|
 Electric
Scotland's Weekly Email Newsletter
Dear
Friend
It's your
Electric Scotland newsletter meaning the weekend is nearly here :-)
You can view what's new this week on Electric Scotland at
http://www.electricscotland.com/rss/whatsnew.php and you can
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of this newsletter.
See our Calendar of Scottish Events around the world at
http://www.electricscotland.com/familytree/calendar_help.htm
CONTENTS
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Electric Scotland News
The Flag in the Wind
The Scottish Nation
Clan and Family Information
Poetry and Stories
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1845)
Book of Scottish Story
Merchant and Craft Guilds
History of Glasgow
Scottish Banking Practice
The Glengarry McDonalds of Virginia
Reminiscences of a Highland Parish (New Book)
The Scottish Historical Review
Were the Scots Irish?
ELECTRIC SCOTLAND NEWS
---------------------
Not a lot going on this week. I am off to the meeting at the
University of Guelph on Friday/Saturday so I'll report on that next
week.
Steve seems to have settled his divorce and so the move to Michigan
is now on and we hope to have a date shortly. The first target date
is 17th October but that depends on how soon we can get the new
leased line contract sorted.
-----
Haven't mentioned this for a while but I do maintain Ian Hudghton's
web site for him. Ian is the SNP Member of the European Union
Parliament and is also the Chairman of the Scottish National Party.
He posts up items from time to time to do with the European Union
that has impact on Scotland and so you can view his site at
http://www.hudghtonmep.com/
-----
I'm recommending to my Doctor that she gets one of those vending
machines. It's usually 3 or more hours before she gets to you. Was
talking to some others today and one couple went out to have lunch
and came back and still waited an hour. She could likely make a
fortune as everyone I spoke to said they would use 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 at the link at the top of this
newsletter or on our site menu.
THE FLAG IN THE WIND
--------------------
This weeks Flag is compiled by Jennifer Dunn is which I found an
article about visas to the USA which is a genuine problem for those
in Scotland wanting to get a visa to get into the USA. We have to
travel all the way down to London, England to get one which is a
considerable expense for most. Here is what the article says...
Campbell Calls for US Visa Service to Return to Scotland
Aileen Campbell, SNP MSP for South of Scotland, has called on the US
Consul General in Edinburgh to return to issuing visas and has
proposed a pilot scheme for musicians travelling to work in the
United States.
Her call came after a meeting with representatives from Creative
industries highlighted the costs of travelling to London for visas
as a major expense when trying to tour and promote Scottish music in
the USA .
In response to Ms Campbell's call, the U.S. Embassy in London
indicated it is "exploring other options to ease the burden on our
Scottish visa applicants".
Commenting Ms Campbell said:
"Having talked recently with business people who represent aspiring
bands in the music industry, it has been brought to my attention
that they face prohibitive costs in acquiring visas to travel and
perform in the United States.
"Considering the number of people who may be in a band and who are
needed to ensure concerts and tours run smoothly, the costs of
travelling to the American Embassy in London to get individual visas
can be prohibitive.
"The Scottish Government's Year of Homecoming in 2009 which will
encourage people of Scots descent to return and celebrate their
shared heritage provides a great time to facilitate any return
visits by Scottish artists to the US by securing such a visa service
in Scotland.
"I'm encouraged by the response from the U.S. Embassy as it shows
they have not simply forgotten about Scotland and its residents. I
will continue with these discussion in the hope of returning the
visa service to Scotland as soon as possible."
In Peter's cultural section he tells us about...
Many Scottish towns have given their names to foodstuffs and
confectionery popular in their locale eg Aberdeen for Aberdeen
Butteries, Dundee for Dundee Cake, Edinburgh for Edinburgh Rock,
Moffat for Moffat Toffees, Jedburgh for Jeddart Snails, Selkirk for
Selkirk Bannocks and this week the column enjoys a visit to Forfar,
home of the Forfar Bridie.
The Royal Burgh of Forfar is situated at the north-east end of the
Howe of Angus, the site is said to have witnessed one of the last
battles between the Picts and the Scots in 845. The Burgh was
founded in the reign of David I whose father, Malcolm III, "Canmore",
is said to have held a parliament in Forfar in 1057 at which he
conferred surnames and titles on the Scottish nobility.
