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CONTENTS
Electric Scotland News
Electric Canadian
Canada and its Provinces
The True Makers of Canada (New complete book)
Ottawa, Canada's Capital
Stompin' Tom Connors
The Flag in the Wind
Electric Scotland
The Scottish Historical Review
Songs Of Scotland, Prior To Burns
The Annals of Scottish Natural History
Caledonia Monthly Magazine
Robert Burns Lives!
Songs by John Henderson
Lewsiana
British Artisan Expedition to America
The Criminal and The Community
Tasmina's Column
Christina's Column
Scottish Stories for Young Readers
Summer Sailings (New Book)
Canny Tales of Ministers and Elders (New complete book)
Spectacular Scotland
Listen to some less well-known songs by Harry Lauder
and finally
Electric Scotland News
Association of Highland Clans & Societies
Just a few weeks ago, a new group was formed and officially launched in the Scottish highlands. It is called the Association of Highland Clans & Societies, based in Inverness, and promising to do great things for the highland clan culture in the Highlands and Islands. To begin, there are some very exciting plans on the table for events in 2014 – but not surrounding Bannockburn. Rather, it will be the Highland Meeting and Highland Homecoming in Autumn of 2014. These are some of the events that the Scottish Homecoming 2014 team has been touting as reasons to come to Scotland in 2014. They have a good point.
For instance, there are plans for the “Highland Homecoming 2014″ in September and October of next year. It’s a series of events being co-ordinated by the Highland Council in association with VisitScotland etc. It’ll be launched with the “Inverness Highland Meeting” over the weekend of 12-14 September, which will include The Masters World Championship Highland Games to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Northern Meeting Park, the world’s oldest Highland Games stadium, and a gathering of the Highland Clans.
There will be a torch-procession of the clans through the city of Inverness on Friday, September 12 – the “Capital of the Highlands”. The possibility of a “Clan Roots” Conference is being explored to discuss the history and evolution of the Highland clan and the tracing of ancestors from the Highlands (although the AHCS and the Highland Family History Society will take the lead in this, it will be organised with the support of Highland Council and input from the Gaelic Society of Inverness and the University of the Highlands and Islands).
There will be a major musical element to the Inverness Highland Meeting weekend, which will include the Grand Finale on the Saturday evening at Eden Court Theatre of the annual Blas Festival (a week-long celebration, with events all over the Highlands, of the music and culture of the Gaels). The Highland Homecoming as a whole will culminate with the staging of the Royal National Mòd in Inverness 12-18 October.
Note: I did try to find a web site for them but so far with no luck.
-----
COSCA (Council of Scottish Clans and Associations) has a new web site at www.cosca.net
-----
Regarding this newsletter I was asked how many people read it and to be frank it varies quite a bit. One of the reasons I put it on the Electric Scotland Community is that I get to see how many people actually view it.
The problem is that were I just to sent it out to a list that wouldn't tell me how many people actually read the email. I mean I could get a report that it was read by 3,000 people but of them perhaps only 500 might have actually read it as others might have just deleted it without reading it. As long as you click on the message to delete it that would actually record a read and so reports on how many people read the email are very inaccurate.
So this way if you actually click on the link in the email I send out so you can view the newsletter then the community will record the view and that provides a much more accurate figure.
Like in the past 4 weeks we've recorded at time of writing this...
Newsletter 3rd May 2013 - Views: 819
Newsletter 26th April 2013 - Views: 460
Newsletter 19th April 2013 - Views: 1,086
Newsletter 12th April 2013 - Views: 371
And I might add this doesn't include folk that download it as a pdf file.
Mind you I can't figure out why we would record 371 views on the 12th April issue against 1,086 in the 19th April issue. Guess something must have tweaked your interest there but what I don't know. I actually wish I did know as that would tell me the kind of content you are most interested in.
So as you can see the number of times a newsletter is viewed can vary quite a bit.
I might add that as all the issues are there to be read I do find folk will sometimes read the older copies at a later date so the viewing figures will change.
