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To see what we've added to the Electric Scotland site view our What's New page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/whatsnew.htm
To see what we've added to the Electric Canadian site view our What's New page at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/whatsnew.htm
For the latest news from Scotland see our ScotNews feed at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/
Electric Scotland News
Got myself a new second hand car this week, a Kia Megentis 2010 model. I took a test drive of it on a dull day and liked it very much so purchased it. Problem is that picking it up on a bright sunny day I found it almost impossible to read the instruments. With sun glasses on I simply couldn't read the speedometer. And when taking the sun glasses of I still had real problems reading it. This is definitely a problem and can't understand why Kia have done such a poor job on these instruments.
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I hope many of you will be enjoying a Burns Supper on the 25th. Many years ago I worked with the Scots Independent Newspaper to produce an audio recording of a Burns Supper. We did it in Real Audio format but recently I converted it to mp3 format and you can listen to it at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/burns/burns.mp3
The Immortal Memory was presented by James Halliday who passed away last year. James was an historian and past chairman of the SNP.
Should you want to listen to individual parts in Real Audio format you can get to this at:
http://www.scotsindependent.org/feat...urns/index.htm
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And seeing a number of you asked me to go back to posting the full newsletter back into the Community I am doing so.
Electric Canadian
Across the Canadian Prairies
A Two Months Holiday in the Dominion by J. G. Colmer (1894)
You can read this book as we get it up at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...ries/index.htm
Here is the chapter on Ottawa to Fort William...
Leaving Ottawa for the West, it is possible to travel by two routes, either direct by the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway through the Ottawa Valley, or by the line of the Canadian Pacific Railway, or that of the Grand Trunk Railway,viaToronto and Western Ontario. If the latter is adopted, the main line route may be reached again by way of the Grand Trunk Railway and North Bay. On our outward journey, however, we took the first of the two routes, branching off on our return at North Bay, and visiting Toronto and other places in what is known as the “Garden of Canada.”
The line from Ottawa goes by way of Carleton Junction and Renfrew, and enters the Ottawa Valley at the latter place. From Renfrew to Mattawa, a distance of 120 miles, it is continually in view of the Ottawa River. As already mentioned in previous letters, the scenery in this district is exceedingly picturesque. The river is broad and its banks are well timbered, and in many places it is below the level of tho surrounding country. In the autumn time, when the leaves are beginning to change their colours, the sight is exceedingly beautiful. The railway crosses many streams, along the banks of which may be found perfect paradises for the angler and sportsman. Between Ottawa and Pembroke, a distance of 124 miles, the country is fairly well settled with British and other European immigrants, and satisfactory progress is apparently being made, judging from the appearance of the farms, the excellent quality of the cattle everywhere to be seen, and the additional clearing that is annually taking place. Westward of Pembroke the country is not thickly inhabited; indeed, houses are few and far between, although in the near future the attractions of the country, when the emigration movement revives, will doubtless lead to a further accession of population. From Mattawa to Sudbury the Scenery is of the same character as that already described, a well-timbered, rocky country, with valleys here and there capable of cultivation, and watered by rushing streams, in which the maskinonge, trout, bass and other fish abound. On this stretch of line the principal place is North Bay, the junction with the Grand Trunk Railway already referred to; and Sudbury has sprung into importance in recent years, not only on account of the nickel deposits in the neighbourhood, said to be the most extensive in the world, but from its position as the junction with the Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Sault Ste. Marie Railway, the line running from Sudbury through Algoma along the shores of Lake Huron to Sault Ste. Marie, over which it is conveyed by a bridge to the United States.
The ride from Sudbury to Heron Bay, where the first sight of the magnificent Lake Superior is obtained, is not particularly inviting. The line traverses a more or less wild region, similar in character to that already described, but here and there very interesting and picturesque views are obtained. From Heron Bay the railway skirts the shores of Lake Superior to Fort William, a distance of nearly 200 miles. Not only are the views of the lake that are obtained singularly grand and interesting, but the scenery inland along the line of the railway merits a similar observation. No one who has not travelled over this piece of road can appreciate the immense difficulties that were encountered by the engineers in building it, and it quite justifies the remark that has been made, that the Canadians, in determining on the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway, must not only be credited with enterprise, but with considerable audacity. The railway curls about in some places almost like a corkscrew, and viaducts, tunnels, bridges, and cuttings occur rapidly one after the other along nearly the whole route.
