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For the latest news from Scotland see our ScotNews feed at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/
Electric Scotland News
Dear Clan Wallace Member,
I just want to take a quick moment to tell you about a once in a lifetime opportunity to march in the Opening Ceremony with other Clan Wallace members in the 2017 Royal Military Tattoo, A Splash of Tartan, in Edinburgh on Monday August 14th. The details will be on the website shortly. There is a need to act quickly as the date to guarantee tickets (limited to the first 150) is March the 1st. I know this is short notice, and it takes lots of planning to get a trip organized, but we just found out for sure we were marching yesterday.
A special web page and code exclusive to Clan Wallace is required to book your ticket to the Tattoo. So please check out the website (www.clanwallace.org) and act quickly. If you have questions not addressed on the website, please contact me directly at president@clanwallace.org.
Hope to see you there,
Russ - President Clan Wallace Society
I might add that other clans will also be participating so you may wish to visit your own clan web site to see what they are offering.
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 where we list news from the past 1-2 weeks. 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. I might also add that in newspapers such as the Guardian, Scotsman, Courier, etc. you will find many comments which can be just as interesting as the news story itself and of course you can also add your own comments if you wish.
Scottish working class poets
Given new life with People’s Journal collection
Read more at:
https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news...al-collection/
Theresa May's Speech to Republican Retreat.
You can read and view her full speech here
Read more at:
https://order-order.com/2017/01/26/t...lican-retreat/
Pakistani minister: We want a GSP-Plus trade deal with Brexit Britain
Britain knew Pakistan better than any other EU member country, he said.
Read more at:
http://www.euractiv.com/section/glob...brexit-britain
Fife pushes ahead with universal basic income plan
A former mining village in Fife is to host a meeting of international experts and politicians to discuss a radical alternative to the present welfare system.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/pe...plan-1-4350065
Scottish government pushed on which projects will bear brunt of £900m loss
MSPs challenge government to provide full and comprehensive analysis of impact after EU spending rules were breached
Read more at:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...jects-scotland
The prospects for a US-UK trade deal are excellent
But Britain need not limit its horizons there
Read more at:
http://brexitcentral.com/prospects-u...imit-horizons/
Dublin might have to opt for Irexit
The Republic of Ireland should not rule out leaving the European Union, a senior former Irish diplomat has said.
Read more at:
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/dub...omat-1-7793646
How the Scots built Sydney
Many of the architects, politicians and state officials who established Sydney were born in Scotland, and their influence can still be seen today.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/heritage/peo...dney-1-4347299
The gutsy Hebridean Heroines who inspired the NHS
The endeavours of the district nurses working in the Western Isles in the early to mid 20th Century have been recorded for the first time.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/the-gut...-nhs-1-4348997
Donald Trump’s fascination with the UK is a real helping hand for Theresa May’s trade ambitions
Never mind the protests - Brits should be basking in our unexpected good fortune as the most powerful man in the world declares his love for our country
Read more at:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/273518...ade-ambitions/
Glasgow builds more satellites than any other European city
Scotland’s space industry is growing thanks to a combination of private and public sector investment centered around Glasgow
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/future-scotl...city-1-4354219
Electric Canadian
Chronicles of Canada
Added Volume 16: The War Chiefs of the Six Nations: The Red Man in Canada.
I might add that I've found text copies of these volumes so have added a link to them on the page. I also found a page where you can get audio copies so have placed a link to these as well.
You can read this at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...cles/index.htm
D. C. Beard
Author of many books on bush craft for the Boy Scouts of America. I thought I'd bring you a few of them as having found them I enjoyed them and so hope you do as well.
The first is a book about "Shelters, Shacks, and Shanties" which you can read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/pion...eard/index.htm
On Stone Implements from Nova Scotia and Canada
By Professor Duns, D.D. (pdf)
This is a document that comes from the Society of Actuaries of Scotland is celebration of Canada's 150 anniversary. You can read this at :http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...esincanada.pdf
Electric Scotland
The Ancient local Government of the Shetland Islands
By Gilbert Goudie, Esq., FSA Scot.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...tlandlocal.pdf
The Celtic and Scandinavian Antiquities of Shetland
By Gilbert Goudie (1904)
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...landceltic.pdf
Scottish Innovation Party - Agriculture
This Farm of the Future Uses No Soil and 95% Less Water. Added a video on Vertical Farming to the foot of our page.
You can view this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/inde...griculture.htm
Beth's Newfangled Family Tree
Got in the February section 1 of this monthly publication which can be read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/bnft/index.htm
Scottish Innovation Party - Energy
Added another video amount Nuclear to the foot of our Energy page.
