Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Newsletter 8th April 2011

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Newsletter 8th April 2011

    CONTENTS
    --------
    Electric Scotland News
    Electric Scotland Community
    The Flag in the Wind
    Historical Tales of the Wars of Scotland
    Glencreggan: or A Highland Home in Cantire
    Kay's Edinburgh Portraits
    Traditions of Perth
    Robert Burns Lives!
    Old Church Life in Scotland
    Places of Interest about Girvan
    Fishermen and Fishing Ways
    Poems of George Alexander Rodger
    John's Scottish Singalong
    Under Lochnagar
    Ellis Island Tartan unveiled for Tartan Day 2011
    Ramsay
    The Medical Schools of Scotland
    The Peoples of Ancient Scotland
    Forfarshire
    An Account of the Behaviour of the Late Earl of Kilmarnock
    Alastair's Canadian Journal
    Clan Munro of Australia Newsletter
    Gael’s Fire the Event of My Lifetime


    Electric Scotland News
    ----------------------
    My thoughts have been in the direction of Clans and Families this week. I guess that is in part due to this being Scotland Week and Tartan Day.

    Being a native Scot and having lived and worked in Scotland for many years I have to say that for most of my life I was quite ignorant about clans. In fact it was only when my father purchased a book about Clan MacIntyre that I bothered to read it. While it was certainly interesting I can't say it moved me forward in any way to read about other clans. Neither did it make me want to find out more about Clan MacIntyre.

    My only slight knowledge of clans was from doing history at school where I learned about the Highland Clearances and the clan chiefs kicking people of their land and replacing them with sheep which led to a huge migration of Scots to the world.

    It was only when I decided I'd like to study the history of Scotland that I covered clans in any detail as after all they are part of our history. And again, although I covered them for the site, it still didn't do anything for me personally. It just seemed to me that clan chiefs used their clan members for the power they could provide them. A clan was often ranked by the number of clansmen they could raise to fight for them or for the chiefs cause. When raising a fighting force was no longer of any practical use to them, after Culloden, the chief either got rid of them or charged them much more money to farm their land.

    In some ways this was reinforced by getting a visit from the Chief of MacTavish who lived in Florida at the time. He said to me that in North America folk were passionate about their clan connections whereas local Scots couldn't give a damn about them.

    As I progressed with my studies on the history of Scotland it occured to me that it was really only after the battle of Culloden in 1746 that Scotland started to make significant progress at home and abroad. In fact in some ways that also started after the Union of the Crowns in 1707.

    And when you look at what the Scots have contributed to the world at home and abroad it is truly astonishing. This certainly makes me very proud to be a Scot but even today it still doesn't make me any more interested in my clan.

    When I came to North America I was truly astonished at the sheer number of clan tents there were at Highland Games. And again I have to say that before coming to North America I'd never attended even one of our Highland Games in Scotland. I think as a result of my visit to the Jacksonville Highland Games in Florida I wrote that the Scots were alive and well and living in America.

    At that one event I saw more Scottish flags flying than I'd ever seen in the whole of Scotland.

    The massive growth in genealogy also seems to have created much more engagement with clans. I get frequent emails asking me to identify what clan a person might belong to. This has led to some clans claiming a huge number of Septs and finding ways in which they can claim a whole variety of spellings of names to add to their clan lists. In my limited investigations I have yet to find even one clan that can tell you why all these names are connected with the clan. And the history of Sept names is very poor indeed. One clan chief I talked to has said the they just accepted the list that was there and while they could identify a few names and the connection they had with the clan there were many more that they didn't have a clue as to why they were Septs of the clan.

    My understanding is that only the Chief of the clan can add a Sept name to their clan.

    We have made some attempt at providing a whole list of spellings of names connected with clans on the site. That however is more to deflect the numerous emails I get trying to identify a clan connection.

    And so where does all this take us? It's my view that what really made the Scots the race they were was education, religion and discipline. All this encouraged a strong work ethic but with their religious background providing a kindness to others and a willingness to help others. When studying the biographies of some truly remarkable Scots they often donated free of charge much of what they had learned to the world. They were by no means always after copyright, royalties, or payment. They often gave information freely to others in their profession. This then brought great progress to the world.