-----
Not sure if any of you are into mapping. I discovered a site from the Ordinance Survey folks where you can map out a route and then get some code to put the map and route on your web site. I have long considered doing a map of Bonnie Prince Charlie's route on arriving in Scotland and following him through all his travels along with his travels avoiding capture until he eventually found a ship to take him back to France. As we have a very detailed account of all this on the site I thought I might work through it and note down all the places and then generate a map of his route. Anyone like to volunteer to take this on? <grin>
Electric Canadian
Canada and its Provinces
Now added The Province of Ontario Volume 17 - Section IX.
You can get to this collection towards the foot of our Canadian History page at
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...nada/index.htm
The True Makers of Canada
The Narrative of Gordon Sellar who emigrated to Canada in 1825. A really good read and in fact I read this book in one online session which is quite rare for me which is why I decided to ocr it onto the site.
I posted up the entire book for you to read and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
You can read the entire book at http://www.electriccanadian.com/makers/sellar/index.htm
Ottawa, Canada's Capital
Published by the Industrial and Publicity Commission. This provides a history of Ottawa and is in pdf format which you can read at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...00ottauoft.pdf
Stompin' Tom Connors
While I did put up a tribute to him in our Electric Scotland Community I did want to add a special page for him on this site so here it is. Included is the video of his official memorial.
You can view this at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...tompin_tom.htm
The Flag in the Wind
This weeks edition was compiled by Jim Lynch, editor of the Scots Independent Newspaper.
You can read this issue at http://www.scotsindependent.org
Electric Scotland
The Scottish Historical Review
We have now started on Volume 6 and added this week October 1908. You can get to this at::
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...w/volume06.htm
You can read the previous issues at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/review/
Songs Of Scotland, Prior To Burns
This book is by Robert Chambers who is famous for collecting old Scottish Songs.
Added this week are...
Hooly and Fairly
The Lass of Livingstone
My Wife's a Wonton Wee Thing
You can get to this book at the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ers_robert.htm
The Annals of Scottish Natural History
Now added Volume 8
You can read this at the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/natu...al_history.htm
Caledonia Monthly Magazine
Have added additional articles from this magazine...
The Drink Traffic in Caledonia Fifty Years Ago
Linnburn Farm (this story is incomplete with I think just the last chapter missing)
The Half-Way House
Highland Dancing in Olden Times
You can get to these at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...pers/caledonia
Robert Burns Lives!
Edited by Frank Shaw
Burns and art: local, national, international By Murdo Macdonald
For years now I have been moving from article to article on Robert Burns Lives!, hounding old friends for their writings, stating the case for an unknown professor to be a part of our pages, asking for referrals, and generally making a nuisance of myself as I have sought to fill our web site with pages by scholars as well as some everyday folks who love Burns. I have also been lucky to find an occasional young person to contribute. All of this is done because of my love for Burns and my desire to share the best about Burns by those who teach at universities and those who read about him at home. Hopefully they are lucky enough to attend a Burns club where freedom of thought about him is permitted and where they can understand there are more ways of looking at Burns than “the way it has always been”. There is no room in our local Burns Club for those I will always refer to as the “Burns Police” since such people generally feel it is their way or the highway. My advice to them -- don’t let the door hit you where the Lord split you.
I’m fortunate to attend the Burns Club of Atlanta which is first and foremost a literary club. Sure, you will hear the Burns Immortal Memory in January and maybe three or four more talks on him during the year, but the founding fathers of our club realized there was much to learn from other authors as well. Yet we say a Burns prayer before each meal, read Burns’ poetry at every meeting and close with Auld Lang Syne, circled up and holding hands. You are even allowed to sing off key from time to time. We celebrate Burns no matter what subject the presenter is speaking on. This is the tradition that has been followed on the first Wednesday night of each month since 1896. In a recent publication of the Atlanta Preservation Center’s Phoenix Flies, it was noted that “The Club is likely Atlanta’s oldest cultural and literary society”.
Through my various contacts with RBL, I’ve been able to invite many people to speak at our Burns cottage, ranging from scholars to a young lady who just last winter did an internship at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh and who had never read much on Burns until her study abroad program at Furman University put her in Scotland. These pages are a celebration of Robert Burns by people from all walks of life.