You can view this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/inde...sip/energy.htm
Scottish Innovation Party
Added a page about the Commonwealth as I believe they represent a considerable opportunity for Scotland.
You can view this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/inde...mmonwealth.htm
The Genealogy of the Morrison Origins in Scotland
A critical evaluation of the historical evidence for the origins of the Morrisons in Scotland by Alexander Weir Morrison
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/m/morrison.pdf
Eliot and Alyth: A Town with Two Names
Notes relating to the Breton origin of the Elliots; their 12th century settlement on alienated thanage lands of Alyth; forfeiture in 1306, followed by resettlement in Liddesdale by Robert Bruce 1307-8, and his revival of the king’s thanage, 1313 x 1319 by Keith Elliot Hunter QPM, BA.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/webc...og/elliot.html
The Alloa Illustrated Family Almanac
District Directory and General Register for the County of Clackmannan for 1887
This can be read at: http://www.electricscotland.com/council/clacks.htm
The Fie and Forfar Yeomanry
And 14th (F. & F. Yeo.) Battn. R. H. 1914- 1919 By Major D. D. Ogilvie (1921)
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...fifeforfar.pdf
Collections Towards a History of the County of Clackmannan
Previous to the year 1330, when the following records commence, the Barony of Clackmannan was one of the Royal residences of the Scottish Kings.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/council/clacks.pdf
The Story
Two stories for you this week...
CRAIG NEVSKIY; OR, THE RUSSIAN MERCHANT
Craig Nevskiy was the son of a farmer in Neilston Parish, and had grown up to manhood’s estate, when an opportunity was given him of proceeding to St. Peterburg to manage or superintend some large cotton mills that were being erected there under the icgis of the Russian Government and auspices of the then Emperor of all the Russias. In early life he had been associated with his uncle, a gentleman known in the neighbourhood by the subriquet of the “Lang Laird,” in consequence of his great stature, who then owned the cotton mills of Broadlie at Neilston. Here he early manifested a special aptitude for mechanics, and acquired an intimate knowledge of and acquaintance with the several departments of cotton spinning, as carried on in the Levern Valley, then a special seat of the cotton industry, and where the second cotton mill in Scotland, Levern Mill, had been erected in 1780.
The success of his appointment he always attributed to his sister, who, having casually observed in a newspaper—not so common in those days as now—an advertisement that a manager was wanted at St. Petersburg, urged that he should make application for the position, which, though rather reluctantly at first, he was ultimately prevailed upon to do, when he received the appointment.
It will be remembered that the middle of the eighteenth century was characterized by a great outburst of inventive genius in mechanical appliances in our country, especially in their adaptation to the cotton industry, Watt’s steam-engine, Hargreave’s spinning-jenny, Arkwright’s water-frame, and Compton’s mule, a combination of the last two, 1763-1772, which gave an immense impetus to British commerce by the remarkable development of the cotton industry that followed, an impetus which, indeed, had not escaped the notice of Continental nations. The Peninsular victories had closed the gigantic struggle of Wellington in Spain; the capture of Paris by the Allied Armies had terminated the great French campaign in Germany; Napoleon, having abdicated, was for the time a prisoner in Elba; and the Peace of Paris, May, 1814, having restored the Bourbons to the throne of France, in the person of Louis XVIII., the greatly distracted European nations were looking forward to a much desired rest. In these conditions, the allied sovereigns of Europe, conscious of the great part our country had borne in the recent wars, and out of complement to our sovereign and people, in July, 1814, visited Britain, and became the guests of our King, George III., or rather the Prince Regent, afterwards George IV.
Among the royal guests on this occasion was that remarkable sovereign and great man, Alexander, Emperor of Russia, our ally then and afterwards whose name was borne by our late Queen Victoria. On the occasion of his stay in our country at this period, he visited and was greatly impressed by the cotton mills at New Lanark, which had been founded by David Dale, and were then at the height of their fame as the scene of the great socialist experiment conducted by his son-in-law, Robert Owen. On the Emperor returning to Russia, the authorities at St. Petersburg began to direct attention to the great cotton industry as they had witnessed it carried on in this country. But ere there was time to realize the happy anticipations looked forward to as the outcome of the settlement in France, an event occurred that, bursting rudely upon the European arrangements then in progress, dissipated all hope of a permanent peace. Napoleon had escaped from his island prison in the Mediterranean, had landed in France, and was marching on Paris at the head of a still formidable army of veteran troops. European war was again declared, not so much against France as against Napoleon, and it was not until “The Hundred Days” of the Emperor’s final campaign were closed by Wellington's stupendous victory at Waterloo, 1815, and Napoleon was again a prisoner, this time at St. Helena, that a permanent peace was established, and made such a thing possible, that the erection of the mills of Nevskiy could be proceeded with at their pile founded capital on the banks of the Neva.
