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CONTENTS
Electric Scotland News
Electric Canadian
The Flag in the Wind
The Bards of Bon Accord 1375 - 1860
A History of the County of Renfrew from the Earliest Times
Northern Notes and Queries
History of the Parish of Banchory-Devenick
Mediaeval Scotland
Robert Burns Lives!
Songs by John Henderson
The Stuarts in Rome
Milk
The Perversity of Golf Balls
The Laird and his Tenants
A Story of Clan Shaw
Electric Scotland News
We're still struggling with the Arcade high score issue in our community. Steve thinks it's a time out problem but I feel it's something else. I posted a message in the software companies forum and they said to check to see if it's a version issue. Like the games are either v2.0 or v32. I have managed to play a few games myself and so far have found that v2.0 games will save high scores but v32 games won't. I need to play some more of these games though to make certain this is the issue and my main problem is I can't easily identify which version the games are. Anyway we might be onto something here so will follow this up to see if we can reach a good conclusion.
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Pat Ross has sent in the latest Clan Ross of Canada newsletter and as she noticed we were missing a couple of issues also sent these in as well. This is the last newsletter which Pat will be doing as she took this on for a term of six years so I guess the Clan will need to find a new newsletter editor which is normally pretty difficult. So we wish Pat all the best for the future. You can get to their newsletters at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...ross/index.htm
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Since moving to a pdf version of this newsletter I am offering the opportunity to Clan and Family Societies to use it for their own newsletter. They can download it each week and send it out to their own members. Where they have some news to announce they can send it into me and I'll include that in the newsletter. They can also, if they wish, simply add their own news. I figured as this newsletter is all about the history of Scotland it should compliment their own offerings and this way they might offer a better service to their own members. Anyway... the offer is on the table.
-----
I found a copy of MacMillan's Magazine from 1906 in which there were a number of interesting articles which I enjoyed reading. I decided to make a few of them available on the site and you'll find them below.
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
We try not to point to a pdf file and instead send you to page where the pdf can be downloaded.
Electric Canadian
-----------------
Ten Thousand Miles Through Canada
The Natural Resources, Commercial Industries, Fish and Game, Sports and Pastimes of the Great Dominion by Joseph Adams.
Have now completed this book and you can read these chapters at http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...0000/index.htm
Forrest Life in Acadia
Sketches of Sport and Natural History in the lower Provinces of the Canadian Dominion by Captain Campbell Hardy (1869)
This is a new book we're starting on and like the previous book will be adding a chapter per day until complete and here is the Preface of the book...
PREFACE
The Author having brought out several years since a work on sporting in Atlantic America, which was favourably received, is induced to present the present volume of more recent experiences, especially as the interval since elapsed has been unmarked by the production of any English publication of a similar land.
Many inquiries concerning the sports and physical features of the British Provinces bordering on the Atlantic, evidently made by those who meditate seeking a transatlantic home, appear from time to time in the columns of sporting periodicals, and elicit various and uncertain replies.
The Author’s sojourn in the Acadian Provinces having extended over a period of fifteen years, he trusts that the information here afforded will prove useful to such querists.
It will appear evident that he has formed a strong attachment to the country, its scenery and wild sports, and by some it will probably be said that the pleasures of forest life are exaggerated in his descriptions of a country possessing neither grandeur of landscape nor inducements to the “sensational” sportsman. There is, however, a quiet, ever-growing charm to be found in the woodlands or on the waters of Acadie, which those who have resided there will readily admit. Many who have touched at its shores as visitors within the Author’s recollection, have made it their home; whilst those of his vocation who have been called away, have almost invariably expressed a hope of speedy return.
Several of the descriptive sporting scenes found in this work will be recognised as having appeared in “The Field" and the Author begs to express his appreciation of the Editor’s courtesy in permitting their republication. The notices on the natural history of the Elk and Beaver are reproduced, with slight alterations, from the pages of “Land and Water,” with the kind consent of the managers, the articles having appeared therein over the signature of “Alces.”
The acknowledgments of the Author are also due to several old friends across the Atlantic—to “The Old Hunter,” for anecdotes of camp life, and to Dr. Bernard Gilpin for his valuable assistance in describing the game fish, and in preparing the illustration of the American Brook Trout.
