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CONTENTS
--------
Electric Scotland News
What's new on ElectricCanada.com
The Flag in the Wind
Historical Tales of the Wars of Scotland
R. B. Cunninghame Graham, Fighter for Justice
Through the Long Day
Tent Life in Tigerland
An Historical Account of the Ancient Culdees of Iona
The Sabbath School and Bible Teaching
Nether Lochaber
The Life of Sir Alexander Fleming
Borrowstounness and District (New Book)
Electric Scotland News
----------------------
Took a few hours out to visit the British Store in London, Ontario. They had opened a new outlet which is now very easy for me to get to from Chatham so thought it was time to check it out. So came home with sliced sausage, bridies, potato scones, fruit pudding, haggis slices and some other goodies. It was a lovely sunny day so with it being an hour and fifteen minutes drive to get there it was a good day to go.
-----
Also bought myself a new sofa as I figured it was time to get one as my sitting room just has four armchairs and thought a sofa would be more flexible and could at a pinch allow someone to sleep on it if needed. It's one of those double reclining ones and the central back can be flded down to provide a table with drinks holders.
-----
This weekend will also see my brick work on the house cleaned and re-pointed and my window shutters painted. This is all due to us getting a weak of sunny and dry weather otherwise it would have had to wait until next year to do it.
And so as you can see busy on the domestic front this week.
-----
I got in a wee present from the University of Guelph. As you may know the Scottish Studies Foundation completed their $1 million pledge to create a permanent chair of Scottish Studies at the University of Guelph. It was to thank me for my time on the board of the Scottish Studies Foundation and also as board member and President of the Scottish Studies Society. The present was a Highland Quaich. So many thanks to them for the gift.
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/whatsnew.htm
ElectricCanadian.com
--------------------
http://www.electriccanadian.com
Been quite busy this week and lots of new material being added...
William Lyon MacKenzie
By Charles Lindsey (1912). A Maker of Canada.
http://www.electriccanadian.com/make...nzie/index.htm
Canadian Humour
Thought I'd start to build in some Canadian humour stories.
http://www.electriccanadian.com/lifestyle/humour.htm
I might add that if anyone has any Canadian jokes or humour stories I'd appreciate you sending them in to add to this section.
Lord Dorchester
A Maker of Canada.
http://www.electriccanadian.com/make...ster/index.htm
Economic Minerals and Mining Industry of Canada
By the Staff of the Mines Branch
http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...ines/index.htm
Trooper and Redskin In the Far North-West
Recollections of Life in the North-West Mounted Police, Canada, 1884 - 1888 by John G. Donkin
http://www.electriccanadian.com/forc...skin/index.htm
The Living Legend
The Story of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police by Alan Phillips
http://www.electriccanadian.com/forces/rcmp/index.htm
Corporal Cameron of the North West Mounted Police
A Tale of the MacLeod Trail By Ralph Connor
http://www.electriccanadian.com/forc...eron/index.htm
Knights Templar Canada
Here we provide some information on the Knights Templar in Canada.
http://www.electriccanadian.com/Religion/kt.htm
The Canadian West
A Geography of Manitoba and the North West Territories by Alexander McIntyre , B.A. This book provides great information and many pictures and illustrations. We've provided the Preface and list of contents and provided a link to download this book in pdf format.
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...west/index.htm
The Royal North-West Mounted Police
A Corps History by Captain Ernest J Chambers
http://www.electriccanadian.com/forces/rnwmp/index.htm
I'm mostly publishing complete books with this site as I'm trying to get a decent body of work up as fast as I can. Right now I'm focussing on the Makers of Canada but took some time out to add other material this week but now returning to the Makers of Canada.
Should any of you have anything to contribute to this site I'd love to hear from you.
Electric Scotland Community
---------------------------
http://www.electricsotland.org
I posted up the October newsletter for the St James Priory in Toronto and also a few pics from the September investiture which you can get to at http://www.electricscotland.org/foru...Priory-Toronto.
THE FLAG IN THE WIND
--------------------
This weeks Flag was compiled by Jennifer Dunn. In this issue she's talking about plastic bags and rugby union.
You can get to the Flag at http://www.scotsindependent.org
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 4 volumes. We intend to post up 2 or 3 stories each week until complete.
Added this week...