The country through which the railway passes, between Ottawa and Fort William, has not yet yielded much return to mankind, for the simple reason that its wealth is not yet either appreciated or probably known. For a portion of the way, however, agriculture is gradually developing, and in favourable places indications of the lumber industry may be seen in floating logs and in occasional sawmills. The principal towns are Almonte, with a population of 3,500, a manufacturing centre, and the site of large woollen mills. Pakenham (population, 2,200) and Arnprior (population, 3,500) are also manufacturing centres. Then there is Pembroke, with a population of nearly 5,000, the most important town between Ottawa and Fort William, the centre of the lumbering trade on the Upper Ottawa. Mattawa, with a population rather under 2,000, is an old Hudson Bay trading post, and is a place from which sporting expeditions are arranged, facilities being found there for the supply of all materials and the necessary guides. Sudbury has already been referred to, but there are practically no further places of importance except those which obtain their populations by being railway divisional points, until Nepigon is reached. This is another favourite centre for sportsmen, especially those who seek the speckled trout, which is found in great abundance, and in all sizes, both in the Nepigon Lake and in the rivers which run out of it. Port Arthur, with a population of 3,000, was formerly a more important place than it is now, but, the Canadian Pacific Railway having lent its influence to Fort William, another town on the lake 5 miles away, its position has been somewhat eclipsed. It is likely, however, to develop in the future more than it has hitherto done, as the iron mines in the neighbourhood are exploited. Fort William derives its importance from the fact that it is the port of arrival and departure of the magnificent steamships of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, which ply to and from Owen Sound. It is also noted for its immense elevators, where the grain from the wheat fields of the West is stored prior to its shipment to the Eastern markets.
By Trench and Trail in Song and Story
By Angus MacKay (Oscar Dhu) (1918). Adding one of his poems each day untill complete.
Here is the Introduction...
A number of the songs in this collection have been heard by campfire and trail from the camps of British Columbia to the lumber camps of Maine. Several of the songs have been fired at the Huns “somewhere in France," no doubt with deadly effect. And also at the Turks on the long long hike to Bagdad and beyond.
And it is not impossible that some of my countrymen are now warbling snatches of my humble verse to the accompaniment of bagpipes on the streets of the New Jerusalem! Many of the verses have appeared from time to time in leading publications from Vancouver, B. C., to the New England States and Eastern Canada; while others appear in print here for the first time.
From all parts of the land I have received letters at various times asking for extra copies of some particular song in my humble collection, which I was not in a position to supply at the time.
I therefore decided to publish some of the songs for which a demand had been expressed, and in so doing offer to the reading public in extenuation of my offense the plea that in a manner this humble volume is being published by request.
I offer no apology for my “dialect" songs as they have already received the approval of music lovers whose judgment is beyond criticism.
For the errors which must inevitably creep into the work of a non-college-bred lumberjack, I crave the indulgence of all highbrows who may resent my inability to comb the classics for copy to please them. All the merit I can claim is the ability to rhyme a limerick or sing a "come-all-ye" in a manner perhaps not unpleasing to my friends.
The lumberjacks will understand me, I am sure, and will appreciate my humble efforts to entertain them.
As for the genial highbrow, should he deem me an interloper in the realm of letters and imagine that my wild, uncultured notes are destroying the harmony of his supersensitive soul, I shall "lope" back to the tall timber again and seek sympathy and appreciation among the lumberjacks of the forest primeval, where, amid the wild surroundings and the crooning of the trees, there is health for mind and body borne on every passing breeze. Yes, there's something strangely healing in the magic of the myrrh, in the odor of the cedar and the fragrance of the fir.
There the hardy lumberjack is the undisputed lord of the lowlands and chief of the highlands, and at the present time no soldier in the trenches or sailor on the rolling deep has a more arduous task to perform or a more important duty to discharge than he.
Toil on, ye Titans of the tall timbers; steadfast soldiers of the saw, and able allies of the axe. Carry on till the stately trees which constitute the glory of the West are converted into ships and planes in countless thousands, to win the great war for freedom and to make the world safe for democracy— and lumberjacks!
THE AUTHOR
You can read this book at http://www.electriccanadian.com/lifestyle/music/mackay/index.htm
The Flag in the Wind
This weeks issue was compiled by Alison Thewliss in which she is talking about Young people and Yes.
You can read this issue at http://www.scotsindependent.org
Electric Scotland
Robert Burns Lives!
We have two articles this week...
An article on what Robert Burns mean to me by Taya Khryplyva which we've added to Chapter 188 which you can find below the picture at:http://www.electricscotland.com/familytree/frank/burns_lives188.htm
The another article is on Artist Yuriy Kovatchev’s Reproduction of The famous Nasmyth Burns Portrait. As Frank says...
I have always loved the James Nasmyth portraits. Until recently the Burns global community had three they could call their own even thought they belonged to museums. The three can be found at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh; Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow; and in the National Portrait Gallery, London. Now, all of a sudden, another Nasmyth has been discovered, authenticated and is for sale. Saturday night while delivering the Immortal Memory, I challenged my own Atlanta St. Andrews Society to circle up and come up with the 2 million pounds the owner wants for it! Regretfully no one seemed too excited about doing it so the anonymous owner on the other side of the pond can strike us off the list of prospective buyers.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives191.htm
Scottish independence: Scottish independence: ‘Yes vote will end in court’
Article from the Scotsman by SCOTT MACNAB
SCOTLAND’S EU membership could be decided in court if there is a Yes vote in the referendum, according to a former European Court judge.
