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Weekly Mailing List Archives
10th April 2009


Alastair McIntyreElectric Scotland's Weekly Email Newsletter

Electric Scotland - The No.1 Scottish History Site The Aois Community brings you message forums and lots of community services
Electric Scotland's Article Service where you can add your own stories and articles  Send a postcard from our ScotCards service

 

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. In the event the link is not clickable simply copy and paste the link into your browser.

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
New Statistical Account of Scotland
Clan and Family Information
Poetry and Stories
Book of Scottish Story
The Concise Household Encyclopaedia
Children's Rhymes, Children's Games, Children's Songs, Children's Stories
Social Life in Scotland
The Writings of John Muir
Home and Farm Food Preservation
Parish Life in the North of Scotland
Poenamo
Fraser's Scottish Annual
The Autobiography of Dr. Alexander Carlyle of Inveresk (1722 - 1805) (New Book)
Report on the Burns 250 conference in South Carolina
Highlander and his Books
The Scots Magazine
Renaissance Faire, North Carolina, 2009
Topography of Great Britain


ELECTRIC SCOTLAND NEWS
----------------------
As you know I've been working on the New Statistical Account of Scotland for a wee while now. I was delighted to find out that Google has scanned in all 15 volumes and so I've taken advantage of that to download them and have now got them up on the site.

I only decided to ocr these volumes as they could not be bookmarked at the one site that they could be read on. And so this set is now available to download at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/statistical/

I have also included a special page where you will get a list of all the Parishes with the Volume number and page number alongside.

And I have also made available the text versions but note that these are fairly rough ocr'ing jobs so there will be spelling mistakes in them.

-----

I got quite a few emails in saying you'd like me to work on the domestic architecture so I will start work on that. I'll probably also use that as a base to add any additional information I get in about castles.

-----

The Robert Burns Association of North America are having their 29th Conference and Annual General Meeting Friday, May 29th to Sunday 31st, 2009 at the Novotel Hotel, Mississauga, Ontario. Should you be interested in finding out more email jcunnin@golden.net or phone 519-894-6366. More details at http://www.rbana.com/conference.html

-----

I attended the Scot of the Year Award event on Tuesday evening in Toronto and took some pictures which you can see at http://www.electricscotland.com/ssf/ssf2009.htm

Also, Mike Russell MSP, is doing a blog of his trip to the USA and Canada and thought you might be interested in viewing his trip which is to help promote Scotland Week. You can see this at http://scotlandweek09.wordpress.com/


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 Jim Lynch, the editor of the Scots Independent Newspaper, and in this issue he has his usual range of stories which aso include Political Satire and also the gaelic and Scots language articles.

In Peter's cultural section he gives us an interesting quote from James Halliday...

The Scottish church had been steadfastly nationalist all through the years since 1286. Bishops Wishart and Lamberton were proven patriots, but others too deserve to be remembered. Churchmen were after all, the literate class in medieval society, and Scottish churchmen had undertaken the task of expounding and justifying the Scottish case for independence. In 1320, meeting at Arbroath Abbey, the leaders of the community of Scotland put their seals to a document prepared, almost certainly, by Bernard de Linton, abbot and civil servant, which yet again, but more fully now than ever before, spelled out Scotland’s claim to identity and independence.

Scotland, they reminded Pope John, to whom the Declaration was addressed, had been a kingdom when England was big enough for seven kings. They had endured attack from King Edward who had taken advantage of their misfortunes and had worked to destroy their freedom under guise of friendship. Fate had given them as a leader and deliverer, King Robert. Yet – and this is the remarkable passage – ‘if he should abandon our cause…. We should make every endeavour to expel him as our enemy and the subverter of his rights and ours, and choose another for our king’. There are those who look for the origins of monarchy dependent upon popular will, in the writing of seventeenth century English philosophers. Very clearly the Scots had stumbled upon the concept of conditional monarchy several centuries earlier.

Finally, in case Pope John or his cardinals thought the Scottish resistance to English ambitions was merely a passing fad, de Linton offered to his countrymen for their approval a pledge of determination free of all ambiguity. ‘For so long as a hundred of us shall remain alive we shall never accept subjection to the domination of the English. For we fight not for glory, or riches or honour, but for freedom alone which no good man will consent to lose but with his life.’

