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CONTENTS
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Electric Scotland News
What's new on ElectricCanadian.com
The Flag in the Wind
Historical Tales of the Wars of Scotland
R. B. Cunninghame Graham, Fighter for Justice
Through the Long Day
An Historical Account of the Ancient Culdees of Iona
Nether Lochaber
The Life of Sir Alexander Fleming
Borrowstounness and District
David Hume
An Rubha Gaelic Folklife Magazine
The Social and Industrial history of Scotland, from the Union to the present time (New Book)
Scots Academic and Writer is Awarded one of Austria’s most prestigious honours
Annals of Auchterarder and Memorials of Srathearn (New Book)
Electric Scotland News
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I might have at last found a contact that can provide me information on Scots in Austria so following this up to see what I can find.
Within the email I got it mentioned...
The Loudons were prominent in Austria, one of them having become a Field Marshal under Empress Maria Theresia. The late Gideon Laudon, whom I knew, was treasurer of the Habsburg Order of the Golden Fleece, which is still awarded.
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I've been busy copying many of my Canadian travel journals to my Electric Canadian web site. I didn't realise just how many gigabytes in pictures I had and the transfer took most of a day to get over. I then had of course to correct some of the links to point to the new site.
And I got a request in from the Highland Village asking for permission to use a picture I had on the site. I responded positively to their request and was then astonished to find it was the Highland Village in Iona, Cape Breton that had send the request. I had thought it was the Highland Village at Newtonmore, Scotland that I was replying to :-)
And while doing all this I got a reminder that it was 2004 when I'd visited the Highland Village in Cape Breton meaning I've now been in Canada for 7 years! How the time flies!
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Next week I hope to bring you a compelling story of a Half-Breed Inuit's search for his Scottish roots. I was given this story some 3 years ago now but have only just received permission to publish it on the site. It's an amazing story. I've just received the updated text and am being sent some pictures to goalong with it and once all has arrived I'll get it up on the site.
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And today I decided to at last bite the bullet and get myself a new water heater as mine is now over 20 years old. As I have decided to take down my chimney that meant I was going to have to vent it outside the house rather than through the chimney so it make sense to get a new water heater at the same time.
I'm using National Home Services which operates through North America but is Canadian owned and uses Canadian products. They actually include a wee video in their email to you confirming the order which if you wish you can view here...
I've never actually seen this type of email where they offer a video to view when they confirm your order so thought it was a nice touch.
ABOUT THE STORIES
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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 and also http://www.electriccanadian.com/whatsnew.htm
ElectricCanadian.com
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http://www.electriccanadian.com
Made more progress with the Canadian site by adding...
Our Treaty History
Bkejwanong Territory, Walpole Island First Nation by Uriah Dodge
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist.../bkejwnong.htm
As it happens this area is only a half hours drive from my home so it was good to get this information in as I do visit the area every other month.
Romantic Canada By Victoria Hayward
Illustrated with photographs by Edith S. Watson (1922)
This is a work in progress and am about half way through the book. It does give some fascinating insights into early Canadian history and I have a page up with all the pictures from the book. I will say my ocr'ing software had fits with this book with many errors so it's taking much longer than usual to get this book up.
You can read what I have up at http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...ntic/index.htm
Should any of you have anything to contribute to this site I'd love to hear from you.
Electric Scotland Community
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http://www.electricsotland.org
A great mixture of messages this week with Buddy Holly taking center stage. I noticed one message about the Lone Shieling in Cape Breton and I actually have a picture of it at http://www.electriccanadian.com/canada/breton19.htm
THE FLAG IN THE WIND
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This weeks Flag was compiled by Ian Goldie. In this issue he's talking about North Sea Oil with some interesting revalations.
You can get to the Flag at http://www.scotsindependent.org
Historical Tales of the Wars of Scotland
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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...
Legend of Kilchurn Castle
Siege of Red Hall, etc.
Burning of Towie Castle
Battle of Sheriff Moor
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/wars/
R. B. Cunninghame Graham, Fighter for Justice
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An Appreciation of his Social and Religious Outlook by Ian M. Fraser (2002).
Added another chapter to this account...
Prophetic Criticism of Contremporaneity - Part 2
You can get to this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/graham/
Through the Long Day
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Or Memorials of a Literary Life during half a century by Charles MacKay LL.D. (1887)
This week have added...
Chapter XI.—Patric Park and Celebrated Modern Sculptors
You can get to all this at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/mackay/
An Historical Account of the Ancient Culdees of Iona
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And of their settlements in Scotland, England and Ireland by John Jamieson D.D. (1811)
Added another chapter...
Chapter XII
Of the Suppression of the Culdees.—Means employed for this Purpose.— Their Promotion to Bishoprics.— Increase <f Episcopal Sees.—Preference given to Foreigners—Introduction of Canojts Regular;—at St Andrezcs;—Lochlevin ;—Dunkeld;—Brechin.— Convention between Bishop Malvoisin and the Culdees of Monimusk.—Remarks on it,
These can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/bible/culdees/index.htm
Nether Lochaber
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The Natural History, Legends and Folk-Lore of the West Highlands by Rev. Alexander Stewart FSA Scot, (1883)
We're now up to chapter 30.
In Chapter XVII I enjoyed reading the first paragraph which reminded me on how we used to bury potatoes in the charcoal when doing a BBQ in Kuwait. While they came out well charred and black they were indeed delicous. Here is that paragraph to read here...
With*such fine weather as we enjoy at present, September*[1871]*is one of the pleasantest months of the year. Harvest operations are now in full swing, and the redbreast—having moulted, and proudly conscious of the splendour of his scarlet vest—has already begun his autumnal song—more delectable now and more appreciated, because now, with the exception of an occasional voluntary from the wren, he only sings, whereas his vernal strains are lost in their amalgamation with the full chorus of a thousand performers.
It is pleasant now, as you saunter or ride along, to listen to the merry laughter of the reapers afield, and to their song, as,*more ma jorum,*it floats in chorus on the gale : pleasant, too, to us at least, and far from unmusical, the frequent sound of the whetting of scythe and sickle in every direction—the bloodless weapons—as they are deftly handled in the process, glancing brightly in the sunlight! Reaping "machines" and "steam" ploughs may be very good things in their way, but we are not ashamed to confess that we are glad that, as yet at least, we*know nothing of them in the West Highlands. The utilitarian must be content if*we*admit all their value and importance from*his*point of*view, while*at the same time*we*yet*assert*that*wherever*they appear all the poetry of agriculture incontinently becomes plain prose—Sir- transit gloria Cereris.*
"Very excellent, at all events, are our crops this season, and very excellently are they being harvested. A good deal has already been secured in barn and stackyard, and in such condition, too, as is but rarely possible under the weeping skies of the west coast. The weather is still so favourable that our people are working with a will, and making every exertion to have their harvesting concluded while it lasts.