The great Powers, Russia in particular, had not failed to observe the astounding evidence of Britain’s industry and consequent wealth in the way she had been able to pour out money in the final struggle with Napoleon, not merely enough to pay her own large navy and army at the time, but enough to keep Austrians, Prussians, and Russians in the field as well during the German campaign. Hitherto, St. Petersburg had been much less of a manufacturing city than Moscow; but after the Emperor Alexander’s visit to Britain we learn this was changed. Moscow was then in ruins from the great fire that followed Napoleon’s occupation of that Capital in 1812 by the Grand Army, and extensive improvements were introduced into St. Petersburg, amongst which was the cotton industry, especially the mills on the Neva, of which Craig Nevskiy had been appointed manager.
Having once entered upon his duties, the new manager threw all the indomitable energy of an ardent and resolute Scot, whose love was in his work, into the new undertaking, and under his levelheaded, shrewd guidance, the concern early began to give evidence of success, and this success continued to characterize the enterprise throughout the life-time of the Emperor, to whom its existence was owing. At his decease, the concern had become quite an established business, competent to rest on its own merits without any extraneous bolstering from the Government. So much was this the case that, on the accession to the throne of the new monarch, it would appear he became anxious that the whole mills should pass into entirely private management, and cease altogether to have State connection. The offer of taking over the business at a valuation was made, and on conditions accepted by an enterprising firm, including the Baron--and others associated in the company, with especially Craig Nevskiy, now a well-tried and successful business man, as managing partner.
The prosperity of the early management continued to attend the new company, which rapidly became a money-making concern, and tales of Craig Nevskiy’s rising fortune found their way across the wilderness of sea and reached the valley of his birth. The management, indomitable as ever, was credited with not being too sensitive under certain circumstances, and rumour had it that, after his visit to the first great International Exhibition, the “Crystal Palace” in Hyde Park, 1851, most of the approved new patents in cotton-working machinery were to be seen in operation at the St. Petersburg mills on the Neva, without the Patent Office having been troubled in the matter.
As years advanced, and with more leisure at his disposal, Craig Nevskiy, now a very successful and wealthy man, from time to time came on holiday to his native country, when he would visit his early home and relatives, especially his aged mother at Neilston, who was his particular care. These occasions were taken advantage of too, as was alleged, for investing surplus capital in British stocks. On the occasion of his last visit, and when in London alone, as it happened, he was taken suddenly ill and dropped down in the street, whence he was removed to Westminster Hospital, where he died the same day.
Thus the “grim king of terrors,” the great social leveller, had come when least expected, and equally with the poor the rich man dies in a public charity. At first altogether unknown in the institution, a search soon discovered his name and position, and in due course his relatives in Neilston were communicated with. The settlement of his affairs disclosed the fact that he was a man of great means, and, as he had never been married, the bulk of his fortune (though much was said to have been left in Russia) came to be distributed among his relatives, sisters mostly, and their families, in his native parish. Since his demise, I may here remark, the mills of Craig Nevskiy have passed into new hands and another company, and are presently associated with the great thread industry of our country, and the prosperity that signalized the early movements of the undertaking still continues to characterize their present operations.
It has been matter of frequent observation that the maker of the fortune not infrequently does not live to reap the advantages of the fruits of his long years of toil and strain; and that the wealth he has amassed is perhaps more frequently enjoyed by his successors, an aphorism which may appear to have been verified in this instance. But enjoyment, as here implied, is a purely relative term, and the picture has another side; for the person who has by his own industry accumulated the wealth, may, merely in the process of doing so, in overcoming obstacles, winning, and slowly gathering as he goes along, have had as much genuine pleasure and happiness as can ever be obtained by merely spending it.
