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I thought I might mention that I am having a problem posting the newsletter up in here. When I copy and paste it in I always have to edit the post to clean up the formatting and spacing. During the past few weeks when doing the edit the actual post won't display so there is nothing I can do about it. I have found if I come in the next day sometimes it will work and I can correct it. Anyway... just thought I'd mention it.
Electric Scotland News
It's rare that we get to see correspondence with Governments so thought I'd copy you into this to give an insight into what is going on in Scotland... it all happened this week.Dear Mr McGill etc. etc.
The Scottish Government shares your views on the importance of Sovereignty of The People of Scotland. In an Independent Scotland, Sovereignty would mean that the people Scotland were the final authority and all state power and authority would be accountable to them as opposed to the current arrangements where Sovereignty - supreme authority - in the UK lies with the Crown in Parliament, rather than the people, giving Westminster The Parliament ultimate power to do anything it decides, including to overrule the Scottish Parliament on any matter.
I also note your enthusiasm for the re-introduction of constitutionalism towards the governance of an independent Scotland. A permanent written constitution will be drawn up post independence, a constitutional platform for Scotland will be prepared. It will have effect from the date of Independence and will continue until the permanent written constitution has been agreed and come into effect. Scotland's written constitution could only then be amended according to the provisions of the constitution itself, therefore protecting the peoples rights and liberties.
In the UK at present, the constitution consists of various pieces of legislation, and constitutional rules and principles make up the constitution. The UK is the only member of the European Union and the Commonwealth that does not have a written constitution or a Constitution Act. That is a democratic deficit which the Scottish Government intends to address.
At the heart of Scotland's constitutional tradition is the fundamental principle that the people of Scotland are Sovereign and have the right to determine the form of government best suited to their needs.
The UKs constitutional position is particularly complex and one of the advantages of moving to a written constitution is to make information about government structures more accessible to the people of Scotland
Thank you etc. etc. signed Simon Elder. SNP. St Andrew House Regent Road Edinburgh EH1 3DG
ENDS QUOTE
Jim, for God's sake and for Scotland's sake would you please write to these guys at once, please, before they chuck the Referendum down the proverbial tubes? I've tried but they ignore my letters and come back with this Westminster osmosis crap.
Help Scotland now Jim, PLEASE.
John.
------
Dear Simon,
John McGill has sent me a copy of your mail to him of 8 June with the request that I reply to it. We were, as you know, the two central figures in the Scotland-UN Committee that initiated the action by the Council of Europe that brought about the restoration of the present Scottish Parliament and Government. In the course of the 18 years it took us to force the issue on devolution (and thereby to present the SNP with the key to the door of its present independence project) we had access to, and were advised by, some of the world's leading constitutional specialists, and not least because my own work for the Austrian Government brought me into daily contact with the experts of the international law section of the Foreign Ministry.
Scotland-UN was very accurately informed on all the relevant issues - a good deal better informed, I may add, than the SNP Government appears to be at the moment. My colleague John McGill is very uneasy about the SNP's conduct of the campaign, which is causing alarm in a number of respects. The people of Scotland, as you state, have the right to determine the kind of government best suited to their needs, but they also have the right to determine what that government does with the power it is given for a limited time. There is no question of its having carte blanche to do as it likes while it holds office.
If the Government is so insistent on the sovereignty of the Scottish people, why is it so insistent about railroading them into membership of the European Union, a step that would involve a massive abrogation of sovereignty far above what is demanded by any other international institution in the world. So the Scots are sovereign but are not to be given the choice of exercising their sovereignty? A parliamentary decision could suffice in the case of any other international institutions, since all of them are run on a basis of intergovernmental consensus, but not in the case of the EU, which has plans to take over the sovereignty of its member states. I have spent over 40 years working in European integration (inter alia I have a doctorate in the subject), and this is one area above all where I happen to know what I am talking about, especially since I have worked in it on special duties at top government level and have known some of the main actors concerned.
I am of course in total agreement with the basic political philosophy of the Scottish Government you have stated. The Scottish people are indeed sovereign in their own land, and in respect of their own affairs abroad, except in so far as they have delegated part of that sovereignty elsewhere. I am in complete agreement with what you write in that respect. What I dislike about it is a certain uncritical acceptance of the UK's so-called "unwritten" constitution, and in particular of an assumed right to interfere in any and all aspects of the government of Scotland. That may indeed apply in respect of certain stated functions, but I would certainly not accept it as a general principle.
From my observation the Scottish Government has been far too supine in respect of a number of basic principles, especially as regards the 1999 Order that purported to alter the line of the Scotland/England marine border that for centuries had remained unaltered along a line of latitude and has even been archived at the United Nations in that form. The again purported restriction to fisheries was clearly only a ruse and is already being treated as a general shift of the border. Why is this not being actively opposed?
The procedure you mention for a temporary national constitution pending the adoption of a permanent one is practical and correct, but who is to draft the temporary or permanent constitution? It can hardly have escaped the SNP's notice that some very competent experts have been working on the constitution project for years, not least the Scottish Constitutional Commission under John Drummond. Are they going to be drawn in here, or is the SNP going to dictate a draft of its own? Just asking.
I could go on at some length, but I will make do with the few remarks above. You may also be interested in one or two of the Scotland-UN documents that will shortly be appearing on a new Devolution section of the Electric Scotland website. The Memorandum to the Council of Europe Summit Meeting was what cracked the home rule nut for the first time in 300 years and resulted in the present Scottish Parliament and Government. Other hitherto unpublished documents will also be put onto the web, and might have some effect in the run-up to the referendum. Quite a number of us have spent our whole lives working for this day, and we want to see the result in our lifetime.
With kindest regards,
Saor Alba,
Jim
(Dr. James Wilkie)
Reference documents attached to the email can be found at...
http://www.electricscotland.com/inde...scotlandun.htm
My Health
Interesting time with my health these days and thought it might be of interest to tell you about it. As you may recollect I developed an overactive Thyroid and as a result lost some 60 pounds in weight. Well I have also now had the treatment for that which is being given some radioactive iodine. I still have one blood test to go next month on this but so far it looks like it has fixed the problem.
Now to the crux... which is my diabetes. Over the past few weeks I've been taking less and less insulin. In a meeting with my Doctor she thinks I could stop taking the short acting insulin which I take before meals. I've since been experimenting and now find that as long as my blood sugar is ok in the morning that I can go the whole day without taking any. At at my evening test I've hardly moved up more than a couple of points. That has also meant I've been able to drastically reduce the amount I take in the evening for my over night dose.
The thing is this drop didn't happen right after I lost my weight although that might well have been the reason but it did drop some 6 weeks after I got the radioactive Iodine.
I was usually taking a dose of overnight insulin of some 50 units but now down to more like 20 but I still haven't got it quite right as the other night I got a low on 16 units. It's been a challenge getting it right each night over the past couple of weeks.
They say that the only organ in the body that is affected by iodine is the Thyroid so I am starting to wonder if that is correct or not and I just have a feeling that had something to do with my diabetes and hence me wanting to tell you about it.
Electric Canadian
Four Years in British Columbia and Vancouver Island
An Account of the Forests, Rivers, Coasts, Gold Fields, and Resources for Colonisation by Commander Edward C. Mayne, R.N., F.R.G.S. (1862). A new book we're starting.
So little is yet known about British Columbia and Vancouver Island that the Author hopes his experience of four years, spent in the survey and exploration of both these Colonies, may be found of interest.
To Dr. Wood, R.N., of H.M.S. ‘Hecate,’ to the several travellers from whom information has been obtained and whose names occur in the book, as well as to the others, too many to enumerate, who have assisted him in various ways, the Author begs to return his thanks.
To Mr. E. P. Bedwell, R.N., Dr. Lyall, and Dr. Bindley, for the sketches which enliven the text, his thanks are also gratefully tendered; and last, but by no means least, to Mr. William J. Stewart, without whose aid these pages would probably never have seen the light, he gives his most cordial thanks.
