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CONTENTS
Electric Scotland News
Electric Canadian
Canadian Monthly Magazine
Reminiscences of the Early History of Galt
Lovell's Gazetteer of the Dominion of Canada
The Glittering Mountains of Canada
Handbook to Winnipeg and the Province of Manitoba
Italians in Canada
City of London, Ontario
The Flag in the Wind
Electric Scotland
Northern Notes and Queries
Scots Drink
Reminiscences of the Royal Burgh of Haddington
Sketches of Virginia
Reminiscences of the Lews
St Columba's Ui in the Isle of Lewis
History of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland
Thingummyjig: The Sunny Dunny
Clan Graham
Highland Park Whisky
Electric Scotland News
I've been working quite hard on the comment system I want to add to our web site and think it's now only a matter of a few weeks to get it up and running. There is more interactivity to be had so trying to make sure we have all the options in place. I suspect this might well give us a whole new social network around pages of the site and especially on the clan and family pages. We're also trying to make sure that our visitors can add pictures and even videos if they wish. You should also be able to create an account which will allow you to post a comment using your Facebook or Twitter account.
We're also working on our Electric Scotland Community to try and make it easier for guests to access the service and also make it easier for them to sign up to become a member. We also intend to replace the in-house blogging system with a Wordpress system which is the most common standard for Blogs these days. Also intending to add a Google Maps interface.
One other area we have problems with is our Postcard service. While you can send a card right away it's when you want to send a card say a week or two later the date function won't let you. I confess that when I heard about this during the week it was the first time I'd heard about this. We've contacted the program makers and today I've received a patch which will fix the problem so just waiting for Steve to get that installed.
Had a 1 hour meeting today with my local Member of Parliament to ask for his help in getting information for the sites. He's told me he's willing to help so we'll see how things develop. I also got in an email from one of the Scottish MSP to say that he's willing to take over from Christina to do the weekly diary of an MSP so looking forward to introducing him to you.
Electric Canadian
Canadian Monthly Magazine
Published by the Vanderhoof-Gunn Publishing Company
I've now added Volume 20.
This can be found at http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...zine/index.htm
Reminiscences of the Early History of Galt
and the Settlement of Dumfries in the Province of Ontario By James Young (1880).
Got the final chapter up so this book is now complete.
You can read this book at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...galt/index.htm
Lovell's Gazetteer of the Dominion of Canada
I am just not getting the time to put up this gazetteer the way I want to so have started to add letters by pdf file. So far I am up to the letter S. You can see these at http://www.electriccanadian.com/gazetteer/index.htm
The Glittering Mountains of Canada
A Record of Exploration and Pioneer Ascents in the Canadian Rockies 1914 - 1924 by J. Monroe Thorington (1925).
I've now completed the main part of the book but do have some appendix entries still to add to complete the book.
You can read the other chapters at http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...ains/index.htm
Handbook to Winnipeg and the Province of Manitoba
Prepared for the 79th Annual Meeting of the British Association for the Advancemet of Science 1909.
This is a new book we're starting.
PREFATORY NOTE
The Publication Committee of the Local Executive, desire to express their indebtedness to the authors of the articles contained in this Handbook, for their hearty and gratuitous co-operation in the preparation of the volume. All the contributors can lay claim to special knowledge of the subjects upon which they have written.
The Committee desire also to record their gratitude to Mr. James White, Chief Geographer, Ottawa, for the trouble he has taken in arranging for the preparation of the maps and charts included in the Handbook. They wish further to express their indebtedness to the Minister of the Interior for having generously presented these to the Committee.
It is hoped that this volume will be not only of interest to the visiting members of the British Association, but also of some permanent value.
You can read this book at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...book/index.htm
Italians in Canada
Made a start at this section of the site with a small overview and also a book about the problems that Italians experienced when arriving in Montreal.
You can get to this section at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/italy/index.htm
City of London, Ontario
The Pioneer Period and the London of Today (1900).
So far this is the only book I've discovered about London in Ontario and it's not really suitable for ocr'ing onto the web site and so I've made it available as a pdf file which you can download at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...on_ontario.pdf
The Flag in the Wind
This weeks issue was Compiled by Fraser Hudghton.
