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Electric Scotland News
Society of Antiquaires of Scotland
From 20 to 22 June, over 1,300 people joined us online and in person for our biggest event of the year, the Rhind Lectures.
Dr Simon Taylor, Reader in Scottish Name Studies at the University of Glasgow, explored how Scotland's place-names make a unique contribution to our understanding of how we humans have interacted with our environment over the centuries, what they have to teach us about past societies, and how they are constantly helping to shape our identity and sense of belonging.
All six lectures are now available to enjoy on our YouTube channel at:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...C5LDk5MhDHye5m
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I understand that MyHeritage is offering a special price of $29.00 to sign up for their DNA service. So if this is of interest you might want to check this out.
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Most books published in the 1700's used the letter f to replace the letter s and so are a little challenging to read. For the story this week I have taken a short 51 page book and have edited the first 16 pages to standard English. I have also at the end provided a link to the whole book if you wish to keep reading it.
My ocr software in quite old so I suppose that with AI now coming into use it's possible there is a program out there that can handle this and if you know of one please let me know.
Scottish News from this weeks newspapers
I am partly doing this to build an archive of modern news from and about Scotland and world news stories that can affect Scotland and as all the newsletters are archived and also indexed on search engines it becomes a good resource. I might also add that in a number of newspapers 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 which I do myself from time to time.
Here is what caught my eye this week...
Rod Stewart savagely blasts Donald Trump with lyric change amid 35% trade tariff
Rod Stewart did not hold back against his old pal Donald Trump as he blasted him on stage.
Read more at:
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entert...onald-35656789
Trump hasn't won the trade war
There is a strange dislocation in attitudes towards Donald Trump’s tariffs. Those who insist he has a very clever strategy tend also to be people who, in any other context, are in favour of low taxes. But a tariff is just a tax, and a country does not ‘win’ by taxing its imports more than other countries tax its exports.
Read more at:
https://archive.is/TPhZj
The 'Scottish island' in Canada where most residents are Scots and people speak Gaelic
It has a fascinating history dating back hundreds of years.
Read more at:
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/scotla...dents-35669918
Scotland’s Addiction Regime: Designed to Fail
Scotland’s addiction system is not failing. It is working precisely as designed: to keep people sick, subsidise bureaucrats, and bury the poor.
Read more at
https://substack.com/inbox/post/170223669
Donald Trump left 'deeply touched' after receiving 'unique' gift from John Swinney
The First Minister told a Fringe audience in Edinburgh that the US President "made it abundantly clear to me that he absolutely adores Scotland".
Read more at:
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/p...uched-35682139
How Thatcher made herself uncancellable
Three and a half decades after she left office, Margaret Thatcher still looms large in British politics. Even Keir Starmer feels the need to cite her example. This didn’t happen by accident. After the Iron Lady left office, she used all her political skill to reinvent herself as the guardian of Thatcherism.
Read more at:
https://capx.co/how-thatcher-made-herself-uncancellable
Niall Ferguson Talks to Javier Milei
At the Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires, Argentina’s president explains his radical plan to make Argentina ‘the world’s freest country.’
Read more at:
https://archive.is/OxUmL
Kate Forbes: I am not a quitter - this is why I'm leaving Holyrood
Kate Forbes told The Herald's Unspun Live at the Fringe her reasons for standing down at the next Scottih Parliamentary election.
Read more at:
https://archive.is/riYYR
Electric Canadian
My Canadian Experience
Starting my August 2025 entry.
You can view this as I progress through the month at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/canada_add24.htm
Montreal Chronicles
I embeded a video from this series to the foot of our Montreal page at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...c/montreal.htm
Isaac Buchanan M.P.P.
Representative in the Commons House of Parliament of Canada, and President of the Board of Trade for the City of Hamilton in which same capacities he served the City of Toronto, the Metropolis at the Union of the Canada's
You can learn about him at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/make...c-buchanan.htm
Radical Words of the Mohawk Language
With their derivatives by Rev. James Bruyas S.J., Missionary on the Mohawk (1862) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...00bruyuoft.pdf
A Profile of the Métis
Target groups project by Josée Normand, Statistics Canada (1996) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...ofthemetis.pdf
Manitoba Free Press
An overview of this newspaper (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/maga...aFreePress.pdf
MacDonnell on the Heights
A poem composed by Stan Rogers (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life.../macdonnel.pdf
Hattie Family Memoirs
An Account of the Families Descended from Alexander Hattie, Emigre of 1786, with Sketches of the Family Pioneers and Related Material by Robert McConnell Hattie and Joseph Howe Kirk (1936) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/make...memo00hatt.pdf
Great Men of Canada
Life Stories of a few of Canada's Great Men told in narrative form by John Henderson (1928) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/make...0unse_e5p1.pdf
Wonders of Ontario | Where the Crowds Don't Go
Added this video to our Ontario page as the second video on the page.