But be this as it may, among the relatives who succeeded to the Russian merchant’s estate, a large share came to a lady only recently removed from our midst, Mrs. Glen of Carlibar. Mrs. Glen’s parents were farmers on their own property in Mearns, but on the southern uplands of this parish, where she was born, her mother being a sister of Craig Nevskiy. She was educated as became her station at the Parish School and in Paisley, and on her marriage to Mr. Robert Corse Glen, afterwards Captain Glen, V.D., continued in business for a number of years previous to falling into her fortune. In this way, Mrs. Glen acquired in her time a practical knowledge of both sides of life, but she had no family. To a tall and graceful appearance, Mrs. Glen added a cheerful disposition and gracious manner, qualities which endeared her to all who knew her equally before as after she attained her ample means. The death of Captain Glen took place comparatively early in life, and, during her long subsequent widowhood of over forty years, she exercised a generous liberality in the district and among the people where her lot was placed, helping forward many social improvements and relieving distress in many homes; whilst the esteem and respect in which she was held by the community found expression in the well-merited designation of “Lady Glen,” the patent for the title being drawn from the general heart of the people. She died 2nd June, 1913, in the eighty-ninth year of her age.
AN UNRECORDED BURNS EPISODE
A STORY OF ROBERT BURNS, SECUNDUS, OF DUMFRIES.
The following story, which exemplifies the generous and kindly disposition of our National Bard’s eldest son, was told at a Burns’ Supper here in January, and, as it seemed to interest the many members present, it has been thought it might have an interest for a wider circle of the bard’s admirers, hence its inclusion here.
Before narrating the incident to be referred to, it is perhaps proper to explain that Jean Armour’s nephew, Robert Armour, or, as he was generally called, Robin Armour, was married to Elizabeth Wallace, sister of William Wallace, farmer in the Mains, Mauchline, and that the daughter of the last-named, the person concerned in the incident, became the wife of the writer in later life. Both families, the Armours and the Wallaces, were natives of Mauchline. Mr. Wallace’s father had occupied the Mains before him, and through the relationship of this marriage the families were mutually on quite friendly terms, and frequently interchanged friendly visits.
As regards Mr. Burns, it is matter of history, that he attended the arts classes for two sessions at Glasgow University, and one at Edinburgh, that he was a superior classical scholar, and that, through the interest of Sir James Shaw, a native of Kilmarnock (whose statue stands at the Cross of that town, and who became afterwards Lord Mayor of London), he was appointed in 1804 to a clerkship in Somerset House by Mr. Addington, then Prime Minister and subsequently Lord Sidmouth; that, after spending nearly thirty-three years in this situation, he was obliged to retire in 1833 in consequence of weak or defective eyesight, when he returned to Dumfries, where he resided mostly afterwards with his mother, the poet’s widow. But he had an aunt residing in Mauchline, a sister of his mother’s, to whom he made visits from time to time, and with whom he occasionally resided for longer or shorter periods, and it was during one of those visits to his Mauchline aunt, when he called at Mains farm, then occupied by the writer’s father-in-law, that the incident to be narrated occurred.
Miss Wallace was then a young girl at that time under the able mastership of Mr. Kilgour of the Academy, Mauchline, and as part of her home lessons she had been given an essay to write on “Spring.” The subject would seem to have been sufficiently puzzling to her at first, for, though familiar all her life with the seasons as they passed in succession of farm experience, there was difficulty in getting a start made to putting a description of the season into words. The girl had sat for some time in this dilemma with the paper before her, cudgelling her brain to small purpose apparently, and had just turned round and questioned her father as to how she should begin the essay (we all know the sort of thing either as questioner or questioned) when the door of the apartment, the farmer’s spacious kitchen, was opened, and Mr. Burns entered. Her father having first greeted his visitor, then in reply to his daughter’s question, said, “0! there is Mr. Burns; he’ll tell you all about Spring better than I can do and how to begin your essay.” And he did so.
Taking a seat near the girl, he enquired in the kindliest manner, “Well, Jeanie, what are your difficulties with Spring?” On being informed, he at once began to guide her ideas as to what she had been all her life witnessing in that delightful season, and gradually, as he continued to speak, her difficulties seemed to vanish and pass away, and the subject matter of the essay began slowly to assume form in her mind.
To begin with, he advised that the following lines from Paraphrase viii., verse 8, should be placed at the top of the essay, as they would, he said, “give the key to what was to follow —
“Yet soon reviving plants and flowers
Anew shall deck the plain,
The woods shall hear the voice of spring
And flourish green again.”
And then added, “Now you have quite a good understanding of what is wanted, and if you follow the thoughts we have gone over together, you will do well enough,” which she accordingly did.
But the influence of the episode did not end with the essay. There was a deeper and more abiding impression left than that of the mere assistance with the difficulties of a school task. The gentle guidance, the generous sympathy, and kindness had sunk so deep into the young mind, apart from whose son he was, as to lead her often in her after life to refer with evident pleasure to the memorable lesson she had received in her girlhood from Mr. Burns, eldest son of Scotland’s greatest poet.
And that's it for this week and as the weekend is almost here hope it's a good one for you.
