|
 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
unsubscribe to this newsletter by clicking on the link at the foot
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
History of Glasgow
The Scottish Historical Review
The Pioneers of Old Ontario
John Witherspoon
The Concise Household Encyclopaedia
Highlander and His Books
ELECTRIC SCOTLAND NEWS
---------------------
Well I'm sorry we were down for so long but our new Internet
Provider, Verizon, did not do a very good job for us. We were meant
to be back up by 9.30am Monday morning but a repeater went down on
the line and they did not have a spare in stock (quite unbelievable)
so had to order one which meant it only got installed end of day on
Tuesday. Then our router had issues and then there was a wiring
fault and so eventually it was mid morning Wednesday before we got
back online. Even then it was only with a single T1 and it was later
that day before they got the second T1 line working.
And so now we're back up and I hope that Verizon got all the faults
behind them and we'll now have reliable service from now on. I have
certainly noticed a good increase in speed from the dual T1 so hope
that this will give you all a much better service.
Steve will be spending a week or so unpacking and getting settled in
to his new home and then he'll be spending time on the site getting
some of our new features up and running and tweaking our new site
search engine.
So with all the downtime this week not too much has gone onto the
site. I did try and post some new items up while I was staying at
the Hilton hotel in Chicago but it was so bad that it kept timing
out.
-----
I was also away in Chicago at the Scottish North American Leadership
conference where I met lots of great people and hopefully some
interesting information will be forthcoming from them for the site.
I did a wee report on the conference which you can read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/articles/snalc.htm
-----
And as we were down for so long I decided to do some more scanning
of "The Concise Household Encyclopaedia" and so there will be more
pages going up.
-----
I'll be making a start at the book "Reminiscences of Cromar and
Canada"
By Donald Robert Farquharson next week.
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 and she's telling us
about the 150 year old Paddy's market and also giving some publicity
to Energy Saving Week.
In Peter's cultural section he's telling us about football... the
Scottish kind...
Although Scottish football attendances in 2008 fall far short of
those of the 1940s and 50s there is still a healthy appetite for the
game and every Saturday brings its own share of thrills and spills.
As Saturday past proved, an exciting game can cause a change of
plans to even the top politician in Scotland! Campaigning in this
week’s Glenrothes By-Election First Minister Alex Salmond,
accompanied by Scottish National Party candidate for the Westminster
seat Councillor Peter Grant, made a third visit to New Bayview, home
of East Fife FC, intending to watch only the first half. As ‘real’
football men they found the game, in spite of high winds and pouring
rain, so exciting that the stay was extended for another 45 minutes.
The game after the first 45 was poised at East Fife 2 Arbroath 2,
with The Fife reduced to ten men after a sending off. ‘This game is
too exciting to leave’ the First Minister told me in a quick
halftime chat. The second half lived up to the first with The Fife
suffering a second sending off but resolutely defending and looking
dangerous on the break. With five minute to go Bayview exploded as
East Fife captain Steven Tweed made it 3-2 in a deserved victory for
the 9-man Fife side. ‘That was some game’ commented Alex Salmond as
he entered the Bayview Board Room at the conclusion of the 90
minutes and presented the match ball to the match ball sponsors
Dawes Cycles.
Whilst wishing Peter Grant best wishes in the by-election, this
week’s recipe is in honour of the man who is carrying Scotland
forward at Holyrood – I’m sure that Alex would enjoy a plate of
Holyrood Pudding.
Holyrood Pudding
Ingredients: 20 floz (6000ml) milk; 2 oz (50g) semolina; 1 oz (50g)
butter; 3 oz (75g) caster sugar; 2 oz (50g) ratafia biscuits; 2
tblspns orange marmalade; 3 eggs, separated
Method: Bring the milk to boiling point in a large saucepan. Stir in
the semolina, the sugar and the butter. Allow to simmer gently for
about five minutes, stirring constantly. Leave to cool. Beat the egg
whites until stiff. Into the slightly cooled mixture add the egg
yolks and the marmalade and mix thoroughly. Mix in the ratafia
biscuits and lastly, using a metal spoon, fold in the egg whites.
Pour the mixture into a large buttered pie dish and bake for 20 to
30 minutes at 350F/180C/ Gas Mark 4. The pudding should be set and
golden brown on top.
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 last week arrived late and
can be viewed at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/mckelvie/081016.htm
The Scottish Nation
-------------------
My thanks to Lora for transcribing these volumes for us.
