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CONTENTS
Electric Scotland News
Electric Canadian
Memoir of the Rev James MacGregor D.D.
Roughing it in the Bush
The Flag in the Wind
Electric Scotland
Northern Notes and Queries
Robert Burns Lives!
A Significant Scot - William Sharp
The Little White Bird by James Barrie
The House of Green Shutters
A Hundred Years in the Highlands (New Book)
For Puir Auld Scotland's Sake (New Book)
Neil MacLeod, Last of the MacLeods of Assynt
MacGregors of Roro
Keltic Researches
The Sutherland Book
Camerons of Letterfinlay and the MacMartin connection
Hame Frae Hame
Clan Leslie International
Notes on Highland Woods, Ancient and Modern
... and finally
Electric Scotland News
This has ended up being a very busy week. We had our poor wee Electric Scotland Community being attacked by spammers and I had to learn a few new tricks to deal with them. Then as it was obvious this wasn't going to stop any time soon it meant we had to re-think our new member procedures. As a result we've now changed how new members join and this now includes a manual verification procedure. As a result of this if you now click on our forums link in our menu you now go to a landing page where if you are already a member or just want to browse as a Guest there is a prominent clickable link to join the community. For those that want to become members we add a description of the procedure you now need to go through to become a member.
This doesn't mean we've seen the last of the spam but it should make a considerable reduction in it. There will be spammers that already have an account but when they do eventually appear we'll simply delete their messages and ban them from the system. I will say this took a certain amount of time to resolve these issues.
-----
The next work was on trying to get a comment system operating. This is something I've spoken about before for quite some time but at the end of the day Steve was unable to work out how to get these installed as there was an issue with email that he couldn't resolve. This has meant I spent some time looking at third party comment systems. I've tried out four such systems to date and I think I might finally have found one that should work. I am doing testing on it at the moment and as it now looks like a good contender I'd be happy it you'd test it out and give me your feedback. The only thing I've not yet been able to fix is the size of the font but I'm hoping Steve can figure out the code that needs to go in place to fix that but that seems to be the only problem left to fix.
I am using the Disqus system which is apparently being used by some 1.8 million other web sites. You do need to be signed in or create an account with them if you don't already have one. However if you have a Facebook, Twitter, Google or Yahoo account you can use these to login. When you add a comment it will be moderated so it won't display right away. Blame spammers for this! But the system to approve is very quick and simple so it should display quite quickly. The comment system can obviously be used to post a comment but you can also reply to other comments already there as well. You can upload a picture and also provide a link to a web site or blog. I chose to use my Facebook account and having done that there is a wee Facebook icon under the comment box which can be toggled on and off. When on any comment will be copied to your Facebook account.
I have chosen to display up to 40 comments per page before pagination takes place. I have also decided to post the oldest post first and I have also decided to place the comment box first with the comments coming after. These can be changed but this seemed the best way to do things at this time. I'd obviously be delighted if you'd check this out and provide any feedback. I have this on at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/test.htm but of course if this test phase goes through well we'll then add it to our footer and hence on every page of the site.
-----
Steve is due to be working on the Electric Scotland Community tonight and over the weekend. He's doing upgrades to the latest release and working through all the add-ons to make sure they are working properly. He may thus need to close the community for a short while but shouldn't be long.
-----
I was looking at some different stats on our site and noted the top visiting cities are...
Sunnyvale, CA (US)
London (GB)
Unknown (GB)
Glasgow (GB)
Edinburgh (GB)
Toronto (CA)
Guess there must be lots of Scots in Sunnyvale and I do wonder where Unknown is in GB?
Electric Canadian
Memoir of the Rev James MacGregor D.D.
Missionary of the General Associate Synod of Scotland to Pictou, Nova Scotia with Notices of the Colonization of the Lower Provinces of British America, and of the Social and Religious condition of the Early Settlers by his Grandson The Rev. George Patterson (1859).
I'm now completed this book by adding all the appendices some of which are very interesting and quite lengthy.
You can read this book at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...egor/index.htm
Roughing it in the Bush
or Forrest Life in Canada by Susanna Moodie (1871). A new book we're starting.
Now have up the following chapters...
Canada - A Contrast
Canada - (Poetical Address)
A Visit to Grosse Isle
Quebec
Our Journey up the Country
Tom Wilson's Emigration
Our First Settlement, and the Borrowing System
Old Satan and Tom Wilson's Nose
The chapter on "A Visit to Grosse Isle" also contains a link to my visit to the island in 2011.
