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CONTENTS
Electric Scotland News
Electric Canadian
The United Empire Loyalist Settlement at Long Point, Lake Erie
The Prairie Provinces
Statistics Canada
Canadian Letters
Canadian Life as I Found It
Quarantine Island
The Flag in the Wind
Electric Scotland
The Bards of Bon Accord 1375 - 1860
Northern Notes and Queries
The Story of Edinburgh Castle
Songs by John Henderson
Days at the Coast
Wild Flowers of Scotland
Robert Burns Lives!
J. Keir Hardie (New Book)
Inverurie and The Earldom of the Garioch (Complete New Book)
Clan Munro of Australia
My Scottish Ancestry
Memoir of Dr Jamieson
Unusual articles from the mid 1800's
Electric Scotland News
I was talking to someone in the USA the other day and she was saying that it's really quite depressing these days. She runs a non profit organisation and she tells me that there is little support these days for the work non profits are doing. She was also quite depressed about the global situation and of course she was commenting about the terrible shooting at that movie and also the terrible weather they've been getting.
In my view a lot of this is down to the lack of leadership by our politicians and individual and corporate greed. I personally find it very objectionable that a large corporation making billions should lay of staff just to make even more billions. But individuals these days want more and more and they want it now. That leads to huge personal debt. However the pension plan people also want higher and higher returns even though that drive for more income for their funds actually ends up putting their clients out of work.
I feel it's time we discussed ways forward as the current party system in government is simply not working. And individuals are being unrealistic when it comes to their individual demands. There is now a lack of compromise and in my view we need to take a hard look at how we all run our countries and how we as individuals should conduct ourselves. I also think a lot of this is also down to the educational system. In my view this is not a money issue but a social issue.
Just the other day I read a message in our Community from a new member and he was castigating a person in there for a message he had posted and alluded to the persons intelligence in a very negative fashion. I feel that is typical of what we are seeing today. That person not only felt he had to disagree with the comment made but took the time to question the persons intelligence. I would simply put that down to a lack of manners and a proper upbringing. You can certainly question someone's views but why is there a need to insult the person in the process? In my view that is a step too far but there are more and more people with zero tolerance for anyone that does not mirror their views. I mean you might think that but why do they need to tell the person that?
I'd certainly like to start a whole new discussion in our forums on all this to see whether we might be able to recognise the root cause of all the problems and how we might fix them. I think it's time to think out of the box.
ABOUT THE STORIES
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Some of the stories in here are just parts of a larger story so do check out the site for the full versions. You can always find the link in our "What's New" section in our site menu and at:
*http://www.electricscotland.com/whatsnew.htm and also http://www.electriccanadian.com/whatsnew.htm
We try not to point to a pdf file and instead send you to page where the pdf can be downloaded.
Electric Canadian
The Prairie Provinces
A short history of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta by D. M. Duncan, M.A.
This book was actually written to teach the boys and girls the history of this area of Canada and it makes a very interesting read. Here is part of the Introduction for you to read here...
Did you ever think how great the excitement would be, if some great captain should come back to England to-day and tell that he had discovered a large new land that had never been found by white men before? Such excitement the people of Spain and England and France felt, about four hundred years ago, when great adventurers like Columbus, and Cabot, and Cartier first came across the ocean from Europe, and returned with their most interesting stories of the marvellous country they had discovered.
The finding of a new world was sure to cause great excitement in Europe. In their homes, in their business places, on the street, men would be sure to talk more about this great subject than about any other. The wealthy people, the young men who loved adventure, the watchful and progressive merchants, the nobility, and even the kings of England and France gradually became aroused in regard to the wonderful country across the ocean—the land of large rivers, of endless forests, of sea-like lakes, of vast prairies, of unknown wealth in fish, and fur-bearing animals, and minerals.
To this mysterious land came good missionaries, to bring the gospel and education and higher forms of living; and keen traders and merchants to become rich by trading with the Indians, chiefly tor furs; and bold adventurers who are ever ready to go into new and wild territories, partly for sport, partly for the joy of discovery, and partly from national pride in aiding to extend the possessions of their own country.
How strangely they must have felt, those brave men who first dared to cross the wide ocean to the unknown land! What hopes, what fears they must have had! The very mystery that was connected with every day’s experiences was full of attraction. On the ocean they wondered day by day when they would see the new land, and what kind of land it would be when they reached it. As they travelled up or down the coast in search of openings into, or through, or past the land, which they at first supposed was only an island that lay between them and China, they watched and waited anxiously hour by hour to learn what they knew had never yet been learned. And as they made their way slowly into the two great openings which they found into the heart of the continent, one the St. Lawrence River and the other Hudson Bay, they saw new wonders every minute. They must have marvelled at the beauty of the thousand bays and islands; at the immensity of the country they were exploring; at the number of fish, and birds, and animals; at the size and number of the rivers; at the splendid trees that covered the eastern portion, which they saw first; and at the habits of the uncivilized men who owned the country.
And how the Indians must have been surprised at the sights they saw when the white men first came to their land! The ships in The Surprise which the white men came were so large compared with their bark canoes; the guns and cannons made such strange and awful sounds, and killed birds and animals so far away; the color and dress of the strangers were so unusual, and the articles they brought to show them were so beautiful in color and form, and their language was so entirely unknown to them, that the poor Indians must have supposed at first that these explorers were real gods who had come to see them. What strange tales they would have written, if they had known how to write! What wonderful stories they must have told to their Indian friends in the interior who had not seen the big ships, nor heard the new thunder, nor met the pale-faced gods who looked like men!
Would you not like to learn the story of the four hundred years since Cabot and Cartier first came to Canada? Is it not very interesting to follow the changes that have taken place since the days when there were none but Indians in your country, and when there were no houses but the Indian wigwams? The history of your country will tell you this story and explain the nature of these changes.
You can read the rest of this introduction at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/prairie01.htm
You can view the film and read the book at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/prairiendx.htm
The United Empire Loyalist Settlement at Long Point, Lake Erie
This is another new book we're starting and should be of interest one way or another to everyone. There is much to learn from this and no matter your views it does present another view of the fight for American Independence. Here is the Introduction to read here...
No more inspiring subject can engage the pen of any writer than the theme of loyalty. Fidelity to the constitution, laws and institutions of one’s native land has been honored in every country and in every age. From infancy we have been told of the brave men of our race, and yet the tale, ever told, is ever new. The hero stories that thrilled us in our childhood have still the power to make the heart beat quickly and the current of feeling sweep over us, rich and strong. Socialists and revolutionists may affect to scorn it, but they cannot blot out the inherent glory contained in the word patriot.
To die for one’s native land is assuredly sweet and seemly, and yet there is a truer and a nobler loyalty than this. It is that of preserving inviolate one’s faith to the established government, when all around is sedition, anarchy and revolution. When to be loyal means to fight, not against the stranger and the foreigner, but against those of the same language, the same country, the same state, and, it may be, the same family as one’s self—when loyalty means fratricidal war, the breaking up of home, the severing of the dearest heart cords, the loss of everything except honor—
Such was the loyalty of these who plunged unshaken, unterrified and unseduced into a conflict unutterably bitter, which was destined to last for seven long years, and finally to sever them from their native land. During the war of the revolution, and in the blind revenge exacted by the victorious side, their property was confiscated, their families ostracised and exposed to insult, outrage and spoliation, their lives were in danger, and often ruthlessly declared forfeit, to satisfy malicious hatred and suspicion. Their zeal for the unity of the empire gave them the title of United Empire Loyalists, and these were the men who, at the close of the war, sought a refuge and a home on British soil, among the northern forests, and laid deep the foundations of the institutions, the freedom, the loyalty, and the prosperity of our land.
