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CONTENTS
Electric Scotland News
Electric Canadian
Canada and its Provinces
Stompin' Tom Connors
Swine Husbandry in Canada
Sheep Husbandry in Canada
The Flag in the Wind
Electric Scotland
The Scottish Historical Review
Songs from John Henderson
Songs Of Scotland, Prior To Burns
Robert Burns Lives!
Outer Isles
The Scot in Ulster
Forfarshire (New Book)
A Complete Genealogy of the Armstrong Family 1740 - 1920
The Annals of Scottish Natural History
St. Mary's Abbey, Melrose
Life among our ain folk
Memorials of John Murray of Broughton sometime secretary to Prince Charles Edward 1740 - 1747
Scottish Notes and Queries
and finally
Electric Scotland News
As we're in the middle of March it's probably time to start looking out for Tartan Day events that might be coming up in a place near you. This of course applies to North America as April 6th is Tartan Day, Down under I believe it's July 1st.
I do know both Canada and the USA recognize this date officially and lots of towns and cities put on their own events. Many states in the US also recognize April as Scots-Irish month.
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In this issue I'm also paying tribute to Stompin' Tom Connors, a great Canadian music artist, who's memorial was held this week.
Electric Canadian
Canada and its Provinces
In 22 volumes and Index
I have now started to add these volumes and the idea is to make one volume available each week until complete. Should you be interested in this series then you'll be able to dip into each volume during the week and thus be ready for the next volume appearing.
Now added The Dominion: Political Evolution: Volume 9.
You can get to this collection towards the foot of our Canadian History page at
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...nada/index.htm
Stompin' Tom Connors
Planning the memorial was one of the last acts of an artist who insisted on making his fortune in his own country, with songs that celebrated Canadian stories and ordinary people.
He chose Peterborough as the site of his public memorial because it was the city where he earned the nickname Stompin' Tom, because of his habit of tapping his boot as he sang.
Mayor Daryl Bennett recalled that event – on Canada’s 100th birthday on July 1, 1967 — and the waiter at Peterborough who first dubbed him Stompin’ Tom.
The mayor drew applause as he told the story of how Stompin’ Tom returned all of his Juno Awards to the Academy of Canadian Recording Arts and Sciences in protest over lack of support for Canadian artists.
“Stompin’ Tom was many things, but first and foremost he was a Canadian storyteller, a man who proudly wore the Maple Leaf on his sleeve and we are grateful for that,” Bennett said, before introducing a video of Connors playing the song Peterborough Postman.
Calgary singer Tim Hus played Man With the Black Hat, the song he used to introduce Connors to the stage when the two toured together. It was a song Hus, who Connors called his natural successor, wrote for his musical hero when he was just starting out.
Ahead of the tribute, Hus recalled getting that first call from Connors with the invitation to tour.
Tribute performances
Stompin' Tom (on video), Peterborough Postman, The Blue Berets, The Ballad of Stompin' Tom, The Hockey Song
Tim Hus, Man with the Black Hat
JP Cormier and Dave Gunning, Gumboot & Little Wawa
Sylvia Tyson and Cindy Church, Farewell to Nova Scotia
Dave Bidini, Bridge Came Tumblin' Down
Damhnait Doyle, Coal Boat Song
Mike Plume, So Long Stompin' Tom
Mark Laforme, I am the Wind
“He said he appreciated all the songs I'd written about Canada and how I was working hard to bring my show to the little towns and to come on the road with him,” Hus recalled.
“That's how we became good friends. I was the last guy to play with him from Newfoundland to Vancouver.”
Hus said he believed Connors wanted a sendoff that showed his fans a good time.
“He's definitely one of a kind,” Hus said. “He's got real strong principles about what he was trying to do and about trying to bring the whole country together and he took that very seriously. He was a very proud Canadian.”
Brian Edwards, Connors’ longtime promoter and friend told CBC News more than 40 artists had vied for a chance to take part in the tribute.
In the end, Stompin’ Tom chose for the lineup artists he had performed with, including J.P. Cormier, Dave Gunning, Sylvia Tyson and Dave Bidini. The only newcomer was Mike Plume, whose new song So Long Stompin' Tom was a hit at the East Coast Music Awards last Sunday.
http://youtu.be/FYa0F39Vcv0
“I think deep down in Tom's mind, he knew the support he had and that's why he wanted to have a public service,” Edwards said.
Edwards gave a moving tribute to his friend as part of the memorial, recalling their years touring together. There were also tributes from Gail Shea, Canada's minister of national revenue, who said "Canada has lost a friend" and from fellow artists such as Tommy Hunter, Rita MacNeil, Corb Lund and Liona Boyd, who recalled Connors' role in starting the first classical record label for Canadian artists.
Senator Roméo Dallaire sent a letter remembering how at the height of the Rwandan crisis, when the small contingent of Canadian peacekeepers he then commanded was under bombardment, he found his tape of the Stompin’ Tom song The Blue Berets and was able to keep morale up among his men.
Former governor general Adrienne Clarkson looked back at Connors' disadvantaged past and marvelled at how it left him, not embittered, but understanding of other people and their stories.
“The man that we celebrate today is that very unusual thing – someone we can all agree about as Canadians,” Clarkson said about the man she considered a friend.
"He gave us first and foremost a real sense of ourselves. Whether we grew up in Vancouver or Happy Valley Goose Bay, we knew what he meant when he said ‘The girls are going to bingo, the boys are getting stinko and we think no more of Inco on a Sudbury Saturday night.'”
Former hockey player and MP Ken Dryden also remembered The Hockey Song, calling it a celebration of the team and the game.
“I love The Hockey Song,” Dryden said. “When I was with the Leafs, during games there was one stoppage of play that was reserved. It was the long commercial break in the middle of the third period. On a bad night, the song was a brief respite. On a night that might go either way, it was a jolt of energy. But on a good night when everything was cooking, it was fantastic.”
Lena Connors is accompanied by an RCMP officer as she carries Stompin' Tom's hat on stage at the Stompin' Tom Connors memorial.