For any errors which may occur in the latter part of the book the author claims the reader’s indulgence, as the revision of it has been carried on in great haste amid the bustle of fitting out a ship for foreign service.
H.M.S. 'Eclipse,’ October, 1862.
You can read this book as we get it up at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...ears/index.htm
Scandinavians in Canada
Found a reference to early Scandinavian contacts with Canada in an appendix of a book I was reading so extracted it for you to read.
You can read this at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...ndinavians.htm
Germans in Canada
I was given a book to read about a German Society in Canada which is copyright but am seeking permission to put it on the site. However reading through it I found reference to an early book of their immigration to a part of Canada and that led me to finding a book of the area where the Menonites had settled so have added that to the site.
You can read this at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/germans.htm
The Flag in the Wind
This weeks issue was compiled by Jim Lynch in which he has a nice wee collection of articles and a Synopsis!
You can read this issue at http://www.scotsindependent.org
Electric Scotland
Alexander Murdoch (1841-1891)
A Scottish Engineer, Poet, Author, Journalist
Added a third book called "Scotch Readings: Humorous and Amusing" and we're breaking this down into individual chapters for you to read. We've added two more chapters, "How Archie MacGregor Paid Out The Horse-Cowper" and "Tam Broon's Visit to London" which you can find at the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/poet...doch/index.htm
Thomas Dick Lauder
Hope you are enjoying this book. Started on Volume 2 and you can find these at the foot of the page at:http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...er_thomas1.htm where we've added another couple of chapters now up to Chapter 12.
The Book of Scottish Anecdote
Humorous, Social, Legendary and Historical edited by Alexander Hislop, eighth edition.
Added pages 652 to 701. You can read these at: http://www.electricscotland.com/history/anecdote
Alan Cunningham
This distinguished poet entered the world under those lowly circumstances, and was educated under those disadvantages, which have so signally characterized the history of the best of our Scottish bards.
Now started on Volume 2 and have added Pages 2 to 122.
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/musi...gham/index.htm
The Northern Highlands in the Nineteenth Century
Some years ago I published the 2 volumes in this set. Well I have now found a third volume is now available and so have started to work on this.
Added the issue for 1848...
The year 1848 was a time of crisis in Europe. It was the year of Revolution on the Continent. France thrust out the citizen King, Louis Philippe, and most of the other Continental countries threw themselves into the struggle for constitutional change. The immediate results were only partial, but the movement prepared the way for vital changes in subsequent years. In Austria the Emperor was obliged to abdicate in favour of his nephew, the Sovereign who still (1908) occupies the throne. The armed insurrection in Hungary proved for the time disastrous to the patriotic party, as did also the risings in Italy. Prussia and the principalities of Germany had a variety of troubled experiences.
At home there was no real disturbance, but the Chartists in the month of April created great alarm in London by threatening a monster meeting and procession, organised by Feargus O’Connor. The proclamation of the procession as illegal, and the preparations which were made by Ministers and the police, overawed discontent, and the demonstration proved a fiasco. It was on this occasion that 170,000 special constables were sworn in, among them Prince Louis Napoleon, afterwards Emperor of the French. Ireland was in a more excited state, and special laws were passed to deal with sedition and treason. An agitation led by Mr Smith O’Brien and his associates was thus brought to an end. The finances of the nation were disordered, and the Whig Ministry had a good deal of trouble to adjust them to the satisfaction of Parliament. The death cf Lord George Bentinck, leader of the Protectionist party, opened the way for the supremacy of Mr Disraeli.
In the Highlands there was still a great deal of destitution, for which the Central Relief Committees had to make provision.
You can read this issue (No. 7) at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...lands/3no7.htm
Henry Dryerre
Compositor, Poet, Journalist and Musician.
Now added another two Worthies...
Post Reid
Stewart Jack
These really are excellent stories so here is one entire for you to read hoping you might enjoy it enough to want to read more. Here is the story of Stewart Jack...
It is a commonplace experience with students of rural life in bygone times which becomes positively monotonous, to find that it hardly matters how small the community one is dealing with, if only the period be far enough back—say, anything from thirty to fifty years as a minimum—there is sure to be one or more outstanding figures in it whose sayings and doings are to become the favourite theme of succeeding generations. Whether the same process is going on in our own day is extremely doubtful; but that is a question we have no business with here. Stewart Jack was a good illustration of this, as the sequel should show. He first saw light in Alyth in 1787. His father and grandfather belonged to the same district, his grandfather being one of the few retainers of Airlie in Alyth who turned out with him in the ’45.
HE WAS AT CULLODEN,
and went through the whole campaign, his ardour causing him to lock his wife in the house in order to get off with the laird. A well-dinted shield and much-hacked sword showed the sort of business he had been at while away. The mementoes were sold to a packman by Stewart’s mother—to the never-ending regret of her son. He learned the trade of slater, and came to Meikleour, some four miles on the other side of Blairgowrie when a young man, and at his most thriving period undertook large contracts as far north as Blair Atholl and south to Edinburgh. Touching “contracts,” the word invariably recalls Stewart’s reply to the smart youths who met him one morning. “Dear me, Stewart,” was their surprised greeting, “we thought you would be in Perth. This is the day the big job i3 to be settled.” “What’s that?” asked Stewart, with his usual snivel. “Oh, the slating of the railway between Perth and Forfar, you know.” “Man, I’ve been that busy I forgot a’ aboot it,” replied Stewart, offering his snuff mull without a wince. “You see, I’ve just settled the contract for the Loch o’ Clunie.” Stewart’s name is most frequently associated with such witticisms, but he is
WORTHY OF REMEMBRANCE
on much more substantial grounds. He was an omnivorous reader, and could read comfortably, he declared, going at five miles an hour if the road was familiar; and a great sight it was, too, to see the tall, gaunt figure “shauchlin’” along in his “lum” hat—without which he was seldom seen—a book in one hand and a bundle of tools in the other. Fortunately for Stewart’s taste, and for that of the cluster of hard-headed theologians, politicians, logicians, and whatever else which the village boasted, there was a capital little library in it, fostered by the Baroness Keith and Nairne—grandmother of our present Foreign Secretary. Amongst its contents were “Encyclopaedia Britannica,” Hume’s works, Rollin’s “Ancient History,” Chambers’s “Papers for the People,” and possibly the works of Voltaire, Volney, and Tom Paine, as Stewart showed a familiar knowledge of these last, and quoted them frequently, as well as from pre-French-Re volution literature generally.
HIS MEMORY.
As for his memory, it was simply perfect — complete catalogue rauonni of everything he had seen, heard, or read; every item duly ear-marked and pigeon-holed, ready for production at a moment’s notice. He fell in with a band of gipsies about Crieff one day as he was tramping home from Edinburgh, and nothing would do but that he should stop and give them a lecture on their own ancient history. He was awakened in the dead of night on another occasion by a pushful little beggar of a schoolboy— who was in a pickle of trouble to find out the date of Prince Charlie’s death. The sleeping slater heard the tapping on his window. “Are you waukin’, Stewart?” asked our scholar. “Ay; is that you, laddie?” said Stewart, recognising the voice of a favourite of his. “Ay. Whan did Prince Charlie dee?” “Seeventeen auchty-aucht,” was the answer, as he turned over again.
A mistaken statement by someone led him off into a description of the destruction of the Roman fleet off Syracuse by Archimedes with his burning lenses. “Ay, laddie,” said he, one night, pointing to the constellation Orion, “there it hings, just as Job saw it from the plains of Syria and the Magi watched it from the towers of Babylon!” A question about the moon brought out a discourse on the solar system. *’Tell Stewart, Peter,” said a fond grandfather to his boy, “aboot that wonderfu’ burning mountain in America.” “Oh, ay,” said Stewart, at once, “that’ll be Popocatepetl, nae doot, the extinct volcano in Mexico, seveenteen thoosand seeven hunder and auohty-four feet high, and forty miles sooth-east from the city of Mexico. It’s aye smokin’ yet, laddie, but there hasna been an eruption since 1568!”
