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CONTENTS
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Electric Scotland News
Electric Scotland Community
The Flag in the Wind
Geikie's Etchings
Historical Tales of the Wars of Scotland
Glencreggan: or A Highland Home in Cantire
Kay's Edinburgh Portraits
William McTaggart, R.S.A., V.P.R.S.W.
Ten Tales by Sir Harry Lauder
The Lairds of Glenlyon: Historical Sketches
Traditions of Perth
Glasgow and it's Clubs
The Scot in England
Thomas Carlyle - A biography (Complete new book)
Books on Clans
Essay on Robert Burns
Electric Scotland News
----------------------
Seeing as this week we'll be having Burns Suppers thought I'd mention the Robert Burns App for those with an iPhone. It's free and You can read about it at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Rele...11/01/18135558
It's a free app produced by the Scottish Parliament.
There is also a very good web site about Robert Burns, again produced by the Scottish Parliament, at http://www.scotland.org/culture/festivals/burns-night/
And of course we do have loads of info on Robert Burns on our site at http://www.electricscotland.com/burns
-----
I've discovered a Scottish author that was brought up in a manse in a wee glen in Scotland. He then travelled to India, New Zealand and Australia where he worked for a time in each country. He later wrote a book about being brought up in the Manse and remembers some of the issues when the church went through the Disruption when he was a wee boy. This is in the second half of the nineteenth century. He went on to write books about his 15 years in India and then another two books about his time in Australia and New Zealand. I thought it would be interesting to bring you all four books so am starting to work on this project.
-----
I also note that Poet and playwright Liz Lochhead has been announced as Scotland's new Makar. The announcement was made by the First Minister Alex Salmond and former First Ministers Lord McConnell and Henry McLeish.
-----
I mentioned in my last newsletter about me getting a pension. I phoned the company this week and found out that I actually have 2 pensions with them!!!
I must confess this is becoming a bit more complicated as I was told that I should also consider an "Open Market Option". This means I can take 25% of the fund as a tax free lump sum but then take the balance of the fund under the Open Market Options and purchase an annuity from someone else. They say as I'm a smoker and a diabetic it could mean my regular pension could be up to 30% greater if I did that.
As I understand it this is a one off option as having decided to transfer you can't do it again.
I've also found out that it might be possible to transfer my old age pension, which of course isn't due for another five years, into the Canadian pension plan.
And so I've been busy trying to figure out what to do and as I searched the web I found a site, "ExPat Focus" at http://www.expatfocus.com/ which seems to be a useful portal for expats anywhere in the world.
So now I'm busy trying to get some advice and some quotes so I can make an informed decision on what to do. Life just got more complicated although I guess it's a nice problem to have :-)
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
---------------------------
We're just negotiating a contract to renew our bandwidth and so we're seeking to increase it and hopefully for the same price or even less. The reason is that we hope to bring a video chat service into the community but that would require more bandwidth.
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. I must say I'm really enjoying Donnie's compilation. I'm not sure if he has more time available that the others but he certainly covers a range of issues in very readable style.
You can get to the Flag at http://www.scotsindependent.org
Geikie's Etchings
-----------------
This week we've added more etchings...
Boy's Picture Book
Come to Mammy Dearie
A Group of Scots Folk
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...
Angus of the Isles - 1461
Bell the Cat - 1513
The Loch Lomdon Expedition - 1715
Naval Battles of the Scots.
And this completes Volume 1... lots more to come :-)
AN interesting account of Naval Battles of the Scots starts...
THE Scotish Navy commenced in the reign of James III., before which it was almost entirely neglected, at least there is a great lack of information respecting it previous to the time intimated. The Monks were the chief shipowners, and their peaceful barks, as well as those, such as
they were, belonging to private individuals, were almost exclusively occupied in mercantile affairs, seldom disturbed by foreigners, who took little interest in a country so miserably cultivated as Scotland was for several centuries. If we are to judge from existing evidence, comparatively few foreign ships visited the country previous to the accession of James III,, and the little trade was chiefly conducted by the natives, who exported from Flanders and other adjoining countries the most ordinary necessaries of life. Sometimes we read of fleets in early Scotish history. Somerled, Thane of Argyle, had a fleet of fifty-three ships in 1158, and another of a hundred and sixty in 1164.
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/wars/
Glencreggan: or A Highland Home in Cantire
------------------------------------------
By Cuthbert Bede (1861)
This week we put up Chapter XVII - Heather-Land
Awa' to the Moors! — Heatherland. — Beauty of Heather. — Foreign and native Heaths. — Uses of Heather. — Food and Shelter to Bird and Beast. — Heather Honey. — The Humble-bee. — Heather Beds.