Life and Character of James III
QuatreBas and Waterloo
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/wars/
R. B. Cunninghame Graham, Fighter for Justice
---------------------------------------------
An Appreciation of his Social and Religious Outlook by Ian M. Fraser (2002).
Added another chapter to this account...
The Religious Attitude - The Great Unknown
You can get to this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/graham/
Through the Long Day
--------------------
Or Memorials of a Literary Life during half a century by Charles MacKay LL.D. (1887)
This week have added...
Chapter IX.—Breakfasts with Samuel Rogers Part A
Chapter IX.—Breakfasts with Samuel Rogers Part B
Chapter IX.—Breakfasts with Samuel Rogers Part C
You can get to all this at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/mackay/
Sport and Work on the Nepaul Frontier
-------------------------------------
Now onto the second book in this two book set.
Chapter XXV.
Exciting jungle scene—The camp—All quiet—-Advent of the cowherds—A tiger close by—Proceed to the spot—Encounter between tigress and buffaloes—Strange behaviour of the elephant—Discovery and capture of four cubs—Joyful return to camp—Death of the tigress—Night encounter with a leopard— The haunts of the tiger and our shooting grounds.
This chapter can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/tentlife/
And this now concludes this book and the series of books we've done by this author.
An Historical Account of the Ancient Culdees of Iona
----------------------------------------------------
And of their settlements in Scotland, England and Ireland by John Jamieson D.D. (1811)
Added another chapter...
Chapter X
Of the Opposition of the Culdees to the Romish System.—Testimony of Bede;—Of Con;—Of Alcuin;—Of Bromton;—Of Auricular Confession ;—the Tonsure;—Mode of Baptism ;—the Real Presence;—Idolatrous Worship Supererogation—the. Mass-Celibacy —Culdees not considered as Brethren by the Romanists.
These can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/bible/culdees/index.htm
The Sabbath School and Bible Teaching
-------------------------------------
By James Inglis (1852)
We've got the final seven chapters up now which completes this book.
You can read all these chapters at http://www.electricscotland.com/bibl...ath_school.htm
Nether Lochaber
---------------
The Natural History, Legends and Folk-Lore of the West Highlands by Rev. Alexander Stewart FSA Scot, (1883)
We're now up to chapter 16.
In Chapter 11 we read...
Though by no means everything that we could wish it, the weather of the last fortnight [July 1870] was a decided improvement on that of the preceding, and people have managed to get their hay secured in tolerably good condition after all. No appearance of the much-dreaded potato blight as yet; pity that it should show its unwished-for face this year at all, for a finer crop never lay ripening in the ground. Something has been done in herring fishing, and there is some prospect of our having enough for local consumption at all events, and perhaps a little over, which is no small matter in those dear times. Other kinds of fish are plentiful, and, with sufficient leisure for the pastime, there is hardly anything of the kind more enjoyable in fine weather than an afternoon's or early morning's fishing with rod or hand-line. You never, besides, see the country so well as on these occasions, or so thoroughly understand the full force of the poet's beautiful line, that in such scenes
"'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view."
Any number of trout, too—few of them, however, of any size—may be caught at present in our inland lochs and mountain streams, and a dish of these speckled beauties, fresh from the basket, is a very good thing indeed, though the grilse and salmon eater may turn up his nose in contempt and derision of such "small deer." Let him; we shall be always prepared to take over his share along with our own! A curious request was made to us a short time ago by a well-known book "deliverer," who frequently passes this way, one of the keenest and most successful fishers on lake or river we ever knew, and a very quiet decent man to boot. "Will you allow me, sir, to put down some worms in your place?" "To put down what?" Ave exclaimed in surprise. "Worms, sir, brindled worms for fishing with, when the rivers are swollen after heavy rains." We begged to have a look at the worms, and they proved to be a variety of the common earth worm that we had never seen before, the difference consisting in their being rather smaller in size than the common earth worm, and prettily speckled and streaked all over their length, whence, doubtless, their name of brindled worms. A lot had been sent to him from Alyth, in Perthshire, very cunningly done up in a bunch of damp moss and, having a few left over after a week's most successful fishing, he wished to deposit them in this, a central part of his peregrinations, that they might multiply and be recoverable at any time he wanted them. Holding one by the middle, between index finger and thumb, in a manner that would have delighted the heart of old task Walton, the worm wriggling and twisting the while with all the liveliness of an eel in similar circumstances, "There, sir," he exclaimed, looking at the lively "brindled" as if he loved it, "there, sir, is a bonny ane no troot that ever swam could resist having a dash at that in a broad and swollen stream." In answer to our questions, he told us that the brindled colour of the worm had, he thought, a good deal to do with the trout's liking for it, but, in his opinion, the brisk and lively motions of the worm upon the hook was the main attraction. The thing was so manifestly alive and active, and likely to escape, if not caught at once, that the trout made a rush at it, with his eyes shut, so to speak, and only discovered how thoroughly he had been done, when, hooked and landed, he lay flopping helplessly about on the green grass by the burn side. Getting piscator a spade, he searched about for a suitable spot, and buried his worms beneath the turf as tenderly as if he were laying babies asleep in their cradles. "There now, sir," he remarked, as he finished his colonising, "they will breed fast, and soon be plentiful enough hereabouts, and they will destroy the common earthworm till not one can be found." So that you see we had an interesting lesson on bait angling and the natural history of earthworms very unexpectedly from a very unexpected quarter. "We still watch with interest if the assertion turns out to be true, that the brindled worm exterminates the common earthworm, notwithstanding their close relationship. Such a thing we know is quite possible, a notable case in point being the extermination of the old well-known black rat by the more modern coloniser, the brown.
