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For the latest news from Scotland see our ScotNews feed at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/
Electric Scotland News
The Ferret - Founding Statement
I just found out about this online news site and so thought I'd tell you about it.
Good, investigative journalism is suffering in Scotland. The advertising revenues that have traditionally funded journalists to uncover scandals are being swept away in the whirlwind of the electronic information revolution – and nobody is quite sure what to do about it.
We believe that something has to be done. In a democracy like ours few things are more important than a free, fair and independent media holding the powerful to account by discovering their secrets. Without serious, fact-based journalism in pursuit of the public interest and beholden to no-one, Scotland would be a smaller place.
That is why we are now proposing The Ferret: a new platform for investigative journalism unlike any that have gone before. It will not be owned by some distant corporation: it will be owned by its members and run as a not-for-profit operation in Scotland. It will not be aligned with any political party or any vested interest. It will be utterly transparent and totally accountable in all it does.
But The Ferret will not be dour. It will be challenging, irreverent, cheeky even. It will tap into the rich vein of Scottish journalism to produce good writing, exclusive, and must-read stories. And it will listen to its readers, who will all have a say in what it does.
There is still much detail to work out. We are open to suggestions on the best combination of grants, donations, subscriptions, crowdfunding, sales and other sources of income to help transform an important idea into a working reality. We welcome all thoughts on how we should be organised, and how members should be involved.
But this is the starting point. Scotland needs good, investigative journalism and the Ferret is our way of helping to ensure that. Let us know what you think and watch this space.
Visit their web site at: https://theferret.scot/ and watch a video about them at:
Clan Leslie Society International Gathering
The University of Guelph is going to live stream our library event at the Gathering. For those of you who are unable to attend, this is a great opportunity for you to watch this wonderful event.
This is the link to watch the library event in real time.
The University of Guelph plans to live stream the event, and will be available shortly after August 12 at 9:00 AM eastern standard time when events get underway at: https://m.youtube.com/user/UofGLibrary
Special guest: The Honourable Alexander Leslie, Chief of Clan Leslie
Location:
Robert Whitelaw Room, 2nd floor
Mclaughlin Library
University of Guelph
50 Stone Road E.
Guelph, Ontario
Refreshments will be provided. This event is open to the public
There is a Place
I recently published a Scottish historical novel titled THERE IS A PLACE set from the Battle of Flodden in 1513 to the year 1548. It mostly takes place around Inchmahome Priory, Alloa Tower (the ancestral home of the prominent Erskine family) and Stirling Castle. It is available in both paperback and Kindle, and the National Trust for Scotland stock the paperback at Alloa Tower.
I am writing to ask if it would be possible to list my novel on ElectricScotland's site.
Below are links to my website and the book on Amazon where you can read the full synopsis, first three chapter and also the reviews.
Thank you for your time.
Regards
Cathy M. Donnelly
Website: http://www.cathymdonnelly.com
Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/There-Place-C...hy+m.+Donnelly
I did read the first three chapters on Amazon and purchased the Kindle edition and very much enjoyed it.
Scottish News from this weeks newspapers
Note that this is a selection and more can be read in our ScotNews feed on our index page. I am partly doing this to build an archive of modern news from and about Scotland as all the newsletters are archived and also indexed on Google and other search engines.
Scots social security system consultation to begin
Scotland is setting up its own agency to deliver social security payments with new devolved powers.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-...itics-36917786
UK’s first vertical farm to be built in Scotland
They have the ability to grow crops in quick time, without the need for vast amounts of land, water or sunshine.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/future-scotl...land-1-4189444
Modern slavery: Theresa May vows to defeat evil
Britain will lead the fight against modern slavery, Theresa May has said, vowing to make it her mission to help rid the world of the barbaric evil.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-36934853
In denial over Named Person court ruling
It says a lot about the state of Scottish politics
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/dani-ga...ling-1-4190354
GERS Deniers
Anybody who ventures onto social media and attempts to engage in rational economic debate about the case for Scottish Independence will quickly encounter GERS deniers.