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com/
Electric Scotland News
Dear Clan Wallace Member,
I just want to take a quick moment to tell you about a once in a lifetime opportunity to march in the Opening Ceremony with other Clan Wallace members in the 2017 Royal Military Tattoo, A Splash of Tartan, in Edinburgh on Monday August 14th. The details will be on the website shortly. There is a need to act quickly as the date to guarantee tickets (limited to the first 150) is March the 1st. I know this is short notice, and it takes lots of planning to get a trip organized, but we just found out for sure we were marching yesterday.
A special web page and code exclusive to Clan Wallace is required to book your ticket to the Tattoo. So please check out the website (www.clanwallace.org) and act quickly. If you have questions not addressed on the website, please contact me directly at president@clanwallace.org.
Hope to see you there,
Russ - President Clan Wallace Society
I might add that other clans will also be participating so you may wish to visit your own clan web site to see what they are offering.
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 where we list news from the past 1-2 weeks. 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. I might also add that in newspapers such as the Guardian, Scotsman, Courier, etc. you will find many comments which can be just as interesting as the news story itself and of course you can also add your own comments if you wish.
Scottish working class poets
Given new life with People’s Journal collection
Read more at:
https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news...al-collection/
Theresa May's Speech to Republican Retreat.
You can read and view her full speech here
Read more at:
https://order-order.com/2017/01/26/t...lican-retreat/
Pakistani minister: We want a GSP-Plus trade deal with Brexit Britain
Britain knew Pakistan better than any other EU member country, he said.
Read more at:
http://www.euractiv.com/section/glob...brexit-britain
Fife pushes ahead with universal basic income plan
A former mining village in Fife is to host a meeting of international experts and politicians to discuss a radical alternative to the present welfare system.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/pe...plan-1-4350065
Scottish government pushed on which projects will bear brunt of £900m loss
MSPs challenge government to provide full and comprehensive analysis of impact after EU spending rules were breached
Read more at:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...jects-scotland
The prospects for a US-UK trade deal are excellent
But Britain need not limit its horizons there
Read more at:
http://brexitcentral.com/prospects-u...imit-horizons/
Dublin might have to opt for Irexit
The Republic of Ireland should not rule out leaving the European Union, a senior former Irish diplomat has said.
Read more at:
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/dub...omat-1-7793646
How the Scots built Sydney
Many of the architects, politicians and state officials who established Sydney were born in Scotland, and their influence can still be seen today.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/heritage/peo...dney-1-4347299
The gutsy Hebridean Heroines who inspired the NHS
The endeavours of the district nurses working in the Western Isles in the early to mid 20th Century have been recorded for the first time.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/the-gut...-nhs-1-4348997
Donald Trump’s fascination with the UK is a real helping hand for Theresa May’s trade ambitions
Never mind the protests - Brits should be basking in our unexpected good fortune as the most powerful man in the world declares his love for our country
Read more at:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/273518...ade-ambitions/
Glasgow builds more satellites than any other European city
Scotland’s space industry is growing thanks to a combination of private and public sector investment centered around Glasgow
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/future-scotl...city-1-4354219
Electric Canadian
Chronicles of Canada
Added Volume 16: The War Chiefs of the Six Nations: The Red Man in Canada.
I might add that I've found text copies of these volumes so have added a link to them on the page. I also found a page where you can get audio copies so have placed a link to these as well.
You can read this at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...cles/index.htm
D. C. Beard
Author of many books on bush craft for the Boy Scouts of America. I thought I'd bring you a few of them as having found them I enjoyed them and so hope you do as well.
The first is a book about "Shelters, Shacks, and Shanties" which you can read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/pion...eard/index.htm
On Stone Implements from Nova Scotia and Canada
By Professor Duns, D.D. (pdf)
This is a document that comes from the Society of Actuaries of Scotland is celebration of Canada's 150 anniversary. You can read this at :http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...esincanada.pdf
Electric Scotland
The Ancient local Government of the Shetland Islands
By Gilbert Goudie, Esq., FSA Scot.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...tlandlocal.pdf
The Celtic and Scandinavian Antiquities of Shetland
By Gilbert Goudie (1904)
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...landceltic.pdf
Scottish Innovation Party - Agriculture
This Farm of the Future Uses No Soil and 95% Less Water. Added a video on Vertical Farming to the foot of our page.
You can view this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/inde...griculture.htm
Beth's Newfangled Family Tree
Got in the February section 1 of this monthly publication which can be read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/bnft/index.htm
Scottish Innovation Party - Energy
Added another video amount Nuclear to the foot of our Energy page.