You can read this issue at http://www.scotsindependent.org
Electric Scotland
Northern Notes and Queries
This week we include Volume 10 Notes 694 To 703
This issue includes...
A Scottish Branch of the British Record Society
Names of Sundays in Lent
Drummond of Ermore and Carnock
Culross Abbey Church,
The Golf-ball Makers of Leith
Scots Drink
A Royal Visit to Pittenweem
Arms of Younger
From Perth to Carlisle in 1795
Abstract of Protocol Book of the Burgh of Stirling
Query.
Younger Sons of Alex. Kennedy of Kilkenzie and Craigock
Reply.
Clair Family
Notices of Books
You'll notice in this issue we have a "Scots Drink" article in which you'll read that whisky is actually quite a modern drink. I thought I'd pull this article to make it a separate read and it can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...scotsdrink.htm
This issue can be viewed at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...hern/index.htm
Reminiscences of the Royal Burgh of Haddington
And Old East Lothian Agriculturists by John Martine (1883).
We added the following chapters this week...
The Convention of Royal Burghs
Postal Reminiscences
County Smuggling in Old Times
Old Burgh Elections and the Lauder Raid
Richard Gall, An East Lothian Poet
James Mylne of Lochhill
Old Camps on the Lammermuir Hills
Here is how the chapter on Postal Reminiscences starts...
IN no department of the public service have more important changes been effected than in the Post Office, even within recent years. Under the enlightened administration of Mr Fawcett the work of reform has gone steadily on, until our postal and telegraphic system has attained the highest state of efficiency. The contrast between the present and the past is very striking; and it may prove interesting to many if we point out here the changes which have taken place in the transmission of letters in the county of East Lothian. Before the introduction of the royal mail coaches in 1786, post-bags were carried on horseback from Edinburgh to London, and it would appear that they were neither heavy nor ill to carry.
It is recorded that on one occasion the post-bag from London to Edinburgh contained only one letter. Most people may have heard of the old story, that when the two mail express riders met on Coldingham Muir to exchange the Edinburgh and London bags, they dismounted from their horses and indulged in a game of pitch and toss. The post riders were frequently stopped by highwaymen and the bags taken from them. Croker’s Hedges, between Haddington and Linton, was a place which was rendered notorious from the frequency with which deeds of this description were perpetrated. The starting of the mail coaches was the first improvement in the postal system.
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../chapter29.htm
You can read the rest of these chapters at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...gton/index.htm
Sketches of Virginia
Historical and Biographical by The Rev. William Henry Foote D.D. (1856)
We're now up to Chapter XII of this book and here is how it starts...
The name of Cornstalk, the Shawanee Chief, once thrilled the heart of every white man in Virginia, and terrified every family in the mountains. He was, to the Indians of Western Virginia; like Pocahontas to the tribes on the sea coast, the greatest and last chief. In the days of his power, the Shawaness built their cabins on the Scioto. They had once dwelt on the Shenandoah, and covered the whole valley of Virginia. At the approach of the whites to the mountains they had retreated beyond the Alleghenies. The names of the various smaller tribes that once were scattered over the country west of the Blue Ridge, and east of the Ohio, have not been preserved. No historical fact of importance depends upon their preservation. There was a name applied to all the tribes, whether it was generic, or from conquest, or a confederacy, or from all combined none can tell. The eastern Indians called the western tribes Massawomacs, their natural enemies. Under whatever name they existed, or from whatever parts composed, these savages were represented by chiefs that owned the authority of Cornstalk, and were at the time the Valley was settled by the whites called Shawanees. The last battles fought along the Shenandoah or Potomac, were between the Catawabas from the South, and the Delawares from the North, on fields abandoned by their savage owners.
