate them into the text.
This week we have completed this book by adding...
Disquisition on the Past, Present and Future of Gipsydom Part 2
Disquisition on the Past, Present and Future of Gipsydom Part 3
Part 2 starts...
Let a Lowlander, in times that are past, but have cast up a Highlander's blood to him, and what would have been the consequences? "Her ainsel would have drawn her dirk, or whipped out her toasting-iron, and seen which was the prettiest man." Let the same have been done to a Scottish Gipsy, in comparatively recent times, and he would have taken his own peculiar revenge. See how the Baillies, as mentioned under the chapter of Tweed-dale and Clydesdale Gipsies, mounted on horseback, and with drawn swords in their hands, threatened death to all who opposed them, foi an affront offered to their mother. Twit a respectable Gipsy with his blood, at the present day, and he would suffer in silence; for, by getting into a passion, he would let himself out. For this reason, it would be unmanly to hint it to him, in any tone of disparagement. The difference of feeling between the two races, at the present day, proceeds from positive ignorance on the part of the native towards the other; an ignorance in which the Gipsy would rather allow him to remain; for, let him turn himself in whatever direction he may, he imagines he sees, and perhaps does see, nothing but a dark mountain of prejudice existing between him and every other of his fellow-creatures. He would rather retain his incognito, and allow his race to go down to posterity shrouded in its present mystery. The history of the Gipsy race in Scotland, more, perhaps, than in any other country, shows, to the eye of the world, as few traces of its existence as would a fox, in passing over a ploughed field. The farmer might see the foot-prints of reynard, but how is he to find reynard himself? He must bring out the dogs and have a hunt for him. As an Indian of the prairie, while on the "war path," cunningly arranges the long grass into its natural position, as he passes through it, to prevent his enemy following him, so has the Scottish Gipsy, as he entered upon a settled life, destroyed, to the eye of the ordinary native, every trace of his being a Gipsy. Still, I cannot doubt but that he has misgivings that, some day, he will be called up to judgment, and that all about him will be exposed to the world.
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...chapter11b.htm
Other chapters can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/gipsies/
Lays of the Covenanters
-----------------------
By James Dodds (1880)
This week we've added...
Kenwick in the Cottage of John Brown of Priesthill
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/covenanters/
The Scottish Reformation
------------------------
A Historical Sketch by Peter Lorimer D.D. (1860)
As some of you will know there is to be a special celebration of the 450th anniversary of the Scottish Reformation during November in Scotland. I thought that this would be a good time to make this book available so you can read up on it.
We have now completed this book with the following sections...
Chapter III.—The Knox Period, a. d. 1555—1560
Section 5. Civil War. Treaty with England. Siege of Leith. 1559—1560
Section 6. The Parliament of 1560
Section 7. The Organization of the Reformed Church of Scotland
In Chapter III section 5 it starts...
The struggle was now to pass into the phase of civil war—a war not only of religious freedom, but of national independence —a war of emancipation, not only from the yoke of Rome, but from the yoke of France.
As a religious conflict, the success of the Reformation was already virtually decided. Thirty-four years of faithful testimony to the truth, at an immense expense of suffering and blood, had at length gained over the national mind to the side of religious reform; and in two short months the altars and the idols of superstition had been destroyed, amidst the acclamations of the people, in ten of the principal towns of the kingdom, including both the ecclesiastical and the civil capitals. These two months had also virtually decided the conflict, viewed as a trial of material strength between two native Scottish parties. Apart from the French forces, it was now no longer doubtful with which party the advantage of numbers and resources lay. The nobles were rapidly going over to the camp of the Reformers, and the last scene of the brief campaign just concluded was an interview between the Lords of the Congregation and the two most powerful noblemen of the kingdom, the Duke and the Earl of Huntley, in which both the latter had promised to join them, if the Regent should discover any intention to add to the number of her French auxiliaries—a promise which they had speedily occasion to fulfil. It was now evident, therefore, that the material as well as the moral strength of the nation was on the side of reform, and that the sole reliance of the Regent and the bishops was on foreign aid. If the yoke of Rome was still to be pressed down upon the neck of the nation, it could only be by the help of the veteran legions of France; and now that that was the policy which was to be energetically pursued, it became clear to almost all Scotsmen that the struggle had become one of patriotism as well as of religion—a struggle against French interference and dictation, as well as against the Pope of Rome. The history of the next twelve months is the history of a civil war, in which the nation, aided by England, appears in arms against its rulers, aided by France. It is a history of the deepest interest to the Scottish people. That war was the very hinge and crisis of their national destiny; the fiery purgatory through which they passed from the corruption and dregs of mediaeval bondage and superstition, into the happy condition of light and liberty, which, with steadily advancing though often interrupted development, has marked their modern life. But a civil war need only be hastily sketched in a history of religious life. We can only touch the principal events, referring the reader for details to the works of civil historians.
This book is available at http://www.electricscotland.com/bibl...tion/index.htm
Essays of Hugh Haliburton
--------------------------
I am extracting some of his essays that detail Scottish Life and Character from his various works. This week we've added...