    And so while I can identify with people being proud of their name I find it difficult to understand their attraction to their Clan and especially when most clan chiefs kicked them off their land. To me there is simply little information out there on clans in general. What did the clan contribute to the well being of their clan people and to their country? Of course the chief would have looked after their clans people as that was their currency in those far off days. When that currency was no longer of value it seems to me they had no compuction about kicking them off their lands. This whole area isn't being explored and it should be.

    Certainly you can see many people with Scottish names that did great things in the world but it seems to me they did it because of who they were and not because they were part of a clan. Clan societies are great resources of genealogy information and should be supported for that alone. But some are also great social organisations and organise good events for their clan society. I just have some doubts about why the chiefs need suppoorting as it was their line that kicked so many people of their lands.

    So I guess what all this comes down to is my plea for more transparency and research on the role clans had in Scotland and more research into why Septs are listed as part of the clan. It's my belief that a spelling of a Sept name should have historical evidence as to their clan connection and if there is none provided then they shouldn't be listed as a Sept.

    It is quite natural for people to want their clan to be the best it can be but facts show that in history many clan chiefs were truly brutal people. There is historical evidence that some did ethnic cleansing of competing clans. And so if we truly want to learn about the clans we need to learn about them warts and all. We need to really understand their role in Scotland to get a proper perspective. Only then can we be in a positon to understand their role in history and thus what relevance they have today.

    One final point I'd make. We as individuals have generally done something we're ashamed of. When relating your own history you'd likely do your best to avoid mentioning that or at the very least put a kinder take on what happened. We are seldom brutally honest about such things. It's thus the same with clan histories which are usually commissioned by the chief. This means over the years the less attractive aspects of clan history get watered down or indeed completely ignored. But to be truly able to understand the roles the clans and their chiefs played in history we need facts whether they are pleasant or not.


    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
    ---------------------------
    We've add a new Radio menu to the top menu bar. I confess I'm quite pleased to have figured out how to do that as you'll all know I'm somewhat technically challenged when it comes to things like that :-)

    However to date I've added various radio stations from Scotland, UK, Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand. I've designed this so that when you select a radio station it will come up in a new window. This then lets you minimise the window so you can listen while you browse through our community and of course you can continue to listen when you leave to go elsewhere.

    I hope you'll enjoy this new facility and I'd also be happy to get any information about any other radio station you think are outstanding and I'd be happy to add them in providing of course I can find a live feed link for them.

    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 Jamie Hepburn in which he admits to being in campaigning mode and not surprising given the forthcoming elections.

    At time of writing this weeks Flag was not available but I figured it might just be in the archives and indeed it was. I would hope by the time you read this it will have been copied over.

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


    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...

    Battle of Bannockburn - 1314

    The next few that we put up are longer accounts so we'll just be doing one a week for the next few weeks.

    This is obviously a very famous battle so has been covered already in other accounts on the site but this still makes an interesting read.

    You can read this account 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 XXIX - Largie


    Bradge House. — Tayiuloan Village. —The Pig of Cautire. — Largie Castle. — The Macdonalds. — Proposal to shoot Largie with a Piece of Silver. — Popular Tales and the Tellers of Sgculachdan. — The Fairies of Largie. — The Laird of Largie and the '45. —Another Version. — Macdonald's Pipers. — A Highland Improvisatore. — The learned Gentleman and MacMurchy. — The Story of the Laird of Largie and the beggar Captain. — The Macdonald's Grants of Property. — Model legal Documents. — The Hangman's Rock.

    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...

    James Alexander Haldane, Esq., Minister of the Tabernacle, Leith Walk
    The Rev. Dr. Thomas Hardie, Professor of Ecclesiastical History
    Dr. Andrew Duncan, Sen., Professor of the Theory of Medicine
    The Hon. Andrew Erskine, Soldier and Poet
    Sir John Sinclair, Bart., of Ulbster
    John Home, Esq., of Ninewells

    The account of Dr. Andrew Duncan starts...

