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For the latest news from Scotland see our ScotNews feed at:
https://electricscotland.com/scotnews.htm
Electric Scotland News
Still waiting for the final results from the US elections but it does look like the Republicans have under performed against what was predicted. It does look like they have won a majority in the House but it's a lot closer in the Senate. Ron DeSantis: The Florida governor some call Trump 2.0. won a landslide victory in Florida. The BBC did a profile on him which you can read at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63293633
-------
Doing a fair bit of work on my home over the past couple of weeks. A lot of work in the garden and also outside work on the porch and outside doors. This year I've applied the non slip tape to the porch stairs so will see how much of a difference that makes. Then lots of smaller jobs in the house like clearing out the basement and ripping out some carpeting which resulted in sanding the floor and applying new stain. The upstairs of the house doesn't have the same quality of floors that the main floor has.
--------
Attended a Zoom meeting for the Canadian members of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. It was to do with comparing architecture of Scotland with the Scandinavian countries. Have to say I didn't find it of any real interest but I'm sure some will have found it useful.
---------
Remembrance Sunday
Thought I might add that we have considerable historical resources on the sites about the armed forces of Scotland and Canada. You can find these at:
Scotland: https://electricscotland.com/history/scotreg/
Canada: http://www.electriccanadian.com/forces/index.htm
Scottish News from this weeks newspapers
Note that this is a selection and more can be read in our ScotNews feed on our index page where we list news from the past 1-2 weeks. I am partly doing this to build an archive of modern news from and about Scotland and world news stories that can affect Scotland and as all the newsletters are archived and also indexed on Google and other search engines it becomes a good resource. I might also add that in a number of newspapers you will find many comments which can be just as interesting as the news story itself and of course you can also add your own comments if you wish which I do myself from time to time.
Think Rishi has problems? Just look at Europe
Only a Little Englander could imagine that Braverman and Sunak have worse problems than their French, German and Italian counterparts.
Read more at:
https://conservativehome.com/2022/11...n-counterparts
Canada's blockbuster job numbers suggest economy still running hot
Surprise surge could spur speculation of bigger rate hike from Bank of Canada
Read more at:
https://financialpost.com/news/econo...eats-estimates
US hospital flu cases hit 10-year high as vaccinations fall
US influenza hospital admissions have hit the highest rate in a decade as vaccinations sag, US officials say. They said adults have received five million fewer influenza jabs this year compared with the same time last year.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63522871
Painted people
Discoveries shed fascinating new light on ancient Pictish ancestors of Scotland
Read more at:
https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/discov...ent-ancestors/
Media
By Hamish Mackay in the Scottish Review
Read more at:
https://www.scottishreview.net//HamishMackay636a.html
Our future is 5G
By Bill Magee in the Scottish Review
Read more at:
https://www.scottishreview.net//BillMagee636a.html
\
Nurses in Scotland vote for strike action in pay dispute
Scotland's largest nursing union has voted to go on strike for the first time ever in a dispute over pay. Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) have rejected the Scottish government's revised pay offer.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-63558472
Rising costs impacting on a unique Scottish way of life
Crofters are changing how they live and work because of severe increases in costs, according to the Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF).
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland...lands-63033874
Gemma Dryburgh's mindset changed completely after LPGA Tour win
The 29-year-old became the first Scot to win on the tour since 2011 with a four-stroke win in the Japan Classic.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/sport/golf/63567448
There’s not just a ferry fiasco the Gupta scandal is even bigger
SANJEEV GUPTA and the SNP once had quite a close relationship. Nicola Sturgeon’s government facilitated deals and acted as intermediary, all-in service to Gupta’s industrial expansion into Scotland
Read more at:
https://thinkscotland.org/2022/11/th...s-even-bigger/
Teachers in Scotland vote to strike over pay
Teachers in Scotland have voted overwhelmingly to strike in a dispute over pay, the country's largest teaching union has said.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-63572743
Scotland and the rules of Euro engagement
As the SNP looks to a future in Europe, the European Commission is proposing reforms to rules which are vital to conditions of joining.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland...iness-63578343
Brazil trade negotiations reveal UK officials still have the EU’s mercantilist mindset
This is a problem for the whole of the UK - we voted to leave the EU over 6 years ago, then left the EU almost 3 years ago, the transition period finished almost 2 years ago - but very few rules, regulations or even public servant attitudes have changed.