Potatoes still continue sound and untainted, although an occasional*spottiness*of the leaf in some fields shows that our old enemy the "blight" has not yet forgot the time of his coming. The crop is now, however, about ripe, and may be considered very much out of danger for the season. In our last, we had a good deal to say about this invaluable root, and how it should be brought to table; and to show that such a subject-matter is not quite so*infra dig.*as some of our readers might suppose, listen to what the*Times*says of Garibaldi's doings at Caprera. After recounting the General's failures in connection with his orchard, the acclimation of the silk-worm, &c., the*Times*proceeds:—"Garibaldi, however, points with exultation to his potato fields. No species of the favourite root is neglected, and there is no treat he so heartily enjoys as a dish of his own potatoes, baked with his own hand under embers, in the open air—a treat which calls up reminiscences of his camp life on the Tonale or the Stelvis, or of his pioneer's experience in the backwoods of the Mississippi or the Plate." We wonder if this "hero in an unheroic age," who yet disdains not to exult in his potato fields, or to cook his delicious "earth apples," as the French so happily term them, in the embers with his own hand— we wonder if he eats his fish with his fingers We could lay a wager that he does; that in eating his ember-roasted potatoes in the open air, with some broiled*tunny,*let us suppose, as a fitting accompaniment—(the*Thynnas ridgaris,*in highest esteem with the ancients as with the moderns, abundant about Caprera and all the shores of Provence, Sardinia, and Sicily, and than which, indeed, there is hardly any better fish)—we could lay a wager, we say, that in eating his potatoes and fish*al fresco*he discards the use of knife and fork utterly, eating his fish with his fingers, and using the running brook beside him as a convenient finger-glass.
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../chapter26.htm
The other chapters can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...aber/index.htm
The Life of Sir Alexander Fleming
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Discoverer of Penicillan by André Mourois (1956)
We have now completed this book with the following chapters...
Chapter XVII - The silences of professor Fleming
Chapter XVIII - The Delphic Oracle
Chapter XIX - Too short a happiness
Epilogue
Bibliography and Pictures
In Chapter XVIII we learn...
after*the departure of his Greek pupil, Fleming gave the impression of being lost. He confided in nobody, but he did,*which was most unusual with him, express regret in a vague and general way. One of his friends, D.J. Fyffe, describes him at this time, as follows:
One evening my wife and I met Fleming at the Royal Academy Soiree. It was duller than usual, and there seemed to be nothing to drink. He was wandering about in the crowd, and, much to our pleasure, joined us.
'This is a rotten party."*he said, "I'm going home."
I suggested that he should come back to our flat, where we could have a party on our own. He drove us home. I found some champagne; my wife cooked bacon and eggs, and we sat down to supper. I think he was always at his ease with us, probably because we all came from Scotland. Anyway, we sat round the table and talked for a long time. He was unusually expansive. He spoke of his early life and of the strange fortune that had been so active in his career. I remember that he was wearing some rare Papal order, and that we twitted him on his collection of cosmopolitan decorations. He suddenly became serious.
He said that all this grandeur had come to him far too late in life, that he could not enjoy it as he should. Had it come earlier it would have given him time in which to cultivate the social graces in which he was deficient. He would have 'learned his manners'. As it was, he said, he didn't know how to behave. He regretted this very much, and was certainly sincere in what he said. He knew that his rather brusque ways had often offended, and wished that he had had a longer social experience.
He talked about all this rather wistfully, but, being a clear-headed, practical man, he accepted the fact as something inevitable in his intensely hard-working life ...
Official journeys shook him out of this kind of brooding. He had been made a member of the*unesco*commission charged with the duty of organizing medical conferences, the Commission of International Scientific Conferences (C.I.S.C.). He was only too glad to go to Paris for its meetings. He got on very well with his colleagues from other countries.
He rarely spoke on these occasions. 'They attach a great deal too much importance to what I say, so it behoves me to be cautious.' He had a very shrewd eye when it came to summing up others: 'A ... says little, but is listened to. B ... talks a lot, but nobody takes him seriously. X ... young and energetic, wants to see results. Z ... pleasant enough, but without ideas: very ordinary.'
Fleming's diary, session of 1951, Thursday, September 27th, 1951:*H6tel Napoleon. Went for a walk along Champs Elysés and had a vermouth at Le Select — no particular reason, but I wanted to sit down and have a drink. Inside, they were serving meals, so I thought I might as well dine there as anywhere. Had a very good meal, but the proprietor and the head-waiter came along and accused me of being the discoverer of penicillin. On the strength of it I got an Alsace liqueur made from raspberries — very good and very potent. What a difference from anything in London! Lights everywhere, and shop windows all lit up ... Lots of English spoken by people in the street. Back in hotel before 10 p.m. ...
On October 30th, 1951, at St Mary's he was attending a session of the School Council, when he was called to the telephone. It was a telegram: 'Would you accept nomination as Rector Edinburgh University. Reply at once.'
The Scottish students themselves elect their Rectors. The post is an honorary one and does not involve residence. Nevertheless, the Rector does actually preside over the University Court, which is the highest authority in matters of administration and finance. Thus the students of Edinburgh in fact enjoy the privilege of electing what amounts to a Patron. They use it for the purpose of paying homage to those eminent men whom, for one reason or another, they admire. One group will choose a politician, another a writer, a scholar or a famous actor. The electoral battle, which is enthusiastic and amusing, quickly turns into a farcical epic.
Each candidate has to have the support of a group consisting of at least twenty students who conduct a vigorous campaign in his favour by means of posters, slogans and even pitched battles, because nightly combats occur between rival bands of bill-stickers. The Fleming faction was at first principally made up of medical students who are very powerful in Edinburgh, a city with an ancient and glorious medical tradition. Nothing could have given more pleasure to the Scottish youth who was still alive in the famous man.
Flemings diary:*Replied 'yes', and when I rejoined Lord McGowan in the Council, he expressed his approval of my decision emphatically. Next morning one of the students [Ian Sullivan] came to ask my acceptance in writing. Was at Drapers' Company Dinner that night, and when I got home, Harold [Montgomery, a nephew] told me they had rung up from Edinburgh for a second signature as they feared their messenger might be kidnapped. It was too late, but apparently messenger got through, and I was duly nominated.
His most dangerous rival (out of eight candidates) was the Aga Khan,*p.c.,*g.c.s.i., g.c.i.e.,*an enormously rich, powerful and clever man. The Aga Khan faction had hatched a plot to kidnap the messenger of the Fleming group at the Waverley Station. The Flemingites, informed of this, cut the ground from under their enemies' feet by themselves snatching their emissary from the train at London and taking him back to Edinburgh by car.