You can view this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/inde...sip/energy.htm
Scottish Innovation Party
Added a page about the Commonwealth as I believe they represent a considerable opportunity for Scotland.
You can view this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/inde...mmonwealth.htm
The Genealogy of the Morrison Origins in Scotland
A critical evaluation of the historical evidence for the origins of the Morrisons in Scotland by Alexander Weir Morrison
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/m/morrison.pdf
Eliot and Alyth: A Town with Two Names
Notes relating to the Breton origin of the Elliots; their 12th century settlement on alienated thanage lands of Alyth; forfeiture in 1306, followed by resettlement in Liddesdale by Robert Bruce 1307-8, and his revival of the king’s thanage, 1313 x 1319 by Keith Elliot Hunter QPM, BA.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/webc...og/elliot.html
The Alloa Illustrated Family Almanac
District Directory and General Register for the County of Clackmannan for 1887
This can be read at: http://www.electricscotland.com/council/clacks.htm
The Fie and Forfar Yeomanry
And 14th (F. & F. Yeo.) Battn. R. H. 1914- 1919 By Major D. D. Ogilvie (1921)
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...fifeforfar.pdf
Collections Towards a History of the County of Clackmannan
Previous to the year 1330, when the following records commence, the Barony of Clackmannan was one of the Royal residences of the Scottish Kings.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/council/clacks.pdf
The Story
Two stories for you this week...
CRAIG NEVSKIY; OR, THE RUSSIAN MERCHANT
Craig Nevskiy was the son of a farmer in Neilston Parish, and had grown up to manhood’s estate, when an opportunity was given him of proceeding to St. Peterburg to manage or superintend some large cotton mills that were being erected there under the icgis of the Russian Government and auspices of the then Emperor of all the Russias. In early life he had been associated with his uncle, a gentleman known in the neighbourhood by the subriquet of the “Lang Laird,” in consequence of his great stature, who then owned the cotton mills of Broadlie at Neilston. Here he early manifested a special aptitude for mechanics, and acquired an intimate knowledge of and acquaintance with the several departments of cotton spinning, as carried on in the Levern Valley, then a special seat of the cotton industry, and where the second cotton mill in Scotland, Levern Mill, had been erected in 1780.
The success of his appointment he always attributed to his sister, who, having casually observed in a newspaper—not so common in those days as now—an advertisement that a manager was wanted at St. Petersburg, urged that he should make application for the position, which, though rather reluctantly at first, he was ultimately prevailed upon to do, when he received the appointment.
It will be remembered that the middle of the eighteenth century was characterized by a great outburst of inventive genius in mechanical appliances in our country, especially in their adaptation to the cotton industry, Watt’s steam-engine, Hargreave’s spinning-jenny, Arkwright’s water-frame, and Compton’s mule, a combination of the last two, 1763-1772, which gave an immense impetus to British commerce by the remarkable development of the cotton industry that followed, an impetus which, indeed, had not escaped the notice of Continental nations. The Peninsular victories had closed the gigantic struggle of Wellington in Spain; the capture of Paris by the Allied Armies had terminated the great French campaign in Germany; Napoleon, having abdicated, was for the time a prisoner in Elba; and the Peace of Paris, May, 1814, having restored the Bourbons to the throne of France, in the person of Louis XVIII., the greatly distracted European nations were looking forward to a much desired rest. In these conditions, the allied sovereigns of Europe, conscious of the great part our country had borne in the recent wars, and out of complement to our sovereign and people, in July, 1814, visited Britain, and became the guests of our King, George III., or rather the Prince Regent, afterwards George IV.
Among the royal guests on this occasion was that remarkable sovereign and great man, Alexander, Emperor of Russia, our ally then and afterwards whose name was borne by our late Queen Victoria. On the occasion of his stay in our country at this period, he visited and was greatly impressed by the cotton mills at New Lanark, which had been founded by David Dale, and were then at the height of their fame as the scene of the great socialist experiment conducted by his son-in-law, Robert Owen. On the Emperor returning to Russia, the authorities at St. Petersburg began to direct attention to the great cotton industry as they had witnessed it carried on in this country. But ere there was time to realize the happy anticipations looked forward to as the outcome of the settlement in France, an event occurred that, bursting rudely upon the European arrangements then in progress, dissipated all hope of a permanent peace. Napoleon had escaped from his island prison in the Mediterranean, had landed in France, and was marching on Paris at the head of a still formidable army of veteran troops. European war was again declared, not so much against France as against Napoleon, and it was not until “The Hundred Days” of the Emperor’s final campaign were closed by Wellington's stupendous victory at Waterloo, 1815, and Napoleon was again a prisoner, this time at St. Helena, that a permanent peace was established, and made such a thing possible, that the erection of the mills of Nevskiy could be proceeded with at their pile founded capital on the banks of the Neva.