Cornstalk, like other savages, has no youth in history. The first we know of him is in plundering and massacre in 1763. In that year he exterminated the infant settlements on Muddy Creek and the Levels, in Greenbrier. The Indians were received as friends, and provisions given them in profound security. Unprovoked they suddenly massacred the males and took the women and children captives. Cornstalk passed on to Jackson’s River, and finding the families on their guard, hastened on to Carr’s Creek, and doomed some unsuspecting families to the tomahawk and captivity. In the same year depredations were made near Staunton, with the same secrecy and ferocity. Col. Bouquet marched to Fort Pitt, with a regiment of British soldiers and some companies of militia. The Shawanees made a treaty, on the Muskingum, and delivered up the prisoners to return to desolate homes. The massacre on Carr’& Creek was terribly visited on Cornstalk, when a defenceless hostage, after the lapse of more than twenty years. All savages seem alike, as the trees in the distant forest. Here and there one unites in his own person the excellencies of the whole race, and becomes the image of savage greatness. Cornstalk was gifted with oratory, statesmanship, heroism, beauty of person, and strength of frame. In his movements he was majestic; in his manners easy and winning. Of his oratory, - Col. Benjamin Wilson an officer in Lord Dunmore’s army, says—“I have heard the first orators in Virginia, Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee, but never have I heard one whose powers of delivery surpassed those of Cornstalk.” Of his statesmanship and bravery there is ample evidence in the fact that he was head of the confederacy, and led the battle at Point Pleasant.
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../chapter12.htm
You can read the other chapters at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...inia/index.htm
Reminiscences of the Lews
By Sixty One (1871)
We're now up to Chapter VIII of this book with the chapters...
Chapter I - Introductory
Chapter II - Prospecting the Lews and the Callernish Inn
Chapter III - Aline
Chapter IV - The Harris Lochs and a word about Dog rearing
Chapter V - Our Fred and his Head Nurse
Chapter VI - Our Firm and the Whales
Chapter VII - Soval Shooting and Old Tom's Pedigree
Chapter VIII - Soval Shooting and Artificial Spates
Here is how Chapter V starts...
AS I shall soon be taking leave of Aline and removing myself to Soval, it is only fit and proper that, before doing so, I should give some account of that distinguished firm, the joint tenants of the Aline shootings. They consisted of F. M., R. M., and myself.
I think there are few who know F. M. who will not allow (himself among the number) that Lucina, at his birth, turned into the goddess of good luck. I will give but one small instance of this, and then pass on. When a subaltern, quartered at Gibraltar, he kept a small yacht, in which he disported himself by sometimes going over to the Barbary coast to shoot wild boars or anything he could get. In one of these expeditions he was caught by a pleasant Mediterranean squall, which blew his sails, masts, and rigging anywhere, smashed his rudder, and carried his oars overboard, leaving himself and his boy sitting in his half-swamped boat, like a she-bear with, its cub. In this state he was tossed about the Mediterranean for two days, with nothing but a bottle of cherry-brandy for provision, when, fortunately, he was descried by Spanish smugglers. It was blowing still so hard that they could not take him on board, but flung him a rope, by which he managed to hold on, in imminent danger of being driven under water; and in this way he was towed into Malaga, whence he notified his safe arrival to the colonel of his regiment, thus accounting for his absence without leave. As nothing had been heard of him for a fortnight, his friends had been written to, and the untimely end of so promising a youth mourned over—the more bitterly as, at the very time of the announcement of his sad supposed death, a relation died and left him a very good property. So when our friend arrived at Gibraltar, he was. consoled for the loss of his yacht by the intelligence of his accession of fortune, and at once got leave of absence to proceed to England and console his anxious relations. Thus, then, most assuredly Fred, as he was called, was not born to be drowned, and I never cared a straw for Loch Seaforth when he was on board; for if the little Spanish yacht and the craft (the Heather Bell) he had at Aline could not drown him, what on sea could ? Besides, he was really a' first-class boatman. I never saw one steer with an oar like him ; and I verily believe that, once in particular, we should have been swamped while crossing from the Park to Aline after deer-stalking, with a very full boat, but for the manner he steered.
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../chapter05.htm
You can read this book and the opening chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/lews/index.htm
St Columba's Ui in the Isle of Lewis
By Colin Scott MacKenzie
Eaglais na h-Aoidhe or St Columba’s Ui in the Isle of Lewis, Scotland lies at the eastern end of the Braighe (a narrow isthmus of land between the peninsula of Point and the rest of Lewis). It has a beautiful location, originally at the centre of a large graveyard, but which, due to coastal erosion over many years, is now beside the sea.
