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Emigration Conference
Emigration has played an important part in the history of the Outer Hebrides. Over the last 250 years or so people have left the islands for a number of reasons, whether through forced clearances, in hope of improving their prospects or to join family members who had emigrated previously. This affected demographics and resulted in families being dispersed across the globe.
A three-day conference, organised by Museum & Tasglann nan Eilean, is being held at Lews Castle, Stornoway, from 30th September to 2nd October 2025. The conference will consider the theme of emigration from a range of perspectives. There will be a mix of in-person and online speakers. Delegates can attend either in person or virtually.
Days 1 and 2 will consist of presentations, interspersed with Q & A sessions, while Day 3 will offer the opportunity for delegates to visit community heritage venues and historical sites on Lewis. There is a choice of three field trip options on day 3.
Learn more at:
https://outerhebridesheritage.org.uk...on-conference/
--------
Annual Rattray Gathering and Scottish Festival
We are a small but strong clan, and your participation and engagement in all our activities are highly valued!
Our annual event in Bera Ohio USA is fast approaching, and we cannot wait to see everyone!
On June 27th we kick off our weekend and continue through Sunday, June 29th. Below is a schedule in brief (times and more detail TBA):
Friday, June 27th:
Set up Rattray Booth in the Clan Village (approx. 2 or 3 PM)
Attend Booth (sign up for the schedule coming soon)
Calling of the Clans and Torch Lighting 9:45 PM
Saturday, June 28th
Clan Parade AM (must wear something with our tartan or your kilt)
Attend booth
Sunday, June 29th
Annual Picnic
Open with Family Piper
Announcements from the Clan Chief and General announcements
Food
Lawn games and hike to Berea Falls
White Elephant game with Crest Cake and Coffee
Stay tuned for the booth schedule and start times for the picnic etc.
Please see www.ohioscottishgames.com for a schedule of events.
Scottish News from this weeks newspapers
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 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.
Here is what caught my eye this week...
China and America's tit-for-tat trade war
After raising duties on all American imports to 125% from 84%, Beijing has made it clear that it considers American goods effectively unmarketable within its borders. Josef Gregory Mahoney, professor of international relations at East China Normal University, has called the latest moves a ‘dead end’.
Read more at:
https://archive.is/6g8Sy
Canadian superhero is now battling President Trump
President Donald Trump's annexation threats and tariffs are helping drive renewed interest in a 1970s-era Canadian comic book character, 'Captain Canuck.' Richard Comely, the artist who co-created the superhero, says Canadians are looking up to the government agent with superhuman strength as a symbol of the country's 'independence.'
Watch this at:
https://tinyurl.com/bp67ras2
Archaeology wonder on Scottish isle is a treasure trove of human bones and artefacts
An island community will become Scotland’s first to buy the ancient structure after securing over £300,000 in funding
Read more at:
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/scotla...asure-35058025
How do we deal with China?
Donald Trump is destroying the economic symbiosis that had developed between the US and China over decades. Given the volatility of both Trump and Xi Jinping, this is an unsettling prospect. As anyone who has studied China's history will know, the nation does not respond well to attempts at humiliation.
Read more at:
https://capx.co/we-are-reckoning-wit...-great-tyrants
Conrad Black: A Mark Carney win would be a disaster for Canada
The country would regret it
Read more at;
https://archive.is/WjyYc
A victory for women?
Today's Supreme Court ruling means that the Scottish government cannot, when assessing the diversity of public bodies, say that trans women count as female. Despite what activists will have you believe, this in no way justifies discrimination against trans people. It is a pragmatic step and a victory for women across the UK.