Stompin' Tom's son, Tom Connors Jr., reflected ahead of the memorial on seeing so many people lined up, some since 9 a.m., for a chance to say goodbye to his father.
"I have chills already going down my back. It's wonderful to see all his fans come out. He sung about them — that's what his job was in his life," he said.
“And so they are paying him back a little bit, and saying ‘Hey, Stompin’ Tom, you sung about us, we are going to be here for you right till the end.”
Connors Jr. concluded the evening, saying it was a fitting tribute to a man who loved Canada and loved bringing people together.
"We're giving him the best send-off we possibly can, because he did everything for us," he said, before sending fans into the night with a rousing edition of his father singing Sudbury Saturday Night.
The above tribute came from CBC News at:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/...-memorial.html where you can also watch a couple of videos and listen to his music.
I found a good video of one of his performances and you can watch that at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/show...in-Tom-Connors
Swine Husbandry in Canada
By the Canadian Department of Agriculture
Until the swine raisers in Canada adopted the bacon type as their model, Canadian pork products possessed a very indifferent reputation. Since then a valuable export trade has been built up. In competition with the finest bacon in the world, Canadian bacon commands a price on the British market very close to the top. Its excellence has appealed also to the home consumer until the Canadian market is able to absorb a larger and larger proportion so that less and less can be spared for the export trade. For this reason there should be no relaxation on the part of the breeder to adhere to the bacon model in his breeding and feeding operations.
Hogs, like other classes of live stock, must be judged, first from the standpoint of the market, and secondly from their adaptability to yield profitable returns for food consumed. Forn, condition and weight largely determine the appreciation of the market, while on constitution, nervous teniperament and feeding qualities, depend the thrift or ability to convert the maximum of large quantities of food into a valuable marketable product.
Happily, in the raising of swine for the bacon industry the intereste of the producer and consumer in no way conflict. It was for a time contended by many farmers that it cost more to produce the bacon hog than the animal of the thick fat type.
The results obtained at experiment stations, supported by the experience of many extensive and successful breeders, have all gone to show that, if anything, the contrary is truc. in experiments by Prof. Day, at the Ontario Agricultural College, out of six groups of pigs, the groups scored first and third by the packer on the basis of their adaptability for the export trade, were first aud second in economy of gain.
It cannot be denied that more skilful breeding and feeding is required to produce the bacon hog, but it does not necesarily require more food to produce a pound of gain than is required by hogs of other types.
The hog required for the production of the Wiltshire side is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 8. In weight he should be not less than 170 pounds nor more than 220 pounds, the most desirable weight being from 180 to 200 ponuds alive when fasted.
As will be seen, he is a smooth, trim, evenly-developed pig, of great length, fair depth and moderate thickness.
You can read this book at http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...ture/swine.htm
Sheep Husbandry in Canada
By the Canadian Department of Agriculture
THE sheep industry in Canada dates back almost to the beginning of her agriculture, for the first settlers, as soon as they were able to do so, established little flocks of sheep to supply both food and clothing for their families. The first sheep to come to Canada, according to record, were brought from France in the middle of the seventeenth century. Others followed from time to time during the French regime, but for nearly one hundred years afterwards no other sheep were brought in. These French sheep were small, and are said to have much resembled the Cheviot in size and conformation, particularly in the shape of the head, while the quality and weight of the fleece were much the same.
You can read this book at http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...ture/sheep.htm
The Flag in the Wind
This weeks edition was Compiled by Jim Lynch
Included in this issue is an announcement which might be of interest to some of you?
As is our custom, a patriotic and social gathering of old and “new” Scots will meet at the Abbey Green, Arbroath at around 1 pm on Saturday 6th April to fondly remember Scottish patriots who have passed on over the years. The Remembrance Service will commence with a brief Address recalling the importance of Arbroath Abbey in the history of the Nation, followed by a reading of the names of those who have passed on, and who have contributed to the National Movement.
A period of two minutes silence will then be followed by the singing of the National Anthem, “Scots Wha Hae”, and thereon to a local hostelry for refreshments.
Should any of your readership wish the names of their own dear loved ones and Scottish Heroes to be read out on this hallowed ground, I shall be pleased to record their names; please call me on 07815529029.
Also should any of their bereaved families wish to attend the Service and the Social, we would be delighted to see them, as we would any other interested members of the public.
Rob Knight
Co-ordinator, Scots Remembrance Society.
You can read this issue at http://www.scotsindependent.org
Electric Scotland
The Scottish Historical Review
We have now started on Volume 4 and added this week Volume 4 - October 1906. at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...w/volume04.htm
You can read the previous issues at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/review/
Songs from John Henderson
John sent us in a new song this week and here is one to read here...
Lyrics composed by John Henderson on the 15th of February, 2013,
to Johnny Maddox's playing of the old tune for the song, 'Calling Me Back To You'.
His lane naarhan his hoose Tam stans an' leuks a' roon his mull,
Whaur lean-tees hap the guid hard wid he's cairted frae the hull.
The scraachin' saas an' wirkers' crack fair goys him a' are thrang,
Weel kennin' gif there's seelence syne he maun fin oot fit's wrang.
His three sins an' his Missus May, an' auld Pa Sandy tee,
They sair the buzness wi' a wull an' sae weel airn thur fee.
Aye Tam taks tent the laidin' up o' pallettes nait an' stoot
Redd tae mak a' the caa'd-fur deleev'ries
The wirk gings oan frae skreek o' day oontil late aifterneen,
Wi twa wee braks atween thase oors fan maet an' bree are teen.
Gif Tam is cairtin' larry-loads heid-bummin' fa's tae May
Tae mak fair shair nae din-raisin pits things agley.
At e'en fan chiels hiv lows'd tae raist ilk weerit been,
An' tak tent ony cut or birse sherp saas or wid hiv geen;
Syne Tam an' a' his femily haud doon the deece a wee,
'Till saas' sangs aince mair shaw it's mornin' .....