You can read this new book we're starting at http://www.electriccanadian.com/pion...hing/index.htm
The Flag in the Wind
This weeks edition was Compiled by Margaret Hamilton in which she has a number of short articles.
You can read these http://www.scotsindependent.org
Electric Scotland
Northern Notes and Queries
This weeks issue is for September 1897 and can be found at the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...hern/index.htm
Robert Burns Lives!
Edited by Frank Shaw
Whatever Happened to Gavin Turnbull? Hunting Down a Friend of Burns in South Carolina by Patrick Scott.
Back in 1954 I found myself living with my sister Peggy in what was then known as Charleston Heights, a vast suburb just north of Charleston, SC. To “go downtown” meant going to King Street. My high school buddies sometimes called our charming town the “City by the Bay”, long before Tony Bennett “left his heart in San Francisco”. Charleston prided itself on being “America’s Most Historic City” and, as you came down the second span at the foot of that mighty Cooper River Bridge, a huge sign said so. After all, what was printed in The News and Courier or what the city fathers erected on signs was the law, if not the truth, at least for anyone from Charleston. The city is flanked on one side by the Cooper River and on the other by the Ashley River, and the Atlantic Ocean was formed when these two rivers merged. We had highbrows in the city and they were known, then and now, as SOBs because they lived South of Broad.
When a hurricane dared come close to the city, school would be dismissed and some of us would make our way to The Battery to see the waves splashing as high as thirty feet. You didn’t hang around there long, but you could brag when school reopened that you had been there for the great water show. I played (very little) football, basketball, and baseball at North Charleston High School, famous for the words written over the entryway, “EDUCATION IS A POSSESSION OF WHICH MAN CANNOT BE ROBBED”. Mostly, however, I pumped gas at Mr. Hull’s Esso service station for a dollar an hour after school and on weekends. Back then a dollar would buy you 3.3 gallons of gas! I learned my first business lessons from that fine old man and still use most of them today.
I write this to let you know what a special place Charleston is for me. I was thrilled to learn from this week’s article by Patrick Scott that Gavin Turnbull, one of Robert Burns’ friends, had emigrated from Scotland to Charleston. Many historians and Burns scholars had missed this fact for years. I have walked various streets that Burns walked in Scotland but never thought too much about his friend Turnbull who ventured away from the auld country to my neck of the woods. This is new material, as fresh as any you will find. Patrick’s article is a fun and exciting one and well worth reading. This is the latest ground to be broken on a Burns contemporary in, of all places, Charleston, South Carolina. I tip my hat to Patrick Scott! (FRS: 11.28.12)
You can read this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives159.htm
Other articles in this series can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...rank/burns.htm
A Significant Scot - William Sharp
Scottish poet, literary biographer, and romantic story-teller.
We've now added...
Chapter 6 Wives in Excile
You can read this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rp_william.htm
The Little White Bird by James Barrie
We've decided to serialize this book as part of the reason is that his famous Peter Pan first appeared in it which led to the play.
We've now added the next 3 chapters...
Chapter XIX - An Interloper
Chapter XX - David and Porthos Compared
Chapter XXI - William Paterson
You can read these chapters at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rrie_james.htm
House of Green Shutters
Journalist, Teacher, Novelist, Short Story Writer, Critic
We've now added more chapter to the "House of Green Shutters"
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...n_george_d.htm
A Hundred Years in the Highlands
By Osgood Hanbury MacKenzie of Inverewe (1921)
This is a new book we're starting and here is the Preface...
PREFACE
My uncle, Dr. John Mackenzie, having left behind him ten manuscript volumes of Highland Memories, covering the period 1803 to 1860, and I, who inherited these manuscripts, having reached the age of seventy-nine, it has occurred to me that I might make a book of reminiscences which would give pleasure to those who reverence ancient customs and love the West Coast Highlands.
I make no pretence to the art of the writing man. The reader must be kind enough to imagine that he is sitting on the opposite side of a peat fire listening to the leisurely memories of one who has lived a great number of years, observant of the customs of his neighbours, attentive to things of the passing moment, and who finds an increasing pleasure, after a life of the open air, in dwelling on the times that are gone.
If my book should give pleasure to its readers, I shall be glad; if it should do anything to deepen affection and give them reverence for the noblest memories of our Scottish past, I shall be humbly grateful.
OSGOOD HANBURY MACKENZIE.
Tournaig, Poolewe,
March, 1921.
We now have up the following chapters...