The most successful poster of the campaign was one carrying the single word 'FLEMING', It did its job, and it was cheap. Sir Alexander polled 1,096 votes to the Aga Khan's 660. The other candidates were left far behind. Fleming was pleased at having been elected with so big a majority. He had to go to Edinburgh to be installed. Harold Stewart, who made the journey with him, described it as follows: 'We had a very pleasant journey. He said "Hullo!" at King's Cross. We got into the same compartment. He said "Goodbye" at Edinburgh.*Rectoria brevitas.
He had to deliver the Rectorial Address which, according to long-hallowed tradition, the students interrupted with shouting, singing, and every variety of noise.
Sir Alexander Fleming to John McKeen> President of Pfizer, Inc., New York:*It was a very exciting experience and after 70 you don't want too much excitement. I can remember when I first read a paper to a society, in 1907. My knees shook, but they were concealed behind the lecturer's desk, and apparently my face did not give me away so all was well. My knees have not shaken since until I got up to deliver my address in Edinburgh, amidst a babel of noise. I found them shaking again. This time, though, I had on a long gown, and nobody noticed. I soon got used to the clamour, and when it was so loud that I could not be heard, I amused myself by thinking which bit I could cut without spoiling the story. All went well.
He was determined to make himself heard, and he succeeded. His address, which was excellent, deserved a hearing. He had chosen 'Success' as his subject:
What is success? It might be defined as the achievement of one's ambitions. If we accept this simple definition then everyone is in some way successful, and no one is completely successful. You have all achieved one ambition, to be students of the great University of Edinburgh. But you will have other ambitions, because ambition once achieved leads on to others.
Then he described what he held to be the most successful careers in history — those of Pasteur and Lister — and pointed out that success involved the conjunction of luck and genius.
The success of Louis Pasteur was phenomenal. How did it come about? The answer is, I think, simple — by hard work, careful observation, clear thinking, enthusiasm and a spot of luck. Plenty of people work hard and some of them make careful observations, but without the clear thinking which puts these observations in proper perspective, they get nowhere.
Speaking of his own career, he reminded his listeners, as it was his habit to do, that he had chosen St Mary's because that hospital happened to possess a very active swimming club- About the same time, the greatest of English bacteriologists, Almroth Wright, had gone there because he had quarrelled with the military authorities. But for that double piece of luck — his own love of swimming and Wright's rupture with the War Office — he might have been drawn into some other branch of medicine, and would not have discovered penicillin.
As to that discovery, he would be the first to attribute it to luck. A mould of penicillium had drifted in through a window. It had dissolved bacteria. He had taken notice of this, had continued his researches, and had found a substance possessed of extraordinary properties. What a variety of luck had been needed for him to get that far! Out of thousands of known moulds one, and one only, produced penicillin, and out of the millions of bacteria in the world, only some are affected by penicillin. If some other mould had come in contact with the same bacteria, nothing would have happened; if the right mould had come in contact with some other culture, nothing would have happened. If the right mould had come in contact with the right bacteria at the wrong moment, there would have been nothing to observe. Further, if, at that precise moment, his mind had been occupied with other things, he would have lost his chance. If he had been in a bad mood, he might well have thrown away the contaminated culture.
Had I done that I would not be here giving the Rectorial Address, so your selection of me as Rector really depended on my being in a good temper on a morning in September 1928 — before a lot of you were born. However, Fate ordained that everything happened right and penicillin appeared.
He spoke — also as his custom was — about team-work. There is, he said, great value in a team. For lack of a team he had not, while at St Mary's, been able to purify penicillin, and this had been done, only much later, by the team at Oxford. But there was much, too, to be said in favour of lonely research.
It is the lone worker who makes the first advance in a subject: the details may be worked out by a team, but the prime idea is due to the enterprise, thought and perception of an individual ... If, when penicillin began in my laboratory by an accidental occurrence, I had been a member of a team working on a specific problem, it is likely that I would have had to play for the team and so neglect this chance occurrence which had nothing whatever to do with the problems in hand. But, fortunately, I was not then one of a team, and, though there was nothing tangible to show that this chance occurrence was important, I was able to turn aside into the path which had been opened to me.
When he had finished, the students made a concerted rush at him, lifted him off his feet, and, to the accompaniment of an ear-splitting din of shouts, singing, drum-beating, mouth-organs and trombones, carried him shoulder-high to the Students' Union, where everybody took tea. It was the general opinion that he had come through this by no means gentle ordeal with courage and good-humour. He was a very popular Rector.
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...lexander18.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)
Added further chapters this week...
Chapter XIII. The "Trustees for the two pennies" continued
Chapter XIV. The Representatives of Bo'ness
Chapter XV. Coal and Coal Mining
Chapter XVI. The Borrowstounness and Grangemouth Canal
Chapter XVII. Local Societies and Lodges
Chapter XVIII. Eminent Natives and Residents
Chapter XIX. Conclusion—Educational: Industrial
Chapter XVI starts...
In what brief references there are in gazeteers and similar works regarding Bo'ness we are almost sure to find this very depressing sentence, "After the opening of the Forth and Clyde Canal its trade gradually declined." And this was only too true. It would be unjust, however, to dismiss the subject with this sorrowful statement. As a matter of fact, no part of our local history deserves to be more carefully recorded and emphasised than the part we have arrived at. We mean the whole circumstances attending the misfortune which was sustained locally through the opening up of the Forth and Clyde Canal and the selection of Grangemouth (or Sealock as it was then called) instead of Borrowstounness as the eastern termination of the canal. We believe heroic, if unsuccessful, attempts were made on the part of the Borrowstounness merchants and shipmasters to have the termination made there. In support it was argued that Sealock, or Grangemouth, was considered by engineers and those capable of judging, as a very unsuitable place for an entry into the firth, vessels of that period having to lie a long time in the roads opposite Sealock waiting for stream tides and suitable winds before they could get in. Borrowstounness, on the other hand, was claimed to be a port possessing great natural advantages, and therefore the proper and more suitable terminus. But Grangemouth was, as we have said, ultimately chosen, much to the disappointment of Bo'ness. We cannot at this distance of time find the true cause of this decision, although local tradition puts it down to the exercise of sinister influences by parties interested in Grangemouth.
The sturdy merchants and shipmasters of the old port did not lie down to this reverse. They clearly foresaw that the Forth and Clyde Canal, when finished, would practically put an end to their trade with Glasgow. Hitherto this had been very extensive, and was carried on by means of packhorses and carriers' carts. It was no rare thing at this time, we have heard, to see in a morning fifty carts of merchant goods start off for Glasgow. In order therefore to avert the impending calamity, what did these plucky residents do? They made one of the boldest strokes that has ever been made in Bo'ness (and we are not forgetting that there have been one or two bold and creditable strokes made in the interests of the town in recent times). They agreed to make a branch from the Great Canal, as it was then called, at Grangemouth to the harbour of Bo'ness, and a company called the Borrowstounnesa Canal Company was formed. In briefly describing the undertaking Mr. M'Kenzie says—
"Two Acts of Parliament and subscriptions to the amount of £10,000 were obtained. The canal was cut from the river Avon eastward within a mile of the town, and an aqueduct across the Avon was nearly completed; but after an outlay of about £7500 the work was abandoned when not half-finished. The circumstances which prevented the accomplishment of this desirable undertaking need not be stated; but they were, and still are, deeply regretted by the inhabitants of this town, especially on seeing their trade turned into another channel. Much of it passed by the canal direct to Glasgow, and the larger vessels discharged at Grangemouth, which was only a creek of this port, but then became its rival, and was eventually erected into a separate port."