We have one of the world’s top Burns’ scholars sharing an excellent paper with us today on a subject that has not been covered in any of the 172 chapters posted on RBL. According to his bio, Murdo is Professor of History of Scottish Art at the University of Dundee. He is a former editor of Edinburgh Review. He is author of Scottish Art in Thames and Hudson’s World of Art series. His recent research has explored the art of the Scottish Gàidhealtachd, the cultural milieu of Patrick Geddes, and Robert Burns and visual thinking. He is an honorary member of the Royal Scottish Academy and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
A good friend of his recently described Professor Macdonald as “a key figure in understanding the manifold aspects of the revival in Scottish culture. Instrumental in reviving the Edinburgh Review, he was personally involved in bringing the worlds of Scottish literature and philosophical/intellectual history together through his introduction of James Kelman to George Davie. He is the foremost authority on the history of Scottish Art and the Scottish intellectual tradition”.
Another colleague described him as “ALWAYS intellectually exhilarating” and went on to say that recently 'Glasgow Life' - City of Glasgow cultural umbrella (that overseas galleries, the Mitchell etc) – “assembled a team of academics to help GL compile a new research strategy document that would cross various disciplines: literature, history, architecture, art, politics, science etc. etc.” Murdo Macdonald was asked to serve on that team. When I learned his subject was on Burns and Art, I immediately consulted the thousand or so books on Burns in my library thinking there was a book with a similar name. I could only find one that mentioned art and it was Snyder’s Robert Burns, His Personality, His Reputation and His Art printed in 1936. With all due respect to Snyder, Murdo’s paper is a vast improvement. So get yourself a good cup of hot tea, coffee, a wee dram, or a cold beer and find a quiet spot to enjoy one of the best papers you will ever read.”
I look forward to the possibility of one day having Professor Macdonald speak to our Burns Club in Atlanta and hope it will be real soon. When I asked him to share some of his work, he replied, “For your interest here's a link to a website exploring some of my recent Highland art research,” http://windowtothewest.weebly.com.
Enjoy!
You can read this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives173.htm
Other articles in the series can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...rank/burns.htm
Songs by John Henderson
Got in another song from John...
Airly Airish Simmer Sweem
[Early Chilly Summer Swim]
Lyrics composed by John Henderson on the 16th of April, 2013,
to Roy Burtch's 1922 music for his song called, 'Guess'.
Glossary:
hich=high; brenches=branches; chirming=singing; schulin'=schooling;
skelpt=raced; roch=rough; tee-airsish=also chilly; sweem=swim;
a wee=a little; spark (etc.)=splash; starkly=bravely; dirdums=loud noises;
chitt'rin=shivering; thrang=busy; clinkers=boats; het bree=hot drink;
bit-clootin'=some mending; saaf=safe; gledly=gladly; ony=any.
Birds oan hich brenches wur chirmin' .........
Sangs tae thur neebours an' me ........
Bairns noo let loose frae a' schulin' ......
Skelpt 'wa fest doon tae the sea ........
Simmer hud come an' the watter wis nae ow'r roch an' tee-airish
Sae they micht sweem a wee ......
Spark! Spirk! Sperk! an' in they a' starkly tummled
Wi' thur bowst'rous .... dirdums o' gran-glee. .......!
Oot frae the sea they cam chitt'rin .........
Bit fest they ran ower the san ........
Tae faar thrang chiels oan thur clinkers ........
Seen gied them het bree oot a can .......
Thur boats o' wid an' thur trawl-nets wur aye in need o' bit-clootin'
Sae saaf at sea they'd gae ........
Bit fur bairns fa they hud seen starkly tummle
They wud gledly .... mak time ony day. .........!
You can read more of his songs at http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerels.htm
Lewsiana
Or Life in the Outer Hebrides by W. Anderson Smith (1875).
This week we've added the following chapters...
Fishes
Historical Sketches
The Fife Adventurers
The Last of the MacLeods
and this now completes the book.
I did add a video to the index page which shows you something of this Isle.
You can read these final chapters and view the video at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/lewsiana
British Artisan Expedition to America
Equipped and sent out by and at the expense of the Dundee Courier and Dundee Weekly News Newspapers.