Read more at:
https://capx.co/the-supreme-court-ha...en-and-decency
Trump's chips strategy: The US will struggle to take on Asia
The US has "dropped the ball" on chip manufacturing over the years, allowing China and other Asian hubs to steam ahead. So said Gina Raimondo, who at the time was the US Commerce Secretary, in an interview with me back in 2021.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd9ljwgg9y0o
John Swinney on gender ruling, Reform in Scotland and Donald Trump
John Swinney joins the Daily Record’s Paul Hutcheon in Bute House for an exclusive interview, announcing his new column. The pair sit down over a cup of tea to discuss the issues Record readers hold dear the cost of living, the NHS, Donald Trump, Nigel Farage and the Supreme Court's ruling on the definition of a woman.
View this at:
https://youtu.be/eUfPrj9HQ7k?si=bha5MxRIm5Hnvk4d
Major new survey to gauge the state of the golfing nation
The Herald Scottish Golf Survey 2025 is now open, with every club and course in the country invited to submit their views.
Read more at:
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/...olfing-nation/
Why Easter should matter to us all
Its themes are relevant to everyone, not just to the religious
Read more at:
https://thecritic.co.uk/why-easter-s...ter-to-us-all/
Electric Canadian
The Last Three Bishops Appointed by the Crown
For the Anglican Church of Canada by Fennings Taylor (1869) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/Reli...ee-Bishops.pdf
Land of the Spotted Eagle
Luther Standing Bear (1933) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...tted-Eagle.pdf
Future Punishment
Or, Does Death end Probation? Materialism, Immortality of the Soul; Conditional Immortality or Annihilationism; Universalism or Restorationism; Optimism or Eternal Hope; Probationism and Purgatory, By the Rev'd William Cochrane, D. D., (Ex-Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Canada) (1886) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/Reli...00cochuoft.pdf
Canadian Forestry Journal
Added Volume 6 (1910)
You can read this volume at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/maga...08canauoft.pdf
Egerton Ryerson and Education in Upper Canada
By John Harold Putman (1912) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/make...-Education.pdf
My Canadian Experience
Am working on the April 2025 edition due to the upcoming elections. It is obviously work in progress.
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/canada_add20.htm
Canadian Journal of Industry, Science and Art
Added Volume XXXVII (1862) (pdf)
You can read this volume at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/maga...njournalr7.pdf
Thoughts on a Sunday Morning - the 13th day of April 2025 - Palm Sunday & Expectations
By The Rev. Nola Crewe
You can watch this at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/foru...y-expectations
The New North
Being Some Account of a Woman's Journey through Canada to the Arctic by Agnes Deans Cameron (1910) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...00cameuoft.pdf
The Beaver Magazine
Added Volume 5 No. 1 (pdf)
You can read this volume at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...cember1924.pdf
William Davidson – The First Scots on the Miramichi
Added a video talk given by a Scot from Aberdeenshire to a group in New Brunswick.
You can watch this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran.../chapter20.htm
Electric Scotland
Clan Kidd
Added a picture of their official tartan and a link to it on the Register of Tartan.
You can see this and other information at:
https://electricscotland.com/webclans/htol/kidd2.html
Boy's Life of General Grant
By Thomas W. Knox (1899) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...00knoxrich.pdf
The Bard Family
A History and Genealogy of the Bards of Carroll's Delight together with a Chronicle of the Bards and Genealogies of the Bard Kinship by G. O. Seilhamer, Esq. (1908) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...or00inseil.pdf
The King and Queen in Italy | Full State Visit Highlights
Added this video to our Italy page which you can view at:
https://electricscotland.com/history/italy/index.htm
A Short History of Ohio
A Brief Sketch of the leading Events in the History of Ohio, and an Outline of its Civil Government. Many Valuable Facts and Statistics are Appended by A. W. West, Principal High School, and J. L. Hunt, Principal Grammar School (1888) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...ofoh00west.pdf
Testimony of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Scotland
Historical and Doctrinal (1842) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/testrefor00refo.pdf
The Reformed Presbyterian Church in Scotland
Its Origin and History 1680—1876 with an Appendix by The Rev. Matthew Hutchison, New Cumnock (1893) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/r...byte00hutc.pdf
The Days of the Fathers in Ross-Shire
By the Rev. John Kennedy (Fourth Edition) (1866) (pdf) This replaces the second edition which is a more readable version.