Glossary:
His lane=alone; naarhan=nearby; mull=mill; whaur=where; lean-tees=huts;
hap=cover; guid hard wid=good hard wood; cairted=carried; hull=hill;
scraachin'=shrieking; saas=saws; wirkers=workers; crack=chat; fair=quite;
goys=convinces; thrang=busy; sins=sons; sair=serve; airn=earn; fee=wages;
taks tent=takes care of; laidin' up=loading; pallettes=large wooden trays; nait=neat;
stoot=firm; redd=ready; shreek o' day=first light; neid bummin'=being in charge;
din-raisin=trouble-making; agley=off course; lows'd=stopped working; been=bone;
birse=bruise; haud doon the deece=rest.
You can read more of John's songs mostly in the Doric language at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerels.htm
Songs Of Scotland, Prior To Burns
This book is by Robert Chambers who is famous for collecting old Scottish Songs.
Added this week are...
Donald Couper
Haud Awa Bid Awa
Tibbie Fowler
You can get to this book at the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ers_robert.htm
Robert Burns Lives!
By Frank Shaw
How more Popular could Burns be if translated into English? By Alastair McIntyre GOTJ, FSA Scot
Alastair McIntyre, owner and editor of electricscotland.com, has submitted the following article to grace the pages of our web site. Alastair is a most ingenious man and has built a marvelous site concerning Scotland and the Scottish people. His work on the internet has been called “a major educational resource about the history of Scotland, Scots and Scots-Irish”. You will find that “Electric Scotland is so huge until you are encouraged to avail yourself to our own search engine to locate specific information”. Electric Scotland is the host of Robert Burns Lives! so I was thrilled several weeks ago when Alastair sent me an unsolicited article on Burns to post on our site if I deemed it suitable. I am pleased to share his commentary about Burns being better understood if his works were in English. You may agree or disagree. Your call!
I have a book on this subject entitled Burns Into English by William Kean Seymour who notes that “Burns made use of more than twelve hundred dialect words which are either peculiar to the Scottish Lowlands or have meanings distinct from similar English forms”. It is no wonder that William Cowper wrote “his candle is bright, but shut up in a dark lantern.” This is not an attack on Burns, but reading his works is not easily done without a glossary at hand. It is up to the individual to determine individually what is best for him or her. The so-called “Burns Police” may not agree, but then it is not often that I agree with them.
It is a joy to work with Alastair McIntyre. He is a good “boss” who gives me the freedom to do my job as I see fit, and for that I am grateful. It may sound odd to welcome our owner but here is a big welcome to Alastair who raises some interesting questions about Burns. I’m sure his article will raise a few “hackles” as well. (FRS: 3.13.13)
You can get to this article at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives167.htm
Other articles in this series can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...rank/burns.htm
Outer Isles
By A. Goodrich-Freer (1902)
Added this week are the following chapters...
Chapter IX. Eriskay
Chapter X. Christian Legends of Eriskay and South Uist
Chapter XI. The Powers of Evil in Eriskay and South Uist
Chapter XII. Prince Charlie in Eriskay
Chapter XIII. The Norsemen in the Hebrides
Chapter XIV. Benbecula and North Uist
Here is how the chapter on Eriskay starts...
IN a letter to Lord Balfour published December, 1900, a sort of apologia for the recent agitations upon her islands of South Uist and Barra, Lady Gordon Cathcart, among many other surprising statements, asserts more than once that the people are worst off on the smaller islands. I never heard that she had ever visited any of them, but from some weeks’ residence in Eriskay, one of those especially referred to, and from personal acquaintance with many of its inhabitants, I venture to assert that it is one of the few bright spots on her estate. It is a mere gull’s nest, scarcely worth the name of an island, storm-beaten, wind-swept, treeless, shelterless, rocky, but the soil is a little drier than that of South Uist; there are no farms, and the people are let alone and have the island to themselves.
Though the distance across the minch is probably not much more than two miles, the crossing is one not to be undertaken lightly. Always difficult, sometimes dangerous, it is, not infrequently, impossible, and for long even the factor would not venture across to collect the rents, and so, to save trouble to one man, sixty would have to cross to the little inn at Polacharra, the southernmost point of Uist, and await his pleasure the whole day, an occasion of temptation which ought never to have been allowed.
The one charm of Eriskay is its utter solitude and aloofness. For one person who goes to Eriskay five hundred visit the shores of St. Kilda; it is unknown to the tourist, it is beyond MacBrayne. It rises suddenly and steeply out of the sea except on the west side, where a sandy plain stretches down to the historical harbour of Prince’s Bay, where Prince Charlie landed nearly two hundred years ago, a fact still sacred in the memory of the people. It is said that there were but three holdings in the island in those days, and there is some vague tradition of monastic occupation at one time, though there are no architectural remains to give colour to the story. Munro in his Description, 1594, has the following paragraph:
“To the eist of this ile of Fuday, be three myle of sea, lyes ane ile callit Eriskeray, twa mile lang, inhabit and manurit. In this ile ther is daylie gottin aboundance of verey grate pintill fishe at ebb seas, and als verey guid for uther fishing, perteining to M’Neill of Barray.”
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../chapter09.htm
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/outer/
The Scot in Ulster
Sketch of the History of the Scottish population of Ulster by John Harrison (1888)
We have now completed this book which you can read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/ulster/scot.htm
Forfarshire
By Easton S. Valentine (1912)
A new book we're starting to give you the history of yet another place in Scotland.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rfar/index.htm
A Complete Genealogy of the Armstrong Family 1740 - 1920
Found this pdf file and have added it to our Armstrong page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/webc.../armstron.html
The Annals of Scottish Natural History
I came across this publication while looking for further information on an article about plants in which it mentioned this publication. So doing my usual detective work I found copies of this and will now bring you one of these volumes each week until I exhaust my source.