Chapter I - Parentage
Chapter II - Family History
Chapter III - Childhood
Chapter IV - Boyhood
Chapter V - Youth
Chapter VI - Voyage to St. Kilda
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...dred/index.htm
For Puir Auld Scotland's Sake
A Book of Prose Essays on Scottish Literary and Rural Subjects by Hugh Haliburton (1887)
Another new book we're starting and here is its Preface...
PREFACE.
THIS is a collection of Essays on Scottish Rural and Literary Subjects, which, it is hoped, will not prove uninteresting even to English readers.
The title is to be understood as expressive rather of something attempted than of anything done, to revive fading interest in the old Scottish fields of literature and rural industry.
The ‘Lament for the Language,’ the focus of this attempt, appeared in the author’s first book, which was published, without achieving publicity, some eight or nine years ago.
The other pieces are reproduced, in whole or in part, from the Scotsman, the Scottish Church, Macmillan's Magazine, and the Dundee Advertiser, by kind permission of the editors or proprietors, to whom due acknowledgment of indebtedness is here gratefully made.
The reader’s indulgence is begged for the ‘Holiday in Arcadia’ The holiday spirit was in the author’s imagination, and his pen ran while he wrote.
We now have up the following chapters...
Herds
Authorship of 'Christ's Kirk on the Green'.
Allan Ramsay
Robert Fergusson
Fergusson's Verse
The Farmer's Ingle
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/puir/index.htm
Neil MacLeod, Last of the MacLeods of Assynt
An article from the Transaction of the Gaelic Society
The case of Neil, last of the Macleods, Lairds of Assynt, has often been discussed, nevertheless when some time ago I became possessed of a MS. folio volume, running into 143 pages, consisting of authentic official extracts from the Scottish Records connected with Assynt, I felt after perusal they might form an interesting and authoritative paper, notwithstanding previous accounts of the family.
You can read this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/webc.../macleod5.html
MacGregors of Roro
From the Transactions of the Gealic Society
Of the MacGregors of Glenurchay, generally allowed to have been Chiefs of Clan Gregor, and who are known to have had the style of Glenurchay for upwards of four centuries, viz., from about 1004 to about 1440, one of the earliest Cadets was MacGregor of Glenlyon, of which house there appear to have been, if not Nine generations, at least Nine representatives, the last of whom, John Dhu nan Lann, died soon after 1500. After having, on the death of a numerous family of sons, by his Lady, Margaret daughter of Luke Stirling of Keir, and Widow of Sir Colin Campbell of Glenurchay, from 1475 (the time of Sir Colin’s death), and his having, as repeated by a respectable genealogist (Buchanan of Auchmar), “no near relatives,” disponed his estate, or right of occupancy, to his Lady's Stepson, Sir Duncan Campbell of Glenurchay, who took a Royal Charter of Glenlyon anno 1502, and was King s Tenant, or occupant merely, till that date.
You can read the rest of this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/webc.../macgreg4.html
Keltic Researches
By Edward Williams Byron Nocholson (1904)
I found this to be an interesting book and so I ocr'd in the Introduction and have made the entire book available for download in pdf format.
Here is part of the Preface to read here...
PREFACE
The history of ancient and early mediaeval times requires to a far greater extent than more recent history the aid of various other sciences, not the least of which is the science of language. And, although the first object of these Studies was to demonstrate to specialists various unrecognized or imperfectly recognized linguistic facts, the importance of those facts in themselves is much less than that of their historical consequences.
The main historical result of this book is the settlement of c the Pictish question or rather of the two Pictish questions. The first of these is ‘What kind of language did the Picts speak?*. The second is ‘Were the Picts conquered by the Scots?
The first has been settled by linguistic and palaeographical methods only : it has been shown that Pictish was a language virtually identical with Irish, differing from that far less than the dialects of some English counties differ from each other. The second has been settled, with very little help from language, by historical and textual methods: it has been made abundantly clear, I think, to any person of impartial and critical mind that the supposed conquest of the Picts by the Scots is an absurd myth.
The Highlander, as we call him—the Albanach as he calls himself in his own Gaelic—is, indeed, in the vast majority of cases simply the modern Pict, and his language modern Pictish. To suppose that the great free people from which he is descended were ever conquered by a body of Irish colonists, and that the language he speaks is merely an Irish colonial dialect, are delusions which, I hope, no one will regret to see finally dispelled.
You can read the rest of this Preface and download the book at http://www.electricscotland.com/books/pdf/keltic.htm
The Sutherland Book
I came across this set of three volumes so added them to our Clan Sutherland Page.