Forfar has long been a centre of local government which continues to
this day. The late Arthur Donaldson, National Chairman of the
Scottish National Party, 1960-1969, gave many years service as a
Forfar Councillor and sitting SNP MEP and President of the Scottish
National Party Ian Hudghton represented a ward in Forfar and served
as SNP Council Leader in Angus prior to his election to the European
Parliament.
No visit to Forfar would be complete without enjoying the local
delicacy, the famed Forfar Bridie - a meal fit for a king!
Forfar Bridies
Shortcrust pastry: 4 cups flour; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1/2 pound salted
butter (2 sticks), cut into small pieces; Cold water
Filling: 1 pound ground beef; 1 small onion, peeled, ends removed,
chopped; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 1/8 teaspoon pepper; 1/4 cup water;
Nonstick cooking spray or 1/2 teaspoon shortening; 1 beaten egg
To prepare pastry: In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour
and salt. Add the butter and cut into flour until the mixture
resembles fine bread crumbs. Mix in enough cold water to hold
mixture together. Form into a ball. Wrap in wax paper or plastic
wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes.
To prepare the filling: In a large bowl, mix together the uncooked
ground beef, onion, salt, pepper and water. Set aside.
Assembly: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with
nonstick cooking spray or grease with shortening.
Remove pastry from refrigerator. Lightly sprinkle work surface with
flour. Roll out pastry to about 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into 6-7
circles approximately 5 to 6 inches in diameter. Evenly divide the
filling among the 6 circles, placing the meat mixture on one half of
the circle. Brush the edge lightly with the beaten egg. Fold the
pastry over the filling and seal by lightly crimping the edge. Brush
the top with beaten egg. Repeat with remaining filling and dough
circles.
Place on prepared baking sheet and bake for 50 minutes or until
golden brown on top.
Makes 7 Forfar Bridies.
I might add that I enjoy these myself with Baked Beans and Fries.
Not a meal if you're on a diet :-)
You can read the Flag, listen to the Scots Language, enjoy the Scots
Wit and lots more at
http://www.scotsindependent.org
Christina McKelvie MSP's weekly diary for this week can be read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/mckelvie/080925.htm
The Scottish Nation
-------------------
My thanks to Lora for transcribing these volumes for us.
We're now onto the S's with Stair, Stark, Stedman, Steuart,
Stevenson, Stewart and
Stirling.
A large account of Stewart this week and here is how it starts...
STEWART, a surname derived from the high office of steward of the
royal household, and distinguished as being that of a race of
Scottish kings which occupied the throne of Scotland for upwards of
three hundred, and that of England for more than one hundred years.
The name is sometimes written Steuart, and by the later royal family
of Scotland, Stuart. As various families throughout Scotland, as
well as in England and Ireland, bear this surname, some of the
principal branches having diverged from the main line at a period
antecedent to its becoming royal, it may be assumed that those who
retain the original spelling belong to some one or other of these
branches, that the families who adopt the spelling of Steuart are
offshoots, generally illegitimate, of the royal house previously to
Queen Mary, and that the form of Stuart, which was only assumed, for
the first time, when that ill-fated princess went to France, is
exclusively that of the royal blood. In the death-warrant of Charles
I. the name is spelled Steuart.
The first of the family of Stewart is said by Pinkerton to have been
a Norman baron named Alan, who obtained from William the Conqueror
the barony of Oswestry in Shropshire. He was the son of Flaald, and
the father of three sons, William, Walter and Simon. It is from the
second that the royal family of Scotland descend.
The eldest son, William, was the progenitor of a race of earls of
Arundel, whose title, being territorial, and lands, ultimately went
by an heiress into the family of the duke of Norfolk. The two
younger sons, Walter and Simon, came to Scotland. Walter was by
David I. appointed dapifer, that is, meat-bearer or steward of the
royal household; sometimes called seneschallus. Simon was the
ancestor of the Boyds, his son, Robert, having been called Boidh,
from his yellow hair.
The duties of high-steward comprised the management of the royal
household, as well as the collection of the national revenue and the
command of the king’s armies, and from the office Walter’s
descendants took the name of Stewart.
From David I. (1124-1153) Walter obtained the lands of Renfrew,
Paisley, Pollock, Cathcart, and others in that district, and in
1157, King Malcolm IV. granted a charter of confirmation of the
same. In 1160, he founded the abbey of Paisley, the monks of which,
of the Cluniac order of Reformed Benedictines, were brought from the
priory of Wenlock in Shropshire. Walter died in 1177, and was
interred in the monastery at Paisley, the burying-place of the
Stewarts before their accession to the throne, Renfrew being their
usual residence.