— Heather Fuel. — Heather Ale. — Heather Tobacco. — Heather Tracks. — Highland botanical Heraldry. — Heather Heraldry. — Heather pictorially considered. — A Sketcher's Gun and Bag. — An extensive View, — Memories of Heatherland.
Mmmm... Heather tobacco? I've never heard of that one!!!
"Highlanders frequently chew the root like tobacco, asserting that a small quantity prevents the uneasy sensations of hunger."
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/glencreggan/
Kay's Edinburgh Portraits
-------------------------
A Series of Anecdotal Biographies chiefly of Scotchmen, Mostly by James Paterson and Edited by James Maidment (1885)
This week we have added...
Lord Newton, of the Court of Session
William Smellie, Author and Printer
Lord Dunsinnan, of the Court of Session
The Levelling of the High Street, Edinburgh
Thomas Neil, Wright and Precentor
Major Campbell, of the Thirty-fifth Regiment
Here is how the account starts of The Levelling of the High Street, Edinburgh...
The idea of levelling the High Street was entertained so far back as 1785; and the "contest" which ensued is a matter of some notoriety in the civic history of the Scottish capital. The projected improvement was one of considerable importance, as it contemplated the reduction of a very inconvenient and somewhat dangerous rise in the centre of the street, which greatly incommoded the communication by the north and south approaches. Under the patronage of Sir James Hunter Blair, then Lord Provost, the undertaking was acceded to by a majority of the Town Council, and an advertisement issued in consequence, stating that a contractor was wanted " to level the High Street, and to dig and carry away from it about 6000 cubic yards of earth." This advertisement was generally understood to mean simply the reduction of the "crown o' the causey" to a level with the sides; but, when the operation commenced, it was discovered that the plan was much more extensive, and that, in following it out, some parts of the street would require to be lowered more than five feet. The proprietors of houses and shops became alarmed. Meetings were called, and a serious and formidable opposition to the measure was organised. A bill of suspension and interdict (somewhat analogous to an injunction in England) was presented; and subsequently, on the 8th October, an interlocutor was pronounced, appointing a condescendence (or specification of facts) to be given in, showing in what manner the adjacent houses, vaults, &c, would be affected by the proposed alterations. Reports were then lodged by Messrs. Brown and Kay, on the part of the Town Council; and by Messrs. Young and Salisbury, on that of the proprietors. The bill of suspension was passed.
This municipal squabble was of course too good a subject for the genius of Kay to overlook; accordingly we are presented with a group of the persons most zealous and interested in this bone of contention.
You can read the rest of this account at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/kays/vol145.htm
The other entries can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/kays/index.htm
William McTaggart, R.S.A., V.P.R.S.W.
-------------------------------------
Painter and Artist and a man of considerable talents.
Chapter X. Style—Practice—Opinions
Art being a compromise between the artist's own feelings and technical skill, the legitimate claims of nature, and the special characteristics of the medium of expression, any readjustment in the relationship of these cardinal factors leads to alteration in the results attained. The ultimate issue, when the balance is struck, may be gain or it may be loss; but, almost invariably, progress involves both. Certain qualities are incompatible with certain other qualities, and the vital question is whether what is gained is of greater or of less importance than that which is lost.
In McTaggart's case the issue is clear. If his earlier work possesses some elements of beauty, which one misses in his later, or which his later seems to possess in less positive degree, it is because they have been sacrificed or minimised so that greater and more subtle beauties may prevail. What these are and what the significance of the modifications in technique, which accompanied their ever increasing dominance, form the theme of the early part of this chapter. The second section deals with his actual practice in the field and in the studio, and in the third an attempt has been made to indicate, from recollection of his talk and other sources, some of his ideas about art.
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rt_william.htm
Ten Tales
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By Sir Harry Lauder (1908)
We found this charming wee book and thought we'd add it to the site. We've added the next tale...
The Boiling Stone
and you can view this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...entalesndx.htm
The Lairds of Glenlyon: Historical Sketches
--------------------------------------------
Relating to the Districts of Appin, Glenlyon and Breadalbane by Duncan Campbell (1886)
We have now added chapters 19 to 24.
Chapter 22 again mentions the MacGregors and starts...
