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A pdf version of this newsletter can be download at http://www.electricscotland.com/newsletter/131018.pdf
CONTENTS
Electric Scotland News
Electric Canadian
Memoir of the Right Reverend John Strachan
Malcolm MacLeod
Ethnic Groups in Canada
Road to Canada's Confederation
Adrienne Clarkson: Becoming Canadian
Dr Norman Bethune
Documentaries
Paul Desmarais
The Flag in the Wind
Electric Scotland
The Scottish Historical Review
Songs Of Scotland, Prior To Burns
Thomas Dykes
Enigma Machine
Leaves from the Journal
Merchant's Guide to Stirling & District
Lord Charles Neaves
The Awakening of Scotland
The Industries of Scotland
Grant of Rothiemurchus
Charles Black
Highland Dancing
Jim McColl
Scotland, Picturesque: Historical: Descriptive
David Herschell Edwards - Modern Poets
The Evolution of Scottish Freemasonry
Robert Louis Stevenson
Christine McKelvie's Column
Beth's Newfangled Family Tree
Stirling Observer Christmas Annuals from c. 1911 to 1969
Baillie James Ronald of Stirling
A History of Celtic Britain
and finally
Electric Scotland News
Books are my theme this week as I got information in about three books which look to be a good read. Here are the details...
The Invisible Spirit by Kenneth Roy
'The best book on Scotland I have ever read' – Ian Hamilton, QC
544 pages; hardback; £25
ICS Books; 978-0-9546527-8-4
Kenneth Roy's panorama of post-war Scottish life begins with the VE night celebrations in the spring of 1945 and ends with the coming onstream of North Sea oil in the autumn of 1975. It was the formative period in the making of modern Scotland, but it is a period little explored in depth and not fully understood until now.
Using a wealth of contemporary accounts, the book tells a complex and often disturbing story of a country riven by poverty, struggling for a sense of its own identity, and ill-served by its masters.
The Invisible Spirit is unsparing in its examination of the failings of the Scottish establishment. It delivers a stinging indictment of political complacency and judicial incompetence and shows that, too often, the interests of Scotland and its people were betrayed. It exposes how, time and again, the truth was covered up in order to protect the powerful and how the press acquiescently accepted a far from reliable official version of events.
The book is also, however, the story of ordinary lives – the aspirations, the hardships and the achievements of the Scots themselves. Richly varied in mood from the controversial to the amusing, The Invisible Spirit is both entertaining and compelling. It provides a unique perspective on Scotland at a turning point in its long history.
To order your copy of the book, please complete the short form below and follow the PayPal link (please note that you do not require a PayPal account to order in this way).
Cost per copy:
£25 plus £2 p&p (UK);
£25 plus £5 p&p (Europe);
£25 plus £10 p&p (rest of the world)
The order form can be found at http://www.scottishreview.net/Order.shtml
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Gordon Wright's Memoirs Vol. 1 A Great Idea at the Time
This book is an electronic one.
Gordon Wright’s first volume of Memoirs A Great Idea at the Time covers the years from 1942 until 1973. He paints a vivid picture of growing up in Edinburgh, remembering schooldays; fifteen years working as a camera operator in three different Edinburgh printing companies; working as a semi-pro dance band guitarist; working as an attendant at the big pop concerts in the ABC cinema in Edinburgh which featured The Beatles, the Stones and many others; training at the Dunedin weightlifting club and joining a partnership to open a health studio in Portobello before starting to publish Scottish literature in his spare time and the start of his professional publishing career. The book is packed with incidents and anecdotes and illustrated with one hundred and thirty-six photographs. A fascinating insight into Scotland’s recent past.
A GREAT IDEA AT THE TIME
Memoirs of a Scottish Publisher and Photographer
(Vol. 1.)
By Gordon Wright
206pp. illus. ibook for the iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone.
Gordon Wright was born in Edinburgh in 1942 and has spent most of his life in the city. An only child, he lived with his parents in Blackford Glen Road which was a natural adventure playground of fields and forest around the Braid burn. He left school in 1958 and started an apprenticeship in the camera department of John Bartholomew & Sons Ltd., the Edinburgh cartographers and later on worked for the printers W & A K Johnston and Banks & Co.
In 1967 Gordon was asked by a nationalist friend, Ben Hyde if he would supply photographs for a new nationalist/literary magazine, Catalyst and this introduced him to many of the leading writers in Scotland at that time. Soon he was illustrating and designing the magazine, working with the editor, William Neill.
A keen guitarist, Gordon played in dance bands during his twenties and trained at the Dunedin weight-lifting club where he met Norman Rough. Together, they formed a partnership with David Mitchell of Dalkeith and in January 1969 they opened the Norman Rough Health Studio in Portobello.
In September 1969 William Neill was crowned bard at the Gaelic Mod in Aviemore and he asked Gordon to organise the publication of one of his long poems, Scotland’s Castle, which promptly sold out two hundred copies. This led to Gordon publishing the book Four Points of a Saltire in 1971, which featured poems by Sorley MacLean, George Campbell Hay, William Neill and Stuart MacGregor. Other books were to follow: Collected Poems by Helen B Cruickshank; The Albannach by Fionn Mac Colla; Rhymes ’n Reasons by Donald Campbell; Memo for Spring by Liz Lochhead; Blasad Gaidhlig by Donald MacLennan; Despatches Home by William Neill and A Political Speech by Hugh MacDiarmid.
What had started as a hobby was turning into a serious business, and in 1973 with the offer of a part-time appointment promoting Scotland’s literary magazines, he left the printing trade and prepared to develop his own book list.
Vol. I is filled with events and anecdotes and illustrated with 136 illustrations. It’s a fascinating insight into Scotland’s recent past. It can be ordered through iTunes,.
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Clan Donnell Tales of Ireland By David K. McDonnell
(Traverse City, Michigan, October 16, 2013) “Millions of people around the world are of Irish descent, yet most of us barely have passing knowledge about the Ireland of our ancestors,” says author David McDonnell. “And much of what we think we know – how our ancestors lived, why they left the island – is often way off the mark.”