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/books/p...hersinross.pdf
The Book of the Church of Scotland
Year Book for 1896 (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/t...00unknuoft.pdf
The Scottish Journal of Agriculture
Added Volume XVII 1934 in which there is a great articles on raw versus pasturised milk and also an article on Agricultural Policy and Social Life in Scotland (pdf)
You can read this volume at:
https://electricscotland.com/agricul...lture_xvii.pdf
Rory McIlroy won the 2025 Masters
Added a video of his interview to our Golf page at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...golf/index.htm
Scotland's Capital a Top Global AI City - Deloitte
"Also Named UK Lead City Harnessing Artificial Intelligence". An article by Bill Magee.
You can read this article at:
https://electricscotland.com/magee/article0028.htm
RAF Montrose
Added a video about it to our Montrose page at:
https://electricscotland.com/history/montrose/index.htm
The Clans of the Highlands of Scotland
Being an account of their Annals, Separately & Collectively with delineations of their Tartans, and Family Arms edited by Thomas Smibert, Esq. (1850) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/webclan...f_Scotland.pdf
The Deil's Reply to Robert Burns
Got in an interesting story about the supposed author of this poem which I've added to our page at:
https://electricscotland.com/burns/deils_reply.htm
Story
An Account of the Highland Society of Canada
A Branch of the Highland Society of London compiled by Archibald John MacDonell (The Younger of Greenfield), a director of the Highland Society of Canada (1844)
To John MacDonald, Esquire, President of THE Highland Society of Canada.
My Dear Sir,
When circumstances have forced a people to abandon their native country, and seek the means of subsistence among foreigners, or in the Colonies of their own country, they carry with them as a matter of course, the feelings and the prejudices,— alike honorable—which they had imbibed at home; to perpetuate which in the land of their adoption, to instil into the minds of their children the same principles they themselves had been taught, to teach them to love above all others—above even that of their own nativity, the country from which stem necessity alone could have driven their fathers,' and with which all those fathers nearest and dearest associations are connected, and to rivet the connection between their new country and their old,’ among other means Emigrants have invariably adopted the formation of National Societies. It cannot be otherwise than that these Societies must answer the end for which they are instituted, and arguing with the intention of proving it, would be supererogatory and useless.
With such objects in view did the Highlanders in London establish the Highland Society of London, with what great success is well known. That this venerable and distinguished Institution has mainly contributed to preserve in its purity, the Highland character, and has done more to promote the general welfare of the Highlands, than any other Association, is a general and well grounded opinion.
While the Highlanders of Canada remember with gratitude, that to the late lamented Bishop MacDonell, they owe the establishment of a Branch of that Society among them, they cannot forget that to you they are indebted for its re-organization after it had ceased operation for fifteen years.
The generous and patriotic motives that animated you in the work cannot be sufficiently appreciated; but I am sure that you feel yourself in some measure recompensed for all your trouble and anxiety, when you consider how much the Society has already done to promote the objects for which it was established and re-organized.
In order that those objects may be more generally and more clearly known and understood, I have, by permission, compiled an account of the Society, containing the speech of Mr. Simon MacGillivray to the gentlemen who took part in its formation, from which more can be learned of the History and purposes of the Parent Society, than from any remarks I could make; the Constitution and By-Laws, a list of the Members, and such other information, the publication of which, I thought, would in any way tend to serve the Society, or interest and gratify its Members.
1 do not think it necessary to appeal to the feelings of our countrymen for a liberal support of the Institution; this has already been given, and to their credit be it spoken, that from Quebec to Amherstburg the utmost enthusiasm has been shown in support of thisSociety, which I hope and believe will be the instrument of preserving in Canada the recollection of the Highland name, and with it the chivalrouse and devoted loyalty, and other noble qualities which made the ancient Highland character the first in the worl. Should the national character be doomed to give way to the encroachments of modern innovations, you will have in an eminent degree, the satisfaction of knowing that you made an effort to save it.