Read more at:
http://chokkablog.blogspot.ca/2016/07/gers-deniers.html
Police Scotland at ‘breaking point’ as officer numbers fall
Figures showed numbers are at their lowest level since 2010.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/politic...fall-1-4192619
SNP struggling to keep Scotland’s lights on
Despite SNP protestations, the demise of ‘dirty’ coal power plants leaves us dependent on nuclear writes Scott Macnab
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...s-on-1-4192521
The man who rid the Hebrides of thousands
He has been described as one of the most hated men in Scottish history,
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/regions/inve...dren-1-4192914
Urgent action needed on Scottish roads
Audit Scotland said more than a third of council-maintained roads were in need of repairs.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-36964236
Hillary Clinton’s Scottish roots
A Scottish soldier named Lieutenant George MacDougall, born in Argyll and Bute around 1739, is the former Secretary of State’s great-great-great-great-great-grandfather
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/reveale...oots-1-4194040
Edinburgh scientists develop software that could prove essential to homeland security
Scientists have developed a software technique for detecting hazardous chemicals
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/future-scotl...rity-1-4192849
UK interest rates cut to 0.25%
UK interest rates have been cut from 0.5% to 0.25% - a record low and the first cut since 2009.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36976528
Electric Canadian
Inuit
I added a video about the Inuit of Alaska to our Inuit page entitled "The Last True Eskimos in Alaskan Northwest" which you can view at:http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist.../esquimaux.htm
Electric Scotland
Dictionary of National Biography
I have worked on bringing you some more biographies from this publication. In most cases I have added a link to these at the foot of the page for the name in our "Scottish Nation".
Cairncross http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...cairncross.htm
Cairns http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ion/cairns.htm
Calder http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ion/calder.htm
Calderwood http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...calderwood.htm
Cameron http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...on/cameron.htm
Campbell http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...n/campbell.htm
Saint Cadroe
Added this saint to our Significant Scots page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...droe_saint.htm
Beth's Newfangled Family Tree
Got in section 1 of the August 2016 issue which you can read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/bnft/index.htm
Fraser's Magazine
Fraser's Magazine began in 1830 as "Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country".
Fraser's Magazine was a general interest magazine published in London in the 19th century. It began in 1830 as "Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country". A new series began in 1870. In 1882, it was succeeded by Longman's Magazine.
It was founded by Hugh Fraser and William Maginn in 1830 and loosely directed by Maginn (and later Francis Mahony) under the name Oliver Yorke until about 1840. It circulated until 1882.
In its early years the publisher James Fraser (no relation to Hugh) played a role in soliciting contributors and preparing the magazine for the press. After James Fraser's death in 1841 the magazine was acquired by George William Nickisson, and in 1847 by John William Parker. Its last notable editor was James Anthony Froude (1860–1874).
Sharing the Tory politics of Blackwood's Magazine, Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country was founded in 1830 by Hugh Fraser and William Maginn, and edited by the latter until his death in 1842. Like the Athenaeum, Fraser's had no direct links with a publishing house and was aimed a general middle-class audience. Establishing a reputation for its wit and confrontational style, it attacked the laissez-faire policies of the Whig government and was outspoken in support of the Tory paternalist campaign for factory reform. It was an important channel of German thought, and published Thomas Carlyle's Sartor Resartus in 1833-34. Other contributors included William Thackeray, who contributed a series of critical articles on art, 'Strictures on Pictures', during 1839-1845, and Charles Kingsley, whose novel, Yeast, was published in serial form during 1848. The Christian Socialist, J. W. Parker, became editor in 1847. Ruskin 's series of essays on political economy, Munera Pulveris, began publication in 1862, but was terminated because of Ruskin's opposition to current economic theory, just as Unto This Last had been brought to an abrupt end by the Cornhill Magazine in 1860. (See also Graham, English Literary Periodicals, Gross, Rise and Fall of the Man of Letters, Houghton, Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals, Thrall, Rebellious Frasers.)
I have extracted a wee story from one of the issue and links are available to download many volumes of this magazine.
You can get to this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rs/frasers.htm
Mr. Gladstone’s Ancestors
Added this account to our Gladstone page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../gladstone.htm
History of the Kirk of Scotland
By Mr David Calderwood in 7 volumes
I doubt many will want to read all these 7 volumes but the contents pages in each volume will take you through the various time periods of the history of the Kirk.