We've now added a further chapter...
Chapter 9 - New York
You can read this chapter and the rest of the book at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...expedition.htm
The Criminal and The Community
By James Devon (1912)
We're now onto Part III of this book and you can read the new chapters we've published at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/criminal/
Tasmina's Column
Got in her 6th May 2013 column on The UKIP Creep which you can read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/life...ina/130506.htm
Her other columns can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/lifestyle/tasmina/
Christina's Column
Got in her column for 9th May 2013 in which amongst other information she's taking about social issues.
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...vie/130509.htm
Her other columns can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...lvie/index.htm
Scottish Stories for Young Readers
Having discovered from our stats that we have a lot of young readers coming to the site to read our many children's stories I decided to publish some old children's stories which are also very readable for adults as well.
I have now added the second book on Arthur Monteith in seven chapters.
You can get to this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/stories/
Summer Sailings
By an Old Yachtsman, Archibald Young (1898)
A new book we're starting.
PREFACE
The following cruises occupied several summer seasons a good many years ago. They were made in a cutter yacht of thirty-five tons, in which I sailed more than 7000 miles, going twice round Great Britain, visiting the Orkney and Shetland Islands, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, and also parts of Ireland, France, and Norway. An account of one or two of the cruises appeared in well-known magazines. But the whole of them are now published for the first time in a complete form; and it is hoped that the numerous illustrations of picturesque localities, all taken from water-colour drawings made by me on the spot in the course of these cruises, will add something to the interest and value of the volume. The black and white illustrations were made from my drawings by Messrs. J. Munro Bell and Co., Edinburgh; and for the coloured illustrations I am indebted to Messrs. E. S. and W. Forrest, Brandon Street Studio, Edinburgh, who first photographed the drawings, and then coloured them by hand after the original sketches.
ARCHIBALD YOUNG.
22 Royal Circus,
Edinburgh, January 1898.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ings/index.htm
Canny Tales of Ministers and Elders
By Allan Junior
I came across this short book and thought it would make a great addition to our site and you can read it at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/bible/canny.htm
Spectacular Scotland
This is an introduction to a series of videos produced by Andy Campbell. He does a very good job of narrating them and you can watch these at: http://www.electricscotland.com/trav...y_campbell.htm where I have embedded his video of a walk in Glencoe but with a link to his YouTube page where you can view others in his series.
Listen to some less well-known songs by Harry Lauder
Added two more songs, Fu The Noo and Hey Donal.
You can listen to these at: http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/henderson/lauder
And finally...
SOME CORNY QUIPS
I dialed a number and got the following recording: "I am not available right now, but thank you for caring enough to call. I am making some changes in my life. Please leave a message after the beep. If I do not return your call, you are one of the changes."
~~~~~
At pilots' training back in the Air Corps they taught us, "Always try to keep the number of landings you make equal to the number of take offs you make."
~~~~~
Little Tommy had been to a birthday party at a friend's house. Knowing his sweet tooth, Tommy's mother looked straight into his eyes and said, "I hope you didn't ask for a second piece of cake."
"No, but I asked Mrs. Smith for the recipe so you could make some like it, and she gave me two more pieces without asking."
~~~~~
Aspire to inspire before you expire.
~~~~~
My wife and I had words, but I didn't get to use mine.
~~~~~
As my five year old son and I were headed to McDonald's one day, we passed a car accident. Usually when we see something terrible like that, we say a prayer for those who might be hurt, so I pointed and said to my son, "We should pray."
From the back seat I heard his earnest request: "Please, God, don't let those cars block the entrance to McDonald's."
~~~~~
Frustration is trying to find your glasses without your glasses.
~~~~~
Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting.
~~~~~
The irony of life is that, by the time you're old enough to know your way around, you're not going anywhere.
~~~~~
God made man before woman so as to give him time to think of an answer for her first question.
~~~~~
I was always taught to respect my elders, but it keeps getting harder to find one.
~~~~~
Every morning is the dawn of a new error.
-----
And that's it for now and hope you all have a great Weekend.