But Professor Sir David Edward believes Scotland would not be left outside Europe if voters back independence, and could negotiate its membership from inside.
Leaders such as European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council head Herman Van Rompuy have indicated that Scotland would be left outside the EU and forced to re-apply.
However, Sir David insisted negotiations could get under way after a Yes vote to “agree amendments to existing treaties to accommodate the new situation and not, as Barroso and Van Rompuy suggest, one or more accession treaties”.
Sir David, who indicated he will be voting No in the referendum, said the issue could come before the European Court of Justice, where he used to sit, in a submission to Holyrood’s Europe committee.
An “individual or company” could raise an action to clarify their rights and obligations after independence, which could be referred to Luxembourg.
Comment by Dr James Wilkie
Professor Edward has never been a member of any European court, in the sense of one exercising an all-European jurisdiction. There is no such institution as a European Court of Justice. He of all people should know that, and also that the one and only such all-European court is the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, which has nothing whatever to do with the European Union. The ECHR comes under the auspices of the 47-member Council of Europe (CoE).
The one in which he served is the Court of Justice of the European Union, which despite its euphonious title is no more than an internal administrative tribunal of two houses for adjudicating on regulations, directives and similar routine matters relating to the EU acquis communautaire This tribunal acts only within the 28-member EU. Nowhere in the legislation setting it up does the word "European" appear, aside from the court's title.
The EU court has no jurisdiction whatsoever over genuine European law emanating from the major all-European institutions like the CoE, OSCE or UNECE. The internal administrative regulations of one single organisation are not European law, not least when that organisation is half the size of all the others.
Deliberate misrepresentations that would land the directors of a private sector organisation in court on charges of fraud are the stock in trade of the EU, not least the abuse of the expression "European" in a sense deliberately intended to mislead.
It is standard diplomatic practice to identify prospective national leaders of countries the policies of which one wishes to influence, and get them under control. The SNP has evidently been so identified, and in its naivety and ignorance of the broader aspects of independence is unable to see how it is being manipulated, not least by vested interests behind Euromove. Blundering from one false move to another, it falls into the same error as student agitators by putting up an artificial Aunt Sally with no substance in order to have something to throw bricks at.
Nobody will block EU membership for Scotland if that is what the Scots want - and it is precisely here that the SNP is putting up a particularly unconvincing case, because this above all is an issue on which it has no idea what it is talking about.
Ed Means Column
Why does the Scottish Government not understand that ‘Europe’ and the ‘European Union’ are not synonymous?
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/inde...ans/140121.htm
Beth's Newfangled Family Tree
Added February 2014 section 2 which you can read at: http://www.electricscotland.com/bnft
Enigma Machine
We are still adding a puzzle each week and the latest in No. 48 which you can get to at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life.../enigma048.htm
Each week Hugh posts up a new Enigma puzzle in ourElectric Scotland Community. Members then have a go at solving the puzzle and Hugh will give an odd tip to help you solve it. So do join in and have some fun. You can find these in the "Old Timers" group and in the "Thistle & Whistle" forum.
http://www.electricscotland.org/forumdisplay.php/17-Thistle-amp-Whistle
The Working Life of Christina McKelvie MSP
Respecting your Parliament and you can read this at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...vie/140120.htm
Alexander Murdoch (1841-1891)
A Scottish Engineer, Poet, Author, Journalist
Alexander Murdoch was born in Taylor Street, St Mungo Parish, Glasow on 23rd of April 1841. It was only in later years that he added his mother's surname, Gregor, as his middle name.
His parents were James Murdoch (Sawyer) and Rebecca Gregor, who, in addition to Alexander in 1841, had a John in 1839, a Jean/Jane in 1843, and a Rebecca in 1846.
The 1851 Census for 37 Taylor Street, taken on the 30th March, 1851, shows Alexander as a Scholar, his mother Rebecca, as Head of House, a Victualler to trade, and her other three children. Her husband James is not listed, so had possibly died between 1841 and 1851.
The 1861 Census for 41 Taylor Street, taken on the 7 April, 1861, shows Alexander as an Engine Fitter, his mother as a Grocer, her son John as a Warehouse Muslin Clerk and her daughter Jane as a Warehouse Muslin Girl.
In 1867, Alexander, describing himself as a Journeyman Engine Fitter, married Marion Calton in her home at 16 Hospital Street, Glasgow.