The extensive learning and eminent talents of the Rev. David Calderwood, his matured experience in ecclesiastical affairs, and especially in those of his native country, the persecutions he had endured for his beloved Church, and the numerous works he had written in its defence, all qualified him, in the happiest manner, for becoming a Historian of the Kirk of Scotland. Above all, when the narrative was to be one of struggle and suffering, in which the principalities and powers of the earth, as well as those of darkness, were the antagonists, the record of such a conflict fell most aptly into the hands of a man whom a monarch had in vain attempted to brow-beat, and a whole hierarchy to silence. His own heart also appears to have affectionately inclined towards this his most congenial occupation, so that, after his return from exile, he spent many years in collecting and arranging the materials necessary for such an important task. At last, when he had reached his seventy-third year, the General Assembly, for the purpose of enabling him to perfect his work, granted him an annual pension of eight hundred pounds Scots. Calderwood died only two years afterwards; but he had lived to accomplish his purpose of writing the History of our National Church from the commencement of the Reformation to the close of the reign of James the Sixth, in two, if not in three successive and copious revisals.
From an historical perspective it is a real feast of history and so researchers will certainly make good use of it.
You can get to this publication at: http://www.electricscotland.com/bibl...yofthekirk.htm
The Story
In the early days of this site I read that some 20,000 Scots had fought for Germany and of course I was amazed at this statement seeing we'd fought two world wars against them. I saw the reference to the book "Scots in Germany" and as this was in the days before books were being published on the Internet I hunted second hand book sellers and eventually found a copy which I typed onto the site.
In that book we read...
THE commercial intercourse of Scotland with Germany dates almost, if not quite, as far back as that with Flanders, where already in the commencement of the XIIlth Century a Scotch Settlement at Bruges was known under the name of "Scottendyk." The oldest document relative to Scotch-German trade is the famous letter of William Wallace, the national Hero and champion of his country’s liberty, which was discovered in 1829 by the German Scholar and Antiquarian Dr. Lappenberg among the archives of the Free City of Lubeck, the renowned chief of the Hanseatic league. It bears the date of 1297 and runs as follows: "Andrew Moray and William Wallace, leaders of the Scotch army, and the commonwealth of the same kingdom send to the prudent and discreet men, our good friends, the Senate and the commoners of Lubeck and of Hamburg greeting and a continuous increase of sincere affection. We have been informed by trustworthy merchants of the said kingdom of Scotland, that you on your own behalf have been friendly and helpful in counsel and deed in all things and enterprises concerning us and our merchants, though our own merits did not occasion this. We are therefore the more beholden to you, and wishing to prove our gratitude in a worthy manner we ask you to make it known among your merchants that they can now have a safe access with their merchandize to all harbours of the Kingdom of Scotland, because the Kingdom of Scotland has, thanks be to God, by war been recovered from the power of the English. Farewell. Given at Hadsington (Haddington) in Scotland on the eleventh day of October in the Year of Grace one thousand two hundred and ninety seven."
"We also pray you to be good enough to further the business of John Burnet and John Frere, our merchants, just as you might wish that we should further the business of your merchants. Farewell. Given as above."
As will be seen, the letter was written immediately after the victorious battle of the Scots near Stirling and the advance of the army into Northumberland.
Memoirs and Adventures of Sir John Hepburn
We would not raise him from the dead, even if we could. For were he here, standing up in all his grim majesty of martial pomp, we would not sneer at him who in his time did his time’s work faithfully and manfully. Much less would we worship him as a hero; for even his exploits of bravery and endurance cannot raise him to the standard of a hero of our days. Why not, then, let him rest in his foreign grave? Yes, let him rest, but as a lesson to this century, as a proof that all human excellence and all ideas of human excellence are passing away to make room for other excellence and other ideas of excellence, let us try to raise, though it be but for an hour, the shadow of the shadow of Sir John Hepburn.