Walter’s son and successor, Alan, died in 1204, leaving a son,
Walter, who was appointed by Alexander II. justiciary of Scotland,
in addition to his hereditary office of high-steward. He died in
1246, leaving four sons and three daughters. Walter, the third son,
was earl of Menteith. The eldest son, Alexander, was, in 1255, one
of the councilors of Alexander III., then under age, and one of the
regents of Scotland. He married Jean, daughter and heiress of James,
lord of Bute, grandson of Somerled, and, in her right, he seized
both the Isle of Bute and that of Arran. The complaints made to the
Norwegian court by Ruari or Roderick of Bute, and the other
islanders, of the aggressions of the Scots, led to Haco’s celebrated
expedition, and the battle of Largs, 2d October 1263, in which the
high-steward commanded the right wing of the Scots army, and the
Norwegians were signally defeated. In 1265 the whole of the western
isles were ceded by treaty to Scotland.
You can read the rest of this account at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/nation/stewart.htm
You can read all these entries at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/nation/s.htm
Clan and Family Information
---------------------------
Got in more pictures from the Clan MacIntyre gathering from John
McIntyre from Australia which can be seen at
http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/m/macintyre/2008post.htm
Poetry and Stories
------------------
Another poem from John Henderson called "Bleck Affrontit" which you
can read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerel280.htm
John has also sent in another pdf file in his "Village Cricket"
series at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/sport/village_cricket.htm
We also have some new poems and articles from Donna, Alastair and
others in our Article Service at
http://www.electricscotland.com/article/
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1845)
------------------------------------------
The first volume I am dealing with is the one on Aberdeenshire.
There are some 85 parishes in this volume and a write up on each.
Have now added the final chapter of this volume on The Marischal
College and University of Aberdeen
The account starts...
As soon as the Reformation had received a legal establishment in
Scotland, an attempt was made to improve the three Universities then
existing in the country, and in the First Book of Discipline of
1560, many alterations in their government and teaching were
proposed, with a view to accommodate them to the great change in
religion which had taken place. In a few years afterwards, new
charters or erections were given to these seminaries, and partially
put in force; the University of Edinburgh was founded; and the city
of Aberdeen, then ranking as the second or third in respect of
wealth and population in the kingdom, received a similar
establishment. A grammar-school, which had produced many eminent
scholars, had existed in it for nearly two centuries; and the
magistrates and citizens appear to have been exceedingly desirous of
propagating the principles of the reformed faith, in connection with
the advancement of learning and science. In the principal Protestant
family of the north of Scotland, they were fortunate in finding a
nobleman, who seconded them warmly in this design, and became the
founder of the fifth and last University which has been established
in the country.
This eminent person was George Keith, the fifth Earl Marischal, who
succeeded to the large estates and influence of his grandfather,
William, in 1581. His ancestor had been an eminent promoter of the
reformed cause from its commencement, and paid great attention to
the education of his grandson in the principles which he had himself
adopted. After receiving the best education Scotland afforded, the
young nobleman spent nearly seven years on the continent, during
which he visited most of its courts, and studied under eminent
masters, particularly at Geneva, under the learned Beza. He
afterwards rose into great favour with James VI., and was sent to
Denmark as ambassador extraordinary, to arrange the King's marriage
with the Princess Anne. Soon after his return, he received a
commission of Lord-lieutenancy over all the counties of the north of
Scotland, with the view of checking the Roman Catholic party opposed
to the government; a task which he accomplished without bloodshed.
[The following account of his character is from a short "Opinion of
the present State, Faction, Religion, and Power of the Nobility of
Scotland," written in1583, and evidently intended for the
information of Queen Elizabeth or her ministers. -"George Keith,
Marshall, a young nobleman, of good commendation; his lynnige
ancient, and revenow greatest of any Erle in Scotlande. * * * He was
left very wealthye, and is esteemed honest, religious, and
favouringe the best parte. — Banna-tyne Club Publication, 1842, p.
58.]
The plan of establishing a college in Aberdeen having been
communicated to him by the magistrates, and the royal authority ha
ing been obtained, an appropriate site was found in the buildings
and garden which had belonged to the Franciscan friars. This
property, having passed into other hands, was purchased by the
magistrates for 1800 merks, and, by a vote of the community,
presented to the Earl, who had obtained from the crown a right to
the property of the other monastic bodies in the city.