McDonnell’s new book, ClanDonnell: A Storied History of Ireland, offers an entertaining remedy by telling the stories of people in the Celtic Irish McDonnell clan and their subsequent descendants. Since the first McDonnells were mercenaries, they were called into service in all corners of Ireland and interacted – often violently – with other Irish clans. Over time, the McDonnells faced the same troubling forces as all Irish – brutal clan wars, religious strife, subjugation by the English, confiscation of lands, famine and starvation, mass emigration, struggles for national identity and independence… and much more. Thus the stories of the McDonnells reflect the stories of all Irish, from any clan.
The book is non-fiction, but has all the elements of a historical novel – fair maidens, multiple beheadings, nasty bar fights (one ends with a javelin through the heart!), plotted assassinations, hangings, exile, and witches’ spells, to name a few. Timeless themes of passionate love, family bonds, valor and honor, revenge and political intrigue, leap off every page. McDonnell spent years exhaustively researching the origination of the Irish clans – as well as the origination of Irish last names – and many stories transpired over a thousand years ago. Over 600 strategically placed images, as well as the author’s wit and story-telling skills, make this unlike any other history of Ireland.
For more information (including preface, table of contents, sample stories and photographs, and author background) see www.clandonnell.net
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There is a considerable mixture of material added this week with both our ElectricCanadian and ElectricScotland sites. I find one thing leads to another and so as an example I have been trying to work on ethnic histories of people in Canada but wasn't getting very far. However while searching for something I came across a video on the Ukrainians in Canada which was truly excellent. That got me going and so searched for other ethnic groups and found a few more and as a result I now have pages for an extra six ethnic groups in Canada.
Likewise I got in an email thanking me for information on the site about the "Reel of the 51st Highland Division". That got me on another tangent so checked on YouTube to see if there was a video of the Reel being danced. Not only did I find one but that led me to checking our Introduction page to Highland Dancing that was sent into us. In that article a list of the most common Highland Dances was listed and so I ended up looking for a video for each of the dances and have now added those to the page.
Then while browsing through the messages in our community I saw one person looking for an e-pal in either Alaska or Northern Canada. That made me think that I should look to see if I could profile working Canadians in the North and that was what led me to creating a Documentaries page.
Of course when you start searching for material on YouTube you can't but help find other videos that are not related to your search but none the less are interesting. That of course leads to other pages being created.
There is of course a correlation between YouTube and texts so sometimes you find a video which then makes you wonder if there is a book about the subject that would provide more information.
So as you can see I no longer have a grand plan for the site and just let things go where they will <grin>.
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This week we've been targeted by hackers I'm sorry to say. Hasn't produced too much disruption but we are constantly checking the sites to see if they are ok. Steve is running a lengthy security scan on our server to try and find out how they are getting in. So far I can see no particular problems with our main web sites but they do seem to have done some damage to our Community and as a result we're considering moving from version 4 of our software to version 5 to attempt to fix and at the same time upgrade our security.
What is happening is that they are posting up an index.php file which is the first file that will load when you visit our sites. With the main web sites it's just a matter of deleting it but until we notice that has been done you just get a blank page. Now of course no-one other than ourselves should be able to upload that file to our servers so that means we have a security hole in our server which they are exploiting and so we're trying to find it and block it.
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Also just to say I got a phone call from Donna Flood. As most of you will know Donna has been a long time contributor to our site and some of you were asking if she's ok. Well pleased to say she is fine although facing some health issues and family problems but nothing more than what you'd expect as you get older. She is having problems using her new computer so I gave her a few suggestions on how to make things easier for her.
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And finally, just as an observation, I would reckon that one way or another we must have the largest collection of Scottish Poetry and Songs and information on Scottish Poets anywhere on the web. Poetry used to be very popular which is why there is so much out there to collect. That said I'm not sure how popular poetry is today. It's like our Children's stories collection is huge but there at least I do get lots of email in about them so I do know they are appreciated by young and old alike. That said I can't remember the last time I got an email in on Poetry so was just wondering if any of you are reading any of it?
Electric Canadian
Memoir of the Right Reverend John Strachan
First Bishop of Toronto by A. N. Bethune, his successor in the See (1870)
Now got up the final chapter so just the appendices to go. You can read these chapters at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/Reli...chan/index.htm
Malcolm MacLeod
He was very influential in the building of Canada including the CPR and Western Canada.
I found a copy of his Memorial to the Government and Parliament of Canada which details all the work he carried out.
You can read his Memorial at http://www.electriccanadian.com/makers/malcolm_macleod.htm
Ethnic Groups in Canada
I have been working on adding information on the history of ethnic groups in Canada...
African Canadians at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/african.htm
Macedonians in Canada at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/macedonians.htm
Dutch in Canada at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/dutch/index.htm
Chinese in Canada at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/chinese.htm
Ukrainians in Canada at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/ukraine.htm
Polish Canadians at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/poland.htm
Road to Canada's Confederation
This is a great video that uses both video clips from "Canada: A People's History" as well as summaries directly from multiple Ontario Grade 8 History textbooks. It pertains specifically to the Ontario Social Studies Curriculum. It a great learning resource for both teachers and students! Enjoy!
You can watch this at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/confederaation.htm
Adrienne Clarkson: Becoming Canadian
I added a video that she did on this subject. How have people like Naheed Nenshi and Andy Barrie changed Canada? Adrienne Clarkson says Canada's strength lies in its inclusion of immigrants. She sits down with Steve Paikin to say why there is room for all of us..
You can view this down the page at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/index.htm
Dr Norman Bethune
China's Hero, Canada's Traitor.
An article in the Toronto Star quotes Treasury Board President Tony Clement: "When Chinese schoolchildren are taught about the value of helping humanity, the story they are told is the Norman Bethune story."
You can read more about this and watch a video at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/make...une_norman.htm
Documentaries
I decided to create a page where I find videos on documenting Canadian Life. I started of this section with...
Ice Pilots
This is a long running series following the employees and owner of Buffalo Air as they work in Northern Canada moving passengers and freight. There are many episodes of this series available on YouTube but we're providing you with the first 4 episodes from series 1 to view here.