You can get to them at http://www.electricscotland.com/webc...z/sutherl.html
Camerons of Letterfinlay and the MacMartin connection
From the Transactions of the Gaelic Society
While many histories and memoirs of the Camerons of Lochiel have been written, little or no attention has been given to the Macmartins of Letterfinlay, although nearly every account makes them out as original heads of the clan. It would be out of place, even if possible, to detail with accuracy the early history of Lochaber or of its inhabitants, and its owners, native and imported, During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the family of Macdonald, which particularly favoured Mackintosh and Maclean, predominated, and no rights or titles existing are known, except those flowing from them. The charter of 1337 to Mackintosh is unhappily mislaid, and no other of the fourteenth century, to a vassal in Lochaber, unless to Maclean, is known to exist. Those who have undertaken to write about the Camerons are at one as to there being four races, which ultimately fell under the leadership of Lochiel, as Captain of the Clan Cameron, viz.—(1) Macgillonies, (2) Lochiel, (3) Clan Soirle, (4) Macmartins. The title of captain indicates that the clan was not homogeneous, and that it ultimately became hereditary, with the title of chief, is highly creditable to the tenacity and ability of the successive heads of Lochiel.
You can read the rest of this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/webc..._macmartin.htm
Hame Frae Hame
A new song from John Henderson
Dedicated to the memory of my 1st Cousin, three times removed,
John Walker, who emigrated to the Dunedin area of New Zealand in 1874.
Lyrics composed by John Henderson on the 18th of November, 2012,
to Neil MacLean's music for the song, 'Mo Mhathair' ('My Mother').
Mony years lang syne John teuk a ship frae Glesgae tae New Zealand
Faar he howped tae mak a life wi' his hans
Whilk cud big strang widden hames richt weel tae stan a' teeps o' widder
Thit he'd hard a' fowks aye-preed-in southron lans.
Efter weeks at sea John jined lots chiels fa'd sattled nar Dunedin
Faar guid trees tae drap wur redd fur his aix;
Seen he'd eesed a garron pu the trunks he'd stack up naet fur sawin'
Oan a brae he'd chysed atween-twa shalla lakes.
The braw hoose he bigged steed oot an' shawed John's wirk fair byous skeelfu,
An' seen ithers winted him tae big fur thame;
Thase acceppit kept him thrang an' fair-bien in freens an dollars
Nar-oan fifety years syne in his hame frae hame.
Glossary of Less Obvious Words:
preed=experienced; garron=small sturdy horse; byous=extraordinarily;
thrang=busy; fair bien=quite rich;
Clan Leslie International
Got in a copy of the Clan Leslie International newsletter for November 2012.
You can view this newsletter at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...ters/leslieint
Notes on Highland Woods, Ancient and Modern
Taken from the Transactions of the Gaelic Society.
Inverness-shire is not only the largest county in Great Britain, but the best wooded, and whether taken from an archaic or a modem point of view, it affords us the most interesting illustrations of what the ancient forests of Scotland were, and what modem plantations have become. In its glens and straths there are many evidences to be found of the great forests of oak and fir which constituted the primeval grandeur of our country ; in other places, on its heaths and moors, we can vividly imagine what a naked and desolate land Scotland must have been in the seventeenth century when, as the result of centuries of waste and wanton destruction, the forests had disappeared, and the nation cried out for more timber; and now, the flourishing plantations which grace our straths, glens, and hillsides suggest to one the silvan glories of a thousand years ago. These remarks indicate the lines upon which I propose dealing with my subject—and it is one which, by the way, has not yet found a place in the Transactions of the Society.
You can read the res of this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...cles/woods.htm
And finally...
Watch Your Step!
While driving in Pennsylvania, a family caught up to an Amish carriage. The owner of the carriage obviously had a sense of humor, because attached to the back of the carriage was a hand printed sign...
"Energy efficient vehicle: Runs on oats and grass. Caution: Do not step in exhaust."
-----
Well Met
Did you hear of when a friend met Chic Murray in Sauchiehall Street, and immediately Chic regaled him for some considerable time with a barrage of non-stop stories, jokes and unlikely experiences, all of which had his friend in fits of laughter.
Eventually it was time to go, and a puzzled Chic asked his friend: "When we met, was I coming down Sauchiehall Street or going up?"
When his friend told him he was coming up the way, Chic replied: "Ah, that's OK, then. I'll have had my lunch."
And that's it for now and hope you all have a grand weekend.
