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Newsletter 11th February 2011

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  • Newsletter 11th February 2011

    CONTENTS
    --------
    Electric Scotland News
    Electric Scotland Community
    The Flag in the Wind
    Geikie's Etchings
    Historical Tales of the Wars of Scotland
    Glencreggan: or A Highland Home in Cantire
    Kay's Edinburgh Portraits
    Traditions of Perth
    Glasgow and it's Clubs
    Commercial Relations of England and Scotland 1603 - 1707
    Dr. John McLoughlin - Father of Oregon
    Robert Burns Lives!
    The Angus and Mearns Directory for 1846
    Poems of John Henderson
    An Introduction to Arithmetic
    Autobiography and Services of Sir James McGrigor, Bart (Complete New Book)
    Clan Henderson Newsletter
    Alexander Cruden
    Souvenir of Scotland
    Worrall's Directory of the North-Eastern Counties of Scotland
    The Motor Car, The Motor Cycle and Commercial Motor Index


    Electric Scotland News
    ----------------------
    Next week this newsletter will come from Vancouver as I'm heading there to give a talk about Electric Scotland to the Scottish Studies Department of Simon Fraser University. I'll be staying at the Delta Suites Hotel and will get there early Wednesday afternoon and staying until Saturday morning. Should any of our readers live in Vancouver I'd certainly be happy to meet with you. At the moment it seems like the rest of Wednesday will be free. Thursday is mostly tied up but Friday is a free day although they hope to get someone to take me around Vancouver so I can get some pictures. I then leave on Saturday morning and need to be at the airport by 11.00am for my trip back to Toronto. So if any of that fits in do pop down to see me and have a chat.

    I'll likely get this newsetter out earlier than usual next week as I'll be giving the talk at the time the newsletter would normally go out.

    -----

    Had a lot of interest expressed on the online Scottish History course and you can get to the announcement message where I attached a pdf file about the course at http://www.electricscotland.org/show...ottish+history

    -----

    I find I'm making more books and information available as pdf files. I try only to provide you with a html web page where you can then download the pdf file but sometimes that's not practical so just provide the url to the actual book. Where I point to a pdf file you might consider right clicking on the link and then just save it to your local computer as that way you'll have more flexibility on what program to use to read it.


    ABOUT THE STORIES
    -----------------
    Some of the stories in here are just parts of a larger story so do check out the site for the full versions. You can always find the link in our "What's New" section in our site menu and at http://www.electricscotland.com/rss/whatsnew.php


    Electric Scotland Community
    ---------------------------
    This week we removed the CMS system from our Forums and hence the Front Page was removed. We also took some action on increasing upload limits and through all this we hope we've once and for all fixed the problem of saving high scores in our Arcade. This is all one step towards us doing a makeover of the system.

    I've also started a discussion in our Religion forum on the Bible. It's based on the fact that the Bible was the one book that most Scots homes had in their possession. I beieve that this had an effect on Scottish children as the Bible would have also been used to help children read and write and also develop their memory. I am thus wondering if this is part of the reason the Scots did amazing things all over the world.

    As some of you may know I'm responsible for doing the bi-monthly newsletter for the St. James Priory in Toronto. While I do add articles myself a lot does come in from the Knights Templars in Toronto and all in all it makes an excellent read. So if you get a chance do visit the Knights Templar forum in our Lifestyle Group and download the newsletter which is in pdf format.

    Our community can be viewed at http://www.electricscotland.org/forum.php but of course if you are reading this you're already in it :-)


    THE FLAG IN THE WIND
    --------------------
    This weeks issue is now available Compiled by Jim Lynch. As usual a great mix of articles but of particular interest are the articles about Abdelbaset al-Megrahi. New disclosures show quite a bit of the process of his release back to Libya.

    You can get to the Flag at http://www.scotsindependent.org

    Christina McKelvie MSP did in fact send in her diary entry last week but it didn't arrive until the Saturday so you can get to this at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/mckelvie

    This weeks diary entry is now also available and in it Christina gives a full report on the Government budget which the Labour party rejected and it makes a very interesting read.


    Geikie's Etchings
    -----------------
    This week we've added more etchings...



    A Country Scene
    A Dealer in Herrings
    The Old Excise Office



    In the Old Excise Office there is quite an account of Deacon Brodie which makes an interesting read.

    You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ikie/index.htm


    Historical Tales of the Wars of Scotland
    ----------------------------------------
    And of the Border Raids, Forays and Conflicts by John Parker Lawson (1839). This is a new publication we're starting on which is in 3 volumes. We intend to post up 2 or 3 stories each week until complete.