The Ekati Diamond Mine
Showing the operation of this diamond mine.
Wings Over Canada
A look at life through bush pilots in Canada. This is an external link to 14 videos.
You can view these at http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...ideos/docs.htm
Paul Desmarais
Paul Desmarais, one of Canada's most powerful businessmen and a self-made billionaire who befriended Prime Ministers and Presidents, has died. You can read about him at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/makers/desmarais_paul.htm
The Flag in the Wind
This weeks issue was compiled by Margaret Hamilton. There is also a Synopsis.
You can read this issue at http://www.scotsindependent.org
Electric Scotland
The Scottish Historical Review
We are on Volume 12 and have now added the April 1915 issue. You can get to this at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...w/volume12.htm
There is an interesting article on Dugald Dalgetty: and Scottish Soldiers of Fortune.
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 another three songs..
.
The Ewe-Buchts
The Birks of Invermay
Roslin Castle
You can get to this book at the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ers_robert.htm
Thomas Dykes
(1850, Dundonald, Ayrshire - 1916, London, England) Journalist and Author
Added three more articles to his "All Round Sport" book.
White Hare Shooting on Loch Katrine Side
Salmon-Fishing on Loch Tay
Shooting Wild Rock Pigeons
You can read these at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...kes_thomas.htm
Enigma Machine
This is where we are publishing this set of puzzles created by Doug Ross which can now be found in Doctor's Surgeries, Old Folks Homes, etc.
Added Enigma Machine 36 puzzle which you can get to at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life.../enigma036.htm
The other puzzles we've already published can be found at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...igma/index.htm
Leaves from the Journal
From our life in the Highlands from 1848 to 1861 (1868)
We're now on her second book and this week added chapters on...
Visit to Blair 15 Sept 1863
Carriage Accident 7 Oct 1863
Unveiling of the Prince’s Statue at Aberdeen 13 Oct 1863
Expedition to Invermark 19 Sept 1865
First Visit to Dunkeld 9 Oct 1865
Second Visit to Dunkeld 1 Oct 1866
Opening of the Aberdeen Waterworks 16 Oct 1866
Here is the story of the Carriage Accident...
After that, however, though going very slowly, we seemed to be all right, but Alice was not at all reassured, and thought Brown’s holding up the lantern all the time on the box indicated that Smith could not see where he was going, though the road was as broad and plain as possible. Suddenly, about two miles from Altnagiuthasach, and about twenty minutes after we had started, the carriage began to turn up on one side; we called out: “What’s the matter?” There was an awful pause, during which Alice said: “We are upsetting.” In another moment—during which I had time to reflect whether we should be killed or not, and thought there were still things I had not settled and wanted to do—the carriage turned over on its side, and we were all precipitated to the ground! I came down very hard, with my face upon the ground, near the carriage, the horses both on the ground, and Brown calling out in despair, “The Lord Almighty have mercy on us! Who did ever see the like of this before! I thought you were all killed.”
Alice was soon helped up by means of tearing all her clothes to disentangle her; but Lenchen, who had also got caught in her dress, called out very piteously, which frightened me a good deal; but she was also got out with Brown’s assistance, and neither she nor Alice was at all hurt. I reassured them that I was not hurt, and urged that we should make the best of it. as it was an inevitable misfortune. Smith, utterly confused and bewildered, at length came up to ask if I was hurt. Meantime the horses were lying on the ground as if dead, and it was absolutely necessary to get them up again. Alice, whose calmness and coolness were admirable, held one of the lamps while Brown cut the traces, to the horror of Smith, and the horses were speedily released and got up unhurt. There was now no means of getting home except by sending back Smith with the two horses to get another carriage.
All this took some time, about half an hour, before we got off. By this time I felt that my face was a good deal bruised and swollen, and, above all, my right thumb was excessively painful, and much swollen; indeed I thought at first it was broken, till we began to move it. Alice advised then that we should sit down in the carriage—that is, with the bottom of the carriage as a back—which we did, covered with plaids, little Willem sitting in front, with the hood of his “bournous” over his head, holding a lantern, Brown holding another, and being indefatigable in his attention and care. He had hurt his knee a good deal in jumping off the carriage. A little claret was all we could get either to drink or wash my face and hand. Almost directly after the accident happened, I said to Alice it was terrible not to be able to tell it to my dearest Albert, to which she answered: “But he knows it all, and I am sure he watched over us.” I am thankful that it was by no imprudence of mine, or the slightest deviation from what my beloved one and I had always been in the habit of doing, and what he sanctioned and approved.
The thought of having to sit here in the road ever so long was, of course, not very agreeable, but it was not cold, and I remembered from the first what my beloved one had always said to me, namely, to make the best of what could not be altered. We had a faint hope, at one moment, that our ponies might overtake us; but then Brown recollected that they had started before us. We did nothing but talk of the accident, and how; it could have happened, and how merciful the escape was, and we all agreed that Smith was quite unfit to drive me again in the dark.
We had been sitting here about half an hour when we heard the sound of voices and of horses hoofs, which came nearer and nearer. To our relief we found it was our ponies Kennedy (whom dear Albert liked, and who always went out with him, and now generally goes with us) had become fearful of an accident, as we were so long coming; he heard Smith going back with the ponies, and then, seeing lights moving about, he felt convinced something must have happened, and therefore rode back to look for us, which was very thoughtful of him, for else we might have sat there till ten. o'clock.
We mounted our ponies at once and proceeded home. Brown leading Alice’s and my pony, which he would not let go for fear of another accident. Lenchen and Willem followed, led by Alick Grant. Kennedy carried the lantern in front. It was quite light enough to see the road without a lantern. At the hill where the gate of the deer-fence is, above the distillery, we met the other carriage, again driven by Smith, and a number of stable-people come to raise the first carriage, and a pair of horses to bring it home. We preferred, however, riding home, which we reached at about twenty minutes to ten o’clock. No one knew what had happened till we told them. Fritz and Louis were at the door. People were foolishly alarmed when we got upstairs, and made a great fuss. Took only a little soup and fish in my room, and had my head bandaged.