THE MAN FOLKS
held meetings frequently, particularly in winter, and what these worthies didn’t discuss—and settle—wasn’t worth a hoast. The wonder is there is still so much to talk about. Each of them had his own individuality:—Old James Tamson, mason, was regarded as the best logician; Charlie Cochrane was a great wit; John Scott, a remarkably intelligent and well-informed man, &c.; but Stewart was a match for them all—in turn or altogether. There was always a “grand nicht” when Millar, the author of “The Tay,” used to visit the village periodically to square up for the “Strathmore Journal,” which used to circulate in the district—5d a copy, and no copy with less than five or six subscribers. The slater had pronounced opinions upon everything he read. He was never tired of ridiculing “finality Johnny” (Lord John Russell) and his sliding scale of taxation. He did not care for Cromwell, Hume having carried him away; he admired John Hampden; used to compare David to Rob Roy, and Dr Johnson to an ill-conditioned tyke. He had a mortal antipathy to Henry VIII., being too fond of his own wife, Nelly Walker—despite appearances at times—to abide that much-married monarch. And, touching domesticities, mention must be made of his one great weakness-turning up the little finger. Dearly as he loved Nelly, he gave her many a sore 'heart. “Is it true, Stewart,” asked an idle fellow, “that you have drunk as much whisky as might float a 50-gun man-o’-war?” “ Weel, I’m no sayin’ but I might gie it a gey shog.” One day an elder of Lethendy Kirk and Stewart dropped into “Danger Inn,” at the east end of Old Rattray, near the bridge. The elder called for a gill, drew down his big blue bonnet and proceeded to say grace—Stewart meantime
EMPTIED THE STOUP.
“It’s weel ca’d ‘Danger Inn,’” was the remark he made to his companion’s astonished look; “an’ that should show you that watchin* is far mair necessar’ than prayin’!”
He used to declare that he had a ladder so crooked he had to go round it three times to reach the top. He got a present of some firewood so green that it was, like Orr’s Almanack —intended for next year. He was on the roof of his own house one day, busy “putting out the lum,” and a passer-by sympathised with him. His reply was in the words of the preacher—“Better to dwell in a corner of the housetop than with a brawling woman and in a wide house.” A favourite saying of his—referring to the French Revolution and other great movements originating with the people—was that “hunger was the best politician.” “What tune’s that you’re playin’?” asked he of a village flute player. “Waterloo.” “I was thinkin’ that,” remarked Stewart; “for it was a gey ravelled mess!” And so on, ad. lib.
The genuine respect and affection Stewart enjoyed from every one are well shown in a single anecdote. One Saturday night the only grocer in the village ran out of bread, and Stewart had to go without. The news spread— “Stewart has nae bread," and first one, then another, and another, called with bannocks and cakes and bread and cheese, &c., till he might have started a provision store on his own account.
You can read these at: http://www.electricscotland.com/poet...erre/index.htm
Songs by John Henderson
John sent in a new song, 1940s Banknock.
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerel542.htm
Poets and Poetry of Scotland from the earliest to the present time
Comprising characteristic selections from the works of more noteworthy Scottish poets with biographical and critical notices. By James Grant Wilson (1876)
Now up to page 372.
You can read all about them at http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/poets/
Memoirs and Adventures of Sir William Kirkaldy of Grange
Knight, Commander of French Horse, Lord of the Secret Council, and Governor of the Castle of Edinburgh for Mary Queen of Scots (1849)
More chapters up this week with one more and the notes to do to complete this book.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...aldy/index.htm
Samuel Smiles
Newspaper Editor, Author and Social reformer has been added to our Significant Scots page.
This is another biography we're adding. I've added this week...
Chapter VII - Returns to England, London, Sheffield
Chapter VIII - Editor of Leeds Times
He really does a great job of telling about the special characters he meets up with. There have also been several references to Scots MP's who are representing English seats.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...les_samuel.htm
Book of the Old Edinburgh Club
We have acquired copies of 12 volumes of this club's publications and we're going to add one a week.
Now added volume 4 which includes...
George Drummon: An Eighteenth Century Lord Provost By William Baird With a portrait.
The Sculptured Stones of Edinburgh: IV Wrychtis-housis By John Geddie With illustrations.
The Old Tolbooth: with Extracts from the Original Records By John A. Fairley With illustrations.
An Old Edinburgh Monument Now in Perthshire By Thomas Ross, LL.D. With illustrations.
The Society of Friendly Contributors of Restalrig By Rev. W. Burnett With an illustration.
Recent Excavations and Researches at Holyrood By W. T. Oldrieve With plans.
You can read these at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../edinburghclub
Life of a Scotch Naturalist, Thomas Edward
By Samuel Smiles (1877).
Now completed this book and if you haven't read it you might at least read the final chapter which sums up his life and a very interesting one it was.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ward/index.htm
The Scottish School of Painting
By William D. MaKay, R.S.A. (1906). A new book we're starting.
In the main, I have adopted the latter alternative; but a glance has been taken in the preliminary chapters at the forerunners of the school, and, in the last, in a more cursory way, at its later developments. Even thus restricted, the material has been too full for the limits of a volume forming one of a series, to which it must necessarily conform; and various matters, which might very well have found a place in the art annals of the period, have not been entered on. Art-training, and the formation of the Scottish National and Municipal Collections have only been indirectly alluded to—chapter six having been so cut down as almost to belie its title—whilst from the same cause those dealing with art life in Scotland during the thirties—its relations and contrasts with that of other countries—and about the middle of the century, have been withheld.
From the appearance of Village Politicians in 1806, Wilkie has enjoyed a world-wide reputation. Within the last twenty years the same may be said of Raeburn, and for about the same time contemporary Scottish painters have been favourably known in most European and American art centres; but the men who kept alive painting in the north during the first three-quarters of the nineteenth century have received scant recognition. If something has been added to what has already been done by Sir Walter Armstrong, Mr. Brydall, and one or two others, to call attention to the strong portraiture of the successors of Raeburn, and the no less remarkable figure and landscape work of the painters who continued the tradition of Wilkie and Thomson, I shall feel amply rewarded.
A professional artist, when he deals with painting, is naturally prone to dwell much on its technical aspects. I claim no exemption from this tendency; but I hope it has not been carried so far as to go beyond the interest and easy comprehension of the general reader. In the scheme adopted, biographical details have been, as much as possible, avoided, and the work, rather than the lives of the painters has been considered. A table has, however, been added as appendix, giving information as to place and date of birth and death, where the painters studied, and where they practised.
I gladly take this opportunity of thanking those to whom I have been indebted for valuable assistance in the preparation of this volume. To the Hon. Board of Manufactures and the Corporation of Glasgow, for permission to reproduce many valuable works in the National and National Portrait Galleries of Scotland, and in the Kelvingrove Museum; to the Curators and attendants of those galleries for unfailing courtesy in supplying information concerning pictures under their charge; to the Secretary of the Albert Institute, Dundee, for facilitating access to the many works of art in Dundee and its neighbourhood; my thanks are especially due. To the Royal Company of Archers; the Merchant Company of Edinburgh; and to the Trustees of the late Patrick Allan Fraser, Hospitalfield, Arbroath, and to the Art master there; I am indebted for similar favours. I desire also to express my obligations to the numerous noblemen, ladies, and gentlemen whose collections have likewise been placed at my service, and without whose kind assistance it would have been impossible adequately to represent, or become acquainted with, the works of Scottish painters.