The 1871 Census for 121 Duke Street, Glasgow, taken on the 2nd of April, 1871 shows Alexander as a Sewing Machine Maker (probably with the Singers Sewing Machine Company) with his wife Marion and two children, Alexander Jnr., aged three and William aged 8 months.
It appears that his marriage and the births of another four children before the 1881 Census on the 3rd of April, 1881, did not in any way hamper Alexander Snr.'s literary efforts and ambitions in the 1870s, for, not only did he contribute many serious and humorous poems to the 'Glasgow Weekly Mail', but also published two volumes of poetry, namely, 'Lilts On A Scottish Lyre' in 1873 and 'The Laird's Lykewake and Other Poems' in 1877. Then in 1879 he won the medal offered by the committee of the Burns Monument at Kilmarnock for a poem on the Ayrshire Bard and afterwards accepted a position on the staff of the 'Glasgow Weekly Mail'.
While with the 'Mail', Alexander G. Murdoch, as he then styled himself, developed his prose ability by writing several popular serial stories and then published at least two more books, namely, 'Recent And Living Scottish Poets' in 1883, and 'Scotch Readings - Humorous And Amusing' in 1889. But sadly, he died of Nervous Debility and Pleurisy at his home in 38 Bellgrove Street, Glasgow, on the 12th February 1891.
On the page we have a copy of his award winning poem about Robert Burns and also a pdf of one of his books.
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/murdoch/
The Life and Times of General Sir James Browne
R.E. K.C.B., K.C.S.I. (Buster Browne) by General James John McLeod Innes, R.E., V.C. (1905)
THIS memoir of General Sir James Browne has been drawn up in compliance with the wishes of the late Lady Browne, and is based on information kindly given by his family and friends and brother officers. .My hearty thanks are due to General Pollard, General Sir Alexander Taylor, and Colonel Henry Blair—all of them Royal Engineers—with whom Sir James was associated throughout the whole of his career; also to the late General Sir Michael Biddulph, Sir G. Molesworth, General Sir R Sankey; Colonels Bum-Murdoch and Boughey, with whom he served from time to time in Engineer or Military operations; and most especially to General Sir Buchanan Scott, his invaluable second in the stupendous task of the Hurnai Railway.Field-Marshal Earl Roberts, under whose command in India he served as Quartermaster-General of the army, said of him, with emphasis, “ He was grand!"For advice in regard to Browne’s Frontier Policy, I am very greatly indebted to Sir D. Fitzpatrick, lately Governor of the Punjab.J. J. M. I.
December, 1904.
A new book we're starting which you can read at: http://www.electricscotland.com/history/browne/
Alexander Fenton
Alexander - ‘Sandy’ - Fenton was a scholar and teacher who has had a profound influence on many areas of Scottish and European studies and museums, not least through the extensive corpus of his written and published work. He was born in Shotts, in Lanarkshire, the son of Alexander Fenton, a souter from the north-east, from Drumblade, and Annie Stronach. The family returned to Drumblade, near Huntly, shortly after Sandy’s birth and moved a few years later to the Smiddy Croft at Pitglassie, in the parish of Auchterless, near Turriff.
You can read this account at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist..._alexander.htm
Jim Sillars
Jim Sillars speaking passionately about Scottish Independence and his book "In Place of Fear II". I added a video of him speaking which you can see at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/show...ace-of-Fear-II
Music
Got in a couple of interesting videos in our Electric Scotland Community...
Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2013 at
http://www.electricscotland.org/show...ry-Tattoo-2013
Sandy McIntyre, Cape Breton Fiddler at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/show...sandy+mcintyre
We've continued to add chapters to...
Scottish Historical Review at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...w/volume15.htm
Tales and Sketches at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ller/tales.htm
Among the Wild Ngoni at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...goni/index.htm
History of Montrose at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rose/index.htm
The Songstresses of Scotland at: http://www.electricscotland.com/musi...sses/index.htm
And Finally...
Chuck 'Em In
In 'The Greatest Story Ever Told', Charlton Heston played John the Baptist and had to plunge dozens of Christian converts into what was supposed to be the River Jordan.
Only it wasn't. It was the Colorado in November!
Some extras fainted.
Others provided a pained look mistaken by millions of cinemagoers as religious ecstasy.
"If the Jordan had been as cold as the Colorado," Chuck later said,
"Christianity would never have gotten off the ground."
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Liberal Congratulations
The boffins of Glasgow Uni were worried about young Charles Kennedy.
What was he going to do with himself if he didn't get a good degree?
"If all else fails you could always go into politics," one professor told him.
The former leader of the LibDems was yesterday formally robed as rector of his alma mater and, in his inaugural speech, recalled receiving, when first elected to the House of Commons, what he took to be a congratulatory letter from one of his former lecturers.
The message? "I can only assume all else failed," the old prof wrote.
And that's it for this week and I hope you all have a good weekend.