You can read the rest of this account at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/statistical/marishal.htm
On the index page of this volume you can see a list of the 85
parishes and also a map at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/statistical/volume12.htm
Book of Scottish Story
----------------------
Our thanks to John Henderson for sending this in for us.
This week have added...
The Vacant Chair - Part 2
Here is how it starts...
"I ken by mysel, friends," said Adam Bell, a decent-looking
Northumbrian, "that a faither’s heart is as sensitive as the apple
o' his e’e ; and I think we would show a want o’ natural sympathy
and respect for our worthy neighbour, if we didna every one get his
foot into the stirrup without loss o’ time, and assist him in his
search. For, in my rough, country way o’ thinking, it must be
something particularly out o’ the common that would tempt Thomas to
be amissing. Indeed, I needna say tempt, for there could be no
inclination in the way. And our hills," he concluded, in a lower
tone, "are not ower chancy in other respects, besides the breaking
up o’ the storm."
"Oh!" said Mrs Elliot, wringing her hands, "I have had the coming o’
this about me for days and days. My head was growing dizzy with
happiness, but thoughts came stealing upon me like ghosts, and I
felt a lonely soughing about my heart, without being able to tell
the cause ; but the cause is come at last ! And my dear Thomas—the
very pride and staff o’ my life—is lost-lost to me for ever!"
"I ken, Mrs Elliot," replied the Northumbrian, "it is an easy matter
to say compose yourself for them that dinna ken what it is to feel.
But, at the same time, in our plain, country way o’ thinking, we are
always ready to believe the worst. I’ve often heard my father say,
and I’ve as often remarked it myself, that, before anything happens
to a body, there is a something comes ower them, like a cloud before
the face o’ the sun; a sort o’ dumb whispering about the breast from
the other world. And though I trust there is naething o’ the kind in
your case, yet as you observe, when I find myself growing dizzy, as
it were, with happiness, it makes good a saying o’ my mother’s, poor
body.
‘Bairns, bairns,’ she used to say, ‘there is ower muckle singing in
your heads tonight; we will have a shower before bedtime.’ And I
never, in my born days, saw it fail."
You can read the rest of this at
http://www.electricscotland.com/books/story/story62-2.htm
The other stories can be read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/books/story/index.htm
Merchant and Craft Guilds
-------------------------
A History of the Aberdeen Incorporated Trades by Ebenezer Bain
(1887)
More chapters up this week including...
PART II. THE RISE OF THE ABERDEEN CRAFTS.
Chapter I
Special Privileges of Craftsmen—Early Trading Charters—Trades of Old
Aberdeen—The "Wise Men of the Craft"—The Deacon-Convener —List of
Deacon-Conveners
Chapter II
The Crafts and the Church—Before the Reformation—Pageants and
Miracle Plays—Abbot and Prior of Bon-Accord—Offerand of our Ladye—Corpus
Christi Day—Order of Precedence—Robin Hood and Little John—Religious
Processions—The Reformation Period —Cordiners' Altar--After the
Reformation
Chapter III
Differences among the Burgesses—Representation at the
Council—Composition and Entrant Dues—New Charter of Privileges
Chapter IV
The Common Indenture—Renewal of Differences—Election of
Magistrates—Convention of Royal Burghs—The "X"
Chapter V
A Fourteen Years' Litigation—The Composition—The Funds of the
Trades—Decision by the House of Lords—Settlement of the Dispute
Chapter VI
Constitution of Aberdeen Crafts—Jurisdiction—Seals of Cause—The
Freedom—Burgess' Oaths—Patrimony—Rates of Composition" Mastersticks
or Essays"
Chapter VII
The Craftsmen as Citizen Soldiers—Providing Arms—The Rebellions of
1715 and '45
PART III. THE SEVEN INCORPORATED TRADES.
Chapter I
Introductory — Formation of Separate Societies — The Litstars —The
Barbers—The Masons—Exclusion of Burgesses of Guild
Here is a but from Chapter VII...