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../chapter16.htm
The other chapters can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ness/index.htm
David Hume
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By Henry Calderwood (1898)
we've now completed this book with the following chapters...
Chapter I Early Life
Chapter II Search for a Vocation
Chapter III Hume and his Surroundings
Chapter IV Hume as a Philosopher—his Philosophy of Understanding
Chapter V Hume as Historian
Chapter VI Hume in the Government Service
Chapter VII Hume's Attitude as to Religion
Chapter VIII Hume among his Friends
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/hume/index.htm
An Rubha Gaelic Folklife Magazine
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The Highland Village shares Nova Scotia’s rich Gaelic language, culture and folklife through An Rubha: The Highland Village Gaelic Folklife Magazine. They kindly let me put up the Winter 2010 issue on the site in pdf format which you can download at the foot of the page at http://www.electriccanadian.com/canada/breton6.htm
I have to say that I found this publication very interesting and spent time reading many of the excellent articles. Their site can be got to at http://museum.gov.ns.ca/hv/en/home/a...emagazine.aspx
You can join this society for only $15.00 a year and thus receive the bi-annual magazine. Details can be found at http://museum.gov.ns.ca/hv/en/home/a...embership.aspx
The Social and Industrial history of Scotland, from the Union to the present time
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By James MacKinnon (1921)
Another new book we're embarking on and here is the Preface...
In a recently published work (Messrs Blackie & Son) the author eviewed the Social and Industrial History of Scotland from the earliest times to the Union. In the present work he reviews this branch of Scottish History from the Union to the present time.
There is room for such a work, in view of the widespread interest at the present time in social and industrial history, and the lack of an adequate review of that of Scotland during the past two centuries. The valuable works of Sir Henry Craik and Dr Mathieson do not go beyond 1843, and are, besides, largely concerned with politics in church and state. The special work of Mr Bremner on The Industries of Scotland, published in 1869, is full of valuable information as far as it goes, but is rather ill-arranged and ill digested. The half century from 1869 to the present time has been largely left in abeyance by the historian. It is one of extraordinary and complicated development, particularly in the industrial sphere, and should appeal strongly to the reader of to-day, inasmuch as it is bound up so closely with his own experience.
The lack of special works on this part of the period has made the writing of this one no easy task. The Author has had to search over a wide field for his material, and has found difficulty at times in obtaining first-hand information. He has by no means exhausted the field, and professes only to give a review which, while intended for the general reader, as well as for teachers and students of Scottish history, may serve as an introduction to farther intensive study. To this end, he has added, at the conclusion of each part, a list of sources from which he has drawn his material.
He desires to express his obligations to many friends from whom he has received valuable information in the course of his studies—in particular, to his colleagues, Professors Wallace and Hudson Beare; Dr Oliver, Principal of the South of Scotland Central Technical College; Dr David Murray, Glasgow; Sir John Lindsay, D.L., Town Clerk of Glasgow; Mr Paton, City Chamberlain, and Mr Fenton, Depute City Chamberlain, Edinburgh; Sir John Ross, LL.D., Dunfermline; Mr J. L. Innes, Kirkcaldy; Mr James E. Bell, Mr Duncan McGlashan, and the late Mr David Deuchars, M.V.O., Edinburgh; Mr Nicholson, Librarian, Mr Cuthbertson, Assistant Librarian, and the Staff of Edinburgh University Library. To Mr James A. R. MacKinnon, LL.B., Advocate, he is indebted for valuable legal information and for useful suggestions in the course of reading the proofs.
Edinburgh, February, 1921.
I can in fact concur with the difficulty he had in researching this area of Scottish history as in my opinion Scottish companies on the whole are indifferent to recording their own history.
You can read this book as we get it up at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/union/index.htm
Scots Academic and Writer is Awarded one of Austria’s most prestigious honours
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Dr JAmes Wilkie is an amzing character with all the work he had done over many years and this honour is richly deserved. With this account of him there is also included information on the "Book of Hours" which James IV produced and is almost unknown in Scotland. I contacted James and he kindly provided an historical overview of the background to how the book was created which I've included with the article.
You can read this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...les/wilkie.htm
Annals of Auchterarder and Memorials of Srathearn
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By Alexander George Reid (1899)
This is the book that first alerted me to the burning of Auchterarder in Jacobite times.
TRADITION asserts that the Castle of Auchterander was one of the seats of the Scottish Kings and the residence of King Malcolm Canmore, who granted the Common Muir to the neighbouring burgh. The Barony was originally a Crown possession. Being situated on the road from the Royal Palaces of Scone and Forteviot to Stirling, and the principal manor place of a Barony belonging to the Crown, there is every probability that the tradition of its having been a royal palace is correct, and that the warlike Malcolm and the sainted Margaret abode within its walls.
Auchterarder was one of the Royal Burghs of Scotland. It may be said that no charter of erection is in existence, but its absence is explained by the fact that the proximity of a Royal seat gave the neighbouring town the status of a Royal Burgh. Whether or not Auchterarder got a charter of erection from the Sovereign, no doubt can exist that at a very early period it was one of the Royal Burghs of Scotland. In the charier of William, the son of Malise, of the lands within or outside the town of Auchterarder, still known as the Abbey lands, granted to the Canons of Inch-affray, which lands he had bought from John, the son of Baltin, he not only appended his own seal to the writing, but, for greater security and fuller evidence, procured to be appended thereto the common seal of the Burgh of Auchterarder.
The Barony of Auchterarder remained Crown property until the time of King Robert the Bruce. King Alexander II., by charter, dated at Cluny, the 13th day of August, in the eleventh year of his reign (1227), granted to the Canons of the Abbey of Inchaffray the teins of his duties of Auchterarder to be drawn yearly by the hands of his tacksmen and bailies of Auchterarder.
I remember when my parents were living we used to have a day out to Auchterarder and would have an afternoon tea there. It was always a pleasant day out and certainly well worth a visit.
You can get to this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rder/index.htm
And finally...
I only add this one as I've just made myself a big pot of Scotch Broth...
‘Do you like your Scots broth, Dr Johnson?’
‘Ah! Very good for hogs, I believe.’