Alastair
Electric Scotland News
Electric Canadian
Canada and its Provinces
The True Makers of Canada (New complete book)
Ottawa, Canada's Capital
Stompin' Tom Connors
The Flag in the Wind
Electric Scotland
The Scottish Historical Review
Songs Of Scotland, Prior To Burns
The Annals of Scottish Natural History
Caledonia Monthly Magazine
Robert Burns Lives!
Songs by John Henderson
Lewsiana
British Artisan Expedition to America
The Criminal and The Community
Tasmina's Column
Christina's Column
Scottish Stories for Young Readers
Summer Sailings (New Book)
Canny Tales of Ministers and Elders (New complete book)
Spectacular Scotland
Listen to some less well-known songs by Harry Lauder
and finally
Electric Scotland News
Association of Highland Clans & Societies
Just a few weeks ago, a new group was formed and officially launched in the Scottish highlands. It is called the Association of Highland Clans & Societies, based in Inverness, and promising to do great things for the highland clan culture in the Highlands and Islands. To begin, there are some very exciting plans on the table for events in 2014 – but not surrounding Bannockburn. Rather, it will be the Highland Meeting and Highland Homecoming in Autumn of 2014. These are some of the events that the Scottish Homecoming 2014 team has been touting as reasons to come to Scotland in 2014. They have a good point.
For instance, there are plans for the “Highland Homecoming 2014″ in September and October of next year. It’s a series of events being co-ordinated by the Highland Council in association with VisitScotland etc. It’ll be launched with the “Inverness Highland Meeting” over the weekend of 12-14 September, which will include The Masters World Championship Highland Games to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Northern Meeting Park, the world’s oldest Highland Games stadium, and a gathering of the Highland Clans.
There will be a torch-procession of the clans through the city of Inverness on Friday, September 12 – the “Capital of the Highlands”. The possibility of a “Clan Roots” Conference is being explored to discuss the history and evolution of the Highland clan and the tracing of ancestors from the Highlands (although the AHCS and the Highland Family History Society will take the lead in this, it will be organised with the support of Highland Council and input from the Gaelic Society of Inverness and the University of the Highlands and Islands).
There will be a major musical element to the Inverness Highland Meeting weekend, which will include the Grand Finale on the Saturday evening at Eden Court Theatre of the annual Blas Festival (a week-long celebration, with events all over the Highlands, of the music and culture of the Gaels). The Highland Homecoming as a whole will culminate with the staging of the Royal National Mòd in Inverness 12-18 October.
Note: I did try to find a web site for them but so far with no luck.
-----
COSCA (Council of Scottish Clans and Associations) has a new web site at www.cosca.net
-----
Regarding this newsletter I was asked how many people read it and to be frank it varies quite a bit. One of the reasons I put it on the Electric Scotland Community is that I get to see how many people actually view it.
The problem is that were I just to sent it out to a list that wouldn't tell me how many people actually read the email. I mean I could get a report that it was read by 3,000 people but of them perhaps only 500 might have actually read it as others might have just deleted it without reading it. As long as you click on the message to delete it that would actually record a read and so reports on how many people read the email are very inaccurate.
So this way if you actually click on the link in the email I send out so you can view the newsletter then the community will record the view and that provides a much more accurate figure.
Like in the past 4 weeks we've recorded at time of writing this...
Newsletter 3rd May 2013 - Views: 819
Newsletter 26th April 2013 - Views: 460
Newsletter 19th April 2013 - Views: 1,086
Newsletter 12th April 2013 - Views: 371
And I might add this doesn't include folk that download it as a pdf file.
Mind you I can't figure out why we would record 371 views on the 12th April issue against 1,086 in the 19th April issue. Guess something must have tweaked your interest there but what I don't know. I actually wish I did know as that would tell me the kind of content you are most interested in.
So as you can see the number of times a newsletter is viewed can vary quite a bit.
I might add that as all the issues are there to be read I do find folk will sometimes read the older copies at a later date so the viewing figures will change.