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com/whatsnew.htm
To see what we've added to the Electric Canadian site view our What's New page at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/whatsnew.htm
For the latest news from Scotland see our ScotNews feed at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/
Electric Scotland News
Got myself a new second hand car this week, a Kia Megentis 2010 model. I took a test drive of it on a dull day and liked it very much so purchased it. Problem is that picking it up on a bright sunny day I found it almost impossible to read the instruments. With sun glasses on I simply couldn't read the speedometer. And when taking the sun glasses of I still had real problems reading it. This is definitely a problem and can't understand why Kia have done such a poor job on these instruments.
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I hope many of you will be enjoying a Burns Supper on the 25th. Many years ago I worked with the Scots Independent Newspaper to produce an audio recording of a Burns Supper. We did it in Real Audio format but recently I converted it to mp3 format and you can listen to it at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/burns/burns.mp3
The Immortal Memory was presented by James Halliday who passed away last year. James was an historian and past chairman of the SNP.
Should you want to listen to individual parts in Real Audio format you can get to this at:
http://www.scotsindependent.org/feat...urns/index.htm
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And seeing a number of you asked me to go back to posting the full newsletter back into the Community I am doing so.
Electric Canadian
Across the Canadian Prairies
A Two Months Holiday in the Dominion by J. G. Colmer (1894)
You can read this book as we get it up at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...ries/index.htm
Here is the chapter on Ottawa to Fort William...
Leaving Ottawa for the West, it is possible to travel by two routes, either direct by the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway through the Ottawa Valley, or by the line of the Canadian Pacific Railway, or that of the Grand Trunk Railway,viaToronto and Western Ontario. If the latter is adopted, the main line route may be reached again by way of the Grand Trunk Railway and North Bay. On our outward journey, however, we took the first of the two routes, branching off on our return at North Bay, and visiting Toronto and other places in what is known as the “Garden of Canada.”
The line from Ottawa goes by way of Carleton Junction and Renfrew, and enters the Ottawa Valley at the latter place. From Renfrew to Mattawa, a distance of 120 miles, it is continually in view of the Ottawa River. As already mentioned in previous letters, the scenery in this district is exceedingly picturesque. The river is broad and its banks are well timbered, and in many places it is below the level of tho surrounding country. In the autumn time, when the leaves are beginning to change their colours, the sight is exceedingly beautiful. The railway crosses many streams, along the banks of which may be found perfect paradises for the angler and sportsman. Between Ottawa and Pembroke, a distance of 124 miles, the country is fairly well settled with British and other European immigrants, and satisfactory progress is apparently being made, judging from the appearance of the farms, the excellent quality of the cattle everywhere to be seen, and the additional clearing that is annually taking place. Westward of Pembroke the country is not thickly inhabited; indeed, houses are few and far between, although in the near future the attractions of the country, when the emigration movement revives, will doubtless lead to a further accession of population. From Mattawa to Sudbury the Scenery is of the same character as that already described, a well-timbered, rocky country, with valleys here and there capable of cultivation, and watered by rushing streams, in which the maskinonge, trout, bass and other fish abound. On this stretch of line the principal place is North Bay, the junction with the Grand Trunk Railway already referred to; and Sudbury has sprung into importance in recent years, not only on account of the nickel deposits in the neighbourhood, said to be the most extensive in the world, but from its position as the junction with the Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Sault Ste. Marie Railway, the line running from Sudbury through Algoma along the shores of Lake Huron to Sault Ste. Marie, over which it is conveyed by a bridge to the United States.
The ride from Sudbury to Heron Bay, where the first sight of the magnificent Lake Superior is obtained, is not particularly inviting. The line traverses a more or less wild region, similar in character to that already described, but here and there very interesting and picturesque views are obtained. From Heron Bay the railway skirts the shores of Lake Superior to Fort William, a distance of nearly 200 miles. Not only are the views of the lake that are obtained singularly grand and interesting, but the scenery inland along the line of the railway merits a similar observation. No one who has not travelled over this piece of road can appreciate the immense difficulties that were encountered by the engineers in building it, and it quite justifies the remark that has been made, that the Canadians, in determining on the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway, must not only be credited with enterprise, but with considerable audacity. The railway curls about in some places almost like a corkscrew, and viaducts, tunnels, bridges, and cuttings occur rapidly one after the other along nearly the whole route.