It may be mentioned that, to avoid the continual repetition of the full official titles, the Scottish National and National Portrait Galleries are sometimes referred to as The Mound, and the Queen Street Galleries. Similarly, the Glasgow Corporation’s collection at Kelvingrove, and the National Gallery of British Art, are often called the Kelvingrove and Tate Galleries respectively.
Wm. D. McKay.
Edinburgh, February 28, 1906.
You can get to this book at: http://www.electricscotland.com/art/schoolmdx.htm
Enigma Machine
Now have up puzzle 66.
You can get to this one at http://www.electriccanadian.com/life.../enigma066.htm
The Scots Brigade
Scots fought for the Netherlands for over two centuries and in here you will learn more about their records.
See http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ts_brigade.htm
Ladies of the Reformation in Scotland
I found a book called Ladies of the Reformation and noted there was a Scottish section so here it is.
See http://www.electricscotland.com/history/women/wh58.htm
Upper Teviotdale and The Scotts of Buccleuch
A Local and Family History by J. Rutherford Oliver (1887). Added this to the foot of the page about Buccleuch in the Scottish Nation.
See http://www.electricscotland.com/HIST.../buccleuch.htm
Beth's Newfangled Family Tree
Got in Section 2 of the July 2014 edition.
See http://www.electricscotland.com/bnft
Clan Campbell
And their Followers during the Years 1685 and 1686. I've added this pdf document to our Clan Campbell page at:http://www.electricscotland.com/webc...c/campbel.html
Annals of a Publishing House
William Blackwood and His Sons, their Magazine and Friends by Mrs. Oliphant in 3 volumes (1897)
You can get to this at http://www.electricscotland.com/book...blackwoods.htm
Sir William Pulteney
Added this Lawyer, MP, American land owner to our Significant Scots page.
He was reputed to be the wealthiest man in Great Britain. You can read this at
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ey_william.htm
George Scot of Pitlochie
Got in an interesting article about this chap and his descendants.
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/webc...oz/scott3.html
Scotland-UN Committee
Created this section as we are going to be publishing little known documents of this committee and the work they have done.
You can get to this at http://www.electricscotland.com/inde...scotlandun.htm
Lives of Eminent Men of Aberdeen
By James Bruce (1890). Added this book to our Famous Scots page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...erdeen_men.htm
Robert Burns Lives!
Edited by Frank Shaw
There are so many good Burnsians “out there” and I must tell you about one I met via email over the past few days. I received a message last week from my editor and “boss”, Alastair McIntyre, advising of the new Burns Choral Project at the University of Glasgow’s Centre for Robert Burns Studies. I contacted a friend at the centre and immediately my email was passed along to the appropriate party. Then “boom” - like a split of lightening in the darkness of a moonless and starless night - I received a response from someone unknown to me offering information I needed for the article. And remarkably, after further contact, she even offered to write the article herself. So today Dr. Vivien Williams, a graduate of the University of Bari (Italy), founded in 1925, will explain the project to us. The University at Bari has a student population of approximately 60,000 and is one of the most prestigious universities in southern Italy.
Dr Williams, “born half an Italian, and bred a whole one”, was brought up in an Anglo-Italian family in Apulia, the ‘heel’ of Italy’s ‘boot’. She has always actively pursued her interests in literature and has won a number of literary prizes, both national and international, for short stories and poetic translations. Since her teens she cultivated an interest in the bagpipe, and in 2010 she moved to Glasgow to embark on her Ph.D. and completed it with a thesis on ‘The Cultural History of the Bagpipe in Britain, 1680-1840’.
Dr. Williams has been very busy since coming on board at the University of Glasgow. She is currently a Research Assistant in musicology at the Centre for Robert Burns Studies, working on the project ‘Editing Robert Burns for the 21st Century’. She also tutors in Scottish Literature and English Literature. Vivien is the co-author of the Anglophone civilization book ACCESS to Great Britain and the English-speaking World (2007), and her chapter ‘“All the Bagpipes in the World are here, and they fill Heaven and Earth”: the Bagpipe in the Romantic Construction of Scottish Identity’ will be available later in 2014 in the collection Assembling Identities. And last but not least, Dr. Williams is a Hunterian Associate with a project on Bagpipes in Art.
When I asked if it might be possible for her to get the article to me by Wednesday of this week, she quickly replied: “Dear Frank, sure, I'll start working on the piece right now! And I'll make sure it's with you, together with the rest of the material, by Wednesday.” So hats off to someone I did not know who had the information to me by today, Monday, not Wednesday. I have been referring to her all week as “my newest best friend!” (6.16.14, FRS)
This weeks article is "The Centre for Robert Burns Studies is happy to announce the launch of a new website!" By Dr. Vivien Williams.
Read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives203.htm
And Finally...
More from the Book of Scottish Anecdote...
DONALD MACKINTOSH
At the battle of Quatre-Bras, two days previous to that of Waterloo, a major of the 4zd Highlanders, preferring to fight on foot, gave his horse to the care of a drummer boy in the regiment. After some severe fighting with the French curassiers and lancers, and after receiving several severe wounds, he fell from loss of blood, near a private of his corps, Donald Mackintosh, who was mortally wounded at the same time. The little drummer had left the horse to assist poor Donald, which a lancer seeing, thought the horse a fair prize, and made a dash at it. The dying Highlander, with the ruling passion strong in death, cried "Hoot, mon, ye mauna tak that beast, it belongs to our major here." The lancer, neither understanding nor heeding him, had seized the horse, when Donald made a last effort, fired, and shot the lancer dead, and himself fell back and expired. The major was carried to the rear, and although he had received 16 wounds he recovered.
A HIGHLAND TURK
Amongst the numbers that came to see the British armament at Marmorice, in 1801, before proceeding to Egypt, was an unexpected visitor in the dress of a Turk. This was a gentleman of the name of Campbell, a native of the district of Kintyre, in Argyleshire. Early in life he had been so affected by the death of a school-fellow who had been killed by accident, as they were at play together, that he fled from the country and joined the Turkish army. He had served forty years under the standard of Islam, and had risen to the rank of general of artillery. He went on board the ship, where the 42d were embarked, to inquire about his family. When he saw the men in the dress to which he had been accustomed in his youth, he was so much affected that he burst into tears. The astonishment of the soldiers may be easily imagined, when they were addressed in their own language (which he had not forgotten), by a Turk in full costume, and with a white beard flowing down to his girdle.
HIGHLAND UNIFORM
When the Fraser regiment was sent out to America in 1757, it was proposed to change the uniform, as the Highland garb was said to be unfit for the cold winters and warm summers of that country. The officers and soldiers vehemently protested against any change, and Colonel Fraser explained to the commander-in·chief the strong attachment which the men cherished for their national dress, and the consequences that might be expected to follow if deprived of it. The representation was successful. In the words of 'a veteran who embarked and returned with the regiment: "Thanks to our generous chief, we are allowed to wear the garb of our fathers, and in the course of six winters showed the doctors that they did not understand our constitutions; for on the coldest winters our men were more healthy than those regiments that wore breeches and warm clothing."
THE GROWTH OF A TRUE HIGHLANDER
Let me tell you, as shortly as I can, how it happens that I know something about traditions of any kind. I was raised in the Highlands of Scotland, and as soon as I was out of the hands of nursemaids I was handed over to the care of a piper. His name was the same as mine-John Campbell-and from him I learned a good many useful arts. I earned to be hardy and healthy, and I learned Gaelic; I learned to swim, and to take care of myself, and to talk to everybody who choose to talk to me. My kilted nurse and I were always walking about in foul weather or fair, and every man, woman, and child in the place had something to say to us. Thus, I made early acquaintance with a blind fiddler, who could recite stories. I worked with the carpenters; I played shinty with all the boys about the farm; and so I got to kuow a good deal about the ways of Highlanders by growing up as a Highlander myself. -J. F. Campbell.
And that's it for this week and I hope you all have a good weekend.