The Lotman
The entirely primitive occupation of the lotman only went out of fashion at the opening of the current century, and his name, ceasing to be used, is already all but forgotten. The lotman was the thresher, and he was to be found erewhile on every farm of the Lowlands. It was a small farm that employed but one. A farm that was worked by four pairs of horses required the services of two pairs of threshers. They were named "lotmen" from taking the stuff by lot—2X so much per boll, the custom of the country-side regulating their charge. The phrase is still common: farm produce—chiefly potatoes, but even corn also—is still sold "in lots to suit purchasers." Though he thus worked by the piece, the lotman's time was not at his own making: if a farmer wanted a stack threshed— ("taken in," as it was called, i.e. to the barn from the yard)—he wanted it done within a given limit; and the lotman had often to work extra hours. He was occasionally the first astir on the farm, in order to provide the necessary supply of straw for the day. In the case of a small farm or large croft, where the threshing was done by a member of the family, or, it might be, a fee'd servant, it was often the practice to make provision for the day's use by threshing a few sheaves—or rather "thraves"—every morning. Mossgiel, as leased by the brothers Burns, was such a farm. It extended to a hundred and twenty acres, was worked by two pairs of horses—the very natures of which are on record: witness "the red-wud Kilburnie blastie"—and was managed by Gilbert and "three mischievous boys" serving under the poet's superintendence. The three farm lads were
"A gadsman ane, a thresher t'ither,
Wee Davoc hauds the nowt in fother."
You can read the rest of this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ton/lotman.htm
The other essays can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/haliburton
History of Scotland
-------------------
By Wm Robertson
This is part of the Works of Wm. Robertson and it's actually my intention to bring you all his works over time but to start we're doing his "History of Scotland" which got very favourable reviews at the time and so much so he was asked by the King to do a History of England.
The History is now going up and this week we've added...
Book 6 which starts in the year 1570.
These can be read, along with a small biography of him at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...on_william.htm
Glencreggan: or A Highland Home in Cantire
------------------------------------------
By Cuthbert Bede (1861)
This week we put up Chapter VII - The Old Scottish Capital
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/glencreggan/
Arran of the Bens, The Glens and the Brave
------------------------------------------
By MacKenzie MacBride FSA Scot (1911)
This week we've added...
PART I: THE CHARM OF ARRAN
Chapter I.
The Charm of Arran
Chapter II.
The Land between Sky and Water, The Holy Island
Chapter III.
Arran's Romances, King Robert Bruce, Cromwell and Arran
PART II: HISTORICAL REMAINS
Chapter IV.
Arran's Ancient Chapels - Kilbride, Kilmory, Shisken Chapel, Sannox Chapel, Glen Ashdale Chapel
Chapter V.
Arran's Castles - Brodick Castle, Lochranza Castle, The Geology of Arran
Chapter VI.
The Caves of Arran - Fingal's Cave, The Preaching Cave at Kilpatrick, The Wondrous Baul of Saint Muluy
PART III: ARRAN IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
Chapter VII.
Arran in the Eighteenth Century - The Old Runrig System, John Burrell, His Scheme of Improvement, The Great Revolution, Smuggling in Arran, Famous Arran Prechers, The Arran Evictions, What Pennant Saw, Arran and the Forty Five
This book can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/arran/
Harry Lauder
------------
we've now got several songs up for you to listen to...
Grannie's Laddy
The Laddies who fought and won
Don't let us sing any more about War
We Parted on the Shore
Breakfast In Bed
I Like My Old Home Town
This page can be found at http://www.electricscotland.com/poet...derson/lauder/
Robert Burns Lives!
-------------------
Edited by Frank R. Shaw, FSA Scot, Dawsonville, GA, USA
We now have the 100th chapter for you to read...
There is something magical about the number 100. Remember your first $100 bill? I sure do! I can remember when my dream in college was to make $100 a week. I recently met a lovely lady in Greenville, South Carolina during a visit to speak to the Greenville American History Club. She was a vivacious and beautiful 97-year-old who will quite likely live past her 100th birthday. For years I had a much older friend from New Orleans who was much younger in spirit than I, and he lived into his 100th year. I have been writing and editing the Robert Burns Lives! web site for several years and it now consists of 99 articles. I wanted the 100th to be something special, a song of joy and a celebration of history. What better way to celebrate my 100th article than to write about the 100th anniversary of Atlanta’s Robert Burns Cottage? Imagine, 100 articles and, much more importantly, a cottage built in 1910, celebrating its 100th anniversary!
The Burns cottage is unique and as current club president Eddie Morgan was recently quoted in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “It’s a very special place.” It honors Scotland’s Poet, Robert Burns. The cottage still opens its doors, 100 years later, for members and their guests the first Wednesday of each month. It was built by men of vision with Joseph Jacobs being the leader of the pack. Who was he? Well, when Dr. John Pemberton, a pharmacist from Atlanta, concocted an unknown drink, he walked down the street one day in May 1886 to Jacobs’ Pharmacy and history, as well as billions of dollars, were made over the years when owner Jacobs added a wee bit of carbonated water to the syrupy drink putting Coca-Cola “within arms reach” of millions of people who were seeking the “pause that refreshes”.