I saw the others only for a moment, and got to bed rather late.
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/leaves/
Merchant's Guide to Stirling & District
A new book we're starting which we're adding to the foot of our History of Stirlingshire page.
This week I added the chapters on...
Broad Street
The Wigtown Martyrs
The Beheading Stone
You can get to this book which we'll be adding to over the next few weeks at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/stirlingshire at the foot of the page.
Lord Charles Neaves
Added three more of his poems...
The Jolly Testator Who Makes His Own Will
O! He Was Lang O' Coming
Saturday at E'En
You can view these at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...es_charles.htm
The Awakening of Scotland
A History from 1747 to 1797 by William Law Mathieson.
We completed this book which I believe is an important one in understanding how Scotland made such advances in the world and I highly commend this book as one that is important to understand the development of Scotland at this important period of Scottish history.
You can view this book at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ning/index.htm
The Industries of Scotland
I continued to do some work on this section and found another video but also some interesting texts.
Shipbuilding
I found a copy of a letter detailing the state of shipbuilding in the US and comparing it to Scotland. I've compiled it into a pdf file which you can download at the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../industry4.htm
Iron manufacturing
I came across a very good article on the coal and iron trade of the west of Scotland which you can read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../industry2.htm
Woollen Manufacturers
Added a couple of videos to our Woollen Manufacturers page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../industry9.htm
You can get to the actual book at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rial/index.htm
Grant of Rothiemurchus
A new book we're starting. A Memoir of the Services of Sir John Peter Grant, G.C.M.G., K.C.B.
Member if the Supreme Council of India during the Administration of Lord Dalhousie and Lord Canning; Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, and Governor of Jamaica by Walter Scott Seton-Karr, Esq (1899)
THE LIFE of the late Sir John Peter Grant will, it is understood, be included in a forthcoming volume of the National Biography. It seemed, however, to a near relative of the deceased statesman, that a memoir on a slightly extended scale might be written to show the events in which he took part, and the political questions which he helped to settle in periods of peace and progress in India, as well as in the troublous and exciting time of the Sepoy Mutiny.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/grant
Charles Black
Added this publisher to our Significant Scots.
Charles Black was a member of one of the most celebrated publishing families who owned the famous Edinburgh firm of A & C Black for four generations. For almost three decades Black was chairman of the company whose reputation for high quality publishing was maintained and which he astutely enhanced. The firm was renowned for its annual publishing of Who’s Who and gained a deserved reputation for its accuracy and concise biographies.
You can read more about him at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ck_charles.htm
Highland Dancing
I got an email in about one of the Highland Dances I'd featured on the site. This made me look again at our Intro to Highland Dancing and so I added some videos to show each of the dances featured in there.
You can see these additions...
Intro to Highland Dance at: http://www.electricscotland.com/dance/intro.htm
Reel of the 51st Highland Division at: http://www.electricscotland.com/music/wardance.htm
Jim McColl
An outstanding businessman which we've added to our Significant Scots page. I also found a video where he is talking about how he got started in business.
You can read and view this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...mccoll_jim.htm
Scotland, Picturesque: Historical: Descriptive
This is a book we're serialising from the author of Historical Tales of the Wars of Scotland And of the Border Raids, Forays and Conflicts by John Parker Lawson (1839)
You need to scroll down the page to get to this book where we've now added the first two chapters...
Edinburgh - History of the Castle
The Abbey and Palace of Holyrood
You can get to this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/history/wars/
David Herschell Edwards
His 16 volumes of modern Scottish Poets is probably the most massive collection of poetry by anyone in the world and it's all about Scots poets which makes it all the more amazing.
We now have volumes 1 to 7 up for you to enjoy.
You can get to this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ards_david.htm
The Evolution of Scottish Freemasonry
I came across a video where the curator of the Grand Lodge of Scotland was giving a talk on this subject while in the USA. You can view this at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...le_history.htm
Robert Louis Stevenson
A start to the weekly serialisation of the intimate two volume biography of Robert Louis Stevenson by his cousin Graham Balfour.
You can read this towards the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...lstevenson.htm
Christine McKelvie's Column
Got in her column for 14th October 2013. You can read this at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...vie/131014.htm
Beth's Newfangled Family Tree
Added Section 2 of the November 2013 issue which you can read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/bnft
Stirling Observer Christmas Annuals from c. 1911 to 1969
Index of people who appear in words and photos in the Stirling Observer Christmas Annuals from c. 1911 to 1969 . Over seventeen thousand name references. You can get to this if you scroll down the page until just above the The Merchant's Guide to Stirling & District book about half way down the page at: http://www.electricscotland.com/history/stirlingshire
Baillie James Ronald of Stirling
Found a longer memoir of this gentleman which I've added to his page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...nald_james.htm
A History of Celtic Britain
I've added a four hour video on the history of Celtic Britain to our page "The Greatness and Decline of the Celts". You can view this at:http://www.electricscotland.com/history/celts/
And finally...
That's Experience Talking!
An old caddie who had watched as his tourist golfer hooked wildly at the first tee to land on the 18th green handed the aghast chap his putter and told him:
"Just sink it sir and you'll be round in seventy under par."
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Sweet Talk
It seems that not everyone is obsessed with going to the gym. As one woman in a west end lounge-bar told her pals,
"Whenever I accidentally say the word exercise', I wash my mouth out with chocolate."
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This newsletter is going out earlier than usual as I'm scheduled for a conference call with the COSCA Scottish American Clan & Family Caucus COMMUNICATIONS WORKING GROUP this evening and need some time to prepare for that.
And so that's it for now and hope you all have a great weekend.