You can read this book as we get it up at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...rest/index.htm
Work and Wages in British Columbia
An article from MacMillan's Magazine of 1906.
I found this article in an old copy of MacMillan's magazine so extracted it for the site as I found it quite interesting. You can view this article at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/bc/work.htm
The Flag in the Wind
This issue was Compiled by Clare Adamson. As is her want she sticks to a single article but of course more to read in the Synopsis.
You can read this issue at http://www.scotsindependent.org
The Bards of Bon Accord 1375 - 1860
By William Walker
Added the chapter on "Francis Douglas"
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/poet...cord/index.htm
A History of the County of Renfrew from the Earliest Times
By William M. Metcalfe, D.D. (1905)
We're now up to Chapter XX - Wichcraft
This Chapter XX contains...
Early cases of witchcraft in the country—lateness of outbreak in Renfrewshire— “ Auld Dunrod”—first recorded case in the shire—notoriety of Inverkip and Greenock—case of John MacGregor at Inverkip—the curates and witchcraft— increase of cases after the appointment of Mr. Thomas Blackwell as minister of Paisley—an Inverkip charmer—cases at Kilmacolm and Inchinnan—a commission applied for, to try Janet Wodrow—further developments—bewitching of Christian Shaw—a commission appointed for the trial of those whom she accused—the trial—the Presbytery and the accused—the condemned waited on to the fire by the ministers—a fresh case—translation of Mr. Blackwell to Aberdeen—cessation of witchcraft in the shire.
You can get to this chapter and the others at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...frew/index.htm
Northern Notes and Queries
We've managed to find other issues of this publication and so now continue the series by adding the December 1890 edition. Note: In the pdf version of the newsletter I am placing a graphic of the Contents page so you can see what is included in each issue.
There are a huge number of names in these volumes which must be a great source for genealogists. In this issue we get a list of names from Scots that went to Sweden and also many names of Scots in the Scots Brigade in Holland.
This can be viewed at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...hern/index.htm
History of the Parish of Banchory-Devenick
By John A. Henderson (1890).
More chapters have been added this week. One of those contains a wee account of the village of Downies....
This is a small fishing village situated in the southeast corner of the parish, on the estate of Clashfarquhar, formerly owned by the Thomsons of Banchory, but now by the University of Aberdeen.
Dr. Morison, in his Account of the Parish in 1792, states that only one yaul fished from the village in that year. There are now six boats, employing twenty-seven hands, engaged in the haddock fishing, which is the only industry the inhabitants engage in.
The coast in the neighbourhood is particularly rocky, and many a vessel has been wrecked in the vicinity.
In 1640, when Aberdeen was invested by the Earl Marischal, many of the citizens sought shelter among the rocks along the coast, where they suffered much privation.
I often think a more detailed history of places such as this would be great to find. It would be great to explore how they lived and worked but unfortunately, just like today, we are not recording these histories in sufficient detail so much social history is being lost.
You can read this book as we get it up at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...hory/index.htm
Mediaeval Scotland
Chapters on Agriculture, Manufacturers, Factories, Taxation, Revenue, Trade, Commerce, Weights and Measures by R. W. Cochran-Patrick (1892).
We've now completed this book and lots of great information can be found here. Here is how the chapter on Fisheries starts...
Of old the Scottish Fisheries occupied an important position among the national industries. The fishing for salmon belonged to the Crown, and could not be enjoyed by any subject without a special grant by charter, though a right of salmon fishing followed a general grant of fishing after forty years prescription. David I. gave to the Abbey of Holyrood a right to have one draw of a net for salmon, and in 1164 the Abbey of Scone had two nets in the Tay, one at “Kyncarrekyn,” and the other at the insula regis and one net in the Forth at Stirling. By a law of the time of William I., the midstreams of all salmon rivers were to be free for the length of a three-year-old pig, rather a curious standard of measurement. In the time of Alexander III. salmon might be fished in all waters except those flowing into the sea. No one could fish for salmon anywhere from Saturday night till sunrise on Monday; nor in “forbidden time,” under the “old penalty.” Offenders against the salmon fishery laws were liable to forty days’ imprisonment, and anyone thrice convicted suffered death. It was also forbidden to catch salmon in nets at mill dams, salmon fry at lades or dams, and “red fish” at any time. Unseasonable fish (“salmones corrupti”), if offered for sale, were to be seized and sent to the lepers, or destroyed. The close time in all rivers was between the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin (15th August), and Martinmas. Young salmon (“salmun-culi”) could not be legally taken between the middle of April, and the Feast of St. John the Baptist (24th June).