    This week we've added...

    Siege Of Carrick Fergus - 1316
    Conflict Of Black Saturday - 1571

    Here is how the account starts of the Seige of Carrick Fergus...

    On the 25th of May 1315, Edward Bruce landed with six thousand men at Carrickfergus, in the bay called Belfast Lough. This ancient town, long the principal seaport in the north of Ireland, before it was supplanted by its modern neighbour Belfast, was then strongly fortified by the English, and contained a lofty castle built on a rock projecting into the sea by Hugh De Lacy in 1178. Oppressed by or discontented with the English government, the Irish of the province of Ulster, when they heard of the complete defeat of Edward II. at Bannockburn, implored the aid of the victorious Robert Bruce, now secure on the Scotish throne, and offered to acknowledge his brother Edward Bruce as their sovereign. Although it might have been foreseen, as it probably was, that the expulsion of the English from Ireland, and the union of the discordant factions of the Irish, was a work of almost insuperable difficulty, yet the offer of a crown inflamed the ambition of Edward Bruce, whose intrepid spirit knew no obstacle in the path of valour, and the invasion of Ireland at that particular time would divide the forces and increase the perplexities of the English.

    You can read these accounts at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/wars/


    Glencreggan: or A Highland Home in Cantire
    ------------------------------------------
    By Cuthbert Bede (1861)

    This week we're on Volume 2 with...

    Chapter XXI - Still-Life, and Highland Dainties

    Old Eudd. — Illicit Stills. — Moonlight, Mountain-dew, and Daylight.— Clishmaclaver. — A Fight with the Gangers. — The big Judge. — The Excise. — Suppression of Smuggling. — A Smuggler's Profits. — Christopher North's Opinion. — The Worm i' the Eud, and the Still. — Spoiling the Egj'ptians.— The Sportsman's Return — How to pack Grouse. — How to heat it, and eat it. — Dinner Dainties. — Haggis and singed Sheep's Head. — Salmon. — A rare Entertainment. — An Ogreish Proposition. — Scotch Sweets. —The Sleep of a Grouseshooter.

    Here is a wee bit from this chapter...

    Not that we were limited to grouse as an article of consumption; for the larder was always in a plentifully varied state, and the Glencreggan dinners were things to be remembered —pleasant at the time, and pleasant to look back upon — dapes inemptas. There is a Highland proverb which says, "Make a good breakfast, for you know not where you may dine;" and at Grlencreggan we secured the breakfast, although tolerably certain of the locality of our dinner-table, and its profusion of good fare. Besides the English cook, a genuine Scotch cook had been added to the establishment; so we were favoured with several national dishes, of which we might otherwise have been deprived. To a southron's eye, some of the Scotch dishes make a peculiar figure on the dinner-table. Haggis to wit; of which Christopher North has said that, if such a thing were to be found in a glen, no untravelled Highlander would be able to swear, conscientiously, whether it belonged to the vegetable-kingdom, or was a pair of bellows, or a newly-imported bagpipe!

    You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/glencreggan/


    Kay's Edinburgh Portraits
    -------------------------
    A Series of Anecdotal Biographies chiefly of Scotchmen, Mostly by James Paterson and Edited by James Maidment (1885)

    This week we have added...

    The Earl of Buchan
    Captain McKenzie, of Red Castle
    The Rev. Andrew Hunter, D.D., Professor of Divinity
    Lord Craig, of the Court of Session

    Here is a wee bit from the account of Captain McKenzie, of Red Castle...

    The small estate bearing this name is situated in the neighbourhood of Montrose. The old castle, now in ruins, on the banks of the Lunan, is supposed to have been built by William the Lion.