You can read this book at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...oint/index.htm
Statistics Canada
They produce the Canada Year Book which is Statistics Canada's most popular publication. For over 140 years, it's been the ultimate source for the newest facts and analyses related to current events, important issues, and trends in Canada.
Statistics Canada, a member of the Industry Portfolio, produces statistics that help Canadians better understand their country—its population, resources, economy, society and culture.
In addition to conducting a Census every five years, there are about 350 active surveys on virtually all aspects of Canadian life.
You can learn more about Statistics Canada at http://www.electriccanadian.com/transport/statscan.htm where I've provided links to their web site.
Canadian Letters
By Rev. Robert Ker D.D.
He starts by saying...
Canada West, London, January 7, 1863.
My dear Friends,—I have now reached a point that lies far west in the British province of Canada, and I wish to give you some of my impressions of this part of the world. I shall try to do it just as if I were in the midst of you in conversation,—an easy, off-hand talk, that may serve for my contribution to your winter’s stock of information and discussion. I shall begin by sketching rapidly the course by which I have come to this place.
You can read these at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...an_letters.htm
Canadian Life as I Found It
By a Homesteader (1908)
Preface
THESE experiences of Canadian life have been lived through by settlers in the North-West Territories, during the years quoted, and are meant, not to deter others from making a trial of the kind of life herein painted, but to point out to them more truly than has I believe hitherto been done, what that life really is, what each one must be prepared to do, and to suffer, if they wish to succeed.
I have written few trivial details of daily life; every one can fill these in according to individual means, and aptitude. I have kept more to the broad lines, that will give a good idea of what is the truth about homesteading in Canada.
This country has a great future before it most certainly, but only those who are healthy and strong, both mentally and physically, ought to be allowed to come out and help people it.
The wild free life of the North-West, untrammelled by social fads, has its attractions, but to be able to really enjoy it, or I should be better within the truth if I write, to endure it, one must have plenty of grit, and some education leading up to it, otherwise dire discouragement and failure. may be the result.
END.
I must say that I really enjoyed reading this book and can only admire these pioneers and what they went through to settle on their land.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ader/index.htm
Quarantine Island
You might remember that last year I visited Quebec and posted up some pictures. Well on the 6th page of the pictures I featured the immigration station and have just found an old book about it so have added a link to it on the page at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...pictures06.htm
The Flag in the Wind
This issue was Compiled by a new compiler, Margaret Hamilton, and she gives a little of her background...
Margaret has been around the SNP and the Independence movement since childhood. Initially enjoying the stories in the house as her parents and activists returned from work nights and exchanged stories while she handed round tea, coffee and cake.
The natural progression was to become one of those activists. It started with leafleting and has led to holding branch and constituency posts as secretary, treasurer, organiser and convenor. Never too elevated to do the menial tasks though.
Nationally Margaret volunteered for many year as a steward at the National SNP meetings, eventually marrying the chief steward. In turn Margaret was responsible for getting Ian involved in the Scots Independent having been persuaded herself to be a volunteer wrapper and dispatcher of the paper by her father. Now Ian has got her involved in Flag in the Wind.
You can read Margaret's first compilation at http://www.scotsindependent.org
Electric Scotland
The Bards of Bon Accord 1375 - 1860
By William Walker
Added George Smith and Dr. John Longmuir
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/poet...cord/index.htm
Northern Notes and Queries
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.
September 1892
This issue can be viewed at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...hern/index.htm
The Story of Edinburgh Castle
By Louis Weirter (1913)
We've now completed this book by adding the final 3 chapters...
Chapter XI. Mons Meg and other Relics
Chapter XII. The Castle Hill
Chapter XIII. From the Castle Walls
The chapter on Mons Meg starts...
AMONG the famous prisoners that were incarcerated in the dungeons of the Castle was James Mhor Macgregor of Bohaldie, the eldest son of Rob Roy, the famous chief of the Macgregors. James had lost his estate for having held a major’s commission under the Old Pretender. Robin Oig Macgregor, his younger brother, having conceived the idea that he would make his fortune by carrying off an heiress—no uncommon thing in the Highlands —procured James’s assistance, with a band of Macgregors, armed with target, pistol, and claymore, who came suddenly from the wilds of Arroquhar. Surrounding the house of Edinbellie, in Stirlingshire, the abode of a wealthy widow of only nineteen, they seized her, and, muffling her in a plaid, bore her to the heather-clad hills where Rowardennan looks down upon the Gareloch and Glenfruin. There she was married to Robin, who kept her for three months in defiance of several parties of troops sent to recover her.
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...h/castle11.htm
The other chapters can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rgh/castle.htm
Songs by John Henderson
John sent us in another two songs one of which is "Twa Fiddlers":
John also adds tunes to his song and on this page you can click on the link to listen to the tune at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerel448.htm
Days at the Coast
A series of Sketches descriptive of the Frith of Clyde, its Watering Places, its Scenery and its Associations by Hugh MacDonald (1860).
We now have up several chapters...
Preface
Introductory
Bowling, Dumbarton and Cardross
Port Glasgow and Kilmalcolm
Greenock and its Environs
Gourock and Inverkip
Wemyss Bay and Largs
Brodick and Lamlash
Rothesay and a Raid in Bute
The two Cumbraes
The Vale of Leven and Loch Lomond
Helensburgh Row and Roseneath
The chapter on Greenock and its Environs starts...
Sweet are the influences of the August morning as we plough in foamy furrows our pathway down the Frith; The brown Castle rock is already in our wake, steeped from base to summit in the slant radiance of the early day. Around us, in ripples of light, spreads the ample bosom of the estuary, with the heights of Cardross and Kilmalcolm swelling beautifully on either hand; while far awav in our front rises the bold girdle of hills, which seem to bar the channel of the waters, and lend to the river the aspect of a mighty lake. How rich are the effects of light and shade on the everchanging features of the scene! A dreamy haze still lingers on the distant mountains, as if the last faint vestiges of dawn were yet unmelted on their shaggy slopes. As the clouds in snowy masses float in silence through the blue profound of heaven, their shadows travel over land and sea— vast patches of gloom which come and go like sin and sorrow over the world’s fair surface. But wherefore talk of sin and sorrow on this bright autumnal day, when loveliness and joy seem all-pervading and supreme? There is gladness in the breeze winch comes from the dancing waves to cool our cheek, and play in our "ifted hair ”—gladness in the wilding birds, which sail with glancing pinions around our prow, or swim in snowy clusters like specks of foam upon the rippled waters. And surely it is a joyous sight to mark the multitudinous ships in motion or at rest upon their a native dement.” Now a huge steamer comes rushing past, with her freight of happy faces, and her lengthened trail of smoke curling duskily along her foamy track; now it is a stately bark with bellying sails, slow moving on her seaward way; and anon it is some tiny yacht or gentle skiff, tacking as if in dalliance against the breeze. But our steamer, while we gaze upon the “shows and forms” of the bustling channel, is rapidly cleaving her onward course. Port-Glasgow, with its ancient Castle, is passed; and, rounding the low-wooded point of Garvel, we bear right down upon Greenock, the cynosure of its own sunny bay.
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../chapter03.htm
And you can read the other chapters at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/coast/index.htm
Wild Flowers of Scotland
By J. H. Crawford (1897)
Have several chapters up now...