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...eval/index.htm
Robert Burns Lives!
Edited by Frank Shaw
Here in the States, as well as Scotland and Ireland, there have been several staunch supporters during the years of these pages about Robert Burns, including Ross Roy, Clark McGinn, Gerry Carruthers and Patrick Scott. Patrick, however, has been a main “go to” guy whenever I encounter a problem, need to further understand a topic, or find myself searching for additional information regarding an article or a speech I am working on. When I “bump a stump” or try to clarify something on our web site, Patrick has always been willing to share his perspective with me. He gives sound advice! Simply put, he is one of the “good guys” who goes out of his way to help a friend.
Patrick explained in an email yesterday that “since this article first appeared in the Burns Chronicle (Spring 2012), Dr. Kirsteen McCue of the University of Glasgow has published a valuable assessment of Hovey’s work on Burns, in Robert Burns and Transatlantic Culture ed. by Sharon Alker, Leith Davis, and Holly Faith Nelson (Ashgate, 2012). See Robert Burns Lives!, no. 136:
http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives136.htm). “
There are other articles on Robert Burns Lives! by or about Patrick:
Chapter 32, Robert Burns and James Hogg: The Ploughman Poet and the Ettrick Poet (June 11, 2008);
Chapter 43, Patrick Scott’s Immortal Memory delivered at the Burns Club of Atlanta (January 24, 2009);
Chapter 135, A Tribute to Dr. Patrick Scott: Noted Burns Scholar by Frank R. Shaw (February 16, 2012)
Patrick retired recently as Director of Rare Books, University of South Carolina Libraries. He continues to work with Dr. Ross Roy and the library as research fellow for Scottish collections. It is a real joy to welcome Patrick back to the pages of Robert Burns Lives!.
(FRS: 6.7.12)
The Songs of Burns and the Serge Hovey Archive by Patrick Scott can be read here...
http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives142.htm
Other articles in this series can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...rank/burns.htm
Songs by John Henderson
Got in three new songs from John which you can read at the foot of his page at
http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerels.htm
Here's one to read here...
Fly Long, Waddle On
Lyrics composed by John Henderson on the 27th of March, 2012,
to Derek Hamilton's Scottish Waltz called, 'Jenny'.
"You non-flying bird, cawed Chris Crow to Ducky Black,
You'll ne'er be what's known as a singer with such a quack."
"Och Chris your 'caw-caw', Ducky quacked back, it'd be sublime,
If you became rear-end of a horsey in a kid's pantomime!"
"That's not very nice, cawed-cawed Chris Crow quite angrily;
But let's be friends who caw-quack-caw-quack harmoniously?"
"Oh Gosh Chris, well met, Ducky quacked, we'll have Caw and Quack Duets'!
Then we could entice more and more birds and soon have massed 'Multi-tets'!"
So off Chris Crow flew, to caw-in all crows he knew,
While down by Ducky's pond, swans, geese and ducks around him swarmed;
Then, very early next morn, Ducky conducted their first song,
And it became a Number One Hit, called, 'Fly Long, Waddle On'!
The Stuarts in Rome
By Herbert Can Vaughan
So multifarious and absorbing are the attractions of Rome,— classical, medieval, papal, even modern—that English-speaking travellers are apt to overlook the feet that the Eternal City holds a neglected but romantic page of their own history ; indeed, with the single exception of Canova’s well-known monument in St. Peter’s, most visitors to Rome remain unaware of the existence of the many Stuart landmarks and associations it contains. A few sight-seers have perhaps been struck while viewing the fine basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere by the royal escutcheons of England and France surmounted by the cross and scarlet hat in the chapel restored by Cardinal York, who for some sixty years was titular of this church ; but, generally speaking, very few indeed are acquainted with the dingy old palace in the Piazza Santissimi Apostoli, which for over half a century sheltered the little court of the Kings across the Water, or with other buildings connected with the later history of this ill-fated House, whose unbroken chain of misfortunes so excited the compassion even of Voltaire.