IT would have been no difficult matter, from the abundance of materials, to sketch the history of the M'Gregors downwards from the point at which we have broken off in last number—to show how, in the civil war, they once more raised their head, and under Patrick Roy, heir of Glenstrae, fought with loyalty so unflinching, and gallantry so conspicuous, as to merit the warmest thanks of the Marquis of Montrose, and obtain the written promise of the restitution of their old possessions, as soon as his Majesty was restored—to point out the sinister influence under which the solemn pledge was left unredeemed by the ungrateful Charles, and even the penal enactments revived, to reassure the hearts of the white-washed rebels, who battened on the spoil of the ruined clan—and to describe the firmness with which, for a century or more after the Restoration, they clung to clan-associations and hereditary traditions, in the face of many inducements to the contrary, until at last the British Parliament tardily abolished the Draconic Acts of King James, and gave back to the M'Gregors the only thing it then could—their ancient surname. But I am conscious of having already digressed too far from the subject matter; and besides, no commingling of history, no close bonds of connection with the family of Glenlyon, can be alleged as an excuse for dragging in posterior like former events. We shall therefore return to our old acquaintance, John Campbell, seventh Laird of Glenlyon, and to the period in his life at which we formerly left off—namely, the year 1714.
You can read the rest of this account at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../chapter22.htm
The other chapters can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...lyon/index.htm
Traditions of Perth
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Containing Sketches of the Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants during the last century by George Penny (1836)
We've now added Pages 38 to 65 and the first article is about the Kings birthday which starts...
George the Third's birth day was celebrated on the fourth of June. This being the most pleasant season of the year, it was held by every body as a holiday. Steam, boats and railways being yet among the mysteries of futurity, those who were disposed to ruralize, proceeded to the country on foot, with their families, to get curds and cream. Delightful walks were also supplied by the Town's-muir, and Craigie-hill; and the magnificent prospect from Kinnoul-hill, was open to the public, till the passing of the Reform Bill; when, by a curious coincidence, this walk was shut up exactly at the time the elective franchise was thrown open to the people. Early in the morning of the royal nativity, the fronts of the houses were profusely decorated with boughs and flowers, the principal streets presenting the appearance of an avenue In a wood. At twelve o'clock, the bells were set a ringing ; the great guns fired a royal salute; the military fired a feu dejoit; and the whole town turned out to see the sights, and give vent to their ardent feelings of loyalty. These were the days, when the people had not acquired the felicity of making themselves miserable; when the cry for Reform and Retrenchment was not heard; and when every sound politician judged of the prosperity of the state by the tension of his doublet.
In the afternoon, the Magistrates assembled in the Council Room, where the officers of the troops, the officers of customs, and a numerous company of strangers and gentry, were invited to join in drinking his Majesty's health. A band of music attended in the anti-room; and a body of troops was stationed in the street, who fired a volley every toast. No cost was spared on wines and sweetmeats; and each officer was presented' with a burgess ticket.
You can get to these pages at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/perth/
Glasgow and it's Clubs
----------------------
Or Glimpses of Conditions, Manners, Characters and Oddities of the City By John Strang LL.D. (1857)
This week we've added "Glasgow from 1750 to 1780—My Lord Ross's Club"
During the thirty years which immediately followed the establishment of the Anderston and Hodge-Podge Clubs, great changes had been gradually taking place in all things connected with Glasgow. Commerce and manufactures had given it a stimulating and onward progress; while science and the arts had added their mighty aid in effecting improvement. As proofs of the latter influence, it may be mentioned that in 1759 the first Act for deepening the river Clyde was obtained; and that in 1764 James Watt made his first model of a steam-engine, to the benefits derived from which Glasgow
and its harbour owe everything. Necessity and utilitarianism combined also to sweep away many of the old land-marks; and among these we find that—first in 1755, and again in 1788—the remains of the once celebrated Castle, or Episcopal Palace, (and which is first alluded to in 1300, when Edward the First had possession of nearly the whole low lands of Scotland,) began to be barbarously used, like the Amphitheatre of Vespasian at Eome, as a common quarry; its final demolition having
been postponed till the year 1789, when its whole ruins were removed to make room for the open space in front of the Royal Infirmary.
You can read this book as we get it up at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...w/clubsndx.htm
The Scot in England
-------------------
By John Herries McCulloch (1935)
We know have up...
Chapter I - An Unconquerable Breed
Chapter II - We Give England a King
Chapter III - We Give England a Prime Minister
Chapter IV - A Festival of Race Hatred
Chapter V - Scottish Support for English Art
Chapter VI - Guardians of John Bull's Health
Chapter VII - The Real Builders of England
Chapter VIII - New Power for England
In "The real Builders of England" the account starts...
England has produced great builders, particularly in the field of austere and ornamental architecture, but it is an indisputable fact that the men who planned and built the great commercial arteries of the country, thus enabling it to achieve the miraculous industrial expansion that followed the introduction of steam power, were Scotsmen. But for the practical genius of the men from the north, the traffic of England would not have been released from the chains that shackled it, and the miracle of the industrial revolution, then being brought about—again largely by Scots—would have been retarded indefinitely.