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 is available at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/mckelvie/090409.htm


Clan and Family Information
---------------------------
Got in the Clan Munro of Australia Newsletter which you can read at http://www.electricscotland.com/familytree/newsletters/munro/ClanMunroNewsletter20.pdf

Also got in the Clan MacKenzie Newsletter which you can read at http://www.electricscotland.com/mackenzie/images/news46.pdf

Got in the newsletter of the Clan Cameron for Spring 2009 which you can read at http://www.electricscotland.com/familytree/newsletters/cameron/index.htm

Got in a wee note from Neil Fraser...

The Aberdeen magazine "Leopard" has been running a series on Scottish Clan Chiefs in Northeast Scotland, written by noted Aberdeen journalist Gordon Casely. Gordon is a good friend of mine as a fellow member of The Heraldry Society of Scotland, and I assisted him in arranging an interview with The Lady Saltoun, Chief of Clan Fraser, at her home in Inverey near Braemar. He did a great job on the Clan Fraser article which is now available online on the Leopard magazine website at
http://www.leopardmag.co.uk:80/feats/238/clans-of-the-north-east-fraser%20of


Poetry and Stories
------------------
John sent in another poem, "Simply Fuelled in The Wild" at http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerel310.htm

And of course more articles in our Article Service from Donna and others at http://www.electricscotland.com/article 


Book of Scottish Story
----------------------
Our thanks to John Henderson for sending this in for us.

This week have added a new story...

The Court Cave: a Legendary Tale of Fife

This is a 3 part story and the final part starts...

The stranger set out on his voluntary mission at a rapid pace, and soon arrived at the house. The door stood open, and he entered with the careless sauntering air of one entirely indifferent as to the welcome he might be greeted with. He found Colville seated apparently in no very pleasant humour, and his daughter, bustling about among the servant-maidens, wearing on her flushed cheek and suffused eye undoubted symptoms of the sorrow with which the morning’s adventure had afflicted her.

"Give you good-e’en, gudeman of Balmeny,” said the stranger, seating himself, without waiting an invitation, on the bench opposite Colville.

"The same to you, neebour,” said the landlord, in a tone that had little of welcome in it.

A few moments’ silence now ensued, Colville evidently waiting with some impatience for the tidings which the other seemed in no haste to communicate to him. But this could not last.

"Have you anything to tell, ask, or deliver, friend?” at last said Colville.

"This bright-eyed maiden is the bonny lass of Balmeny, I’m thinking," was the unreplying answer.

"That is my daughter, truly,” said the landlord, becoming more and more impatient; "does your coming concern her?”

"That it does," replied the stranger. "There’s an auld byeword, that ‘foul fish and fair daughters are nae keeping ware.’ This fair May is the object of my visit ; in short, gudeman, I come awooing."

At the sound of this magnetic word,a universal commotion arose in the dwelling of Colville. The maiden, who was its object, surveyed the stranger with indignation and surprise ; the servants whispered and tittered among each other; and Colville seemed for a moment about to give vent to the feelings of his anger, when the current of his feelings suddenly changed, and, directing a look of malicious joy to his daughter, he addressed the stranger—.

"Welcome, wooer—welcome. Come, lasses, set meat and drink before this gentle here; as the auld Earl of Douglas said, ‘ It’s ill arguing between a fu’ man and a fasting.’"

The rest of this story can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/books/story/story82c.htm

The other stories can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/books/story/index.htm


The Concise Household Encyclopaedia
-----------------------------------
Added another four pages on Corner Cupboard, Corner Dresser, Corner Seat, Corner Wardrobe, Cornet, Cornflour, Cornflour Cake, Cornflour Mould, Cornflour Pudding, Cornflower, Cornice, Cornish Heath, Cornish Pasty, Cornish Splits, Coronilla, Corpulence, Corridor, Corrosive, Corrosive Sublimate, Corrugated Iron, Corundum, Corydalis, Corylopsis.