The country through which the railway passes, between Ottawa and Fort William, has not yet yielded much return to mankind, for the simple reason that its wealth is not yet either appreciated or probably known. For a portion of the way, however, agriculture is gradually developing, and in favourable places indications of the lumber industry may be seen in floating logs and in occasional sawmills. The principal towns are Almonte, with a population of 3,500, a manufacturing centre, and the site of large woollen mills. Pakenham (population, 2,200) and Arnprior (population, 3,500) are also manufacturing centres. Then there is Pembroke, with a population of nearly 5,000, the most important town between Ottawa and Fort William, the centre of the lumbering trade on the Upper Ottawa. Mattawa, with a population rather under 2,000, is an old Hudson Bay trading post, and is a place from which sporting expeditions are arranged, facilities being found there for the supply of all materials and the necessary guides. Sudbury has already been referred to, but there are practically no further places of importance except those which obtain their populations by being railway divisional points, until Nepigon is reached. This is another favourite centre for sportsmen, especially those who seek the speckled trout, which is found in great abundance, and in all sizes, both in the Nepigon Lake and in the rivers which run out of it. Port Arthur, with a population of 3,000, was formerly a more important place than it is now, but, the Canadian Pacific Railway having lent its influence to Fort William, another town on the lake 5 miles away, its position has been somewhat eclipsed. It is likely, however, to develop in the future more than it has hitherto done, as the iron mines in the neighbourhood are exploited. Fort William derives its importance from the fact that it is the port of arrival and departure of the magnificent steamships of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, which ply to and from Owen Sound. It is also noted for its immense elevators, where the grain from the wheat fields of the West is stored prior to its shipment to the Eastern markets.
By Trench and Trail in Song and Story
By Angus MacKay (Oscar Dhu) (1918). Adding one of his poems each day untill complete.
Here is the Introduction...
A number of the songs in this collection have been heard by campfire and trail from the camps of British Columbia to the lumber camps of Maine. Several of the songs have been fired at the Huns “somewhere in France," no doubt with deadly effect. And also at the Turks on the long long hike to Bagdad and beyond.
And it is not impossible that some of my countrymen are now warbling snatches of my humble verse to the accompaniment of bagpipes on the streets of the New Jerusalem! Many of the verses have appeared from time to time in leading publications from Vancouver, B. C., to the New England States and Eastern Canada; while others appear in print here for the first time.
From all parts of the land I have received letters at various times asking for extra copies of some particular song in my humble collection, which I was not in a position to supply at the time.
I therefore decided to publish some of the songs for which a demand had been expressed, and in so doing offer to the reading public in extenuation of my offense the plea that in a manner this humble volume is being published by request.
I offer no apology for my “dialect" songs as they have already received the approval of music lovers whose judgment is beyond criticism.
For the errors which must inevitably creep into the work of a non-college-bred lumberjack, I crave the indulgence of all highbrows who may resent my inability to comb the classics for copy to please them. All the merit I can claim is the ability to rhyme a limerick or sing a "come-all-ye" in a manner perhaps not unpleasing to my friends.
The lumberjacks will understand me, I am sure, and will appreciate my humble efforts to entertain them.
As for the genial highbrow, should he deem me an interloper in the realm of letters and imagine that my wild, uncultured notes are destroying the harmony of his supersensitive soul, I shall "lope" back to the tall timber again and seek sympathy and appreciation among the lumberjacks of the forest primeval, where, amid the wild surroundings and the crooning of the trees, there is health for mind and body borne on every passing breeze. Yes, there's something strangely healing in the magic of the myrrh, in the odor of the cedar and the fragrance of the fir.
There the hardy lumberjack is the undisputed lord of the lowlands and chief of the highlands, and at the present time no soldier in the trenches or sailor on the rolling deep has a more arduous task to perform or a more important duty to discharge than he.
Toil on, ye Titans of the tall timbers; steadfast soldiers of the saw, and able allies of the axe. Carry on till the stately trees which constitute the glory of the West are converted into ships and planes in countless thousands, to win the great war for freedom and to make the world safe for democracy— and lumberjacks!
THE AUTHOR
You can read this book at http://www.electriccanadian.com/lifestyle/music/mackay/index.htm
The Flag in the Wind
This weeks issue was compiled by Alison Thewliss in which she is talking about Young people and Yes.
You can read this issue at http://www.scotsindependent.org
Electric Scotland
Robert Burns Lives!
We have two articles this week...
An article on what Robert Burns mean to me by Taya Khryplyva which we've added to Chapter 188 which you can find below the picture at:http://www.electricscotland.com/familytree/frank/burns_lives188.htm
The another article is on Artist Yuriy Kovatchev’s Reproduction of The famous Nasmyth Burns Portrait. As Frank says...
I have always loved the James Nasmyth portraits. Until recently the Burns global community had three they could call their own even thought they belonged to museums. The three can be found at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh; Kelvingrove Art Gallery, Glasgow; and in the National Portrait Gallery, London. Now, all of a sudden, another Nasmyth has been discovered, authenticated and is for sale. Saturday night while delivering the Immortal Memory, I challenged my own Atlanta St. Andrews Society to circle up and come up with the 2 million pounds the owner wants for it! Regretfully no one seemed too excited about doing it so the anonymous owner on the other side of the pond can strike us off the list of prospective buyers.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives191.htm
Scottish independence: Scottish independence: ‘Yes vote will end in court’
Article from the Scotsman by SCOTT MACNAB
SCOTLAND’S EU membership could be decided in court if there is a Yes vote in the referendum, according to a former European Court judge.