Alastair
Electric Scotland News
Electric Canadian
Memoir of the Rev James MacGregor D.D.
Roughing it in the Bush
The Flag in the Wind
Electric Scotland
Northern Notes and Queries
Robert Burns Lives!
A Significant Scot - William Sharp
The Little White Bird by James Barrie
The House of Green Shutters
A Hundred Years in the Highlands (New Book)
For Puir Auld Scotland's Sake (New Book)
Neil MacLeod, Last of the MacLeods of Assynt
MacGregors of Roro
Keltic Researches
The Sutherland Book
Camerons of Letterfinlay and the MacMartin connection
Hame Frae Hame
Clan Leslie International
Notes on Highland Woods, Ancient and Modern
... and finally
Electric Scotland News
This has ended up being a very busy week. We had our poor wee Electric Scotland Community being attacked by spammers and I had to learn a few new tricks to deal with them. Then as it was obvious this wasn't going to stop any time soon it meant we had to re-think our new member procedures. As a result we've now changed how new members join and this now includes a manual verification procedure. As a result of this if you now click on our forums link in our menu you now go to a landing page where if you are already a member or just want to browse as a Guest there is a prominent clickable link to join the community. For those that want to become members we add a description of the procedure you now need to go through to become a member.
This doesn't mean we've seen the last of the spam but it should make a considerable reduction in it. There will be spammers that already have an account but when they do eventually appear we'll simply delete their messages and ban them from the system. I will say this took a certain amount of time to resolve these issues.
-----
The next work was on trying to get a comment system operating. This is something I've spoken about before for quite some time but at the end of the day Steve was unable to work out how to get these installed as there was an issue with email that he couldn't resolve. This has meant I spent some time looking at third party comment systems. I've tried out four such systems to date and I think I might finally have found one that should work. I am doing testing on it at the moment and as it now looks like a good contender I'd be happy it you'd test it out and give me your feedback. The only thing I've not yet been able to fix is the size of the font but I'm hoping Steve can figure out the code that needs to go in place to fix that but that seems to be the only problem left to fix.
I am using the Disqus system which is apparently being used by some 1.8 million other web sites. You do need to be signed in or create an account with them if you don't already have one. However if you have a Facebook, Twitter, Google or Yahoo account you can use these to login. When you add a comment it will be moderated so it won't display right away. Blame spammers for this! But the system to approve is very quick and simple so it should display quite quickly. The comment system can obviously be used to post a comment but you can also reply to other comments already there as well. You can upload a picture and also provide a link to a web site or blog. I chose to use my Facebook account and having done that there is a wee Facebook icon under the comment box which can be toggled on and off. When on any comment will be copied to your Facebook account.
I have chosen to display up to 40 comments per page before pagination takes place. I have also decided to post the oldest post first and I have also decided to place the comment box first with the comments coming after. These can be changed but this seemed the best way to do things at this time. I'd obviously be delighted if you'd check this out and provide any feedback. I have this on at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/test.htm but of course if this test phase goes through well we'll then add it to our footer and hence on every page of the site.
-----
Steve is due to be working on the Electric Scotland Community tonight and over the weekend. He's doing upgrades to the latest release and working through all the add-ons to make sure they are working properly. He may thus need to close the community for a short while but shouldn't be long.
-----
I was looking at some different stats on our site and noted the top visiting cities are...
Sunnyvale, CA (US)
London (GB)
Unknown (GB)
Glasgow (GB)
Edinburgh (GB)
Toronto (CA)
Guess there must be lots of Scots in Sunnyvale and I do wonder where Unknown is in GB?
Electric Canadian
Memoir of the Rev James MacGregor D.D.
Missionary of the General Associate Synod of Scotland to Pictou, Nova Scotia with Notices of the Colonization of the Lower Provinces of British America, and of the Social and Religious condition of the Early Settlers by his Grandson The Rev. George Patterson (1859).
I'm now completed this book by adding all the appendices some of which are very interesting and quite lengthy.
You can read this book at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...egor/index.htm
Roughing it in the Bush
or Forrest Life in Canada by Susanna Moodie (1871). A new book we're starting.
Now have up the following chapters...
Canada - A Contrast
Canada - (Poetical Address)
A Visit to Grosse Isle
Quebec
Our Journey up the Country
Tom Wilson's Emigration
Our First Settlement, and the Borrowing System
Old Satan and Tom Wilson's Nose
The chapter on "A Visit to Grosse Isle" also contains a link to my visit to the island in 2011.