We're now onto the T's with Torrance, Traill and Train
An interesting account of Traill which starts...
The Traills of Blebo were an old family in the parish of Kemback,
Fifeshire, which produced some eminent members. Among the most
distinguished was Walter Traill, who became bishop of St. Andrews in
1385. He studied on the continent, and was a doctor of the civil and
canon law, and canon of St. Andrews. According to Fordun, he was
“referendarius Papae Clementis septimi,” and was attending that
pontiff at Avignon, when a vacancy in the see of St. Andrews took
place. So high was the opinion which Clement had of his learning and
worth that, by his own authority, without any election, he appointed
him to the bishopric, saying to those beside him, “This man
deserveth better to be pope than bishop; the place is better
provided than the person,” meaning that he was an honour to the
place, and not the place to him. IN 1390, he and the bishop of
Glasgow assisted at the funeral of Robert II., and the day following
he placed the crown on the head of Robert III. IN 1391, he was sent
ambassador to France, where he remained a year. He is witness to a
charter of King Robert III., confirming former donations to the
abbey of Paisley, 6th April, 1396. He died in the year 1401, in the
castle of St. Andrews, which had been rebuilt by him, and was
buried, among his predecessors, in the cathedral of that city, near
the high altar, with this inscription on his monument; “Hic fuit
Ecclesiae directa columna, fenestra lucida, thuribulum redolens,
campana sonora.”
It is stated by Nisbet (Heraldry, vol. i. p. 212), that the lands of
Blebo were purchased by Bishop Traill, in the reign of Robert III.,
and gifted by him to his nephew, Traill of Blebo. Keith (Catalogue
of Scottish Bishops, p. 26) and other writers say that the bishop
was the son of the laird of Blebo, In the early part of the reign of
Charles I., Blebo was purchased by a gentleman of the name of Kay,
but in 1649 it was sold to Mr. Andrew Bethune, a son of Bethune of
Balfour, in possession of whose descendants it still remains.
Andrew Traill, a younger brother of the family of Blebo, was a
colonel in the Dutch service, in the war of independence against
Philip II. of Spain. When he quitted the Netherlands his arrears of
pay amounted to £2,700 sterling, for which he had a bond from the
city of Bruges and other towns of Flanders. He afterwards served
with distinction under the king of Navarre in the civil wars of
France. On his return to Britain, he was made a gentleman of Prince
Henry’s privy chamber. His son, James, had a small property in the
parish of Denino, where he lived. He endeavoured to recover the sum
due to his father by the cities of Flanders, and upon a petition to
King James, he obtained a warrant to arrest a ship belonging to the
city of Bruges at London, but through the influence of the king’s
favourite, the duke of Buckingham, was prevented from obtaining
possession of her. He never obtained any part of the debt due to his
father, and he was obliged to dispose of his estate in Denino. This
James had two sons, James and Robert.
You can read the rest of this account at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/nation/traill.htm
You can read all these entries at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/nation/index.htm
Clan and Family Information
---------------------------
Clan MacIntyre did a final report from the Gathering and shows how
the income and expenses worked out to a modest loss. They also talk
about the new Trust that has been setup. You can read this at
http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/m/macintyre/message4.htm
Poetry and Stories
------------------
Another poem from John Henderson called "A Ballanter Fae Scone"
which you can read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerel285.htm
We also have some new poems and articles from Donna, Alastair and
others in our Article Service at
http://www.electricscotland.com/article/
Couple of good wee humour stories this week and an interesting
observation of the current economic climate that seems to have an
upside.
New Statistical Account of Scotland (1845)
------------------------------------------
We have now added the Parish of Temple to the Edinburgh volume.
Name. - The parish retains its ancient name, derived from an
establishment for the
Templars, or Red Friars, founded by King David L of Scotland. [For
an account of this ancient religious fraternity, see Spottiswood's
Account of Religious Houses, appended lo Keith's Catalogue of
Bishops, original edition, p. 265. and Chalmers Caledonia, ii. 767
and 812.]
Extent and Boundaries.- Its extent may be about 9 miles at its
greatest length, and its greatest breadth is about 5. Besides this,
however, there is another portion, four miles eastward, entirely
separated by a section of Borthwick parish, consisting of about 300
acres. It is bounded on the south and south-west, by the parishes of
Eddleston and Innerleithen; on the west, by Penicuik; on the
north-west and north, by Carrington; on the north-east and east, by
Borthwick; and on the south-east, by Heriot.