Preface
THE completion of the first year and volume of the ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY affords the Editors the opportunity of expressing their thanks to their Contributors and Subscribers for the kind reception and support which have been accorded to the Magazine. It is their earnest wish to make the Annals worthily represent the Zoology and Botany of Scotland, and they confidently appeal to all interested in these sciences to continue to aid their efforts by the contribution of Papers and Notes; and by bringing the Magazine under the favourable notice of all Naturalists who are not subscribers. They would remind their friends that all profits will be employed in the direct interests of the Annals.
It is hoped that the attention of the Editors will be called to any omissions that may from time to time be detected in the section devoted to Current Literature. There has been some difficulty in obtaining short Botanical notes during the year; but it is believed that the mere mention of the deficiency will bring about its remedy.
You can read the first volume at http://www.electricscotland.com/natu...al_history.htm
St. Mary's Abbey, Melrose
The Monastery of Old Melrose and the Town and Parish of Melrose by James A. Wade. (1861)
PREFACE
Nothing seems more difficult to write than a Preface. But wc shall be brief and explicit We have studied to product a work accessible to all classes of readers, as there appeared to us no royal road to direct the historian, antiquary, or tourist, through the endless mazes of enchantment, that lie deeply embosomed in every nook and comer of this classic land. Our aim has been to give increased information, in less than the accustomed space, anti at a minimum cost; and to preserve dates of remarkable historical events and circumstances, in correctly classified and methodical order. It would be invidious to render thanks to some, where gratitude is due to all who have given us their kind assistance and valuable co-operation. We have laboriously consulted contemporaneous history, and endeavoured to build our structure upon the simple narration of farts, evidenced to us by truthful and impartial witnesses. There may be faults of omission and commission, perhaps, but these we shall only be too glad to correct in a future issue of this work. To float with the stream of time for upwards of a thousand years, and take up and set down those we chose to travel with, each at the proper offing and the right time, is a voyage of greater magnitude than some may contemplate. We have made free use of the writings and opinions of others, our end and aim being to conduct those who trust us by the best and easiest route, whether by the highway of those who have preceded us, or the byway of our own choosing.
If the footfalls of the following unassuming pages, leave just impressions on the minds of those who road them, and truth and goodness seem the lovelier in their historic robes, our wish and purpose will be magnanimously and happily accomplished.
It may interest some to know that the illustrations are all from drawings taken from the ruins. No effort has been spared to make them accurate as well as artistically elaborate.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rose/index.htm
Life among our ain folk
Added this third book to the series by William Alexander. Added this book to the foot of the page. John Henderson found this one for us and he has split it up into 5 pdf files and so the complete book is now available.
Preface
The Sketches that compose this small volume profess to be nothing more than slight studies, in situ, so to speak, of certain phases of local life, and the "humours" through which that life finds expression. The characters are, of course, ideal in one sense (or, say typical), and in another as truly realistic and close to the actual life as the writer could succeed in making them. Possibly some will hold the little book to be lacking in loftiness of sentiment, and refinement in the dramatis personae; but. we must picture life as we know it. And, after all, who is it that has not, oftener than he wished, in his experience found loftiness of general sentiment and a profession of high principles set in the fore front, where the veritable life was guided by considerations as mean and sordid as well might be. Better, at any rate, have things in their real and undisguised forms then; and this merit we claim. Of the various principal figures introduced we shall only say that we have known them one and all sufficiently well to be able to present them acting in consistency with themselves.
The two short sketches that come last were published in All the Year Round about five years ago, and are now reprinted by permission of Charles Dickens, Esq.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...al_lifendx.htm
Memorials of John Murray of Broughton sometime secretary to Prince Charles Edward 1740 - 1747
Some excellent information about Bonnie Prince Charlie.
Came across this publication which provides some very interesting information on Prince Charles. I am making this available as a pdf file that you can download but am listing the contents so you can see what is available in this book.
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...arles/103a.htm
Scottish Notes and Queries
Have added Volume 3 to this publication.
I got an email in telling me that the link to volume 2 just brought up volume 1 and so to fix that I had to find a copy of volume 2 and lo and behold I discovered that someone had added further volumes to the archive so have now fixed volume 2 and now added volume 3.
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...otes/index.htm
And finally...
Thanks to Don Henshaw in California for this one .....
Worms
A minister decided that a visual demonstration would add emphasis to his Sunday sermon.
Four worms were placed into four separate jars.
The first worm was put into a container of alcohol.
The second worm was put into a container of cigarette smoke.
The third worm was put into a container of chocolate syrup.
The fourth worm was put into a container of good clean soil.
At the conclusion of the sermon, the Minister reported the following results:
The first worm in alcohol - Dead. The second worm in cigarette smoke - Dead
Third worm in chocolate syrup - Dead. Fourth worm in good clean soil - Alive.
So the Minister asked the congregation - What did you learn from this demonstration?
Mary who was sitting in the back, quickly raised her hand and said, 'As long as you drink, smoke, and eat chocolate, you won't have worms!'
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The Famous Grouse Bet
A Texan walks into a pub in Scotland and clears his throat to the crowd of drinkers. He says: "I hear you Scots are a bunch of hard drinkers. I'll give $500 American dollars to anybody in here who can drink 10 shots of Scotch back-to-back."
The room is quiet, and no one takes up the Texan's offer.
One man even leaves.
Thirty minutes later the same gentleman who left shows up and taps the Texan on the shoulder.
"Is your bet still good?" asks the Scotsman.
The Texan says yes and asks the bartender to line up 10 shots of Famous Grouse Scotch.
Immediately the Scotsman tears into all 10 of the shot glasses, drinking them all back-to-back.
The other pub patrons cheer as the Texan sits in amazement.
The Texan gives the Scotsman the $500 and says: "If ya don't mind me askin', where did you go for that 30 minutes you were gone?"
The Scotsman replies: "Oh... I had to go to the pub down the street to see if I could do it first."
-----
And that's it for now and hope you all have a great weekend.