You can read this new book we're starting at http://www.electriccanadian.com/pion...hing/index.htm
The Flag in the Wind
This weeks edition was Compiled by Margaret Hamilton in which she has a number of short articles.
You can read these http://www.scotsindependent.org
Electric Scotland
Northern Notes and Queries
This weeks issue is for September 1897 and can be found at the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...hern/index.htm
Robert Burns Lives!
Edited by Frank Shaw
Whatever Happened to Gavin Turnbull? Hunting Down a Friend of Burns in South Carolina by Patrick Scott.
Back in 1954 I found myself living with my sister Peggy in what was then known as Charleston Heights, a vast suburb just north of Charleston, SC. To “go downtown” meant going to King Street. My high school buddies sometimes called our charming town the “City by the Bay”, long before Tony Bennett “left his heart in San Francisco”. Charleston prided itself on being “America’s Most Historic City” and, as you came down the second span at the foot of that mighty Cooper River Bridge, a huge sign said so. After all, what was printed in The News and Courier or what the city fathers erected on signs was the law, if not the truth, at least for anyone from Charleston. The city is flanked on one side by the Cooper River and on the other by the Ashley River, and the Atlantic Ocean was formed when these two rivers merged. We had highbrows in the city and they were known, then and now, as SOBs because they lived South of Broad.
When a hurricane dared come close to the city, school would be dismissed and some of us would make our way to The Battery to see the waves splashing as high as thirty feet. You didn’t hang around there long, but you could brag when school reopened that you had been there for the great water show. I played (very little) football, basketball, and baseball at North Charleston High School, famous for the words written over the entryway, “EDUCATION IS A POSSESSION OF WHICH MAN CANNOT BE ROBBED”. Mostly, however, I pumped gas at Mr. Hull’s Esso service station for a dollar an hour after school and on weekends. Back then a dollar would buy you 3.3 gallons of gas! I learned my first business lessons from that fine old man and still use most of them today.
I write this to let you know what a special place Charleston is for me. I was thrilled to learn from this week’s article by Patrick Scott that Gavin Turnbull, one of Robert Burns’ friends, had emigrated from Scotland to Charleston. Many historians and Burns scholars had missed this fact for years. I have walked various streets that Burns walked in Scotland but never thought too much about his friend Turnbull who ventured away from the auld country to my neck of the woods. This is new material, as fresh as any you will find. Patrick’s article is a fun and exciting one and well worth reading. This is the latest ground to be broken on a Burns contemporary in, of all places, Charleston, South Carolina. I tip my hat to Patrick Scott! (FRS: 11.28.12)
You can read this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives159.htm
Other articles in this series can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...rank/burns.htm
A Significant Scot - William Sharp
Scottish poet, literary biographer, and romantic story-teller.
We've now added...
Chapter 6 Wives in Excile
You can read this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rp_william.htm
The Little White Bird by James Barrie
We've decided to serialize this book as part of the reason is that his famous Peter Pan first appeared in it which led to the play.
We've now added the next 3 chapters...
Chapter XIX - An Interloper
Chapter XX - David and Porthos Compared
Chapter XXI - William Paterson
You can read these chapters at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rrie_james.htm
House of Green Shutters
Journalist, Teacher, Novelist, Short Story Writer, Critic
We've now added more chapter to the "House of Green Shutters"
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...n_george_d.htm
A Hundred Years in the Highlands
By Osgood Hanbury MacKenzie of Inverewe (1921)
This is a new book we're starting and here is the Preface...
PREFACE
My uncle, Dr. John Mackenzie, having left behind him ten manuscript volumes of Highland Memories, covering the period 1803 to 1860, and I, who inherited these manuscripts, having reached the age of seventy-nine, it has occurred to me that I might make a book of reminiscences which would give pleasure to those who reverence ancient customs and love the West Coast Highlands.
I make no pretence to the art of the writing man. The reader must be kind enough to imagine that he is sitting on the opposite side of a peat fire listening to the leisurely memories of one who has lived a great number of years, observant of the customs of his neighbours, attentive to things of the passing moment, and who finds an increasing pleasure, after a life of the open air, in dwelling on the times that are gone.
If my book should give pleasure to its readers, I shall be glad; if it should do anything to deepen affection and give them reverence for the noblest memories of our Scottish past, I shall be humbly grateful.
OSGOOD HANBURY MACKENZIE.
Tournaig, Poolewe,
March, 1921.
We now have up the following chapters...