Alastair
CONTENTS
Electric Scotland News
Electric Canadian
Memoir of the Right Reverend John Strachan
Malcolm MacLeod
Ethnic Groups in Canada
Road to Canada's Confederation
Adrienne Clarkson: Becoming Canadian
Dr Norman Bethune
Documentaries
Paul Desmarais
The Flag in the Wind
Electric Scotland
The Scottish Historical Review
Songs Of Scotland, Prior To Burns
Thomas Dykes
Enigma Machine
Leaves from the Journal
Merchant's Guide to Stirling & District
Lord Charles Neaves
The Awakening of Scotland
The Industries of Scotland
Grant of Rothiemurchus
Charles Black
Highland Dancing
Jim McColl
Scotland, Picturesque: Historical: Descriptive
David Herschell Edwards - Modern Poets
The Evolution of Scottish Freemasonry
Robert Louis Stevenson
Christine McKelvie's Column
Beth's Newfangled Family Tree
Stirling Observer Christmas Annuals from c. 1911 to 1969
Baillie James Ronald of Stirling
A History of Celtic Britain
and finally
Electric Scotland News
Books are my theme this week as I got information in about three books which look to be a good read. Here are the details...
The Invisible Spirit by Kenneth Roy
'The best book on Scotland I have ever read' – Ian Hamilton, QC
544 pages; hardback; £25
ICS Books; 978-0-9546527-8-4
Kenneth Roy's panorama of post-war Scottish life begins with the VE night celebrations in the spring of 1945 and ends with the coming onstream of North Sea oil in the autumn of 1975. It was the formative period in the making of modern Scotland, but it is a period little explored in depth and not fully understood until now.
Using a wealth of contemporary accounts, the book tells a complex and often disturbing story of a country riven by poverty, struggling for a sense of its own identity, and ill-served by its masters.
The Invisible Spirit is unsparing in its examination of the failings of the Scottish establishment. It delivers a stinging indictment of political complacency and judicial incompetence and shows that, too often, the interests of Scotland and its people were betrayed. It exposes how, time and again, the truth was covered up in order to protect the powerful and how the press acquiescently accepted a far from reliable official version of events.
The book is also, however, the story of ordinary lives – the aspirations, the hardships and the achievements of the Scots themselves. Richly varied in mood from the controversial to the amusing, The Invisible Spirit is both entertaining and compelling. It provides a unique perspective on Scotland at a turning point in its long history.
To order your copy of the book, please complete the short form below and follow the PayPal link (please note that you do not require a PayPal account to order in this way).
Cost per copy:
£25 plus £2 p&p (UK);
£25 plus £5 p&p (Europe);
£25 plus £10 p&p (rest of the world)
The order form can be found at http://www.scottishreview.net/Order.shtml
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Gordon Wright's Memoirs Vol. 1 A Great Idea at the Time
This book is an electronic one.
Gordon Wright’s first volume of Memoirs A Great Idea at the Time covers the years from 1942 until 1973. He paints a vivid picture of growing up in Edinburgh, remembering schooldays; fifteen years working as a camera operator in three different Edinburgh printing companies; working as a semi-pro dance band guitarist; working as an attendant at the big pop concerts in the ABC cinema in Edinburgh which featured The Beatles, the Stones and many others; training at the Dunedin weightlifting club and joining a partnership to open a health studio in Portobello before starting to publish Scottish literature in his spare time and the start of his professional publishing career. The book is packed with incidents and anecdotes and illustrated with one hundred and thirty-six photographs. A fascinating insight into Scotland’s recent past.
A GREAT IDEA AT THE TIME
Memoirs of a Scottish Publisher and Photographer
(Vol. 1.)
By Gordon Wright
206pp. illus. ibook for the iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone.
Gordon Wright was born in Edinburgh in 1942 and has spent most of his life in the city. An only child, he lived with his parents in Blackford Glen Road which was a natural adventure playground of fields and forest around the Braid burn. He left school in 1958 and started an apprenticeship in the camera department of John Bartholomew & Sons Ltd., the Edinburgh cartographers and later on worked for the printers W & A K Johnston and Banks & Co.
In 1967 Gordon was asked by a nationalist friend, Ben Hyde if he would supply photographs for a new nationalist/literary magazine, Catalyst and this introduced him to many of the leading writers in Scotland at that time. Soon he was illustrating and designing the magazine, working with the editor, William Neill.
A keen guitarist, Gordon played in dance bands during his twenties and trained at the Dunedin weight-lifting club where he met Norman Rough. Together, they formed a partnership with David Mitchell of Dalkeith and in January 1969 they opened the Norman Rough Health Studio in Portobello.
In September 1969 William Neill was crowned bard at the Gaelic Mod in Aviemore and he asked Gordon to organise the publication of one of his long poems, Scotland’s Castle, which promptly sold out two hundred copies. This led to Gordon publishing the book Four Points of a Saltire in 1971, which featured poems by Sorley MacLean, George Campbell Hay, William Neill and Stuart MacGregor. Other books were to follow: Collected Poems by Helen B Cruickshank; The Albannach by Fionn Mac Colla; Rhymes ’n Reasons by Donald Campbell; Memo for Spring by Liz Lochhead; Blasad Gaidhlig by Donald MacLennan; Despatches Home by William Neill and A Political Speech by Hugh MacDiarmid.
What had started as a hobby was turning into a serious business, and in 1973 with the offer of a part-time appointment promoting Scotland’s literary magazines, he left the printing trade and prepared to develop his own book list.
Vol. I is filled with events and anecdotes and illustrated with 136 illustrations. It’s a fascinating insight into Scotland’s recent past. It can be ordered through iTunes,.
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Clan Donnell Tales of Ireland By David K. McDonnell
(Traverse City, Michigan, October 16, 2013) “Millions of people around the world are of Irish descent, yet most of us barely have passing knowledge about the Ireland of our ancestors,” says author David McDonnell. “And much of what we think we know – how our ancestors lived, why they left the island – is often way off the mark.”
McDonnell’s new book, ClanDonnell: A Storied History of Ireland, offers an entertaining remedy by telling the stories of people in the Celtic Irish McDonnell clan and their subsequent descendants. Since the first McDonnells were mercenaries, they were called into service in all corners of Ireland and interacted – often violently – with other Irish clans. Over time, the McDonnells faced the same troubling forces as all Irish – brutal clan wars, religious strife, subjugation by the English, confiscation of lands, famine and starvation, mass emigration, struggles for national identity and independence… and much more. Thus the stories of the McDonnells reflect the stories of all Irish, from any clan.