You can read this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...es/eaglais.htm
History of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland
By Alexander Ramsay (1879)
PREFACE
The Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, which has now existed for nearly a century, having been from a very early period national in its aims and operations, it seemed that a history of its proceedings might be so presented as to illustrate the progress of agricultural improvement in the country. A narrative of this nature would at least possess the quality of authenticity. The Society's proceedings have been recorded with great care; and for the perfect freedom of access afforded to its archives, the author has to express his most cordial acknowledgments to the Directors. The Society mainly sought to effect its purposes by the bestowal of premiums in competition; and in those offered, and in the awards made, there is evidence at once of the wants and the capabilities of the country at successive periods, as well as a record of those whose individual efforts were contributing towards the general advance.
While account has been taken of the improvements in tillage and the crops of the farm, special attention has, in the following pages, been bestowed on the illustration of the changes occurring in the character of the live stock, a course recommended alike by the nature of the subject, and the great importance now so justly attached to this department of rural economy. There will be found notices of the gradual spread over Scotland of the Shorthorn cattle, and the relative positions in successive years of the distinctive Scotch breeds. The reader curious in such matters will find an interest in tracing the decline and extinction of such breeds as the Fifeshire and Aberdeenshire Horned; and in the advance and definite development of the Ayrshire and the two Polled races. Information of kindred nature is supplied with respect to sheep and horses. Dairy husbandry is also illustrated to a considerable extent.
The Society has not confined its attention to affairs purely agricultural. That a scheme or proposal was likely to benefit Scotland in general, and the Highlands in particular, was in its earlier years recommendation sufficient to ensure the Society's support. Efforts in various independent directions, from Gaelic dictionaries and the poetry of the Highlands, to the patronage and promotion of piping competitions, are duly described. It seemed fitting to prefix to the History of the Highland and Agricultural Society some notice of the proceedings of two earlier Associations for the promotion of Scottish agriculture, which aspired to a national character. The account of the Society of Improvers is of course based on the work of Mr Maxwell of Arkland, published in 1743. The narrative of the proceedings of the Edinburgh Society is drawn up entirely from fragmentary references scattered through the Scottish newspapers of the period.
It appeared to be equally desirable to furnish a sketch of the agricultural condition of Scotland about the time the Highland Society began its active perations, as a review of that nature offered a means of measuring the advance made in the interval. In Chapter II., there will be found an outline of this character, drawn from trust worthy contemporary sources. As affording a further means of estimating the changes in the agricultural condition of Scotland within the past ninety years, some statistics are printed in the Appendix.
The preparation of the work has entailed very considerable labour; but it has been cheerfully undertaken, in the belief that the book may be found useful to a circle of readers, that will probably become wider, as there are many evidences that increased attention is being bestowed by the nation on questions relating to agriculture. The Author has to thank various gentlemen who kindly aided his inquiries. Very special thanks are due to Mr Fletcher Norton Menzies, the Secretary to the Society, and Mr Thomas Duncan, the Principal Clerk, without whose combined cordial and effective assistance the work could not have appeared in its present form. Care and attention have been bestowed in order to ensure accuracy, all statements of fact, names, and dates relating to the Society having been collated with the original authorities.
Banff, July 9, 1879.
Should you be interested in agriculture you can download this book on our Agriculture page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/agriculture/
Thingummyjig: The Sunny Dunny
This used to be a popular song and dance show on STV quite a while ago now. Well I got an email in telling me that STV had released an episode or two onto YouTube so have made one of these available in our community at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/show...-20th-February
Clan Graham
I got in a copy of the Fall 2012 newsletter from the Clan Graham Society of North America which you can read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...letters/graham
Highland Park Whisky
I have added a page about this whisky with a few YouTube videos and you can read this at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/food/highlandpark.htm
I might add there is an excellent video about how to properly taste whisky so if you follow his suggestions you'll look like an expert!
And finally...
Pass It On
"I don't gossip myself," confided the woman in the Glasgow coffee shop yesterday to her friend. "But I do like to pass on snippets to people who do," she added.
----
Thinking of Others
An elderly mother was complaining to her son that she kept missing parts of her television programmes when she went to put the kettle on or went to the toilet.
"You can get one of these digital boxes," he told her. "It freezes the programme while you are out of the room."
"Naw, son, I couldn't do that," she told him.
"It wouldn't be fair to all the other folk who were watching it."
And that's it for now and hope you all have a great weekend.