The Piazza Santissimi Apostoli, whose southern end opens directly into the newly-made busy Via Nazionale, is a long quiet space bounded towards the east by the huge Colonna palace and the pillared front of the church of the Apostles, its western side being occupied by houses belonging to various noble Roman families,awhile at its narrow northern end stands the old palace once occupied by the Stuarts (a tall featureless pile of buildings, modernised and totally uninteresting except for its historical memories) which is to-day known as the Palazzo Balestro and familiar as the seat of the British Consulate.
You can read the rest of this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...arles/rome.htm
Milk
Another article from MacMillan's Magazine. (1906)
The total number of deaths in England and Wales during 1904 was 549,393. Of this number 137,490—practically one-fourth of the whole—were of children under one year. Further examination of these figures shows that half of the children died from preventable diseases, among which diarrhoea was accountable for over 28,000 deaths. Such is the lamentable story to be gathered from statistics, which further inform us that efforts are being made by leaflets, lady health-visitors, and the supervision of the milk-supply to remove or remedy the ignorance and prejudice which have been responsible for the greater portion of this death-roll.
You can read the rest of this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/food/milk.htm
The Perversity of Golf Balls
An article from MacMillan's Magazine (1906)
Of all the balls used in the realm of sport the golf-ball is the most perverse. A football has been known to seek adventures on the sluggish waters of a canal; a cricket-ball has been extracted from out of a rainwater pipe; while tennis-balls have behaved in an extraordinary manner on more than one occasion, even to the length of splitting a lady’s parasol; but the ways of the balls used in these sports are angelic in comparison with the habits and customs of the golf-ball.
Had a good chuckle at this article so thought I'd add it to the site and you can read this at
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...t/golfball.htm
The Laird and his Tenants
By Charles Edwardes (1906)
There is not much ’doing in the village on the loch to-day. The water shines serene for the shore hills to use as a mirror, and cats and men bask on its malodorous margin. Until yesterday, for a week there was something of the excitement of real methodical industry in the place. A barque, with all sails set, had crept in from the sea and dropped anchor under the lee of the humpy little peninsula which makes from the mainland as if it had meant to cut the loch in two but had suddenly decided that it was not worth while. Coal for the winter was in that barque, and from the minister of the manse downwards in the scale of importance every householder with pence to spare purchased coal. The inn took small cart-loads of it. The stalwart village Macs, who seem so wasted on the effortless daily round of their lives, dragged wheelbarrows over the shingle, achieving several journeys in the day, pausing between them to sit on the handles of their barrows, re-light their pipes, and talk. Their haggard wives (poor ill-fed souls), instead of climbing on to the moor with creels for peats, established in the wet mud and sand a trail of bare foot-prints, for the tide later to wash out; they went to and fro without pause.
You can read the rest of this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...cles/laird.htm
A Story of Clan Shaw
By William G. A. Shaw of Easter Lair
Like a Seannachie of old, would that I could visit each and every one of your homes to tell my story. But in this case, the pale and tepid Written Word will have to do!
In our Celtic mind’s eye, I’d show up at your home just before suppertime, (conveniently) when the chores were done. Children up and down the neighborhood would spread the word. After a good meal, we’d sit around the family table, or gather by the fireplace. As if by magic, friends and neighbors would casually drop by for a blether. Of course, someone would show up with a fiddle and let loose a tune or two. With a couple of damp dogs or a purring cat sprawled at our feet, talk of family, politics, work and home would soon run its course.
Announced by the cheerfully corky squeak of a fresh bottle of usage–beatha, a wee bit of the creature is unleashed. With the happy sounds of drams being poured, it is time for a story of Clan Shaw……an 18th century a tale of:
Cattle, Deceit, Honour and of Carma...
You can read this story at http://www.electricscotland.com/webc...toz/shaw3.html
And finally...
A college class was told they had to write a short story in as few words as possible. The instructions were: The short story had to contain the following three things:
(1) Religion
(2) Sexuality
(3) Mystery
Below is the only A+ short story in the entire class.
"Good God, I'm pregnant; I wonder who did it."
And that's all for now and hope you all have a great weekend.