Chapter I - Parentage
Chapter II - Family History
Chapter III - Childhood
Chapter IV - Boyhood
Chapter V - Youth
Chapter VI - Voyage to St. Kilda
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...dred/index.htm
For Puir Auld Scotland's Sake
A Book of Prose Essays on Scottish Literary and Rural Subjects by Hugh Haliburton (1887)
Another new book we're starting and here is its Preface...
PREFACE.
THIS is a collection of Essays on Scottish Rural and Literary Subjects, which, it is hoped, will not prove uninteresting even to English readers.
The title is to be understood as expressive rather of something attempted than of anything done, to revive fading interest in the old Scottish fields of literature and rural industry.
The ‘Lament for the Language,’ the focus of this attempt, appeared in the author’s first book, which was published, without achieving publicity, some eight or nine years ago.
The other pieces are reproduced, in whole or in part, from the Scotsman, the Scottish Church, Macmillan's Magazine, and the Dundee Advertiser, by kind permission of the editors or proprietors, to whom due acknowledgment of indebtedness is here gratefully made.
The reader’s indulgence is begged for the ‘Holiday in Arcadia’ The holiday spirit was in the author’s imagination, and his pen ran while he wrote.
We now have up the following chapters...
Herds
Authorship of 'Christ's Kirk on the Green'.
Allan Ramsay
Robert Fergusson
Fergusson's Verse
The Farmer's Ingle
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/puir/index.htm
Neil MacLeod, Last of the MacLeods of Assynt
An article from the Transaction of the Gaelic Society
The case of Neil, last of the Macleods, Lairds of Assynt, has often been discussed, nevertheless when some time ago I became possessed of a MS. folio volume, running into 143 pages, consisting of authentic official extracts from the Scottish Records connected with Assynt, I felt after perusal they might form an interesting and authoritative paper, notwithstanding previous accounts of the family.
You can read this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/webc.../macleod5.html
MacGregors of Roro
From the Transactions of the Gealic Society
Of the MacGregors of Glenurchay, generally allowed to have been Chiefs of Clan Gregor, and who are known to have had the style of Glenurchay for upwards of four centuries, viz., from about 1004 to about 1440, one of the earliest Cadets was MacGregor of Glenlyon, of which house there appear to have been, if not Nine generations, at least Nine representatives, the last of whom, John Dhu nan Lann, died soon after 1500. After having, on the death of a numerous family of sons, by his Lady, Margaret daughter of Luke Stirling of Keir, and Widow of Sir Colin Campbell of Glenurchay, from 1475 (the time of Sir Colin’s death), and his having, as repeated by a respectable genealogist (Buchanan of Auchmar), “no near relatives,” disponed his estate, or right of occupancy, to his Lady's Stepson, Sir Duncan Campbell of Glenurchay, who took a Royal Charter of Glenlyon anno 1502, and was King s Tenant, or occupant merely, till that date.
You can read the rest of this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/webc.../macgreg4.html
Keltic Researches
By Edward Williams Byron Nocholson (1904)
I found this to be an interesting book and so I ocr'd in the Introduction and have made the entire book available for download in pdf format.
Here is part of the Preface to read here...
PREFACE
The history of ancient and early mediaeval times requires to a far greater extent than more recent history the aid of various other sciences, not the least of which is the science of language. And, although the first object of these Studies was to demonstrate to specialists various unrecognized or imperfectly recognized linguistic facts, the importance of those facts in themselves is much less than that of their historical consequences.
The main historical result of this book is the settlement of c the Pictish question or rather of the two Pictish questions. The first of these is ‘What kind of language did the Picts speak?*. The second is ‘Were the Picts conquered by the Scots?
The first has been settled by linguistic and palaeographical methods only : it has been shown that Pictish was a language virtually identical with Irish, differing from that far less than the dialects of some English counties differ from each other. The second has been settled, with very little help from language, by historical and textual methods: it has been made abundantly clear, I think, to any person of impartial and critical mind that the supposed conquest of the Picts by the Scots is an absurd myth.
The Highlander, as we call him—the Albanach as he calls himself in his own Gaelic—is, indeed, in the vast majority of cases simply the modern Pict, and his language modern Pictish. To suppose that the great free people from which he is descended were ever conquered by a body of Irish colonists, and that the language he speaks is merely an Irish colonial dialect, are delusions which, I hope, no one will regret to see finally dispelled.
You can read the rest of this Preface and download the book at http://www.electricscotland.com/books/pdf/keltic.htm
The Sutherland Book
I came across this set of three volumes so added them to our Clan Sutherland Page.