-----
Not sure if any of you are into mapping. I discovered a site from the Ordinance Survey folks where you can map out a route and then get some code to put the map and route on your web site. I have long considered doing a map of Bonnie Prince Charlie's route on arriving in Scotland and following him through all his travels along with his travels avoiding capture until he eventually found a ship to take him back to France. As we have a very detailed account of all this on the site I thought I might work through it and note down all the places and then generate a map of his route. Anyone like to volunteer to take this on? <grin>
Electric Canadian
Canada and its Provinces
Now added The Province of Ontario Volume 17 - Section IX.
You can get to this collection towards the foot of our Canadian History page at
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...nada/index.htm
The True Makers of Canada
The Narrative of Gordon Sellar who emigrated to Canada in 1825. A really good read and in fact I read this book in one online session which is quite rare for me which is why I decided to ocr it onto the site.
I posted up the entire book for you to read and hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
You can read the entire book at http://www.electriccanadian.com/makers/sellar/index.htm
Ottawa, Canada's Capital
Published by the Industrial and Publicity Commission. This provides a history of Ottawa and is in pdf format which you can read at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...00ottauoft.pdf
Stompin' Tom Connors
While I did put up a tribute to him in our Electric Scotland Community I did want to add a special page for him on this site so here it is. Included is the video of his official memorial.
You can view this at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...tompin_tom.htm
The Flag in the Wind
This weeks edition was compiled by Jim Lynch, editor of the Scots Independent Newspaper.
You can read this issue at http://www.scotsindependent.org
Electric Scotland
The Scottish Historical Review
We have now started on Volume 6 and added this week October 1908. You can get to this at::
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...w/volume06.htm
You can read the previous issues at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/review/
Songs Of Scotland, Prior To Burns
This book is by Robert Chambers who is famous for collecting old Scottish Songs.
Added this week are...
Hooly and Fairly
The Lass of Livingstone
My Wife's a Wonton Wee Thing
You can get to this book at the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ers_robert.htm
The Annals of Scottish Natural History
Now added Volume 8
You can read this at the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/natu...al_history.htm
Caledonia Monthly Magazine
Have added additional articles from this magazine...
The Drink Traffic in Caledonia Fifty Years Ago
Linnburn Farm (this story is incomplete with I think just the last chapter missing)
The Half-Way House
Highland Dancing in Olden Times
You can get to these at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...pers/caledonia
Robert Burns Lives!
Edited by Frank Shaw
Burns and art: local, national, international By Murdo Macdonald
For years now I have been moving from article to article on Robert Burns Lives!, hounding old friends for their writings, stating the case for an unknown professor to be a part of our pages, asking for referrals, and generally making a nuisance of myself as I have sought to fill our web site with pages by scholars as well as some everyday folks who love Burns. I have also been lucky to find an occasional young person to contribute. All of this is done because of my love for Burns and my desire to share the best about Burns by those who teach at universities and those who read about him at home. Hopefully they are lucky enough to attend a Burns club where freedom of thought about him is permitted and where they can understand there are more ways of looking at Burns than “the way it has always been”. There is no room in our local Burns Club for those I will always refer to as the “Burns Police” since such people generally feel it is their way or the highway. My advice to them -- don’t let the door hit you where the Lord split you.
I’m fortunate to attend the Burns Club of Atlanta which is first and foremost a literary club. Sure, you will hear the Burns Immortal Memory in January and maybe three or four more talks on him during the year, but the founding fathers of our club realized there was much to learn from other authors as well. Yet we say a Burns prayer before each meal, read Burns’ poetry at every meeting and close with Auld Lang Syne, circled up and holding hands. You are even allowed to sing off key from time to time. We celebrate Burns no matter what subject the presenter is speaking on. This is the tradition that has been followed on the first Wednesday night of each month since 1896. In a recent publication of the Atlanta Preservation Center’s Phoenix Flies, it was noted that “The Club is likely Atlanta’s oldest cultural and literary society”.
Through my various contacts with RBL, I’ve been able to invite many people to speak at our Burns cottage, ranging from scholars to a young lady who just last winter did an internship at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh and who had never read much on Burns until her study abroad program at Furman University put her in Scotland. These pages are a celebration of Robert Burns by people from all walks of life.