Alastair
Electric Scotland News
Electric Canadian
The Flag in the Wind
The Bards of Bon Accord 1375 - 1860
A History of the County of Renfrew from the Earliest Times
Northern Notes and Queries
History of the Parish of Banchory-Devenick
Mediaeval Scotland
Robert Burns Lives!
Songs by John Henderson
The Stuarts in Rome
Milk
The Perversity of Golf Balls
The Laird and his Tenants
A Story of Clan Shaw
Electric Scotland News
We're still struggling with the Arcade high score issue in our community. Steve thinks it's a time out problem but I feel it's something else. I posted a message in the software companies forum and they said to check to see if it's a version issue. Like the games are either v2.0 or v32. I have managed to play a few games myself and so far have found that v2.0 games will save high scores but v32 games won't. I need to play some more of these games though to make certain this is the issue and my main problem is I can't easily identify which version the games are. Anyway we might be onto something here so will follow this up to see if we can reach a good conclusion.
-----
Pat Ross has sent in the latest Clan Ross of Canada newsletter and as she noticed we were missing a couple of issues also sent these in as well. This is the last newsletter which Pat will be doing as she took this on for a term of six years so I guess the Clan will need to find a new newsletter editor which is normally pretty difficult. So we wish Pat all the best for the future. You can get to their newsletters at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...ross/index.htm
-----
Since moving to a pdf version of this newsletter I am offering the opportunity to Clan and Family Societies to use it for their own newsletter. They can download it each week and send it out to their own members. Where they have some news to announce they can send it into me and I'll include that in the newsletter. They can also, if they wish, simply add their own news. I figured as this newsletter is all about the history of Scotland it should compliment their own offerings and this way they might offer a better service to their own members. Anyway... the offer is on the table.
-----
I found a copy of MacMillan's Magazine from 1906 in which there were a number of interesting articles which I enjoyed reading. I decided to make a few of them available on the site and you'll find them below.
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
We try not to point to a pdf file and instead send you to page where the pdf can be downloaded.
Electric Canadian
-----------------
Ten Thousand Miles Through Canada
The Natural Resources, Commercial Industries, Fish and Game, Sports and Pastimes of the Great Dominion by Joseph Adams.
Have now completed this book and you can read these chapters at http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...0000/index.htm
Forrest Life in Acadia
Sketches of Sport and Natural History in the lower Provinces of the Canadian Dominion by Captain Campbell Hardy (1869)
This is a new book we're starting on and like the previous book will be adding a chapter per day until complete and here is the Preface of the book...
PREFACE
The Author having brought out several years since a work on sporting in Atlantic America, which was favourably received, is induced to present the present volume of more recent experiences, especially as the interval since elapsed has been unmarked by the production of any English publication of a similar land.
Many inquiries concerning the sports and physical features of the British Provinces bordering on the Atlantic, evidently made by those who meditate seeking a transatlantic home, appear from time to time in the columns of sporting periodicals, and elicit various and uncertain replies.
The Author’s sojourn in the Acadian Provinces having extended over a period of fifteen years, he trusts that the information here afforded will prove useful to such querists.
It will appear evident that he has formed a strong attachment to the country, its scenery and wild sports, and by some it will probably be said that the pleasures of forest life are exaggerated in his descriptions of a country possessing neither grandeur of landscape nor inducements to the “sensational” sportsman. There is, however, a quiet, ever-growing charm to be found in the woodlands or on the waters of Acadie, which those who have resided there will readily admit. Many who have touched at its shores as visitors within the Author’s recollection, have made it their home; whilst those of his vocation who have been called away, have almost invariably expressed a hope of speedy return.
Several of the descriptive sporting scenes found in this work will be recognised as having appeared in “The Field" and the Author begs to express his appreciation of the Editor’s courtesy in permitting their republication. The notices on the natural history of the Elk and Beaver are reproduced, with slight alterations, from the pages of “Land and Water,” with the kind consent of the managers, the articles having appeared therein over the signature of “Alces.”
The acknowledgments of the Author are also due to several old friends across the Atlantic—to “The Old Hunter,” for anecdotes of camp life, and to Dr. Bernard Gilpin for his valuable assistance in describing the game fish, and in preparing the illustration of the American Brook Trout.