THE obligations imposed upon craftsmen under their burgess oath, "to
watch and ward the town," was no empty meaningless phrase—at least
in Aberdeen. Few towns in Scotland passed through so many troublous
epochs, and none suffered more from the ravages of war than this
very town which boasts for its motto the peaceful sentiment of
"Bon-Accord." From the days of King William the Lion, when he
established his palace in the Green, to the Rebellion of '45,
Aberdeen was an important centre of action during the many troublous
periods of Scotland's history. In 1179 it was a town of such size as
to be considered worthy of being pillaged by Esteyn, one of the
kings of Norway; its castle was seized by the English in 1292; when
Sir William Wallace marched his army of relief from Dunnottar to
Aberdeen in 1297, the enemy plundered and set fire to the town, and
at a later stage Aberdeen had to suffer at the hands of the English
for the support and shelter it gave to the Scottish champion. In the
days of Robert Bruce, Aberdeen was the scene of many a bloody
conflict; the castle was retaken from the English, and King Robert
rewarded the citizens by bestowing on them a number of charters.
Then came the historic battle of Harlaw, in which the citizens of
Aberdeen, under Sir Robert Davidson, offered a determined resistance
to Donald, Lord of the Isles; but it would take us out of our way to
recount even the leading disturbances that occurred in Aberdeen
during several centuries. It was favoured with many a royal visit,
from the Jameses, Queen Mary, Charles II., and the leading notables
in the country, and these marks of royal favour brought the town
into a prominence that was not without its disadvantages. Then
again, during the Covenanting days, and the rebellious periods of
1715 and 1745, Aberdeen bore the brunt of many a sanguinary
conflict.
At all these eventful epochs the craftsmen, in their capacity of
citizen soldiers, had to play their part. Down to the time of the
second rebellion it was imperative that every free craftsman should
be fully equipped with the weapons of war. On being admitted a free
burgess he had to appear before the Magistrates clad "sufficentlie
in armour, with an hagbute, bandaleire [wooden powder case], and
sword," as a guarantee that he was able to "watch and ward;" besides
having to contribute arms money towards the maintenance of the
town's magazine. In token of their prowess at the battle of Harlaw
in 1411, tradition says that each of the deacons brought back as a
trophy a sword taken from the enemy. Three of the crafts—the
Hammermen, the Tailors, and the Weavers—have still in their
possession swords which are said to be the veritable weapons brought
back from Harlaw, and their make and appearance do not belie the
tradition.
You can read the rest of this chapter at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/guilds/part2chapter7.htm
We now have 5 chapters up for you to read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/guilds/index.htm
The History of Glasgow
----------------------
By Robert Renwick LL.D. and Sir John Lindsay L.D. in 3 volumes
(1921)
We are now making progress with these volumes and this week we have
up...
Chapter XLVI
Bailieship of Regality—Earls of Lennox and Arran—Succession of
Provosts—Bonds of Manrent—Craftsmen—Seals of Cause to Tailors,
Weavers, and Hammermen—Acts of Parliament
Chapter XLVII
Legislation Relating to Burghs—Accounting for Common Good —Sailing
of Ships—Foundations of Religious Services—Song School—Spread of
Reformed Doctrines—Martyrs
Chapter XLVIII
Protocol Book for City Properties—Traffic on River Clyde—Liberties
of Glasgow, Rutherglen and Renfrew—Tax Roll of Burghs
Chapter XLIX
Disaster of Solway Moss—Beginning of Queen Mary's Reign—Earl of
Arran, Regent and Governor—Insurrection of Lennox and Others—Siege
of Bishop's Castle—Battle of the Butts—Additions to Castle
Chapter L
Archbishops of St. Andrews and Glasgow—Their Rivalry—Archbishop
Dunbar—Vicars-General during Vacant See—Archbishops Gordon and
Beaton—Privilege of Sanctuary Claimed for Place of Blackfriars—Seals
of Cause to Masons and Other Craftsmen
Chapter LI
Mode of Election of Glasgow Magistrates—Royal Commission on
Archbishop's Rights—Dues Claimed by Archbishop—Convention of Burghs
Chapter LII
Privileges of Burghs—Liberties and Privilegestsmen—aftsmen—Deacons
Discharged and Visitors Substituted—These Conditions Dispensed
with—Trading in West Seas—Exactions on Herring Fishing—Summer Plays
And here is a bit from Chapter LII...