Read more at:
https://thinkscotland.org/2022/11/br...ilist-mindset/
Electric Canadian
Northland Stories
Tales of Trapping Life in the Canadian Wildeness by William MacMillan (1922) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...ries00macm.pdf
Neighbours
A Novel by Robert Stead (1922) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...rs0000stea.pdf
Sir Wilfrid Laurier and the Liberal Party
A political History in two volumes by J. S. Willison (1903)
The fact that Laurier’s father thus sent the boy from home to learn English would suggest that he saw in the son early promise of his brilliant qualities, and had sagaciously and correctly estimated the value of English, even as a mere commercial asset. There seems reason to think that the boy’s experiences at New Glasgow had a distinct and lasting effect upon his character and opinions. Many years afterwards he was asked how it came that he was so tolerant of the religious beliefs of Protestants. In reply, he told the story of his relations with the family of John Murray, and added, “The pure family life and the godly conduct of the Murrays so impressed me that I am convinced a Protestant can be an earnest, true Christian, as well as a Catholic.”
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/make...er_wilfrid.htm
Thoughts on a Sunday Morning the 6th day of November 2022 - On Remembering
By the Rev. Nola Crewe
You can view this at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/foru...on-remembering
When Canada was New France
By George H. Locke (1919) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...snewfrance.pdf
In a Fishing Country
By W. H. Blake (1922) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...ry0000blak.pdf
Ideological Migration and War Resistance in British Columbia’s West Kootenays
An Analysis of Counterculture Politics and Community Networks among Doukhobor, Quaker, and American Migrants during the Vietnam War Era by Kathleen Rodgers and Darcy Ingram (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...odgers2014.pdf
Electric Scotland
The Second World War 1939-45
A Strategical and Tactical History by Major-General J. F. C. Fuller (1948) (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...-World-War.pdf
Beth's Video Talks
November 9th 2022 - Civilian Conservation Corps
You can view this at:
https://electricscotland.com/bnft/index.htm
My Life and some Letters
By Mrs. Patrick Campbell (Beatrice Stella Cornwallis-West) with illustrations (1922) (pdf). In this book there are many letters from the front in WWI which is why I've included this here.
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...tter00camp.pdf
Scottish Banner
Got in their November 2022 edition which you can read at:
https://electricscotland.com/familyt...nner/index.htm
Dad, My Father, Our Friend
A poem by Stanley Bruce on the passing away of his father.
You can read and listen to this at:
https://electricscotland.com/poetry/...leybrucesr.htm
Wrong With The Wind
Scotland has substantial renewable energy resources, and that’s a very good thing. But hugely exaggerating the size of the potential resource for political purposes is not a good thing. This is the story of how the Scottish Government has for years been knowingly inflating Scotland's share of Europe's potential offshore wind resource.
You can read more at:
https://electricscotland.com/indepen...%20Islands.pdf
Clan Henderson
Got in their December 2022 newsletter which you can read at:
https://electricscotland.com/familyt...rson/index.htm
The Scottish Pulpit
Came across this series from the State Library of Pennsylvania and thought they'd be of interest to anyone interested in the Scottish Church as they come from 1845 in a series of 5 volumes. Have added volume 1 to the site and will add the others each week for the next 4 weeks.
You can get to this at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/scottish-pulpit.htm
Thomas Telford
One of the greatest of Britain’s engineers by L. T. C. Rolt (1958) (pdf)
You can read about him at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...elford1958.pdf
Scottish Society of Indianapolis
Got in their Oct/Nov 2022 newsletter which you can read at:
https://electricscotland.com/familyt...olis/index.htm
Hylton Newsletter
Got in the November 2022 newsletter which you can read at:
https://electricscotland.com/familyt...lton/index.htm
The socio-economic relations between Scotland’s northern territories and Scandinavia and the Baltic in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
By Thomas Brochard (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...etween_Sco.pdf
Memorials of Thomas Davidson
The Wandering Scholar collected and edited by William Knight (1907) (pdf)
You can read about him at:
https://electricscotland.com/books/p...homa00knig.pdf
The Scottish Society of Louisville
Got in their November 2022 newsletter which you can read at:
https://electricscotland.com/familyt...ber2022pub.pdf
Story
Got two stories this week from the Aberdeen Journal Notes and Queries Vol. VII of 1914
Aberdeen’s Offer of a Regiment, 1778.