You can read about these at http://www.electricscotland.com/household/c.htm


Children's Rhymes. Children's Games, Children' s Songs, Children's Stories
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Book for Bairns and Big Folk by Robert Ford (1904).

The pages we have up this week are...

Children's Stories
Jack and the Bean-Stalk
The Babes in the Wood
Jack the Giant Killer
Little Red Riding Hood
Cinderella; or, the Little Glass Slipper
Puss in Boots
Whittington and his Cat

These are all fairly substantial stories which you can read at http://www.electricscotland.com/kids/bairns/index.htm


Social Life in Scotland
-----------------------
From Early to Recent Times by Rev. Charles Rogers in 3 volumes (1884)

2 chapters added this week which completes the 2nd volume of this set.

Chapter XIV.
Games and Pastimes

Chapter XV.
Social Clubs

Here is how the chapter on Games and Pastimes starts...

Common to the early inhabitants of every country dancing was among the ancient Scots a favourite pastime. In evident allusion to the exercise Sir William Wallace, after arranging the position of his troops on the field of Falkirk, called out, "I have brocht ye to the ring; dance gif ye can." And in the opening lines of his poem of "Chrystis Kirk," James I. refers to dancing as a prevailing recreation. He writes:

"Was nevir in Scotland heard nor sene,
Sic dancing nor deray,
Nouthir at Falkland on the Grene,
Nor Peebles at the Play."

In the ballad of "Colkelbie Sow," written before the age of Dunbar, are named upwards of twenty native dances, while a further catalogue of dances popular in the middle of the sixteenth century is presented in the Complaynt of Scotland. ["Select Remains of Ancient Popular Poetry in Scotland." edited by David Laing, 1822, 4to, part first, 11. 296-376; "The Complaynt of Scotland," edited by J. A. R. Murray, 1872, p. 66.]

Moorish or Morris dances were common at the court of James IV., the performers being usually Spaniards. But at Epiphany 1494, native Morris dancers, clad in a special livery, performed in the royal presence. Each Morris dancer bore upon his dress a number of small bells, which played chimes during his evolutions. By the Glover Incorporation of Perth a Norris dancer's costume has been preserved. The following account of it forms the subject of a note appended by Sir Walter Scott to his "Fair Maid of Perth":-

"This curious vestment is made of fawn-coloured silk, in the form of a tunic, with trappings of green and red satin. There accompany it two hundred and fifty-two small circular bells formed into twenty-one sets of twelve bells each, upon pieces of leather, made to fasten to various parts of the body. What is most remarkable about these bells is the perfect intonation of each set, and the regular musical intervals between the tone of each. The twelve bells on each piece of leather are of various sizes, yet all combine to form one perfect intonation in concord with the leading note in the set. These concords are maintained, not only in each set, but also in the intervals between the various pieces. The performer could thus produce, if not a tune, at least a pleas. lug and musical chime, according as lie regulated with skill the movements of his body."

You can read lots more from this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/sociallife/chapter14.htm

You can get to the index page of the book at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/sociallife/index.htm


The Writings of John Muir
-------------------------
This week have completed Volume 2 with...

My First Summer in the Sierra...

Chapter IX. Bloody Canon and Mono Lake
Chapter X. The Tuolumne Camp
Chapter XI. Back to the Lowlands

And have made a start on Volume 3, Travels in Alaska with...

Chapter I. Puget Sound and British Columbia
Chapter II. Alexander Archipelago and the Home I found in Alaska
Chapter III. Wrangell Island and Alaska Summers
Chapter IV. The Stickeen River

Here is how the first chapter of Volume 3 starts...

AFTER eleven years of study and exploration in the Sierra Nevada of California and the mountain-ranges of the Great Basin, studying in particular their glaciers, forests, and wild life, above all their ancient glaciers and the influence they exerted in sculpturing the rocks over which they passed with tremendous pressure, making new landscapes, scenery, and beauty which so mysteriously influence every human being, and to some extent all life, I was anxious to gain some knowledge of the regions to the northward, about Puget Sound and Alaska. With this grand object in view I left San Francisco in May, 1879, on the steamer Dakota, without any definite plan, as with the exception of a few of the Oregon peaks and their forests all the wild north was new to me.