But Professor Sir David Edward believes Scotland would not be left outside Europe if voters back independence, and could negotiate its membership from inside.
Leaders such as European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council head Herman Van Rompuy have indicated that Scotland would be left outside the EU and forced to re-apply.
However, Sir David insisted negotiations could get under way after a Yes vote to “agree amendments to existing treaties to accommodate the new situation and not, as Barroso and Van Rompuy suggest, one or more accession treaties”.
Sir David, who indicated he will be voting No in the referendum, said the issue could come before the European Court of Justice, where he used to sit, in a submission to Holyrood’s Europe committee.
An “individual or company” could raise an action to clarify their rights and obligations after independence, which could be referred to Luxembourg.
Comment by Dr James Wilkie
Professor Edward has never been a member of any European court, in the sense of one exercising an all-European jurisdiction. There is no such institution as a European Court of Justice. He of all people should know that, and also that the one and only such all-European court is the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, which has nothing whatever to do with the European Union. The ECHR comes under the auspices of the 47-member Council of Europe (CoE).
The one in which he served is the Court of Justice of the European Union, which despite its euphonious title is no more than an internal administrative tribunal of two houses for adjudicating on regulations, directives and similar routine matters relating to the EU acquis communautaire This tribunal acts only within the 28-member EU. Nowhere in the legislation setting it up does the word "European" appear, aside from the court's title.
The EU court has no jurisdiction whatsoever over genuine European law emanating from the major all-European institutions like the CoE, OSCE or UNECE. The internal administrative regulations of one single organisation are not European law, not least when that organisation is half the size of all the others.
Deliberate misrepresentations that would land the directors of a private sector organisation in court on charges of fraud are the stock in trade of the EU, not least the abuse of the expression "European" in a sense deliberately intended to mislead.
It is standard diplomatic practice to identify prospective national leaders of countries the policies of which one wishes to influence, and get them under control. The SNP has evidently been so identified, and in its naivety and ignorance of the broader aspects of independence is unable to see how it is being manipulated, not least by vested interests behind Euromove. Blundering from one false move to another, it falls into the same error as student agitators by putting up an artificial Aunt Sally with no substance in order to have something to throw bricks at.
Nobody will block EU membership for Scotland if that is what the Scots want - and it is precisely here that the SNP is putting up a particularly unconvincing case, because this above all is an issue on which it has no idea what it is talking about.
Ed Means Column
Why does the Scottish Government not understand that ‘Europe’ and the ‘European Union’ are not synonymous?
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/inde...ans/140121.htm
Beth's Newfangled Family Tree
Added February 2014 section 2 which you can read at: http://www.electricscotland.com/bnft
Enigma Machine
We are still adding a puzzle each week and the latest in No. 48 which you can get to at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life.../enigma048.htm
Each week Hugh posts up a new Enigma puzzle in ourElectric Scotland Community. Members then have a go at solving the puzzle and Hugh will give an odd tip to help you solve it. So do join in and have some fun. You can find these in the "Old Timers" group and in the "Thistle & Whistle" forum.
http://www.electricscotland.org/forumdisplay.php/17-Thistle-amp-Whistle
The Working Life of Christina McKelvie MSP
Respecting your Parliament and you can read this at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...vie/140120.htm
Alexander Murdoch (1841-1891)
A Scottish Engineer, Poet, Author, Journalist
Alexander Murdoch was born in Taylor Street, St Mungo Parish, Glasow on 23rd of April 1841. It was only in later years that he added his mother's surname, Gregor, as his middle name.
His parents were James Murdoch (Sawyer) and Rebecca Gregor, who, in addition to Alexander in 1841, had a John in 1839, a Jean/Jane in 1843, and a Rebecca in 1846.
The 1851 Census for 37 Taylor Street, taken on the 30th March, 1851, shows Alexander as a Scholar, his mother Rebecca, as Head of House, a Victualler to trade, and her other three children. Her husband James is not listed, so had possibly died between 1841 and 1851.
The 1861 Census for 41 Taylor Street, taken on the 7 April, 1861, shows Alexander as an Engine Fitter, his mother as a Grocer, her son John as a Warehouse Muslin Clerk and her daughter Jane as a Warehouse Muslin Girl.
In 1867, Alexander, describing himself as a Journeyman Engine Fitter, married Marion Calton in her home at 16 Hospital Street, Glasgow.