Alastair
Electric Scotland News
Electric Canadian
Canadian Monthly Magazine
Reminiscences of the Early History of Galt
Lovell's Gazetteer of the Dominion of Canada
The Glittering Mountains of Canada
Handbook to Winnipeg and the Province of Manitoba
Italians in Canada
City of London, Ontario
The Flag in the Wind
Electric Scotland
Northern Notes and Queries
Scots Drink
Reminiscences of the Royal Burgh of Haddington
Sketches of Virginia
Reminiscences of the Lews
St Columba's Ui in the Isle of Lewis
History of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland
Thingummyjig: The Sunny Dunny
Clan Graham
Highland Park Whisky
Electric Scotland News
I've been working quite hard on the comment system I want to add to our web site and think it's now only a matter of a few weeks to get it up and running. There is more interactivity to be had so trying to make sure we have all the options in place. I suspect this might well give us a whole new social network around pages of the site and especially on the clan and family pages. We're also trying to make sure that our visitors can add pictures and even videos if they wish. You should also be able to create an account which will allow you to post a comment using your Facebook or Twitter account.
We're also working on our Electric Scotland Community to try and make it easier for guests to access the service and also make it easier for them to sign up to become a member. We also intend to replace the in-house blogging system with a Wordpress system which is the most common standard for Blogs these days. Also intending to add a Google Maps interface.
One other area we have problems with is our Postcard service. While you can send a card right away it's when you want to send a card say a week or two later the date function won't let you. I confess that when I heard about this during the week it was the first time I'd heard about this. We've contacted the program makers and today I've received a patch which will fix the problem so just waiting for Steve to get that installed.
Had a 1 hour meeting today with my local Member of Parliament to ask for his help in getting information for the sites. He's told me he's willing to help so we'll see how things develop. I also got in an email from one of the Scottish MSP to say that he's willing to take over from Christina to do the weekly diary of an MSP so looking forward to introducing him to you.
Electric Canadian
Canadian Monthly Magazine
Published by the Vanderhoof-Gunn Publishing Company
I've now added Volume 20.
This can be found at http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...zine/index.htm
Reminiscences of the Early History of Galt
and the Settlement of Dumfries in the Province of Ontario By James Young (1880).
Got the final chapter up so this book is now complete.
You can read this book at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...galt/index.htm
Lovell's Gazetteer of the Dominion of Canada
I am just not getting the time to put up this gazetteer the way I want to so have started to add letters by pdf file. So far I am up to the letter S. You can see these at http://www.electriccanadian.com/gazetteer/index.htm
The Glittering Mountains of Canada
A Record of Exploration and Pioneer Ascents in the Canadian Rockies 1914 - 1924 by J. Monroe Thorington (1925).
I've now completed the main part of the book but do have some appendix entries still to add to complete the book.
You can read the other chapters at http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...ains/index.htm
Handbook to Winnipeg and the Province of Manitoba
Prepared for the 79th Annual Meeting of the British Association for the Advancemet of Science 1909.
This is a new book we're starting.
PREFATORY NOTE
The Publication Committee of the Local Executive, desire to express their indebtedness to the authors of the articles contained in this Handbook, for their hearty and gratuitous co-operation in the preparation of the volume. All the contributors can lay claim to special knowledge of the subjects upon which they have written.
The Committee desire also to record their gratitude to Mr. James White, Chief Geographer, Ottawa, for the trouble he has taken in arranging for the preparation of the maps and charts included in the Handbook. They wish further to express their indebtedness to the Minister of the Interior for having generously presented these to the Committee.
It is hoped that this volume will be not only of interest to the visiting members of the British Association, but also of some permanent value.
You can read this book at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...book/index.htm
Italians in Canada
Made a start at this section of the site with a small overview and also a book about the problems that Italians experienced when arriving in Montreal.
You can get to this section at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/italy/index.htm
City of London, Ontario
The Pioneer Period and the London of Today (1900).
So far this is the only book I've discovered about London in Ontario and it's not really suitable for ocr'ing onto the web site and so I've made it available as a pdf file which you can download at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...on_ontario.pdf
The Flag in the Wind
This weeks issue was Compiled by Fraser Hudghton.