After our disastrous defeat at Saratoga in October, 1777, a great wave of patriotism swept over the country, and regiments were offered to Government by the Corporations of Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen, and all were accepted except that of Aberdeen. (Fortescue’s “British Army” iii., 245.) Mr Sinclair refers to this offer in his ”History of the Aberdeen Volunteers,” (pp. 25-4), but I think readers may like to get the entire correspondence before them. The offer of the Aberdeen Town Council was forwarded to Lord Suffolk, the Secretary of State for the North, by Provost Jopp on January 10, 1778, as follows— (Aberdeen Town Council archives, and now printed for the first time): —
My Lord,—
The City of Aberdeen having on many occasions given the strongest assurances of their zeal and attachment towards His Majesty’s person and government, and having beheld with indignation the rise and progress of a rebellion and revolt in the British colonies in America, which seems to be grown to an alarming height; have resolved at this critical juncture most humbly to offer to His Majesty every assistance in their power for the better enabling Government to prosecute with vigour the American War, and for reducing the rebellious colonies to their former state of allegiance and subordination.
And I have the honour to inform your Lordship that they have opened and are now carrying on successfully and with all possible dispatch a subscription for the purpose of raising a body of men for His Majesty’s service.
I have taken the liberty to inclose for your Lord’s. perusal a Memorial on this subject, and have to request that your Lord will be pleased to lay the same before His Majesty for his gracious acceptance. If this Memorial should contain anything improper, it must be imputed to my having had no opportunity of knowing what conditions Government has been pleased to allow other Corporations in like cases.
I must beg leave to remark to your Lord. that the circumstances of a new corps [the 81st Regiment] of one thousand men to be raised by Colonel [the Hon. William] Gordon, whose officers are mostly named from this corner and county, may render the immediate procuring of recruits more difficult, and may require that the period for completing any corps we may be able to raise be not limited or at least not to a very short space. At the same time, assuring your Lord. that every effort will be made for carrying this design into execution with all possible dispatch; we hope that your Lord. will be pleased to signify to us His Majesty’s pleasure as soon as may be.
The city’s proposals were embodied in the following memorial:—
1. That a body of men shall be enlisted at the expense of this city to be put upon the establishment as a separate corps, provided they shall amount to 500 or upwards, and if under that number to be embodied in independent companies.
2. That the community be allowed to recommend officers who are to be approved by His Majesty, viz.:—If 500, a lieutenant-oolonel commandant, major, captains, and subalterns for the different companies, it being understood that no officers above the rank of lieutenants shall be recommended but such as are of approved merit and have served with reputation in the army; several of whom have already offered their services on this occasion.
3. If 700 or upwards, a colonel, lieutenant-colonel, major, etc.
4. Pay to commence from the time allowed to other corps now raising.
5. Cloathing, arms, etc., to be furnished by Government.
6. The order from War Office for in listing to be addressed to the Provost of Aberdeen, with the ordinary power of delegation.
N.B.—In order to be able to procure men with more facility, might engagement be made that such as desire it may have a discharge at the end of the American War?
To this enthusiastic offer the Lord Suffolk returned a polite refusal on January 23, 1778: —
Having had the honor of laying before the King your letter of the 9th inst. with the Memorial inclosed in it, I am now to inform you that the fullest sense is entertained of the zeal and attachment of the City of Aberdeen towards His Majesty’s person and Government, as well as of the constitutional principles which induce the Corporation to the proposal of enlisting a body of men at their own expense to be put upon the establishment as a separate corps.
As, however, it is not at present intended to accept any new levies beyond what are already under the consideration of Parliament, I am on this account to decline the offer; at the same time that I onco more assure you of the justice done to the loyal and constitutional motives from which it originates.
The interesting point is that the Government disliked to deal with a Corporation, preferring private gentlemen as regiment-raisers. The Corporation in our day has given tit-for-tat in its attitude to the Links rifle range.