You can watch this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...ario/index.htm
Thoughts on a Sunday Morning - the 3rd day of August 2025 - Silence
By The Rev. Nola Crewe
You can watch this at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/foru...t-2025-silence
Tom Thomson
The Story of a Man Who Looked for Beauty and for Truth in the Wilderness by Blodwen Davies (1935) (pdf)
You can learn about him at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/makers/Tom-Thomson.pdf
Ukraine
Added two recent videos about the Russian/Ukraine war to the foot of the page at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/ukraine.htm
Traits of American-Indian Life and Character
By a Fur Trader, Peter Skene Ogden (1853) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...ican00ogde.pdf
Candian War Cuts & Clippings
Volume XIV March 1919 to July 1919 (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/forces/clips.htm
The Beaver Magazine
Added No. 3 Outfit 259 December 1928 (pdf)
You can read this issue at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...cember1928.pdf
Electric Scotland
Historical Record of the Seventy-Third Regiment
Containing an account of the formation of the regiment from the period of it being raised as the second battalion pf the Forty-Second Royal Highlanders in 1780 and its subsequent services to 1851 compiled by Richard Cannon, Esq., Adjutant-General's office, Horse Guards (1851) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...00canniala.pdf
Memoirs of the Life and Writings of The Honourable Henry Home of Kames
One of the senators of the college of justice, and one of the Lord Commissioners of Justiciary in Scotland contaning sketches of the progress of literature and general improvement in Scotland during the greater pat of the eighteenth century in two volumes (1807)
You can read these volumes at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...home_henry.htm
Ian of the Orcades
Or, The Armourer of Girnigoe by William WIlfred Campbell (1907) (pdf)
You can read this novel at:
https://electricscotland.com/books/p...ades00camp.pdf
The Rhind Lectures on Scottish Place Names
From the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland on YouTube. Added a link to these lectures on our place names page at:
https://electricscotland.com/books/place_names.htm
The Theory of Moral Sentiments
To which is added A Dissertation on the Origin of Languages by Adam Smith (sixth edition) (1767) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...sentiments.pdf
A History of British Birds
With coloured illustrations of their eggs by Henry Seebohn in four volumes (1883)
You can read these volumes at:
https://electricscotland.com/nature/britishbirds.htm
The British Turf
From the earliest period to the present day by James Christie Whyte, Esq., in two volumes (1840)
You can read these volumes at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...tingreview.htm
History of British Butterflies
By The Rev. F. O. Morris, B.A. (third edition) (1870) (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/nature/...utterflies.pdf
The Poker Club
Information about the club
You can learn about this club at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...poker-club.htm
Story
Remarks on the People and Government of Scotland
Particularly the Highlanders; their original Customs, Manners, &c., with a genuine account of the Highland Regiment that was decoyed to London (1747)
WHEN the Highlanders walk’d the streets here, every body must be sensible that there was more Raring at them than ever was seen at the Morocco ambassador’s attendance, or even at the Indian chiefs, who some people would have passed on us for kings. The amazement expressed by our mob was not greater than the surprise of these poor creatures; and if we thought their dress and language barbarous, they had just the same opinion of our manners; nor will I pretend to decide which was most in the right. But to prevent such staring for the future, and to give the people a better notion of Highlanders, as well as the Highlanders a better notion of us (if ever this pamphlet should travel so far North} I thought it not amiss to lay hold of this opportunity of saying something to the public, as to the present state of Scotland in general, as well as to the fortune of the Highland regiment in particular.
That the Highlands of Scotland are wild and uncultivated is a fact not to be disputed or denied, and whoever has travelled into Wales will not be much amazed that there are hills at one end of the island as well as the other. That the people too differ much in their manners and customs from those about London, will not appear miraculous to any man who has seen Cornwall, the sea-coast of Lincolnshire, or any other distant county in England. But though it be true that there is nothing strange in their country’s being unlike this, or in the inhabitants differing from us, yet methinks it is pretty strange, that lying at so small a distance we should be so little acquainted as to wherein this difference consists.
Let me begin then with telling you what sort of a country the Highlands is. In the first place, I must observe, that taking the word in its usual sense, and as it is understood in opposition to the Lowlands of Scotland, the Highlands are very extensive; for when you are once above Perth, the Highlands have no other bounds but the sea. But though the name be thus extended, yet a great part of this vast tract of country is far from being either rocky or mountainous. The North of Scotland is indeed a high country by situation, but then it is both flat and fruitful, whereas the Highlands, strictly speaking, are not so. They consist chiefly of long ridges of hills, in some places bare and barren, in others covered with forests of fir-trees interspersed with valleys, which they call glens, through which there generally run trout streams. Where there are rivers they are mostly rapid and dangerous, but for these rivulets they are very pleasant, as well as very commodious. I must likewise observe, that the Highlands abound with lakes or lochs, into which some rivers fall, and out of which others run. In the glens they have corn of all sorts, but especially barley and oats, the latter furnshing them with bread, and the former with drink. Their horses are small but
serviceable, their black cattle little but sweet.
After this description of the country, it cannot be expected that you should find its inhabitants either very wealthy, or extremely polite, and yet it may be truly affirmed, that they are not indigent to the degree of beggars, or despicably rude. On the sea-coast, and in the neighbourhood of their little ports, you see something like industry, and the people don’t make a much worse figure than they do in North Wales, or the Isles of Scilly. Their merchants do not deal for great sums, and yet they make a shift to live pretty handsomely; and as for the meaner sort who apply to trade, a few engage in manufactures, and the rest either go to sea, or transport themselves to Poland, and there turn pedlars. But in the inland parts, and even on the coast where there is no considerable trade, dwell the very Highlanders we have to do with, and these are distinguished from the rest of the people of Scotland, not so much by their dress, as by their manner of living, which is to this hour in a kind of vassalage, under their chiefs, and therefore these people are generally known in North-Britain by the name of the Clans.
This title has been pretty much heard of even in the South, since the revolution, and a great deal of trouble it hath cost even the English ministry to keep these Clans quiet, though they lie at such a distance. This began in king William's time, when a large sum of money was given to a noble earl, whose son and grandson sit now in both houses, to distribute among the beads of these Clans, in order to silence their illegal loyalty, and make them more quiet. This method was found so easy, and withal so effectual, that it has been pursued ever since. The great earl of Godolphin, though a great enemy to corruption, was forced to go pretty near it, in order to keep fair with the Clans, but then he acted upon a true whig principle; he only gave away English money to prevent the worse effects of French. By this practice he kept things easy for some time, ’till he suffered the Scots to arm themselves by law, and then he was compelled to make the union, in order to disarm them. Upon this occasion it was thought that some method would have been taken to destroy the power of the Clans, and towards this indeed something was done, but not much, as we have been sensible since; but to make this clear, it will be necessary to inform you what these Clans are, and wherein their power consists. Without this, all that has been hitherto said, and a great part of what I have still to say, would be absolutely as unintelligible as if it had been written in the language of the people I am speaking of, which is Irish, as are indeed the customs that I am about to explain.