You can read this account at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/statistical/temple.pdf
The index page for the New Statistical Account of Scotland (1845)
can be found at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/statistical/
Book of Scottish Story
----------------------
Our thanks to John Henderson for sending this in for us.
This week have added...
The Poor Scholar
And here is how it starts...
The vernal weather, that had come so early in the year as to induce
a fear that it would not be lasting, seemed, contrary to that
foreboding of change, to become every day more mild and genial, and
the spirit of beauty, that had at first ventured out over the bosom
of the earth with timid footsteps, was now blending itself more
boldly with the deep verdure of the ground, and the life of the
budding trees. Something in the air, and in the great wide blue
bending arch of the unclouded sky, called upon the heart to come
forth from the seclusion of parlour or study, and partake of the
cheerfulness of nature.
We had made some short excursions together up the lonely glens, and
over the moors, and also through the more thickly inhabited
field-farms of his parish, and now the old minister proposed that we
should pay a visit to a solitary hut near the head of a dell, which,
although not very remote from the manse, we had not yet seen; and I
was anxious that we should do so, as, from his conversation, I
understood that we should see there a family—if so a widow and her
one son could be called —that would repay us by the interest we
could not fail to feel in their character, for the time and toil
spent on reaching their secluded and guarded dwelling.
" The poor widow woman," said the minister, "who lives in the hut
called Braehead, has as noble a soul as ever tenanted a human bosom.
One earthly hope alone has she now—but I fear it never will be
fulfilled. She is the widow of a common cottar, who lived and died
in the hut which she and her son now inhabit. Her husband was a man
of little education, but intelligent, even ingenious, simple,
laborious, and pious. His duties lay all within a narrow circle, and
his temptations, it may be said, were few. Such as they were, he
discharged the one and withstood the other. Nor is there any reason
to think that, had they both been greater, he would have been found
wanting. He was contented with meal and water all his days, and so
fond of work that he seemed to love the summer chiefly for the
length of its labouring days. He had a slight genius for mechanics;
and during the long winter evenings he made many articles of curious
workmanship, the sale of which added a little to the earnings of his
severer toil. The same love of industry excited him from morning to
night ; but he had also stronger, tenderer, and dearer motives ; for
if his wife and their one pretty boy should outlive him, he hoped
that, though left poor, they would not be left in penury, but
enabled to lead, without any additional hardships, the usual life,
at least, of the widow and the orphans of honest hardworking men.
Few thought much about Abraham Blane while he lived, except that he
was an industrious and blameless man; but, on his death, it was felt
that there had been something far more valuable in his character;
and now, I myself, who knew him well, was pleasingly surprised to
know that he had left his widow and boy a small independence. Then
the memory of his long summer days, and long winter nights, all
ceaselessly employed in some kind of manual labour, dignified the
lowly and steadfast virtue of the unpretending and conscientious
man.
You can read the rest of this at
http://www.electricscotland.com/books/story/story65.htm
The other stories can be read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/books/story/index.htm
The History of Glasgow
----------------------
By Robert Renwick LL.D. and Sir John Lindsay L.D. in 3 volumes
(1921)
Now on the second volume of the three and added this week are
chapters...
Chapter XXIV
Glasgow under the Covenant
Chapter XXV
Under the Covenant
Chapter XXVI
Under the Commonwealth
Here is how chapter XXV starts...
WHATEVER may have been the quarrel between the Scots and Charles I.
on matters of Church government, it was no part of the desire of the
people of Scotland to abolish kingly rule. No sooner, therefore, was
news of the execution of the king received in Edinburgh than
arrangements were made to proclaim his elder son as Charles II. This
was done in the capital on 5th February, 1649. [Act. Parl. VI, pt,
ii. 157.] In the Glasgow Burgh Records nothing whatever is said of
the execution of Charles I., and it is only on 10th February that an
entry appears stating that the order for proclamation of Charles II.
had been received late on the previous night. Immediately, at eleven
o'clock in the forenoon, the whole Council marched two by two to the
Cross in "ane comelie maner," and, standing on it uncovered,
listened while the proclamation was made "with the gritest
solempnitie." Afterwards all the bells of the city were rung till
twelve o'clock.