Scottish builders of outstanding skill had invaded London at the opening of the eighteenth century, and a glance at some of their achievements indicates how much the English metropolis owes to early Scottish architecture. James Gibb, born in Aberdeen in 1674, designed the beautiful church of St. Martin's. Sir William Chambers, another architect from the north, reared Somerset House. The Adam brothers, Robert and John, were the designers of Lansdowne House in Berkeley Square, Portland Place, and the Adelphi Buildings in the Strand.
In the middle of the century Robert Mylne, a penniless and friendless young Edinburgh architect, walked down to London to seek an outlet for his genius there. He left monuments to his skill in Rochester Cathedral, Greenwich Hospital, King's Weston, and other edifices of rare beauty. The greatest enterprise connected with his name, however, was Blackfriars Bridge. He planned it, and superintended its construction, and it reflected his genius at the high-water mark. It also demonstrated that Scotsmen had mastered the difficult art of constructing bridges of strength and beauty. [Scots are still masters of the art. The Tower Bridge of London was built by Sir William Arrol, who was born in Paisley in 1839, and who began life as a blacksmith. Sir George Washington Browne, a Scot, was the architect of St. Paul's Bridge.]
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...and/scot07.htm
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...nd/scotndx.htm
Thomas Carlyle
--------------
A biography of a man who is in the first rank of writers.
Four Scotchmen, bore within the limits of the same hundred years, all in the first rank of writers, if not of thinkers, represent much of the spirit of four successive generations. They are leading links in an intellectual chain.
David Hume (1711-1776) remains the most salient type, in our island, of the scepticism, half conservative, half destructive, but never revolutionary, which marked the third quarter of the eighteenth century. He had some points of intellectual contact with Voltaire, though substituting a staid temper and passionless logic for the incisive brilliancy of a mocking Mercury; he had no relation, save an unhappy personal one, to Rousseau.
Robert Burns (1759-1796), last of great lyriste inspired by a local genius, keenest of popular satirists, narrative poet of the people, spokesman of their higher as of their lower natures, stood on the verge between two eras. Half Jacobite, nursling of old minstrelsy, he was also half Jacobin, an early-born child of the upheaval that closed the century; as essentially a foe of Calvinism as Hume himself. Master musician of his race, he was, as Thomas Campbell notes, severed, for good and ill, from his fellow Scots by an utter want of their protecting or paralysing caution.
Walter Scott (1771-1832), broadest and most generous, if not loftiest of the group— "no sounder piece of British manhood," says Carlyle himself in his inadequate review, "was put together in that century" — the great revivalist of the mediaeval past, lighting up its scenes with a magic glamour, the wizard of northern tradition, was also, like Burns, the humorist of contemporary life. Dealing with Feudal themes, but in the manner of the Romantic school, he was the heir of the Troubadours, the sympathetic peer of Byron, and in his translation of Goetz von Berlichingen he laid the first rafters of our bridge to Germany.
Thomas Carlyle (1796-1881) is on the whole the strongest, though far from the finest spirit of the age succeeding — an age of criticism threatening to crowd creation out, of jostling interests and of surging streams, some of which he has striven to direct, more to stem. Even now what Mill twenty-five years ago wrote of Coleridge is still true of Carlyle: "The reading public is apt to be divided between those to whom his views are everything and those to whom they are nothing." But it is possible to extricate from a mass of often turbid eloquence the strands of his thought and to measure his influence by indicating its range.
Thanks to John Henderson for making this available to us. As is his usual way he has supplied us with the complete book in pdf format broken down by chapters. There are also a lot of pictures with this and we've made available the various chapters intersperced with the pictures.
This can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...yle_thomas.htm
Books on Clans
--------------
Thanks to Richard Krehbiel for sending me in a wee collection of pdf files on Scottish Clans. I've added two of them to our Clan index page, "McIan's Costumes of the Clans of Scotland" and the 2 volume "The Highlanders of Scotland: their origin, history, and antiquities" by Skene and you can find these in the second section of the page at http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans
I might add that I lost the card with his email address on it so hopefully he's reading this newsletter and will know the CD arrived for which many thanks.
Essay on Robert Burns
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By Thomas Carlyle.
This makes an interesting read and our thanks to John Henderson for finding it and sending it to us. You'll find this towards the foot of the page just before the two column poetry section. Also when you get to this page you'll also see "Auld Lang Syne" and clicking on that you'll find at the foot of the page a recording of the song and also another recording sung to the old tune.
You can get to this at http://www.electricscotland.com/burns
And to finish...
Cairo Calling
Did you hear about the Egyptian who settled in Glasgow and took a job as a private hire cab driver?
He was soon given the nickname by his colleagues of Tootandcomeoot.
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How!
There is a story told that some native Americans, billeted in Dennistoun, Glasgow strolled along Duke Street and stared in at a barber's window which displayed wigs, and believed the barber was a great warrior for taking so many scalps.