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../chapter11.htm
The other chapters can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...aber/index.htm
The Life of Sir Alexander Fleming
---------------------------------
Discoverer of Penicillan by André Mourois (1956)
This is proving to be a good read and we now have the following chapters up...
Chapter I - In the beginning was Scotland
Chapter II - The twists in the path
Chapter III - The nature of Wright
Chapter IV - Fleming and Wright
Chapter V - The Prentice Years
Chapter VI - The War of 1914-18
Chapter VII - Children and men
Chapter VIII - First hope: the Lysozyme
Chapter IX - The Mould Juice
In Chapter VII we learn...
On December 23rd, 1915, while on leave, Fleming had got married. When he returned to Boulogne and, after a while, started talking of 'my wife', his friends at first refused to take him seriously. They could not imagine him as a married man. They insisted on seeing a photograph of Mrs Flem. He had one sent. But by scientific minds this proof was not accepted as sufficient, and they had to wait until the war was over before coming to terms with so surprising an idea. But he really and truly had married Sarah Marion McElroy, a trained nurse who ran a private nursing home in York Place, Baker Street. She was its proprietor, and numbered among her clientele several aristocratic patients who, having once had experience of her establishment, would go nowhere else when they were ill.
Sarah, generally known as 'Sareen', was born at Killala, Ballin, County Mayo, Ireland. Her father, Bernard McElroy, owned one of the largest farms in the neighbourhood. He was an admirable man, mad about sports, and very much under the influence of his wife who ruled both farm and family. There were many children of the marriage, including twins — Elizabeth and Sarah. Four of the daughters had been trained as nurses. Sarah started her hospital career in Dublin, In the house of the celebrated surgeon Sir Thornby Stoker, for whom she worked, she met many famous writers — George Moore, W. B. Yeats, Arthur Symons and others. But she took very little interest in literature and none at all in men of letters. What she loved was her profession and an active life.
At the time when Fleming first met her, Sareen was a white-skinned blonde, with pink cheeks, grey-blue eyes — Irish eyes — and an expressive face. Her charm lay in her extraordinary vitality, her manifest kindness, her gaiety and the self-confidence which accounted for her success. She was drawn to the young Scottish doctor who was so serious, silent and temperate — in fact, the very opposite of herself in all respects. It was to her credit that she had divined beneath the outward show of modesty and reserve a hidden genius which at once won her respect. 'Alec is a great man,' she said, 'but nobody knows it.'
It seems probable that she had had to give him a good deal of encouragement before he could bring himself to propose. She long remembered his shyness. He was incapable of expressing his feelings, and never ceased to be surprised that people found it so difficult to understand what he meant. Much later, when she was seriously ill and felt that she was dying, one of her women friends said to her: 'You mustn't die. What would your husband do without you?' 'Oh!' she replied, 'he'll marry again,' and then added with a smile, but whoever it is, she'll have to do the proposing!' The fact remains that she always knew how to pierce the armour of silence which protected the sensibility of the strange young man, and loved the beautiful blue eyes which held, deep down, a flicker of impish kindliness.