    Dr. Duncan was born in the city of St. Andrews, upon the 17th October, 1744, and received his education at the University there. Having determined to follow medicine as his profession, he repaired to Edinburgh, and completed his studies under the superintendence of the medical teachers of that city. He early attached himself to the Medical Society, which was instituted in the year 1737. While a member he took an active part in its business, was for many years treasurer, and several times elected one of its presidents. The propriety and advantages of a Hall, the foundation-stone of which was laid by Di\ Cullen in 1770, was originally suggested by Dr. Duncan, under whose inspection and management it was subsequently erected. In testimony of the sense entertained of the value of his services, a gold medal was voted to him in 1787, and his full-length portrait, painted at the expense of the society, was afterwards placed in the Hall.

    In 1768-9, Mr. Duncan went a voyage to China, as Surgeon of the East India Company's ship Asia, under the command of Mr., afterwards Sir Robert Preston. His services were so highly esteemed in this capacity, that the Captain offered him .£500 to go out with him a second time. This he declined.

    You can read the rest of this entry at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/kays/vol222.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 273 to 291 and we're now exploring the Vicinity of Perth.

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


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

    Almost Speechless by Clark McGinn.

    It is always delightful to post an article by Clark McGinn on our website. As a gifted writer and speaker, Clark is an excellent wordsmith and he takes a back seat to no one in both categories. His articles and speeches are marked by first rate scholarship. Clark is the author of popular books on the subjects of Burns Suppers and being Scottish, and he also wrote an Afterword to The Luath Kilmarnock Edition of Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect.

    But Clark is not a one-dimensional man dwelling entirely on Robert Burns. His latest book, Out of Pocket, is not about the Bard but about banking, the business he has worked in since college days with posts in New York and London. It is too bad those involved in the Ayr Bank collapse of 1772 did not have Out of Pocket and its inherent wisdom to rely on as that crisis might have been averted. The same goes today for America with 376 failed banks and, in particular, my state of Georgia which heads that sad list with 57 banks that the FDIC has taken over, one just a few miles from our home which we drive by almost daily.

    Clark was born in the heart of Burns country and for over 30 years he has been speaking at suppers honoring Burns. A graduate of Glasgow University, he founded the World Student Debating Competition 25 plus years ago, and it is still going strong today. In addition, Clark is a frequent writer for The Scotsman as well as on line for Scotland Now.

    “One of the things I enjoy about Robert Burns,” says Clark, “is the complexity of the man and his work – as a speaker, that allows me to approach each speech differently, focusing on a particular facet of Burns which will strike a chord with that evening’s audiences.”

    This former president of the Burns Club of London has spoken to audiences ranging from six people to over a thousand. His speeches have been televised in Britain, the United States, Australia, and Canada. As you can tell, Clark McGinn is a Burns Supper Specialist, and you can read more about him at www.seriousburns.com. (FRS: 4.7.11)

    You can read his article at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives115.htm

    All of the Robert Burns articles can be found at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...rank/burns.htm


    Old Church Life in Scotland
    ---------------------------
    By Andrew Edgar, Minister at Mauchline (1885).

    We have now completed this book with the following interesting appendices...

    Appendix A.—The Exercise, the Presbytery, and the Classical Assembly
    Appendix B.—Fast Days and Days of Atonement
    Appendix C.—Old Oaths of Purgation
    Appendix D.—Presbyterial Visitations of Parishes
    Appendix E.—Rev. Dr. Dairymple of Ayr
    Appendix F.—Cell, Monastery, or Priory—which? at Mauchline
    Appendix G.—Lecturing on Scripture Lessons

    Appendix B starts...

    How Fast-days were meant to be observed in the Church of Scotland may be gathered from the following sentences in the Westminster Assembly's Directory for Public Worship:—

    "A religious fast requires total abstinence, not only from all food, but also from all worldly labour, discourses, and thoughts, and from all bodily delights (although at other times lawful), rich apparel, ornaments, and such like, during the fast, and much more from whatever is in the nature or use scandalous and offensive, as gaudish attire, lascivious habits and gestures, and other vanities of either sex."

    "Before the public meeting, each family and person apart are privately to use all religious care to prepare their hearts to such a solemn work, and to be early at the congregation."

    "Before the close of the public duties, the minister is, in his own name and the people's names, to engage his and their hearts to be the Lord's, with professed purpose and resolution to reform whatever is amiss in them, and more particularly such sins as they have been more remarkably guilty of."