Alastair
Electric Scotland News
Electric Canadian
Canada and its Provinces
Stompin' Tom Connors
Swine Husbandry in Canada
Sheep Husbandry in Canada
The Flag in the Wind
Electric Scotland
The Scottish Historical Review
Songs from John Henderson
Songs Of Scotland, Prior To Burns
Robert Burns Lives!
Outer Isles
The Scot in Ulster
Forfarshire (New Book)
A Complete Genealogy of the Armstrong Family 1740 - 1920
The Annals of Scottish Natural History
St. Mary's Abbey, Melrose
Life among our ain folk
Memorials of John Murray of Broughton sometime secretary to Prince Charles Edward 1740 - 1747
Scottish Notes and Queries
and finally
Electric Scotland News
As we're in the middle of March it's probably time to start looking out for Tartan Day events that might be coming up in a place near you. This of course applies to North America as April 6th is Tartan Day, Down under I believe it's July 1st.
I do know both Canada and the USA recognize this date officially and lots of towns and cities put on their own events. Many states in the US also recognize April as Scots-Irish month.
-----
In this issue I'm also paying tribute to Stompin' Tom Connors, a great Canadian music artist, who's memorial was held this week.
Electric Canadian
Canada and its Provinces
In 22 volumes and Index
I have now started to add these volumes and the idea is to make one volume available each week until complete. Should you be interested in this series then you'll be able to dip into each volume during the week and thus be ready for the next volume appearing.
Now added The Dominion: Political Evolution: Volume 9.
You can get to this collection towards the foot of our Canadian History page at
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...nada/index.htm
Stompin' Tom Connors
Planning the memorial was one of the last acts of an artist who insisted on making his fortune in his own country, with songs that celebrated Canadian stories and ordinary people.
He chose Peterborough as the site of his public memorial because it was the city where he earned the nickname Stompin' Tom, because of his habit of tapping his boot as he sang.
Mayor Daryl Bennett recalled that event – on Canada’s 100th birthday on July 1, 1967 — and the waiter at Peterborough who first dubbed him Stompin’ Tom.
The mayor drew applause as he told the story of how Stompin’ Tom returned all of his Juno Awards to the Academy of Canadian Recording Arts and Sciences in protest over lack of support for Canadian artists.
“Stompin’ Tom was many things, but first and foremost he was a Canadian storyteller, a man who proudly wore the Maple Leaf on his sleeve and we are grateful for that,” Bennett said, before introducing a video of Connors playing the song Peterborough Postman.
Calgary singer Tim Hus played Man With the Black Hat, the song he used to introduce Connors to the stage when the two toured together. It was a song Hus, who Connors called his natural successor, wrote for his musical hero when he was just starting out.
Ahead of the tribute, Hus recalled getting that first call from Connors with the invitation to tour.
Tribute performances
Stompin' Tom (on video), Peterborough Postman, The Blue Berets, The Ballad of Stompin' Tom, The Hockey Song
Tim Hus, Man with the Black Hat
JP Cormier and Dave Gunning, Gumboot & Little Wawa
Sylvia Tyson and Cindy Church, Farewell to Nova Scotia
Dave Bidini, Bridge Came Tumblin' Down
Damhnait Doyle, Coal Boat Song
Mike Plume, So Long Stompin' Tom
Mark Laforme, I am the Wind
“He said he appreciated all the songs I'd written about Canada and how I was working hard to bring my show to the little towns and to come on the road with him,” Hus recalled.
“That's how we became good friends. I was the last guy to play with him from Newfoundland to Vancouver.”
Hus said he believed Connors wanted a sendoff that showed his fans a good time.
“He's definitely one of a kind,” Hus said. “He's got real strong principles about what he was trying to do and about trying to bring the whole country together and he took that very seriously. He was a very proud Canadian.”
Brian Edwards, Connors’ longtime promoter and friend told CBC News more than 40 artists had vied for a chance to take part in the tribute.
In the end, Stompin’ Tom chose for the lineup artists he had performed with, including J.P. Cormier, Dave Gunning, Sylvia Tyson and Dave Bidini. The only newcomer was Mike Plume, whose new song So Long Stompin' Tom was a hit at the East Coast Music Awards last Sunday.
http://youtu.be/FYa0F39Vcv0
“I think deep down in Tom's mind, he knew the support he had and that's why he wanted to have a public service,” Edwards said.
Edwards gave a moving tribute to his friend as part of the memorial, recalling their years touring together. There were also tributes from Gail Shea, Canada's minister of national revenue, who said "Canada has lost a friend" and from fellow artists such as Tommy Hunter, Rita MacNeil, Corb Lund and Liona Boyd, who recalled Connors' role in starting the first classical record label for Canadian artists.
Senator Roméo Dallaire sent a letter remembering how at the height of the Rwandan crisis, when the small contingent of Canadian peacekeepers he then commanded was under bombardment, he found his tape of the Stompin’ Tom song The Blue Berets and was able to keep morale up among his men.
Former governor general Adrienne Clarkson looked back at Connors' disadvantaged past and marvelled at how it left him, not embittered, but understanding of other people and their stories.
“The man that we celebrate today is that very unusual thing – someone we can all agree about as Canadians,” Clarkson said about the man she considered a friend.
"He gave us first and foremost a real sense of ourselves. Whether we grew up in Vancouver or Happy Valley Goose Bay, we knew what he meant when he said ‘The girls are going to bingo, the boys are getting stinko and we think no more of Inco on a Sudbury Saturday night.'”
Former hockey player and MP Ken Dryden also remembered The Hockey Song, calling it a celebration of the team and the game.
“I love The Hockey Song,” Dryden said. “When I was with the Leafs, during games there was one stoppage of play that was reserved. It was the long commercial break in the middle of the third period. On a bad night, the song was a brief respite. On a night that might go either way, it was a jolt of energy. But on a good night when everything was cooking, it was fantastic.”
Lena Connors is accompanied by an RCMP officer as she carries Stompin' Tom's hat on stage at the Stompin' Tom Connors memorial.
Stompin' Tom's son, Tom Connors Jr., reflected ahead of the memorial on seeing so many people lined up, some since 9 a.m., for a chance to say goodbye to his father.