Introduction
Chapter I. The Flowers of Spring
Chapter II. The Blue Bells
Chapter III. The Garden and the Wilds
Chapter IV. Whin and Broom
Chapter V. The Flowers of Summer
Chapter VI. Marguerites and Poppies
Chapter VII. Thistles
Chapter VIII. In the Woodlands
Chapter IX. On the Links
Chapter X. The Path through the Cornfields
Chapter XI. Flowers of the Far North
These are actually a very good read and here is a bit on the chapter on Thistles...
THE thistle belongs to the later summer, when the whites and blues are already beginning to pass into the reds and purples. It is well on for the end of June before I notice the children—a little browner, a little more freckled, with evident signs of mending on their pinnies—under the lime tree getting at the cheeses. Tearing off the outer wrapping, they expose the white cushion, on which the purple-robed flowers sit in such dainty state*and this they consume, with the relish of epicures of nature.
What skilled botanists of a practical sort these children are! It is wonderful how they know what to eat, when it should be sought for, and where to find it—lessons which, as we grow up and lose our freshness, we forget more and more. On the early morning of another day, they start the hare from her form, and the lark from her nest, in their search for the earth nuts. They know under what plant to find them, and how far they are down in the ground. See them cross to the burnside, where they can make a salad out of the sorrel growing on the bank.
Nor is their skill by any means confined to the plant kingdom. On one of the thistle heads a “foggie"distinguished among the bees by his browner shades and the suppression of the black and yellow bands—is hanging. It is plain that he is in the helpless plight of one who has partaken too freely of the heady juices. No haste is made. No precautions are taken for the capture. He is not likely to fly away.
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../chapter07.htm
You can read the other chapters at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...wers/index.htm
PS I found a YouTube video about eating wild plants which you might enjoy at
Robert Burns Lives!
By Frank Shaw
A few months ago, three men came together in Scotland at a seminar in Greenock’s Lyle Kirk to talk about Highland Mary. Two of them were from Scotland and the third made his way from Columbia, South Carolina to appear on the program. This octogenarian, on a previous visit to the Greenock Burns Club, had promised he would return, and G. Ross Roy keeps his word. Speeches by the other two, Gerry Carruthers and Kenneth Simpson, have already been posted on*Robert Burns Lives!*and can be found in the index as Chapters 128 and 148 respectively. Today it is an honor to bring you Professor Roy’s paper. *Colin Hunter McQueen, Ross’s dear friend, read his paper to the assembled crowd. (You will also find in*Robert Burns Lives!*a book review of a publication by Colin and his son Douglas under Chapter 33.)
The Greenock seminar has been described as a major conference on Burns, and with these three speakers participating, it couldn’t have been anything else. They delighted club members and guests with their remarks, and I only wish I had been there to enjoy the occasion as well. You will find more information about the seminar on the Greenock Burns Club website. A big thank-you to Ross Roy for allowing our readers to have access to his presentation.
With these three articles about Highland Mary, I am proud to say this is the second subject within the web site on which we have had three different articles. The other topic was on Robert Burns and Slavery. (FRS: 7.25.12)
You can read the article, Highland Mary by G. Ross Roy, at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives145.htm
Other articles can be read at http://www.electricscotand.com/famil...rank/burns.htm
J. Keir Hardie
A Biography by William Stewart and Introduction by J. Ramsay MacDonald
A new book we're starting.
AUTHORS PREFACE
THE one man of all Keir Hardie's associates most fitted to write an account of his life and work was the late J. Bruce Glasier. His knowledge of the Labour and Socialist movement in all its phases and aspects, his long and close intimacy with Hardie both in public and private life, his sympathetic perception of the motives and environment and heredity which went to the formation of Hardie's character, and influenced his actions, and his own fine gift of literary expression, qualified him above all others to be Keir Hardie's biographer.
The Fates ruled otherwise. Before Mr. Glasier had begun to collect and assort the material for the work, he was himself stricken with the illness, which, heroically borne through two years of pain, ended in his death. It was at Mr. Glasier's request while on his bed of sickness that I, not very confidently, undertook the work. 7'he Memorial Committee adopted Mr. Glasier's suggestion that I should be appointed to take his place. The work therefore came to me both as a request and as a command. I have performed it to the best of my ability; whether well or ill, must be left to the judgment of others.
To those friends who were most familiar with Keir Hardie's habits of life it will be unnecessary to explain that the task has not been quite easy. Though he had the intention of some day writing a book of reminiscences, the daily call of the Labour and Socialist movement left him without any leisure to sit down to it systematically, and when he died he had not even made that provision for posthumous fame which seems customary with persons who have figured in public life. He kept no diary, and he preserved few letters, though he must have received many from important people. If it be true, as has been said, that letters are the raw material of biography, this particular biography has been produced at a disadvantage. That is not entirely true, however. Much of the material for a life of Hardie is to be found not in his private but in his public writings which were voluminous, and, to a considerable extent, self-revealing. But the very wealth and abundance of this kind of material have rendered the work difficult if interesting.
I found it necessary to go through with some selective care the two volumes of “The Miner” twenty-one volumes of the “Labour Leader” several volumes of the “Merthyr Pioneer and also to refer to other Socialist papers, to the columns of the contemporary daily press, and to the pages of “Hansard.”
There will be differences of opinion as to whether this material has always been used in the best way, and also as to whether certain events and episodes have been over or under emphasised. These differences cannot be helped. I had to use my own judgment and have done so, and the result must stand.
For information concerning the early period of Keir Hardie's life I am indebted to several members of the family, especially to his brothers, George, David and William. Mrs. Keir Hardie also was most helpful in supplying those domestic details which seemed necessary, while for some of the early Ayrshire experiences I have to thank Councillor James Neil of Cumnock, and several quite obscure but sterling men of the pits who were associated with Hardie in his scantily recorded pioneering days.
For an account of the historic Mid-Lanark election there was a fair amount of information available, though it had to be dug out. Not so, however, with regard to the West Ham election, and I have specially to thank Councillor Ben Gardner for his valuable help in this connection. There is a probability that he, and also the many Merthyr friends, notably Llewellyn Francis, John Barr, Councillor Stonelake and Emrys Hughes, may think I have not made the fullest use of the very valuable information which they placed at my disposal. They will, however, I have no doubt, realise that I had to be governed by a sense of proportion, and had to consider each phase of Hardie's life in its relation to his whole career.
I do sincerely believe, however, that the book as it stands contains nearly all that is essential to a true understanding of the character of Keir Hardie and of his life work; and thereby makes it possible for readers to form a just estimate of the great service which he rendered to the working people, not of his own country only, but of the world, and therefore to Humanity.
WILLIAM STEWART.
September 9th, 1921.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rdie/index.htm
Inverurie and The Earldom of the Garioch
A Topographical and Historical Account of The Garoich from the Earliest Times to the Revolution Settlement by Rev. John Davidson, D.D. (1878)
PREFACE
The following contribution to local history had its origin in a natural wish on the part of the author to know as much as could be ascertained with certainty of the early history of his own parish. The publications of the Spalding Club and kindred antiquarian societies have suggested and facilitated many such inquiries. In the present case the antiquities of a Royal Burgh, which had been obscure for centuries among the Scottish municipalities, became a tempting subject of research after the discovery that the burgh was in existence before a.d. 1200 ; to which fact, as a piece of curious information, the author’s attention was drawn by the late Dr. Joseph Robertson when that gentleman was editing Volume IV. of the Spalding Club “Antiquities of the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff.” A minute examination of a number of the authentic documents printed by the same Club, brought to light other highly interesting particulars respecting individual dwellers in the Burgh of Inverurie, or its neighbourhood, in long past times; while other works by historical antiquarians and local discoveries of prehistoric remains furnished matter introductory to a continuous memoir of the topography of Inverurie and the Garioch, and of recorded inhabitants of the district from the time when Saxon civilisation was introduced into it by Malcolm Canmore and Queen Margaret.