You can read this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives100.htm
You can read other articles in this series at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...rank/burns.htm
Dr Duncan of Ruthwell
---------------------
Founder of Savings Banks by his great grand-daughter Sophy Hall (1910)
BEFORE allowing this small tribute to my great-grandfather's memory to appear, I should like to express my pleasure in being able to publish it through Messrs Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier of Edinburgh, who have been so long and so closely associated with my family. More than a hundred years ago this firm published the first of the many books entrusted to them by Dr Duncan. His life, written by his son, the Rev. George John Duncan, was also issued by them; and now, after a gap of one generation, this small sketch of mine once more brings the same family into relations with this house. My particular thanks are due to Mr Alexander Cargill, Manager of the Edinburgh Savings Bank, for his interest in my great grandfather's memory. Nearly two years ago I wrote to Mr Cargill to find out whether there had been any memorial to commemorate Dr Duncan's work in Edinburgh. In his courteous reply he said,
"I am sorry to say that there is neither stone nor statue, or indeed a memorial of any kind, erected to his memory, although I should have rejoiced, along with several others interested in Savings Banks, to see in the capital city a memorial to such a great and good man."
Himself an enthusiast on the subject of thrift, Mr Cargill has spared neither pains nor trouble in connection with the Centenary of Scottish Savings Banks, to be celebrated in Edinburgh this year.
Dumfries, the county of Dr Duncan's adoption, is rich in memorials of him. In the town the Savings Bank itself is dedicated to his memory, and his statue is in front, holding a scroll. This important building, as it now is, was once represented by a single room in Chapel Street, Dumfrie; "the counter or telling table consisted of two planks placed over a couple of barrels, lighted by dip candles." In his own parish an obelisk marks the scene of his many labours. The beautiful Runic cross he rescued from destruction stands in the parish church.
Throughout his long and fruitful life, Dr Duncan laboured to make the people thrifty and independent. His great conception, the creation of Savings Banks, has proved a national blessing. He wished for no recognition; he asked for no recompense. His text was, "I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is day; the night cometh when no man can work."
SOPHY HALL.
LONDON, January 1910.
we have the first 3 chapters up...
Chapter I
Birth—Education—Ordination—Marriage—Ruthwell Volunteers—Visit of the "Society of Friends".
Chapter II
Poor Laws—First Literary Efforts—Publication of the "Dumfries Courier".
Chapter III
Savings Banks founded—Visit to London—Savings Bank Bill.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../duncanndx.htm
Lord Elgin
----------
By John George Bourinot (1903)
The late Sir John Bourinot had completed and revised the following pages some months before his lamented death. The book represents more satisfactorily, perhaps, than anything else that he has written the author's breadth of political vision and his concrete mastery of historical fact. The life of Lord Elgin required to be written by one possessed of more than ordinary insight into the interesting aspects of constitutional law. That it has been singularly well presented must be the conclusion of all who may read this present narrative.
But eminent as have been the services of many of the governors whose memories are still cherished by the people of Canada, no one among them stands on a higher plane than James, eighth earl of Elgin and twelfth earl of Kincardine, whose public career in Canada I propose to recall in the following narrative. He possessed to a remarkable degree those qualities of mind and heart which enabled him to cope most successfully with the racial and political difficulties which met him at the outset of his administration, during a very critical period of Canadian history. Animated by the loftiest motives, imbued with a deep sense of the responsibilities of his office, gifted with a rare power of eloquent expression, possessed of sound judgment and infinite discretion, never yielding to dictates of passion but always determined to be patient and calm at moments of violent public excitement, conscious of the advantages of compromise and conciliation in a country peopled like Canada, entering fully into the aspirations of a young people for self-government, ready to concede to French Canadians their full share in the public councils, anxious to build up a Canadian nation without reference to creed or race--this distinguished nobleman must be always placed by a Canadian historian in the very front rank of the great administrators happily chosen from time to time by the imperial state for the government of her dominions beyond the sea. No governor-general, it is safe to say, has come nearer to that ideal, described by Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, when secretary of state for the colonies, in a letter to Sir George Bowen, himself distinguished for the ability with which he presided over the affairs of several colonial dependencies. "Remember," said Lord Lytton, to give that eminent author and statesman his later title, "that the first care of a governor in a free colony is to shun the reproach of being a party man. Give all parties, and all the ministries formed, the fairest play.... After all, men are governed as much by the heart as by the head. Evident sympathy in the progress of the colony; traits of kindness, generosity, devoted energy, where required for the public weal; a pure exercise of patronage; an utter absence of vindictiveness or spite; the fairness that belongs to magnanimity: these are the qualities that make governors powerful, while men merely sharp and clever may be weak and detested."
And so we hope you'll enjoy this book and we already have the first 3 chapters up which can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rdelginndx.htm
Scots in Asia
-------------
I've found some more information on Scots in Asia and to this page we already have...
A small summary of some Scottish connections in Asia
Information from the St. Andrews Society of Singapore
But this week have added...
A Short History of British India Steam Navigation
Jardine Matheson & Co
Thomas Sutherland
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/asia/index.htm
Pentland
--------
We got in an email giving us some information on the name Pentland which you can read at http://www.electricscotland.com/webc...r/pentlnd2.htm
And to finish...
A Golfer's Poem
In My Hand I Hold a Ball
White And Dimpled, Rather Small.
Oh, How Bland It Does Appear,
This Harmless Looking Little Sphere.
By Its Size I Could Not Guess,
The Awesome Strength It Does Possess.
But Since I Fell Beneath Its Spell,
I've Wandered Through The Fires Of Hell.
My Life Has Not Been Quite The Same,
Since I Chose To Play This Stupid Game.
It Rules My Mind For Hours On End,
A Fortune It Has Made Me Spend.