    You can read the rest of this account at http://www.electricscotland.com/bible/churchlife08.htm

    The other entries can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/bible/churchlifendx.htm


    Places of Interest about Girvan
    -------------------------------
    By Rev. R. Lawson (1892).

    We now have up...

    A Class of School Fellows
    William Sherriff, Town Missionary

    Around Girvan

    Penkill Castle
    William Bell Scott, Poet Artist
    Killochan Castle
    Old Dailly Churchyard

    The chapter on "A Class of School Fellows" illustrated how widely Scots scattered around the world...

    AS one gets up in life, it is interesting to recall the names of those who sat on the same benches with us at school, and trace their subsequent careers. We can look back on the scene as if it had been yesterday. We can summon up one by one the well-remembered faces of the class. We were all about the same age, and the same rank in life. Who could foretell the future of these lads?. Who could say which of them would pass away first? Who could declare which of them would succeed in life, and which would fail? We might attempt such prophecies among ourselves; but how widely different the actual results have proved from our anticipations!

    As an ordinary specimen of what is happening in every country school, I have set down the names of thirty boys who, about the year 1844, might have been found forming the senior division in Girvan Parish School, then under the care of the Rev. Cathcart Kay, and have tried to trace their careers as accurately as I could.

    Of these thirty, then, sixteen, or a little over the half, have now passed away from the earth. This of course is startling enough, and makes a big gap in the line to begin with; but when we consider that it is now about forty-eight years since we were assembled there, the wonder perhaps is not that there are so many dead, but that there are so many still alive.

    The wandering propensity of the true Scotsman is well known, and our class did their best to display it. Of the thirty, only three found their life-work in Girvan, while fifteen scattered themselves over various parts of Scotland and England, eight went to Australia and New Zealand, three to America, and one to Africa. As to the occupations they chose, it is perhaps not a little creditable to our Class that nine of them contributed their services to the world in a literary way, of whom three were ministers, and six schoolmasters. I find, too, that six went into the legal and banking professions, nine became merchants, and three tradesmen; while this seaport town turned out only one sailor, this patriotic town furnished only one soldier, and this rich agricultural district produced only one solitary farmer.

    You can read the rest of this account at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../chapter07.htm

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


    Fishermen and Fishing Ways
    --------------------------
    By Peter F Anson (1932)

    We have now completed this book by adding the final two chapters...

    Chapter IX. Cod Fisheries.
    Chapter X. Some Other Methods of Fishing

    You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/loss.../fishermen.htm


    Poems of George Alexander Rodger
    --------------------------------
    Added another poem, Backwater Reservoir, which you can read at http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/rodger04.htm

    The other poems can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/rodger.htm


    John's Scottish Singalong
    -------------------------
    Have added a few more songs for you to listen to...

    Note that when you arrive on any of these pages there is a link at the top that will play the song which comes up in a new window. This lets you play the song but move back to the other window to read the words as the song is being sung.

    The Land O' The Leal
    White Heather For Luck
    Bonnie Wells o' Wearie

    You can listen to these at http://www.electricscotland.com/poet...long/index.htm


    Under Lochnagar
    ---------------
    Crathie Parish Church Bazaar Book.

    This is a wee gem and well worth a browse. First you'll find numerous adverts by Scottish businesses which in themselves are well worth a read. Then you'll find a whole mix of stories, some about castles including Balmoral Castle. Then some history stories, tales, poetry and even some sheet music and there are many illustrations as well.

    You can get to this at http://www.electricscotland.com/books/pdf/lochnagar.htm


    Ellis Island Tartan unveiled for Tartan Day 2011
    ------------------------------------------------
    From the Clan Currie Society



    We got an interesting article in about this tartan and the events surrounding it which can be viewed at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...and_tartan.htm


    Ramsay
    ------
    We've down an update of our Clan Ramsay page with new links to two of their clan associations and have added two biographies of prominent Ramsays, Allan Ramsay and Sir William Ramsay.

    You can get to this page at http://www.electricscotland.com/webc...or/ramsay.html


    The Medical Schools of Scotland
    -------------------------------
    From the Scottish Review of January 1894.