The peculiar position of the Earldom of the Garioch in Scottish history, led to an investigation as to what families and estates were of local importance at the successive epochs of David of Huntingdon’s Earldom, and the battles of Inverurie and Harlaw, and during the long period when the Lordship of the Garioch was withheld, along with the Earldom of Mar, by the Stuart kings from the hereditary claimants—the Erskines, descended from Elyne, daughter of Gartney Earl of Mar, and Christian, Lady of the Garioch.
The local history of a large immediately succeeding period the author had opportunity, from his position, of investigating by means of unpublished documents, ecclesiastical and municipal—the Records of local Church Courts, and the Court Books and Sasine Registers of the Burgh of Inverurie.
The information drawn from these ecclesiastical and burgh manuscripts, has, as new material of history, been given in the form of literal extracts. It has not been thought necessary to encumber the work with marginal references to the very great mass of topographical and genealogical particulars obtained from the Spalding Club books, and put into connection and historical position in this volume,—the indices to these books affording sufficient means of verification.
With the object of making the Index of greater value for genealogical reference, dates have been appended to individual names; and by the same means a connected view is given of the proprietary of individual estates, which the chronological arrangement of the work did not make otherwise possible. The Index has also been taken advantage of to supplement in some particulars the details of matters treated of in the text. The diversity in the spelling of proper names that appears in the work has intentionally been allowed to remain, as itself a historical feature of the periods described.
The author has had the advantage of extensive aid in the topographical and genealogical portions of the work from several gentlemen, able from private sources to enhance the value of the publication in these respects. Messrs George Burnett, Lyon King of Arms, Alexander Johnston, and Charles Dalrymple, have been at much pains in giving accuracy and interest to notices of family history. The illustration at page 73, was obligingly furnished by Mr. Alexander Walker, Dean of Guild of the City of Aberdeen, from his “Life of John Ramsay,” and the Genealogical Appendix has been enriched by historical particulars taken from his List of the Deans of Guild of that city.
The compilation of the materials, presented in historical connection in this volume, has been the work of long time, and the inquiries rendered necessary brought to the author’s notice the existence of a great mass of hitherto unpublished and interesting matter. The records of the several Presbyteries of Aberdeen and Banffshires, and of some of the parishes, contain much that illustrates the condition of society in Scotland during a large portion of the seventeenth century. Numerous particulars of family history are preserved in local Registers of Sassine and the Protocol Books of notaries public; and there remain, even after the labours of the Spalding Club, charter chests that would amply repay investigation. Two of them are repeatedly referred to in this volume,—that of Balquhain, much of which was printed by the late Colonel Leslie, and that of Bourtie,—portions of which possessing historical interest the author has given in the following pages.
I decided to make this book available as a pdf file but have ocr'd the Introduction in for you to read on the site and have provided the Contents for you look over. You can find this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...urie/index.htm
Clan Munro of Australia
Got in a copy of their August 2012 newsletter which you can view at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...unro/index.htm
My Scottish Ancestry
By Robert L. Finch of Muskegon, Michigan
Was sent in this wee account which you can read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rica/finch.htm
Memoir of Dr Jamieson
The preserver of the Scots Language
Towards the close of his long and busy career, Dr. Jamieson so far yielded to the entreaties of his friends as to throw together some memoranda of the principal events of his life; but, although they were written with great simplicity and candour, in a reflective spirit, and with considerable graphic force, the work as a whole was found to be unsuitable for publication. From these materials, however, a short but very suitable memoir of the author was compiled for the second and somewhat condensed edition of the Scottish Dictionary, issued in 1840-1; and since then, other two accounts of his life have been published. But as that memoir was in substance furnished by the surviving relatives of Dr. Jamieson, it has been selected for our present purpose ; and having been slightly recast in order to adapt it to the present time, it is now presented to the public as the most reliable that can be given.
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...s/jamieson.htm
Unusual articles from the mid 1800's
"Scottish Nationality" and "A Day in the Upper Ward of Clydesdale" By Rev John Ker D.D.
On Scottish Nationality
These reprints belong to a period of our history which marks very strongly the character of the people, and which has done much to fix it; and it may not be out of place, in this Introduction, to make some remarks on Scottish Nationality, as to how it took its rise and came to be what it is, both socially and religiously. This can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ationality.htm
A Day in the Upper Ward of Clydesdale
My dear Sir,—I have just received your note with a request for an article for the October number of the Young Men's Christian Magazine, and, on thinking of what might be most suitable, it has occurred to me that what is freshest to my own mind may be best for your readers, and so I shall give an account of a visit I paid the other day to the little town of Douglas, not far from your own great city, and of two things that specially interested me there. I must first, however, tell how I reached Douglas, and what I saw on the way. This article can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...clydesdale.htm
And finally...
Soak It
SCOTLAND'S monsoon weather reminds Jack of a colleague recalling his days stationed in Germany with the Scots Guards, and being ordered by the sergeant to go out and water the roses in the flower beds.
"But sergeant," he pointed out. "It's raining."
Confirming that folk in the Army don't always think the same way as others, the sergeant barked back: "So what? You've got raincoats haven't you?"
And that's all for now and hope you all have a great weekend.
Alastair
Electric Scotland News
Electric Canadian
The United Empire Loyalist Settlement at Long Point, Lake Erie
The Prairie Provinces
Statistics Canada
Canadian Letters
Canadian Life as I Found It
Quarantine Island
The Flag in the Wind
Electric Scotland
The Bards of Bon Accord 1375 - 1860
Northern Notes and Queries
The Story of Edinburgh Castle
Songs by John Henderson
Days at the Coast
Wild Flowers of Scotland
Robert Burns Lives!
J. Keir Hardie (New Book)
Inverurie and The Earldom of the Garioch (Complete New Book)
Clan Munro of Australia
My Scottish Ancestry
Memoir of Dr Jamieson
Unusual articles from the mid 1800's
Electric Scotland News
I was talking to someone in the USA the other day and she was saying that it's really quite depressing these days. She runs a non profit organisation and she tells me that there is little support these days for the work non profits are doing. She was also quite depressed about the global situation and of course she was commenting about the terrible shooting at that movie and also the terrible weather they've been getting.
In my view a lot of this is down to the lack of leadership by our politicians and individual and corporate greed. I personally find it very objectionable that a large corporation making billions should lay of staff just to make even more billions. But individuals these days want more and more and they want it now. That leads to huge personal debt. However the pension plan people also want higher and higher returns even though that drive for more income for their funds actually ends up putting their clients out of work.
I feel it's time we discussed ways forward as the current party system in government is simply not working. And individuals are being unrealistic when it comes to their individual demands. There is now a lack of compromise and in my view we need to take a hard look at how we all run our countries and how we as individuals should conduct ourselves. I also think a lot of this is also down to the educational system. In my view this is not a money issue but a social issue.
Just the other day I read a message in our Community from a new member and he was castigating a person in there for a message he had posted and alluded to the persons intelligence in a very negative fashion. I feel that is typical of what we are seeing today. That person not only felt he had to disagree with the comment made but took the time to question the persons intelligence. I would simply put that down to a lack of manners and a proper upbringing. You can certainly question someone's views but why is there a need to insult the person in the process? In my view that is a step too far but there are more and more people with zero tolerance for anyone that does not mirror their views. I mean you might think that but why do they need to tell the person that?