It Has Made Me Yell, Curse And Cry,
I Hate Myself And Want To Die.
It Promises A Thing Called Par,
If I Can Hit It Straight And Far.
To Master Such A Tiny Ball,
Should Not Be Very Hard At All.
But My Desires The Ball Refuses,
And Does Exactly As It Chooses.
It Hooks And Slices, Dribbles And Dies,
And Even Disappears Before My Eyes.
Often It Will Have A Whim,
To Hit A Tree! Or Take A Swim!
With Miles Of Grass On Which To Land,
It Finds A Tiny Patch Of Sand.
Then Has Me Offering Up My Soul,
If Only It Would Find The Hole.
It's Made Me Whimper Like A Pup,
And Swear That I Will Give It Up.
And Take To Drink To Ease My Sorrow,
But The Ball Knows ... I'll Be Back Tomorrow.
And that's it for now and hope you all have a good weekend :-)
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com
--------
Electric Scotland News
Electric Scotland Community
The Flag in the Wind
Geikie's Etchings
Historical Tales of the Wars of Scotland
Robert Chambers - Songs of Scotland
Notes and Reminscences of Partick
History of the Gipsies
Lays of the Covenanters
The Scottish Reformation
Essays of Hugh Haliburton
History of Scotland
Glencreggan: or A Highland Home in Cantire
Arran of the Bens, The Glens and the Brave
Harry Lauder
Robert Burns Lives!
Dr Duncan of Ruthwell (New Book)
Lord Elgin (New Book)
Scots in Asia
Pentland
Electric Scotland News
----------------------
I've discovered a book about a Scots missionary in Jamaica which reveals an amazing tale of his work there and how he made a very positive contribution to that country. The book has very faint type but I believe it's important to reveal yet another country where the Scots played a major role. And so I'll struggle through ocr'ing this onto the site.
-----
I got in a communication from Scottish Development International but whether than means they will actually provide content for us or not is still up in the air.
-----
Far too much time taken up this week with domestic issues. I did also squeeze in a Knights Templar meeting in Toronto. This was an important meeting as it was time to decide the way forward on many issues that had been deferred due to us running the International convention. We have excellent new Kinghts and Dames that are enthusiastic and some are suggesting novel ways to raise money for our charitable projects and being very ambitious on the sums they think they can raise.
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 in our site menu and at http://www.electricscotland.com/rss/whatsnew.php
Electric Scotland Community
---------------------------
Some interesting new messages this week with one about some arial pictures of WWI battlefields. Quite a few messages also include YouTube videos and certainly worth a browse.
I also added some messages about Scottish Business this week and quite by chance I also stumbled upon a lecture by Professor Tom Devine - An Empire of Commerce: Three Centuries of Scottish Enterprise in the East. You can view this at http://www.electricscotland.org/show...se-in-the-East
I also did a wee profile on Andy Stewart and also Dad's Army.
And I also put up a music video from India. On this last one I used to enjoy Indian music when I used to work in Birmingham in England and often played a tape of it in the car. As I note India is now our fifth most visiting country thought I'd add one in for them.
Our community can be viewed at http://www.electricscotland.org/forum.php
THE FLAG IN THE WIND
--------------------
This weeks issue is now available compiled by Donnie MacNeill.
You can get to the Flag at http://www.scotsindependent.org
Christina McKelvie's weekly diary is available at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...lvie/index.htm
Geikie's Etchings
-----------------
This week we've added more articles...
The Jolly Beggars
Dinna Mak' Ower Bare
And here is the story of "Dinna Mak' Ower Bare"...
THE humblest individual amongst mankind has frequent opportunities of performing kind and friendly actions to those around him, without making any sacrifice of his own interest, or trenching materially upon his own particular duties, which, independently of a most valuable and sure reward — the approval of his own conscience — may be, and often are, returned manifold, with the grateful thanks of a deeply-obliged brother. We are therefore clearly of opinion that were mankind truly alive to their own interest, and felt anxious to promote their own happiness, we would witness many more instances of practical philanthropy, and gratifying proofs of the fact, that the whole human race constitute in reality but "one vast family of brothers," and that every member was fully aware of the moral obligations under which he was laid to sustain and reciprocate all the duties which arose from such a connection, and that it was also imperative on him often to step beyond the contracted sphere of mere self-interest, that he may accomplish something beneficial to society at large. To those who feel in this way, we are sure this graphic etching will prove a study at once pleasing and instructive.
This group is composed of four "Scotsmen," evidently belonging to the class of agricultural labourers, who in all probability, after having received an ordinary share of education, left their paternal roof at the age of eight or ten years, to act in the capacity of herds to farmers in the neighbourhood, where, during their leisure hours, they acquired the habit of performing many little thrifty jobs, both for themselves and their fellow-servants, such as knitting and darning their own stockings, sewing on a button, and mending their own shoes — the finer sort of needlework, such as making a new or mending an old shirt, or hemming a handkerchief, being invariably done by the females; while the males in return mended the shoes of the former, besides shaving themselves when that came to be necessary, and cropping one another's heads; and many of this class we have known to have acquired a wonderful proficiency and no small degree of celebrity as gratuitous hairdressers.
