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Newsletter 1st June 2012

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  • Newsletter 1st June 2012

    CONTENTS

    Electric Scotland News
    Electric Canadian
    The Flag in the Wind
    The Bards of Bon Accord 1375 - 1860
    A History of the County of Renfrew from the Earliest Times
    Robert Burns Lives!
    History of the Parish of Banchory-Devenick (New Book)
    Mediaeval Scotland (New Book)
    Bread
    Charles Rogers
    Songs by John Henderson
    Glasgow as a Golfing Centre
    Clan Thom(p)son

    Electric Scotland News

    We made some good progress this week on our Community as the new point release of the software meant we were at long last able to install the Facebook application. What this means is that any new member that has a Facebook account can now use that to create an account in our community. As well as that when you post a new message in the community you'll see just below the edit screen a check box for Facebook. When you check that box it means as well as saving the message to the community it will also send a copy to your Facebook account. The application has also added a "Like" button to the top of any thread in the community.
    This now means we only have one issue to fix and that is the Arcade and the saving of High Scores. You do of course need to be logged in as a member to save high scores but it seems it won't save them. We did do an upgrade this week to the latest release and we hoped that might fix the problem but seems not as we got an email is saying it still wasn't saving them. And so we will continue the hunt to find and fix the problem.
    -----
    James Macpherson's Sword goes to Clan Macpherson Museum, Newtonmore (31st May 2012)

    The replica of James Macpherson's sword is now in the Clan Macpherson Museum in Newtonmore. It was always our intention when we made it that it would spend some time there. The replica was made to generate some publicity so the public could see what the sword looks like in the hope that the original could be found, but so far to no avail. The original sword was taken off James Macpherson the Highland Freebooter (c1675) when he was captured by Laird Braco at Keith in 1700. James Macpherson was subsequently tried at Banff Sherriff Court and hanged at Banff's Mercat Cross 16th November 1700.

    The sword is not an exact copy, however it is made to the dimensions given in the Domestic Annals of Scotland (see http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...c/vol3ch2g.htm) and it is thought that the original sword could be of German origin.
    After being taken off Macpherson Laird Braco is said to have kept the sword and it was later kept in the armoury at Duff House in Banff. However in 1907 the Duff family vacated Duff House and auctioned most of its contents, and it is thought Macpherson's sword was part of that auction.

    The sword has already been photographed and shown in the Press and Journal and Banffshire Journal in the hope someone would recognise it but so far we have had no response. If you recognise it please get in touch.

    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/whatsnew.htm and also http://www.electriccanadian.com/whatsnew.htm
    We try not to point to a pdf file and instead send you to page where the pdf can be downloaded.
    This newsletter is also available as a pdf file and is attached to this message but can also be download from the foot our Newsletter page at http://www.electricscotland.com/newsletter


    Electric Canadian
    -----------------
    Ten Thousand Miles Through Canada
    The Natural Resources, Commercial Industries, Fish and Game, Sports and Pastimes of the Great Dominion by Joseph Adams.
    I have been adding a new chapter of this book most days and we are now up to Chapter XVIII and so now nearing the end of this book.

    In chapter XVII we learn about Ducks...

    WILD fowl are abundant in the Dominion. Duck include all the known species. The swamps and lakes adjoining the great railway arteries bear witness to the abundant supply. The shooting season was just opening on my return, and at several of the stations passengers could be seen with dogs and guns laden with the spoil. In Ontario the lakes throughout the province hold a large number of summer duck, and when the hard weather sets in in the north, the migratory birds travel further south, and Erie, Huron, and the rivers and streams in every direction slightly removed from human haunts, are abundantly stocked. The wild rice marshes on Lake Erie islands are a favourite resort of the wood duck, red-head, teal, pintail and mallard.

    On the French River we found the wood duck, and all through Temagami district. Algonquin Park being a reserve, it serves the purpose of replenishing the stock on the outskirts, where shooting is permissible. Through the province of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, the lakes and marshes teem with flocks of wild duck. Travelling on the Canadian Northern Railway, between Edmonton and Winnipeg, I saw some of them drop to the sportman’s gun.