The book is non-fiction, but has all the elements of a historical novel – fair maidens, multiple beheadings, nasty bar fights (one ends with a javelin through the heart!), plotted assassinations, hangings, exile, and witches’ spells, to name a few. Timeless themes of passionate love, family bonds, valor and honor, revenge and political intrigue, leap off every page. McDonnell spent years exhaustively researching the origination of the Irish clans – as well as the origination of Irish last names – and many stories transpired over a thousand years ago. Over 600 strategically placed images, as well as the author’s wit and story-telling skills, make this unlike any other history of Ireland.
For more information (including preface, table of contents, sample stories and photographs, and author background) see www.clandonnell.net
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There is a considerable mixture of material added this week with both our ElectricCanadian and ElectricScotland sites. I find one thing leads to another and so as an example I have been trying to work on ethnic histories of people in Canada but wasn't getting very far. However while searching for something I came across a video on the Ukrainians in Canada which was truly excellent. That got me going and so searched for other ethnic groups and found a few more and as a result I now have pages for an extra six ethnic groups in Canada.
Likewise I got in an email thanking me for information on the site about the "Reel of the 51st Highland Division". That got me on another tangent so checked on YouTube to see if there was a video of the Reel being danced. Not only did I find one but that led me to checking our Introduction page to Highland Dancing that was sent into us. In that article a list of the most common Highland Dances was listed and so I ended up looking for a video for each of the dances and have now added those to the page.
Then while browsing through the messages in our community I saw one person looking for an e-pal in either Alaska or Northern Canada. That made me think that I should look to see if I could profile working Canadians in the North and that was what led me to creating a Documentaries page.
Of course when you start searching for material on YouTube you can't but help find other videos that are not related to your search but none the less are interesting. That of course leads to other pages being created.
There is of course a correlation between YouTube and texts so sometimes you find a video which then makes you wonder if there is a book about the subject that would provide more information.
So as you can see I no longer have a grand plan for the site and just let things go where they will <grin>.
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This week we've been targeted by hackers I'm sorry to say. Hasn't produced too much disruption but we are constantly checking the sites to see if they are ok. Steve is running a lengthy security scan on our server to try and find out how they are getting in. So far I can see no particular problems with our main web sites but they do seem to have done some damage to our Community and as a result we're considering moving from version 4 of our software to version 5 to attempt to fix and at the same time upgrade our security.
What is happening is that they are posting up an index.php file which is the first file that will load when you visit our sites. With the main web sites it's just a matter of deleting it but until we notice that has been done you just get a blank page. Now of course no-one other than ourselves should be able to upload that file to our servers so that means we have a security hole in our server which they are exploiting and so we're trying to find it and block it.
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Also just to say I got a phone call from Donna Flood. As most of you will know Donna has been a long time contributor to our site and some of you were asking if she's ok. Well pleased to say she is fine although facing some health issues and family problems but nothing more than what you'd expect as you get older. She is having problems using her new computer so I gave her a few suggestions on how to make things easier for her.
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And finally, just as an observation, I would reckon that one way or another we must have the largest collection of Scottish Poetry and Songs and information on Scottish Poets anywhere on the web. Poetry used to be very popular which is why there is so much out there to collect. That said I'm not sure how popular poetry is today. It's like our Children's stories collection is huge but there at least I do get lots of email in about them so I do know they are appreciated by young and old alike. That said I can't remember the last time I got an email in on Poetry so was just wondering if any of you are reading any of it?
Electric Canadian
Memoir of the Right Reverend John Strachan
First Bishop of Toronto by A. N. Bethune, his successor in the See (1870)
Now got up the final chapter so just the appendices to go. You can read these chapters at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/Reli...chan/index.htm
Malcolm MacLeod
He was very influential in the building of Canada including the CPR and Western Canada.
I found a copy of his Memorial to the Government and Parliament of Canada which details all the work he carried out.
You can read his Memorial at http://www.electriccanadian.com/makers/malcolm_macleod.htm
Ethnic Groups in Canada
I have been working on adding information on the history of ethnic groups in Canada...
African Canadians at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/african.htm
Macedonians in Canada at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/macedonians.htm
Dutch in Canada at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/dutch/index.htm
Chinese in Canada at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/chinese.htm
Ukrainians in Canada at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/ukraine.htm
Polish Canadians at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/poland.htm
Road to Canada's Confederation
This is a great video that uses both video clips from "Canada: A People's History" as well as summaries directly from multiple Ontario Grade 8 History textbooks. It pertains specifically to the Ontario Social Studies Curriculum. It a great learning resource for both teachers and students! Enjoy!
You can watch this at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/confederaation.htm
Adrienne Clarkson: Becoming Canadian
I added a video that she did on this subject. How have people like Naheed Nenshi and Andy Barrie changed Canada? Adrienne Clarkson says Canada's strength lies in its inclusion of immigrants. She sits down with Steve Paikin to say why there is room for all of us..
You can view this down the page at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/index.htm
Dr Norman Bethune
China's Hero, Canada's Traitor.
An article in the Toronto Star quotes Treasury Board President Tony Clement: "When Chinese schoolchildren are taught about the value of helping humanity, the story they are told is the Norman Bethune story."
You can read more about this and watch a video at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/make...une_norman.htm
Documentaries
I decided to create a page where I find videos on documenting Canadian Life. I started of this section with...
Ice Pilots
This is a long running series following the employees and owner of Buffalo Air as they work in Northern Canada moving passengers and freight. There are many episodes of this series available on YouTube but we're providing you with the first 4 episodes from series 1 to view here.
The Ekati Diamond Mine
Showing the operation of this diamond mine.
Wings Over Canada
A look at life through bush pilots in Canada. This is an external link to 14 videos.
You can view these at http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...ideos/docs.htm
Paul Desmarais
Paul Desmarais, one of Canada's most powerful businessmen and a self-made billionaire who befriended Prime Ministers and Presidents, has died. You can read about him at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/makers/desmarais_paul.htm
The Flag in the Wind
This weeks issue was compiled by Margaret Hamilton. There is also a Synopsis.