You can read this book as we get it up at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...rest/index.htm
Work and Wages in British Columbia
An article from MacMillan's Magazine of 1906.
I found this article in an old copy of MacMillan's magazine so extracted it for the site as I found it quite interesting. You can view this article at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/bc/work.htm
The Flag in the Wind
This issue was Compiled by Clare Adamson. As is her want she sticks to a single article but of course more to read in the Synopsis.
You can read this issue at http://www.scotsindependent.org
The Bards of Bon Accord 1375 - 1860
By William Walker
Added the chapter on "Francis Douglas"
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/poet...cord/index.htm
A History of the County of Renfrew from the Earliest Times
By William M. Metcalfe, D.D. (1905)
We're now up to Chapter XX - Wichcraft
This Chapter XX contains...
Early cases of witchcraft in the country—lateness of outbreak in Renfrewshire— “ Auld Dunrod”—first recorded case in the shire—notoriety of Inverkip and Greenock—case of John MacGregor at Inverkip—the curates and witchcraft— increase of cases after the appointment of Mr. Thomas Blackwell as minister of Paisley—an Inverkip charmer—cases at Kilmacolm and Inchinnan—a commission applied for, to try Janet Wodrow—further developments—bewitching of Christian Shaw—a commission appointed for the trial of those whom she accused—the trial—the Presbytery and the accused—the condemned waited on to the fire by the ministers—a fresh case—translation of Mr. Blackwell to Aberdeen—cessation of witchcraft in the shire.
You can get to this chapter and the others at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...frew/index.htm
Northern Notes and Queries
We've managed to find other issues of this publication and so now continue the series by adding the December 1890 edition. Note: In the pdf version of the newsletter I am placing a graphic of the Contents page so you can see what is included in each issue.
There are a huge number of names in these volumes which must be a great source for genealogists. In this issue we get a list of names from Scots that went to Sweden and also many names of Scots in the Scots Brigade in Holland.
This can be viewed at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...hern/index.htm
History of the Parish of Banchory-Devenick
By John A. Henderson (1890).
More chapters have been added this week. One of those contains a wee account of the village of Downies....
This is a small fishing village situated in the southeast corner of the parish, on the estate of Clashfarquhar, formerly owned by the Thomsons of Banchory, but now by the University of Aberdeen.
Dr. Morison, in his Account of the Parish in 1792, states that only one yaul fished from the village in that year. There are now six boats, employing twenty-seven hands, engaged in the haddock fishing, which is the only industry the inhabitants engage in.
The coast in the neighbourhood is particularly rocky, and many a vessel has been wrecked in the vicinity.
In 1640, when Aberdeen was invested by the Earl Marischal, many of the citizens sought shelter among the rocks along the coast, where they suffered much privation.
I often think a more detailed history of places such as this would be great to find. It would be great to explore how they lived and worked but unfortunately, just like today, we are not recording these histories in sufficient detail so much social history is being lost.
You can read this book as we get it up at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...hory/index.htm
Mediaeval Scotland
Chapters on Agriculture, Manufacturers, Factories, Taxation, Revenue, Trade, Commerce, Weights and Measures by R. W. Cochran-Patrick (1892).
We've now completed this book and lots of great information can be found here. Here is how the chapter on Fisheries starts...
Of old the Scottish Fisheries occupied an important position among the national industries. The fishing for salmon belonged to the Crown, and could not be enjoyed by any subject without a special grant by charter, though a right of salmon fishing followed a general grant of fishing after forty years prescription. David I. gave to the Abbey of Holyrood a right to have one draw of a net for salmon, and in 1164 the Abbey of Scone had two nets in the Tay, one at “Kyncarrekyn,” and the other at the insula regis and one net in the Forth at Stirling. By a law of the time of William I., the midstreams of all salmon rivers were to be free for the length of a three-year-old pig, rather a curious standard of measurement. In the time of Alexander III. salmon might be fished in all waters except those flowing into the sea. No one could fish for salmon anywhere from Saturday night till sunrise on Monday; nor in “forbidden time,” under the “old penalty.” Offenders against the salmon fishery laws were liable to forty days’ imprisonment, and anyone thrice convicted suffered death. It was also forbidden to catch salmon in nets at mill dams, salmon fry at lades or dams, and “red fish” at any time. Unseasonable fish (“salmones corrupti”), if offered for sale, were to be seized and sent to the lepers, or destroyed. The close time in all rivers was between the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin (15th August), and Martinmas. Young salmon (“salmun-culi”) could not be legally taken between the middle of April, and the Feast of St. John the Baptist (24th June).