    Where the prairies begin to pass into the foothills and detached lakes, and sinuous rivers intersect the plain, wildfowl were almost the only living creatures to be seen. They were dotted over the water, and from thence to Vancouver they are to be found almost everywhere on the lakes and rivers between the hills.

    You can read these chapters at http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...0000/index.htm

    Life and Times of Joseph Gould
    Ex Member of the Canadian Parliament. Struggles of the early Canadian Settlers, etc. (1887). This is an interesting book telling of pioneering times but progressing to more recent times and the working of the parliamentary system. You can get to this book, which is in pdf format, at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/pion...00higggoog.pdf

    A History of Quebec
    Its resources and people by Benjamin Sulte F.R.S.C., Dr C.E. Fryer M.A., Ph,D., Senator L. O. David (1908)
    This is a two volume publication with the second volume being biographies of people in the Province. You can get to this at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...ec/history.htm

    First Lessons on Agriculture for Canadian Farmers and their Families
    by Egerton Ryerson, 2nd Edition (1871) (pdf)

    This book show the marvelous potential of agriculture in Canada. It's in pdf format and can be viewed at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...00ryeruoft.pdf

    The Flag in the Wind
    This issue was Compiled by Jim Lynch. Jim comments on the Referendum launch and there are many interesting articles in the Synopsis. You can read this issue at http://www.scotsindependent.org

    The Bards of Bon Accord 1375 - 1860
    By William Walker

    Added the chapter on "John Skinner"

    You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/poet...cord/index.htm

    A History of the County of Renfrew from the Earliest Times
    By William M. Metcalfe, D.D. (1905)

    We're now up to Chapter XII.

    Chapter X contains information on the many families in the area including...
    Montgomery—Cathcart—Pollok—Maxwell of Nether Pollok—Maxwell of Mearns—Croc of Crookston—Lennox—Spreull of Cowdon—Mure of Caldwell—Ross of Hawkhead—Logan of Raiss—Stewart of Raiss—Whiteford of that ilk—Ralston —Stewart of Cardonald—Knox—Porterfield—Erskine—Wallace of Elderslie—Hall of Fulbar—Cochrane of Cochrane—Crawfurd of Auchinames—Dennistoun —Cunningham of Kilmaurs (Glencairn)—Lyle—Houstoun of Houston—Fleming of Barrochan—Glen of Bar, etc.—Stewart of Blackhall—Semple of Eliotstoun.

    You can get to this chapter and the others at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...frew/index.htm

    Northern Notes and Queries
    We've managed to find other issues of this publication and so now continue the series by adding the September 1890 edition.

    This can be viewed at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...hern/index.htm

    Robert Burns Lives!
    Edited by Frank Shaw

    A Forgotten Hero By Clark McGinn

    We come today to pay tribute to the man responsible, more than anyone else, for us celebrating our annual Burns Suppers all over the world. He has been a hero of mine for many years, and I usually get around to mentioning him a wee bit when I speak at Burns Suppers or meetings. I do not believe he could foresee that he was starting a movement that would grow internationally and involve millions of people over the years. This remarkable man was the Rev. Hamilton Paul.

    I know of no one more fitting to talk about Hamilton Paul that our friend Clark McGinn who has traveled more miles to speak on Burns than anyone else in history. You may think that is an inaccurate statement, but try and name another individual who, in*the last seven years, has traveled 166,000 miles (6.7 times round the globe) to deliver 100 speeches on Burns in 26 cities in 13 countries, and all of them carbon neutral!

    I have tried several times through my research to find a picture of Hamilton Paul, beginning with Clark and followed by Gerry Carruthers at the University of Glasgow, Patrick Scott at the University of South Carolina, and Alastair McIntyre, editor/owner of*www.electricscotland.com*– all to no avail. If any of our readers are aware of a photo of Rev. Paul, please send it or any related information to me and I will see that it is placed with this definitive article by Clark and full pictorial credit will be given to the sender.
    Thank you, Clark, for the time and energy spent on researching and writing your article on Rev. Paul for the pages of*Robert Burns Lives!*- I’m sure it will surface in other magazines or chronicles. You did him proud, and we are proud of you sharing this article with our readers! (FRS: 5.30.12)

    You can read this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives141.htm
    More of his articles can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...rank/burns.htm

    History of the Parish of Banchory-Devenick
    By John A. Henderson (1890). A new book we're starting on.