You can read this issue at http://www.scotsindependent.org
Electric Scotland
Northern Notes and Queries
This week we include Volume 10 Notes 694 To 703
This issue includes...
A Scottish Branch of the British Record Society
Names of Sundays in Lent
Drummond of Ermore and Carnock
Culross Abbey Church,
The Golf-ball Makers of Leith
Scots Drink
A Royal Visit to Pittenweem
Arms of Younger
From Perth to Carlisle in 1795
Abstract of Protocol Book of the Burgh of Stirling
Query.
Younger Sons of Alex. Kennedy of Kilkenzie and Craigock
Reply.
Clair Family
Notices of Books
You'll notice in this issue we have a "Scots Drink" article in which you'll read that whisky is actually quite a modern drink. I thought I'd pull this article to make it a separate read and it can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...scotsdrink.htm
This issue can be viewed at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...hern/index.htm
Reminiscences of the Royal Burgh of Haddington
And Old East Lothian Agriculturists by John Martine (1883).
We added the following chapters this week...
The Convention of Royal Burghs
Postal Reminiscences
County Smuggling in Old Times
Old Burgh Elections and the Lauder Raid
Richard Gall, An East Lothian Poet
James Mylne of Lochhill
Old Camps on the Lammermuir Hills
Here is how the chapter on Postal Reminiscences starts...
IN no department of the public service have more important changes been effected than in the Post Office, even within recent years. Under the enlightened administration of Mr Fawcett the work of reform has gone steadily on, until our postal and telegraphic system has attained the highest state of efficiency. The contrast between the present and the past is very striking; and it may prove interesting to many if we point out here the changes which have taken place in the transmission of letters in the county of East Lothian. Before the introduction of the royal mail coaches in 1786, post-bags were carried on horseback from Edinburgh to London, and it would appear that they were neither heavy nor ill to carry.
It is recorded that on one occasion the post-bag from London to Edinburgh contained only one letter. Most people may have heard of the old story, that when the two mail express riders met on Coldingham Muir to exchange the Edinburgh and London bags, they dismounted from their horses and indulged in a game of pitch and toss. The post riders were frequently stopped by highwaymen and the bags taken from them. Croker’s Hedges, between Haddington and Linton, was a place which was rendered notorious from the frequency with which deeds of this description were perpetrated. The starting of the mail coaches was the first improvement in the postal system.
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../chapter29.htm
You can read the rest of these chapters at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...gton/index.htm
Sketches of Virginia
Historical and Biographical by The Rev. William Henry Foote D.D. (1856)
We're now up to Chapter XII of this book and here is how it starts...
The name of Cornstalk, the Shawanee Chief, once thrilled the heart of every white man in Virginia, and terrified every family in the mountains. He was, to the Indians of Western Virginia; like Pocahontas to the tribes on the sea coast, the greatest and last chief. In the days of his power, the Shawaness built their cabins on the Scioto. They had once dwelt on the Shenandoah, and covered the whole valley of Virginia. At the approach of the whites to the mountains they had retreated beyond the Alleghenies. The names of the various smaller tribes that once were scattered over the country west of the Blue Ridge, and east of the Ohio, have not been preserved. No historical fact of importance depends upon their preservation. There was a name applied to all the tribes, whether it was generic, or from conquest, or a confederacy, or from all combined none can tell. The eastern Indians called the western tribes Massawomacs, their natural enemies. Under whatever name they existed, or from whatever parts composed, these savages were represented by chiefs that owned the authority of Cornstalk, and were at the time the Valley was settled by the whites called Shawanees. The last battles fought along the Shenandoah or Potomac, were between the Catawabas from the South, and the Delawares from the North, on fields abandoned by their savage owners.