Here they are now, in the afternoon of life, busily engaged in practising the same virtue, when the more important labours of the day were ended. We have here also a little dog, the only creature not actually employed; nevertheless, no one will fail to observe the peculiarly complaisant and contented look which the artist has given him, and which harmonises so admirably with the other personages, and the grave work in which they are engaged. He appears just now in his own natural shape, and in his own proper character; but we would not be at all surprised to learn that the most frolicsome of the bipeds, when their own cropping was finished, had put himself to no small trouble, and exposed himself to some degree of danger, in attempting to transform the docile, unassuming, and affectionate Luath into the similitude of a beast of prey—namely, a lion. At present, however, all of them are "sober as judges, and gentle as lambs," and the work goes on "slowly but surely."
One of them has just escaped from the hands of the chief operator, and is kindly assisted by another, who is waiting his turn to be shorn, in rubbing and blowing away the troublesome short-cut hairs which have been left loose on his head and neck. Now, we request the reader to contrast this man's conduct with that of the man who is constantly seeking, and who is overjoyed when he finds, "a hair in the neck of his neighbour," and that for a malicious purpose, when he will appreciate more fully this act of kindness; and, in the meantime, another unshorn personage has laid aside his hat and neckcloth, wrapped himself in a sort of sheet, probably borrowed for the occasion, and seated himself on the ground, submitting his venerable head to the same operation — a head, by the way, on which we can plainly trace the sad effects of time's tweezers, and on his face a "line engraving," in a state of great forwardness, by the same hand. The poor old man thus situated, at once perceiving that the would-be barber had commenced a furious attack on a part of his head where there was certainly no redundancy of hair, solemnly exclaims, "Dinna mak' it ower bare;" but he, notwithstanding the reasonable request and seasonable admonition of him who is fairly in his power, goes on with the work, and probably finishes it according to his own fancy or caprice. Reader, this is the way of the world. Those who have the power very often have also the will to exercise it, as in this case. In a thoughtless, others in a harsh, and not a few in a tyrannical manner.
Now, to ilka gudewife in Scotland, when buttering a bannock for the herd-laddie — when making the shearers' parritch, or skimming the milk which is destined to be served up along with them—when besieging her gudeman's purse, in order that she may purchase for herself and for her daughters various expensive articles of holiday dress — when serving the poor wandering mendicant wi' an amous, or giving out the straw, old sacks, and blankets for his humble couch, when he happens to lodge a night with them, we would address the same request, "Dinna mak' it ower bare."
And to ilka gudeman, when about to pay his servants' well-earned wages — when plucking the tails and manes of his horses, for the purpose of making a hair tether — when he feels inclined to allow his cattle to graze beyond his own "march" — and when he is superintending reapers in his own field—we would earnestly address the same petition, and that principally for the sake of the poor gleaners who may come after — not only those of his own species, who "glean through the day and gang name at e'en," but also many a wee sleekit, cow'rin', tim'rous beastie," that is doomed to pass the dreary months of winter In the same field—Oh, "dinna mak' it ower bare!" And to some others we would say, and, if possible, still more emphatically — When invited to partake of your neighbour's bread and cheese, share the contents of his snuff and tobacco box, and, above all, when you are granted the privilege of exercising the scissors and comb on the head of a man of three-score years, "Dinna mak' it ower bare."
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ikie/index.htm
Historical Tales of the Wars of Scotland
----------------------------------------
And of the Border Raids, Forays and Conflicts by John Parker Lawson (1839). This is a new publication we're starting on which is in 3 volumes. We intend to post up 2 or 3 stories each week until complete.
This week we've added...
Conflict At Tannach - 1464
The Raid of Lauder - 1482
The Battle of Sauchieburn - 1486
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/wars/
Robert Chambers
---------------
Robert Chambers is a famous author and publisher and we do carry a few of his publications on our site such as the 3 volume Domestic Annals of Scotland and his 4 volume Biographical Dictionary of Significant Scots.
John Henderson found his 2 volume Songs of Scotland which we both agree is a fabulous resource and so we are going to add this to the site in small chuncks in pdf format for you to enjoy.
This week we added...
Pages 319 to 386
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ers_robert.htm
Notes and Reminscences of Partick
---------------------------------
By James Napier (1873)
This is another of those books that don't have any chapters and is around 300 pages. We're splitting this book up into a logical sequence of pdf files for you to read and will be easier to download. Partick is now a suburb of Glasgow.
We have up this week...
Part 10 (Pages 206 - 230)
This can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/partick/
History of the Gipsies
----------------------
By James Simson (1866)
All these chapters are a substantial read but certainly most interesting. There are a huge amount of footnotes in this publication so have done my best to incorporate them into the text.
This week we have completed this book by adding...
Disquisition on the Past, Present and Future of Gipsydom Part 2
Disquisition on the Past, Present and Future of Gipsydom Part 3
Part 2 starts...