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...eval/index.htm
Robert Burns Lives!
Edited by Frank Shaw
Here in the States, as well as Scotland and Ireland, there have been several staunch supporters during the years of these pages about Robert Burns, including Ross Roy, Clark McGinn, Gerry Carruthers and Patrick Scott. Patrick, however, has been a main “go to” guy whenever I encounter a problem, need to further understand a topic, or find myself searching for additional information regarding an article or a speech I am working on. When I “bump a stump” or try to clarify something on our web site, Patrick has always been willing to share his perspective with me. He gives sound advice! Simply put, he is one of the “good guys” who goes out of his way to help a friend.
Patrick explained in an email yesterday that “since this article first appeared in the Burns Chronicle (Spring 2012), Dr. Kirsteen McCue of the University of Glasgow has published a valuable assessment of Hovey’s work on Burns, in Robert Burns and Transatlantic Culture ed. by Sharon Alker, Leith Davis, and Holly Faith Nelson (Ashgate, 2012). See Robert Burns Lives!, no. 136:
http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives136.htm). “
There are other articles on Robert Burns Lives! by or about Patrick:
Chapter 32, Robert Burns and James Hogg: The Ploughman Poet and the Ettrick Poet (June 11, 2008);
Chapter 43, Patrick Scott’s Immortal Memory delivered at the Burns Club of Atlanta (January 24, 2009);
Chapter 135, A Tribute to Dr. Patrick Scott: Noted Burns Scholar by Frank R. Shaw (February 16, 2012)
Patrick retired recently as Director of Rare Books, University of South Carolina Libraries. He continues to work with Dr. Ross Roy and the library as research fellow for Scottish collections. It is a real joy to welcome Patrick back to the pages of Robert Burns Lives!.
(FRS: 6.7.12)
The Songs of Burns and the Serge Hovey Archive by Patrick Scott can be read here...
http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives142.htm
Other articles in this series can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...rank/burns.htm
Songs by John Henderson
Got in three new songs from John which you can read at the foot of his page at
http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerels.htm
Here's one to read here...
Fly Long, Waddle On
Lyrics composed by John Henderson on the 27th of March, 2012,
to Derek Hamilton's Scottish Waltz called, 'Jenny'.
"You non-flying bird, cawed Chris Crow to Ducky Black,
You'll ne'er be what's known as a singer with such a quack."
"Och Chris your 'caw-caw', Ducky quacked back, it'd be sublime,
If you became rear-end of a horsey in a kid's pantomime!"
"That's not very nice, cawed-cawed Chris Crow quite angrily;
But let's be friends who caw-quack-caw-quack harmoniously?"
"Oh Gosh Chris, well met, Ducky quacked, we'll have Caw and Quack Duets'!
Then we could entice more and more birds and soon have massed 'Multi-tets'!"
So off Chris Crow flew, to caw-in all crows he knew,
While down by Ducky's pond, swans, geese and ducks around him swarmed;
Then, very early next morn, Ducky conducted their first song,
And it became a Number One Hit, called, 'Fly Long, Waddle On'!
The Stuarts in Rome
By Herbert Can Vaughan
So multifarious and absorbing are the attractions of Rome,— classical, medieval, papal, even modern—that English-speaking travellers are apt to overlook the feet that the Eternal City holds a neglected but romantic page of their own history ; indeed, with the single exception of Canova’s well-known monument in St. Peter’s, most visitors to Rome remain unaware of the existence of the many Stuart landmarks and associations it contains. A few sight-seers have perhaps been struck while viewing the fine basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere by the royal escutcheons of England and France surmounted by the cross and scarlet hat in the chapel restored by Cardinal York, who for some sixty years was titular of this church ; but, generally speaking, very few indeed are acquainted with the dingy old palace in the Piazza Santissimi Apostoli, which for over half a century sheltered the little court of the Kings across the Water, or with other buildings connected with the later history of this ill-fated House, whose unbroken chain of misfortunes so excited the compassion even of Voltaire.