Alastair
Electric Scotland News
It's rare that we get to see correspondence with Governments so thought I'd copy you into this to give an insight into what is going on in Scotland... it all happened this week.Dear Mr McGill etc. etc.
The Scottish Government shares your views on the importance of Sovereignty of The People of Scotland. In an Independent Scotland, Sovereignty would mean that the people Scotland were the final authority and all state power and authority would be accountable to them as opposed to the current arrangements where Sovereignty - supreme authority - in the UK lies with the Crown in Parliament, rather than the people, giving Westminster The Parliament ultimate power to do anything it decides, including to overrule the Scottish Parliament on any matter.
I also note your enthusiasm for the re-introduction of constitutionalism towards the governance of an independent Scotland. A permanent written constitution will be drawn up post independence, a constitutional platform for Scotland will be prepared. It will have effect from the date of Independence and will continue until the permanent written constitution has been agreed and come into effect. Scotland's written constitution could only then be amended according to the provisions of the constitution itself, therefore protecting the peoples rights and liberties.
In the UK at present, the constitution consists of various pieces of legislation, and constitutional rules and principles make up the constitution. The UK is the only member of the European Union and the Commonwealth that does not have a written constitution or a Constitution Act. That is a democratic deficit which the Scottish Government intends to address.
At the heart of Scotland's constitutional tradition is the fundamental principle that the people of Scotland are Sovereign and have the right to determine the form of government best suited to their needs.
The UKs constitutional position is particularly complex and one of the advantages of moving to a written constitution is to make information about government structures more accessible to the people of Scotland
Thank you etc. etc. signed Simon Elder. SNP. St Andrew House Regent Road Edinburgh EH1 3DG
ENDS QUOTE
Jim, for God's sake and for Scotland's sake would you please write to these guys at once, please, before they chuck the Referendum down the proverbial tubes? I've tried but they ignore my letters and come back with this Westminster osmosis crap.
Help Scotland now Jim, PLEASE.
John.
------
Dear Simon,
John McGill has sent me a copy of your mail to him of 8 June with the request that I reply to it. We were, as you know, the two central figures in the Scotland-UN Committee that initiated the action by the Council of Europe that brought about the restoration of the present Scottish Parliament and Government. In the course of the 18 years it took us to force the issue on devolution (and thereby to present the SNP with the key to the door of its present independence project) we had access to, and were advised by, some of the world's leading constitutional specialists, and not least because my own work for the Austrian Government brought me into daily contact with the experts of the international law section of the Foreign Ministry.
Scotland-UN was very accurately informed on all the relevant issues - a good deal better informed, I may add, than the SNP Government appears to be at the moment. My colleague John McGill is very uneasy about the SNP's conduct of the campaign, which is causing alarm in a number of respects. The people of Scotland, as you state, have the right to determine the kind of government best suited to their needs, but they also have the right to determine what that government does with the power it is given for a limited time. There is no question of its having carte blanche to do as it likes while it holds office.
If the Government is so insistent on the sovereignty of the Scottish people, why is it so insistent about railroading them into membership of the European Union, a step that would involve a massive abrogation of sovereignty far above what is demanded by any other international institution in the world. So the Scots are sovereign but are not to be given the choice of exercising their sovereignty? A parliamentary decision could suffice in the case of any other international institutions, since all of them are run on a basis of intergovernmental consensus, but not in the case of the EU, which has plans to take over the sovereignty of its member states. I have spent over 40 years working in European integration (inter alia I have a doctorate in the subject), and this is one area above all where I happen to know what I am talking about, especially since I have worked in it on special duties at top government level and have known some of the main actors concerned.
I am of course in total agreement with the basic political philosophy of the Scottish Government you have stated. The Scottish people are indeed sovereign in their own land, and in respect of their own affairs abroad, except in so far as they have delegated part of that sovereignty elsewhere. I am in complete agreement with what you write in that respect. What I dislike about it is a certain uncritical acceptance of the UK's so-called "unwritten" constitution, and in particular of an assumed right to interfere in any and all aspects of the government of Scotland. That may indeed apply in respect of certain stated functions, but I would certainly not accept it as a general principle.
From my observation the Scottish Government has been far too supine in respect of a number of basic principles, especially as regards the 1999 Order that purported to alter the line of the Scotland/England marine border that for centuries had remained unaltered along a line of latitude and has even been archived at the United Nations in that form. The again purported restriction to fisheries was clearly only a ruse and is already being treated as a general shift of the border. Why is this not being actively opposed?
The procedure you mention for a temporary national constitution pending the adoption of a permanent one is practical and correct, but who is to draft the temporary or permanent constitution? It can hardly have escaped the SNP's notice that some very competent experts have been working on the constitution project for years, not least the Scottish Constitutional Commission under John Drummond. Are they going to be drawn in here, or is the SNP going to dictate a draft of its own? Just asking.
I could go on at some length, but I will make do with the few remarks above. You may also be interested in one or two of the Scotland-UN documents that will shortly be appearing on a new Devolution section of the Electric Scotland website. The Memorandum to the Council of Europe Summit Meeting was what cracked the home rule nut for the first time in 300 years and resulted in the present Scottish Parliament and Government. Other hitherto unpublished documents will also be put onto the web, and might have some effect in the run-up to the referendum. Quite a number of us have spent our whole lives working for this day, and we want to see the result in our lifetime.
With kindest regards,
Saor Alba,
Jim
(Dr. James Wilkie)
Reference documents attached to the email can be found at...
http://www.electricscotland.com/inde...scotlandun.htm
My Health
Interesting time with my health these days and thought it might be of interest to tell you about it. As you may recollect I developed an overactive Thyroid and as a result lost some 60 pounds in weight. Well I have also now had the treatment for that which is being given some radioactive iodine. I still have one blood test to go next month on this but so far it looks like it has fixed the problem.
Now to the crux... which is my diabetes. Over the past few weeks I've been taking less and less insulin. In a meeting with my Doctor she thinks I could stop taking the short acting insulin which I take before meals. I've since been experimenting and now find that as long as my blood sugar is ok in the morning that I can go the whole day without taking any. At at my evening test I've hardly moved up more than a couple of points. That has also meant I've been able to drastically reduce the amount I take in the evening for my over night dose.
The thing is this drop didn't happen right after I lost my weight although that might well have been the reason but it did drop some 6 weeks after I got the radioactive Iodine.
I was usually taking a dose of overnight insulin of some 50 units but now down to more like 20 but I still haven't got it quite right as the other night I got a low on 16 units. It's been a challenge getting it right each night over the past couple of weeks.
They say that the only organ in the body that is affected by iodine is the Thyroid so I am starting to wonder if that is correct or not and I just have a feeling that had something to do with my diabetes and hence me wanting to tell you about it.
Electric Canadian
Four Years in British Columbia and Vancouver Island
An Account of the Forests, Rivers, Coasts, Gold Fields, and Resources for Colonisation by Commander Edward C. Mayne, R.N., F.R.G.S. (1862). A new book we're starting.
So little is yet known about British Columbia and Vancouver Island that the Author hopes his experience of four years, spent in the survey and exploration of both these Colonies, may be found of interest.
To Dr. Wood, R.N., of H.M.S. ‘Hecate,’ to the several travellers from whom information has been obtained and whose names occur in the book, as well as to the others, too many to enumerate, who have assisted him in various ways, the Author begs to return his thanks.
To Mr. E. P. Bedwell, R.N., Dr. Lyall, and Dr. Bindley, for the sketches which enliven the text, his thanks are also gratefully tendered; and last, but by no means least, to Mr. William J. Stewart, without whose aid these pages would probably never have seen the light, he gives his most cordial thanks.
For any errors which may occur in the latter part of the book the author claims the reader’s indulgence, as the revision of it has been carried on in great haste amid the bustle of fitting out a ship for foreign service.
H.M.S. 'Eclipse,’ October, 1862.