In East-Lothian, almost within sight of Berwick-Law, and on the brink of that deep hollow or ford where the Scots defeated and slew Athelstane, the Saxon king, stands a goodly-sized manor-house, overlooking the rocky hills of Dirleton, flanked by an old kirk and surrounded by decayed moss-covered trees. The stone steps of the mansion are worn away with the tread of many generations of men and women who have passed away and left no trace behind them. Others, the denizens of that old gloomy house, are mentioned here and there in stray parchments and records; and from the collected evidence of these it appears that House Athelstaneford was built by a branch of the Hepburns of Hailes and Bothwell, and that the place was held feudally of their kinsmen the Hepburns of Waughton. These Hepburns of Hailes and Bothwell, and of Athelstaneford and Waughton, were an impetuous and warlike family, who took their fill of fighting and plunder in all the frays of the Border. Thus, in January 1569, we find them expelled from their ancestral seat at Waughton, and assembling in large masses to retake that place, “and Fortalice of Vachtune,” where they slew, “Viqle. Johnne Geddes,” and hurt and wounded “divers otheris,” besides breaking into the Barbican and capturing sixteen steeds. But while thus employed, they were attacked by the Laird of Carmichael, the Captain of the Tower, who slew three of them and drove off the rest. Among them was George Hepburn of Athelstaneford, who was subsequently tried for the proceedings of that day, and who was acquitted in this case not only, but also for the share he took in Bothwell’s insurrection, for his part in which he was arraigned as having slain “three of the kings soldiers" at the battle of Langsides. Thus, escaping from sieges and battles, and, what is more, from the dangers of the law, George Hepburn died. No one knows how and whether he came to his end on the field or the scaffold, or in his own house of Athelstaneford. Nor is anything known of the day or year of his death, for little store was in those days set by the life of a simple yeoman. In the year 1616, it is found that his eldest son, George Hepburn, is “retoured" in the lands of Athelstaneford. George’s brother was John Hepburn, the chief hero of Mr. Grant’s Memoir. We say the chief hero, for he records other names and the deeds of other men of the time.
While avoiding all disquisition on the merits of the Thirty Years’ War, he has grouped around his hero all the great leaders in that long and sanguinary struggle for the liberties of Germany.
Signalised on many a hard-fought field, the conduct and bravery of Sir John Hepburn won for him the pre-eminence of being esteemed the best of that warlike age, next to the great Swedish leader; and the episodes of these Memoirs will show how brightly the chivalry and valour of his Scottish comrades shone forth amid the brilliant exploits which distinguished, and the heartless ferocity which degraded, the long war with the Empire.
These pages contain a brief record of the services of those Scottish troops who (to use the words of the famous Major Dalgetty) served in the German wars, under “the Invincible Gustavus Adolphus, the Lion of the North, and Bulwark of the Protestant Religion.”
A proper memorial of their valour and their worth has long been wanting to complete our national history.
The Author has confined himself more immediately to achievements of Hepburn’s brigade in Sweden, which afterwards became the Regiment d’Hepburn in the service of France, and is now known as the Scots Royals, or First Regiment of the British Line.
The records that survive of this old regiment, which the Hepburns, Lord Douglas, and the Earl of Dumbarton, successively commanded in France, are preserved among the military archives of that country.
The high military commands borne by Scotsmen in all ages evince the reputation for courage which the nation has gained abroad. In every army in Europe they have risen to eminence, and by their intrepid courage, persevering spirit, and inflexible integrity, though invidiously designated by some as adventurers, have attained the highest honours that can accrue to subjects.
Though Hepburn had never a higher rank in Sweden than that of colonel, it is remarkable that he should have been appointed to command nearly forty thousand infantry in the intrenched camp at Nuremberg, when there were so many Field-Marshals and other general officers in the army.
The house in which he was born still occupies a prominent place in his native village of Athelstaneford, and was lately shown to the Author by the patriarch of the parish, a man upwards of eighty years of age, who in his youth had frequently heard his predecessors speak of Sir John Hepburn, and who many years ago assisted the late venerable incumbent to search the Hepburn Aisle and the churchyard, for any inscriptions that might remain to the memory of the Marshal or his family: but none were found.
The property of Athelstaneford, and the sepulchre where the Hepburns lie, belong to their successors, the Kinlochs of Gilmerton.
Since these pages went to press, the Author finds he has somewhat underrated the number of Scottish soldiers who followed the banner of Gustavus. His regiments were maintained at the strength of one thousand and eight rank and file, and, as he had thirteen from Scotland, this gives us the number of thirteen thousand one hundred and four privates, all Scotsmen, and exclusive of their countrymen who led them and nearly all the other regiments, troops, and companies of the Swedish army.
Edinburgh, October 1850.
You can read this book about him at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...hn_hepburn.htm
And that's it for this week and hope you all enjoy your weekend.
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com/
Electric Scotland News
The Ferret - Founding Statement
I just found out about this online news site and so thought I'd tell you about it.
Good, investigative journalism is suffering in Scotland. The advertising revenues that have traditionally funded journalists to uncover scandals are being swept away in the whirlwind of the electronic information revolution – and nobody is quite sure what to do about it.