Cornstalk, like other savages, has no youth in history. The first we know of him is in plundering and massacre in 1763. In that year he exterminated the infant settlements on Muddy Creek and the Levels, in Greenbrier. The Indians were received as friends, and provisions given them in profound security. Unprovoked they suddenly massacred the males and took the women and children captives. Cornstalk passed on to Jackson’s River, and finding the families on their guard, hastened on to Carr’s Creek, and doomed some unsuspecting families to the tomahawk and captivity. In the same year depredations were made near Staunton, with the same secrecy and ferocity. Col. Bouquet marched to Fort Pitt, with a regiment of British soldiers and some companies of militia. The Shawanees made a treaty, on the Muskingum, and delivered up the prisoners to return to desolate homes. The massacre on Carr’& Creek was terribly visited on Cornstalk, when a defenceless hostage, after the lapse of more than twenty years. All savages seem alike, as the trees in the distant forest. Here and there one unites in his own person the excellencies of the whole race, and becomes the image of savage greatness. Cornstalk was gifted with oratory, statesmanship, heroism, beauty of person, and strength of frame. In his movements he was majestic; in his manners easy and winning. Of his oratory, - Col. Benjamin Wilson an officer in Lord Dunmore’s army, says—“I have heard the first orators in Virginia, Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee, but never have I heard one whose powers of delivery surpassed those of Cornstalk.” Of his statesmanship and bravery there is ample evidence in the fact that he was head of the confederacy, and led the battle at Point Pleasant.
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../chapter12.htm
You can read the other chapters at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...inia/index.htm
Reminiscences of the Lews
By Sixty One (1871)
We're now up to Chapter VIII of this book with the chapters...
Chapter I - Introductory
Chapter II - Prospecting the Lews and the Callernish Inn
Chapter III - Aline
Chapter IV - The Harris Lochs and a word about Dog rearing
Chapter V - Our Fred and his Head Nurse
Chapter VI - Our Firm and the Whales
Chapter VII - Soval Shooting and Old Tom's Pedigree
Chapter VIII - Soval Shooting and Artificial Spates
Here is how Chapter V starts...
AS I shall soon be taking leave of Aline and removing myself to Soval, it is only fit and proper that, before doing so, I should give some account of that distinguished firm, the joint tenants of the Aline shootings. They consisted of F. M., R. M., and myself.
I think there are few who know F. M. who will not allow (himself among the number) that Lucina, at his birth, turned into the goddess of good luck. I will give but one small instance of this, and then pass on. When a subaltern, quartered at Gibraltar, he kept a small yacht, in which he disported himself by sometimes going over to the Barbary coast to shoot wild boars or anything he could get. In one of these expeditions he was caught by a pleasant Mediterranean squall, which blew his sails, masts, and rigging anywhere, smashed his rudder, and carried his oars overboard, leaving himself and his boy sitting in his half-swamped boat, like a she-bear with, its cub. In this state he was tossed about the Mediterranean for two days, with nothing but a bottle of cherry-brandy for provision, when, fortunately, he was descried by Spanish smugglers. It was blowing still so hard that they could not take him on board, but flung him a rope, by which he managed to hold on, in imminent danger of being driven under water; and in this way he was towed into Malaga, whence he notified his safe arrival to the colonel of his regiment, thus accounting for his absence without leave. As nothing had been heard of him for a fortnight, his friends had been written to, and the untimely end of so promising a youth mourned over—the more bitterly as, at the very time of the announcement of his sad supposed death, a relation died and left him a very good property. So when our friend arrived at Gibraltar, he was. consoled for the loss of his yacht by the intelligence of his accession of fortune, and at once got leave of absence to proceed to England and console his anxious relations. Thus, then, most assuredly Fred, as he was called, was not born to be drowned, and I never cared a straw for Loch Seaforth when he was on board; for if the little Spanish yacht and the craft (the Heather Bell) he had at Aline could not drown him, what on sea could ? Besides, he was really a' first-class boatman. I never saw one steer with an oar like him ; and I verily believe that, once in particular, we should have been swamped while crossing from the Park to Aline after deer-stalking, with a very full boat, but for the manner he steered.
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../chapter05.htm
You can read this book and the opening chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/lews/index.htm
St Columba's Ui in the Isle of Lewis
By Colin Scott MacKenzie
Eaglais na h-Aoidhe or St Columba’s Ui in the Isle of Lewis, Scotland lies at the eastern end of the Braighe (a narrow isthmus of land between the peninsula of Point and the rest of Lewis). It has a beautiful location, originally at the centre of a large graveyard, but which, due to coastal erosion over many years, is now beside the sea.