You can read this book as we get it up at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...ears/index.htm
Scandinavians in Canada
Found a reference to early Scandinavian contacts with Canada in an appendix of a book I was reading so extracted it for you to read.
You can read this at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...ndinavians.htm
Germans in Canada
I was given a book to read about a German Society in Canada which is copyright but am seeking permission to put it on the site. However reading through it I found reference to an early book of their immigration to a part of Canada and that led me to finding a book of the area where the Menonites had settled so have added that to the site.
You can read this at http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/germans.htm
The Flag in the Wind
This weeks issue was compiled by Jim Lynch in which he has a nice wee collection of articles and a Synopsis!
You can read this issue at http://www.scotsindependent.org
Electric Scotland
Alexander Murdoch (1841-1891)
A Scottish Engineer, Poet, Author, Journalist
Added a third book called "Scotch Readings: Humorous and Amusing" and we're breaking this down into individual chapters for you to read. We've added two more chapters, "How Archie MacGregor Paid Out The Horse-Cowper" and "Tam Broon's Visit to London" which you can find at the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/poet...doch/index.htm
Thomas Dick Lauder
Hope you are enjoying this book. Started on Volume 2 and you can find these at the foot of the page at:http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...er_thomas1.htm where we've added another couple of chapters now up to Chapter 12.
The Book of Scottish Anecdote
Humorous, Social, Legendary and Historical edited by Alexander Hislop, eighth edition.
Added pages 652 to 701. You can read these at: http://www.electricscotland.com/history/anecdote
Alan Cunningham
This distinguished poet entered the world under those lowly circumstances, and was educated under those disadvantages, which have so signally characterized the history of the best of our Scottish bards.
Now started on Volume 2 and have added Pages 2 to 122.
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/musi...gham/index.htm
The Northern Highlands in the Nineteenth Century
Some years ago I published the 2 volumes in this set. Well I have now found a third volume is now available and so have started to work on this.
Added the issue for 1848...
The year 1848 was a time of crisis in Europe. It was the year of Revolution on the Continent. France thrust out the citizen King, Louis Philippe, and most of the other Continental countries threw themselves into the struggle for constitutional change. The immediate results were only partial, but the movement prepared the way for vital changes in subsequent years. In Austria the Emperor was obliged to abdicate in favour of his nephew, the Sovereign who still (1908) occupies the throne. The armed insurrection in Hungary proved for the time disastrous to the patriotic party, as did also the risings in Italy. Prussia and the principalities of Germany had a variety of troubled experiences.
At home there was no real disturbance, but the Chartists in the month of April created great alarm in London by threatening a monster meeting and procession, organised by Feargus O’Connor. The proclamation of the procession as illegal, and the preparations which were made by Ministers and the police, overawed discontent, and the demonstration proved a fiasco. It was on this occasion that 170,000 special constables were sworn in, among them Prince Louis Napoleon, afterwards Emperor of the French. Ireland was in a more excited state, and special laws were passed to deal with sedition and treason. An agitation led by Mr Smith O’Brien and his associates was thus brought to an end. The finances of the nation were disordered, and the Whig Ministry had a good deal of trouble to adjust them to the satisfaction of Parliament. The death cf Lord George Bentinck, leader of the Protectionist party, opened the way for the supremacy of Mr Disraeli.
In the Highlands there was still a great deal of destitution, for which the Central Relief Committees had to make provision.
You can read this issue (No. 7) at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...lands/3no7.htm
Henry Dryerre
Compositor, Poet, Journalist and Musician.
Now added another two Worthies...
Post Reid
Stewart Jack
These really are excellent stories so here is one entire for you to read hoping you might enjoy it enough to want to read more. Here is the story of Stewart Jack...
It is a commonplace experience with students of rural life in bygone times which becomes positively monotonous, to find that it hardly matters how small the community one is dealing with, if only the period be far enough back—say, anything from thirty to fifty years as a minimum—there is sure to be one or more outstanding figures in it whose sayings and doings are to become the favourite theme of succeeding generations. Whether the same process is going on in our own day is extremely doubtful; but that is a question we have no business with here. Stewart Jack was a good illustration of this, as the sequel should show. He first saw light in Alyth in 1787. His father and grandfather belonged to the same district, his grandfather being one of the few retainers of Airlie in Alyth who turned out with him in the ’45.
HE WAS AT CULLODEN,
and went through the whole campaign, his ardour causing him to lock his wife in the house in order to get off with the laird. A well-dinted shield and much-hacked sword showed the sort of business he had been at while away. The mementoes were sold to a packman by Stewart’s mother—to the never-ending regret of her son. He learned the trade of slater, and came to Meikleour, some four miles on the other side of Blairgowrie when a young man, and at his most thriving period undertook large contracts as far north as Blair Atholl and south to Edinburgh. Touching “contracts,” the word invariably recalls Stewart’s reply to the smart youths who met him one morning. “Dear me, Stewart,” was their surprised greeting, “we thought you would be in Perth. This is the day the big job i3 to be settled.” “What’s that?” asked Stewart, with his usual snivel. “Oh, the slating of the railway between Perth and Forfar, you know.” “Man, I’ve been that busy I forgot a’ aboot it,” replied Stewart, offering his snuff mull without a wince. “You see, I’ve just settled the contract for the Loch o’ Clunie.” Stewart’s name is most frequently associated with such witticisms, but he is
WORTHY OF REMEMBRANCE
on much more substantial grounds. He was an omnivorous reader, and could read comfortably, he declared, going at five miles an hour if the road was familiar; and a great sight it was, too, to see the tall, gaunt figure “shauchlin’” along in his “lum” hat—without which he was seldom seen—a book in one hand and a bundle of tools in the other. Fortunately for Stewart’s taste, and for that of the cluster of hard-headed theologians, politicians, logicians, and whatever else which the village boasted, there was a capital little library in it, fostered by the Baroness Keith and Nairne—grandmother of our present Foreign Secretary. Amongst its contents were “Encyclopaedia Britannica,” Hume’s works, Rollin’s “Ancient History,” Chambers’s “Papers for the People,” and possibly the works of Voltaire, Volney, and Tom Paine, as Stewart showed a familiar knowledge of these last, and quoted them frequently, as well as from pre-French-Re volution literature generally.
HIS MEMORY.
As for his memory, it was simply perfect — complete catalogue rauonni of everything he had seen, heard, or read; every item duly ear-marked and pigeon-holed, ready for production at a moment’s notice. He fell in with a band of gipsies about Crieff one day as he was tramping home from Edinburgh, and nothing would do but that he should stop and give them a lecture on their own ancient history. He was awakened in the dead of night on another occasion by a pushful little beggar of a schoolboy— who was in a pickle of trouble to find out the date of Prince Charlie’s death. The sleeping slater heard the tapping on his window. “Are you waukin’, Stewart?” asked our scholar. “Ay; is that you, laddie?” said Stewart, recognising the voice of a favourite of his. “Ay. Whan did Prince Charlie dee?” “Seeventeen auchty-aucht,” was the answer, as he turned over again.
A mistaken statement by someone led him off into a description of the destruction of the Roman fleet off Syracuse by Archimedes with his burning lenses. “Ay, laddie,” said he, one night, pointing to the constellation Orion, “there it hings, just as Job saw it from the plains of Syria and the Magi watched it from the towers of Babylon!” A question about the moon brought out a discourse on the solar system. *’Tell Stewart, Peter,” said a fond grandfather to his boy, “aboot that wonderfu’ burning mountain in America.” “Oh, ay,” said Stewart, at once, “that’ll be Popocatepetl, nae doot, the extinct volcano in Mexico, seveenteen thoosand seeven hunder and auohty-four feet high, and forty miles sooth-east from the city of Mexico. It’s aye smokin’ yet, laddie, but there hasna been an eruption since 1568!”