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...lexander07.htm
The other chapters can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist..._alexander.htm
Borrowstounness and District
----------------------------
Being Historical Sketches of Kinneil, Carriden and Bo'ness c. 1550 to 1850 by Thomas James Salmon (1913)
Influenced by a liking for things historical and by the sentiment that my kinsfolk have been closely identified with this district for many generations, I commenced to collect the material which will be found in the following pages by way of a recreation seven years ago. There was at first no idea of the present publication. But as my investigations proceeded I discovered so much of what I believed to be new and interesting information that I felt impelled to preserve it, however imperfectly, in volume form. Many difficulties of treatment and arrangement presented themselves. The chief of these was in deciding whether to continue the narrative to the present time or to end it at the middle of the 19th century. Ultimately the latter method was adopted, and for various reasons. Apart from the comparatively brief narratives in the Old and New Statistical Accounts there was nothing in the nature of a local chronicle; detailed reference to early history was very desirable; the space at disposal for modern events would be wholly inadequate; and compression was not always possible. I decided therefore to leave the more modern period alone.
In all cases the official books and papers have been carefully examined. Each Chapter, with two exceptions, is complete in itself, and everything has been done to make the volume reliable. Great care has been taken to avoid errors and omissions, and should any such be discovered it is hoped that they will be put down to the exacting nature of the work.
It does not profess to be a complete history, but rather a series of sketches dealing with various phases of burghal and parish life. Facts and events are stated, but in such a way as to raise pictures of periods, of outstanding events and individuals, of progress and of decay, all of which point their own lessons.
You can start reading this new book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ness/index.htm
And finally...
What do you get when you pour hot water down a rabbit hole?
A Hot Cross bunny.
What did the bunny say when he only had thistles to eat?
Thistle have to do!
What is the difference between a crazy bunny and a counterfeit banknote?
One is bad money and the other is a mad bunny!
What do you get when you cross a bunny with a leek?
A bunion.
How do you make a rabbit stew?
Make it wait for 3 hours!
Why did the rabbit cross the road?
Because it was the chicken's day off.
What did the rabbit say to the carrot?
It's been nice gnawing at you.
What's the difference between the Easter Bunny and a lumberjack?
One chews and hops, the other hews and chops.
And that's it for now and hope you all have a good weekend.
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com
--------
Electric Scotland News
What's new on ElectricCanada.com
The Flag in the Wind
Historical Tales of the Wars of Scotland
R. B. Cunninghame Graham, Fighter for Justice
Through the Long Day
Tent Life in Tigerland
An Historical Account of the Ancient Culdees of Iona
The Sabbath School and Bible Teaching
Nether Lochaber
The Life of Sir Alexander Fleming
Borrowstounness and District (New Book)
Electric Scotland News
----------------------
Took a few hours out to visit the British Store in London, Ontario. They had opened a new outlet which is now very easy for me to get to from Chatham so thought it was time to check it out. So came home with sliced sausage, bridies, potato scones, fruit pudding, haggis slices and some other goodies. It was a lovely sunny day so with it being an hour and fifteen minutes drive to get there it was a good day to go.
-----
Also bought myself a new sofa as I figured it was time to get one as my sitting room just has four armchairs and thought a sofa would be more flexible and could at a pinch allow someone to sleep on it if needed. It's one of those double reclining ones and the central back can be flded down to provide a table with drinks holders.
-----
This weekend will also see my brick work on the house cleaned and re-pointed and my window shutters painted. This is all due to us getting a weak of sunny and dry weather otherwise it would have had to wait until next year to do it.
And so as you can see busy on the domestic front this week.
-----
I got in a wee present from the University of Guelph. As you may know the Scottish Studies Foundation completed their $1 million pledge to create a permanent chair of Scottish Studies at the University of Guelph. It was to thank me for my time on the board of the Scottish Studies Foundation and also as board member and President of the Scottish Studies Society. The present was a Highland Quaich. So many thanks to them for the gift.
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/whatsnew.htm
ElectricCanadian.com
--------------------
http://www.electriccanadian.com
Been quite busy this week and lots of new material being added...
William Lyon MacKenzie
By Charles Lindsey (1912). A Maker of Canada.
http://www.electriccanadian.com/make...nzie/index.htm
Canadian Humour
Thought I'd start to build in some Canadian humour stories.
http://www.electriccanadian.com/lifestyle/humour.htm
I might add that if anyone has any Canadian jokes or humour stories I'd appreciate you sending them in to add to this section.