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
Glencreggan: or A Highland Home in Cantire
Kay's Edinburgh Portraits
William McTaggart, R.S.A., V.P.R.S.W.
Ten Tales by Sir Harry Lauder
The Lairds of Glenlyon: Historical Sketches
Traditions of Perth
Glasgow and it's Clubs
The Scot in England
Thomas Carlyle - A biography (Complete new book)
Books on Clans
Essay on Robert Burns
Electric Scotland News
----------------------
Seeing as this week we'll be having Burns Suppers thought I'd mention the Robert Burns App for those with an iPhone. It's free and You can read about it at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Rele...11/01/18135558
It's a free app produced by the Scottish Parliament.
There is also a very good web site about Robert Burns, again produced by the Scottish Parliament, at http://www.scotland.org/culture/festivals/burns-night/
And of course we do have loads of info on Robert Burns on our site at http://www.electricscotland.com/burns
-----
I've discovered a Scottish author that was brought up in a manse in a wee glen in Scotland. He then travelled to India, New Zealand and Australia where he worked for a time in each country. He later wrote a book about being brought up in the Manse and remembers some of the issues when the church went through the Disruption when he was a wee boy. This is in the second half of the nineteenth century. He went on to write books about his 15 years in India and then another two books about his time in Australia and New Zealand. I thought it would be interesting to bring you all four books so am starting to work on this project.
-----
I also note that Poet and playwright Liz Lochhead has been announced as Scotland's new Makar. The announcement was made by the First Minister Alex Salmond and former First Ministers Lord McConnell and Henry McLeish.
-----
I mentioned in my last newsletter about me getting a pension. I phoned the company this week and found out that I actually have 2 pensions with them!!!
I must confess this is becoming a bit more complicated as I was told that I should also consider an "Open Market Option". This means I can take 25% of the fund as a tax free lump sum but then take the balance of the fund under the Open Market Options and purchase an annuity from someone else. They say as I'm a smoker and a diabetic it could mean my regular pension could be up to 30% greater if I did that.
As I understand it this is a one off option as having decided to transfer you can't do it again.
I've also found out that it might be possible to transfer my old age pension, which of course isn't due for another five years, into the Canadian pension plan.
And so I've been busy trying to figure out what to do and as I searched the web I found a site, "ExPat Focus" at http://www.expatfocus.com/ which seems to be a useful portal for expats anywhere in the world.
So now I'm busy trying to get some advice and some quotes so I can make an informed decision on what to do. Life just got more complicated although I guess it's a nice problem to have :-)
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
---------------------------
We're just negotiating a contract to renew our bandwidth and so we're seeking to increase it and hopefully for the same price or even less. The reason is that we hope to bring a video chat service into the community but that would require more bandwidth.
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. I must say I'm really enjoying Donnie's compilation. I'm not sure if he has more time available that the others but he certainly covers a range of issues in very readable style.
You can get to the Flag at http://www.scotsindependent.org
Geikie's Etchings
-----------------
This week we've added more etchings...
Boy's Picture Book
Come to Mammy Dearie
A Group of Scots Folk
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...
Angus of the Isles - 1461
Bell the Cat - 1513
The Loch Lomdon Expedition - 1715
Naval Battles of the Scots.
And this completes Volume 1... lots more to come :-)
AN interesting account of Naval Battles of the Scots starts...
THE Scotish Navy commenced in the reign of James III., before which it was almost entirely neglected, at least there is a great lack of information respecting it previous to the time intimated. The Monks were the chief shipowners, and their peaceful barks, as well as those, such as
they were, belonging to private individuals, were almost exclusively occupied in mercantile affairs, seldom disturbed by foreigners, who took little interest in a country so miserably cultivated as Scotland was for several centuries. If we are to judge from existing evidence, comparatively few foreign ships visited the country previous to the accession of James III,, and the little trade was chiefly conducted by the natives, who exported from Flanders and other adjoining countries the most ordinary necessaries of life. Sometimes we read of fleets in early Scotish history. Somerled, Thane of Argyle, had a fleet of fifty-three ships in 1158, and another of a hundred and sixty in 1164.
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/wars/
Glencreggan: or A Highland Home in Cantire
------------------------------------------
By Cuthbert Bede (1861)
This week we put up Chapter XVII - Heather-Land
Awa' to the Moors! — Heatherland. — Beauty of Heather. — Foreign and native Heaths. — Uses of Heather. — Food and Shelter to Bird and Beast. — Heather Honey. — The Humble-bee. — Heather Beds.