As a Member of the Highland Society of Canada, I joined most heartily in the mark of grateful respect shewn by it to the memory of its venerated founder: and as such I desire to express my gratitude to its preserver, while as a private individual, I shew my repect for the Gentleman, by inscribing this small compilation to you.
I am, my dear Sir,
Very truly yours,
Arch. John Macdonell,
(Younger of Greenfield.)
Greenfield, Glengarry
22d Jan, 1844.
You can read his account at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...nd_society.pdf
Frederic Franklin Worthington
"Worthy," army officer, engineer, adventurer (b at Peterhead, Scotland 14 Sep 1889; d at Ottawa 8 Dec 1967). Orphaned at 11, he became the ward of a half-brother (later murdered by Villista irregulars) in Mexico, later going to sea and, as a "sailor of fortune," briefly commanding the tiny Nicaraguan navy in 1907. His earlier life in Mexico led him to sympathize with the ideals of Francisco Madero, for whose cause he fought during the revolution. At the start of WWI, he joined the Canadian Motor Machine Gun Brigade and was promoted to battery commander in France. He joined the peacetime Permanent Force of the Armed Forces, developing his doctrine of firepower plus mobility. In WWII, Maj-Gen Worthington founded the Canadian Armoured Corps and designed the prototype for the Sherman tank, used so successfully by the Allies in N Africa and Europe. Resigning his commission in 1947, he was appointed the first civil defence co-ordinator, a position which he held until 1957, stepping down to enter the business community.
There is more about him on Wikapedia at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/forc...orthington.pdf
Note also that I discovered him by reading the Black Watch of Canada Scrap Book which you can read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/forc...dscrapbook.pdf
END.
Weekend is almost here and hope it's a good one for you.
Alastair
Emigration Conference
Emigration has played an important part in the history of the Outer Hebrides. Over the last 250 years or so people have left the islands for a number of reasons, whether through forced clearances, in hope of improving their prospects or to join family members who had emigrated previously. This affected demographics and resulted in families being dispersed across the globe.
A three-day conference, organised by Museum & Tasglann nan Eilean, is being held at Lews Castle, Stornoway, from 30th September to 2nd October 2025. The conference will consider the theme of emigration from a range of perspectives. There will be a mix of in-person and online speakers. Delegates can attend either in person or virtually.
Days 1 and 2 will consist of presentations, interspersed with Q & A sessions, while Day 3 will offer the opportunity for delegates to visit community heritage venues and historical sites on Lewis. There is a choice of three field trip options on day 3.
Learn more at:
https://outerhebridesheritage.org.uk...on-conference/
--------
Annual Rattray Gathering and Scottish Festival
We are a small but strong clan, and your participation and engagement in all our activities are highly valued!
Our annual event in Bera Ohio USA is fast approaching, and we cannot wait to see everyone!
On June 27th we kick off our weekend and continue through Sunday, June 29th. Below is a schedule in brief (times and more detail TBA):
Friday, June 27th:
Set up Rattray Booth in the Clan Village (approx. 2 or 3 PM)
Attend Booth (sign up for the schedule coming soon)
Calling of the Clans and Torch Lighting 9:45 PM
Saturday, June 28th
Clan Parade AM (must wear something with our tartan or your kilt)
Attend booth
Sunday, June 29th
Annual Picnic
Open with Family Piper
Announcements from the Clan Chief and General announcements
Food
Lawn games and hike to Berea Falls
White Elephant game with Crest Cake and Coffee
Stay tuned for the booth schedule and start times for the picnic etc.
Please see www.ohioscottishgames.com for a schedule of events.
Scottish News from this weeks newspapers
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 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.
Here is what caught my eye this week...