    This is yet another book on places in Scotland. I often find that if you can trace your genealogy back to places in Scotland then these books will let you learn more of the place where your ancestors lived. They are also a great resource if you are intending to take a holiday in the area.

    I also found a video on YouTube of the drive to the town and then a run around it.

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

    Mediaeval Scotland
    Chapters on Agriculture, Manufacturers, Factories, Taxation, Revenue, Trade, Commerce, Weights and Measures by R. W. Cochran-Patrick (1892). A new book we're starting on.

    Preface
    These Chapters, with two exceptions, originally appeared in the Glasgow Herald as a series of articles on Early Scotland: and I am much indebted to the proprietors of that paper for their courteous and liberal permission to reprint them. Two articles which appeared in that series, one on the Currency and the other on the Early Mining Industries, are already in a permanent and extended shape in the Introductions to the Records of the Coinage of Scotland and Records of Early Mining in Scotland, and have not been reprinted.
    Two Chapters, one on Fisheries and the other on Weights and Measures, now appear for the first time. In connection with the latter I have to express my thanks and obligations to the Lord Provost and Municipal Authorities of Edinburgh, and to the Provost and Municipal Authorities of Stirling, for permission to engrave the interesting ancient national standards still in their custody; and to the City and Depute-City Clerks of Edinburgh; Mr. Galbraith, the Town Clerk of Stirling; Mr. Ferguson, the Town Clerk of Linlithgow; Mr. Annan, the Town Clerk of Lanark; Mr. A. Smith, Lanark, and Mr. A. Johnston, London, for much valuable information and assistance in connection with the subject.

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

    Bread
    Found this article in an old copy of MacMillan's Magazine printed in 1905. I found it very interesting and it emphasizes why whole grain bred is better for you than white bread. It starts...

    Bread, we are told, is the staff of life; it should not, therefore, be a waste of our time to try to learn what is known of it, and of the wheat and flour which are to make it. And yet, although we all live more or less by bread, there is hardly any subject upon which the ordinary public are more profoundly ignorant.

    According to the returns of the Board of Trade, bread and flour constitute nearly half of the labouring man’s solid food, and it is therefore most important, from a national point of view, that each of these commodities should be produced, and that the public should know and ensure that they are produced, in as pure and nutritious a form as possible. It was with this aim that the Assize of Bread was instituted at an early age, and in the year 1202 a proclamation was made for regulating the quality and price of bread. Four “discreet” men were appointed to carry out the provisions of this law, and the pillory and tumbril were the punishments awarded to those who broke or evaded it. It is to be feared that, were the Assize of Bread still in force, the modern system of flour-milling would to some extent infringe the enactments, and render some of our millers liable to its penalties.

    You can read the rest of this article at http://www.electricscotland.com/food/bread.htm

    Charles Rogers
    Got in an update on this Significant Scot and also an investigation of him done by the Stirling Observer.

    You can read the update at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rs_charles.htm
    You can read the investigation at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...les/rogers.htm

    Songs by John Henderson
    Got in a new song from John, Tapsalteerie Wedder, which you can read at http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerel437.htm

    Glasgow as a Golfing Centre
    By W. Stewart

    This is an article taken from another book which I thought golfers might find interesting. It's in pdf format and can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ByWStewart.pdf

    Clan Thom(p)son
    Got in some breaking new on Clan Thompson together with an historical summary about the clan. You can read this at
    http://www.electricscotland.com/webc.../thomson2.html

    And finally...

    Chinese Restaurant in Glasgow

    I went into a Chinese restaurant in Glasgow and the guy said "Waw Cha Waw"
    I said, "Chicken curry''

    He said, ''Naw ya dickhead, Waw Cha Waw, It's just been painted!"


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

    Alastair
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