J. M. Bulloch.
The Lord High Admiral of Scotland
The office of Lord High Admiral of Scotland appears to Have been instituted about the beginning of the fifteenth century. In 1483, the opening year of the reign of James IV., the Earl of Bothwell was appointed Admiral; the office was made heritable; the Admiral was authorised to appoint deputes. The office was held by successive Earls of Bothwell right down to 1567, when the verdict of Carberry Hill compelled the last Earl to take ship from Scotland. It then passed to the Duke of Lennox. In his family it remained until the death, in 1672, of the sixth and last Duke of Lennox. Thereafter it was granted for life to the Duke of York. The vacancy caused by the Revolution was not filled till the appointment, in March. 1692, of the Duke of Hamilton. When Hamilton died, two years later, the office was put into commission. By the act of Union Scotland was to retain her Court of Admiralty “until the Parliament of Great Britain should make such Begulations and Alterations as should be judged expedient for the whole United Kingdom.” The small Scottish fleet, however, became part of the British Navy, and to the Lord High Admiral of Great Britain wore transferred the executive duties of the Scottish Admiral.
Of these duties the most important had been the granting of commissions to warships and privateers. A fifteenth share of the value of the prizes talken by the Latter was paid to the Crown, a tenth to the Admiral. When the office of Admiral was vacant or the holder remiss in his duties letters of marque might be obtained in various ways. During the second Dutch war Scottish skippers eager to waylay the enemy’s traders found it so difficult to obtain privateer commissions from the Admiral that the Scots Privy Council received authority to issue them. When for the third time Britain went to war with the Netherlands, the Admiral was apparently furth of Scotland — he died at Elsmore some months later — and the granting of letters of marque was entrusted to a Depute Admiral. After the union the two Scottish frigates, the Pelican asd the Janet, were commissioned and directed by the Estates, while letters of marque were issued to privateers by the Privy Council. Despite the appointment in March, 1692, of the Duke of Hamilton to the office of Admiral, the Privy Council in June of that year issued two privateer commissions. Next year, however, the Admiral effectively asserted his authority. The garrison of the Bass was still defying King William’s Government; French privateers were hovering in the North Sea; in the Privy Council the Lord Chancellor preposed the provision of a ship to guard the coast, “but Duke Hamilton, moving that its commission must be from the Admiralty, and the Chancellor not naming the Duke on the committee, occasioned a mistake that spent time and frustrated the matter.”
END
Weekend is almost here and hope it's a good one for you and hope you managed to buy a poppy to support our veterans.
Alastair
https://electricscotland.com/scotnews.htm
Electric Scotland News
Still waiting for the final results from the US elections but it does look like the Republicans have under performed against what was predicted. It does look like they have won a majority in the House but it's a lot closer in the Senate. Ron DeSantis: The Florida governor some call Trump 2.0. won a landslide victory in Florida. The BBC did a profile on him which you can read at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63293633
-------
Doing a fair bit of work on my home over the past couple of weeks. A lot of work in the garden and also outside work on the porch and outside doors. This year I've applied the non slip tape to the porch stairs so will see how much of a difference that makes. Then lots of smaller jobs in the house like clearing out the basement and ripping out some carpeting which resulted in sanding the floor and applying new stain. The upstairs of the house doesn't have the same quality of floors that the main floor has.
--------
Attended a Zoom meeting for the Canadian members of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. It was to do with comparing architecture of Scotland with the Scandinavian countries. Have to say I didn't find it of any real interest but I'm sure some will have found it useful.
---------
Remembrance Sunday
Thought I might add that we have considerable historical resources on the sites about the armed forces of Scotland and Canada. You can find these at:
Scotland: https://electricscotland.com/history/scotreg/
Canada: http://www.electriccanadian.com/forces/index.htm
Scottish News from this weeks newspapers
Note that this is a selection and more can be read in our ScotNews feed on our index page where we list news from the past 1-2 weeks. I am partly doing this to build an archive of modern news from and about Scotland and world news stories that can affect Scotland and as all the newsletters are archived and also indexed on Google and other search engines it becomes a good resource. I might also add that in a number of newspapers you will find many comments which can be just as interesting as the news story itself and of course you can also add your own comments if you wish which I do myself from time to time.
Think Rishi has problems? Just look at Europe
Only a Little Englander could imagine that Braverman and Sunak have worse problems than their French, German and Italian counterparts.