— Heather Fuel. — Heather Ale. — Heather Tobacco. — Heather Tracks. — Highland botanical Heraldry. — Heather Heraldry. — Heather pictorially considered. — A Sketcher's Gun and Bag. — An extensive View, — Memories of Heatherland.
Mmmm... Heather tobacco? I've never heard of that one!!!
"Highlanders frequently chew the root like tobacco, asserting that a small quantity prevents the uneasy sensations of hunger."
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/glencreggan/
Kay's Edinburgh Portraits
-------------------------
A Series of Anecdotal Biographies chiefly of Scotchmen, Mostly by James Paterson and Edited by James Maidment (1885)
This week we have added...
Lord Newton, of the Court of Session
William Smellie, Author and Printer
Lord Dunsinnan, of the Court of Session
The Levelling of the High Street, Edinburgh
Thomas Neil, Wright and Precentor
Major Campbell, of the Thirty-fifth Regiment
Here is how the account starts of The Levelling of the High Street, Edinburgh...
The idea of levelling the High Street was entertained so far back as 1785; and the "contest" which ensued is a matter of some notoriety in the civic history of the Scottish capital. The projected improvement was one of considerable importance, as it contemplated the reduction of a very inconvenient and somewhat dangerous rise in the centre of the street, which greatly incommoded the communication by the north and south approaches. Under the patronage of Sir James Hunter Blair, then Lord Provost, the undertaking was acceded to by a majority of the Town Council, and an advertisement issued in consequence, stating that a contractor was wanted " to level the High Street, and to dig and carry away from it about 6000 cubic yards of earth." This advertisement was generally understood to mean simply the reduction of the "crown o' the causey" to a level with the sides; but, when the operation commenced, it was discovered that the plan was much more extensive, and that, in following it out, some parts of the street would require to be lowered more than five feet. The proprietors of houses and shops became alarmed. Meetings were called, and a serious and formidable opposition to the measure was organised. A bill of suspension and interdict (somewhat analogous to an injunction in England) was presented; and subsequently, on the 8th October, an interlocutor was pronounced, appointing a condescendence (or specification of facts) to be given in, showing in what manner the adjacent houses, vaults, &c, would be affected by the proposed alterations. Reports were then lodged by Messrs. Brown and Kay, on the part of the Town Council; and by Messrs. Young and Salisbury, on that of the proprietors. The bill of suspension was passed.
This municipal squabble was of course too good a subject for the genius of Kay to overlook; accordingly we are presented with a group of the persons most zealous and interested in this bone of contention.
You can read the rest of this account at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/kays/vol145.htm
The other entries can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/kays/index.htm
William McTaggart, R.S.A., V.P.R.S.W.
-------------------------------------
Painter and Artist and a man of considerable talents.
Chapter X. Style—Practice—Opinions
Art being a compromise between the artist's own feelings and technical skill, the legitimate claims of nature, and the special characteristics of the medium of expression, any readjustment in the relationship of these cardinal factors leads to alteration in the results attained. The ultimate issue, when the balance is struck, may be gain or it may be loss; but, almost invariably, progress involves both. Certain qualities are incompatible with certain other qualities, and the vital question is whether what is gained is of greater or of less importance than that which is lost.
In McTaggart's case the issue is clear. If his earlier work possesses some elements of beauty, which one misses in his later, or which his later seems to possess in less positive degree, it is because they have been sacrificed or minimised so that greater and more subtle beauties may prevail. What these are and what the significance of the modifications in technique, which accompanied their ever increasing dominance, form the theme of the early part of this chapter. The second section deals with his actual practice in the field and in the studio, and in the third an attempt has been made to indicate, from recollection of his talk and other sources, some of his ideas about art.
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rt_william.htm
Ten Tales
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By Sir Harry Lauder (1908)
We found this charming wee book and thought we'd add it to the site. We've added the next tale...
The Boiling Stone
and you can view this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...entalesndx.htm
The Lairds of Glenlyon: Historical Sketches
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Relating to the Districts of Appin, Glenlyon and Breadalbane by Duncan Campbell (1886)
We have now added chapters 19 to 24.
Chapter 22 again mentions the MacGregors and starts...
IT would have been no difficult matter, from the abundance of materials, to sketch the history of the M'Gregors downwards from the point at which we have broken off in last number—to show how, in the civil war, they once more raised their head, and under Patrick Roy, heir of Glenstrae, fought with loyalty so unflinching, and gallantry so conspicuous, as to merit the warmest thanks of the Marquis of Montrose, and obtain the written promise of the restitution of their old possessions, as soon as his Majesty was restored—to point out the sinister influence under which the solemn pledge was left unredeemed by the ungrateful Charles, and even the penal enactments revived, to reassure the hearts of the white-washed rebels, who battened on the spoil of the ruined clan—and to describe the firmness with which, for a century or more after the Restoration, they clung to clan-associations and hereditary traditions, in the face of many inducements to the contrary, until at last the British Parliament tardily abolished the Draconic Acts of King James, and gave back to the M'Gregors the only thing it then could—their ancient surname. But I am conscious of having already digressed too far from the subject matter; and besides, no commingling of history, no close bonds of connection with the family of Glenlyon, can be alleged as an excuse for dragging in posterior like former events. We shall therefore return to our old acquaintance, John Campbell, seventh Laird of Glenlyon, and to the period in his life at which we formerly left off—namely, the year 1714.