A Clan is pretty much the same thing with what the Tartars call a Hord, and that is very nearly what we understand by the word tribe, that is a small body of people under the absolute command of a chief. I shall not pretend to enquire how ancient this cuslom is in Scotland, because that might carry me into times of such dark antiquity as might make me lose my way. It is sufficient for my purpose to observe, that the government of the Highland chiefs is perfectly patriarchal, the head having the reverence of a parent; and the power of a prince. Some of the old Scotch kings saw the danger of this, and would have corrected it, but they generally found their own power too weak, and that of these chiefs too strong, the people siding with them, not only against their duty to their prince, but against their own interest. Which at last brought one of their princes, whose name I think was Malcolm, to bring in by consent, a kind of new regulation not unlike that of our copy-hold estates here, by which these chiefs held of the crown under various kinds of tenures called generally in Scotland by the name of Jews, which is equivalent to the Norman sees in England, Thus the Clans came to have a legal establishment, with much more power over their vassals than the king had over them as subjects.
We commonly mistake in England every laird in the highlands for a chief, but this is far from being so. A laird is a man of property, which may derive from purchase as well as descent, but the chieftain is an hereditary honour, which cannot be taken away. A chieftain, though his property be much inferior to that of many of the lairds in his family, commands them absolutely, as they do their tenants; and thus this sort of tyranny prevails through the Highlands in general, where the people have no wills of their own, but entirely depend on the humour of their chiefs, to which they are so bent and fashioned in their childhood, that though they have few principles, either civil or religious, and would scarce be persuaded to take up arms for the protection of the government, or even for their own security, yet let but their chief whittle, and he has all his followings for that is the term given to those who owe this kind of suit and service, at his heels in an instant, ready to undertake whatever he commands, and even to burn, spoil and kill, if the chieftain pleases. The chief reason of their devotion is, as I have said before, their tenures, which are entirely of a military nature, and leave all who hold under them so much in the power of the lord, that it is not worth while making any improvements, as on the other hand, this necessary poverty keeps the poor people in a fit disposition for slavery, and binds them fast to the interest of those who mind them no more than their oxen or sheep.
As the heads of these Clans are the greatest part of them in the Jacobite interest, it cannot be wondered, that since the revolution the government has been constantly jealous of them, but as I hinted before, it may seem not a little strange, that some method has not been taken to strip them altogether of this extravagant power; and for this, as a very great secret in government, and which it is certainly the interest of the English nation to know, I shall endeavour to account. This I think will be doing the greater service, since it is a matter that few people understand, and those few that do are for keeping that knowledge to themselves, and making the most of it. For it must be allowed, to the honour of the great men in that part of this island, that they have always kept our ministry in the dark, as to the methods of managing their country-men, and by this artificial practice they maintain their own power, and accumulate vast estates. Yet it would be certainly for the interest of both nations to have this mist so dissipated, as that the strength of Scotland might be thoroughly united to England, and the good sense and industry of the English spread even to the Orkneys themselves, where the people are rude and poor, it is true, but not so much from any natural impediments in their country, as from their not knowing how to improve its situation; for a multitude of creeks and sea-ports, and an inexhaustible fishery, are sufficient to enrich any country that is habitable, and theirs is much more so, I mean the worst and more northern part of it, than Denmark, Norway, or Sweden.
But to return to the point from which I digresied. The nobility and chieftains in Scotland having their interests blended by perpetual intermarriages, have been always alike jealous of their prerogatives, and forward to extend them at the expence of the crown, as well as of the people. This was the true source of the seditions in the time of king James the first, and the several Scotch rebellions against his son king Charles. Religion and liberty were mere pretences to draw in the presbyterian clergy and the rabble. The M--------of A--------- was ten times a greater tyrant in his own country than ever his greatest enemies represented the king to be against whom he fought; and of this the reader will find indubitable proofs in the letters of general Monk, published in Thurloe's collection. Nay the great Montrose himself was only loyal out of spight, and did not serve the king ’till he found he could not serve himself of the faction, which has been the case pretty much ever since. Under the rump parliament and Cromwell indeed things were put into another channel, garrisons were fixed at Intervals and other places in the North, and the whole government, civil as well as military, was put into the hands of English commissioners, who trusted the executive part of it chiefly to Monk, and he managed it with such wisdom and discretion as made the people not only tame and quiet, but easy and happy.
After the restoration things returned entirely into their own channel, and instead of the mild and equal government of the English, the Scotch were delivered up again to be oppressed as usual by their own countrymen, till they were so unfortunate as to fall under the dominion of two brothers of the name of Maitland, viz. the famous duke of Lauderdale and the lord Hatton. The duke was a thorough statesman of an over-bearing enterprising genius, which made him equally formidable in his own country, and. uneasy to the English ministry. The brother again was a lawyer, and seated at the head of justice; so that between them they had power paramount, and every man who was not of their faction was sure to be oppressed by it. This excessive authority is injurious to that of the crown, as well as so oppressively heavy on the people, was maintained by the persuasion the king and his ministry had of the duke’s great interest, and his brother’s great parts, both of which, exclusive of the great weight which their high offices, large salaries and extensive prerogatives gave them, and would have given any body else, was very probamatical. This however is certain, that never any man was more fear’d than the duke, or more hated than his brother, as may be seen at large in the memoirs of bishop Gurnet who from being their creature became their enemy, and has very full and clearly shewn, that the arrogance of these two brothers made that military power neccessary, which rendered the royal family odious, and diffused a spirit of disaffection through the antient kingdom of Scotland, which had afterwards such extraordinary effects.