The 1871 Census for 121 Duke Street, Glasgow, taken on the 2nd of April, 1871 shows Alexander as a Sewing Machine Maker (probably with the Singers Sewing Machine Company) with his wife Marion and two children, Alexander Jnr., aged three and William aged 8 months.
It appears that his marriage and the births of another four children before the 1881 Census on the 3rd of April, 1881, did not in any way hamper Alexander Snr.'s literary efforts and ambitions in the 1870s, for, not only did he contribute many serious and humorous poems to the 'Glasgow Weekly Mail', but also published two volumes of poetry, namely, 'Lilts On A Scottish Lyre' in 1873 and 'The Laird's Lykewake and Other Poems' in 1877. Then in 1879 he won the medal offered by the committee of the Burns Monument at Kilmarnock for a poem on the Ayrshire Bard and afterwards accepted a position on the staff of the 'Glasgow Weekly Mail'.
While with the 'Mail', Alexander G. Murdoch, as he then styled himself, developed his prose ability by writing several popular serial stories and then published at least two more books, namely, 'Recent And Living Scottish Poets' in 1883, and 'Scotch Readings - Humorous And Amusing' in 1889. But sadly, he died of Nervous Debility and Pleurisy at his home in 38 Bellgrove Street, Glasgow, on the 12th February 1891.
On the page we have a copy of his award winning poem about Robert Burns and also a pdf of one of his books.
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/murdoch/
The Life and Times of General Sir James Browne
R.E. K.C.B., K.C.S.I. (Buster Browne) by General James John McLeod Innes, R.E., V.C. (1905)
THIS memoir of General Sir James Browne has been drawn up in compliance with the wishes of the late Lady Browne, and is based on information kindly given by his family and friends and brother officers. .My hearty thanks are due to General Pollard, General Sir Alexander Taylor, and Colonel Henry Blair—all of them Royal Engineers—with whom Sir James was associated throughout the whole of his career; also to the late General Sir Michael Biddulph, Sir G. Molesworth, General Sir R Sankey; Colonels Bum-Murdoch and Boughey, with whom he served from time to time in Engineer or Military operations; and most especially to General Sir Buchanan Scott, his invaluable second in the stupendous task of the Hurnai Railway.Field-Marshal Earl Roberts, under whose command in India he served as Quartermaster-General of the army, said of him, with emphasis, “ He was grand!"For advice in regard to Browne’s Frontier Policy, I am very greatly indebted to Sir D. Fitzpatrick, lately Governor of the Punjab.J. J. M. I.
December, 1904.
A new book we're starting which you can read at: http://www.electricscotland.com/history/browne/
Alexander Fenton
Alexander - ‘Sandy’ - Fenton was a scholar and teacher who has had a profound influence on many areas of Scottish and European studies and museums, not least through the extensive corpus of his written and published work. He was born in Shotts, in Lanarkshire, the son of Alexander Fenton, a souter from the north-east, from Drumblade, and Annie Stronach. The family returned to Drumblade, near Huntly, shortly after Sandy’s birth and moved a few years later to the Smiddy Croft at Pitglassie, in the parish of Auchterless, near Turriff.
You can read this account at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist..._alexander.htm
Jim Sillars
Jim Sillars speaking passionately about Scottish Independence and his book "In Place of Fear II". I added a video of him speaking which you can see at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/show...ace-of-Fear-II
Music
Got in a couple of interesting videos in our Electric Scotland Community...
Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2013 at
http://www.electricscotland.org/show...ry-Tattoo-2013
Sandy McIntyre, Cape Breton Fiddler at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/show...sandy+mcintyre
We've continued to add chapters to...
Scottish Historical Review at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...w/volume15.htm
Tales and Sketches at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ller/tales.htm
Among the Wild Ngoni at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...goni/index.htm
History of Montrose at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rose/index.htm
The Songstresses of Scotland at: http://www.electricscotland.com/musi...sses/index.htm
And Finally...
Chuck 'Em In
In 'The Greatest Story Ever Told', Charlton Heston played John the Baptist and had to plunge dozens of Christian converts into what was supposed to be the River Jordan.
Only it wasn't. It was the Colorado in November!
Some extras fainted.
Others provided a pained look mistaken by millions of cinemagoers as religious ecstasy.
"If the Jordan had been as cold as the Colorado," Chuck later said,
"Christianity would never have gotten off the ground."
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Liberal Congratulations
The boffins of Glasgow Uni were worried about young Charles Kennedy.
What was he going to do with himself if he didn't get a good degree?
"If all else fails you could always go into politics," one professor told him.
The former leader of the LibDems was yesterday formally robed as rector of his alma mater and, in his inaugural speech, recalled receiving, when first elected to the House of Commons, what he took to be a congratulatory letter from one of his former lecturers.
The message? "I can only assume all else failed," the old prof wrote.
And that's it for this week and I hope you all have a good weekend.
Alastair
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