‘Then let me help you to a little more.’
And that's it for now and hope you all have a good weekend.
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com
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Electric Scotland News
What's new on ElectricCanadian.com
The Flag in the Wind
Historical Tales of the Wars of Scotland
R. B. Cunninghame Graham, Fighter for Justice
Through the Long Day
An Historical Account of the Ancient Culdees of Iona
Nether Lochaber
The Life of Sir Alexander Fleming
Borrowstounness and District
David Hume
An Rubha Gaelic Folklife Magazine
The Social and Industrial history of Scotland, from the Union to the present time (New Book)
Scots Academic and Writer is Awarded one of Austria’s most prestigious honours
Annals of Auchterarder and Memorials of Srathearn (New Book)
Electric Scotland News
----------------------
I might have at last found a contact that can provide me information on Scots in Austria so following this up to see what I can find.
Within the email I got it mentioned...
The Loudons were prominent in Austria, one of them having become a Field Marshal under Empress Maria Theresia. The late Gideon Laudon, whom I knew, was treasurer of the Habsburg Order of the Golden Fleece, which is still awarded.
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I've been busy copying many of my Canadian travel journals to my Electric Canadian web site. I didn't realise just how many gigabytes in pictures I had and the transfer took most of a day to get over. I then had of course to correct some of the links to point to the new site.
And I got a request in from the Highland Village asking for permission to use a picture I had on the site. I responded positively to their request and was then astonished to find it was the Highland Village in Iona, Cape Breton that had send the request. I had thought it was the Highland Village at Newtonmore, Scotland that I was replying to :-)
And while doing all this I got a reminder that it was 2004 when I'd visited the Highland Village in Cape Breton meaning I've now been in Canada for 7 years! How the time flies!
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Next week I hope to bring you a compelling story of a Half-Breed Inuit's search for his Scottish roots. I was given this story some 3 years ago now but have only just received permission to publish it on the site. It's an amazing story. I've just received the updated text and am being sent some pictures to goalong with it and once all has arrived I'll get it up on the site.
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And today I decided to at last bite the bullet and get myself a new water heater as mine is now over 20 years old. As I have decided to take down my chimney that meant I was going to have to vent it outside the house rather than through the chimney so it make sense to get a new water heater at the same time.
I'm using National Home Services which operates through North America but is Canadian owned and uses Canadian products. They actually include a wee video in their email to you confirming the order which if you wish you can view here...
I've never actually seen this type of email where they offer a video to view when they confirm your order so thought it was a nice touch.
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 and also http://www.electriccanadian.com/whatsnew.htm
ElectricCanadian.com
--------------------
http://www.electriccanadian.com
Made more progress with the Canadian site by adding...
Our Treaty History
Bkejwanong Territory, Walpole Island First Nation by Uriah Dodge
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist.../bkejwnong.htm
As it happens this area is only a half hours drive from my home so it was good to get this information in as I do visit the area every other month.
Romantic Canada By Victoria Hayward
Illustrated with photographs by Edith S. Watson (1922)
This is a work in progress and am about half way through the book. It does give some fascinating insights into early Canadian history and I have a page up with all the pictures from the book. I will say my ocr'ing software had fits with this book with many errors so it's taking much longer than usual to get this book up.
You can read what I have up at http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...ntic/index.htm
Should any of you have anything to contribute to this site I'd love to hear from you.
Electric Scotland Community
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http://www.electricsotland.org
A great mixture of messages this week with Buddy Holly taking center stage. I noticed one message about the Lone Shieling in Cape Breton and I actually have a picture of it at http://www.electriccanadian.com/canada/breton19.htm
THE FLAG IN THE WIND
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This weeks Flag was compiled by Ian Goldie. In this issue he's talking about North Sea Oil with some interesting revalations.
You can get to the Flag at http://www.scotsindependent.org
Historical Tales of the Wars of Scotland
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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...
Legend of Kilchurn Castle
Siege of Red Hall, etc.
Burning of Towie Castle
Battle of Sheriff Moor
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/wars/
R. B. Cunninghame Graham, Fighter for Justice
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An Appreciation of his Social and Religious Outlook by Ian M. Fraser (2002).
Added another chapter to this account...
Prophetic Criticism of Contremporaneity - Part 2
You can get to this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/graham/
Through the Long Day
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Or Memorials of a Literary Life during half a century by Charles MacKay LL.D. (1887)
This week have added...
Chapter XI.—Patric Park and Celebrated Modern Sculptors
You can get to all this at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/mackay/
An Historical Account of the Ancient Culdees of Iona
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And of their settlements in Scotland, England and Ireland by John Jamieson D.D. (1811)
Added another chapter...
Chapter XII
Of the Suppression of the Culdees.—Means employed for this Purpose.— Their Promotion to Bishoprics.— Increase <f Episcopal Sees.—Preference given to Foreigners—Introduction of Canojts Regular;—at St Andrezcs;—Lochlevin ;—Dunkeld;—Brechin.— Convention between Bishop Malvoisin and the Culdees of Monimusk.—Remarks on it,
These can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/bible/culdees/index.htm
Nether Lochaber
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The Natural History, Legends and Folk-Lore of the West Highlands by Rev. Alexander Stewart FSA Scot, (1883)
We're now up to chapter 30.
In Chapter XVII I enjoyed reading the first paragraph which reminded me on how we used to bury potatoes in the charcoal when doing a BBQ in Kuwait. While they came out well charred and black they were indeed delicous. Here is that paragraph to read here...
With*such fine weather as we enjoy at present, September*[1871]*is one of the pleasantest months of the year. Harvest operations are now in full swing, and the redbreast—having moulted, and proudly conscious of the splendour of his scarlet vest—has already begun his autumnal song—more delectable now and more appreciated, because now, with the exception of an occasional voluntary from the wren, he only sings, whereas his vernal strains are lost in their amalgamation with the full chorus of a thousand performers.
It is pleasant now, as you saunter or ride along, to listen to the merry laughter of the reapers afield, and to their song, as,*more ma jorum,*it floats in chorus on the gale : pleasant, too, to us at least, and far from unmusical, the frequent sound of the whetting of scythe and sickle in every direction—the bloodless weapons—as they are deftly handled in the process, glancing brightly in the sunlight! Reaping "machines" and "steam" ploughs may be very good things in their way, but we are not ashamed to confess that we are glad that, as yet at least, we*know nothing of them in the West Highlands. The utilitarian must be content if*we*admit all their value and importance from*his*point of*view, while*at the same time*we*yet*assert*that*wherever*they appear all the poetry of agriculture incontinently becomes plain prose—Sir- transit gloria Cereris.*
"Very excellent, at all events, are our crops this season, and very excellently are they being harvested. A good deal has already been secured in barn and stackyard, and in such condition, too, as is but rarely possible under the weeping skies of the west coast. The weather is still so favourable that our people are working with a will, and making every exertion to have their harvesting concluded while it lasts.