    ONE of the staple trades of Scotland is undoubtedly that of making doctors. During the five years 1888-92, there registered, as commencing their studies in her medical schools, 3,327 medical students, and during the same period there were licensed over 3,000 practitioners of medicine, brand new, qualified and authorised by law to practise every branch of their profession, and each with the hall mark of one of her Universities or licensing bodies. About one third of these were needed for home use, to make up the tear and wear among the existing doctors, and to supply the needs of the yearly increase of the Scottish population. There remained about 2,000 for export. It must be remembered that there are only 30,000 medical practitioners with British or Irish qualifications alive at home and abroad, in practice and out of practice, and that the whole number of diplomated practitioners turned out of all the British and Irish Schools of Medicine has been 6,630 during the past five years. Scotland, therefore, with only 11 per cent, of the population of the United Kingdom, has supplied 45 per cent, of the new crops of doctors for the Empire.

    You can read this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...calschools.htm


    The Peoples of Ancient Scotland
    -------------------------------
    The Fourth Rhind Lecture.

    IN this lecture it is proposed to make an attempt to understand the position of the chief peoples beyond the Forth at the dawn of the history of this country, and to follow that down sketchily to the organization of the kingdom of Alban.

    You can read this in pdf format at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...es/peoples.htm


    Forfarshire
    -----------
    By J. H. Crawford. An article from the Scottish Review. (c1892)

    FORFARSHIRE is unique among the counties of Scotland. It has a character of its own, and as near an approach to natural boundaries as can reasonably be looked for in an arbitrary division of the land. Like things are grouped together in impressive masses, and, from the Grampians to the German Ocean, the arrangement is simple and orderly.

    This was an interesting article which you can read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...orfarshire.htm


    An Account of the Behaviour of the Late Earl of Kilmarnock
    ----------------------------------------------------------
    After his Sentence and and on the day of his Execution by James Foster (1746). Our thanks to Alan McKenzie for scanning in this book for us and you can read this in pdf format at http://www.electricscotland.com/book...kilmarnock.htm


    Alastair's Canadian Journal
    ---------------------------
    Published my Canadian Journal for the first quarter of 2011 which you can read at http://www.electricscotland.net/canada_90.htm


    Clan Munro of Australia Newsletter
    ----------------------------------
    We got in a copy of the April 2011 newsletter which you can read at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...sletters/munro


    Gael’s Fire the Event of My Lifetime
    ------------------------------------
    By; Kelly d Whittaker. This is a pdf of her report which can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...lfireforES.pdf


    And finally...

    Patter merchant

    IN A Glasgow park yesterday morning in the early autumn sunshine, a cheerful passer-by went over to a buggy with a young child in it, tickled his feet to make him giggle, and then she told the little one's mother: "Babies' feet are so gorgeous - they're almost good enough to eat."

    This cheeriness was too much for the mother who pushed the buggy away and tersely declared: "I'm a vegetarian."


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

    Alastair
    http://www.electricscotland.com

  • #2
    Re: Newsletter 8th April 2011

    Alastair,
    I agree with your thoughts regarding clans [ especially their chiefs], their histories and the means they used on gaining/maintaining or disposing of those around them when the political/social or wealth situation changed. It reminds me somewhat [mostly in the mind] of the Holllywood type depiction of Southern gentry and the various outlaws of "The Old West" who are venerated as folk hero's ,when in actual fact many were criminals/blackguards of the worst order. Time, poor reporting and the attempt to show ones ancestors in an heroic or acceptable light has tended to distort history. Why hide the facts? If they were criminals, power hungry or indulged in ethnic cleansing, then that is the way history should be recorded.
    We are what we are today through our own endeavours, what/who preceded us is purely history, and it should be recorded honestly and truthfully without bias.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Newsletter 8th April 2011

      I have no problems with clan chiefs receiving money to defray their expenses in connection with clan affairs or to compensate them for their time. After all we shouldn't expect them to be a charity. But I certainly think more research needs to be done on clans to give us a better understanding of the part they played in Scottish history. Did they provide a positive or negative impact? Right now we really don't know and I don't know of any research that has been done in this area.

      Alastair

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Newsletter 8th April 2011

        Gordon and Allie,

        You have hit upon a very good topic. The Clan Chiefs were tough and lived very much like the native American tribes trying to survive.