China and America's tit-for-tat trade war
After raising duties on all American imports to 125% from 84%, Beijing has made it clear that it considers American goods effectively unmarketable within its borders. Josef Gregory Mahoney, professor of international relations at East China Normal University, has called the latest moves a ‘dead end’.
Read more at:
https://archive.is/6g8Sy
Canadian superhero is now battling President Trump
President Donald Trump's annexation threats and tariffs are helping drive renewed interest in a 1970s-era Canadian comic book character, 'Captain Canuck.' Richard Comely, the artist who co-created the superhero, says Canadians are looking up to the government agent with superhuman strength as a symbol of the country's 'independence.'
Watch this at:
https://tinyurl.com/bp67ras2
Archaeology wonder on Scottish isle is a treasure trove of human bones and artefacts
An island community will become Scotland’s first to buy the ancient structure after securing over £300,000 in funding
Read more at:
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/scotla...asure-35058025
How do we deal with China?
Donald Trump is destroying the economic symbiosis that had developed between the US and China over decades. Given the volatility of both Trump and Xi Jinping, this is an unsettling prospect. As anyone who has studied China's history will know, the nation does not respond well to attempts at humiliation.
Read more at:
https://capx.co/we-are-reckoning-wit...-great-tyrants
Conrad Black: A Mark Carney win would be a disaster for Canada
The country would regret it
Read more at;
https://archive.is/WjyYc
A victory for women?
Today's Supreme Court ruling means that the Scottish government cannot, when assessing the diversity of public bodies, say that trans women count as female. Despite what activists will have you believe, this in no way justifies discrimination against trans people. It is a pragmatic step and a victory for women across the UK.
Read more at:
https://capx.co/the-supreme-court-ha...en-and-decency
Trump's chips strategy: The US will struggle to take on Asia
The US has "dropped the ball" on chip manufacturing over the years, allowing China and other Asian hubs to steam ahead. So said Gina Raimondo, who at the time was the US Commerce Secretary, in an interview with me back in 2021.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd9ljwgg9y0o
John Swinney on gender ruling, Reform in Scotland and Donald Trump
John Swinney joins the Daily Record’s Paul Hutcheon in Bute House for an exclusive interview, announcing his new column. The pair sit down over a cup of tea to discuss the issues Record readers hold dear the cost of living, the NHS, Donald Trump, Nigel Farage and the Supreme Court's ruling on the definition of a woman.
View this at:
https://youtu.be/eUfPrj9HQ7k?si=bha5MxRIm5Hnvk4d
Major new survey to gauge the state of the golfing nation
The Herald Scottish Golf Survey 2025 is now open, with every club and course in the country invited to submit their views.
Read more at:
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/...olfing-nation/
Why Easter should matter to us all
Its themes are relevant to everyone, not just to the religious
Read more at:
https://thecritic.co.uk/why-easter-s...ter-to-us-all/
Electric Canadian
The Last Three Bishops Appointed by the Crown
For the Anglican Church of Canada by Fennings Taylor (1869) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/Reli...ee-Bishops.pdf
Land of the Spotted Eagle
Luther Standing Bear (1933) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...tted-Eagle.pdf
Future Punishment
Or, Does Death end Probation? Materialism, Immortality of the Soul; Conditional Immortality or Annihilationism; Universalism or Restorationism; Optimism or Eternal Hope; Probationism and Purgatory, By the Rev'd William Cochrane, D. D., (Ex-Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Canada) (1886) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/Reli...00cochuoft.pdf
Canadian Forestry Journal
Added Volume 6 (1910)
You can read this volume at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/maga...08canauoft.pdf
Egerton Ryerson and Education in Upper Canada
By John Harold Putman (1912) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/make...-Education.pdf
My Canadian Experience
Am working on the April 2025 edition due to the upcoming elections. It is obviously work in progress.