The great Powers, Russia in particular, had not failed to observe the astounding evidence of Britain’s industry and consequent wealth in the way she had been able to pour out money in the final struggle with Napoleon, not merely enough to pay her own large navy and army at the time, but enough to keep Austrians, Prussians, and Russians in the field as well during the German campaign. Hitherto, St. Petersburg had been much less of a manufacturing city than Moscow; but after the Emperor Alexander’s visit to Britain we learn this was changed. Moscow was then in ruins from the great fire that followed Napoleon’s occupation of that Capital in 1812 by the Grand Army, and extensive improvements were introduced into St. Petersburg, amongst which was the cotton industry, especially the mills on the Neva, of which Craig Nevskiy had been appointed manager.
Having once entered upon his duties, the new manager threw all the indomitable energy of an ardent and resolute Scot, whose love was in his work, into the new undertaking, and under his levelheaded, shrewd guidance, the concern early began to give evidence of success, and this success continued to characterize the enterprise throughout the life-time of the Emperor, to whom its existence was owing. At his decease, the concern had become quite an established business, competent to rest on its own merits without any extraneous bolstering from the Government. So much was this the case that, on the accession to the throne of the new monarch, it would appear he became anxious that the whole mills should pass into entirely private management, and cease altogether to have State connection. The offer of taking over the business at a valuation was made, and on conditions accepted by an enterprising firm, including the Baron--and others associated in the company, with especially Craig Nevskiy, now a well-tried and successful business man, as managing partner.
The prosperity of the early management continued to attend the new company, which rapidly became a money-making concern, and tales of Craig Nevskiy’s rising fortune found their way across the wilderness of sea and reached the valley of his birth. The management, indomitable as ever, was credited with not being too sensitive under certain circumstances, and rumour had it that, after his visit to the first great International Exhibition, the “Crystal Palace” in Hyde Park, 1851, most of the approved new patents in cotton-working machinery were to be seen in operation at the St. Petersburg mills on the Neva, without the Patent Office having been troubled in the matter.
As years advanced, and with more leisure at his disposal, Craig Nevskiy, now a very successful and wealthy man, from time to time came on holiday to his native country, when he would visit his early home and relatives, especially his aged mother at Neilston, who was his particular care. These occasions were taken advantage of too, as was alleged, for investing surplus capital in British stocks. On the occasion of his last visit, and when in London alone, as it happened, he was taken suddenly ill and dropped down in the street, whence he was removed to Westminster Hospital, where he died the same day.
Thus the “grim king of terrors,” the great social leveller, had come when least expected, and equally with the poor the rich man dies in a public charity. At first altogether unknown in the institution, a search soon discovered his name and position, and in due course his relatives in Neilston were communicated with. The settlement of his affairs disclosed the fact that he was a man of great means, and, as he had never been married, the bulk of his fortune (though much was said to have been left in Russia) came to be distributed among his relatives, sisters mostly, and their families, in his native parish. Since his demise, I may here remark, the mills of Craig Nevskiy have passed into new hands and another company, and are presently associated with the great thread industry of our country, and the prosperity that signalized the early movements of the undertaking still continues to characterize their present operations.
It has been matter of frequent observation that the maker of the fortune not infrequently does not live to reap the advantages of the fruits of his long years of toil and strain; and that the wealth he has amassed is perhaps more frequently enjoyed by his successors, an aphorism which may appear to have been verified in this instance. But enjoyment, as here implied, is a purely relative term, and the picture has another side; for the person who has by his own industry accumulated the wealth, may, merely in the process of doing so, in overcoming obstacles, winning, and slowly gathering as he goes along, have had as much genuine pleasure and happiness as can ever be obtained by merely spending it.
But be this as it may, among the relatives who succeeded to the Russian merchant’s estate, a large share came to a lady only recently removed from our midst, Mrs. Glen of Carlibar. Mrs. Glen’s parents were farmers on their own property in Mearns, but on the southern uplands of this parish, where she was born, her mother being a sister of Craig Nevskiy. She was educated as became her station at the Parish School and in Paisley, and on her marriage to Mr. Robert Corse Glen, afterwards Captain Glen, V.D., continued in business for a number of years previous to falling into her fortune. In this way, Mrs. Glen acquired in her time a practical knowledge of both sides of life, but she had no family. To a tall and graceful appearance, Mrs. Glen added a cheerful disposition and gracious manner, qualities which endeared her to all who knew her equally before as after she attained her ample means. The death of Captain Glen took place comparatively early in life, and, during her long subsequent widowhood of over forty years, she exercised a generous liberality in the district and among the people where her lot was placed, helping forward many social improvements and relieving distress in many homes; whilst the esteem and respect in which she was held by the community found expression in the well-merited designation of “Lady Glen,” the patent for the title being drawn from the general heart of the people. She died 2nd June, 1913, in the eighty-ninth year of her age.