        Allie, I want to thank you for putting these books on PDF. I have downloaded two and will do more to put on my Kindle. Thank you for mentioning Gael's Fire!
        kellyd:redrose:

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Newsletter 8th April 2011

          About clans/septs... April 8 Newsletter

          This is a partial report I found on Wikipedia about clans/septs. There are many references at the end of the article which might be helpful in researching individual clan chiefs (see link below).

          Lora

          Clan membership
          The word clann in Scottish Gaelic can mean 'offspring, children, or descendants' Each clan was a large group of people, theoretically an extended family, supposedly descended from one progenitor and all owing allegiance to the clan chief. It also included a large group of loosely-related septs – dependent families - all of whom looked to the clan chief as their head and their protector.
          According to the former Lord Lyon, Sir Thomas Innes of Learney, a clan is a community which is distinguished by heraldry and recognised by the Sovereign. Learney considered clans to be a "noble incorporation" because the arms borne by a clan chief are granted or otherwise recognised by the Lord Lyon as an officer of the Crown, thus conferring royal recognition of the entire clan. Clans with recognised chiefs are therefore considered a noble community under Scots law. A group without a chief recognised by the Sovereign, through the Lord Lyon, has no official standing under Scottish law. Claimants to the title of chief are expected to be recognised by the Lord Lyon as the rightful heir to the undifferenced arms of the ancestor of the clan of which the claimant seeks to be recognized as chief. A chief of a clan is the only person who is entitled to bear the undifferenced arms of the ancestral founder of the clan. The clan is considered to be the chief's heritable estate and the chief's Seal of Arms is the seal of the clan as a "noble corporation." Under Scots law the chief is recognised as the head of the clan and serves as the lawful representative of the clan community.
          Historically, a clan was made up of everyone who lived on the chief's territory, or on territory of those who owed allegiance to the said chief. Through time, with the constant changes of "clan boundaries", migration or regime changes, clans would be made up of large numbers of members who were unrelated and who bore different surnames. Often those living on a chief's lands would over time adopt the clan surname. A chief could add to his clan by adopting other families, and also had the legal right to outlaw anyone from his clan, including members of his own family. Today, anyone who has the chief's surname is automatically considered to be a member of the chief's clan. Also, anyone who offers allegiance to a chief becomes a member of the chief's clan, unless the chief decides not to accept that person's allegiance. The only rule is that it is up to the chief whom he may decide to accept as a member of his clan.
          Clan membership goes through the surname. It does not pass through a married woman who has taken her husband's surname, and then on to her children. Children who take their father's surname are part of their father's clan and not their mother's. However, there have been several cases where a descendant through the maternal line has changed their surname in order to claim the chiefship of a clan, such as the late chief of the Clan MacLeod who was born John Wolridge-Gordon and changed his name to the maiden name of his maternal grandmother in order to claim the chiefship of the MacLeods. Today clans may have lists of septs. Septs are surnames, families or clans which historically, currently or for whatever reason the chief chooses, are associated with that clan. There is no official list of clan septs, and the decision of what septs a clan has is left up to the clan itself. Confusingly sept names can be shared by more than one clan, and it may up to the individual to use his or her family history or genealogy to find the correct clan they are associated with.
          Several clan societies have been granted coats of arms. In such cases, these arms are differenced from the chief's, much like a clan armiger. The former Lord Lyon King of Arms, Thomas Innes of Learney stated that such societies, according to the Law of Arms, are considered an "indeterminate cadet."
          [Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_clan]

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Newsletter 8th April 2011

            It's any interesting discussion on our views of the clans. I think there are several influences at play that may fnally be sorting themselves out. First, most of us who are two or three generations removed from Scotland are quite misinformed about the actual history and structure of the country. We therefore tend to equate highlands history with all of Scottish history, resulting in at best a fuzzy understanding of the economic and cultural contributions of the lowlands, the Enlightenment and factors that influenced the flow of emigration. Second, there is some sort of primal human compulsion to be identified as a member of a tribe. This may come from being swallowed up in complex modern societies or from a need to have distinct history, or even from the modern thirst to be a victim of something or other, but whatever the source, I find it troublesome. Finally, we would all love to subscribe to the highland myth because it is so simple and romantic. We see the same tendancy in North America with respect to romantic and completely nonsensical ideas about aboriginal people living in harmony with nature and each other before colonial contact. Sadly, these simplistic and politically correct approaches to history deprive us of the real richness and understanding that we could have. In that regard, I do think some progress is being made in the popular literature, and must agree with Alastair that the Scottish Studies Foundation has more or less dropped the ball on that score. (I'm not sure the BC equivalent is doing much better, but fully agree that academia should not have full custody of our common heritage.)