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/canada_add20.htm
Canadian Journal of Industry, Science and Art
Added Volume XXXVII (1862) (pdf)
You can read this volume at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/maga...njournalr7.pdf
Thoughts on a Sunday Morning - the 13th day of April 2025 - Palm Sunday & Expectations
By The Rev. Nola Crewe
You can watch this at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/foru...y-expectations
The New North
Being Some Account of a Woman's Journey through Canada to the Arctic by Agnes Deans Cameron (1910) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...00cameuoft.pdf
The Beaver Magazine
Added Volume 5 No. 1 (pdf)
You can read this volume at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...cember1924.pdf
William Davidson – The First Scots on the Miramichi
Added a video talk given by a Scot from Aberdeenshire to a group in New Brunswick.
You can watch this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran.../chapter20.htm
Electric Scotland
Clan Kidd
Added a picture of their official tartan and a link to it on the Register of Tartan.
You can see this and other information at:
https://electricscotland.com/webclans/htol/kidd2.html
Boy's Life of General Grant
By Thomas W. Knox (1899) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...00knoxrich.pdf
The Bard Family
A History and Genealogy of the Bards of Carroll's Delight together with a Chronicle of the Bards and Genealogies of the Bard Kinship by G. O. Seilhamer, Esq. (1908) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...or00inseil.pdf
The King and Queen in Italy | Full State Visit Highlights
Added this video to our Italy page which you can view at:
https://electricscotland.com/history/italy/index.htm
A Short History of Ohio
A Brief Sketch of the leading Events in the History of Ohio, and an Outline of its Civil Government. Many Valuable Facts and Statistics are Appended by A. W. West, Principal High School, and J. L. Hunt, Principal Grammar School (1888) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...ofoh00west.pdf
Testimony of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Scotland
Historical and Doctrinal (1842) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/testrefor00refo.pdf
The Reformed Presbyterian Church in Scotland
Its Origin and History 1680—1876 with an Appendix by The Rev. Matthew Hutchison, New Cumnock (1893) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/r...byte00hutc.pdf
The Days of the Fathers in Ross-Shire
By the Rev. John Kennedy (Fourth Edition) (1866) (pdf) This replaces the second edition which is a more readable version.
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/books/p...hersinross.pdf
The Book of the Church of Scotland
Year Book for 1896 (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/t...00unknuoft.pdf
The Scottish Journal of Agriculture
Added Volume XVII 1934 in which there is a great articles on raw versus pasturised milk and also an article on Agricultural Policy and Social Life in Scotland (pdf)
You can read this volume at:
https://electricscotland.com/agricul...lture_xvii.pdf
Rory McIlroy won the 2025 Masters
Added a video of his interview to our Golf page at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...golf/index.htm
Scotland's Capital a Top Global AI City - Deloitte
"Also Named UK Lead City Harnessing Artificial Intelligence". An article by Bill Magee.
You can read this article at:
https://electricscotland.com/magee/article0028.htm
RAF Montrose
Added a video about it to our Montrose page at:
https://electricscotland.com/history/montrose/index.htm
The Clans of the Highlands of Scotland
Being an account of their Annals, Separately & Collectively with delineations of their Tartans, and Family Arms edited by Thomas Smibert, Esq. (1850) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/webclan...f_Scotland.pdf
The Deil's Reply to Robert Burns
Got in an interesting story about the supposed author of this poem which I've added to our page at:
https://electricscotland.com/burns/deils_reply.htm
Story
An Account of the Highland Society of Canada
A Branch of the Highland Society of London compiled by Archibald John MacDonell (The Younger of Greenfield), a director of the Highland Society of Canada (1844)
To John MacDonald, Esquire, President of THE Highland Society of Canada.