AN UNRECORDED BURNS EPISODE
A STORY OF ROBERT BURNS, SECUNDUS, OF DUMFRIES.
The following story, which exemplifies the generous and kindly disposition of our National Bard’s eldest son, was told at a Burns’ Supper here in January, and, as it seemed to interest the many members present, it has been thought it might have an interest for a wider circle of the bard’s admirers, hence its inclusion here.
Before narrating the incident to be referred to, it is perhaps proper to explain that Jean Armour’s nephew, Robert Armour, or, as he was generally called, Robin Armour, was married to Elizabeth Wallace, sister of William Wallace, farmer in the Mains, Mauchline, and that the daughter of the last-named, the person concerned in the incident, became the wife of the writer in later life. Both families, the Armours and the Wallaces, were natives of Mauchline. Mr. Wallace’s father had occupied the Mains before him, and through the relationship of this marriage the families were mutually on quite friendly terms, and frequently interchanged friendly visits.
As regards Mr. Burns, it is matter of history, that he attended the arts classes for two sessions at Glasgow University, and one at Edinburgh, that he was a superior classical scholar, and that, through the interest of Sir James Shaw, a native of Kilmarnock (whose statue stands at the Cross of that town, and who became afterwards Lord Mayor of London), he was appointed in 1804 to a clerkship in Somerset House by Mr. Addington, then Prime Minister and subsequently Lord Sidmouth; that, after spending nearly thirty-three years in this situation, he was obliged to retire in 1833 in consequence of weak or defective eyesight, when he returned to Dumfries, where he resided mostly afterwards with his mother, the poet’s widow. But he had an aunt residing in Mauchline, a sister of his mother’s, to whom he made visits from time to time, and with whom he occasionally resided for longer or shorter periods, and it was during one of those visits to his Mauchline aunt, when he called at Mains farm, then occupied by the writer’s father-in-law, that the incident to be narrated occurred.
Miss Wallace was then a young girl at that time under the able mastership of Mr. Kilgour of the Academy, Mauchline, and as part of her home lessons she had been given an essay to write on “Spring.” The subject would seem to have been sufficiently puzzling to her at first, for, though familiar all her life with the seasons as they passed in succession of farm experience, there was difficulty in getting a start made to putting a description of the season into words. The girl had sat for some time in this dilemma with the paper before her, cudgelling her brain to small purpose apparently, and had just turned round and questioned her father as to how she should begin the essay (we all know the sort of thing either as questioner or questioned) when the door of the apartment, the farmer’s spacious kitchen, was opened, and Mr. Burns entered. Her father having first greeted his visitor, then in reply to his daughter’s question, said, “0! there is Mr. Burns; he’ll tell you all about Spring better than I can do and how to begin your essay.” And he did so.
Taking a seat near the girl, he enquired in the kindliest manner, “Well, Jeanie, what are your difficulties with Spring?” On being informed, he at once began to guide her ideas as to what she had been all her life witnessing in that delightful season, and gradually, as he continued to speak, her difficulties seemed to vanish and pass away, and the subject matter of the essay began slowly to assume form in her mind.
To begin with, he advised that the following lines from Paraphrase viii., verse 8, should be placed at the top of the essay, as they would, he said, “give the key to what was to follow —
“Yet soon reviving plants and flowers
Anew shall deck the plain,
The woods shall hear the voice of spring
And flourish green again.”
And then added, “Now you have quite a good understanding of what is wanted, and if you follow the thoughts we have gone over together, you will do well enough,” which she accordingly did.
But the influence of the episode did not end with the essay. There was a deeper and more abiding impression left than that of the mere assistance with the difficulties of a school task. The gentle guidance, the generous sympathy, and kindness had sunk so deep into the young mind, apart from whose son he was, as to lead her often in her after life to refer with evident pleasure to the memorable lesson she had received in her girlhood from Mr. Burns, eldest son of Scotland’s greatest poet.
And that's it for this week and as the weekend is almost here hope it's a good one for you.
Alastair