This sort of government was not extinguished by the revolution, king William was forced to be served as his predecessors had been, by such great men as undertook to manage their parliaments, and keep under the friends of his father-in-law; with this view, sometimes one man, sometimes another was at the head of affairs, but whoever was at the head of them there remained a constant opposition, and every parliament naturally divided it felt into three factions. The courtiers, who went through such with whatever orders came down from London; the country party, which, to say the truth, was there generally speaking Jacobites; and the squadrone volante, or the flying squadron, which made many fair pretences; but were at the bottom nearly akin, to a certain generation of political virtuosi known here lately by the appellation foxes whose leading principle it was to gnaw a hole through any minister’s scheme, ’till they found it big enough to let themselves in.
But all these factions were in the zenith of their power under queen Anne, and as it is natural for men in the heighth of prosperity to grow wanton, so some of these great men pushed matters to such a length, that the union became absolutely necessary, since neither themselves in Scotland, nor the government in England, could be safe without it. How it was brought about the histories of those times shew, and what odd revolutions there happened in parties about that time, may be known from this notorious fact, that a noble duke, a little after it took place, was made prisoner in his own house, for intending to bring down an army of the Clans to prevent that measure, and being soon after sent for up to London, was made secretary of state, and had a large share in the government.
In the reign of king George the first, the rebellion revived the fame of the Highlanders. All the world knows how deeply they were engaged on both sides; the marquis of Tullibardine, the earls Marschal, Mar, South Esk; the lords Kenmure, Drummond, With the lairds of Glengary, Glenderule, Glencoe, Glenlyon, Struan, &c. on the one side; and the great earl of Sutherland, the famous lord Lovat, the laird of Grant, not to mention the dukes of Argyll, Douglas and Montrosse were on the other; so that things were pretty equally divided, and this, I suppose, made the extinction of the power of the Clans impracticable, even after the suppressing this rebellion, which gave the fairest opportunity for it, that ever offered, because, as the reader must observe, if there were delinquencies on one side, there were great merits on the other, and an equal desire of power in both; very small amendments were made in the nature of the tenures in that country, and as far as I have been able to learn, the power of their lords and lairds remained very near as great after as it was before it. Soon after the rebellion the great duke of Argyll and his brother were removed from all their employments, which of necessity occasioned a mighty fluctuation of power in Scotland for some time, but at last the Argyle party came into power again, and have in some measure held it ever since.
But when people had in a very great degree forgot all these disturbances, and scarce preserved any remembrance of the outrages of the Highlanders, a sudden resolution was taken to put an end to their power, by disarming them absolutely; and it was at first proposed to strip them of their cloathing, that is, preventing their going in their ordinary dress. This was in the year 1725, and the motion for the bringing in this bill, which was intitled, for more effectual disarming the Highlanders in that part of Great Britain called Scotland and for the better securing the peace and quiet of that part of the kingdom was made by a general officer still living, and seconded by Mr. Duncan Forbes. By this law power is given to the lord lieutenant of every one of the following shires, viz. Dunbarton on the North side of the Water of Leven, Sterling on the North side of the river of Forth, Perth, Kincairdin, Aberdeen, Inverness, Nairn, Cromarty, Argyll, Forfar, Bannf, Sutherland, Caithness, Elgin, and Ross and for such other persons as his majesty should authorize by his sign manual, to cause letters monitory to be issued in his majesty’s name, dictated to the Clans within any of the said shires, commanding them on a certain day to deliver up all their arms and warlike weapons for the use of his majefty, and to be disposed of in such a manner as their commissioners should think fit.
In case any of the Clans thus summoned should be found to bear arms of any kind, and thereof be convided, by oath of two credible witnesses, before two justices of the peace, the penalty was, that the person so convicted should be, by warrant under the hands and seals of such justices, forthwith committed to such safe custody as shall be expressed in the warrant, to be there kept, without bail, until the said justices shall cause him to be delivered over. (as they are hereby empowered to do) to such officers belonging to his majesty’s forces as shall from time to time be appointed to receive such man to serve as a soldier in any of his majesty’s dominions beyond the seas; and the officer who receives such persons, shall then cause the articles of war against mutiny and desertion, to be read to them in the prefence of such persons as shall deliver over such men to such officers, who shall cause an entry thereof to be made, together with the names of the persons so delivered over, and a certificate thereof in writing, under their hands and seals, to be delivered to the officers appointed to receive such men; and after the reading the said articles of war, every person so delivered over, shall be deemed a listed soldier, and be subject to the discipline of war; and in case of desertion, shall be punished as a deserter. The reader is desired to take notice of this clause for a particular reason.
There were beside other severe penalties, as for example, the possessor of any dwelling-house, barn or out-house was declared to be the owner of any arms concealed therein, and if convicted was to suffer as before; and if a woman, was to be imprisoned two years, or pay any fine that should be set under an hundred pounds sterling. By another clause in the same act, power is given to enter and search any house, in the day or in the night time, in order to discover whether any arms were concealed; and if five persons were assembled together, to defeat the purposes of this act, then the civil magistrates were allowed to call for military assistance; and in case any persons were killed by the said soldiers, they are indemnified by this act. These and some other clauses excited a pretty warm struggle against the bill, and induced some of the staunch asserters of liberty to treat it in their speeches very freely. It passed however in the house of commons, by a very large majority, but was again opposed with great warmth of spirit in the house of peers, where, tho’ at last it made its way, yet it brought this protest at its heels.
You can download the whole publication at:
https://electricscotland.com/history/remarks.htm
END.
Weekend is almost here and hope it's a good one for you.