Lord Dorchester
A Maker of Canada.
http://www.electriccanadian.com/make...ster/index.htm
Economic Minerals and Mining Industry of Canada
By the Staff of the Mines Branch
http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...ines/index.htm
Trooper and Redskin In the Far North-West
Recollections of Life in the North-West Mounted Police, Canada, 1884 - 1888 by John G. Donkin
http://www.electriccanadian.com/forc...skin/index.htm
The Living Legend
The Story of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police by Alan Phillips
http://www.electriccanadian.com/forces/rcmp/index.htm
Corporal Cameron of the North West Mounted Police
A Tale of the MacLeod Trail By Ralph Connor
http://www.electriccanadian.com/forc...eron/index.htm
Knights Templar Canada
Here we provide some information on the Knights Templar in Canada.
http://www.electriccanadian.com/Religion/kt.htm
The Canadian West
A Geography of Manitoba and the North West Territories by Alexander McIntyre , B.A. This book provides great information and many pictures and illustrations. We've provided the Preface and list of contents and provided a link to download this book in pdf format.
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...west/index.htm
The Royal North-West Mounted Police
A Corps History by Captain Ernest J Chambers
http://www.electriccanadian.com/forces/rnwmp/index.htm
I'm mostly publishing complete books with this site as I'm trying to get a decent body of work up as fast as I can. Right now I'm focussing on the Makers of Canada but took some time out to add other material this week but now returning to the Makers of Canada.
Should any of you have anything to contribute to this site I'd love to hear from you.
Electric Scotland Community
---------------------------
http://www.electricsotland.org
I posted up the October newsletter for the St James Priory in Toronto and also a few pics from the September investiture which you can get to at http://www.electricscotland.org/foru...Priory-Toronto.
THE FLAG IN THE WIND
--------------------
This weeks Flag was compiled by Jennifer Dunn. In this issue she's talking about plastic bags and rugby union.
You can get to the Flag at http://www.scotsindependent.org
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 4 volumes. We intend to post up 2 or 3 stories each week until complete.
Added this week...
Life and Character of James III
QuatreBas and Waterloo
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/wars/
R. B. Cunninghame Graham, Fighter for Justice
---------------------------------------------
An Appreciation of his Social and Religious Outlook by Ian M. Fraser (2002).
Added another chapter to this account...
The Religious Attitude - The Great Unknown
You can get to this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/graham/
Through the Long Day
--------------------
Or Memorials of a Literary Life during half a century by Charles MacKay LL.D. (1887)
This week have added...
Chapter IX.—Breakfasts with Samuel Rogers Part A
Chapter IX.—Breakfasts with Samuel Rogers Part B
Chapter IX.—Breakfasts with Samuel Rogers Part C
You can get to all this at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/mackay/
Sport and Work on the Nepaul Frontier
-------------------------------------
Now onto the second book in this two book set.
Chapter XXV.
Exciting jungle scene—The camp—All quiet—-Advent of the cowherds—A tiger close by—Proceed to the spot—Encounter between tigress and buffaloes—Strange behaviour of the elephant—Discovery and capture of four cubs—Joyful return to camp—Death of the tigress—Night encounter with a leopard— The haunts of the tiger and our shooting grounds.
This chapter can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/tentlife/
And this now concludes this book and the series of books we've done by this author.
An Historical Account of the Ancient Culdees of Iona
----------------------------------------------------
And of their settlements in Scotland, England and Ireland by John Jamieson D.D. (1811)
Added another chapter...
Chapter X
Of the Opposition of the Culdees to the Romish System.—Testimony of Bede;—Of Con;—Of Alcuin;—Of Bromton;—Of Auricular Confession ;—the Tonsure;—Mode of Baptism ;—the Real Presence;—Idolatrous Worship Supererogation—the. Mass-Celibacy —Culdees not considered as Brethren by the Romanists.
These can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/bible/culdees/index.htm
The Sabbath School and Bible Teaching
-------------------------------------
By James Inglis (1852)
We've got the final seven chapters up now which completes this book.
You can read all these chapters at http://www.electricscotland.com/bibl...ath_school.htm
Nether Lochaber
---------------
The Natural History, Legends and Folk-Lore of the West Highlands by Rev. Alexander Stewart FSA Scot, (1883)
We're now up to chapter 16.
In Chapter 11 we read...