You can read this issue at http://www.scotsindependent.org
Electric Scotland
The Scottish Historical Review
We are on Volume 12 and have now added the April 1915 issue. You can get to this at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...w/volume12.htm
There is an interesting article on Dugald Dalgetty: and Scottish Soldiers of Fortune.
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 another three songs..
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The Ewe-Buchts
The Birks of Invermay
Roslin Castle
You can get to this book at the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ers_robert.htm
Thomas Dykes
(1850, Dundonald, Ayrshire - 1916, London, England) Journalist and Author
Added three more articles to his "All Round Sport" book.
White Hare Shooting on Loch Katrine Side
Salmon-Fishing on Loch Tay
Shooting Wild Rock Pigeons
You can read these at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...kes_thomas.htm
Enigma Machine
This is where we are publishing this set of puzzles created by Doug Ross which can now be found in Doctor's Surgeries, Old Folks Homes, etc.
Added Enigma Machine 36 puzzle which you can get to at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life.../enigma036.htm
The other puzzles we've already published can be found at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...igma/index.htm
Leaves from the Journal
From our life in the Highlands from 1848 to 1861 (1868)
We're now on her second book and this week added chapters on...
Visit to Blair 15 Sept 1863
Carriage Accident 7 Oct 1863
Unveiling of the Prince’s Statue at Aberdeen 13 Oct 1863
Expedition to Invermark 19 Sept 1865
First Visit to Dunkeld 9 Oct 1865
Second Visit to Dunkeld 1 Oct 1866
Opening of the Aberdeen Waterworks 16 Oct 1866
Here is the story of the Carriage Accident...
Wednesday, October 7, 1863
A hazy morning. I decided by Alice’s advice, with a heavy heart, to make the attempt to go to Clova. At half-past twelve drove with Alice and Lenchen to Altnagiuthasach, where we lunched, having warmed some broth and boiled some potatoes, and then rode up and over the Capel Month in frequent slight snow-showers. All the high hills white with snow; and the view of the green Clova hills covered with snow at the tops, with gleams of sunshine between the showers, was very fine; but it took us a long time, and I was very tired towards the end, and felt very sad and lonely. Loch Mulch looked beautiful in the setting sun as we came down, and reminded me of many former happy days I spent there. We stopped to take tea at Altnagiuthasach. Grant was not with us, having gone with Vicky. We started at about twenty minutes to seven from Altnagiuthasach, Brown on the box next Smith, who was driving, little Willem (Alice’s black serving boy) behind. It was quite dark when we left, but all the lamps were lit as usual; from the first, however, Smith seemed to be quite confused (and indeed has been much altered of late), and got off the road several times, once in a very dangerous place, when Alice called out and Brown got off the box to show him the way.After that, however, though going very slowly, we seemed to be all right, but Alice was not at all reassured, and thought Brown’s holding up the lantern all the time on the box indicated that Smith could not see where he was going, though the road was as broad and plain as possible. Suddenly, about two miles from Altnagiuthasach, and about twenty minutes after we had started, the carriage began to turn up on one side; we called out: “What’s the matter?” There was an awful pause, during which Alice said: “We are upsetting.” In another moment—during which I had time to reflect whether we should be killed or not, and thought there were still things I had not settled and wanted to do—the carriage turned over on its side, and we were all precipitated to the ground! I came down very hard, with my face upon the ground, near the carriage, the horses both on the ground, and Brown calling out in despair, “The Lord Almighty have mercy on us! Who did ever see the like of this before! I thought you were all killed.”
Alice was soon helped up by means of tearing all her clothes to disentangle her; but Lenchen, who had also got caught in her dress, called out very piteously, which frightened me a good deal; but she was also got out with Brown’s assistance, and neither she nor Alice was at all hurt. I reassured them that I was not hurt, and urged that we should make the best of it. as it was an inevitable misfortune. Smith, utterly confused and bewildered, at length came up to ask if I was hurt. Meantime the horses were lying on the ground as if dead, and it was absolutely necessary to get them up again. Alice, whose calmness and coolness were admirable, held one of the lamps while Brown cut the traces, to the horror of Smith, and the horses were speedily released and got up unhurt. There was now no means of getting home except by sending back Smith with the two horses to get another carriage.
All this took some time, about half an hour, before we got off. By this time I felt that my face was a good deal bruised and swollen, and, above all, my right thumb was excessively painful, and much swollen; indeed I thought at first it was broken, till we began to move it. Alice advised then that we should sit down in the carriage—that is, with the bottom of the carriage as a back—which we did, covered with plaids, little Willem sitting in front, with the hood of his “bournous” over his head, holding a lantern, Brown holding another, and being indefatigable in his attention and care. He had hurt his knee a good deal in jumping off the carriage. A little claret was all we could get either to drink or wash my face and hand. Almost directly after the accident happened, I said to Alice it was terrible not to be able to tell it to my dearest Albert, to which she answered: “But he knows it all, and I am sure he watched over us.” I am thankful that it was by no imprudence of mine, or the slightest deviation from what my beloved one and I had always been in the habit of doing, and what he sanctioned and approved.
The thought of having to sit here in the road ever so long was, of course, not very agreeable, but it was not cold, and I remembered from the first what my beloved one had always said to me, namely, to make the best of what could not be altered. We had a faint hope, at one moment, that our ponies might overtake us; but then Brown recollected that they had started before us. We did nothing but talk of the accident, and how; it could have happened, and how merciful the escape was, and we all agreed that Smith was quite unfit to drive me again in the dark.
We had been sitting here about half an hour when we heard the sound of voices and of horses hoofs, which came nearer and nearer. To our relief we found it was our ponies Kennedy (whom dear Albert liked, and who always went out with him, and now generally goes with us) had become fearful of an accident, as we were so long coming; he heard Smith going back with the ponies, and then, seeing lights moving about, he felt convinced something must have happened, and therefore rode back to look for us, which was very thoughtful of him, for else we might have sat there till ten. o'clock.