Let a Lowlander, in times that are past, but have cast up a Highlander's blood to him, and what would have been the consequences? "Her ainsel would have drawn her dirk, or whipped out her toasting-iron, and seen which was the prettiest man." Let the same have been done to a Scottish Gipsy, in comparatively recent times, and he would have taken his own peculiar revenge. See how the Baillies, as mentioned under the chapter of Tweed-dale and Clydesdale Gipsies, mounted on horseback, and with drawn swords in their hands, threatened death to all who opposed them, foi an affront offered to their mother. Twit a respectable Gipsy with his blood, at the present day, and he would suffer in silence; for, by getting into a passion, he would let himself out. For this reason, it would be unmanly to hint it to him, in any tone of disparagement. The difference of feeling between the two races, at the present day, proceeds from positive ignorance on the part of the native towards the other; an ignorance in which the Gipsy would rather allow him to remain; for, let him turn himself in whatever direction he may, he imagines he sees, and perhaps does see, nothing but a dark mountain of prejudice existing between him and every other of his fellow-creatures. He would rather retain his incognito, and allow his race to go down to posterity shrouded in its present mystery. The history of the Gipsy race in Scotland, more, perhaps, than in any other country, shows, to the eye of the world, as few traces of its existence as would a fox, in passing over a ploughed field. The farmer might see the foot-prints of reynard, but how is he to find reynard himself? He must bring out the dogs and have a hunt for him. As an Indian of the prairie, while on the "war path," cunningly arranges the long grass into its natural position, as he passes through it, to prevent his enemy following him, so has the Scottish Gipsy, as he entered upon a settled life, destroyed, to the eye of the ordinary native, every trace of his being a Gipsy. Still, I cannot doubt but that he has misgivings that, some day, he will be called up to judgment, and that all about him will be exposed to the world.
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...chapter11b.htm
Other chapters can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/gipsies/
Lays of the Covenanters
-----------------------
By James Dodds (1880)
This week we've added...
Kenwick in the Cottage of John Brown of Priesthill
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/covenanters/
The Scottish Reformation
------------------------
A Historical Sketch by Peter Lorimer D.D. (1860)
As some of you will know there is to be a special celebration of the 450th anniversary of the Scottish Reformation during November in Scotland. I thought that this would be a good time to make this book available so you can read up on it.
We have now completed this book with the following sections...
Chapter III.—The Knox Period, a. d. 1555—1560
Section 5. Civil War. Treaty with England. Siege of Leith. 1559—1560
Section 6. The Parliament of 1560
Section 7. The Organization of the Reformed Church of Scotland
In Chapter III section 5 it starts...
The struggle was now to pass into the phase of civil war—a war not only of religious freedom, but of national independence —a war of emancipation, not only from the yoke of Rome, but from the yoke of France.
As a religious conflict, the success of the Reformation was already virtually decided. Thirty-four years of faithful testimony to the truth, at an immense expense of suffering and blood, had at length gained over the national mind to the side of religious reform; and in two short months the altars and the idols of superstition had been destroyed, amidst the acclamations of the people, in ten of the principal towns of the kingdom, including both the ecclesiastical and the civil capitals. These two months had also virtually decided the conflict, viewed as a trial of material strength between two native Scottish parties. Apart from the French forces, it was now no longer doubtful with which party the advantage of numbers and resources lay. The nobles were rapidly going over to the camp of the Reformers, and the last scene of the brief campaign just concluded was an interview between the Lords of the Congregation and the two most powerful noblemen of the kingdom, the Duke and the Earl of Huntley, in which both the latter had promised to join them, if the Regent should discover any intention to add to the number of her French auxiliaries—a promise which they had speedily occasion to fulfil. It was now evident, therefore, that the material as well as the moral strength of the nation was on the side of reform, and that the sole reliance of the Regent and the bishops was on foreign aid. If the yoke of Rome was still to be pressed down upon the neck of the nation, it could only be by the help of the veteran legions of France; and now that that was the policy which was to be energetically pursued, it became clear to almost all Scotsmen that the struggle had become one of patriotism as well as of religion—a struggle against French interference and dictation, as well as against the Pope of Rome. The history of the next twelve months is the history of a civil war, in which the nation, aided by England, appears in arms against its rulers, aided by France. It is a history of the deepest interest to the Scottish people. That war was the very hinge and crisis of their national destiny; the fiery purgatory through which they passed from the corruption and dregs of mediaeval bondage and superstition, into the happy condition of light and liberty, which, with steadily advancing though often interrupted development, has marked their modern life. But a civil war need only be hastily sketched in a history of religious life. We can only touch the principal events, referring the reader for details to the works of civil historians.
This book is available at http://www.electricscotland.com/bibl...tion/index.htm
Essays of Hugh Haliburton
--------------------------
I am extracting some of his essays that detail Scottish Life and Character from his various works. This week we've added...
The Lotman
The entirely primitive occupation of the lotman only went out of fashion at the opening of the current century, and his name, ceasing to be used, is already all but forgotten. The lotman was the thresher, and he was to be found erewhile on every farm of the Lowlands. It was a small farm that employed but one. A farm that was worked by four pairs of horses required the services of two pairs of threshers. They were named "lotmen" from taking the stuff by lot—2X so much per boll, the custom of the country-side regulating their charge. The phrase is still common: farm produce—chiefly potatoes, but even corn also—is still sold "in lots to suit purchasers." Though he thus worked by the piece, the lotman's time was not at his own making: if a farmer wanted a stack threshed— ("taken in," as it was called, i.e. to the barn from the yard)—he wanted it done within a given limit; and the lotman had often to work extra hours. He was occasionally the first astir on the farm, in order to provide the necessary supply of straw for the day. In the case of a small farm or large croft, where the threshing was done by a member of the family, or, it might be, a fee'd servant, it was often the practice to make provision for the day's use by threshing a few sheaves—or rather "thraves"—every morning. Mossgiel, as leased by the brothers Burns, was such a farm. It extended to a hundred and twenty acres, was worked by two pairs of horses—the very natures of which are on record: witness "the red-wud Kilburnie blastie"—and was managed by Gilbert and "three mischievous boys" serving under the poet's superintendence. The three farm lads were
"A gadsman ane, a thresher t'ither,
Wee Davoc hauds the nowt in fother."