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Newsletter 8th April 2011

              The Highlands tend to get all the romance as it were. Thing is that most of the really great contributions that Scots made came from the central area of Scotland and the Borders. Like often quoted are the number of US Presidents that have a Scottish heritage. If you examine the list most are actually of Scots-Irish heritage. These were Scots who moved to Ulster to settle but most of them came from the Borders and central Scotland.

              The very first publication I put up on the site was "The General History of the Highlands, the Highland Clans and the Highland Regiments". Unlike subsequent books I actually divided that up on the site. The General History of the Highlands became the start of my History section. The Highland Clans was the basis of my Clans section and the Highland Regiments became the Scottish Regiments section. I also extracted the very large account of Bonnie Prince Charlie into a section on its own.

              It was through this 6 volume publication that I first found accounts of brutal treatment of the clans by other clans. One clan found another clan hiding in a cave and they set fires which killed all the men, women and children with not one survivor.

              There is no doubt that clan members did amazing things at home and abroad but often, but not always, these were individual efforts. I have been trying to find papers on what the Clans contributed to Scotland. There is no doubt that in the army they did a tremedous job and most of the Highland regiments were recruited from individual clans. However while these regiments were fighting all over the world their homes were being destroyed by the clan chiefs so they could raise sheep. Very few clans have any reasonable record around this time and some were brutal in the extreme and all of this led to the so called Highland Clearances.

              I've recently been working on biographies of individuals who did amazing things and find that almost all of them were not brought up in the Highlands.

              Robert Burns was brought up in Ayr and spent almost his entire life outside the Highlands. James Watt actually spent a good part of his time in England as did most of our major engineers and pretty well all of them were born and brought up outside the Highlands.

              The Highlands and Islands are a very beautiful part of Scotland and contain many of the old romantic castles. That means it is quitre natural for people to want to go there. Also due to the Highland Clearances many of the emigrants to other parts of the world came from there. This simply means when doing genealogy you find your roots going back there.

              It's only by reading extensively that you start to get some idea of how people lived in the old days in the Highlands. That is why I wish that clan accounts would deal more with the extended family and clan rather than concentrating on the principal clan chiefs.

              For example I spent time in the lands of Clan MacThomas and also Clan MacPherson. I drove around the area trying to get a sense of how the clans might have lived in the old days and indeed where they might have had their homes. I really couldn't find anything. This is partly why I've published some books of wee areas of the Highlands to try and get a sense of how they lived their lives. One book I put up recently stated that almost all the homes have now gone and the names of the places around have now been mostly forgotten. In that book it mentioned that one of the old homes had been preserved and was the home of the shepherd. The Shepherd was interested in knowing the names of places in the area but could find no-one with any knoweldge of the area. Eventually an old resident of the area was found in the South of Scotland and he was brought back and he was able to name all the rivers, hills, places, etc. and this has now been recorded in the Ordinance Survey of Scotland maps. Had it not been for finding this old resident all that information would be lost to us.

              There is also a dearth of information on how ordinary people lived in the old Clan days. With the continued wars and clan feuds you wonder how they could have survived. We do get clues on how they lived from a variety of accounts but these accounts are mostly 18th century and beyond accounts with very few into the 17th or earlier centuries. You do get clues by reading various accounts such as one about the area of Arbroath and Arbroath abbey. There you learn that the people were simple property. Should the owner of the land wish to sell of part of his land then the people went with it. They were given no choice in the matter.

              Then another fragment tells us of the thick woods in the Highlands and how strangers could get lost. There is all too little information about those times and all too little as to the cutting down of these forrests. Considering that most of the Highlands have been denuded of trees there must have been a whole industry in cutting them down but there is almost no account of this.