    This gentleman was an officer in Seaforth's regiment of Highlanders at the time of their revolt in 1778. The regiment had for some time been quartered in the Castle of Edinburgh; but, contrary to expectation, they were at length ordered to embark for Guernsey. Previous to this, a difference existed between the officers and men—the latter declaring that neither their bounty nor the arrears of their pay had been fully paid up, and that they had otherwise been ill-used. On the day appointed for embarkation (Tuesday, the 22nd September), the regiment marched for Leith; but farther than the Links the soldiers refused to move a single step. A scene of great confusion ensued; the officers endeavoured to soothe the men by promising to rectify every abuse. About five hundred were prevailed on to embark, but as many more were deaf to all entreaty; and, being in possession of powder and ball, any attempt to force them would have proved both ineffectual and dangerous. The mutineers then moved back to Arthur Seat, where they took up a position, and in which they continued encamped more than ten days. They were supplied plentifully with provisions by the inhabitants of Edinburgh, and were daily visited by crowds of people of all ranks. In the meantime, troops were brought into the city with the view of compelling the mutineers to submission, but no intimidation had any effect. General Skene (then second in command in Scotland), together with the Earl of Dunmore, and other noblemen and gentlemen, visited the mutineers; and at last, after a great many messages had passed between the parties, a compromise was effected. The terms were—a pardon for past offences; all bye money and arrears to be paid before embarkation, and a special understanding that they should not be sent to the East Indies—a report having prevailed among the soldiers that they had been sold to the East India Company. So cautious were the mutineers, a bond had to be given confirming the agreement, signed by the Duke of Buccleuch, the Earl of Dunmore, Sir Adolphus Oughton, K.B., Commander-in-Chief, and General Skene, second in command in Scotland. After this arrangement, the Highlanders cheerfully proceeded to Leith and embarked.

    Kay relates an anecdote of Captain M'Kenzie, which occurred during the prevalence of the mutiny, highly characteristic of his fortitude and determined disposition. One day while he was in command over the Canongate Jail, where a few of the mutineers were confined, a party from Arthur Seat came to demand their liberation. The Captain sternly refused—the soldiers threatened to take his life, and pointed their bayonets at him; but he bared his breast, and telling them to strike, at the same time declared that not a single man should be liberated. The effect of this resolute conduct was instantaneous—the men recovered arms, and retired to their encampment.

    You can read the rest of this account at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/kays/vol160.htm

    The other entries can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/kays/index.htm


    Traditions of Perth
    -------------------
    Containing Sketches of the Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants during the last century by George Penny (1836)

    We've now added Pages 113 to 129 and this starts with discussions about Street improvements...

    From the year 1750 to 1780, the streets were exceedingly ill lighted, and ill paved. The shop windows, too, were extremely small, and emitted very little light, from the small cruise that burned on the counter. The street lamps were very clumsy things, of a square shape, and the cruise within ill calculated to throw light on the street. In fact, a person a few yards distant appeared just the same as if seen through a mist; and if any rubbish was thrown out, or stones laid down for building, people ran the risk of getting their bones broken, as there was no protection provided against sueh accidents. The lamp-lighters were Just as clumsy as the lamps; and were to be seen In the evenings moving about at a very slow pace, bearing on their shoulders a huge ladder, like a trap up to a hay loft, with a lanthorn and candle slung to their sides by a belt. By the time they got their ladders fixed, the candle taken from the lanthorn and again replaced, any one may judge what a time was consumed in lighting a single lamp. Besides the dreary appearance of the streets during the fore part of the night, by eleven o'clock they were frequently in total darkness.

    You can get to these pages at the foot of the page at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/perth/


    Glasgow and it's Clubs
    ----------------------
    Or Glimpses of Conditions, Manners, Characters and Oddities of the City By John Strang LL.D. (1857)

    This week we've added "Glasgow from 1780 to 1795—Accidental Club".

    It may be remembered that, before introducing the reader to the Anderston, Hodge Podge, and my Lord Ross's Clubs, we attempted to make him in some degree acquainted with the more salient points of Glasgow history, and with the more striking peculiarities in the habits and manners of her citizens, at the various periods when these fraternities were first established. And, before commencing to speak of other convivial brotherhoods, who began their sittings a few winters previous to this last decade of the eighteenth century, it may be perhaps proper to attempt another brief sketch of the City and its inhabitants, about that transition period, when the commercial metropolis of the west made its first great start in progressive population and importance.

    As so you are in for an interesting read!

    You can read this book as we get it up at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...w/clubsndx.htm


    Commercial Relations of England and Scotland 1603 - 1707
    --------------------------------------------------------
    By Theodora Keith (1910)

    This book is a continuation of me trying to tell the story of Scotland and its relationship with England.

    We now have up...