The young king was then on the
Continent, at The Hague, and commissioners were sent over to offer
him the Crown of Scotland on condition that he should accept the
National Covenant and Solemn League and Covenant, and give absolute
compliance to the will of the Scottish Parliament and the General
Assembly. After a year's bargaining, and the forlorn attempt to take
the Crown by force of arms which ended in the capture and execution
of the Marquess of Montrose, Charles agreed to the terms, and landed
near the mouth of the Spey on 16th June, 1650. Meanwhile, within a
month of proclaiming Charles II., the Scottish Parliament had handed
a protest to the English House of Commons, which presently led to a
rupture and war between the two countries. [Act. Parl. VI. pt. ii.
276.]
Glasgow was now to be called upon to stand the brunt of the Civil
War, as it had not been called upon to do before, and the story of
its fortunes during the three years that followed forms one of the
darkest chapters in its annals. These troubles befell the city at a
time when it was not too well prepared to meet them, and one can
only conclude that it was upheld in the ordeal by a strong sense of
the righteousness of the cause in which its blood and its treasure
were spent and its other sufferings were incurred. For some previous
three years, from 1645 till 1648, it had suffered from an infliction
of pestilence which not only cut off many of its citizens and taxed
its resources to the utmost, but which induced large numbers of
people to leave the city in the hope of escaping the scourge. During
those years considerable numbers of the poorer folk, suspected of
contact with the disease, had had to be supported in temporary
quarters on the Gallowmuir to the east of the city. The patience of
the people had also been sorely tried by the requisitions of men for
the keeping of a constant watch in all quarters of the burgh for the
exclusion of plague-infected persons. At the same time the means and
youth of the town had been depleted by the repeated levies of money
and troops required for the sending of army after army into England,
first to oppose Charles I., and afterwards to rescue him. [Burgh
Records, ii. 144, 146, 151.]
You can read the rest of the Preface at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/glasgow/glasgow2_25.htm
The index page of the book is at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/glasgow/historyndx.htm
The Scottish Historical Review
------------------------------
I have added a couple more articles from these publications...
A Scottish Charter-Chest
SIR JAMES RAMSAY has laid historical students under another and an
unexpected obligation by publishing to the world the large series of
deeds and other documents connected with his own estates in
Forfarshire and Perthshire, from the early part of the thirteenth to
the beginning of the eighteenth century. Apart from their value to
the family in possession, the contents of a charter-chest have
always more or less of general interest. They often throw curious
light on the domestic life of bygone generations, and thus supply
fresh data to the historian.
A Biographical Sketch of General Robert Melville of Strathkinness
GENERAL ROBERT MELVILLE was descended from the Melvilles of Carnbee,
in the county of Fife, in Scotland, a branch of the antient and
noble family of the same name, of which the chief is the Earl of
Leven and Melville. The ancestor of the family is held to have been
the first Norman who passed into Scotland. He was a person of
distinction of Normandy, named De Malville or De Melville, who
accompanied William the Conqueror into England, in the autumn of
1066. Meeting, however, with some cause of disgust from William, he,
before the close of that year, secretly withdrew to the court of
Malcolm Canmore, King of Scotland.
You can read these articles at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/articles/review
The Pioneers of Old Ontario
---------------------------
By W. I. Smith and Illustrations by M. McGillvray (1923)
I really enjoyed this book and hope you will too. There are many
illustrations in the book which I think you'll enjoy. I have up
several chapters for you to read this week...
Working into the Flat Country
Up Bruce and Huron Way
From Father to Son
Here is how the account starts from "Up Bruce and Huron Way"...
KINGSTON ROAD A SEA OF MUD
This story, which had its beginning in the neighbourhood of
Brockville, was told me one June evening in 1898 by R. McLean Purdy
as we sat together, where Eugenia Falls marks the opening of the
picturesque valley of the Beaver. Mr. Purdy was boric near
Brockville, but in 1.837 the family decided to move to where Lindsay
now stands.
"From Brockville to Cobourg the trip was made in comparative comfort
by steamer," Mr. Purdy began, "but after leaving Cobourg it was one
trouble after another and each succeeding trouble seemed a little
worse than the one just surmounted. Kingston Road appeared to be a
bottomless sea of mud—mud which might have served for plastering
houses but was a most unsatisfactory material for road-making. The
first stop was near Port Hope, and there some of the family
belongings, which were too heavy to move further in the then state
of the roads, were temporarily stored with a relative. Our second
night stop was at Oshawa, which was at that time just being `hatched
out.' Next day we drove fifteen miles to Lake Seugog, and the
following night people and horses were sheltered in the same
building—that is, if the place deserved the name building. Earth
formed the floor, there were great open spaces between the logs of
which the walls were built, and we could count the stars overhead by
looking up through the breaks in the roof. Luckily there was no rain
that night. Next day men, women, and horses were once more close
companions, all being herded together on a flat-bottomed boat for
the voyage over Lake Scugog. Scugog then no more deserved the name
of lake than the shelter of the night before deserved the name of
house. It was a mass of marsh and grass, the only clear water being
that in the channel followed by the scow. Camp was pitched on
Washburn Island, and next day we reached our destination at the
point where Lindsay is now located. A relative, Wm. Purdy, was
living there. His father, Jesse Purdy, had lived on the Hudson
before the American Revolution, and was given four hundred acres in
return for building the first mill in Lindsay.