THE MAN FOLKS
held meetings frequently, particularly in winter, and what these worthies didn’t discuss—and settle—wasn’t worth a hoast. The wonder is there is still so much to talk about. Each of them had his own individuality:—Old James Tamson, mason, was regarded as the best logician; Charlie Cochrane was a great wit; John Scott, a remarkably intelligent and well-informed man, &c.; but Stewart was a match for them all—in turn or altogether. There was always a “grand nicht” when Millar, the author of “The Tay,” used to visit the village periodically to square up for the “Strathmore Journal,” which used to circulate in the district—5d a copy, and no copy with less than five or six subscribers. The slater had pronounced opinions upon everything he read. He was never tired of ridiculing “finality Johnny” (Lord John Russell) and his sliding scale of taxation. He did not care for Cromwell, Hume having carried him away; he admired John Hampden; used to compare David to Rob Roy, and Dr Johnson to an ill-conditioned tyke. He had a mortal antipathy to Henry VIII., being too fond of his own wife, Nelly Walker—despite appearances at times—to abide that much-married monarch. And, touching domesticities, mention must be made of his one great weakness-turning up the little finger. Dearly as he loved Nelly, he gave her many a sore 'heart. “Is it true, Stewart,” asked an idle fellow, “that you have drunk as much whisky as might float a 50-gun man-o’-war?” “ Weel, I’m no sayin’ but I might gie it a gey shog.” One day an elder of Lethendy Kirk and Stewart dropped into “Danger Inn,” at the east end of Old Rattray, near the bridge. The elder called for a gill, drew down his big blue bonnet and proceeded to say grace—Stewart meantime
EMPTIED THE STOUP.
“It’s weel ca’d ‘Danger Inn,’” was the remark he made to his companion’s astonished look; “an’ that should show you that watchin* is far mair necessar’ than prayin’!”
He used to declare that he had a ladder so crooked he had to go round it three times to reach the top. He got a present of some firewood so green that it was, like Orr’s Almanack —intended for next year. He was on the roof of his own house one day, busy “putting out the lum,” and a passer-by sympathised with him. His reply was in the words of the preacher—“Better to dwell in a corner of the housetop than with a brawling woman and in a wide house.” A favourite saying of his—referring to the French Revolution and other great movements originating with the people—was that “hunger was the best politician.” “What tune’s that you’re playin’?” asked he of a village flute player. “Waterloo.” “I was thinkin’ that,” remarked Stewart; “for it was a gey ravelled mess!” And so on, ad. lib.
The genuine respect and affection Stewart enjoyed from every one are well shown in a single anecdote. One Saturday night the only grocer in the village ran out of bread, and Stewart had to go without. The news spread— “Stewart has nae bread," and first one, then another, and another, called with bannocks and cakes and bread and cheese, &c., till he might have started a provision store on his own account.
You can read these at: http://www.electricscotland.com/poet...erre/index.htm
Songs by John Henderson
John sent in a new song, 1940s Banknock.
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerel542.htm
Poets and Poetry of Scotland from the earliest to the present time
Comprising characteristic selections from the works of more noteworthy Scottish poets with biographical and critical notices. By James Grant Wilson (1876)
Now up to page 372.
You can read all about them at http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/poets/
Memoirs and Adventures of Sir William Kirkaldy of Grange
Knight, Commander of French Horse, Lord of the Secret Council, and Governor of the Castle of Edinburgh for Mary Queen of Scots (1849)
More chapters up this week with one more and the notes to do to complete this book.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...aldy/index.htm
Samuel Smiles
Newspaper Editor, Author and Social reformer has been added to our Significant Scots page.
This is another biography we're adding. I've added this week...
Chapter VII - Returns to England, London, Sheffield
Chapter VIII - Editor of Leeds Times
He really does a great job of telling about the special characters he meets up with. There have also been several references to Scots MP's who are representing English seats.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...les_samuel.htm
Book of the Old Edinburgh Club
We have acquired copies of 12 volumes of this club's publications and we're going to add one a week.
Now added volume 4 which includes...
George Drummon: An Eighteenth Century Lord Provost By William Baird With a portrait.
The Sculptured Stones of Edinburgh: IV Wrychtis-housis By John Geddie With illustrations.
The Old Tolbooth: with Extracts from the Original Records By John A. Fairley With illustrations.
An Old Edinburgh Monument Now in Perthshire By Thomas Ross, LL.D. With illustrations.
The Society of Friendly Contributors of Restalrig By Rev. W. Burnett With an illustration.
Recent Excavations and Researches at Holyrood By W. T. Oldrieve With plans.
You can read these at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../edinburghclub
Life of a Scotch Naturalist, Thomas Edward
By Samuel Smiles (1877).
Now completed this book and if you haven't read it you might at least read the final chapter which sums up his life and a very interesting one it was.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ward/index.htm
The Scottish School of Painting
By William D. MaKay, R.S.A. (1906). A new book we're starting.
PREFACE
In undertaking the preparation of a volume on the Scottish School of Painting for “The Library of Art,” two courses were open. Scottish painting might either be followed in detail from George Jamesone till the present day; or, by giving its true interpretation to the phrase “school of painting,” and beginning with Raebum, attention might be concentrated on a much shorter period. A further limitation might be effected by stopping short at a date sufficiently removed from us to be free from the difficulties which attend the consideration of contemporary art.In the main, I have adopted the latter alternative; but a glance has been taken in the preliminary chapters at the forerunners of the school, and, in the last, in a more cursory way, at its later developments. Even thus restricted, the material has been too full for the limits of a volume forming one of a series, to which it must necessarily conform; and various matters, which might very well have found a place in the art annals of the period, have not been entered on. Art-training, and the formation of the Scottish National and Municipal Collections have only been indirectly alluded to—chapter six having been so cut down as almost to belie its title—whilst from the same cause those dealing with art life in Scotland during the thirties—its relations and contrasts with that of other countries—and about the middle of the century, have been withheld.
From the appearance of Village Politicians in 1806, Wilkie has enjoyed a world-wide reputation. Within the last twenty years the same may be said of Raeburn, and for about the same time contemporary Scottish painters have been favourably known in most European and American art centres; but the men who kept alive painting in the north during the first three-quarters of the nineteenth century have received scant recognition. If something has been added to what has already been done by Sir Walter Armstrong, Mr. Brydall, and one or two others, to call attention to the strong portraiture of the successors of Raeburn, and the no less remarkable figure and landscape work of the painters who continued the tradition of Wilkie and Thomson, I shall feel amply rewarded.
A professional artist, when he deals with painting, is naturally prone to dwell much on its technical aspects. I claim no exemption from this tendency; but I hope it has not been carried so far as to go beyond the interest and easy comprehension of the general reader. In the scheme adopted, biographical details have been, as much as possible, avoided, and the work, rather than the lives of the painters has been considered. A table has, however, been added as appendix, giving information as to place and date of birth and death, where the painters studied, and where they practised.
I gladly take this opportunity of thanking those to whom I have been indebted for valuable assistance in the preparation of this volume. To the Hon. Board of Manufactures and the Corporation of Glasgow, for permission to reproduce many valuable works in the National and National Portrait Galleries of Scotland, and in the Kelvingrove Museum; to the Curators and attendants of those galleries for unfailing courtesy in supplying information concerning pictures under their charge; to the Secretary of the Albert Institute, Dundee, for facilitating access to the many works of art in Dundee and its neighbourhood; my thanks are especially due. To the Royal Company of Archers; the Merchant Company of Edinburgh; and to the Trustees of the late Patrick Allan Fraser, Hospitalfield, Arbroath, and to the Art master there; I am indebted for similar favours. I desire also to express my obligations to the numerous noblemen, ladies, and gentlemen whose collections have likewise been placed at my service, and without whose kind assistance it would have been impossible adequately to represent, or become acquainted with, the works of Scottish painters.