Read more at:
https://conservativehome.com/2022/11...n-counterparts
Canada's blockbuster job numbers suggest economy still running hot
Surprise surge could spur speculation of bigger rate hike from Bank of Canada
Read more at:
https://financialpost.com/news/econo...eats-estimates
US hospital flu cases hit 10-year high as vaccinations fall
US influenza hospital admissions have hit the highest rate in a decade as vaccinations sag, US officials say. They said adults have received five million fewer influenza jabs this year compared with the same time last year.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63522871
Painted people
Discoveries shed fascinating new light on ancient Pictish ancestors of Scotland
Read more at:
https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/discov...ent-ancestors/
Media
By Hamish Mackay in the Scottish Review
Read more at:
https://www.scottishreview.net//HamishMackay636a.html
Our future is 5G
By Bill Magee in the Scottish Review
Read more at:
https://www.scottishreview.net//BillMagee636a.html
\
Nurses in Scotland vote for strike action in pay dispute
Scotland's largest nursing union has voted to go on strike for the first time ever in a dispute over pay. Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) have rejected the Scottish government's revised pay offer.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-63558472
Rising costs impacting on a unique Scottish way of life
Crofters are changing how they live and work because of severe increases in costs, according to the Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF).
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland...lands-63033874
Gemma Dryburgh's mindset changed completely after LPGA Tour win
The 29-year-old became the first Scot to win on the tour since 2011 with a four-stroke win in the Japan Classic.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/sport/golf/63567448
There’s not just a ferry fiasco the Gupta scandal is even bigger
SANJEEV GUPTA and the SNP once had quite a close relationship. Nicola Sturgeon’s government facilitated deals and acted as intermediary, all-in service to Gupta’s industrial expansion into Scotland
Read more at:
https://thinkscotland.org/2022/11/th...s-even-bigger/
Teachers in Scotland vote to strike over pay
Teachers in Scotland have voted overwhelmingly to strike in a dispute over pay, the country's largest teaching union has said.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-63572743
Scotland and the rules of Euro engagement
As the SNP looks to a future in Europe, the European Commission is proposing reforms to rules which are vital to conditions of joining.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland...iness-63578343
Brazil trade negotiations reveal UK officials still have the EU’s mercantilist mindset
This is a problem for the whole of the UK - we voted to leave the EU over 6 years ago, then left the EU almost 3 years ago, the transition period finished almost 2 years ago - but very few rules, regulations or even public servant attitudes have changed.
Read more at:
https://thinkscotland.org/2022/11/br...ilist-mindset/
Electric Canadian
Northland Stories
Tales of Trapping Life in the Canadian Wildeness by William MacMillan (1922) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...ries00macm.pdf
Neighbours
A Novel by Robert Stead (1922) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...rs0000stea.pdf
Sir Wilfrid Laurier and the Liberal Party
A political History in two volumes by J. S. Willison (1903)
The fact that Laurier’s father thus sent the boy from home to learn English would suggest that he saw in the son early promise of his brilliant qualities, and had sagaciously and correctly estimated the value of English, even as a mere commercial asset. There seems reason to think that the boy’s experiences at New Glasgow had a distinct and lasting effect upon his character and opinions. Many years afterwards he was asked how it came that he was so tolerant of the religious beliefs of Protestants. In reply, he told the story of his relations with the family of John Murray, and added, “The pure family life and the godly conduct of the Murrays so impressed me that I am convinced a Protestant can be an earnest, true Christian, as well as a Catholic.”
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/make...er_wilfrid.htm
Thoughts on a Sunday Morning the 6th day of November 2022 - On Remembering
By the Rev. Nola Crewe
You can view this at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/foru...on-remembering
When Canada was New France
By George H. Locke (1919) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...snewfrance.pdf
In a Fishing Country
By W. H. Blake (1922) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...ry0000blak.pdf
Ideological Migration and War Resistance in British Columbia’s West Kootenays
An Analysis of Counterculture Politics and Community Networks among Doukhobor, Quaker, and American Migrants during the Vietnam War Era by Kathleen Rodgers and Darcy Ingram (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...odgers2014.pdf
Electric Scotland
The Second World War 1939-45
A Strategical and Tactical History by Major-General J. F. C. Fuller (1948) (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...-World-War.pdf
Beth's Video Talks
November 9th 2022 - Civilian Conservation Corps
You can view this at:
https://electricscotland.com/bnft/index.htm
My Life and some Letters
By Mrs. Patrick Campbell (Beatrice Stella Cornwallis-West) with illustrations (1922) (pdf). In this book there are many letters from the front in WWI which is why I've included this here.