We have one of the world’s top Burns’ scholars sharing an excellent paper with us today on a subject that has not been covered in any of the 172 chapters posted on RBL. According to his bio, Murdo is Professor of History of Scottish Art at the University of Dundee. He is a former editor of Edinburgh Review. He is author of Scottish Art in Thames and Hudson’s World of Art series. His recent research has explored the art of the Scottish Gàidhealtachd, the cultural milieu of Patrick Geddes, and Robert Burns and visual thinking. He is an honorary member of the Royal Scottish Academy and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
A good friend of his recently described Professor Macdonald as “a key figure in understanding the manifold aspects of the revival in Scottish culture. Instrumental in reviving the Edinburgh Review, he was personally involved in bringing the worlds of Scottish literature and philosophical/intellectual history together through his introduction of James Kelman to George Davie. He is the foremost authority on the history of Scottish Art and the Scottish intellectual tradition”.
Another colleague described him as “ALWAYS intellectually exhilarating” and went on to say that recently 'Glasgow Life' - City of Glasgow cultural umbrella (that overseas galleries, the Mitchell etc) – “assembled a team of academics to help GL compile a new research strategy document that would cross various disciplines: literature, history, architecture, art, politics, science etc. etc.” Murdo Macdonald was asked to serve on that team. When I learned his subject was on Burns and Art, I immediately consulted the thousand or so books on Burns in my library thinking there was a book with a similar name. I could only find one that mentioned art and it was Snyder’s Robert Burns, His Personality, His Reputation and His Art printed in 1936. With all due respect to Snyder, Murdo’s paper is a vast improvement. So get yourself a good cup of hot tea, coffee, a wee dram, or a cold beer and find a quiet spot to enjoy one of the best papers you will ever read.”
I look forward to the possibility of one day having Professor Macdonald speak to our Burns Club in Atlanta and hope it will be real soon. When I asked him to share some of his work, he replied, “For your interest here's a link to a website exploring some of my recent Highland art research,” http://windowtothewest.weebly.com.
Enjoy!
You can read this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives173.htm
Other articles in the series can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...rank/burns.htm
Songs by John Henderson
Got in another song from John...
Airly Airish Simmer Sweem
[Early Chilly Summer Swim]
Lyrics composed by John Henderson on the 16th of April, 2013,
to Roy Burtch's 1922 music for his song called, 'Guess'.
Glossary:
hich=high; brenches=branches; chirming=singing; schulin'=schooling;
skelpt=raced; roch=rough; tee-airsish=also chilly; sweem=swim;
a wee=a little; spark (etc.)=splash; starkly=bravely; dirdums=loud noises;
chitt'rin=shivering; thrang=busy; clinkers=boats; het bree=hot drink;
bit-clootin'=some mending; saaf=safe; gledly=gladly; ony=any.
Birds oan hich brenches wur chirmin' .........
Sangs tae thur neebours an' me ........
Bairns noo let loose frae a' schulin' ......
Skelpt 'wa fest doon tae the sea ........
Simmer hud come an' the watter wis nae ow'r roch an' tee-airish
Sae they micht sweem a wee ......
Spark! Spirk! Sperk! an' in they a' starkly tummled
Wi' thur bowst'rous .... dirdums o' gran-glee. .......!
Oot frae the sea they cam chitt'rin .........
Bit fest they ran ower the san ........
Tae faar thrang chiels oan thur clinkers ........
Seen gied them het bree oot a can .......
Thur boats o' wid an' thur trawl-nets wur aye in need o' bit-clootin'
Sae saaf at sea they'd gae ........
Bit fur bairns fa they hud seen starkly tummle
They wud gledly .... mak time ony day. .........!
You can read more of his songs at http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerels.htm
Lewsiana
Or Life in the Outer Hebrides by W. Anderson Smith (1875).
This week we've added the following chapters...
Fishes
Historical Sketches
The Fife Adventurers
The Last of the MacLeods
and this now completes the book.
I did add a video to the index page which shows you something of this Isle.
You can read these final chapters and view the video at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/lewsiana
British Artisan Expedition to America
Equipped and sent out by and at the expense of the Dundee Courier and Dundee Weekly News Newspapers.