It may be mentioned that, to avoid the continual repetition of the full official titles, the Scottish National and National Portrait Galleries are sometimes referred to as The Mound, and the Queen Street Galleries. Similarly, the Glasgow Corporation’s collection at Kelvingrove, and the National Gallery of British Art, are often called the Kelvingrove and Tate Galleries respectively.
Wm. D. McKay.
Edinburgh, February 28, 1906.
You can get to this book at: http://www.electricscotland.com/art/schoolmdx.htm
Enigma Machine
Now have up puzzle 66.
You can get to this one at http://www.electriccanadian.com/life.../enigma066.htm
The Scots Brigade
Scots fought for the Netherlands for over two centuries and in here you will learn more about their records.
See http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ts_brigade.htm
Ladies of the Reformation in Scotland
I found a book called Ladies of the Reformation and noted there was a Scottish section so here it is.
See http://www.electricscotland.com/history/women/wh58.htm
Upper Teviotdale and The Scotts of Buccleuch
A Local and Family History by J. Rutherford Oliver (1887). Added this to the foot of the page about Buccleuch in the Scottish Nation.
See http://www.electricscotland.com/HIST.../buccleuch.htm
Beth's Newfangled Family Tree
Got in Section 2 of the July 2014 edition.
See http://www.electricscotland.com/bnft
Clan Campbell
And their Followers during the Years 1685 and 1686. I've added this pdf document to our Clan Campbell page at:http://www.electricscotland.com/webc...c/campbel.html
Annals of a Publishing House
William Blackwood and His Sons, their Magazine and Friends by Mrs. Oliphant in 3 volumes (1897)
You can get to this at http://www.electricscotland.com/book...blackwoods.htm
Sir William Pulteney
Added this Lawyer, MP, American land owner to our Significant Scots page.
He was reputed to be the wealthiest man in Great Britain. You can read this at
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ey_william.htm
George Scot of Pitlochie
Got in an interesting article about this chap and his descendants.
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/webc...oz/scott3.html
Scotland-UN Committee
Created this section as we are going to be publishing little known documents of this committee and the work they have done.
You can get to this at http://www.electricscotland.com/inde...scotlandun.htm
Lives of Eminent Men of Aberdeen
By James Bruce (1890). Added this book to our Famous Scots page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...erdeen_men.htm
Robert Burns Lives!
Edited by Frank Shaw
There are so many good Burnsians “out there” and I must tell you about one I met via email over the past few days. I received a message last week from my editor and “boss”, Alastair McIntyre, advising of the new Burns Choral Project at the University of Glasgow’s Centre for Robert Burns Studies. I contacted a friend at the centre and immediately my email was passed along to the appropriate party. Then “boom” - like a split of lightening in the darkness of a moonless and starless night - I received a response from someone unknown to me offering information I needed for the article. And remarkably, after further contact, she even offered to write the article herself. So today Dr. Vivien Williams, a graduate of the University of Bari (Italy), founded in 1925, will explain the project to us. The University at Bari has a student population of approximately 60,000 and is one of the most prestigious universities in southern Italy.
Dr Williams, “born half an Italian, and bred a whole one”, was brought up in an Anglo-Italian family in Apulia, the ‘heel’ of Italy’s ‘boot’. She has always actively pursued her interests in literature and has won a number of literary prizes, both national and international, for short stories and poetic translations. Since her teens she cultivated an interest in the bagpipe, and in 2010 she moved to Glasgow to embark on her Ph.D. and completed it with a thesis on ‘The Cultural History of the Bagpipe in Britain, 1680-1840’.
Dr. Williams has been very busy since coming on board at the University of Glasgow. She is currently a Research Assistant in musicology at the Centre for Robert Burns Studies, working on the project ‘Editing Robert Burns for the 21st Century’. She also tutors in Scottish Literature and English Literature. Vivien is the co-author of the Anglophone civilization book ACCESS to Great Britain and the English-speaking World (2007), and her chapter ‘“All the Bagpipes in the World are here, and they fill Heaven and Earth”: the Bagpipe in the Romantic Construction of Scottish Identity’ will be available later in 2014 in the collection Assembling Identities. And last but not least, Dr. Williams is a Hunterian Associate with a project on Bagpipes in Art.
When I asked if it might be possible for her to get the article to me by Wednesday of this week, she quickly replied: “Dear Frank, sure, I'll start working on the piece right now! And I'll make sure it's with you, together with the rest of the material, by Wednesday.” So hats off to someone I did not know who had the information to me by today, Monday, not Wednesday. I have been referring to her all week as “my newest best friend!” (6.16.14, FRS)
This weeks article is "The Centre for Robert Burns Studies is happy to announce the launch of a new website!" By Dr. Vivien Williams.
Read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives203.htm
And Finally...
More from the Book of Scottish Anecdote...
DONALD MACKINTOSH
At the battle of Quatre-Bras, two days previous to that of Waterloo, a major of the 4zd Highlanders, preferring to fight on foot, gave his horse to the care of a drummer boy in the regiment. After some severe fighting with the French curassiers and lancers, and after receiving several severe wounds, he fell from loss of blood, near a private of his corps, Donald Mackintosh, who was mortally wounded at the same time. The little drummer had left the horse to assist poor Donald, which a lancer seeing, thought the horse a fair prize, and made a dash at it. The dying Highlander, with the ruling passion strong in death, cried "Hoot, mon, ye mauna tak that beast, it belongs to our major here." The lancer, neither understanding nor heeding him, had seized the horse, when Donald made a last effort, fired, and shot the lancer dead, and himself fell back and expired. The major was carried to the rear, and although he had received 16 wounds he recovered.
A HIGHLAND TURK
Amongst the numbers that came to see the British armament at Marmorice, in 1801, before proceeding to Egypt, was an unexpected visitor in the dress of a Turk. This was a gentleman of the name of Campbell, a native of the district of Kintyre, in Argyleshire. Early in life he had been so affected by the death of a school-fellow who had been killed by accident, as they were at play together, that he fled from the country and joined the Turkish army. He had served forty years under the standard of Islam, and had risen to the rank of general of artillery. He went on board the ship, where the 42d were embarked, to inquire about his family. When he saw the men in the dress to which he had been accustomed in his youth, he was so much affected that he burst into tears. The astonishment of the soldiers may be easily imagined, when they were addressed in their own language (which he had not forgotten), by a Turk in full costume, and with a white beard flowing down to his girdle.
HIGHLAND UNIFORM
When the Fraser regiment was sent out to America in 1757, it was proposed to change the uniform, as the Highland garb was said to be unfit for the cold winters and warm summers of that country. The officers and soldiers vehemently protested against any change, and Colonel Fraser explained to the commander-in·chief the strong attachment which the men cherished for their national dress, and the consequences that might be expected to follow if deprived of it. The representation was successful. In the words of 'a veteran who embarked and returned with the regiment: "Thanks to our generous chief, we are allowed to wear the garb of our fathers, and in the course of six winters showed the doctors that they did not understand our constitutions; for on the coldest winters our men were more healthy than those regiments that wore breeches and warm clothing."
THE GROWTH OF A TRUE HIGHLANDER
Let me tell you, as shortly as I can, how it happens that I know something about traditions of any kind. I was raised in the Highlands of Scotland, and as soon as I was out of the hands of nursemaids I was handed over to the care of a piper. His name was the same as mine-John Campbell-and from him I learned a good many useful arts. I earned to be hardy and healthy, and I learned Gaelic; I learned to swim, and to take care of myself, and to talk to everybody who choose to talk to me. My kilted nurse and I were always walking about in foul weather or fair, and every man, woman, and child in the place had something to say to us. Thus, I made early acquaintance with a blind fiddler, who could recite stories. I worked with the carpenters; I played shinty with all the boys about the farm; and so I got to kuow a good deal about the ways of Highlanders by growing up as a Highlander myself. -J. F. Campbell.
And that's it for this week and I hope you all have a good weekend.
Alastair
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