My Dear Sir,
When circumstances have forced a people to abandon their native country, and seek the means of subsistence among foreigners, or in the Colonies of their own country, they carry with them as a matter of course, the feelings and the prejudices,— alike honorable—which they had imbibed at home; to perpetuate which in the land of their adoption, to instil into the minds of their children the same principles they themselves had been taught, to teach them to love above all others—above even that of their own nativity, the country from which stem necessity alone could have driven their fathers,' and with which all those fathers nearest and dearest associations are connected, and to rivet the connection between their new country and their old,’ among other means Emigrants have invariably adopted the formation of National Societies. It cannot be otherwise than that these Societies must answer the end for which they are instituted, and arguing with the intention of proving it, would be supererogatory and useless.
With such objects in view did the Highlanders in London establish the Highland Society of London, with what great success is well known. That this venerable and distinguished Institution has mainly contributed to preserve in its purity, the Highland character, and has done more to promote the general welfare of the Highlands, than any other Association, is a general and well grounded opinion.
While the Highlanders of Canada remember with gratitude, that to the late lamented Bishop MacDonell, they owe the establishment of a Branch of that Society among them, they cannot forget that to you they are indebted for its re-organization after it had ceased operation for fifteen years.
The generous and patriotic motives that animated you in the work cannot be sufficiently appreciated; but I am sure that you feel yourself in some measure recompensed for all your trouble and anxiety, when you consider how much the Society has already done to promote the objects for which it was established and re-organized.
In order that those objects may be more generally and more clearly known and understood, I have, by permission, compiled an account of the Society, containing the speech of Mr. Simon MacGillivray to the gentlemen who took part in its formation, from which more can be learned of the History and purposes of the Parent Society, than from any remarks I could make; the Constitution and By-Laws, a list of the Members, and such other information, the publication of which, I thought, would in any way tend to serve the Society, or interest and gratify its Members.
1 do not think it necessary to appeal to the feelings of our countrymen for a liberal support of the Institution; this has already been given, and to their credit be it spoken, that from Quebec to Amherstburg the utmost enthusiasm has been shown in support of thisSociety, which I hope and believe will be the instrument of preserving in Canada the recollection of the Highland name, and with it the chivalrouse and devoted loyalty, and other noble qualities which made the ancient Highland character the first in the worl. Should the national character be doomed to give way to the encroachments of modern innovations, you will have in an eminent degree, the satisfaction of knowing that you made an effort to save it.
As a Member of the Highland Society of Canada, I joined most heartily in the mark of grateful respect shewn by it to the memory of its venerated founder: and as such I desire to express my gratitude to its preserver, while as a private individual, I shew my repect for the Gentleman, by inscribing this small compilation to you.
I am, my dear Sir,
Very truly yours,
Arch. John Macdonell,
(Younger of Greenfield.)
Greenfield, Glengarry
22d Jan, 1844.
You can read his account at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...nd_society.pdf
Frederic Franklin Worthington
"Worthy," army officer, engineer, adventurer (b at Peterhead, Scotland 14 Sep 1889; d at Ottawa 8 Dec 1967). Orphaned at 11, he became the ward of a half-brother (later murdered by Villista irregulars) in Mexico, later going to sea and, as a "sailor of fortune," briefly commanding the tiny Nicaraguan navy in 1907. His earlier life in Mexico led him to sympathize with the ideals of Francisco Madero, for whose cause he fought during the revolution. At the start of WWI, he joined the Canadian Motor Machine Gun Brigade and was promoted to battery commander in France. He joined the peacetime Permanent Force of the Armed Forces, developing his doctrine of firepower plus mobility. In WWII, Maj-Gen Worthington founded the Canadian Armoured Corps and designed the prototype for the Sherman tank, used so successfully by the Allies in N Africa and Europe. Resigning his commission in 1947, he was appointed the first civil defence co-ordinator, a position which he held until 1957, stepping down to enter the business community.
There is more about him on Wikapedia at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/forc...orthington.pdf
Note also that I discovered him by reading the Black Watch of Canada Scrap Book which you can read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/forc...dscrapbook.pdf
END.
Weekend is almost here and hope it's a good one for you.
Alastair