You can read the rest of this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ton/lotman.htm
The other essays can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/haliburton
History of Scotland
-------------------
By Wm Robertson
This is part of the Works of Wm. Robertson and it's actually my intention to bring you all his works over time but to start we're doing his "History of Scotland" which got very favourable reviews at the time and so much so he was asked by the King to do a History of England.
The History is now going up and this week we've added...
Book 6 which starts in the year 1570.
These can be read, along with a small biography of him at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...on_william.htm
Glencreggan: or A Highland Home in Cantire
------------------------------------------
By Cuthbert Bede (1861)
This week we put up Chapter VII - The Old Scottish Capital
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/glencreggan/
Arran of the Bens, The Glens and the Brave
------------------------------------------
By MacKenzie MacBride FSA Scot (1911)
This week we've added...
PART I: THE CHARM OF ARRAN
Chapter I.
The Charm of Arran
Chapter II.
The Land between Sky and Water, The Holy Island
Chapter III.
Arran's Romances, King Robert Bruce, Cromwell and Arran
PART II: HISTORICAL REMAINS
Chapter IV.
Arran's Ancient Chapels - Kilbride, Kilmory, Shisken Chapel, Sannox Chapel, Glen Ashdale Chapel
Chapter V.
Arran's Castles - Brodick Castle, Lochranza Castle, The Geology of Arran
Chapter VI.
The Caves of Arran - Fingal's Cave, The Preaching Cave at Kilpatrick, The Wondrous Baul of Saint Muluy
PART III: ARRAN IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
Chapter VII.
Arran in the Eighteenth Century - The Old Runrig System, John Burrell, His Scheme of Improvement, The Great Revolution, Smuggling in Arran, Famous Arran Prechers, The Arran Evictions, What Pennant Saw, Arran and the Forty Five
This book can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/arran/
Harry Lauder
------------
we've now got several songs up for you to listen to...
Grannie's Laddy
The Laddies who fought and won
Don't let us sing any more about War
We Parted on the Shore
Breakfast In Bed
I Like My Old Home Town
This page can be found at http://www.electricscotland.com/poet...derson/lauder/
Robert Burns Lives!
-------------------
Edited by Frank R. Shaw, FSA Scot, Dawsonville, GA, USA
We now have the 100th chapter for you to read...
There is something magical about the number 100. Remember your first $100 bill? I sure do! I can remember when my dream in college was to make $100 a week. I recently met a lovely lady in Greenville, South Carolina during a visit to speak to the Greenville American History Club. She was a vivacious and beautiful 97-year-old who will quite likely live past her 100th birthday. For years I had a much older friend from New Orleans who was much younger in spirit than I, and he lived into his 100th year. I have been writing and editing the Robert Burns Lives! web site for several years and it now consists of 99 articles. I wanted the 100th to be something special, a song of joy and a celebration of history. What better way to celebrate my 100th article than to write about the 100th anniversary of Atlanta’s Robert Burns Cottage? Imagine, 100 articles and, much more importantly, a cottage built in 1910, celebrating its 100th anniversary!
The Burns cottage is unique and as current club president Eddie Morgan was recently quoted in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “It’s a very special place.” It honors Scotland’s Poet, Robert Burns. The cottage still opens its doors, 100 years later, for members and their guests the first Wednesday of each month. It was built by men of vision with Joseph Jacobs being the leader of the pack. Who was he? Well, when Dr. John Pemberton, a pharmacist from Atlanta, concocted an unknown drink, he walked down the street one day in May 1886 to Jacobs’ Pharmacy and history, as well as billions of dollars, were made over the years when owner Jacobs added a wee bit of carbonated water to the syrupy drink putting Coca-Cola “within arms reach” of millions of people who were seeking the “pause that refreshes”.
You can read this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives100.htm
You can read other articles in this series at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...rank/burns.htm
Dr Duncan of Ruthwell
---------------------
Founder of Savings Banks by his great grand-daughter Sophy Hall (1910)
BEFORE allowing this small tribute to my great-grandfather's memory to appear, I should like to express my pleasure in being able to publish it through Messrs Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier of Edinburgh, who have been so long and so closely associated with my family. More than a hundred years ago this firm published the first of the many books entrusted to them by Dr Duncan. His life, written by his son, the Rev. George John Duncan, was also issued by them; and now, after a gap of one generation, this small sketch of mine once more brings the same family into relations with this house. My particular thanks are due to Mr Alexander Cargill, Manager of the Edinburgh Savings Bank, for his interest in my great grandfather's memory. Nearly two years ago I wrote to Mr Cargill to find out whether there had been any memorial to commemorate Dr Duncan's work in Edinburgh. In his courteous reply he said,
"I am sorry to say that there is neither stone nor statue, or indeed a memorial of any kind, erected to his memory, although I should have rejoiced, along with several others interested in Savings Banks, to see in the capital city a memorial to such a great and good man."
Himself an enthusiast on the subject of thrift, Mr Cargill has spared neither pains nor trouble in connection with the Centenary of Scottish Savings Banks, to be celebrated in Edinburgh this year.