You can read the rest of this account at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../chapter22.htm
The other chapters can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...lyon/index.htm
Traditions of Perth
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Containing Sketches of the Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants during the last century by George Penny (1836)
We've now added Pages 38 to 65 and the first article is about the Kings birthday which starts...
George the Third's birth day was celebrated on the fourth of June. This being the most pleasant season of the year, it was held by every body as a holiday. Steam, boats and railways being yet among the mysteries of futurity, those who were disposed to ruralize, proceeded to the country on foot, with their families, to get curds and cream. Delightful walks were also supplied by the Town's-muir, and Craigie-hill; and the magnificent prospect from Kinnoul-hill, was open to the public, till the passing of the Reform Bill; when, by a curious coincidence, this walk was shut up exactly at the time the elective franchise was thrown open to the people. Early in the morning of the royal nativity, the fronts of the houses were profusely decorated with boughs and flowers, the principal streets presenting the appearance of an avenue In a wood. At twelve o'clock, the bells were set a ringing ; the great guns fired a royal salute; the military fired a feu dejoit; and the whole town turned out to see the sights, and give vent to their ardent feelings of loyalty. These were the days, when the people had not acquired the felicity of making themselves miserable; when the cry for Reform and Retrenchment was not heard; and when every sound politician judged of the prosperity of the state by the tension of his doublet.
In the afternoon, the Magistrates assembled in the Council Room, where the officers of the troops, the officers of customs, and a numerous company of strangers and gentry, were invited to join in drinking his Majesty's health. A band of music attended in the anti-room; and a body of troops was stationed in the street, who fired a volley every toast. No cost was spared on wines and sweetmeats; and each officer was presented' with a burgess ticket.
You can get to these pages at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/perth/
Glasgow and it's Clubs
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Or Glimpses of Conditions, Manners, Characters and Oddities of the City By John Strang LL.D. (1857)
This week we've added "Glasgow from 1750 to 1780—My Lord Ross's Club"
During the thirty years which immediately followed the establishment of the Anderston and Hodge-Podge Clubs, great changes had been gradually taking place in all things connected with Glasgow. Commerce and manufactures had given it a stimulating and onward progress; while science and the arts had added their mighty aid in effecting improvement. As proofs of the latter influence, it may be mentioned that in 1759 the first Act for deepening the river Clyde was obtained; and that in 1764 James Watt made his first model of a steam-engine, to the benefits derived from which Glasgow
and its harbour owe everything. Necessity and utilitarianism combined also to sweep away many of the old land-marks; and among these we find that—first in 1755, and again in 1788—the remains of the once celebrated Castle, or Episcopal Palace, (and which is first alluded to in 1300, when Edward the First had possession of nearly the whole low lands of Scotland,) began to be barbarously used, like the Amphitheatre of Vespasian at Eome, as a common quarry; its final demolition having
been postponed till the year 1789, when its whole ruins were removed to make room for the open space in front of the Royal Infirmary.
You can read this book as we get it up at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...w/clubsndx.htm
The Scot in England
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By John Herries McCulloch (1935)
We know have up...
Chapter I - An Unconquerable Breed
Chapter II - We Give England a King
Chapter III - We Give England a Prime Minister
Chapter IV - A Festival of Race Hatred
Chapter V - Scottish Support for English Art
Chapter VI - Guardians of John Bull's Health
Chapter VII - The Real Builders of England
Chapter VIII - New Power for England
In "The real Builders of England" the account starts...
England has produced great builders, particularly in the field of austere and ornamental architecture, but it is an indisputable fact that the men who planned and built the great commercial arteries of the country, thus enabling it to achieve the miraculous industrial expansion that followed the introduction of steam power, were Scotsmen. But for the practical genius of the men from the north, the traffic of England would not have been released from the chains that shackled it, and the miracle of the industrial revolution, then being brought about—again largely by Scots—would have been retarded indefinitely.
Scottish builders of outstanding skill had invaded London at the opening of the eighteenth century, and a glance at some of their achievements indicates how much the English metropolis owes to early Scottish architecture. James Gibb, born in Aberdeen in 1674, designed the beautiful church of St. Martin's. Sir William Chambers, another architect from the north, reared Somerset House. The Adam brothers, Robert and John, were the designers of Lansdowne House in Berkeley Square, Portland Place, and the Adelphi Buildings in the Strand.