I'd certainly like to start a whole new discussion in our forums on all this to see whether we might be able to recognise the root cause of all the problems and how we might fix them. I think it's time to think out of the box.
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
The Prairie Provinces
A short history of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta by D. M. Duncan, M.A.
This book was actually written to teach the boys and girls the history of this area of Canada and it makes a very interesting read. Here is part of the Introduction for you to read here...
Did you ever think how great the excitement would be, if some great captain should come back to England to-day and tell that he had discovered a large new land that had never been found by white men before? Such excitement the people of Spain and England and France felt, about four hundred years ago, when great adventurers like Columbus, and Cabot, and Cartier first came across the ocean from Europe, and returned with their most interesting stories of the marvellous country they had discovered.
The finding of a new world was sure to cause great excitement in Europe. In their homes, in their business places, on the street, men would be sure to talk more about this great subject than about any other. The wealthy people, the young men who loved adventure, the watchful and progressive merchants, the nobility, and even the kings of England and France gradually became aroused in regard to the wonderful country across the ocean—the land of large rivers, of endless forests, of sea-like lakes, of vast prairies, of unknown wealth in fish, and fur-bearing animals, and minerals.
To this mysterious land came good missionaries, to bring the gospel and education and higher forms of living; and keen traders and merchants to become rich by trading with the Indians, chiefly tor furs; and bold adventurers who are ever ready to go into new and wild territories, partly for sport, partly for the joy of discovery, and partly from national pride in aiding to extend the possessions of their own country.
How strangely they must have felt, those brave men who first dared to cross the wide ocean to the unknown land! What hopes, what fears they must have had! The very mystery that was connected with every day’s experiences was full of attraction. On the ocean they wondered day by day when they would see the new land, and what kind of land it would be when they reached it. As they travelled up or down the coast in search of openings into, or through, or past the land, which they at first supposed was only an island that lay between them and China, they watched and waited anxiously hour by hour to learn what they knew had never yet been learned. And as they made their way slowly into the two great openings which they found into the heart of the continent, one the St. Lawrence River and the other Hudson Bay, they saw new wonders every minute. They must have marvelled at the beauty of the thousand bays and islands; at the immensity of the country they were exploring; at the number of fish, and birds, and animals; at the size and number of the rivers; at the splendid trees that covered the eastern portion, which they saw first; and at the habits of the uncivilized men who owned the country.
And how the Indians must have been surprised at the sights they saw when the white men first came to their land! The ships in The Surprise which the white men came were so large compared with their bark canoes; the guns and cannons made such strange and awful sounds, and killed birds and animals so far away; the color and dress of the strangers were so unusual, and the articles they brought to show them were so beautiful in color and form, and their language was so entirely unknown to them, that the poor Indians must have supposed at first that these explorers were real gods who had come to see them. What strange tales they would have written, if they had known how to write! What wonderful stories they must have told to their Indian friends in the interior who had not seen the big ships, nor heard the new thunder, nor met the pale-faced gods who looked like men!
Would you not like to learn the story of the four hundred years since Cabot and Cartier first came to Canada? Is it not very interesting to follow the changes that have taken place since the days when there were none but Indians in your country, and when there were no houses but the Indian wigwams? The history of your country will tell you this story and explain the nature of these changes.
You can read the rest of this introduction at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/prairie01.htm
You can view the film and read the book at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/prairiendx.htm
The United Empire Loyalist Settlement at Long Point, Lake Erie
This is another new book we're starting and should be of interest one way or another to everyone. There is much to learn from this and no matter your views it does present another view of the fight for American Independence. Here is the Introduction to read here...
No more inspiring subject can engage the pen of any writer than the theme of loyalty. Fidelity to the constitution, laws and institutions of one’s native land has been honored in every country and in every age. From infancy we have been told of the brave men of our race, and yet the tale, ever told, is ever new. The hero stories that thrilled us in our childhood have still the power to make the heart beat quickly and the current of feeling sweep over us, rich and strong. Socialists and revolutionists may affect to scorn it, but they cannot blot out the inherent glory contained in the word patriot.
“Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.”
To die for one’s native land is assuredly sweet and seemly, and yet there is a truer and a nobler loyalty than this. It is that of preserving inviolate one’s faith to the established government, when all around is sedition, anarchy and revolution. When to be loyal means to fight, not against the stranger and the foreigner, but against those of the same language, the same country, the same state, and, it may be, the same family as one’s self—when loyalty means fratricidal war, the breaking up of home, the severing of the dearest heart cords, the loss of everything except honor—
“Oh! who shall say what heroes feel,
When all but life and honor’s lost?”
When all but life and honor’s lost?”
Such was the loyalty of these who plunged unshaken, unterrified and unseduced into a conflict unutterably bitter, which was destined to last for seven long years, and finally to sever them from their native land. During the war of the revolution, and in the blind revenge exacted by the victorious side, their property was confiscated, their families ostracised and exposed to insult, outrage and spoliation, their lives were in danger, and often ruthlessly declared forfeit, to satisfy malicious hatred and suspicion. Their zeal for the unity of the empire gave them the title of United Empire Loyalists, and these were the men who, at the close of the war, sought a refuge and a home on British soil, among the northern forests, and laid deep the foundations of the institutions, the freedom, the loyalty, and the prosperity of our land.
“Dear were the homes where they were born,
Where slept their honored dead;
And rich and wide, on every side*
Their fruitful acres spread;
But dearer to their faithful hearts*
Than home, and gold, and lands,
Were Britain’s laws, and Britain’s crown,
And Britain’s flag of high renown,
And grip of British hands.”
Where slept their honored dead;
And rich and wide, on every side*
Their fruitful acres spread;
But dearer to their faithful hearts*
Than home, and gold, and lands,
Were Britain’s laws, and Britain’s crown,
And Britain’s flag of high renown,
And grip of British hands.”
You can read this book at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...oint/index.htm
Statistics Canada
They produce the Canada Year Book which is Statistics Canada's most popular publication. For over 140 years, it's been the ultimate source for the newest facts and analyses related to current events, important issues, and trends in Canada.
Statistics Canada, a member of the Industry Portfolio, produces statistics that help Canadians better understand their country—its population, resources, economy, society and culture.
In addition to conducting a Census every five years, there are about 350 active surveys on virtually all aspects of Canadian life.
You can learn more about Statistics Canada at http://www.electriccanadian.com/transport/statscan.htm where I've provided links to their web site.
Canadian Letters
By Rev. Robert Ker D.D.
He starts by saying...
Canada West, London, January 7, 1863.
My dear Friends,—I have now reached a point that lies far west in the British province of Canada, and I wish to give you some of my impressions of this part of the world. I shall try to do it just as if I were in the midst of you in conversation,—an easy, off-hand talk, that may serve for my contribution to your winter’s stock of information and discussion. I shall begin by sketching rapidly the course by which I have come to this place.
You can read these at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...an_letters.htm
Canadian Life as I Found It
By a Homesteader (1908)
Preface
THESE experiences of Canadian life have been lived through by settlers in the North-West Territories, during the years quoted, and are meant, not to deter others from making a trial of the kind of life herein painted, but to point out to them more truly than has I believe hitherto been done, what that life really is, what each one must be prepared to do, and to suffer, if they wish to succeed.
I have written few trivial details of daily life; every one can fill these in according to individual means, and aptitude. I have kept more to the broad lines, that will give a good idea of what is the truth about homesteading in Canada.
This country has a great future before it most certainly, but only those who are healthy and strong, both mentally and physically, ought to be allowed to come out and help people it.