Though by no means everything that we could wish it, the weather of the last fortnight [July 1870] was a decided improvement on that of the preceding, and people have managed to get their hay secured in tolerably good condition after all. No appearance of the much-dreaded potato blight as yet; pity that it should show its unwished-for face this year at all, for a finer crop never lay ripening in the ground. Something has been done in herring fishing, and there is some prospect of our having enough for local consumption at all events, and perhaps a little over, which is no small matter in those dear times. Other kinds of fish are plentiful, and, with sufficient leisure for the pastime, there is hardly anything of the kind more enjoyable in fine weather than an afternoon's or early morning's fishing with rod or hand-line. You never, besides, see the country so well as on these occasions, or so thoroughly understand the full force of the poet's beautiful line, that in such scenes
"'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view."
Any number of trout, too—few of them, however, of any size—may be caught at present in our inland lochs and mountain streams, and a dish of these speckled beauties, fresh from the basket, is a very good thing indeed, though the grilse and salmon eater may turn up his nose in contempt and derision of such "small deer." Let him; we shall be always prepared to take over his share along with our own! A curious request was made to us a short time ago by a well-known book "deliverer," who frequently passes this way, one of the keenest and most successful fishers on lake or river we ever knew, and a very quiet decent man to boot. "Will you allow me, sir, to put down some worms in your place?" "To put down what?" Ave exclaimed in surprise. "Worms, sir, brindled worms for fishing with, when the rivers are swollen after heavy rains." We begged to have a look at the worms, and they proved to be a variety of the common earth worm that we had never seen before, the difference consisting in their being rather smaller in size than the common earth worm, and prettily speckled and streaked all over their length, whence, doubtless, their name of brindled worms. A lot had been sent to him from Alyth, in Perthshire, very cunningly done up in a bunch of damp moss and, having a few left over after a week's most successful fishing, he wished to deposit them in this, a central part of his peregrinations, that they might multiply and be recoverable at any time he wanted them. Holding one by the middle, between index finger and thumb, in a manner that would have delighted the heart of old task Walton, the worm wriggling and twisting the while with all the liveliness of an eel in similar circumstances, "There, sir," he exclaimed, looking at the lively "brindled" as if he loved it, "there, sir, is a bonny ane no troot that ever swam could resist having a dash at that in a broad and swollen stream." In answer to our questions, he told us that the brindled colour of the worm had, he thought, a good deal to do with the trout's liking for it, but, in his opinion, the brisk and lively motions of the worm upon the hook was the main attraction. The thing was so manifestly alive and active, and likely to escape, if not caught at once, that the trout made a rush at it, with his eyes shut, so to speak, and only discovered how thoroughly he had been done, when, hooked and landed, he lay flopping helplessly about on the green grass by the burn side. Getting piscator a spade, he searched about for a suitable spot, and buried his worms beneath the turf as tenderly as if he were laying babies asleep in their cradles. "There now, sir," he remarked, as he finished his colonising, "they will breed fast, and soon be plentiful enough hereabouts, and they will destroy the common earthworm till not one can be found." So that you see we had an interesting lesson on bait angling and the natural history of earthworms very unexpectedly from a very unexpected quarter. "We still watch with interest if the assertion turns out to be true, that the brindled worm exterminates the common earthworm, notwithstanding their close relationship. Such a thing we know is quite possible, a notable case in point being the extermination of the old well-known black rat by the more modern coloniser, the brown.
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../chapter11.htm
The other chapters can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...aber/index.htm
The Life of Sir Alexander Fleming
---------------------------------
Discoverer of Penicillan by André Mourois (1956)
This is proving to be a good read and we now have the following chapters up...
Chapter I - In the beginning was Scotland
Chapter II - The twists in the path
Chapter III - The nature of Wright
Chapter IV - Fleming and Wright
Chapter V - The Prentice Years
Chapter VI - The War of 1914-18
Chapter VII - Children and men
Chapter VIII - First hope: the Lysozyme
Chapter IX - The Mould Juice
In Chapter VII we learn...
On December 23rd, 1915, while on leave, Fleming had got married. When he returned to Boulogne and, after a while, started talking of 'my wife', his friends at first refused to take him seriously. They could not imagine him as a married man. They insisted on seeing a photograph of Mrs Flem. He had one sent. But by scientific minds this proof was not accepted as sufficient, and they had to wait until the war was over before coming to terms with so surprising an idea. But he really and truly had married Sarah Marion McElroy, a trained nurse who ran a private nursing home in York Place, Baker Street. She was its proprietor, and numbered among her clientele several aristocratic patients who, having once had experience of her establishment, would go nowhere else when they were ill.