Alastair
Society of Antiquaires of Scotland
From 20 to 22 June, over 1,300 people joined us online and in person for our biggest event of the year, the Rhind Lectures.
Dr Simon Taylor, Reader in Scottish Name Studies at the University of Glasgow, explored how Scotland's place-names make a unique contribution to our understanding of how we humans have interacted with our environment over the centuries, what they have to teach us about past societies, and how they are constantly helping to shape our identity and sense of belonging.
All six lectures are now available to enjoy on our YouTube channel at:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...C5LDk5MhDHye5m
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I understand that MyHeritage is offering a special price of $29.00 to sign up for their DNA service. So if this is of interest you might want to check this out.
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Most books published in the 1700's used the letter f to replace the letter s and so are a little challenging to read. For the story this week I have taken a short 51 page book and have edited the first 16 pages to standard English. I have also at the end provided a link to the whole book if you wish to keep reading it.
My ocr software in quite old so I suppose that with AI now coming into use it's possible there is a program out there that can handle this and if you know of one please let me know.
Scottish News from this weeks newspapers
I am partly doing this to build an archive of modern news from and about Scotland and world news stories that can affect Scotland and as all the newsletters are archived and also indexed on search engines it becomes a good resource. I might also add that in a number of newspapers 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 which I do myself from time to time.
Here is what caught my eye this week...
Rod Stewart savagely blasts Donald Trump with lyric change amid 35% trade tariff
Rod Stewart did not hold back against his old pal Donald Trump as he blasted him on stage.
Read more at:
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entert...onald-35656789
Trump hasn't won the trade war
There is a strange dislocation in attitudes towards Donald Trump’s tariffs. Those who insist he has a very clever strategy tend also to be people who, in any other context, are in favour of low taxes. But a tariff is just a tax, and a country does not ‘win’ by taxing its imports more than other countries tax its exports.
Read more at:
https://archive.is/TPhZj
The 'Scottish island' in Canada where most residents are Scots and people speak Gaelic
It has a fascinating history dating back hundreds of years.
Read more at:
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/scotla...dents-35669918
Scotland’s Addiction Regime: Designed to Fail
Scotland’s addiction system is not failing. It is working precisely as designed: to keep people sick, subsidise bureaucrats, and bury the poor.
Read more at
https://substack.com/inbox/post/170223669
Donald Trump left 'deeply touched' after receiving 'unique' gift from John Swinney
The First Minister told a Fringe audience in Edinburgh that the US President "made it abundantly clear to me that he absolutely adores Scotland".
Read more at:
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/p...uched-35682139
How Thatcher made herself uncancellable
Three and a half decades after she left office, Margaret Thatcher still looms large in British politics. Even Keir Starmer feels the need to cite her example. This didn’t happen by accident. After the Iron Lady left office, she used all her political skill to reinvent herself as the guardian of Thatcherism.
Read more at:
https://capx.co/how-thatcher-made-herself-uncancellable
Niall Ferguson Talks to Javier Milei
At the Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires, Argentina’s president explains his radical plan to make Argentina ‘the world’s freest country.’
Read more at:
https://archive.is/OxUmL
Kate Forbes: I am not a quitter - this is why I'm leaving Holyrood
Kate Forbes told The Herald's Unspun Live at the Fringe her reasons for standing down at the next Scottih Parliamentary election.
Read more at:
https://archive.is/riYYR
Electric Canadian
My Canadian Experience
Starting my August 2025 entry.
You can view this as I progress through the month at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/canada_add24.htm
Montreal Chronicles
I embeded a video from this series to the foot of our Montreal page at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...c/montreal.htm
Isaac Buchanan M.P.P.
Representative in the Commons House of Parliament of Canada, and President of the Board of Trade for the City of Hamilton in which same capacities he served the City of Toronto, the Metropolis at the Union of the Canada's
You can learn about him at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/make...c-buchanan.htm
Radical Words of the Mohawk Language
With their derivatives by Rev. James Bruyas S.J., Missionary on the Mohawk (1862) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...00bruyuoft.pdf
A Profile of the Métis
Target groups project by Josée Normand, Statistics Canada (1996) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...ofthemetis.pdf
Manitoba Free Press
An overview of this newspaper (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/maga...aFreePress.pdf
MacDonnell on the Heights
A poem composed by Stan Rogers (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life.../macdonnel.pdf
Hattie Family Memoirs
An Account of the Families Descended from Alexander Hattie, Emigre of 1786, with Sketches of the Family Pioneers and Related Material by Robert McConnell Hattie and Joseph Howe Kirk (1936) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/make...memo00hatt.pdf
Great Men of Canada
Life Stories of a few of Canada's Great Men told in narrative form by John Henderson (1928) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/make...0unse_e5p1.pdf
Wonders of Ontario | Where the Crowds Don't Go
Added this video to our Ontario page as the second video on the page.