The wild free life of the North-West, untrammelled by social fads, has its attractions, but to be able to really enjoy it, or I should be better within the truth if I write, to endure it, one must have plenty of grit, and some education leading up to it, otherwise dire discouragement and failure. may be the result.
END.
I must say that I really enjoyed reading this book and can only admire these pioneers and what they went through to settle on their land.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ader/index.htm
Quarantine Island
You might remember that last year I visited Quebec and posted up some pictures. Well on the 6th page of the pictures I featured the immigration station and have just found an old book about it so have added a link to it on the page at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...pictures06.htm
The Flag in the Wind
This issue was Compiled by a new compiler, Margaret Hamilton, and she gives a little of her background...
Margaret has been around the SNP and the Independence movement since childhood. Initially enjoying the stories in the house as her parents and activists returned from work nights and exchanged stories while she handed round tea, coffee and cake.
The natural progression was to become one of those activists. It started with leafleting and has led to holding branch and constituency posts as secretary, treasurer, organiser and convenor. Never too elevated to do the menial tasks though.
Nationally Margaret volunteered for many year as a steward at the National SNP meetings, eventually marrying the chief steward. In turn Margaret was responsible for getting Ian involved in the Scots Independent having been persuaded herself to be a volunteer wrapper and dispatcher of the paper by her father. Now Ian has got her involved in Flag in the Wind.
You can read Margaret's first compilation at http://www.scotsindependent.org
Electric Scotland
The Bards of Bon Accord 1375 - 1860
By William Walker
Added George Smith and Dr. John Longmuir
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/poet...cord/index.htm
Northern Notes and Queries
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.
September 1892
This issue can be viewed at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...hern/index.htm
The Story of Edinburgh Castle
By Louis Weirter (1913)
We've now completed this book by adding the final 3 chapters...
Chapter XI. Mons Meg and other Relics
Chapter XII. The Castle Hill
Chapter XIII. From the Castle Walls
The chapter on Mons Meg starts...
AMONG the famous prisoners that were incarcerated in the dungeons of the Castle was James Mhor Macgregor of Bohaldie, the eldest son of Rob Roy, the famous chief of the Macgregors. James had lost his estate for having held a major’s commission under the Old Pretender. Robin Oig Macgregor, his younger brother, having conceived the idea that he would make his fortune by carrying off an heiress—no uncommon thing in the Highlands —procured James’s assistance, with a band of Macgregors, armed with target, pistol, and claymore, who came suddenly from the wilds of Arroquhar. Surrounding the house of Edinbellie, in Stirlingshire, the abode of a wealthy widow of only nineteen, they seized her, and, muffling her in a plaid, bore her to the heather-clad hills where Rowardennan looks down upon the Gareloch and Glenfruin. There she was married to Robin, who kept her for three months in defiance of several parties of troops sent to recover her.
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...h/castle11.htm
The other chapters can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rgh/castle.htm
Songs by John Henderson
John sent us in another two songs one of which is "Twa Fiddlers":
Lyrics composed by John Henderson on the 21st of July, 2012,
to the tune called 'Cessnock Garden Strathspey'.
Glossary:
jinkie=jaunty; braw=beautiful; nane=none; fair=quite; ilka=every;
een=one; wud=would; gree=agree; dincin'=dancing; fowks=folks
sangers=singer; fun=found; teens=tunes; sic=such; boons=blessings
hearken=listen; smittin'=infected; soonds=sounds; ae=one; fyle=while
leukin'=looking; roond=around; sae=so; prott'ly=prettily; gooned=gowned
losh=gosh; lenthy=lengthy; thocht=thought; maun=must; ging=go; speer=ask
keer'ous=curious; caa'd=called; jine=join; gif=if; guid=good; eneugh=enough
skeelfully=skilfully; seen=soon; fusper'd=whispered; guid=good; 'fore=before
nicht=night; ower=over; thase=those; kent=knew; pairtners=partners
throw-oot=throughout; lan=land; cud=could mak=make; mair=more
foryet=forget; tribble=trouble; peyn=pain; fret=worry
Jinkie Jim McFadyen, fiddler braw was he;
Thur wis nane fair like him, ilka een wud gree;
Dincin' fowks an' sangers, fun his teens sic boons,
Fan they hearken'd smittin' by his soonds.
Till ae day at Sauchie Jim fyle leukin' roond,
Spied a lassie fiddler sae prott'ly goon'd;
"Losh , she has lenthy fingers," Jinkie thocht amaz'd,
"I maun ging an' speer fit teens she plays!"
"Fiddler lass I'm keer'ous," Jinkie caa'd tae her,
"I wud hae ye jine me, gif ye're guid eneugh."
Gaen tae him the lassie played richt skeelfully,
An' seen Jinkie'd fusper'd, "Guid ye be!"
'Fore the nicht wis ower, thase twa fiddlers gran
Kent thit them as pairtners throw-oot the lan
Cud mak mair dincers happy, helpin' them foryet,
Ilka daily tribble, peyn an' fret.
to the tune called 'Cessnock Garden Strathspey'.
Glossary:
jinkie=jaunty; braw=beautiful; nane=none; fair=quite; ilka=every;
een=one; wud=would; gree=agree; dincin'=dancing; fowks=folks
sangers=singer; fun=found; teens=tunes; sic=such; boons=blessings
hearken=listen; smittin'=infected; soonds=sounds; ae=one; fyle=while
leukin'=looking; roond=around; sae=so; prott'ly=prettily; gooned=gowned
losh=gosh; lenthy=lengthy; thocht=thought; maun=must; ging=go; speer=ask
keer'ous=curious; caa'd=called; jine=join; gif=if; guid=good; eneugh=enough
skeelfully=skilfully; seen=soon; fusper'd=whispered; guid=good; 'fore=before
nicht=night; ower=over; thase=those; kent=knew; pairtners=partners
throw-oot=throughout; lan=land; cud=could mak=make; mair=more
foryet=forget; tribble=trouble; peyn=pain; fret=worry
Jinkie Jim McFadyen, fiddler braw was he;
Thur wis nane fair like him, ilka een wud gree;
Dincin' fowks an' sangers, fun his teens sic boons,
Fan they hearken'd smittin' by his soonds.
Till ae day at Sauchie Jim fyle leukin' roond,
Spied a lassie fiddler sae prott'ly goon'd;
"Losh , she has lenthy fingers," Jinkie thocht amaz'd,
"I maun ging an' speer fit teens she plays!"
"Fiddler lass I'm keer'ous," Jinkie caa'd tae her,
"I wud hae ye jine me, gif ye're guid eneugh."
Gaen tae him the lassie played richt skeelfully,
An' seen Jinkie'd fusper'd, "Guid ye be!"
'Fore the nicht wis ower, thase twa fiddlers gran
Kent thit them as pairtners throw-oot the lan
Cud mak mair dincers happy, helpin' them foryet,
Ilka daily tribble, peyn an' fret.
John also adds tunes to his song and on this page you can click on the link to listen to the tune at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerel448.htm
Days at the Coast
A series of Sketches descriptive of the Frith of Clyde, its Watering Places, its Scenery and its Associations by Hugh MacDonald (1860).
We now have up several chapters...
Preface
Introductory
Bowling, Dumbarton and Cardross
Port Glasgow and Kilmalcolm
Greenock and its Environs
Gourock and Inverkip
Wemyss Bay and Largs
Brodick and Lamlash
Rothesay and a Raid in Bute
The two Cumbraes
The Vale of Leven and Loch Lomond
Helensburgh Row and Roseneath
The chapter on Greenock and its Environs starts...