              And so there is much we still don't know of Highland life and certainly before the 17th century. In my view this can only be discovered by doing extensive research and this is where the Universites should play their part. They should encourage their students to do research into this whole area and when they eventually publish their papers they need some way to ensure they get the widest possible publicity and certainly outside the University system.

              When it comes to Native Indian life in North America we do know that the Native Indians did live close to the land and how else could they have survived but to be close to it. One account I read about Scots settling in Florida mention that the Scots (and they were Highland Scots) got on well with the local native tribe. The Chief of the Tribe was quoted as saying he got on well with the Scots as they knww how to look after the land and the wild life. For example, they didn't shoot nursing deers as this ensured the continued strength of the species for future generations. He commented that all the other settlers would kill anything they could without any consideration of future resources.

              The chief eventually moved his tribe further south but it is recorded they couldn't trace what happened to them.

              I do continue to search out information on the early days in Scotland and this is in part why I've spent time providing information on early settlement in Canada and the USA. I want to preserve and make available these accounts for future generatations.

              For example I was aware of sod huts but could only imagine the misery of living in such. However through more reading I found that these sod huts could actually be very pleasant places to live, warm in the winter and cool in the summer. I actually have an old black and white video of the building of a sod house on the site.

              The opening up of libraries for the scanning of books into the Internet Archive has been a boon for resarchers. I do make extensive use of such in my own research. Mind you it takes some skill to find books on various topics. Such an example if my search for information on Scots in the Netherlands. At the end of the day quite by chance I did find such information but it was the Scots in a town in the Netherlands. In the title and key words there was no mention of the Netherlands. It's also like a friend of mine noted. He was looking for information the Scots-American Land Company but could find nothing. It was while mentioning this to a friend that the friend suggested he look for the Scotch-American Land Company and there he hit pay dirt.

              We forget that in the old days Scotch were the people and it's only since the major promotion of Scotch Whisky that we have all been told Scotch is the whisky and Scots are the people. Little things like that can trip up the researcher.

              Anyway... I will continue to seek out further information on clans and the clans people and bring you anything I find.

              Alastair

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Newsletter 8th April 2011

                A 'sod house' would certainly have been quite an experience, I suppose they may have been the fore-runner of 'black houses' ?
                Here are a couple of interesting 'black house' photographs.

                http://special.st-andrews.ac.uk/sasp...lcyI7fQ==&pg=7

                http://special.st-andrews.ac.uk/sasp...cyI7fQ==&pg=10

                There is a facility at the link to show an enlarged photograph

                information is from St. Andrews Library Photographic Collection:cool:

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Newsletter 8th April 2011

                  The videos I have are at http://www.electricscotland.com/videos/index.htm

                  I think the Black Houses came about as there was little wood but plenty of stones. In the Orkneys and Shetlands you can see very old stone settlements of around 5,000 years ago.

                  Alastair

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Newsletter 8th April 2011

                    This has been a very interesting discussion, and one I'll come back to from time to time. The sod houses were quite common during early settlement of the Canadian plains where other building materials were scarce. They were, as Alastair notes, not too dreadful and could be put up quite quickly with a minimum of skill, tools and other materials that would have been costly to acquire and transport. However, they were never intended to be more than temporary dwellings until a real house could be put up, or the farming enterprise failed. The black houses never "caught on" in those areas tho' they might have been the logical next step in some areas where glaciation had left large deposits of field stone. Instead, there were quite a number of grand mortared fieldstone houses, barns and public buildings erected, mostly by Scots, in those areas. As an example, here's the house built my great-grandparents in southeastern Saskatchewan on the farm they called "Smithfield". If all goes well, I'll be retiring there before too long!
                    Attached Files

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Newsletter 8th April 2011

                      Certainly looks like a very solid house Rick. I put up a book called "The MacGregors" which details the building of a log cabin and then later building a stone house. The book was written as a novel but it was all based on facts. The author wrote it to try and preserve some of the old history. He was brought up in Bruce County in Ontario and the information for it came from his parents and grandparents.

                      If you'd like to read the book you can find it at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/mcgregors/

                      Alastair

                      Comment

                      Working...
                      X