Potatoes still continue sound and untainted, although an occasional*spottiness*of the leaf in some fields shows that our old enemy the "blight" has not yet forgot the time of his coming. The crop is now, however, about ripe, and may be considered very much out of danger for the season. In our last, we had a good deal to say about this invaluable root, and how it should be brought to table; and to show that such a subject-matter is not quite so*infra dig.*as some of our readers might suppose, listen to what the*Times*says of Garibaldi's doings at Caprera. After recounting the General's failures in connection with his orchard, the acclimation of the silk-worm, &c., the*Times*proceeds:—"Garibaldi, however, points with exultation to his potato fields. No species of the favourite root is neglected, and there is no treat he so heartily enjoys as a dish of his own potatoes, baked with his own hand under embers, in the open air—a treat which calls up reminiscences of his camp life on the Tonale or the Stelvis, or of his pioneer's experience in the backwoods of the Mississippi or the Plate." We wonder if this "hero in an unheroic age," who yet disdains not to exult in his potato fields, or to cook his delicious "earth apples," as the French so happily term them, in the embers with his own hand— we wonder if he eats his fish with his fingers We could lay a wager that he does; that in eating his ember-roasted potatoes in the open air, with some broiled*tunny,*let us suppose, as a fitting accompaniment—(the*Thynnas ridgaris,*in highest esteem with the ancients as with the moderns, abundant about Caprera and all the shores of Provence, Sardinia, and Sicily, and than which, indeed, there is hardly any better fish)—we could lay a wager, we say, that in eating his potatoes and fish*al fresco*he discards the use of knife and fork utterly, eating his fish with his fingers, and using the running brook beside him as a convenient finger-glass.
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../chapter26.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)
We have now completed this book with the following chapters...
Chapter XVII - The silences of professor Fleming
Chapter XVIII - The Delphic Oracle
Chapter XIX - Too short a happiness
Epilogue
Bibliography and Pictures
In Chapter XVIII we learn...
after*the departure of his Greek pupil, Fleming gave the impression of being lost. He confided in nobody, but he did,*which was most unusual with him, express regret in a vague and general way. One of his friends, D.J. Fyffe, describes him at this time, as follows:
One evening my wife and I met Fleming at the Royal Academy Soiree. It was duller than usual, and there seemed to be nothing to drink. He was wandering about in the crowd, and, much to our pleasure, joined us.
'This is a rotten party."*he said, "I'm going home."
I suggested that he should come back to our flat, where we could have a party on our own. He drove us home. I found some champagne; my wife cooked bacon and eggs, and we sat down to supper. I think he was always at his ease with us, probably because we all came from Scotland. Anyway, we sat round the table and talked for a long time. He was unusually expansive. He spoke of his early life and of the strange fortune that had been so active in his career. I remember that he was wearing some rare Papal order, and that we twitted him on his collection of cosmopolitan decorations. He suddenly became serious.
He said that all this grandeur had come to him far too late in life, that he could not enjoy it as he should. Had it come earlier it would have given him time in which to cultivate the social graces in which he was deficient. He would have 'learned his manners'. As it was, he said, he didn't know how to behave. He regretted this very much, and was certainly sincere in what he said. He knew that his rather brusque ways had often offended, and wished that he had had a longer social experience.
He talked about all this rather wistfully, but, being a clear-headed, practical man, he accepted the fact as something inevitable in his intensely hard-working life ...
Official journeys shook him out of this kind of brooding. He had been made a member of the*unesco*commission charged with the duty of organizing medical conferences, the Commission of International Scientific Conferences (C.I.S.C.). He was only too glad to go to Paris for its meetings. He got on very well with his colleagues from other countries.
He rarely spoke on these occasions. 'They attach a great deal too much importance to what I say, so it behoves me to be cautious.' He had a very shrewd eye when it came to summing up others: 'A ... says little, but is listened to. B ... talks a lot, but nobody takes him seriously. X ... young and energetic, wants to see results. Z ... pleasant enough, but without ideas: very ordinary.'
Fleming's diary, session of 1951, Thursday, September 27th, 1951:*H6tel Napoleon. Went for a walk along Champs Elysés and had a vermouth at Le Select — no particular reason, but I wanted to sit down and have a drink. Inside, they were serving meals, so I thought I might as well dine there as anywhere. Had a very good meal, but the proprietor and the head-waiter came along and accused me of being the discoverer of penicillin. On the strength of it I got an Alsace liqueur made from raspberries — very good and very potent. What a difference from anything in London! Lights everywhere, and shop windows all lit up ... Lots of English spoken by people in the street. Back in hotel before 10 p.m. ...
On October 30th, 1951, at St Mary's he was attending a session of the School Council, when he was called to the telephone. It was a telegram: 'Would you accept nomination as Rector Edinburgh University. Reply at once.'
The Scottish students themselves elect their Rectors. The post is an honorary one and does not involve residence. Nevertheless, the Rector does actually preside over the University Court, which is the highest authority in matters of administration and finance. Thus the students of Edinburgh in fact enjoy the privilege of electing what amounts to a Patron. They use it for the purpose of paying homage to those eminent men whom, for one reason or another, they admire. One group will choose a politician, another a writer, a scholar or a famous actor. The electoral battle, which is enthusiastic and amusing, quickly turns into a farcical epic.
Each candidate has to have the support of a group consisting of at least twenty students who conduct a vigorous campaign in his favour by means of posters, slogans and even pitched battles, because nightly combats occur between rival bands of bill-stickers. The Fleming faction was at first principally made up of medical students who are very powerful in Edinburgh, a city with an ancient and glorious medical tradition. Nothing could have given more pleasure to the Scottish youth who was still alive in the famous man.
Flemings diary:*Replied 'yes', and when I rejoined Lord McGowan in the Council, he expressed his approval of my decision emphatically. Next morning one of the students [Ian Sullivan] came to ask my acceptance in writing. Was at Drapers' Company Dinner that night, and when I got home, Harold [Montgomery, a nephew] told me they had rung up from Edinburgh for a second signature as they feared their messenger might be kidnapped. It was too late, but apparently messenger got through, and I was duly nominated.
His most dangerous rival (out of eight candidates) was the Aga Khan,*p.c.,*g.c.s.i., g.c.i.e.,*an enormously rich, powerful and clever man. The Aga Khan faction had hatched a plot to kidnap the messenger of the Fleming group at the Waverley Station. The Flemingites, informed of this, cut the ground from under their enemies' feet by themselves snatching their emissary from the train at London and taking him back to Edinburgh by car.