We believe that something has to be done. In a democracy like ours few things are more important than a free, fair and independent media holding the powerful to account by discovering their secrets. Without serious, fact-based journalism in pursuit of the public interest and beholden to no-one, Scotland would be a smaller place.
That is why we are now proposing The Ferret: a new platform for investigative journalism unlike any that have gone before. It will not be owned by some distant corporation: it will be owned by its members and run as a not-for-profit operation in Scotland. It will not be aligned with any political party or any vested interest. It will be utterly transparent and totally accountable in all it does.
But The Ferret will not be dour. It will be challenging, irreverent, cheeky even. It will tap into the rich vein of Scottish journalism to produce good writing, exclusive, and must-read stories. And it will listen to its readers, who will all have a say in what it does.
There is still much detail to work out. We are open to suggestions on the best combination of grants, donations, subscriptions, crowdfunding, sales and other sources of income to help transform an important idea into a working reality. We welcome all thoughts on how we should be organised, and how members should be involved.
But this is the starting point. Scotland needs good, investigative journalism and the Ferret is our way of helping to ensure that. Let us know what you think and watch this space.
Visit their web site at: https://theferret.scot/ and watch a video about them at:
Clan Leslie Society International Gathering
The University of Guelph is going to live stream our library event at the Gathering. For those of you who are unable to attend, this is a great opportunity for you to watch this wonderful event.
This is the link to watch the library event in real time.
The University of Guelph plans to live stream the event, and will be available shortly after August 12 at 9:00 AM eastern standard time when events get underway at: https://m.youtube.com/user/UofGLibrary
Special guest: The Honourable Alexander Leslie, Chief of Clan Leslie
Location:
Robert Whitelaw Room, 2nd floor
Mclaughlin Library
University of Guelph
50 Stone Road E.
Guelph, Ontario
Refreshments will be provided. This event is open to the public
There is a Place
I recently published a Scottish historical novel titled THERE IS A PLACE set from the Battle of Flodden in 1513 to the year 1548. It mostly takes place around Inchmahome Priory, Alloa Tower (the ancestral home of the prominent Erskine family) and Stirling Castle. It is available in both paperback and Kindle, and the National Trust for Scotland stock the paperback at Alloa Tower.
I am writing to ask if it would be possible to list my novel on ElectricScotland's site.
Below are links to my website and the book on Amazon where you can read the full synopsis, first three chapter and also the reviews.
Thank you for your time.
Regards
Cathy M. Donnelly
Website: http://www.cathymdonnelly.com
Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/There-Place-C...hy+m.+Donnelly
I did read the first three chapters on Amazon and purchased the Kindle edition and very much enjoyed it.
Scottish News from this weeks newspapers
Note that this is a selection and more can be read in our ScotNews feed on our index page. I am partly doing this to build an archive of modern news from and about Scotland as all the newsletters are archived and also indexed on Google and other search engines.
Scots social security system consultation to begin
Scotland is setting up its own agency to deliver social security payments with new devolved powers.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-...itics-36917786
UK’s first vertical farm to be built in Scotland
They have the ability to grow crops in quick time, without the need for vast amounts of land, water or sunshine.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/future-scotl...land-1-4189444
Modern slavery: Theresa May vows to defeat evil
Britain will lead the fight against modern slavery, Theresa May has said, vowing to make it her mission to help rid the world of the barbaric evil.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-36934853
In denial over Named Person court ruling
It says a lot about the state of Scottish politics
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/dani-ga...ling-1-4190354
GERS Deniers
Anybody who ventures onto social media and attempts to engage in rational economic debate about the case for Scottish Independence will quickly encounter GERS deniers.
Read more at:
http://chokkablog.blogspot.ca/2016/07/gers-deniers.html
Police Scotland at ‘breaking point’ as officer numbers fall
Figures showed numbers are at their lowest level since 2010.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/politic...fall-1-4192619
SNP struggling to keep Scotland’s lights on
Despite SNP protestations, the demise of ‘dirty’ coal power plants leaves us dependent on nuclear writes Scott Macnab
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...s-on-1-4192521
The man who rid the Hebrides of thousands
He has been described as one of the most hated men in Scottish history,
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/regions/inve...dren-1-4192914
Urgent action needed on Scottish roads
Audit Scotland said more than a third of council-maintained roads were in need of repairs.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-36964236
Hillary Clinton’s Scottish roots
A Scottish soldier named Lieutenant George MacDougall, born in Argyll and Bute around 1739, is the former Secretary of State’s great-great-great-great-great-grandfather
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/reveale...oots-1-4194040
Edinburgh scientists develop software that could prove essential to homeland security
Scientists have developed a software technique for detecting hazardous chemicals
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/future-scotl...rity-1-4192849
UK interest rates cut to 0.25%
UK interest rates have been cut from 0.5% to 0.25% - a record low and the first cut since 2009.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36976528
Electric Canadian
Inuit
I added a video about the Inuit of Alaska to our Inuit page entitled "The Last True Eskimos in Alaskan Northwest" which you can view at:http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist.../esquimaux.htm
Electric Scotland
Dictionary of National Biography
I have worked on bringing you some more biographies from this publication. In most cases I have added a link to these at the foot of the page for the name in our "Scottish Nation".