You can watch this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...ario/index.htm
Thoughts on a Sunday Morning - the 3rd day of August 2025 - Silence
By The Rev. Nola Crewe
You can watch this at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/foru...t-2025-silence
Tom Thomson
The Story of a Man Who Looked for Beauty and for Truth in the Wilderness by Blodwen Davies (1935) (pdf)
You can learn about him at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/makers/Tom-Thomson.pdf
Ukraine
Added two recent videos about the Russian/Ukraine war to the foot of the page at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/history/ukraine.htm
Traits of American-Indian Life and Character
By a Fur Trader, Peter Skene Ogden (1853) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...ican00ogde.pdf
Candian War Cuts & Clippings
Volume XIV March 1919 to July 1919 (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/forces/clips.htm
The Beaver Magazine
Added No. 3 Outfit 259 December 1928 (pdf)
You can read this issue at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...cember1928.pdf
Electric Scotland
Historical Record of the Seventy-Third Regiment
Containing an account of the formation of the regiment from the period of it being raised as the second battalion pf the Forty-Second Royal Highlanders in 1780 and its subsequent services to 1851 compiled by Richard Cannon, Esq., Adjutant-General's office, Horse Guards (1851) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...00canniala.pdf
Memoirs of the Life and Writings of The Honourable Henry Home of Kames
One of the senators of the college of justice, and one of the Lord Commissioners of Justiciary in Scotland contaning sketches of the progress of literature and general improvement in Scotland during the greater pat of the eighteenth century in two volumes (1807)
You can read these volumes at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...home_henry.htm
Ian of the Orcades
Or, The Armourer of Girnigoe by William WIlfred Campbell (1907) (pdf)
You can read this novel at:
https://electricscotland.com/books/p...ades00camp.pdf
The Rhind Lectures on Scottish Place Names
From the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland on YouTube. Added a link to these lectures on our place names page at:
https://electricscotland.com/books/place_names.htm
The Theory of Moral Sentiments
To which is added A Dissertation on the Origin of Languages by Adam Smith (sixth edition) (1767) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...sentiments.pdf
A History of British Birds
With coloured illustrations of their eggs by Henry Seebohn in four volumes (1883)
You can read these volumes at:
https://electricscotland.com/nature/britishbirds.htm
The British Turf
From the earliest period to the present day by James Christie Whyte, Esq., in two volumes (1840)
You can read these volumes at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...tingreview.htm
History of British Butterflies
By The Rev. F. O. Morris, B.A. (third edition) (1870) (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/nature/...utterflies.pdf
The Poker Club
Information about the club
You can learn about this club at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...poker-club.htm
Story
Remarks on the People and Government of Scotland
Particularly the Highlanders; their original Customs, Manners, &c., with a genuine account of the Highland Regiment that was decoyed to London (1747)
WHEN the Highlanders walk’d the streets here, every body must be sensible that there was more Raring at them than ever was seen at the Morocco ambassador’s attendance, or even at the Indian chiefs, who some people would have passed on us for kings. The amazement expressed by our mob was not greater than the surprise of these poor creatures; and if we thought their dress and language barbarous, they had just the same opinion of our manners; nor will I pretend to decide which was most in the right. But to prevent such staring for the future, and to give the people a better notion of Highlanders, as well as the Highlanders a better notion of us (if ever this pamphlet should travel so far North} I thought it not amiss to lay hold of this opportunity of saying something to the public, as to the present state of Scotland in general, as well as to the fortune of the Highland regiment in particular.
That the Highlands of Scotland are wild and uncultivated is a fact not to be disputed or denied, and whoever has travelled into Wales will not be much amazed that there are hills at one end of the island as well as the other. That the people too differ much in their manners and customs from those about London, will not appear miraculous to any man who has seen Cornwall, the sea-coast of Lincolnshire, or any other distant county in England. But though it be true that there is nothing strange in their country’s being unlike this, or in the inhabitants differing from us, yet methinks it is pretty strange, that lying at so small a distance we should be so little acquainted as to wherein this difference consists.
Let me begin then with telling you what sort of a country the Highlands is. In the first place, I must observe, that taking the word in its usual sense, and as it is understood in opposition to the Lowlands of Scotland, the Highlands are very extensive; for when you are once above Perth, the Highlands have no other bounds but the sea. But though the name be thus extended, yet a great part of this vast tract of country is far from being either rocky or mountainous. The North of Scotland is indeed a high country by situation, but then it is both flat and fruitful, whereas the Highlands, strictly speaking, are not so. They consist chiefly of long ridges of hills, in some places bare and barren, in others covered with forests of fir-trees interspersed with valleys, which they call glens, through which there generally run trout streams. Where there are rivers they are mostly rapid and dangerous, but for these rivulets they are very pleasant, as well as very commodious. I must likewise observe, that the Highlands abound with lakes or lochs, into which some rivers fall, and out of which others run. In the glens they have corn of all sorts, but especially barley and oats, the latter furnshing them with bread, and the former with drink. Their horses are small but
serviceable, their black cattle little but sweet.
After this description of the country, it cannot be expected that you should find its inhabitants either very wealthy, or extremely polite, and yet it may be truly affirmed, that they are not indigent to the degree of beggars, or despicably rude. On the sea-coast, and in the neighbourhood of their little ports, you see something like industry, and the people don’t make a much worse figure than they do in North Wales, or the Isles of Scilly. Their merchants do not deal for great sums, and yet they make a shift to live pretty handsomely; and as for the meaner sort who apply to trade, a few engage in manufactures, and the rest either go to sea, or transport themselves to Poland, and there turn pedlars. But in the inland parts, and even on the coast where there is no considerable trade, dwell the very Highlanders we have to do with, and these are distinguished from the rest of the people of Scotland, not so much by their dress, as by their manner of living, which is to this hour in a kind of vassalage, under their chiefs, and therefore these people are generally known in North-Britain by the name of the Clans.
This title has been pretty much heard of even in the South, since the revolution, and a great deal of trouble it hath cost even the English ministry to keep these Clans quiet, though they lie at such a distance. This began in king William's time, when a large sum of money was given to a noble earl, whose son and grandson sit now in both houses, to distribute among the beads of these Clans, in order to silence their illegal loyalty, and make them more quiet. This method was found so easy, and withal so effectual, that it has been pursued ever since. The great earl of Godolphin, though a great enemy to corruption, was forced to go pretty near it, in order to keep fair with the Clans, but then he acted upon a true whig principle; he only gave away English money to prevent the worse effects of French. By this practice he kept things easy for some time, ’till he suffered the Scots to arm themselves by law, and then he was compelled to make the union, in order to disarm them. Upon this occasion it was thought that some method would have been taken to destroy the power of the Clans, and towards this indeed something was done, but not much, as we have been sensible since; but to make this clear, it will be necessary to inform you what these Clans are, and wherein their power consists. Without this, all that has been hitherto said, and a great part of what I have still to say, would be absolutely as unintelligible as if it had been written in the language of the people I am speaking of, which is Irish, as are indeed the customs that I am about to explain.