The most successful poster of the campaign was one carrying the single word 'FLEMING', It did its job, and it was cheap. Sir Alexander polled 1,096 votes to the Aga Khan's 660. The other candidates were left far behind. Fleming was pleased at having been elected with so big a majority. He had to go to Edinburgh to be installed. Harold Stewart, who made the journey with him, described it as follows: 'We had a very pleasant journey. He said "Hullo!" at King's Cross. We got into the same compartment. He said "Goodbye" at Edinburgh.*Rectoria brevitas.
He had to deliver the Rectorial Address which, according to long-hallowed tradition, the students interrupted with shouting, singing, and every variety of noise.
Sir Alexander Fleming to John McKeen> President of Pfizer, Inc., New York:*It was a very exciting experience and after 70 you don't want too much excitement. I can remember when I first read a paper to a society, in 1907. My knees shook, but they were concealed behind the lecturer's desk, and apparently my face did not give me away so all was well. My knees have not shaken since until I got up to deliver my address in Edinburgh, amidst a babel of noise. I found them shaking again. This time, though, I had on a long gown, and nobody noticed. I soon got used to the clamour, and when it was so loud that I could not be heard, I amused myself by thinking which bit I could cut without spoiling the story. All went well.
He was determined to make himself heard, and he succeeded. His address, which was excellent, deserved a hearing. He had chosen 'Success' as his subject:
What is success? It might be defined as the achievement of one's ambitions. If we accept this simple definition then everyone is in some way successful, and no one is completely successful. You have all achieved one ambition, to be students of the great University of Edinburgh. But you will have other ambitions, because ambition once achieved leads on to others.
Then he described what he held to be the most successful careers in history — those of Pasteur and Lister — and pointed out that success involved the conjunction of luck and genius.
The success of Louis Pasteur was phenomenal. How did it come about? The answer is, I think, simple — by hard work, careful observation, clear thinking, enthusiasm and a spot of luck. Plenty of people work hard and some of them make careful observations, but without the clear thinking which puts these observations in proper perspective, they get nowhere.
Speaking of his own career, he reminded his listeners, as it was his habit to do, that he had chosen St Mary's because that hospital happened to possess a very active swimming club- About the same time, the greatest of English bacteriologists, Almroth Wright, had gone there because he had quarrelled with the military authorities. But for that double piece of luck — his own love of swimming and Wright's rupture with the War Office — he might have been drawn into some other branch of medicine, and would not have discovered penicillin.
As to that discovery, he would be the first to attribute it to luck. A mould of penicillium had drifted in through a window. It had dissolved bacteria. He had taken notice of this, had continued his researches, and had found a substance possessed of extraordinary properties. What a variety of luck had been needed for him to get that far! Out of thousands of known moulds one, and one only, produced penicillin, and out of the millions of bacteria in the world, only some are affected by penicillin. If some other mould had come in contact with the same bacteria, nothing would have happened; if the right mould had come in contact with some other culture, nothing would have happened. If the right mould had come in contact with the right bacteria at the wrong moment, there would have been nothing to observe. Further, if, at that precise moment, his mind had been occupied with other things, he would have lost his chance. If he had been in a bad mood, he might well have thrown away the contaminated culture.
Had I done that I would not be here giving the Rectorial Address, so your selection of me as Rector really depended on my being in a good temper on a morning in September 1928 — before a lot of you were born. However, Fate ordained that everything happened right and penicillin appeared.
He spoke — also as his custom was — about team-work. There is, he said, great value in a team. For lack of a team he had not, while at St Mary's, been able to purify penicillin, and this had been done, only much later, by the team at Oxford. But there was much, too, to be said in favour of lonely research.
It is the lone worker who makes the first advance in a subject: the details may be worked out by a team, but the prime idea is due to the enterprise, thought and perception of an individual ... If, when penicillin began in my laboratory by an accidental occurrence, I had been a member of a team working on a specific problem, it is likely that I would have had to play for the team and so neglect this chance occurrence which had nothing whatever to do with the problems in hand. But, fortunately, I was not then one of a team, and, though there was nothing tangible to show that this chance occurrence was important, I was able to turn aside into the path which had been opened to me.
When he had finished, the students made a concerted rush at him, lifted him off his feet, and, to the accompaniment of an ear-splitting din of shouts, singing, drum-beating, mouth-organs and trombones, carried him shoulder-high to the Students' Union, where everybody took tea. It was the general opinion that he had come through this by no means gentle ordeal with courage and good-humour. He was a very popular Rector.
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...lexander18.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)
Added further chapters this week...
Chapter XIII. The "Trustees for the two pennies" continued
Chapter XIV. The Representatives of Bo'ness
Chapter XV. Coal and Coal Mining
Chapter XVI. The Borrowstounness and Grangemouth Canal
Chapter XVII. Local Societies and Lodges
Chapter XVIII. Eminent Natives and Residents
Chapter XIX. Conclusion—Educational: Industrial
Chapter XVI starts...
In what brief references there are in gazeteers and similar works regarding Bo'ness we are almost sure to find this very depressing sentence, "After the opening of the Forth and Clyde Canal its trade gradually declined." And this was only too true. It would be unjust, however, to dismiss the subject with this sorrowful statement. As a matter of fact, no part of our local history deserves to be more carefully recorded and emphasised than the part we have arrived at. We mean the whole circumstances attending the misfortune which was sustained locally through the opening up of the Forth and Clyde Canal and the selection of Grangemouth (or Sealock as it was then called) instead of Borrowstounness as the eastern termination of the canal. We believe heroic, if unsuccessful, attempts were made on the part of the Borrowstounness merchants and shipmasters to have the termination made there. In support it was argued that Sealock, or Grangemouth, was considered by engineers and those capable of judging, as a very unsuitable place for an entry into the firth, vessels of that period having to lie a long time in the roads opposite Sealock waiting for stream tides and suitable winds before they could get in. Borrowstounness, on the other hand, was claimed to be a port possessing great natural advantages, and therefore the proper and more suitable terminus. But Grangemouth was, as we have said, ultimately chosen, much to the disappointment of Bo'ness. We cannot at this distance of time find the true cause of this decision, although local tradition puts it down to the exercise of sinister influences by parties interested in Grangemouth.
The sturdy merchants and shipmasters of the old port did not lie down to this reverse. They clearly foresaw that the Forth and Clyde Canal, when finished, would practically put an end to their trade with Glasgow. Hitherto this had been very extensive, and was carried on by means of packhorses and carriers' carts. It was no rare thing at this time, we have heard, to see in a morning fifty carts of merchant goods start off for Glasgow. In order therefore to avert the impending calamity, what did these plucky residents do? They made one of the boldest strokes that has ever been made in Bo'ness (and we are not forgetting that there have been one or two bold and creditable strokes made in the interests of the town in recent times). They agreed to make a branch from the Great Canal, as it was then called, at Grangemouth to the harbour of Bo'ness, and a company called the Borrowstounnesa Canal Company was formed. In briefly describing the undertaking Mr. M'Kenzie says—
"Two Acts of Parliament and subscriptions to the amount of £10,000 were obtained. The canal was cut from the river Avon eastward within a mile of the town, and an aqueduct across the Avon was nearly completed; but after an outlay of about £7500 the work was abandoned when not half-finished. The circumstances which prevented the accomplishment of this desirable undertaking need not be stated; but they were, and still are, deeply regretted by the inhabitants of this town, especially on seeing their trade turned into another channel. Much of it passed by the canal direct to Glasgow, and the larger vessels discharged at Grangemouth, which was only a creek of this port, but then became its rival, and was eventually erected into a separate port."