    IV. 1660-1707.

    Scottish Economic Development

    d. Trade with the Plantations
    Navigation Acts, Reasons for excluding Scots from Plantation trade, Endeavours to except the Scots from restrictions of the Acts, Negotiations for commercial Union, Licences for Scottish trade, Illicit trade between Scotland and the Plantations, Methods of smugglers, Attempts at prevention, Amount of trade, Complaints of Scottish trade, More stringent enforcement of Acts after 1695, Continuance of trade'.

    e. Settlement in America
    Transportation of prisoners under Commonwealth, Value of Scots settlers, Transportation of vagabonds, etc., Scottish settlement in New Jersey, Trouble with New York, Differences between Scottish and English settlers, Scottish settlement in Carolina, Its failure, Question of naturalisation of Scots in Plantations.

    f. Trade with France
    Character of Scottish trade, 1660-1707, Disadvantages of English connection, Adoption of more independent policy, Increase of Scots shipping, Relations of England, Scotland and France, French impositions on Scottish trade, Scottish retaliation, Result of prohibition of import of wine, Prohibition removed, Amount of trade between Scotland and France, English attempts to prevent the trade, Sufferings of Scottish merchants through French wars.

    g. Trade With Holland, etc.
    Effect of Dutch wars on Scottish trade, Staple port removed to Dort, 1667, Return to Campvere, Commodities exported to Holland, Trade with Baltic ports, Scots and English merchants at Hamburg, Scots in the Mediterranean, Dangers to shipping.

    You can read these chapters at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...mercialndx.htm


    Dr. John McLoughlin
    -------------------
    Father of Oregon by Frederick V. Holman (1907)

    We now have several chapters up in this book including...

    Preface
    Text
    Early Settlements and Joint-occupancy of the Oregon Country
    The Hudson's Bay Company and the Northwest Company
    Genealogy and Family of Dr. John McLoughlin
    Dr. McLoughlin and the Oregon Country
    Fort Vancouver
    Punishment of Indians
    Early French Canadian Settlers
    Early American Traders and Travellers

    The story of the life of Dr. John McLoughlin comprises largely the history of Oregon beginning in the time of joint-occupancy of the Oregon Country, and continuing until after the boundary treaty dividing the Oregon Country between the United States and Great Britain, the establishment of the Oregon Territorial Government, and the passage of the Oregon Donation Law. It relates directly to events in Oregon from 1824 until the death of Dr. McLoughlin in 1857, and incidentally to what occurred in Oregon as far back as the founding of Astoria in 1811.

    Prior to the Treaty of 1846 between the United States and England fixing the present northern boundary line of the United States west of the Rocky Mountains, what was known as the "Oregon Country" was bounded on the south by north latitude forty-two degrees, the present northern boundary of the states of California and Nevada; on the north by latitude fifty-four degrees and forty minutes, the present southern boundary of Alaska; on the east by the Rocky Mountains; and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. It included all of the states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, and parts of the states of Montana and Wyoming, and all of the present Dominion of Canada between latitudes forty-nine degrees and fifty-four degrees forty minutes, and west of the Rocky Mountains. Its area was approximately four hundred thousand square miles, an area about twenty-five per cent, greater than that of the original thirteen colonies at the time of the American Revolution.

    You can read these chapters at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...egon/index.htm


    Robert Burns Lives!
    -------------------
    By Frank Shaw

    Once again we get a great contribition to our understanding of Robert Burns...

    Ideological Adaption of Robert Burns in the Soviet Union By Dr. Natalia Kaloh Vid (Slovenia, University of Maribor, Faculty of Arts)

    Attending any conference on Robert Burns has always been a treat for me. Attending an international conference in Scotland is indeed a rare treat. Susan and I were able to do just that on January 15th when we visited the University of Glasgow to participate in a one-day conference hosted by The Centre for Robert Burns Studies entitled Burns and Beyond. There were only six speakers and yours truly was lucky enough to be invited as one of them. We heard some great presentations with outstanding messages about Burns. One of the best, if not, in my opinion, the best, was Dr. Natalia Kaloh Vid, who has a PhD from the University of Maribor, Slovenia. Her speech on Robert Burns and Russia was mesmerizing.

    I like to observe audiences for their interest or lack thereof when others speak. It helps me be a better speaker. Suffice it to say that there was no apparent disinterest in Dr. Vid’s talk! No one went to sleep. Everyone was captivated, and more than one person put down their pens, as I did, to enjoy her very informative and interesting presentation. Dr. Vid is an authority on Burns and the Russian people, and she has a particular message on Burns that needs to be heard by Burnsians around the globe.