"The whole place was a tangled mass of cedar and hardwood; but
visions of the future were present, and the remaining two hundred
acres forming the townsite of to-day were sold in half acre lots at
twenty and thirty dollars with five acre park lots at proportionate
prices.
"In 1854, T moved to Meaford, following the route north of Seugog,
south of Lake Simcoe, and up through Nottawasaga to what is now
Duntroon. Duntroon has been a place of many names. When I first
reached there, a man by the name of McNabb was keeping tavern and
the place bore his name. Obe Wellings bought the tavern later, and
the name of the locality changed with the change in ownership of the
hostelry. Altogether there were at least a dozen changes of name
before Duntroon was finally hit upon. Continuing on our way we found
fairly good sleighing over the Blue Mountains, but when we struck
Beaver Valley we were once more in liquid mud. The Parks and
Heathcotes had settled in the valley before us and there were a few
buildings in Meaford, one of these being occupied as a store by one
of my brothers. Living in Meaford then were Wm. Stephens, D. L.
Dayton, John Layton, and Philip and Frank Barber. After remaining a
short time at Meaford, I pushed on to Eugenia Falls, where I made my
permanent home.
"At that time, which was before the Northern Railway had been
extended to Collingwood, supplies for Meaford were teamed from
Barrie to Willow Creek, and from there they were floated down the
Nottawasaga River to its mouth. They were then put on board bateaux,
which, waiting for favourable wind, hugged the shore of Georgian Bay
to Meaford.
"In the first years of the settlement, incoming settlers provided a
sufficient market for the products of those who had arrived earlier.
When a surplus was produced we had to team our stuff to Toronto, the
journey occupying several days. Wheat disposed of, after all the
labour involved in production and marketing, sold for a dollar a
bushel. Return loads consisted of such things as salt, bought at
from two dollars to two dollars and a half a barrel; calico, at
twenty-five cents per yard, and tea, up to one dollar a pound.
"The first Houses in the valley consisted of two rooms, one above
and one below, the upper floor being reached by a ladder. Instead of
chairs we had benches made of split slabs. Beds and tables were made
of the same material.
"A colony of beaver had a dam where Sloan's mill was afterwards
built, but these timid animals left soon after white men began to
come in. Near where Kimberley afterwards sprang up was a favourite
resort for both deer and wolves, the ground frequently being tracked
like a cattle-yard. Once, when I had occasion for some reason to
retrace my steps, I found that a wolf had been stalking one.
"In the early days of the settlement, the men, after putting in
their spring crops in the scanty clearings, went off in twos and
threes to earn money in the more advanced settlements at `the
front.' Meantime the women remained to keep lonely vigil in the log
cabins, while the night wind was pierced by the howling of wolves in
the neighbouring forest. Frail in body some of those women may have
been, but granite in spirit they all were."
You can read the rest of this chapter at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/ontario/ontario8.htm
The rest of the chapters can be read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/ontario/
John Witherspoon
----------------
As John Witherspoon was a signatory to the American Declaration of
Independence I thought it would be appropriate to put up a biography
of him.
We now have various chapters up...
The Scotch Period
Chapter 1
Early Years and Environment
Chapter II
Beith
Chapter III
Paisley
The American Period
Chapter I
Princeton College
Here is a bit from the final Chapter II of The Scotch Period...