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...tter00camp.pdf
Scottish Banner
Got in their November 2022 edition which you can read at:
https://electricscotland.com/familyt...nner/index.htm
Dad, My Father, Our Friend
A poem by Stanley Bruce on the passing away of his father.
You can read and listen to this at:
https://electricscotland.com/poetry/...leybrucesr.htm
Wrong With The Wind
Scotland has substantial renewable energy resources, and that’s a very good thing. But hugely exaggerating the size of the potential resource for political purposes is not a good thing. This is the story of how the Scottish Government has for years been knowingly inflating Scotland's share of Europe's potential offshore wind resource.
You can read more at:
https://electricscotland.com/indepen...%20Islands.pdf
Clan Henderson
Got in their December 2022 newsletter which you can read at:
https://electricscotland.com/familyt...rson/index.htm
The Scottish Pulpit
Came across this series from the State Library of Pennsylvania and thought they'd be of interest to anyone interested in the Scottish Church as they come from 1845 in a series of 5 volumes. Have added volume 1 to the site and will add the others each week for the next 4 weeks.
You can get to this at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/scottish-pulpit.htm
Thomas Telford
One of the greatest of Britain’s engineers by L. T. C. Rolt (1958) (pdf)
You can read about him at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...elford1958.pdf
Scottish Society of Indianapolis
Got in their Oct/Nov 2022 newsletter which you can read at:
https://electricscotland.com/familyt...olis/index.htm
Hylton Newsletter
Got in the November 2022 newsletter which you can read at:
https://electricscotland.com/familyt...lton/index.htm
The socio-economic relations between Scotland’s northern territories and Scandinavia and the Baltic in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
By Thomas Brochard (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...etween_Sco.pdf
Memorials of Thomas Davidson
The Wandering Scholar collected and edited by William Knight (1907) (pdf)
You can read about him at:
https://electricscotland.com/books/p...homa00knig.pdf
The Scottish Society of Louisville
Got in their November 2022 newsletter which you can read at:
https://electricscotland.com/familyt...ber2022pub.pdf
Story
Got two stories this week from the Aberdeen Journal Notes and Queries Vol. VII of 1914
Aberdeen’s Offer of a Regiment, 1778.
After our disastrous defeat at Saratoga in October, 1777, a great wave of patriotism swept over the country, and regiments were offered to Government by the Corporations of Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen, and all were accepted except that of Aberdeen. (Fortescue’s “British Army” iii., 245.) Mr Sinclair refers to this offer in his ”History of the Aberdeen Volunteers,” (pp. 25-4), but I think readers may like to get the entire correspondence before them. The offer of the Aberdeen Town Council was forwarded to Lord Suffolk, the Secretary of State for the North, by Provost Jopp on January 10, 1778, as follows— (Aberdeen Town Council archives, and now printed for the first time): —
My Lord,—
The City of Aberdeen having on many occasions given the strongest assurances of their zeal and attachment towards His Majesty’s person and government, and having beheld with indignation the rise and progress of a rebellion and revolt in the British colonies in America, which seems to be grown to an alarming height; have resolved at this critical juncture most humbly to offer to His Majesty every assistance in their power for the better enabling Government to prosecute with vigour the American War, and for reducing the rebellious colonies to their former state of allegiance and subordination.
And I have the honour to inform your Lordship that they have opened and are now carrying on successfully and with all possible dispatch a subscription for the purpose of raising a body of men for His Majesty’s service.
I have taken the liberty to inclose for your Lord’s. perusal a Memorial on this subject, and have to request that your Lord will be pleased to lay the same before His Majesty for his gracious acceptance. If this Memorial should contain anything improper, it must be imputed to my having had no opportunity of knowing what conditions Government has been pleased to allow other Corporations in like cases.
I must beg leave to remark to your Lord. that the circumstances of a new corps [the 81st Regiment] of one thousand men to be raised by Colonel [the Hon. William] Gordon, whose officers are mostly named from this corner and county, may render the immediate procuring of recruits more difficult, and may require that the period for completing any corps we may be able to raise be not limited or at least not to a very short space. At the same time, assuring your Lord. that every effort will be made for carrying this design into execution with all possible dispatch; we hope that your Lord. will be pleased to signify to us His Majesty’s pleasure as soon as may be.