You can read this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...es/eaglais.htm
History of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland
By Alexander Ramsay (1879)
PREFACE
The Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, which has now existed for nearly a century, having been from a very early period national in its aims and operations, it seemed that a history of its proceedings might be so presented as to illustrate the progress of agricultural improvement in the country. A narrative of this nature would at least possess the quality of authenticity. The Society's proceedings have been recorded with great care; and for the perfect freedom of access afforded to its archives, the author has to express his most cordial acknowledgments to the Directors. The Society mainly sought to effect its purposes by the bestowal of premiums in competition; and in those offered, and in the awards made, there is evidence at once of the wants and the capabilities of the country at successive periods, as well as a record of those whose individual efforts were contributing towards the general advance.
While account has been taken of the improvements in tillage and the crops of the farm, special attention has, in the following pages, been bestowed on the illustration of the changes occurring in the character of the live stock, a course recommended alike by the nature of the subject, and the great importance now so justly attached to this department of rural economy. There will be found notices of the gradual spread over Scotland of the Shorthorn cattle, and the relative positions in successive years of the distinctive Scotch breeds. The reader curious in such matters will find an interest in tracing the decline and extinction of such breeds as the Fifeshire and Aberdeenshire Horned; and in the advance and definite development of the Ayrshire and the two Polled races. Information of kindred nature is supplied with respect to sheep and horses. Dairy husbandry is also illustrated to a considerable extent.
The Society has not confined its attention to affairs purely agricultural. That a scheme or proposal was likely to benefit Scotland in general, and the Highlands in particular, was in its earlier years recommendation sufficient to ensure the Society's support. Efforts in various independent directions, from Gaelic dictionaries and the poetry of the Highlands, to the patronage and promotion of piping competitions, are duly described. It seemed fitting to prefix to the History of the Highland and Agricultural Society some notice of the proceedings of two earlier Associations for the promotion of Scottish agriculture, which aspired to a national character. The account of the Society of Improvers is of course based on the work of Mr Maxwell of Arkland, published in 1743. The narrative of the proceedings of the Edinburgh Society is drawn up entirely from fragmentary references scattered through the Scottish newspapers of the period.
It appeared to be equally desirable to furnish a sketch of the agricultural condition of Scotland about the time the Highland Society began its active perations, as a review of that nature offered a means of measuring the advance made in the interval. In Chapter II., there will be found an outline of this character, drawn from trust worthy contemporary sources. As affording a further means of estimating the changes in the agricultural condition of Scotland within the past ninety years, some statistics are printed in the Appendix.
The preparation of the work has entailed very considerable labour; but it has been cheerfully undertaken, in the belief that the book may be found useful to a circle of readers, that will probably become wider, as there are many evidences that increased attention is being bestowed by the nation on questions relating to agriculture. The Author has to thank various gentlemen who kindly aided his inquiries. Very special thanks are due to Mr Fletcher Norton Menzies, the Secretary to the Society, and Mr Thomas Duncan, the Principal Clerk, without whose combined cordial and effective assistance the work could not have appeared in its present form. Care and attention have been bestowed in order to ensure accuracy, all statements of fact, names, and dates relating to the Society having been collated with the original authorities.
Banff, July 9, 1879.
Should you be interested in agriculture you can download this book on our Agriculture page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/agriculture/
Thingummyjig: The Sunny Dunny
This used to be a popular song and dance show on STV quite a while ago now. Well I got an email in telling me that STV had released an episode or two onto YouTube so have made one of these available in our community at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/show...-20th-February
Clan Graham
I got in a copy of the Fall 2012 newsletter from the Clan Graham Society of North America which you can read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...letters/graham
Highland Park Whisky
I have added a page about this whisky with a few YouTube videos and you can read this at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/food/highlandpark.htm
I might add there is an excellent video about how to properly taste whisky so if you follow his suggestions you'll look like an expert!
And finally...
Pass It On
"I don't gossip myself," confided the woman in the Glasgow coffee shop yesterday to her friend. "But I do like to pass on snippets to people who do," she added.
----
Thinking of Others
An elderly mother was complaining to her son that she kept missing parts of her television programmes when she went to put the kettle on or went to the toilet.
"You can get one of these digital boxes," he told her. "It freezes the programme while you are out of the room."
"Naw, son, I couldn't do that," she told him.
"It wouldn't be fair to all the other folk who were watching it."
And that's it for now and hope you all have a great weekend.
Alastair