IN the Queen-regent's first parliament many wise and useful acts
were passed for improving the administration of justice throughout
the country and there was also some experimental legislation
specially affecting the burghs. It is understood that on these
subjects the regent was chiefly guided not by her French advisers
but by the sage counsel of Henry Sinclair, dean of Glasgow, a man of
profound legal knowledge and eminent as a scholar and statesman. [Tytler,
iii. p. 76; where the more important statutes are alluded to. Henry
Sinclair, second son of Sir Oliver St. Clair of Roslin was educated
for the church at the university of St. Andrews. He was highly
esteemed by James V. and was for years in his family. On 13th
November, 1537, he was admitted an ordinary lord of session, and on
16th December, 1538, he was appointed rector of Glasgow primo. The
commendatorship of Kilwinning he held from 1541 till 1550 when he
exchanged that benefice for the deanery of Glasgow, then held by
Gavin Hamilton. On being appointed bishop of Ross, in 1560, he had
to resign the deanery, but was allowed to retain the prebend of
Glasgow primo. Sinclair was lord president of the court of session
from 1558 till his death in 1565. (Senators of the College of
Justice (1836) pp. 58-60; Dowden's Bishops, p. 228.)]
By one of the burgh statutes it was recalled that for many bygone
years, through trouble of wars, the estate of burgesses had suffered
both in their lands and goods, and also that their privileges
constituted by royal grants and acts of parliament, had not been
duly observed and kept, and parliament there-f ore ratified all
these privileges to burghs, burgesses and merchants, and ordained
the lords of council to exercise their authority in enforcing the
statutes. The act of James IV. requiring ships coming to free burghs
in the west seas to observe certain rules [Antea, p. 244.] was
ordered to be renewed, with an addition requiring that no one should
purchase merchandise from strangers but only from freemen at free
ports of the burghs.
All the burghs of the west country, such as Irvine, Ayr, Dumbarton
and Glasgow, had been in the practice of resorting yearly to the
fishing of Loch Fyne and other lochs in the North Isles, for the
herring and other fishing, and hitherto they had been subject to no
other exaction than the payment of the fishermen. Nevertheless some
countrymen, dwelling beside Loch Fyne, had begun to charge custom on
every last of herring taken in the loch, as high as the Queen's
custom. On hearing of this new exaction parliament ordained that it
should be discharged and not taken from the burgesses in respect of
any herring or fishes taken by them in the lochs, for furnishing of
their own houses and the country. This provision does not seem to
have applied to fish caught for export, but perhaps home supply was
mainly looked for at that time. On the same day as the fishing act
was passed, parliament, referring to the increasing dearth in the
country, of victuals and flesh, caused by the export of these,
prohibited their removal from the country, except in so far as might
be necessary for victualling ships and vessels during their voyage.
But it allowed the inhabitants of the burghs of Ayr, Irvine, Glasgow
and Dumbarton, and others dwelling at the west seas, to take baken
bread, brewed ale and aquavitae to the Isles to barter with other
merchandise. [Clyde Burghs, p. 23.]
You can read the rest of this chapter at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/glasgow/glasgow57.htm
The index page of the book is at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/glasgow/historyndx.htm
Scottish Banking Practice
-------------------------
Have now completed this book with the following chapters...
Chapter V
Deposits
Chapter VI
Lending
Chapter VII
Control of the Banking System
Chapter VIII
Branches
Chapter IX
Banking Services
Chapter X
The Staff
Chapter XI
Scotland and World Banking
Here is how Chapter X starts...
Such has been the rate of change in the activity and organisation of
Scottish banks in the post-war years that the banker who retired
before the war returning to a branch or head office would have great
difficulty in recognising many of the jobs being done. In particular
he would be surprised at the numbers of women working in the bank,
for, pre-war, women were the exception rather than the rule. He
would also notice changes in the pattern of recruitment, training,
salaries, hours and holidays.
In the 18th century banking was a relatively simple business and
bank staffs were commensurately small. The number of staff employed
by one of the banking companies at their main office might be as low
as four and branches might have only two or three. The head office
of one of the big Edinburgh banks might employ twenty or thirty
people. Typically a provincial bank might employ an agent (later
called a manager), an accountant, a teller, one or two clerks and a
porter. But even a very busy office like the Glasgow branch of the
Royal Bank (the busiest office outside London) would only have seven
or eight staff. The reason that staffs were so small was that the
range of services was so limited compared with today.
The recruitment of experienced staff was always a problem for the
banks. Such was the degree of expansion in the banking system
especially with the coming of joint-stock banks in the 1830s that
experienced staff were at a premium and were often enticed away to
work for another bank in some other part of the British Isles or
perhaps overseas. The recruitment of Scottish bankers to serve
abroad continued at a high level for many years. The result of this
was that promotion was often rapid. Even very young clerks with only
a few years experience were very mobile and to counter this some of
the banks introduced an indentured apprenticeship scheme which bound
young clerks to their bank for four or five years. Another
manifestation of this problem is that banks began to require notice
of staff resignations. In some cases six months' notice was
required.