The city’s proposals were embodied in the following memorial:—
1. That a body of men shall be enlisted at the expense of this city to be put upon the establishment as a separate corps, provided they shall amount to 500 or upwards, and if under that number to be embodied in independent companies.
2. That the community be allowed to recommend officers who are to be approved by His Majesty, viz.:—If 500, a lieutenant-oolonel commandant, major, captains, and subalterns for the different companies, it being understood that no officers above the rank of lieutenants shall be recommended but such as are of approved merit and have served with reputation in the army; several of whom have already offered their services on this occasion.
3. If 700 or upwards, a colonel, lieutenant-colonel, major, etc.
4. Pay to commence from the time allowed to other corps now raising.
5. Cloathing, arms, etc., to be furnished by Government.
6. The order from War Office for in listing to be addressed to the Provost of Aberdeen, with the ordinary power of delegation.
N.B.—In order to be able to procure men with more facility, might engagement be made that such as desire it may have a discharge at the end of the American War?
To this enthusiastic offer the Lord Suffolk returned a polite refusal on January 23, 1778: —
Having had the honor of laying before the King your letter of the 9th inst. with the Memorial inclosed in it, I am now to inform you that the fullest sense is entertained of the zeal and attachment of the City of Aberdeen towards His Majesty’s person and Government, as well as of the constitutional principles which induce the Corporation to the proposal of enlisting a body of men at their own expense to be put upon the establishment as a separate corps.
As, however, it is not at present intended to accept any new levies beyond what are already under the consideration of Parliament, I am on this account to decline the offer; at the same time that I onco more assure you of the justice done to the loyal and constitutional motives from which it originates.
The interesting point is that the Government disliked to deal with a Corporation, preferring private gentlemen as regiment-raisers. The Corporation in our day has given tit-for-tat in its attitude to the Links rifle range.
J. M. Bulloch.
The Lord High Admiral of Scotland
The office of Lord High Admiral of Scotland appears to Have been instituted about the beginning of the fifteenth century. In 1483, the opening year of the reign of James IV., the Earl of Bothwell was appointed Admiral; the office was made heritable; the Admiral was authorised to appoint deputes. The office was held by successive Earls of Bothwell right down to 1567, when the verdict of Carberry Hill compelled the last Earl to take ship from Scotland. It then passed to the Duke of Lennox. In his family it remained until the death, in 1672, of the sixth and last Duke of Lennox. Thereafter it was granted for life to the Duke of York. The vacancy caused by the Revolution was not filled till the appointment, in March. 1692, of the Duke of Hamilton. When Hamilton died, two years later, the office was put into commission. By the act of Union Scotland was to retain her Court of Admiralty “until the Parliament of Great Britain should make such Begulations and Alterations as should be judged expedient for the whole United Kingdom.” The small Scottish fleet, however, became part of the British Navy, and to the Lord High Admiral of Great Britain wore transferred the executive duties of the Scottish Admiral.
Of these duties the most important had been the granting of commissions to warships and privateers. A fifteenth share of the value of the prizes talken by the Latter was paid to the Crown, a tenth to the Admiral. When the office of Admiral was vacant or the holder remiss in his duties letters of marque might be obtained in various ways. During the second Dutch war Scottish skippers eager to waylay the enemy’s traders found it so difficult to obtain privateer commissions from the Admiral that the Scots Privy Council received authority to issue them. When for the third time Britain went to war with the Netherlands, the Admiral was apparently furth of Scotland — he died at Elsmore some months later — and the granting of letters of marque was entrusted to a Depute Admiral. After the union the two Scottish frigates, the Pelican asd the Janet, were commissioned and directed by the Estates, while letters of marque were issued to privateers by the Privy Council. Despite the appointment in March, 1692, of the Duke of Hamilton to the office of Admiral, the Privy Council in June of that year issued two privateer commissions. Next year, however, the Admiral effectively asserted his authority. The garrison of the Bass was still defying King William’s Government; French privateers were hovering in the North Sea; in the Privy Council the Lord Chancellor preposed the provision of a ship to guard the coast, “but Duke Hamilton, moving that its commission must be from the Admiralty, and the Chancellor not naming the Duke on the committee, occasioned a mistake that spent time and frustrated the matter.”
END
Weekend is almost here and hope it's a good one for you and hope you managed to buy a poppy to support our veterans.
Alastair