"I have chills already going down my back. It's wonderful to see all his fans come out. He sung about them — that's what his job was in his life," he said.
“And so they are paying him back a little bit, and saying ‘Hey, Stompin’ Tom, you sung about us, we are going to be here for you right till the end.”
Connors Jr. concluded the evening, saying it was a fitting tribute to a man who loved Canada and loved bringing people together.
"We're giving him the best send-off we possibly can, because he did everything for us," he said, before sending fans into the night with a rousing edition of his father singing Sudbury Saturday Night.
The above tribute came from CBC News at:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/...-memorial.html where you can also watch a couple of videos and listen to his music.
I found a good video of one of his performances and you can watch that at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/show...in-Tom-Connors
Swine Husbandry in Canada
By the Canadian Department of Agriculture
Until the swine raisers in Canada adopted the bacon type as their model, Canadian pork products possessed a very indifferent reputation. Since then a valuable export trade has been built up. In competition with the finest bacon in the world, Canadian bacon commands a price on the British market very close to the top. Its excellence has appealed also to the home consumer until the Canadian market is able to absorb a larger and larger proportion so that less and less can be spared for the export trade. For this reason there should be no relaxation on the part of the breeder to adhere to the bacon model in his breeding and feeding operations.
Hogs, like other classes of live stock, must be judged, first from the standpoint of the market, and secondly from their adaptability to yield profitable returns for food consumed. Forn, condition and weight largely determine the appreciation of the market, while on constitution, nervous teniperament and feeding qualities, depend the thrift or ability to convert the maximum of large quantities of food into a valuable marketable product.
Happily, in the raising of swine for the bacon industry the intereste of the producer and consumer in no way conflict. It was for a time contended by many farmers that it cost more to produce the bacon hog than the animal of the thick fat type.
The results obtained at experiment stations, supported by the experience of many extensive and successful breeders, have all gone to show that, if anything, the contrary is truc. in experiments by Prof. Day, at the Ontario Agricultural College, out of six groups of pigs, the groups scored first and third by the packer on the basis of their adaptability for the export trade, were first aud second in economy of gain.
It cannot be denied that more skilful breeding and feeding is required to produce the bacon hog, but it does not necesarily require more food to produce a pound of gain than is required by hogs of other types.
The hog required for the production of the Wiltshire side is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 8. In weight he should be not less than 170 pounds nor more than 220 pounds, the most desirable weight being from 180 to 200 ponuds alive when fasted.
As will be seen, he is a smooth, trim, evenly-developed pig, of great length, fair depth and moderate thickness.
You can read this book at http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...ture/swine.htm
Sheep Husbandry in Canada
By the Canadian Department of Agriculture
THE sheep industry in Canada dates back almost to the beginning of her agriculture, for the first settlers, as soon as they were able to do so, established little flocks of sheep to supply both food and clothing for their families. The first sheep to come to Canada, according to record, were brought from France in the middle of the seventeenth century. Others followed from time to time during the French regime, but for nearly one hundred years afterwards no other sheep were brought in. These French sheep were small, and are said to have much resembled the Cheviot in size and conformation, particularly in the shape of the head, while the quality and weight of the fleece were much the same.
You can read this book at http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...ture/sheep.htm
The Flag in the Wind
This weeks edition was Compiled by Jim Lynch
Included in this issue is an announcement which might be of interest to some of you?
Scots Remembrance Society
Annual Pilgrimage to Arbroath, Angus
Annual Pilgrimage to Arbroath, Angus
As is our custom, a patriotic and social gathering of old and “new” Scots will meet at the Abbey Green, Arbroath at around 1 pm on Saturday 6th April to fondly remember Scottish patriots who have passed on over the years. The Remembrance Service will commence with a brief Address recalling the importance of Arbroath Abbey in the history of the Nation, followed by a reading of the names of those who have passed on, and who have contributed to the National Movement.
A period of two minutes silence will then be followed by the singing of the National Anthem, “Scots Wha Hae”, and thereon to a local hostelry for refreshments.
Should any of your readership wish the names of their own dear loved ones and Scottish Heroes to be read out on this hallowed ground, I shall be pleased to record their names; please call me on 07815529029.
Also should any of their bereaved families wish to attend the Service and the Social, we would be delighted to see them, as we would any other interested members of the public.
Rob Knight
Co-ordinator, Scots Remembrance Society.
You can read this issue at http://www.scotsindependent.org
Electric Scotland
The Scottish Historical Review
We have now started on Volume 4 and added this week Volume 4 - October 1906. at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...w/volume04.htm
You can read the previous issues at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/review/
Songs from John Henderson
John sent us in a new song this week and here is one to read here...
The Kirktoon Saamull
A song about the John and Olive's friends the Robb Family, and their Sawmill in Gargunnock Village, Stirling, Scotland in the 1970s.Lyrics composed by John Henderson on the 15th of February, 2013,
to Johnny Maddox's playing of the old tune for the song, 'Calling Me Back To You'.
His lane naarhan his hoose Tam stans an' leuks a' roon his mull,
Whaur lean-tees hap the guid hard wid he's cairted frae the hull.
The scraachin' saas an' wirkers' crack fair goys him a' are thrang,
Weel kennin' gif there's seelence syne he maun fin oot fit's wrang.
His three sins an' his Missus May, an' auld Pa Sandy tee,
They sair the buzness wi' a wull an' sae weel airn thur fee.
Aye Tam taks tent the laidin' up o' pallettes nait an' stoot
Redd tae mak a' the caa'd-fur deleev'ries
The wirk gings oan frae skreek o' day oontil late aifterneen,
Wi twa wee braks atween thase oors fan maet an' bree are teen.
Gif Tam is cairtin' larry-loads heid-bummin' fa's tae May
Tae mak fair shair nae din-raisin pits things agley.