Cairncross http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...cairncross.htm
Cairns http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ion/cairns.htm
Calder http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ion/calder.htm
Calderwood http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...calderwood.htm
Cameron http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...on/cameron.htm
Campbell http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...n/campbell.htm
Saint Cadroe
Added this saint to our Significant Scots page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...droe_saint.htm
Beth's Newfangled Family Tree
Got in section 1 of the August 2016 issue which you can read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/bnft/index.htm
Fraser's Magazine
Fraser's Magazine began in 1830 as "Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country".
Fraser's Magazine was a general interest magazine published in London in the 19th century. It began in 1830 as "Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country". A new series began in 1870. In 1882, it was succeeded by Longman's Magazine.
It was founded by Hugh Fraser and William Maginn in 1830 and loosely directed by Maginn (and later Francis Mahony) under the name Oliver Yorke until about 1840. It circulated until 1882.
In its early years the publisher James Fraser (no relation to Hugh) played a role in soliciting contributors and preparing the magazine for the press. After James Fraser's death in 1841 the magazine was acquired by George William Nickisson, and in 1847 by John William Parker. Its last notable editor was James Anthony Froude (1860–1874).
Sharing the Tory politics of Blackwood's Magazine, Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country was founded in 1830 by Hugh Fraser and William Maginn, and edited by the latter until his death in 1842. Like the Athenaeum, Fraser's had no direct links with a publishing house and was aimed a general middle-class audience. Establishing a reputation for its wit and confrontational style, it attacked the laissez-faire policies of the Whig government and was outspoken in support of the Tory paternalist campaign for factory reform. It was an important channel of German thought, and published Thomas Carlyle's Sartor Resartus in 1833-34. Other contributors included William Thackeray, who contributed a series of critical articles on art, 'Strictures on Pictures', during 1839-1845, and Charles Kingsley, whose novel, Yeast, was published in serial form during 1848. The Christian Socialist, J. W. Parker, became editor in 1847. Ruskin 's series of essays on political economy, Munera Pulveris, began publication in 1862, but was terminated because of Ruskin's opposition to current economic theory, just as Unto This Last had been brought to an abrupt end by the Cornhill Magazine in 1860. (See also Graham, English Literary Periodicals, Gross, Rise and Fall of the Man of Letters, Houghton, Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals, Thrall, Rebellious Frasers.)
I have extracted a wee story from one of the issue and links are available to download many volumes of this magazine.
You can get to this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rs/frasers.htm
Mr. Gladstone’s Ancestors
Added this account to our Gladstone page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../gladstone.htm
History of the Kirk of Scotland
By Mr David Calderwood in 7 volumes
I doubt many will want to read all these 7 volumes but the contents pages in each volume will take you through the various time periods of the history of the Kirk.
The extensive learning and eminent talents of the Rev. David Calderwood, his matured experience in ecclesiastical affairs, and especially in those of his native country, the persecutions he had endured for his beloved Church, and the numerous works he had written in its defence, all qualified him, in the happiest manner, for becoming a Historian of the Kirk of Scotland. Above all, when the narrative was to be one of struggle and suffering, in which the principalities and powers of the earth, as well as those of darkness, were the antagonists, the record of such a conflict fell most aptly into the hands of a man whom a monarch had in vain attempted to brow-beat, and a whole hierarchy to silence. His own heart also appears to have affectionately inclined towards this his most congenial occupation, so that, after his return from exile, he spent many years in collecting and arranging the materials necessary for such an important task. At last, when he had reached his seventy-third year, the General Assembly, for the purpose of enabling him to perfect his work, granted him an annual pension of eight hundred pounds Scots. Calderwood died only two years afterwards; but he had lived to accomplish his purpose of writing the History of our National Church from the commencement of the Reformation to the close of the reign of James the Sixth, in two, if not in three successive and copious revisals.