Dumfries, the county of Dr Duncan's adoption, is rich in memorials of him. In the town the Savings Bank itself is dedicated to his memory, and his statue is in front, holding a scroll. This important building, as it now is, was once represented by a single room in Chapel Street, Dumfrie; "the counter or telling table consisted of two planks placed over a couple of barrels, lighted by dip candles." In his own parish an obelisk marks the scene of his many labours. The beautiful Runic cross he rescued from destruction stands in the parish church.
Throughout his long and fruitful life, Dr Duncan laboured to make the people thrifty and independent. His great conception, the creation of Savings Banks, has proved a national blessing. He wished for no recognition; he asked for no recompense. His text was, "I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is day; the night cometh when no man can work."
SOPHY HALL.
LONDON, January 1910.
we have the first 3 chapters up...
Chapter I
Birth—Education—Ordination—Marriage—Ruthwell Volunteers—Visit of the "Society of Friends".
Chapter II
Poor Laws—First Literary Efforts—Publication of the "Dumfries Courier".
Chapter III
Savings Banks founded—Visit to London—Savings Bank Bill.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../duncanndx.htm
Lord Elgin
----------
By John George Bourinot (1903)
The late Sir John Bourinot had completed and revised the following pages some months before his lamented death. The book represents more satisfactorily, perhaps, than anything else that he has written the author's breadth of political vision and his concrete mastery of historical fact. The life of Lord Elgin required to be written by one possessed of more than ordinary insight into the interesting aspects of constitutional law. That it has been singularly well presented must be the conclusion of all who may read this present narrative.
But eminent as have been the services of many of the governors whose memories are still cherished by the people of Canada, no one among them stands on a higher plane than James, eighth earl of Elgin and twelfth earl of Kincardine, whose public career in Canada I propose to recall in the following narrative. He possessed to a remarkable degree those qualities of mind and heart which enabled him to cope most successfully with the racial and political difficulties which met him at the outset of his administration, during a very critical period of Canadian history. Animated by the loftiest motives, imbued with a deep sense of the responsibilities of his office, gifted with a rare power of eloquent expression, possessed of sound judgment and infinite discretion, never yielding to dictates of passion but always determined to be patient and calm at moments of violent public excitement, conscious of the advantages of compromise and conciliation in a country peopled like Canada, entering fully into the aspirations of a young people for self-government, ready to concede to French Canadians their full share in the public councils, anxious to build up a Canadian nation without reference to creed or race--this distinguished nobleman must be always placed by a Canadian historian in the very front rank of the great administrators happily chosen from time to time by the imperial state for the government of her dominions beyond the sea. No governor-general, it is safe to say, has come nearer to that ideal, described by Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, when secretary of state for the colonies, in a letter to Sir George Bowen, himself distinguished for the ability with which he presided over the affairs of several colonial dependencies. "Remember," said Lord Lytton, to give that eminent author and statesman his later title, "that the first care of a governor in a free colony is to shun the reproach of being a party man. Give all parties, and all the ministries formed, the fairest play.... After all, men are governed as much by the heart as by the head. Evident sympathy in the progress of the colony; traits of kindness, generosity, devoted energy, where required for the public weal; a pure exercise of patronage; an utter absence of vindictiveness or spite; the fairness that belongs to magnanimity: these are the qualities that make governors powerful, while men merely sharp and clever may be weak and detested."
And so we hope you'll enjoy this book and we already have the first 3 chapters up which can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rdelginndx.htm
Scots in Asia
-------------
I've found some more information on Scots in Asia and to this page we already have...
A small summary of some Scottish connections in Asia
Information from the St. Andrews Society of Singapore
But this week have added...
A Short History of British India Steam Navigation
Jardine Matheson & Co
Thomas Sutherland
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/asia/index.htm
Pentland
--------
We got in an email giving us some information on the name Pentland which you can read at http://www.electricscotland.com/webc...r/pentlnd2.htm
And to finish...
A Golfer's Poem
In My Hand I Hold a Ball
White And Dimpled, Rather Small.
Oh, How Bland It Does Appear,
This Harmless Looking Little Sphere.
By Its Size I Could Not Guess,
The Awesome Strength It Does Possess.
But Since I Fell Beneath Its Spell,
I've Wandered Through The Fires Of Hell.
My Life Has Not Been Quite The Same,
Since I Chose To Play This Stupid Game.
It Rules My Mind For Hours On End,
A Fortune It Has Made Me Spend.
It Has Made Me Yell, Curse And Cry,
I Hate Myself And Want To Die.
It Promises A Thing Called Par,
If I Can Hit It Straight And Far.
To Master Such A Tiny Ball,
Should Not Be Very Hard At All.
But My Desires The Ball Refuses,
And Does Exactly As It Chooses.
It Hooks And Slices, Dribbles And Dies,
And Even Disappears Before My Eyes.
Often It Will Have A Whim,
To Hit A Tree! Or Take A Swim!
With Miles Of Grass On Which To Land,
It Finds A Tiny Patch Of Sand.
Then Has Me Offering Up My Soul,
If Only It Would Find The Hole.
It's Made Me Whimper Like A Pup,
And Swear That I Will Give It Up.
And Take To Drink To Ease My Sorrow,
But The Ball Knows ... I'll Be Back Tomorrow.
And that's it for now and hope you all have a good weekend :-)
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com
Comment