In the branches agents were appointed from amongst the local
business community. Often a lawyer was encouraged to take up a bank
agency and this profession was followed in tandem with his legal
practice and perhaps with an insurance agency. Branch agents were
made responsible for recruiting and paying their own staff. Such was
the expansion of branch networks in the 19th century, however, that
suitable agents became increasingly difficult to recruit and so the
banks began to appoint staff from their head office and sometimes
other branches to be agents. These were really the first examples of
staff transfers and mark a further step in the increasing
professionalisation of banking for in this way a career and
promotion structure began to open up in banking. The transfer from
agents to branch managers was a slow one and was not completed until
the middle of the 20th century.
You can read the rest of this chapter at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/banking/handbook10.htm
And these can be read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/banking/handbookndx.htm
The Glengarry McDonalds of Virginia
-----------------------------------
By Mrs Flora McDonald Williams (1911)
Have now completed this book with the following chapters...
Chapter 26
Roy McDonald
Chapter 27
Donald McDonald
Chapter 28
Hunter McDonald
Chapter 29
Glengarry To-day, By Rev. Peerce Naylor McDonald
Appendices
Here is a bit from Glengarry To-day...
History paints for us in vivid colors the old life at Glengarry, but
time has brought radical changes to the land of the McDonalds'; and
the old ruined castle, once the home of their renowned leaders,
looks down upon a much changed country. With the setting of the star
of the Stuart's hopes, darkness and vicissitude rested upon Scotia's
fair lands. Over those moors and glens at Glengarry, which once
resounded to the shrill call of the bagpipe, we see feeding to-day
droves of deer and various kinds of game. They have little fear of a
chance intruder, for the shooting on the estate is leased to Lord
Burton of England, for which he pays $25,000 a year, and any one who
dares to touch one of the deer out of season will be severely dealt
with. Glengarry can now be approached from two quarters, one by way
of the Invergarry and Fort Augustus R. R., the time table of which
bears on the outside an attractive picture of "Invergarry, Old
Castle," and the other is by means of a popular line of steamers
which runs from Oban to Inverness. In addition to this there are now
splendid roads through this section which are very popular for
motoring. But doesn't it seem like sacrilege to be motoring through
such historic ground?
The post oflice at Glengarry is called "Invergarry," and the castle
of the famous clan of Glengarry is also called "Invergarry." It is
located on Loch Oich ("Queen of Highland Lakes"), at the mouth of
the Garry River which heads in Loch Garry five miles away. Glengarry
properly speaking derives its name from the valley along the river
of the same name.
The place is now owned by an English family named Ellice. Mr. Ellice
told me that his family had made their money fur-trading in Canada,
and that on one occasion when the Indians had attacked the home of
his ancestors, the Glengarry men who were then living in Canada came
to their rescue and saved their lives. In appreciation for what they
had received at their hands, these Ellices bought Glengarry and have
ever after that made it their home. Mr. Ellice himself is a charming
man, has taken a great deal of interest in the place and its people
and has written a book in regard to the traditions of the place. As
the old castle is in ruins he has built nearby a handsome new home
and has done much to improve and preserve the estate.
The main revenue from the estate is in the hunting and the fishing,
both of which are leased to the English nobility. The numerous hills
are entirely without trees, but during the month of August are
purple with the blooming heather. Trees grow luxuriantly in the
glens, and the proprietor is planting forest trees on a large scale
and hoping eventually to have the hill sides covered with them.
There are on the estate about twenty-five families, all employees of
Mr. Ellice. They look after the game and the fishing, also do some
little farming and tree planting.
You can read the rest of this chapter at
http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/m/macdonald/glengarry29.htm
The other chapters can be read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/m/macdonald/glengarryndx.htm
Reminiscences of a Highland Parish
----------------------------------
By Norman MacLeod D.D. (1871)
The start of another book and here is the Preface...
I AM for many reasons peculiarly gratified by the reception which
has been given to these sketches of Highland life and manners in
several of their least-known aspects, and these reminiscences of a
state of society which has almost passed away with the old people of
the land.
Several mistakes in the earlier chapters, of a local and personal
kind,—in no way, however, affecting the truthfulness of the
narrative, or the impression intended to be conveyed by it,—have
been pointed out to me. I have, in this edition, corrected as many
of them as possible.