We've now added a further chapter...
Chapter 9 - New York
You can read this chapter and the rest of the book at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...expedition.htm
The Criminal and The Community
By James Devon (1912)
We're now onto Part III of this book and you can read the new chapters we've published at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/criminal/
Tasmina's Column
Got in her 6th May 2013 column on The UKIP Creep which you can read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/life...ina/130506.htm
Her other columns can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/lifestyle/tasmina/
Christina's Column
Got in her column for 9th May 2013 in which amongst other information she's taking about social issues.
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...vie/130509.htm
Her other columns can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...lvie/index.htm
Scottish Stories for Young Readers
Having discovered from our stats that we have a lot of young readers coming to the site to read our many children's stories I decided to publish some old children's stories which are also very readable for adults as well.
I have now added the second book on Arthur Monteith in seven chapters.
You can get to this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/stories/
Summer Sailings
By an Old Yachtsman, Archibald Young (1898)
A new book we're starting.
PREFACE
The following cruises occupied several summer seasons a good many years ago. They were made in a cutter yacht of thirty-five tons, in which I sailed more than 7000 miles, going twice round Great Britain, visiting the Orkney and Shetland Islands, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, and also parts of Ireland, France, and Norway. An account of one or two of the cruises appeared in well-known magazines. But the whole of them are now published for the first time in a complete form; and it is hoped that the numerous illustrations of picturesque localities, all taken from water-colour drawings made by me on the spot in the course of these cruises, will add something to the interest and value of the volume. The black and white illustrations were made from my drawings by Messrs. J. Munro Bell and Co., Edinburgh; and for the coloured illustrations I am indebted to Messrs. E. S. and W. Forrest, Brandon Street Studio, Edinburgh, who first photographed the drawings, and then coloured them by hand after the original sketches.
ARCHIBALD YOUNG.
22 Royal Circus,
Edinburgh, January 1898.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ings/index.htm
Canny Tales of Ministers and Elders
By Allan Junior
I came across this short book and thought it would make a great addition to our site and you can read it at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/bible/canny.htm
Spectacular Scotland
This is an introduction to a series of videos produced by Andy Campbell. He does a very good job of narrating them and you can watch these at: http://www.electricscotland.com/trav...y_campbell.htm where I have embedded his video of a walk in Glencoe but with a link to his YouTube page where you can view others in his series.
Listen to some less well-known songs by Harry Lauder
Added two more songs, Fu The Noo and Hey Donal.
You can listen to these at: http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/henderson/lauder
And finally...
SOME CORNY QUIPS
I dialed a number and got the following recording: "I am not available right now, but thank you for caring enough to call. I am making some changes in my life. Please leave a message after the beep. If I do not return your call, you are one of the changes."
~~~~~
At pilots' training back in the Air Corps they taught us, "Always try to keep the number of landings you make equal to the number of take offs you make."
~~~~~
Little Tommy had been to a birthday party at a friend's house. Knowing his sweet tooth, Tommy's mother looked straight into his eyes and said, "I hope you didn't ask for a second piece of cake."
"No, but I asked Mrs. Smith for the recipe so you could make some like it, and she gave me two more pieces without asking."
~~~~~
Aspire to inspire before you expire.
~~~~~
My wife and I had words, but I didn't get to use mine.
~~~~~
As my five year old son and I were headed to McDonald's one day, we passed a car accident. Usually when we see something terrible like that, we say a prayer for those who might be hurt, so I pointed and said to my son, "We should pray."
From the back seat I heard his earnest request: "Please, God, don't let those cars block the entrance to McDonald's."
~~~~~
Frustration is trying to find your glasses without your glasses.
~~~~~
Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting.
~~~~~
The irony of life is that, by the time you're old enough to know your way around, you're not going anywhere.
~~~~~
God made man before woman so as to give him time to think of an answer for her first question.
~~~~~
I was always taught to respect my elders, but it keeps getting harder to find one.
~~~~~
Every morning is the dawn of a new error.
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And that's it for now and hope you all have a great Weekend.
Alastair