From an historical perspective it is a real feast of history and so researchers will certainly make good use of it.
You can get to this publication at: http://www.electricscotland.com/bibl...yofthekirk.htm
The Story
In the early days of this site I read that some 20,000 Scots had fought for Germany and of course I was amazed at this statement seeing we'd fought two world wars against them. I saw the reference to the book "Scots in Germany" and as this was in the days before books were being published on the Internet I hunted second hand book sellers and eventually found a copy which I typed onto the site.
In that book we read...
THE commercial intercourse of Scotland with Germany dates almost, if not quite, as far back as that with Flanders, where already in the commencement of the XIIlth Century a Scotch Settlement at Bruges was known under the name of "Scottendyk." The oldest document relative to Scotch-German trade is the famous letter of William Wallace, the national Hero and champion of his country’s liberty, which was discovered in 1829 by the German Scholar and Antiquarian Dr. Lappenberg among the archives of the Free City of Lubeck, the renowned chief of the Hanseatic league. It bears the date of 1297 and runs as follows: "Andrew Moray and William Wallace, leaders of the Scotch army, and the commonwealth of the same kingdom send to the prudent and discreet men, our good friends, the Senate and the commoners of Lubeck and of Hamburg greeting and a continuous increase of sincere affection. We have been informed by trustworthy merchants of the said kingdom of Scotland, that you on your own behalf have been friendly and helpful in counsel and deed in all things and enterprises concerning us and our merchants, though our own merits did not occasion this. We are therefore the more beholden to you, and wishing to prove our gratitude in a worthy manner we ask you to make it known among your merchants that they can now have a safe access with their merchandize to all harbours of the Kingdom of Scotland, because the Kingdom of Scotland has, thanks be to God, by war been recovered from the power of the English. Farewell. Given at Hadsington (Haddington) in Scotland on the eleventh day of October in the Year of Grace one thousand two hundred and ninety seven."
"We also pray you to be good enough to further the business of John Burnet and John Frere, our merchants, just as you might wish that we should further the business of your merchants. Farewell. Given as above."
As will be seen, the letter was written immediately after the victorious battle of the Scots near Stirling and the advance of the army into Northumberland.
Memoirs and Adventures of Sir John Hepburn
We would not raise him from the dead, even if we could. For were he here, standing up in all his grim majesty of martial pomp, we would not sneer at him who in his time did his time’s work faithfully and manfully. Much less would we worship him as a hero; for even his exploits of bravery and endurance cannot raise him to the standard of a hero of our days. Why not, then, let him rest in his foreign grave? Yes, let him rest, but as a lesson to this century, as a proof that all human excellence and all ideas of human excellence are passing away to make room for other excellence and other ideas of excellence, let us try to raise, though it be but for an hour, the shadow of the shadow of Sir John Hepburn.
In East-Lothian, almost within sight of Berwick-Law, and on the brink of that deep hollow or ford where the Scots defeated and slew Athelstane, the Saxon king, stands a goodly-sized manor-house, overlooking the rocky hills of Dirleton, flanked by an old kirk and surrounded by decayed moss-covered trees. The stone steps of the mansion are worn away with the tread of many generations of men and women who have passed away and left no trace behind them. Others, the denizens of that old gloomy house, are mentioned here and there in stray parchments and records; and from the collected evidence of these it appears that House Athelstaneford was built by a branch of the Hepburns of Hailes and Bothwell, and that the place was held feudally of their kinsmen the Hepburns of Waughton. These Hepburns of Hailes and Bothwell, and of Athelstaneford and Waughton, were an impetuous and warlike family, who took their fill of fighting and plunder in all the frays of the Border. Thus, in January 1569, we find them expelled from their ancestral seat at Waughton, and assembling in large masses to retake that place, “and Fortalice of Vachtune,” where they slew, “Viqle. Johnne Geddes,” and hurt and wounded “divers otheris,” besides breaking into the Barbican and capturing sixteen steeds. But while thus employed, they were attacked by the Laird of Carmichael, the Captain of the Tower, who slew three of them and drove off the rest. Among them was George Hepburn of Athelstaneford, who was subsequently tried for the proceedings of that day, and who was acquitted in this case not only, but also for the share he took in Bothwell’s insurrection, for his part in which he was arraigned as having slain “three of the kings soldiers" at the battle of Langsides. Thus, escaping from sieges and battles, and, what is more, from the dangers of the law, George Hepburn died. No one knows how and whether he came to his end on the field or the scaffold, or in his own house of Athelstaneford. Nor is anything known of the day or year of his death, for little store was in those days set by the life of a simple yeoman. In the year 1616, it is found that his eldest son, George Hepburn, is “retoured" in the lands of Athelstaneford. George’s brother was John Hepburn, the chief hero of Mr. Grant’s Memoir. We say the chief hero, for he records other names and the deeds of other men of the time.