Sweet are the influences of the August morning as we plough in foamy furrows our pathway down the Frith; The brown Castle rock is already in our wake, steeped from base to summit in the slant radiance of the early day. Around us, in ripples of light, spreads the ample bosom of the estuary, with the heights of Cardross and Kilmalcolm swelling beautifully on either hand; while far awav in our front rises the bold girdle of hills, which seem to bar the channel of the waters, and lend to the river the aspect of a mighty lake. How rich are the effects of light and shade on the everchanging features of the scene! A dreamy haze still lingers on the distant mountains, as if the last faint vestiges of dawn were yet unmelted on their shaggy slopes. As the clouds in snowy masses float in silence through the blue profound of heaven, their shadows travel over land and sea— vast patches of gloom which come and go like sin and sorrow over the world’s fair surface. But wherefore talk of sin and sorrow on this bright autumnal day, when loveliness and joy seem all-pervading and supreme? There is gladness in the breeze winch comes from the dancing waves to cool our cheek, and play in our "ifted hair ”—gladness in the wilding birds, which sail with glancing pinions around our prow, or swim in snowy clusters like specks of foam upon the rippled waters. And surely it is a joyous sight to mark the multitudinous ships in motion or at rest upon their a native dement.” Now a huge steamer comes rushing past, with her freight of happy faces, and her lengthened trail of smoke curling duskily along her foamy track; now it is a stately bark with bellying sails, slow moving on her seaward way; and anon it is some tiny yacht or gentle skiff, tacking as if in dalliance against the breeze. But our steamer, while we gaze upon the “shows and forms” of the bustling channel, is rapidly cleaving her onward course. Port-Glasgow, with its ancient Castle, is passed; and, rounding the low-wooded point of Garvel, we bear right down upon Greenock, the cynosure of its own sunny bay.
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../chapter03.htm
And you can read the other chapters at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/coast/index.htm
Wild Flowers of Scotland
By J. H. Crawford (1897)
Have several chapters up now...
Introduction
Chapter I. The Flowers of Spring
Chapter II. The Blue Bells
Chapter III. The Garden and the Wilds
Chapter IV. Whin and Broom
Chapter V. The Flowers of Summer
Chapter VI. Marguerites and Poppies
Chapter VII. Thistles
Chapter VIII. In the Woodlands
Chapter IX. On the Links
Chapter X. The Path through the Cornfields
Chapter XI. Flowers of the Far North
These are actually a very good read and here is a bit on the chapter on Thistles...
THE thistle belongs to the later summer, when the whites and blues are already beginning to pass into the reds and purples. It is well on for the end of June before I notice the children—a little browner, a little more freckled, with evident signs of mending on their pinnies—under the lime tree getting at the cheeses. Tearing off the outer wrapping, they expose the white cushion, on which the purple-robed flowers sit in such dainty state*and this they consume, with the relish of epicures of nature.
What skilled botanists of a practical sort these children are! It is wonderful how they know what to eat, when it should be sought for, and where to find it—lessons which, as we grow up and lose our freshness, we forget more and more. On the early morning of another day, they start the hare from her form, and the lark from her nest, in their search for the earth nuts. They know under what plant to find them, and how far they are down in the ground. See them cross to the burnside, where they can make a salad out of the sorrel growing on the bank.
Nor is their skill by any means confined to the plant kingdom. On one of the thistle heads a “foggie"distinguished among the bees by his browner shades and the suppression of the black and yellow bands—is hanging. It is plain that he is in the helpless plight of one who has partaken too freely of the heady juices. No haste is made. No precautions are taken for the capture. He is not likely to fly away.
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../chapter07.htm
You can read the other chapters at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...wers/index.htm
PS I found a YouTube video about eating wild plants which you might enjoy at
Robert Burns Lives!
By Frank Shaw
A few months ago, three men came together in Scotland at a seminar in Greenock’s Lyle Kirk to talk about Highland Mary. Two of them were from Scotland and the third made his way from Columbia, South Carolina to appear on the program. This octogenarian, on a previous visit to the Greenock Burns Club, had promised he would return, and G. Ross Roy keeps his word. Speeches by the other two, Gerry Carruthers and Kenneth Simpson, have already been posted on*Robert Burns Lives!*and can be found in the index as Chapters 128 and 148 respectively. Today it is an honor to bring you Professor Roy’s paper. *Colin Hunter McQueen, Ross’s dear friend, read his paper to the assembled crowd. (You will also find in*Robert Burns Lives!*a book review of a publication by Colin and his son Douglas under Chapter 33.)
The Greenock seminar has been described as a major conference on Burns, and with these three speakers participating, it couldn’t have been anything else. They delighted club members and guests with their remarks, and I only wish I had been there to enjoy the occasion as well. You will find more information about the seminar on the Greenock Burns Club website. A big thank-you to Ross Roy for allowing our readers to have access to his presentation.
With these three articles about Highland Mary, I am proud to say this is the second subject within the web site on which we have had three different articles. The other topic was on Robert Burns and Slavery. (FRS: 7.25.12)
You can read the article, Highland Mary by G. Ross Roy, at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives145.htm
Other articles can be read at http://www.electricscotand.com/famil...rank/burns.htm
J. Keir Hardie
A Biography by William Stewart and Introduction by J. Ramsay MacDonald
A new book we're starting.
AUTHORS PREFACE
THE one man of all Keir Hardie's associates most fitted to write an account of his life and work was the late J. Bruce Glasier. His knowledge of the Labour and Socialist movement in all its phases and aspects, his long and close intimacy with Hardie both in public and private life, his sympathetic perception of the motives and environment and heredity which went to the formation of Hardie's character, and influenced his actions, and his own fine gift of literary expression, qualified him above all others to be Keir Hardie's biographer.
The Fates ruled otherwise. Before Mr. Glasier had begun to collect and assort the material for the work, he was himself stricken with the illness, which, heroically borne through two years of pain, ended in his death. It was at Mr. Glasier's request while on his bed of sickness that I, not very confidently, undertook the work. 7'he Memorial Committee adopted Mr. Glasier's suggestion that I should be appointed to take his place. The work therefore came to me both as a request and as a command. I have performed it to the best of my ability; whether well or ill, must be left to the judgment of others.
To those friends who were most familiar with Keir Hardie's habits of life it will be unnecessary to explain that the task has not been quite easy. Though he had the intention of some day writing a book of reminiscences, the daily call of the Labour and Socialist movement left him without any leisure to sit down to it systematically, and when he died he had not even made that provision for posthumous fame which seems customary with persons who have figured in public life. He kept no diary, and he preserved few letters, though he must have received many from important people. If it be true, as has been said, that letters are the raw material of biography, this particular biography has been produced at a disadvantage. That is not entirely true, however. Much of the material for a life of Hardie is to be found not in his private but in his public writings which were voluminous, and, to a considerable extent, self-revealing. But the very wealth and abundance of this kind of material have rendered the work difficult if interesting.
I found it necessary to go through with some selective care the two volumes of “The Miner” twenty-one volumes of the “Labour Leader” several volumes of the “Merthyr Pioneer and also to refer to other Socialist papers, to the columns of the contemporary daily press, and to the pages of “Hansard.”
There will be differences of opinion as to whether this material has always been used in the best way, and also as to whether certain events and episodes have been over or under emphasised. These differences cannot be helped. I had to use my own judgment and have done so, and the result must stand.