    During a break in the program, I congratulated her on her speech and asked if she would submit an article for the pages of Robert Burns Lives! for our readers to enjoy. She readily agreed and responded, “I will be glad to help you with your work on Burns.” In reply to an email regarding her article for these pages, Natalia mentioned she was “very glad that you and Susan enjoyed my talk and I am honored to receive such a response from you. I enjoy doing my research very much and I also enjoy speaking about it. It is very important for me to hear from other people that it was clear and interesting.” She went on to say she was “attaching one of my Burns articles. It has not been published in this form yet, even though some of the examples appeared in earlier articles.” In my last communication with her just yesterday, Natalia wrote, “It’s a great pleasure and honor for me to contribute to Robert Burns Lives!” but I must say to her that the honor and pleasure is mine!

    With this essay on Robert Burns and the Soviet Union, our website takes an exciting and different turn by going more international in scope. But Burns does that to people. Personally, I have always been mystified by the relationship of Russia and the Bard, a love affair that has continued for decades. Thirty years ago we had an opportunity to go to the Soviet Union to attend the Olympic Games, but then President Jimmy Carter, in his infinite wisdom, crushed that dream when he cancelled America’s participation in the events. Our trip to Russia vanished as did the dreams of hundreds of our nation’s youth who had trained for a lifetime to be Olympic participants that year. Ah, politics, don’t you love those who pontificate on our behalf! It is a distinct privilege to welcome Dr. Natalia Kaloh Vid to the pages of Robert Burns Lives! (FRS: 2.9.11)

    You can read this account at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives107.htm

    All these articles, now 107 of them, can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...rank/burns.htm


    The Angus and Mearns Directory for 1846
    ---------------------------------------
    Of the inhabitants of Montrose, Arbroath, Forfar, Brechin and Kirriemuir.

    I do from time to time discover pdf files of records in Scotland that may well be of help to genealogists. This is one such directory and have made it available at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...gus_mearns.htm


    Poems of John Henderson
    -----------------------
    John has sent in another poem "Myndin Susie" which can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerel380.htm

    I might add that John usually includes a midi file along with the poem but you should note that you can only listen to this with the IE browser. It appears that the html tag that plays background music on the page is a specific Microsoft tag and is thus not part of the official standards and hence other browsers don't make use of this.


    An Introduction to Arithmetic
    -----------------------------
    The One Hundred and First Edition by James Gray

    I yet again stumbled across a book while searching for something else and as it happens this book is by a Scot and I was struck with the fact that this is the One Hundred and First Edition and so it had to be very popular to go through so many editions. I have actually made this file available on both our Education page and also on our Kids page.

    The book is in pdf format so you can pick this up at http://www.electricscotland.com/educ...00grayrich.pdf


    Autobiography and Services of Sir James McGrigor, Bart
    ------------------------------------------------------
    Late Director-General of the Army Medical Department (1861)

    I intend to work on some biographies of prominent Scots so that we might learn more about them and the work they did that was important in their time and made a real difference to their fellow men.

    In the case of this book there is an extensive Preface which I've ocr'd onto the site and at the end of that you can download the book in pdf format. Here is how the Preface starts...

    Though the merits and public services of men, who depart from among us in the quietude of retirement, at the close of a long life of usefulness, are more readily lost sight of than the merits of those who are suddenly snatched away in the midst of a brilliant career; yet not unfrequently the reminiscence of their names and works, is as much an act of justice to the individuals, as that of those who departed in the vigour of life, and in the freshness of their fame.

    For, though they may have silently quitted the scene of their labours, forgotten in their retirement by the general public, as though they had never been; when the tenor of their lives attests beneficence of action, and great personal deserts in the particular sphere in which they moved; the remembrance of these, merits to be recalled, no less than the record of the lives of those who achieved renown in a more dazzling sphere of the public service. As meriting such remembrance, Sir James McGrigor must be considered to have established no slight claims, both in a professional and official point of view.

    In the former of these he may be regarded in the light of a prominent and instructive beacon, to guide and to encourage all entering upon the same career as that in which he so eminently distinguished himself; and in the latter, as the first zealous and enlightened administrator of a department of the public service, to the official constitution of which, before his advent to its directorship, a serious proportion of the calamities which befel British troops in the field had been justly attributed.

    To those, also, who are meritoriously advancing in the same career of social and national usefulness; and to the now remaining few who were his friends and colleagues in the service, we cannot doubt that the publication of these autobiographical recollections of the most active period of his long and well-spent life, will prove both welcome and interesting. And the more so, that it will present a more enduring testimony, not only to that private worth which gained for him the esteem and friendship of many of the most distinguished men of his time; but to those zealous labours in the cause of the science of medicine, by which he so greatly contributed to the elevation of the professional character of the medical practitioner in the British army; and obtained for his brothers in science, that recognition of their status in our military system, which had been so ungraciously, and so impolitically withheld from them.