If I have recorded little in these pages regarding the inmates of
the manse during the later years of its history, it is only because
delicacy to the living forbade my doing what otherwise would have
been prompted by affection, and by happy memories, which connect the
past with the present. Indeed, so mingled in my thoughts are my
earlier and later days in "the Parish," that some incidents recorded
here as having belonged to the one, I find belong in reality to the
other.
It is alleged—with what truth it is not for me to determine—that a
Scotchman cannot understand a joke; but, judging from the grave
manner in which allusions made by me to the bagpipes, peat-reek,
&c., have been commented on by some of the southern newspapers, I am
disposed to think that this dullness of apprehension is not always
confined to one side of the Tweed.
I have only further to add, that the translations from the Gaelic
were made by my brother-in-law, the Rev. Mr. Clerk, minister of
Kilmallie, one of the best Gaelic scholars living.
July, 1867.
This book can be read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/hparish/index.htm
The Scottish Historical Review
------------------------------
I have added several more articles from these publications...
The Scottish Ancestors of President Roosevelt
President Roosevelt, whose name is unmistakably of Dutch origin, has
nevertheless a more decided ancestral connection with Scotland than
with Holland.
The Templars in Scotland in the Thirteenth Century
Information from a Charter Deed from 1354 held in the General
Registry House in Edinburgh.
Scottish Students in Heidelberg, 1386-1662
Lots of Scottish names in this article and amazing how far it goes
back.
You can read these at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/articles/review
Were the Scots Irish?
---------------------
An article by Ewan Campbell.
An interesting article and here is how it starts...
The author attributes the claimed migrations of the Irish into
Argyll to a set of elite origin myths finding no support in
archaeological evidence. He goes on to ask how the Iron Age
populations of Argyll established and changed their personal and
group identity.
Traditional historical accounts of the origin of the Scotttish
kingdom states that the Scots founded the early kingdom of Dal Riata
in western Scotland having migrated there form north eastern Antrim,
Ireland. In the process they displaced a native Pictish or British
people from an area roughly equivalent to modern Argyll. Later, in
the mid 9th century, these Scots of Dal Riata took over the Pictish
kingdom of eastern Scotland to form the united kingdom of Alba,
later to become known as Scotland. To the classical authors of late
antiquity, the peoples of Ireland were Scotti, probably a derogatory
term meaning something like 'pirates'. The name was used by early
medieval writers in Latin for all speakers of Gaelic, whether in
Ireland or Scotland. Much later the usage became associated
exclusively with the peoples of Scotland, whether speakers of
Gaelic or not. In this paper I will use the term Goidelic for the
Irish/Scottish Gaelic, branch of Celtic (Q-Celtic), and Brittonic
for the British group including Welsh, Pictish and Cumbric
(P-Celtic).
After a period of virulent sectarian debate on the origins of the
Scots in the 18th and 19th centuries (Ferguson 1998), the idea of a
migration of the Scots to Argyll has become fixed as a fact in both
the popular and academic mind for at least a century. Present-day
archaeological textbooks show a wave of invasive black arrows
attacking the west coast of Britain from Ireland in the late 4th/5th
centuries (e.g. Laing 1975: figure 1). Even the tide of anti-migrationism
as explanation for culture change which swept through British
prehistory in the 1970s and washed into Anglo-Saxon studies in the
1980s left this concept remarkably intact. Irish historians still
regularly speak of the 'Irish colonies in Britain' (Ò Cr òinin 1995:
18; Byrne 1973: 9), and British anti-invasionist prehistorians seem
happy to accept the concept (e.g. Cunliffe 1979:163. figure). The
insistence on an explicitly colonialist terminology is somewhat
ironic given the past reaction of many Irish archaeologists to what
they perceived as intellectual crypto-colonialism of British
archaeologists and art historians over the origin of the Insular Art
illustrated manuscripts and items such as hanging bowls. Exactly
why colonialist explanations should have survived in the 'Celtic
West' while being hotly debated in eastern Britain is of
considerable interest, but not the purpose of this paper, which is
to provide a critical examination of the archaeological, historical
and linguistic evidence for a Scottic migration, and provide a new
explanation for the origins of Dal Riata.
You can read the rest of this at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/articles/scotsirish.htm
And that's it for now and hope you all have an enjoyable weekend :-)
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com
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