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../chapter16.htm
The other chapters can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ness/index.htm
David Hume
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By Henry Calderwood (1898)
we've now completed this book with the following chapters...
Chapter I Early Life
Chapter II Search for a Vocation
Chapter III Hume and his Surroundings
Chapter IV Hume as a Philosopher—his Philosophy of Understanding
Chapter V Hume as Historian
Chapter VI Hume in the Government Service
Chapter VII Hume's Attitude as to Religion
Chapter VIII Hume among his Friends
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/hume/index.htm
An Rubha Gaelic Folklife Magazine
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The Highland Village shares Nova Scotia’s rich Gaelic language, culture and folklife through An Rubha: The Highland Village Gaelic Folklife Magazine. They kindly let me put up the Winter 2010 issue on the site in pdf format which you can download at the foot of the page at http://www.electriccanadian.com/canada/breton6.htm
I have to say that I found this publication very interesting and spent time reading many of the excellent articles. Their site can be got to at http://museum.gov.ns.ca/hv/en/home/a...emagazine.aspx
You can join this society for only $15.00 a year and thus receive the bi-annual magazine. Details can be found at http://museum.gov.ns.ca/hv/en/home/a...embership.aspx
The Social and Industrial history of Scotland, from the Union to the present time
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By James MacKinnon (1921)
Another new book we're embarking on and here is the Preface...
In a recently published work (Messrs Blackie & Son) the author eviewed the Social and Industrial History of Scotland from the earliest times to the Union. In the present work he reviews this branch of Scottish History from the Union to the present time.
There is room for such a work, in view of the widespread interest at the present time in social and industrial history, and the lack of an adequate review of that of Scotland during the past two centuries. The valuable works of Sir Henry Craik and Dr Mathieson do not go beyond 1843, and are, besides, largely concerned with politics in church and state. The special work of Mr Bremner on The Industries of Scotland, published in 1869, is full of valuable information as far as it goes, but is rather ill-arranged and ill digested. The half century from 1869 to the present time has been largely left in abeyance by the historian. It is one of extraordinary and complicated development, particularly in the industrial sphere, and should appeal strongly to the reader of to-day, inasmuch as it is bound up so closely with his own experience.
The lack of special works on this part of the period has made the writing of this one no easy task. The Author has had to search over a wide field for his material, and has found difficulty at times in obtaining first-hand information. He has by no means exhausted the field, and professes only to give a review which, while intended for the general reader, as well as for teachers and students of Scottish history, may serve as an introduction to farther intensive study. To this end, he has added, at the conclusion of each part, a list of sources from which he has drawn his material.
He desires to express his obligations to many friends from whom he has received valuable information in the course of his studies—in particular, to his colleagues, Professors Wallace and Hudson Beare; Dr Oliver, Principal of the South of Scotland Central Technical College; Dr David Murray, Glasgow; Sir John Lindsay, D.L., Town Clerk of Glasgow; Mr Paton, City Chamberlain, and Mr Fenton, Depute City Chamberlain, Edinburgh; Sir John Ross, LL.D., Dunfermline; Mr J. L. Innes, Kirkcaldy; Mr James E. Bell, Mr Duncan McGlashan, and the late Mr David Deuchars, M.V.O., Edinburgh; Mr Nicholson, Librarian, Mr Cuthbertson, Assistant Librarian, and the Staff of Edinburgh University Library. To Mr James A. R. MacKinnon, LL.B., Advocate, he is indebted for valuable legal information and for useful suggestions in the course of reading the proofs.
Edinburgh, February, 1921.
I can in fact concur with the difficulty he had in researching this area of Scottish history as in my opinion Scottish companies on the whole are indifferent to recording their own history.
You can read this book as we get it up at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/union/index.htm
Scots Academic and Writer is Awarded one of Austria’s most prestigious honours
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Dr JAmes Wilkie is an amzing character with all the work he had done over many years and this honour is richly deserved. With this account of him there is also included information on the "Book of Hours" which James IV produced and is almost unknown in Scotland. I contacted James and he kindly provided an historical overview of the background to how the book was created which I've included with the article.
You can read this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...les/wilkie.htm
Annals of Auchterarder and Memorials of Srathearn
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By Alexander George Reid (1899)
This is the book that first alerted me to the burning of Auchterarder in Jacobite times.
TRADITION asserts that the Castle of Auchterander was one of the seats of the Scottish Kings and the residence of King Malcolm Canmore, who granted the Common Muir to the neighbouring burgh. The Barony was originally a Crown possession. Being situated on the road from the Royal Palaces of Scone and Forteviot to Stirling, and the principal manor place of a Barony belonging to the Crown, there is every probability that the tradition of its having been a royal palace is correct, and that the warlike Malcolm and the sainted Margaret abode within its walls.
Auchterarder was one of the Royal Burghs of Scotland. It may be said that no charter of erection is in existence, but its absence is explained by the fact that the proximity of a Royal seat gave the neighbouring town the status of a Royal Burgh. Whether or not Auchterarder got a charter of erection from the Sovereign, no doubt can exist that at a very early period it was one of the Royal Burghs of Scotland. In the charier of William, the son of Malise, of the lands within or outside the town of Auchterarder, still known as the Abbey lands, granted to the Canons of Inch-affray, which lands he had bought from John, the son of Baltin, he not only appended his own seal to the writing, but, for greater security and fuller evidence, procured to be appended thereto the common seal of the Burgh of Auchterarder.
The Barony of Auchterarder remained Crown property until the time of King Robert the Bruce. King Alexander II., by charter, dated at Cluny, the 13th day of August, in the eleventh year of his reign (1227), granted to the Canons of the Abbey of Inchaffray the teins of his duties of Auchterarder to be drawn yearly by the hands of his tacksmen and bailies of Auchterarder.
I remember when my parents were living we used to have a day out to Auchterarder and would have an afternoon tea there. It was always a pleasant day out and certainly well worth a visit.
You can get to this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rder/index.htm
And finally...
I only add this one as I've just made myself a big pot of Scotch Broth...
‘Do you like your Scots broth, Dr Johnson?’
‘Ah! Very good for hogs, I believe.’
‘Then let me help you to a little more.’
And that's it for now and hope you all have a good weekend.
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com