The Piazza Santissimi Apostoli, whose southern end opens directly into the newly-made busy Via Nazionale, is a long quiet space bounded towards the east by the huge Colonna palace and the pillared front of the church of the Apostles, its western side being occupied by houses belonging to various noble Roman families,awhile at its narrow northern end stands the old palace once occupied by the Stuarts (a tall featureless pile of buildings, modernised and totally uninteresting except for its historical memories) which is to-day known as the Palazzo Balestro and familiar as the seat of the British Consulate.
You can read the rest of this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...arles/rome.htm
Milk
Another article from MacMillan's Magazine. (1906)
The total number of deaths in England and Wales during 1904 was 549,393. Of this number 137,490—practically one-fourth of the whole—were of children under one year. Further examination of these figures shows that half of the children died from preventable diseases, among which diarrhoea was accountable for over 28,000 deaths. Such is the lamentable story to be gathered from statistics, which further inform us that efforts are being made by leaflets, lady health-visitors, and the supervision of the milk-supply to remove or remedy the ignorance and prejudice which have been responsible for the greater portion of this death-roll.
You can read the rest of this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/food/milk.htm
The Perversity of Golf Balls
An article from MacMillan's Magazine (1906)
Of all the balls used in the realm of sport the golf-ball is the most perverse. A football has been known to seek adventures on the sluggish waters of a canal; a cricket-ball has been extracted from out of a rainwater pipe; while tennis-balls have behaved in an extraordinary manner on more than one occasion, even to the length of splitting a lady’s parasol; but the ways of the balls used in these sports are angelic in comparison with the habits and customs of the golf-ball.
Had a good chuckle at this article so thought I'd add it to the site and you can read this at
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...t/golfball.htm
The Laird and his Tenants
By Charles Edwardes (1906)
There is not much ’doing in the village on the loch to-day. The water shines serene for the shore hills to use as a mirror, and cats and men bask on its malodorous margin. Until yesterday, for a week there was something of the excitement of real methodical industry in the place. A barque, with all sails set, had crept in from the sea and dropped anchor under the lee of the humpy little peninsula which makes from the mainland as if it had meant to cut the loch in two but had suddenly decided that it was not worth while. Coal for the winter was in that barque, and from the minister of the manse downwards in the scale of importance every householder with pence to spare purchased coal. The inn took small cart-loads of it. The stalwart village Macs, who seem so wasted on the effortless daily round of their lives, dragged wheelbarrows over the shingle, achieving several journeys in the day, pausing between them to sit on the handles of their barrows, re-light their pipes, and talk. Their haggard wives (poor ill-fed souls), instead of climbing on to the moor with creels for peats, established in the wet mud and sand a trail of bare foot-prints, for the tide later to wash out; they went to and fro without pause.
You can read the rest of this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...cles/laird.htm
A Story of Clan Shaw
By William G. A. Shaw of Easter Lair
Like a Seannachie of old, would that I could visit each and every one of your homes to tell my story. But in this case, the pale and tepid Written Word will have to do!
In our Celtic mind’s eye, I’d show up at your home just before suppertime, (conveniently) when the chores were done. Children up and down the neighborhood would spread the word. After a good meal, we’d sit around the family table, or gather by the fireplace. As if by magic, friends and neighbors would casually drop by for a blether. Of course, someone would show up with a fiddle and let loose a tune or two. With a couple of damp dogs or a purring cat sprawled at our feet, talk of family, politics, work and home would soon run its course.
Announced by the cheerfully corky squeak of a fresh bottle of usage–beatha, a wee bit of the creature is unleashed. With the happy sounds of drams being poured, it is time for a story of Clan Shaw……an 18th century a tale of:
Cattle, Deceit, Honour and of Carma...
You can read this story at http://www.electricscotland.com/webc...toz/shaw3.html
And finally...
A college class was told they had to write a short story in as few words as possible. The instructions were: The short story had to contain the following three things:
(1) Religion
(2) Sexuality
(3) Mystery
Below is the only A+ short story in the entire class.
"Good God, I'm pregnant; I wonder who did it."
And that's all for now and hope you all have a great weekend.
Alastair