    To the public at large, it will demonstrate the amount of public good which may be effected, by one willing to devote his mind and energies to the establishment of useful reforms; and will serve as another illustration of the truism, which happily is now becoming more generally recognised, that real advantage can accrue to the public service only when "the right man is in the right place."

    You can read the rest of the Preface and download the book at http://www.electricscotland.com/books/pdf/mcgrigor.htm


    Clan Henderson Newsletter
    -------------------------
    We got in a copy of the Clan Henderson Newsletter for Winter 2011 which can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...rson/index.htm


    Alexander Cruden
    ----------------
    Author of the Concordance of the Old and New Testaments. Here we provide an account of his life and a copy of his Concordance in pdf format.

    The Concordance was a monumental work and many have great difficulty in understanding how one person could have created it but create it he did.

    Here you can learn more about the man and we've also made available his work as a pdf file should you wish to try the 135Mb download! I might add that when I first put this up Ranald McIntyre downloaded it and then sent me an email to say that from page 300 onwards there were blank bits on some pages. That being the case I found a better copy and thus that is now the one we have made available to download.

    You can reach this page at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist..._alexander.htm


    Souvenir of Scotland
    --------------------
    A collection of 120 colour pictures of Scotland.

    This is a pdf file which I've edited to take out lots of blank pages and so have managed to reduce the size somewhat. I can say that the pictures are of quite high resolution and were you do download this it would be easy enough to extract any particular pages that you wanted to use.

    Here is a picture of John Knox's house on the Canongate...



    You can download this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/pict...00londuoft.pdf


    Worrall's Directory of the North-Eastern Counties of Scotland
    -------------------------------------------------------------
    Including Forfar, Fife, Kinross, Aberdeen, Banff, and Kincardine (1877)

    This is yet another directory that would be useful for genealogists and yet again I've just made it available as a pdf file. You can download this through our Historical records page towards the foot at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/records/


    The Motor Car, The Motor Cycle and Commercial Motor Index
    ---------------------------------------------------------
    Special Insurance Edition (1924). In clear tabulated form all information necessary for Insurance purposes relating to Motor Cars, Cycles, and Industrial Motors, known to be made or sold in this country in the Years 1913 to 1924. All details shown at a glance without abbreviations or references to other pages.

    I might add that Ranald McIntyre worked in the motor insurance industry for many years and it's thanks to him for providing this book for us. It's essentially a list of vehicles with key facts so perhaps suitable for researchers working in this field. I only say that as it's perhaps not suitable for the general reader as it's really just tables of data.

    You can download this at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/transport/


    And to finish...

    I thought I'd finish by offering you a wee selection of Hot Toddy recipes as for many us frozen in with lots of snow it might just be the ticket for warming us up.

    Here is a wee selection of Hot Toddy recipes from sophisticated to simple...

    1 teaspoon honey
    2 fluid ounces boiling water
    1 1/2 fluid ounces whiskey
    3 whole cloves
    1 cinnamon stick
    1 slice fresh lemon
    1 pinch ground nutmeg

    Directions
    Pour the honey, boiling water, and whiskey into a mug. Spice it with the cloves and cinnamon, and put in the slice of lemon. Let the mixture stand for 5 minutes so the flavors can mingle, then sprinkle with a pinch of nutmeg before serving.

    1 shot whiskey
    1 teaspoon sugar (preferably superfine)
    Boiling water
    Grated nutmeg
    Cinnamon stick

    Dissolve sugar in whiskey, add water to fill cup or glass. Garnish with dash of nutmeg and stir with cinnamon stick.

    1 sugar cube or 1/2 tbsp sugar
    2 oz alcohol
    Boiling water

    Pour all ingredients into a mug. Stir.

    I might add that when my mother was living should my father or I ever have a cold she'd appear with a mug that had lemsip (this was a powdered aspirin with lemon) to which she'd add boiling water and then a shot of whisky and sugar to taste. It certainly seemd to cure our colds!


    And that's it for now and hope you all have a good weekend.

    Alastair
    http://www.electricscotland.com

  • #2
    Re: Newsletter 11th February 2011

    Sorry that I won't be able to shake your hand in Vancouver next week Alastair; I was there last week and will be there the week after, but just can't make it for the 17th. I hope the Centre will post your good words on their site at http://scottish.sfu.ca/, where they're nicely advertising the event now. Do enjoy your visit!

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