Sarah, generally known as 'Sareen', was born at Killala, Ballin, County Mayo, Ireland. Her father, Bernard McElroy, owned one of the largest farms in the neighbourhood. He was an admirable man, mad about sports, and very much under the influence of his wife who ruled both farm and family. There were many children of the marriage, including twins — Elizabeth and Sarah. Four of the daughters had been trained as nurses. Sarah started her hospital career in Dublin, In the house of the celebrated surgeon Sir Thornby Stoker, for whom she worked, she met many famous writers — George Moore, W. B. Yeats, Arthur Symons and others. But she took very little interest in literature and none at all in men of letters. What she loved was her profession and an active life.
At the time when Fleming first met her, Sareen was a white-skinned blonde, with pink cheeks, grey-blue eyes — Irish eyes — and an expressive face. Her charm lay in her extraordinary vitality, her manifest kindness, her gaiety and the self-confidence which accounted for her success. She was drawn to the young Scottish doctor who was so serious, silent and temperate — in fact, the very opposite of herself in all respects. It was to her credit that she had divined beneath the outward show of modesty and reserve a hidden genius which at once won her respect. 'Alec is a great man,' she said, 'but nobody knows it.'
It seems probable that she had had to give him a good deal of encouragement before he could bring himself to propose. She long remembered his shyness. He was incapable of expressing his feelings, and never ceased to be surprised that people found it so difficult to understand what he meant. Much later, when she was seriously ill and felt that she was dying, one of her women friends said to her: 'You mustn't die. What would your husband do without you?' 'Oh!' she replied, 'he'll marry again,' and then added with a smile, but whoever it is, she'll have to do the proposing!' The fact remains that she always knew how to pierce the armour of silence which protected the sensibility of the strange young man, and loved the beautiful blue eyes which held, deep down, a flicker of impish kindliness.
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...lexander07.htm
The other chapters can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist..._alexander.htm
Borrowstounness and District
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Being Historical Sketches of Kinneil, Carriden and Bo'ness c. 1550 to 1850 by Thomas James Salmon (1913)
Influenced by a liking for things historical and by the sentiment that my kinsfolk have been closely identified with this district for many generations, I commenced to collect the material which will be found in the following pages by way of a recreation seven years ago. There was at first no idea of the present publication. But as my investigations proceeded I discovered so much of what I believed to be new and interesting information that I felt impelled to preserve it, however imperfectly, in volume form. Many difficulties of treatment and arrangement presented themselves. The chief of these was in deciding whether to continue the narrative to the present time or to end it at the middle of the 19th century. Ultimately the latter method was adopted, and for various reasons. Apart from the comparatively brief narratives in the Old and New Statistical Accounts there was nothing in the nature of a local chronicle; detailed reference to early history was very desirable; the space at disposal for modern events would be wholly inadequate; and compression was not always possible. I decided therefore to leave the more modern period alone.
In all cases the official books and papers have been carefully examined. Each Chapter, with two exceptions, is complete in itself, and everything has been done to make the volume reliable. Great care has been taken to avoid errors and omissions, and should any such be discovered it is hoped that they will be put down to the exacting nature of the work.
It does not profess to be a complete history, but rather a series of sketches dealing with various phases of burghal and parish life. Facts and events are stated, but in such a way as to raise pictures of periods, of outstanding events and individuals, of progress and of decay, all of which point their own lessons.
You can start reading this new book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ness/index.htm
And finally...
What do you get when you pour hot water down a rabbit hole?
A Hot Cross bunny.
What did the bunny say when he only had thistles to eat?
Thistle have to do!
What is the difference between a crazy bunny and a counterfeit banknote?
One is bad money and the other is a mad bunny!
What do you get when you cross a bunny with a leek?
A bunion.
How do you make a rabbit stew?
Make it wait for 3 hours!
Why did the rabbit cross the road?
Because it was the chicken's day off.
What did the rabbit say to the carrot?
It's been nice gnawing at you.
What's the difference between the Easter Bunny and a lumberjack?
One chews and hops, the other hews and chops.
And that's it for now and hope you all have a good weekend.
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com
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