At e'en fan chiels hiv lows'd tae raist ilk weerit been,
An' tak tent ony cut or birse sherp saas or wid hiv geen;
Syne Tam an' a' his femily haud doon the deece a wee,
'Till saas' sangs aince mair shaw it's mornin' .....
Glossary:
His lane=alone; naarhan=nearby; mull=mill; whaur=where; lean-tees=huts;
hap=cover; guid hard wid=good hard wood; cairted=carried; hull=hill;
scraachin'=shrieking; saas=saws; wirkers=workers; crack=chat; fair=quite;
goys=convinces; thrang=busy; sins=sons; sair=serve; airn=earn; fee=wages;
taks tent=takes care of; laidin' up=loading; pallettes=large wooden trays; nait=neat;
stoot=firm; redd=ready; shreek o' day=first light; neid bummin'=being in charge;
din-raisin=trouble-making; agley=off course; lows'd=stopped working; been=bone;
birse=bruise; haud doon the deece=rest.
You can read more of John's songs mostly in the Doric language at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerels.htm
Songs Of Scotland, Prior To Burns
This book is by Robert Chambers who is famous for collecting old Scottish Songs.
Added this week are...
Donald Couper
Haud Awa Bid Awa
Tibbie Fowler
You can get to this book at the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ers_robert.htm
Robert Burns Lives!
By Frank Shaw
How more Popular could Burns be if translated into English? By Alastair McIntyre GOTJ, FSA Scot
Alastair McIntyre, owner and editor of electricscotland.com, has submitted the following article to grace the pages of our web site. Alastair is a most ingenious man and has built a marvelous site concerning Scotland and the Scottish people. His work on the internet has been called “a major educational resource about the history of Scotland, Scots and Scots-Irish”. You will find that “Electric Scotland is so huge until you are encouraged to avail yourself to our own search engine to locate specific information”. Electric Scotland is the host of Robert Burns Lives! so I was thrilled several weeks ago when Alastair sent me an unsolicited article on Burns to post on our site if I deemed it suitable. I am pleased to share his commentary about Burns being better understood if his works were in English. You may agree or disagree. Your call!
I have a book on this subject entitled Burns Into English by William Kean Seymour who notes that “Burns made use of more than twelve hundred dialect words which are either peculiar to the Scottish Lowlands or have meanings distinct from similar English forms”. It is no wonder that William Cowper wrote “his candle is bright, but shut up in a dark lantern.” This is not an attack on Burns, but reading his works is not easily done without a glossary at hand. It is up to the individual to determine individually what is best for him or her. The so-called “Burns Police” may not agree, but then it is not often that I agree with them.
It is a joy to work with Alastair McIntyre. He is a good “boss” who gives me the freedom to do my job as I see fit, and for that I am grateful. It may sound odd to welcome our owner but here is a big welcome to Alastair who raises some interesting questions about Burns. I’m sure his article will raise a few “hackles” as well. (FRS: 3.13.13)
You can get to this article at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives167.htm
Other articles in this series can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...rank/burns.htm
Outer Isles
By A. Goodrich-Freer (1902)
Added this week are the following chapters...
Chapter IX. Eriskay
Chapter X. Christian Legends of Eriskay and South Uist
Chapter XI. The Powers of Evil in Eriskay and South Uist
Chapter XII. Prince Charlie in Eriskay
Chapter XIII. The Norsemen in the Hebrides
Chapter XIV. Benbecula and North Uist
Here is how the chapter on Eriskay starts...
IN a letter to Lord Balfour published December, 1900, a sort of apologia for the recent agitations upon her islands of South Uist and Barra, Lady Gordon Cathcart, among many other surprising statements, asserts more than once that the people are worst off on the smaller islands. I never heard that she had ever visited any of them, but from some weeks’ residence in Eriskay, one of those especially referred to, and from personal acquaintance with many of its inhabitants, I venture to assert that it is one of the few bright spots on her estate. It is a mere gull’s nest, scarcely worth the name of an island, storm-beaten, wind-swept, treeless, shelterless, rocky, but the soil is a little drier than that of South Uist; there are no farms, and the people are let alone and have the island to themselves.
Though the distance across the minch is probably not much more than two miles, the crossing is one not to be undertaken lightly. Always difficult, sometimes dangerous, it is, not infrequently, impossible, and for long even the factor would not venture across to collect the rents, and so, to save trouble to one man, sixty would have to cross to the little inn at Polacharra, the southernmost point of Uist, and await his pleasure the whole day, an occasion of temptation which ought never to have been allowed.
The one charm of Eriskay is its utter solitude and aloofness. For one person who goes to Eriskay five hundred visit the shores of St. Kilda; it is unknown to the tourist, it is beyond MacBrayne. It rises suddenly and steeply out of the sea except on the west side, where a sandy plain stretches down to the historical harbour of Prince’s Bay, where Prince Charlie landed nearly two hundred years ago, a fact still sacred in the memory of the people. It is said that there were but three holdings in the island in those days, and there is some vague tradition of monastic occupation at one time, though there are no architectural remains to give colour to the story. Munro in his Description, 1594, has the following paragraph:
“To the eist of this ile of Fuday, be three myle of sea, lyes ane ile callit Eriskeray, twa mile lang, inhabit and manurit. In this ile ther is daylie gottin aboundance of verey grate pintill fishe at ebb seas, and als verey guid for uther fishing, perteining to M’Neill of Barray.”
You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../chapter09.htm
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/outer/
The Scot in Ulster
Sketch of the History of the Scottish population of Ulster by John Harrison (1888)
We have now completed this book which you can read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/ulster/scot.htm
Forfarshire
By Easton S. Valentine (1912)
A new book we're starting to give you the history of yet another place in Scotland.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rfar/index.htm
A Complete Genealogy of the Armstrong Family 1740 - 1920
Found this pdf file and have added it to our Armstrong page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/webc.../armstron.html
The Annals of Scottish Natural History
I came across this publication while looking for further information on an article about plants in which it mentioned this publication. So doing my usual detective work I found copies of this and will now bring you one of these volumes each week until I exhaust my source.