A Clan is pretty much the same thing with what the Tartars call a Hord, and that is very nearly what we understand by the word tribe, that is a small body of people under the absolute command of a chief. I shall not pretend to enquire how ancient this cuslom is in Scotland, because that might carry me into times of such dark antiquity as might make me lose my way. It is sufficient for my purpose to observe, that the government of the Highland chiefs is perfectly patriarchal, the head having the reverence of a parent; and the power of a prince. Some of the old Scotch kings saw the danger of this, and would have corrected it, but they generally found their own power too weak, and that of these chiefs too strong, the people siding with them, not only against their duty to their prince, but against their own interest. Which at last brought one of their princes, whose name I think was Malcolm, to bring in by consent, a kind of new regulation not unlike that of our copy-hold estates here, by which these chiefs held of the crown under various kinds of tenures called generally in Scotland by the name of Jews, which is equivalent to the Norman sees in England, Thus the Clans came to have a legal establishment, with much more power over their vassals than the king had over them as subjects.
We commonly mistake in England every laird in the highlands for a chief, but this is far from being so. A laird is a man of property, which may derive from purchase as well as descent, but the chieftain is an hereditary honour, which cannot be taken away. A chieftain, though his property be much inferior to that of many of the lairds in his family, commands them absolutely, as they do their tenants; and thus this sort of tyranny prevails through the Highlands in general, where the people have no wills of their own, but entirely depend on the humour of their chiefs, to which they are so bent and fashioned in their childhood, that though they have few principles, either civil or religious, and would scarce be persuaded to take up arms for the protection of the government, or even for their own security, yet let but their chief whittle, and he has all his followings for that is the term given to those who owe this kind of suit and service, at his heels in an instant, ready to undertake whatever he commands, and even to burn, spoil and kill, if the chieftain pleases. The chief reason of their devotion is, as I have said before, their tenures, which are entirely of a military nature, and leave all who hold under them so much in the power of the lord, that it is not worth while making any improvements, as on the other hand, this necessary poverty keeps the poor people in a fit disposition for slavery, and binds them fast to the interest of those who mind them no more than their oxen or sheep.
As the heads of these Clans are the greatest part of them in the Jacobite interest, it cannot be wondered, that since the revolution the government has been constantly jealous of them, but as I hinted before, it may seem not a little strange, that some method has not been taken to strip them altogether of this extravagant power; and for this, as a very great secret in government, and which it is certainly the interest of the English nation to know, I shall endeavour to account. This I think will be doing the greater service, since it is a matter that few people understand, and those few that do are for keeping that knowledge to themselves, and making the most of it. For it must be allowed, to the honour of the great men in that part of this island, that they have always kept our ministry in the dark, as to the methods of managing their country-men, and by this artificial practice they maintain their own power, and accumulate vast estates. Yet it would be certainly for the interest of both nations to have this mist so dissipated, as that the strength of Scotland might be thoroughly united to England, and the good sense and industry of the English spread even to the Orkneys themselves, where the people are rude and poor, it is true, but not so much from any natural impediments in their country, as from their not knowing how to improve its situation; for a multitude of creeks and sea-ports, and an inexhaustible fishery, are sufficient to enrich any country that is habitable, and theirs is much more so, I mean the worst and more northern part of it, than Denmark, Norway, or Sweden.
But to return to the point from which I digresied. The nobility and chieftains in Scotland having their interests blended by perpetual intermarriages, have been always alike jealous of their prerogatives, and forward to extend them at the expence of the crown, as well as of the people. This was the true source of the seditions in the time of king James the first, and the several Scotch rebellions against his son king Charles. Religion and liberty were mere pretences to draw in the presbyterian clergy and the rabble. The M--------of A--------- was ten times a greater tyrant in his own country than ever his greatest enemies represented the king to be against whom he fought; and of this the reader will find indubitable proofs in the letters of general Monk, published in Thurloe's collection. Nay the great Montrose himself was only loyal out of spight, and did not serve the king ’till he found he could not serve himself of the faction, which has been the case pretty much ever since. Under the rump parliament and Cromwell indeed things were put into another channel, garrisons were fixed at Intervals and other places in the North, and the whole government, civil as well as military, was put into the hands of English commissioners, who trusted the executive part of it chiefly to Monk, and he managed it with such wisdom and discretion as made the people not only tame and quiet, but easy and happy.
After the restoration things returned entirely into their own channel, and instead of the mild and equal government of the English, the Scotch were delivered up again to be oppressed as usual by their own countrymen, till they were so unfortunate as to fall under the dominion of two brothers of the name of Maitland, viz. the famous duke of Lauderdale and the lord Hatton. The duke was a thorough statesman of an over-bearing enterprising genius, which made him equally formidable in his own country, and. uneasy to the English ministry. The brother again was a lawyer, and seated at the head of justice; so that between them they had power paramount, and every man who was not of their faction was sure to be oppressed by it. This excessive authority is injurious to that of the crown, as well as so oppressively heavy on the people, was maintained by the persuasion the king and his ministry had of the duke’s great interest, and his brother’s great parts, both of which, exclusive of the great weight which their high offices, large salaries and extensive prerogatives gave them, and would have given any body else, was very probamatical. This however is certain, that never any man was more fear’d than the duke, or more hated than his brother, as may be seen at large in the memoirs of bishop Gurnet who from being their creature became their enemy, and has very full and clearly shewn, that the arrogance of these two brothers made that military power neccessary, which rendered the royal family odious, and diffused a spirit of disaffection through the antient kingdom of Scotland, which had afterwards such extraordinary effects.