For information concerning the early period of Keir Hardie's life I am indebted to several members of the family, especially to his brothers, George, David and William. Mrs. Keir Hardie also was most helpful in supplying those domestic details which seemed necessary, while for some of the early Ayrshire experiences I have to thank Councillor James Neil of Cumnock, and several quite obscure but sterling men of the pits who were associated with Hardie in his scantily recorded pioneering days.
For an account of the historic Mid-Lanark election there was a fair amount of information available, though it had to be dug out. Not so, however, with regard to the West Ham election, and I have specially to thank Councillor Ben Gardner for his valuable help in this connection. There is a probability that he, and also the many Merthyr friends, notably Llewellyn Francis, John Barr, Councillor Stonelake and Emrys Hughes, may think I have not made the fullest use of the very valuable information which they placed at my disposal. They will, however, I have no doubt, realise that I had to be governed by a sense of proportion, and had to consider each phase of Hardie's life in its relation to his whole career.
I do sincerely believe, however, that the book as it stands contains nearly all that is essential to a true understanding of the character of Keir Hardie and of his life work; and thereby makes it possible for readers to form a just estimate of the great service which he rendered to the working people, not of his own country only, but of the world, and therefore to Humanity.
WILLIAM STEWART.
September 9th, 1921.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rdie/index.htm
Inverurie and The Earldom of the Garioch
A Topographical and Historical Account of The Garoich from the Earliest Times to the Revolution Settlement by Rev. John Davidson, D.D. (1878)
PREFACE
The following contribution to local history had its origin in a natural wish on the part of the author to know as much as could be ascertained with certainty of the early history of his own parish. The publications of the Spalding Club and kindred antiquarian societies have suggested and facilitated many such inquiries. In the present case the antiquities of a Royal Burgh, which had been obscure for centuries among the Scottish municipalities, became a tempting subject of research after the discovery that the burgh was in existence before a.d. 1200 ; to which fact, as a piece of curious information, the author’s attention was drawn by the late Dr. Joseph Robertson when that gentleman was editing Volume IV. of the Spalding Club “Antiquities of the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff.” A minute examination of a number of the authentic documents printed by the same Club, brought to light other highly interesting particulars respecting individual dwellers in the Burgh of Inverurie, or its neighbourhood, in long past times; while other works by historical antiquarians and local discoveries of prehistoric remains furnished matter introductory to a continuous memoir of the topography of Inverurie and the Garioch, and of recorded inhabitants of the district from the time when Saxon civilisation was introduced into it by Malcolm Canmore and Queen Margaret.
The peculiar position of the Earldom of the Garioch in Scottish history, led to an investigation as to what families and estates were of local importance at the successive epochs of David of Huntingdon’s Earldom, and the battles of Inverurie and Harlaw, and during the long period when the Lordship of the Garioch was withheld, along with the Earldom of Mar, by the Stuart kings from the hereditary claimants—the Erskines, descended from Elyne, daughter of Gartney Earl of Mar, and Christian, Lady of the Garioch.
The local history of a large immediately succeeding period the author had opportunity, from his position, of investigating by means of unpublished documents, ecclesiastical and municipal—the Records of local Church Courts, and the Court Books and Sasine Registers of the Burgh of Inverurie.
The information drawn from these ecclesiastical and burgh manuscripts, has, as new material of history, been given in the form of literal extracts. It has not been thought necessary to encumber the work with marginal references to the very great mass of topographical and genealogical particulars obtained from the Spalding Club books, and put into connection and historical position in this volume,—the indices to these books affording sufficient means of verification.
With the object of making the Index of greater value for genealogical reference, dates have been appended to individual names; and by the same means a connected view is given of the proprietary of individual estates, which the chronological arrangement of the work did not make otherwise possible. The Index has also been taken advantage of to supplement in some particulars the details of matters treated of in the text. The diversity in the spelling of proper names that appears in the work has intentionally been allowed to remain, as itself a historical feature of the periods described.
The author has had the advantage of extensive aid in the topographical and genealogical portions of the work from several gentlemen, able from private sources to enhance the value of the publication in these respects. Messrs George Burnett, Lyon King of Arms, Alexander Johnston, and Charles Dalrymple, have been at much pains in giving accuracy and interest to notices of family history. The illustration at page 73, was obligingly furnished by Mr. Alexander Walker, Dean of Guild of the City of Aberdeen, from his “Life of John Ramsay,” and the Genealogical Appendix has been enriched by historical particulars taken from his List of the Deans of Guild of that city.
The compilation of the materials, presented in historical connection in this volume, has been the work of long time, and the inquiries rendered necessary brought to the author’s notice the existence of a great mass of hitherto unpublished and interesting matter. The records of the several Presbyteries of Aberdeen and Banffshires, and of some of the parishes, contain much that illustrates the condition of society in Scotland during a large portion of the seventeenth century. Numerous particulars of family history are preserved in local Registers of Sassine and the Protocol Books of notaries public; and there remain, even after the labours of the Spalding Club, charter chests that would amply repay investigation. Two of them are repeatedly referred to in this volume,—that of Balquhain, much of which was printed by the late Colonel Leslie, and that of Bourtie,—portions of which possessing historical interest the author has given in the following pages.
I decided to make this book available as a pdf file but have ocr'd the Introduction in for you to read on the site and have provided the Contents for you look over. You can find this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...urie/index.htm
Clan Munro of Australia
Got in a copy of their August 2012 newsletter which you can view at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...unro/index.htm
My Scottish Ancestry
By Robert L. Finch of Muskegon, Michigan
Was sent in this wee account which you can read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rica/finch.htm
Memoir of Dr Jamieson
The preserver of the Scots Language
Towards the close of his long and busy career, Dr. Jamieson so far yielded to the entreaties of his friends as to throw together some memoranda of the principal events of his life; but, although they were written with great simplicity and candour, in a reflective spirit, and with considerable graphic force, the work as a whole was found to be unsuitable for publication. From these materials, however, a short but very suitable memoir of the author was compiled for the second and somewhat condensed edition of the Scottish Dictionary, issued in 1840-1; and since then, other two accounts of his life have been published. But as that memoir was in substance furnished by the surviving relatives of Dr. Jamieson, it has been selected for our present purpose ; and having been slightly recast in order to adapt it to the present time, it is now presented to the public as the most reliable that can be given.
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...s/jamieson.htm
Unusual articles from the mid 1800's
"Scottish Nationality" and "A Day in the Upper Ward of Clydesdale" By Rev John Ker D.D.
On Scottish Nationality
These reprints belong to a period of our history which marks very strongly the character of the people, and which has done much to fix it; and it may not be out of place, in this Introduction, to make some remarks on Scottish Nationality, as to how it took its rise and came to be what it is, both socially and religiously. This can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ationality.htm
A Day in the Upper Ward of Clydesdale
My dear Sir,—I have just received your note with a request for an article for the October number of the Young Men's Christian Magazine, and, on thinking of what might be most suitable, it has occurred to me that what is freshest to my own mind may be best for your readers, and so I shall give an account of a visit I paid the other day to the little town of Douglas, not far from your own great city, and of two things that specially interested me there. I must first, however, tell how I reached Douglas, and what I saw on the way. This article can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...clydesdale.htm
And finally...
Soak It
SCOTLAND'S monsoon weather reminds Jack of a colleague recalling his days stationed in Germany with the Scots Guards, and being ordered by the sergeant to go out and water the roses in the flower beds.
"But sergeant," he pointed out. "It's raining."
Confirming that folk in the Army don't always think the same way as others, the sergeant barked back: "So what? You've got raincoats haven't you?"
And that's all for now and hope you all have a great weekend.
Alastair