Preface
THE completion of the first year and volume of the ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY affords the Editors the opportunity of expressing their thanks to their Contributors and Subscribers for the kind reception and support which have been accorded to the Magazine. It is their earnest wish to make the Annals worthily represent the Zoology and Botany of Scotland, and they confidently appeal to all interested in these sciences to continue to aid their efforts by the contribution of Papers and Notes; and by bringing the Magazine under the favourable notice of all Naturalists who are not subscribers. They would remind their friends that all profits will be employed in the direct interests of the Annals.
It is hoped that the attention of the Editors will be called to any omissions that may from time to time be detected in the section devoted to Current Literature. There has been some difficulty in obtaining short Botanical notes during the year; but it is believed that the mere mention of the deficiency will bring about its remedy.
You can read the first volume at http://www.electricscotland.com/natu...al_history.htm
St. Mary's Abbey, Melrose
The Monastery of Old Melrose and the Town and Parish of Melrose by James A. Wade. (1861)
PREFACE
Nothing seems more difficult to write than a Preface. But wc shall be brief and explicit We have studied to product a work accessible to all classes of readers, as there appeared to us no royal road to direct the historian, antiquary, or tourist, through the endless mazes of enchantment, that lie deeply embosomed in every nook and comer of this classic land. Our aim has been to give increased information, in less than the accustomed space, anti at a minimum cost; and to preserve dates of remarkable historical events and circumstances, in correctly classified and methodical order. It would be invidious to render thanks to some, where gratitude is due to all who have given us their kind assistance and valuable co-operation. We have laboriously consulted contemporaneous history, and endeavoured to build our structure upon the simple narration of farts, evidenced to us by truthful and impartial witnesses. There may be faults of omission and commission, perhaps, but these we shall only be too glad to correct in a future issue of this work. To float with the stream of time for upwards of a thousand years, and take up and set down those we chose to travel with, each at the proper offing and the right time, is a voyage of greater magnitude than some may contemplate. We have made free use of the writings and opinions of others, our end and aim being to conduct those who trust us by the best and easiest route, whether by the highway of those who have preceded us, or the byway of our own choosing.
If the footfalls of the following unassuming pages, leave just impressions on the minds of those who road them, and truth and goodness seem the lovelier in their historic robes, our wish and purpose will be magnanimously and happily accomplished.
It may interest some to know that the illustrations are all from drawings taken from the ruins. No effort has been spared to make them accurate as well as artistically elaborate.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rose/index.htm
Life among our ain folk
Added this third book to the series by William Alexander. Added this book to the foot of the page. John Henderson found this one for us and he has split it up into 5 pdf files and so the complete book is now available.
Preface
The Sketches that compose this small volume profess to be nothing more than slight studies, in situ, so to speak, of certain phases of local life, and the "humours" through which that life finds expression. The characters are, of course, ideal in one sense (or, say typical), and in another as truly realistic and close to the actual life as the writer could succeed in making them. Possibly some will hold the little book to be lacking in loftiness of sentiment, and refinement in the dramatis personae; but. we must picture life as we know it. And, after all, who is it that has not, oftener than he wished, in his experience found loftiness of general sentiment and a profession of high principles set in the fore front, where the veritable life was guided by considerations as mean and sordid as well might be. Better, at any rate, have things in their real and undisguised forms then; and this merit we claim. Of the various principal figures introduced we shall only say that we have known them one and all sufficiently well to be able to present them acting in consistency with themselves.
The two short sketches that come last were published in All the Year Round about five years ago, and are now reprinted by permission of Charles Dickens, Esq.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...al_lifendx.htm
Memorials of John Murray of Broughton sometime secretary to Prince Charles Edward 1740 - 1747
Some excellent information about Bonnie Prince Charlie.
Came across this publication which provides some very interesting information on Prince Charles. I am making this available as a pdf file that you can download but am listing the contents so you can see what is available in this book.
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...arles/103a.htm
Scottish Notes and Queries
Have added Volume 3 to this publication.
I got an email in telling me that the link to volume 2 just brought up volume 1 and so to fix that I had to find a copy of volume 2 and lo and behold I discovered that someone had added further volumes to the archive so have now fixed volume 2 and now added volume 3.
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...otes/index.htm
And finally...
Thanks to Don Henshaw in California for this one .....
Worms
A minister decided that a visual demonstration would add emphasis to his Sunday sermon.
Four worms were placed into four separate jars.
The first worm was put into a container of alcohol.
The second worm was put into a container of cigarette smoke.
The third worm was put into a container of chocolate syrup.
The fourth worm was put into a container of good clean soil.
At the conclusion of the sermon, the Minister reported the following results:
The first worm in alcohol - Dead. The second worm in cigarette smoke - Dead
Third worm in chocolate syrup - Dead. Fourth worm in good clean soil - Alive.
So the Minister asked the congregation - What did you learn from this demonstration?
Mary who was sitting in the back, quickly raised her hand and said, 'As long as you drink, smoke, and eat chocolate, you won't have worms!'
-----
The Famous Grouse Bet
A Texan walks into a pub in Scotland and clears his throat to the crowd of drinkers. He says: "I hear you Scots are a bunch of hard drinkers. I'll give $500 American dollars to anybody in here who can drink 10 shots of Scotch back-to-back."
The room is quiet, and no one takes up the Texan's offer.
One man even leaves.
Thirty minutes later the same gentleman who left shows up and taps the Texan on the shoulder.
"Is your bet still good?" asks the Scotsman.
The Texan says yes and asks the bartender to line up 10 shots of Famous Grouse Scotch.
Immediately the Scotsman tears into all 10 of the shot glasses, drinking them all back-to-back.
The other pub patrons cheer as the Texan sits in amazement.
The Texan gives the Scotsman the $500 and says: "If ya don't mind me askin', where did you go for that 30 minutes you were gone?"
The Scotsman replies: "Oh... I had to go to the pub down the street to see if I could do it first."
-----
And that's it for now and hope you all have a great weekend.
Alastair