You can get to them at http://www.electricscotland.com/webc...z/sutherl.html
Camerons of Letterfinlay and the MacMartin connection
From the Transactions of the Gaelic Society
While many histories and memoirs of the Camerons of Lochiel have been written, little or no attention has been given to the Macmartins of Letterfinlay, although nearly every account makes them out as original heads of the clan. It would be out of place, even if possible, to detail with accuracy the early history of Lochaber or of its inhabitants, and its owners, native and imported, During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the family of Macdonald, which particularly favoured Mackintosh and Maclean, predominated, and no rights or titles existing are known, except those flowing from them. The charter of 1337 to Mackintosh is unhappily mislaid, and no other of the fourteenth century, to a vassal in Lochaber, unless to Maclean, is known to exist. Those who have undertaken to write about the Camerons are at one as to there being four races, which ultimately fell under the leadership of Lochiel, as Captain of the Clan Cameron, viz.—(1) Macgillonies, (2) Lochiel, (3) Clan Soirle, (4) Macmartins. The title of captain indicates that the clan was not homogeneous, and that it ultimately became hereditary, with the title of chief, is highly creditable to the tenacity and ability of the successive heads of Lochiel.
You can read the rest of this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/webc..._macmartin.htm
Hame Frae Hame
A new song from John Henderson
Dedicated to the memory of my 1st Cousin, three times removed,
John Walker, who emigrated to the Dunedin area of New Zealand in 1874.
Lyrics composed by John Henderson on the 18th of November, 2012,
to Neil MacLean's music for the song, 'Mo Mhathair' ('My Mother').
Mony years lang syne John teuk a ship frae Glesgae tae New Zealand
Faar he howped tae mak a life wi' his hans
Whilk cud big strang widden hames richt weel tae stan a' teeps o' widder
Thit he'd hard a' fowks aye-preed-in southron lans.
Efter weeks at sea John jined lots chiels fa'd sattled nar Dunedin
Faar guid trees tae drap wur redd fur his aix;
Seen he'd eesed a garron pu the trunks he'd stack up naet fur sawin'
Oan a brae he'd chysed atween-twa shalla lakes.
The braw hoose he bigged steed oot an' shawed John's wirk fair byous skeelfu,
An' seen ithers winted him tae big fur thame;
Thase acceppit kept him thrang an' fair-bien in freens an dollars
Nar-oan fifety years syne in his hame frae hame.
Glossary of Less Obvious Words:
preed=experienced; garron=small sturdy horse; byous=extraordinarily;
thrang=busy; fair bien=quite rich;
Clan Leslie International
Got in a copy of the Clan Leslie International newsletter for November 2012.
You can view this newsletter at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...ters/leslieint
Notes on Highland Woods, Ancient and Modern
Taken from the Transactions of the Gaelic Society.
Inverness-shire is not only the largest county in Great Britain, but the best wooded, and whether taken from an archaic or a modem point of view, it affords us the most interesting illustrations of what the ancient forests of Scotland were, and what modem plantations have become. In its glens and straths there are many evidences to be found of the great forests of oak and fir which constituted the primeval grandeur of our country ; in other places, on its heaths and moors, we can vividly imagine what a naked and desolate land Scotland must have been in the seventeenth century when, as the result of centuries of waste and wanton destruction, the forests had disappeared, and the nation cried out for more timber; and now, the flourishing plantations which grace our straths, glens, and hillsides suggest to one the silvan glories of a thousand years ago. These remarks indicate the lines upon which I propose dealing with my subject—and it is one which, by the way, has not yet found a place in the Transactions of the Society.
You can read the res of this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...cles/woods.htm
And finally...
Watch Your Step!
While driving in Pennsylvania, a family caught up to an Amish carriage. The owner of the carriage obviously had a sense of humor, because attached to the back of the carriage was a hand printed sign...
"Energy efficient vehicle: Runs on oats and grass. Caution: Do not step in exhaust."
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Well Met
Did you hear of when a friend met Chic Murray in Sauchiehall Street, and immediately Chic regaled him for some considerable time with a barrage of non-stop stories, jokes and unlikely experiences, all of which had his friend in fits of laughter.
Eventually it was time to go, and a puzzled Chic asked his friend: "When we met, was I coming down Sauchiehall Street or going up?"
When his friend told him he was coming up the way, Chic replied: "Ah, that's OK, then. I'll have had my lunch."
And that's it for now and hope you all have a grand weekend.
Alastair
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