We mounted our ponies at once and proceeded home. Brown leading Alice’s and my pony, which he would not let go for fear of another accident. Lenchen and Willem followed, led by Alick Grant. Kennedy carried the lantern in front. It was quite light enough to see the road without a lantern. At the hill where the gate of the deer-fence is, above the distillery, we met the other carriage, again driven by Smith, and a number of stable-people come to raise the first carriage, and a pair of horses to bring it home. We preferred, however, riding home, which we reached at about twenty minutes to ten o’clock. No one knew what had happened till we told them. Fritz and Louis were at the door. People were foolishly alarmed when we got upstairs, and made a great fuss. Took only a little soup and fish in my room, and had my head bandaged.
I saw the others only for a moment, and got to bed rather late.
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/leaves/
Merchant's Guide to Stirling & District
A new book we're starting which we're adding to the foot of our History of Stirlingshire page.
This week I added the chapters on...
Broad Street
The Wigtown Martyrs
The Beheading Stone
You can get to this book which we'll be adding to over the next few weeks at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/stirlingshire at the foot of the page.
Lord Charles Neaves
Added three more of his poems...
The Jolly Testator Who Makes His Own Will
O! He Was Lang O' Coming
Saturday at E'En
You can view these at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...es_charles.htm
The Awakening of Scotland
A History from 1747 to 1797 by William Law Mathieson.
We completed this book which I believe is an important one in understanding how Scotland made such advances in the world and I highly commend this book as one that is important to understand the development of Scotland at this important period of Scottish history.
You can view this book at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ning/index.htm
The Industries of Scotland
I continued to do some work on this section and found another video but also some interesting texts.
Shipbuilding
I found a copy of a letter detailing the state of shipbuilding in the US and comparing it to Scotland. I've compiled it into a pdf file which you can download at the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../industry4.htm
Iron manufacturing
I came across a very good article on the coal and iron trade of the west of Scotland which you can read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../industry2.htm
Woollen Manufacturers
Added a couple of videos to our Woollen Manufacturers page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../industry9.htm
You can get to the actual book at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rial/index.htm
Grant of Rothiemurchus
A new book we're starting. A Memoir of the Services of Sir John Peter Grant, G.C.M.G., K.C.B.
Member if the Supreme Council of India during the Administration of Lord Dalhousie and Lord Canning; Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, and Governor of Jamaica by Walter Scott Seton-Karr, Esq (1899)
THE LIFE of the late Sir John Peter Grant will, it is understood, be included in a forthcoming volume of the National Biography. It seemed, however, to a near relative of the deceased statesman, that a memoir on a slightly extended scale might be written to show the events in which he took part, and the political questions which he helped to settle in periods of peace and progress in India, as well as in the troublous and exciting time of the Sepoy Mutiny.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/grant
Charles Black
Added this publisher to our Significant Scots.
Charles Black was a member of one of the most celebrated publishing families who owned the famous Edinburgh firm of A & C Black for four generations. For almost three decades Black was chairman of the company whose reputation for high quality publishing was maintained and which he astutely enhanced. The firm was renowned for its annual publishing of Who’s Who and gained a deserved reputation for its accuracy and concise biographies.
You can read more about him at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ck_charles.htm
Highland Dancing
I got an email in about one of the Highland Dances I'd featured on the site. This made me look again at our Intro to Highland Dancing and so I added some videos to show each of the dances featured in there.
You can see these additions...
Intro to Highland Dance at: http://www.electricscotland.com/dance/intro.htm
Reel of the 51st Highland Division at: http://www.electricscotland.com/music/wardance.htm
Jim McColl
An outstanding businessman which we've added to our Significant Scots page. I also found a video where he is talking about how he got started in business.
You can read and view this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...mccoll_jim.htm
Scotland, Picturesque: Historical: Descriptive
This is a book we're serialising from the author of Historical Tales of the Wars of Scotland And of the Border Raids, Forays and Conflicts by John Parker Lawson (1839)
You need to scroll down the page to get to this book where we've now added the first two chapters...
Edinburgh - History of the Castle
The Abbey and Palace of Holyrood
You can get to this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/history/wars/
David Herschell Edwards
His 16 volumes of modern Scottish Poets is probably the most massive collection of poetry by anyone in the world and it's all about Scots poets which makes it all the more amazing.
We now have volumes 1 to 7 up for you to enjoy.
You can get to this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ards_david.htm
The Evolution of Scottish Freemasonry
I came across a video where the curator of the Grand Lodge of Scotland was giving a talk on this subject while in the USA. You can view this at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...le_history.htm
Robert Louis Stevenson
A start to the weekly serialisation of the intimate two volume biography of Robert Louis Stevenson by his cousin Graham Balfour.
You can read this towards the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...lstevenson.htm
Christine McKelvie's Column
Got in her column for 14th October 2013. You can read this at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...vie/131014.htm
Beth's Newfangled Family Tree
Added Section 2 of the November 2013 issue which you can read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/bnft
Stirling Observer Christmas Annuals from c. 1911 to 1969
Index of people who appear in words and photos in the Stirling Observer Christmas Annuals from c. 1911 to 1969 . Over seventeen thousand name references. You can get to this if you scroll down the page until just above the The Merchant's Guide to Stirling & District book about half way down the page at: http://www.electricscotland.com/history/stirlingshire
Baillie James Ronald of Stirling
Found a longer memoir of this gentleman which I've added to his page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...nald_james.htm
A History of Celtic Britain
I've added a four hour video on the history of Celtic Britain to our page "The Greatness and Decline of the Celts". You can view this at:http://www.electricscotland.com/history/celts/
And finally...
That's Experience Talking!
An old caddie who had watched as his tourist golfer hooked wildly at the first tee to land on the 18th green handed the aghast chap his putter and told him:
"Just sink it sir and you'll be round in seventy under par."
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Sweet Talk
It seems that not everyone is obsessed with going to the gym. As one woman in a west end lounge-bar told her pals,
"Whenever I accidentally say the word exercise', I wash my mouth out with chocolate."
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This newsletter is going out earlier than usual as I'm scheduled for a conference call with the COSCA Scottish American Clan & Family Caucus COMMUNICATIONS WORKING GROUP this evening and need some time to prepare for that.
And so that's it for now and hope you all have a great weekend.
Alastair