In the middle of the century Robert Mylne, a penniless and friendless young Edinburgh architect, walked down to London to seek an outlet for his genius there. He left monuments to his skill in Rochester Cathedral, Greenwich Hospital, King's Weston, and other edifices of rare beauty. The greatest enterprise connected with his name, however, was Blackfriars Bridge. He planned it, and superintended its construction, and it reflected his genius at the high-water mark. It also demonstrated that Scotsmen had mastered the difficult art of constructing bridges of strength and beauty. [Scots are still masters of the art. The Tower Bridge of London was built by Sir William Arrol, who was born in Paisley in 1839, and who began life as a blacksmith. Sir George Washington Browne, a Scot, was the architect of St. Paul's Bridge.]
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...and/scot07.htm
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...nd/scotndx.htm
Thomas Carlyle
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A biography of a man who is in the first rank of writers.
Four Scotchmen, bore within the limits of the same hundred years, all in the first rank of writers, if not of thinkers, represent much of the spirit of four successive generations. They are leading links in an intellectual chain.
David Hume (1711-1776) remains the most salient type, in our island, of the scepticism, half conservative, half destructive, but never revolutionary, which marked the third quarter of the eighteenth century. He had some points of intellectual contact with Voltaire, though substituting a staid temper and passionless logic for the incisive brilliancy of a mocking Mercury; he had no relation, save an unhappy personal one, to Rousseau.
Robert Burns (1759-1796), last of great lyriste inspired by a local genius, keenest of popular satirists, narrative poet of the people, spokesman of their higher as of their lower natures, stood on the verge between two eras. Half Jacobite, nursling of old minstrelsy, he was also half Jacobin, an early-born child of the upheaval that closed the century; as essentially a foe of Calvinism as Hume himself. Master musician of his race, he was, as Thomas Campbell notes, severed, for good and ill, from his fellow Scots by an utter want of their protecting or paralysing caution.
Walter Scott (1771-1832), broadest and most generous, if not loftiest of the group— "no sounder piece of British manhood," says Carlyle himself in his inadequate review, "was put together in that century" — the great revivalist of the mediaeval past, lighting up its scenes with a magic glamour, the wizard of northern tradition, was also, like Burns, the humorist of contemporary life. Dealing with Feudal themes, but in the manner of the Romantic school, he was the heir of the Troubadours, the sympathetic peer of Byron, and in his translation of Goetz von Berlichingen he laid the first rafters of our bridge to Germany.
Thomas Carlyle (1796-1881) is on the whole the strongest, though far from the finest spirit of the age succeeding — an age of criticism threatening to crowd creation out, of jostling interests and of surging streams, some of which he has striven to direct, more to stem. Even now what Mill twenty-five years ago wrote of Coleridge is still true of Carlyle: "The reading public is apt to be divided between those to whom his views are everything and those to whom they are nothing." But it is possible to extricate from a mass of often turbid eloquence the strands of his thought and to measure his influence by indicating its range.
Thanks to John Henderson for making this available to us. As is his usual way he has supplied us with the complete book in pdf format broken down by chapters. There are also a lot of pictures with this and we've made available the various chapters intersperced with the pictures.
This can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...yle_thomas.htm
Books on Clans
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Thanks to Richard Krehbiel for sending me in a wee collection of pdf files on Scottish Clans. I've added two of them to our Clan index page, "McIan's Costumes of the Clans of Scotland" and the 2 volume "The Highlanders of Scotland: their origin, history, and antiquities" by Skene and you can find these in the second section of the page at http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans
I might add that I lost the card with his email address on it so hopefully he's reading this newsletter and will know the CD arrived for which many thanks.
Essay on Robert Burns
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By Thomas Carlyle.
This makes an interesting read and our thanks to John Henderson for finding it and sending it to us. You'll find this towards the foot of the page just before the two column poetry section. Also when you get to this page you'll also see "Auld Lang Syne" and clicking on that you'll find at the foot of the page a recording of the song and also another recording sung to the old tune.
You can get to this at http://www.electricscotland.com/burns
And to finish...
Cairo Calling
Did you hear about the Egyptian who settled in Glasgow and took a job as a private hire cab driver?
He was soon given the nickname by his colleagues of Tootandcomeoot.
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How!
There is a story told that some native Americans, billeted in Dennistoun, Glasgow strolled along Duke Street and stared in at a barber's window which displayed wigs, and believed the barber was a great warrior for taking so many scalps.
And that's it for now and hope you all have a good weekend.
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com