WITHERSPOON began his ministry at Paisley in the fullness of his
reputation, the recognized leader of the section which stood for
orthodoxy and liberty. An ardent and sincere Calvinist, he accepted
the Westminster Confession of Faith as his own personal belief. That
creed, so far from binding men's consciences and minds, in his
opinion liberated them. It has been wittily said by another
Scotchman that "Calvinism is a sheep in wolf's clothing." Its
doctrine of predestination has been represented as relentless and
inescapable fate; foreordination has been supposed to destroy the
freedom of the human will. It is not my purpose to discuss these
dogmas. A study of Witherspoon's sermons and correspondence, a close
following of his career, show that in these teachings, he found for
himself, and believed the world would find, the strongest basis for
hopefulness in that predestinating love and that foreordaining grace
which mark believing men as the children of God and intend them to
be transformed into the image of His Son. To the teaching of these
doctrines he joyously and earnestly gave his life. His writings and
sermons betray strength and sincerity of conviction. He does not
search for arguments to bolster a belief, but for the best manner of
presenting what are to him necessary and eternal truths. These
doctrines are worthless in his opinion unless they produce strong
and pure characters. In his controversy with the Moderates he said,
"It is dangerous to claim respect for a creed if its teachers are
not men of pure Christly life." A year after his transfer to Paisley
he was chosen Moderator of the synod. His sermon on retiring from
the chair in 1759 is a plea for high character in the minister of
Christ. Personal character is worth more than intellectual zeal. "Is
any minister more covetous of the fleece than diligent for the
welfare of the flock; cold and heartless in his sacred work, but
loud and noisy in promiscuous and foolish conversation; covering or
palliating the sins of the great because they promote him; making
friends and companions of profane persons; though this man's zeal
should burn like a flame against antinomianism, and though his own
unvaried strain should be the necessity of holiness, I would never
take him to be any of its real friends." "If one set apart to the
service of Christ in the gospel, manifestly shows his duty to be a
burden and does no more work than is barely sufficient to screen him
from censure; if he reckons it a piece of improvement how seldom or
how short he can preach, and makes his boast how many omissions he
has brought a patient and an injured people to endure without
complaint; however impossible it may be to ascertain his faults by a
libel, he justly merits the detestation of every faithful
Christian." "Nothing does more hurt to the interest of religion,
than its being loaded with a great number, who, for many obvious
reasons, assume the form while they are strangers to the power of
it." "As the gospel is allowed on all hands to be a doctrine
according to godliness, when differences arise, and each opposite
side pretends to have the letter of the law in its favour, the great
rule of decision is, which doth most immediately and most certainly,
promote piety and holiness in all manner of conversation."
Take these words from a sermon on the sacrifice of Christ. "Make no
image of the cross in your houses, but let the remembrance of it be
ever in your hearts. One lively view of this great object will cool
the flames of unclean lust; one lively view of this great object
will make the unjust man quit his hold; one lively view of this
tremendous object will make the angry man drop his weapon; nay, one
look of mercy from a dying Saviour will make even the covetous man
open his hand." He was not a mystic but he had a genuinely
devotional spirit. "Idleness and sloth," said this practical
preacher, "are as contrary to true religion as either avarice or
ambition." And on the other hand he says, "True piety points to one
thing as its centre and rest, the knowledge and enjoyment of God."
"Man was made for living upon God." Speaking of the temptations that
beset humanity he said, "If sin give a man no rest, he should give
it no quarter."
You can read the rest of this chapter at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/witherspoon/chapter3.htm
The other chapters can be read at
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/witherspoon/index.htm
The Concise Household Encyclopaedia
-----------------------------------
Have made another start at this publication and I'll be adding more
pages over the next several weeks.
This week have added...
Celery, Celery Diseases, Cell in Electricity, Cellar, Cellarette,
Cello, Cellulitis, Celluloid, Cellulose, Cement, Centigrade,
Centipede, Central Heating, Centre, Centre Punch, Ceramics, Cereal,
Cerebro-spinal Meningitis, Cereus.
You can see these at
http://www.electricscotland.com/household/c.htm
The index page for this publication is at
http://www.electricscotland.com/household/index.htm
Highlander and His Books
------------------------
A book review by Frank Shaw on the book "Burns Illustrated".
Written in the year 2000, this scarce book is one every Burns
scholar, collector, and enthusiast should have in his or her library
if they are lucky enough to find a copy! The book is the
twenty-fifth anniversary project of the Calgary Burns Club, and I am
not exaggerating when I tell you that it is a very special
publication. One of the reasons I admire the Calgary club is they do
not simply “meet to eat” but they put their money behind great
projects that benefit their community and the Burns and Scottish
population at large. This book is a fine example of their
philanthropic involvement.
You can read this review at
http://www.electricscotland.com/familytree/frank/burns_illustrated.htm
And that's it for now and hope you all have an enjoyable weekend and
to our American friends hope you get the President you want :-)
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com
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