You can read the pdf file of this article at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...h_cavalier.pdf
Subsequent to posting this article I found the complete book...http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...h_cavalier.pdf
Memoirs and Adventures of Sir John Hepburn
Knight, Governor of Munich, Marshall of France under Louis XIII., and Commander of the Scots Brigade under Gustavus Adolphus, etc., by James Grant (1851)
Knight, Governor of Munich, Marshall of France under Louis XIII., and Commander of the Scots Brigade under Gustavus Adolphus, etc., by James Grant (1851)
PREFACE
The selection of one prominent name from among the many that usually figure in great historical events, is a more pleasant mode of illustrating the manners of an age than can be achieved in narrating the more cumbrous annals of a nation; and thus the Author of these Memoirs, in presenting them to the public, has endeavoured to delineate the career, and glean from the masses of warlike history the achievements, of a distinguished soldier of fortune.While avoiding all disquisition on the merits of the Thirty Years’ War, he has grouped around his hero all the great leaders in that long and sanguinary struggle for the liberties of Germany.
Signalised on many a hard-fought field, the conduct and bravery of Sir John Hepburn won for him the pre-eminence of being esteemed the best of that warlike age, next to the great Swedish leader; and the episodes of these Memoirs will show how brightly the chivalry and valour of his Scottish comrades shone forth amid the brilliant exploits which distinguished, and the heartless ferocity which degraded, the long war with the Empire.
These pages contain a brief record of the services of those Scottish troops who (to use the words of the famous Major Dalgetty) served in the German wars, under “the Invincible Gustavus Adolphus, the Lion of the North, and Bulwark of the Protestant Religion.”
A proper memorial of their valour and their worth has long been wanting to complete our national history.
The Author has confined himself more immediately to achievements of Hepburn’s brigade in Sweden, which afterwards became the Regiment d’Hepburn in the service of France, and is now known as the Scots Royals, or First Regiment of the British Line.
The records that survive of this old regiment, which the Hepburns, Lord Douglas, and the Earl of Dumbarton, successively commanded in France, are preserved among the military archives of that country.
The high military commands borne by Scotsmen in all ages evince the reputation for courage which the nation has gained abroad. In every army in Europe they have risen to eminence, and by their intrepid courage, persevering spirit, and inflexible integrity, though invidiously designated by some as adventurers, have attained the highest honours that can accrue to subjects.
Though Hepburn had never a higher rank in Sweden than that of colonel, it is remarkable that he should have been appointed to command nearly forty thousand infantry in the intrenched camp at Nuremberg, when there were so many Field-Marshals and other general officers in the army.
The house in which he was born still occupies a prominent place in his native village of Athelstaneford, and was lately shown to the Author by the patriarch of the parish, a man upwards of eighty years of age, who in his youth had frequently heard his predecessors speak of Sir John Hepburn, and who many years ago assisted the late venerable incumbent to search the Hepburn Aisle and the churchyard, for any inscriptions that might remain to the memory of the Marshal or his family: but none were found.
The property of Athelstaneford, and the sepulchre where the Hepburns lie, belong to their successors, the Kinlochs of Gilmerton.
Since these pages went to press, the Author finds he has somewhat underrated the number of Scottish soldiers who followed the banner of Gustavus. His regiments were maintained at the strength of one thousand and eight rank and file, and, as he had thirteen from Scotland, this gives us the number of thirteen thousand one hundred and four privates, all Scotsmen, and exclusive of their countrymen who led them and nearly all the other regiments, troops, and companies of the Swedish army.
Edinburgh, October 1850.
You can read this book about him at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...hn_hepburn.htm
And that's it for this week and hope you all enjoy your weekend.
Alastair