This sort of government was not extinguished by the revolution, king William was forced to be served as his predecessors had been, by such great men as undertook to manage their parliaments, and keep under the friends of his father-in-law; with this view, sometimes one man, sometimes another was at the head of affairs, but whoever was at the head of them there remained a constant opposition, and every parliament naturally divided it felt into three factions. The courtiers, who went through such with whatever orders came down from London; the country party, which, to say the truth, was there generally speaking Jacobites; and the squadrone volante, or the flying squadron, which made many fair pretences; but were at the bottom nearly akin, to a certain generation of political virtuosi known here lately by the appellation foxes whose leading principle it was to gnaw a hole through any minister’s scheme, ’till they found it big enough to let themselves in.
But all these factions were in the zenith of their power under queen Anne, and as it is natural for men in the heighth of prosperity to grow wanton, so some of these great men pushed matters to such a length, that the union became absolutely necessary, since neither themselves in Scotland, nor the government in England, could be safe without it. How it was brought about the histories of those times shew, and what odd revolutions there happened in parties about that time, may be known from this notorious fact, that a noble duke, a little after it took place, was made prisoner in his own house, for intending to bring down an army of the Clans to prevent that measure, and being soon after sent for up to London, was made secretary of state, and had a large share in the government.
In the reign of king George the first, the rebellion revived the fame of the Highlanders. All the world knows how deeply they were engaged on both sides; the marquis of Tullibardine, the earls Marschal, Mar, South Esk; the lords Kenmure, Drummond, With the lairds of Glengary, Glenderule, Glencoe, Glenlyon, Struan, &c. on the one side; and the great earl of Sutherland, the famous lord Lovat, the laird of Grant, not to mention the dukes of Argyll, Douglas and Montrosse were on the other; so that things were pretty equally divided, and this, I suppose, made the extinction of the power of the Clans impracticable, even after the suppressing this rebellion, which gave the fairest opportunity for it, that ever offered, because, as the reader must observe, if there were delinquencies on one side, there were great merits on the other, and an equal desire of power in both; very small amendments were made in the nature of the tenures in that country, and as far as I have been able to learn, the power of their lords and lairds remained very near as great after as it was before it. Soon after the rebellion the great duke of Argyll and his brother were removed from all their employments, which of necessity occasioned a mighty fluctuation of power in Scotland for some time, but at last the Argyle party came into power again, and have in some measure held it ever since.
But when people had in a very great degree forgot all these disturbances, and scarce preserved any remembrance of the outrages of the Highlanders, a sudden resolution was taken to put an end to their power, by disarming them absolutely; and it was at first proposed to strip them of their cloathing, that is, preventing their going in their ordinary dress. This was in the year 1725, and the motion for the bringing in this bill, which was intitled, for more effectual disarming the Highlanders in that part of Great Britain called Scotland and for the better securing the peace and quiet of that part of the kingdom was made by a general officer still living, and seconded by Mr. Duncan Forbes. By this law power is given to the lord lieutenant of every one of the following shires, viz. Dunbarton on the North side of the Water of Leven, Sterling on the North side of the river of Forth, Perth, Kincairdin, Aberdeen, Inverness, Nairn, Cromarty, Argyll, Forfar, Bannf, Sutherland, Caithness, Elgin, and Ross and for such other persons as his majesty should authorize by his sign manual, to cause letters monitory to be issued in his majesty’s name, dictated to the Clans within any of the said shires, commanding them on a certain day to deliver up all their arms and warlike weapons for the use of his majefty, and to be disposed of in such a manner as their commissioners should think fit.
In case any of the Clans thus summoned should be found to bear arms of any kind, and thereof be convided, by oath of two credible witnesses, before two justices of the peace, the penalty was, that the person so convicted should be, by warrant under the hands and seals of such justices, forthwith committed to such safe custody as shall be expressed in the warrant, to be there kept, without bail, until the said justices shall cause him to be delivered over. (as they are hereby empowered to do) to such officers belonging to his majesty’s forces as shall from time to time be appointed to receive such man to serve as a soldier in any of his majesty’s dominions beyond the seas; and the officer who receives such persons, shall then cause the articles of war against mutiny and desertion, to be read to them in the prefence of such persons as shall deliver over such men to such officers, who shall cause an entry thereof to be made, together with the names of the persons so delivered over, and a certificate thereof in writing, under their hands and seals, to be delivered to the officers appointed to receive such men; and after the reading the said articles of war, every person so delivered over, shall be deemed a listed soldier, and be subject to the discipline of war; and in case of desertion, shall be punished as a deserter. The reader is desired to take notice of this clause for a particular reason.
There were beside other severe penalties, as for example, the possessor of any dwelling-house, barn or out-house was declared to be the owner of any arms concealed therein, and if convicted was to suffer as before; and if a woman, was to be imprisoned two years, or pay any fine that should be set under an hundred pounds sterling. By another clause in the same act, power is given to enter and search any house, in the day or in the night time, in order to discover whether any arms were concealed; and if five persons were assembled together, to defeat the purposes of this act, then the civil magistrates were allowed to call for military assistance; and in case any persons were killed by the said soldiers, they are indemnified by this act. These and some other clauses excited a pretty warm struggle against the bill, and induced some of the staunch asserters of liberty to treat it in their speeches very freely. It passed however in the house of commons, by a very large majority, but was again opposed with great warmth of spirit in the house of peers, where, tho’ at last it made its way, yet it brought this protest at its heels.
You can download the whole publication at:
https://electricscotland.com/history/remarks.htm
END.
Weekend is almost here and hope it's a good one for you.
Alastair