To the mountaineer a sea voyage is a grand, inspiring, restful change. For forests and plains with their flowers and fruits we have new scenery, new life of every sort; water hills and dales in eternal visible motion for rock waves, types of permanence.

It was curious to note how suddenly the eager countenances of the passengers were darkened as soon as the good ship passed through the Golden Gate and began to heave on the waves of the open ocean. The crowded deck was speedily deserted on account of seasickness. It seemed strange that nearly every one afflicted should be more or less ashamed.

Next morning a strong wind was blowing, and the sea was gray and white, with long breaking waves, across which the Dakota was racing half-buried in spray. Very few of the passengers were on deck to enjoy the wild scenery. Every wave seemed to be making enthusiastic, eager haste to the shore, with long, irised tresses streaming from its tops, some of its outer fringes borne away in scud to refresh the wind, all the rolling, pitching, flying water exulting in the beauty of rainbow light. Gulls and albatrosses, strong, glad life in the midst of the stormy beauty, skimmed the waves against the wind, seemingly without effort, oftentimes flying nearly a mile without a single wing-beat, gracefully swaying from side to side and tracing the curves of the briny water hills with the finest precision, now and then just grazing the highest.

You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/muir/vol3_chapter1.htm

The rest of the chapters can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/muir/index.htm


Home and Farm Food Preservation
-------------------------------
By William V. Cruess (1918)

Have added several more chapters to this book...

Chapter XXI - Canning Meats

36. Canning Meats without Preliminary Cooking
37. Canning Cooked Meats
38. Canning Corned Beef
39. Canning Fresh Fish
40. Canning Kippered Fish

Chapter XXII - Fruit Juices

41. Apple Juice
42. Red Grape Juice
43. Loganberry, Blackberry, and Raspberry Juices
44. Lemon Juice
45. Orange Juice
46. Orange-Lemon Juice
47. Grape Fruit Juice
48. Pomegranate Juice
49. Pineapple Juice
50. Clarification of Fruit Juices

Chapter XXIII - Recipes for Sirups

51. Fruit Sirups for Cooking Purposes
52. Fruit Sirups for Table Use
53. Fruit Sirups by Sun Evaporation
54. Fruit Sirups Made by the Addition of Sugar
55a. Sorghum Sirup
55b. Manufacture of Sorghum on Small Commercial Scale
56. Sugar Beet Sirup

Chapter XXIV - Recipes for Jellies and Marmalades

57. Jellies
58. Jelly Stocks
59. Jellies without Cooking
60. Orange Marmalade
61. Grape Fruit and Other Marmalades

Chapter XXV - Recipes for Fruit, Butters, and Pastes

62. Fruit Jams
63. Fruit Butters with the Addition of Sugar
64. Fruit Butters without the Addition of Sugar
65. Fruit Pastes

Chapter XXVI - Recipes for Preserves

66. Fig Preserves
67. Peach, Pear, and Quince Preserves
68. Strawberry Preserves
69. Watermelon Preserves
70. Tomato Preserves
71. Preserved Kumquats
72. Preserves made without Cooking

Chapter XXVII - Candied Fruits

73. Candied Fruits with Use of Sugar Tester
74. Candying Fruits without the Use of a Sugar Tester

All the chapters can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/food/preservation/index.htm


Parish Life in the North of Scotland
------------------------------------
By Rev. Donald Sage A.M. (1899)

Have now completed this book with the following chapters...

Chapter XX - "The Valley of the Shadow
Chapter XXI - Parochial Duties and Experiences
Chapter XXII - Co-Presbyters and Fellow Labourers
Chapter XXIII - Evangelistic Journeys
Chapter XXIV - Second Marriage. Personal Friendships
Chapter XXV - Changes in the National Church

Here is how Chapter XXIV starts...

1826-1827.

THE time of my marriage was now close at hand, and I made preparations accordingly. The first was to provide supplies for the pulpit of Resolis during my absence, which could not be less than a fortnight. The Thurso sacrament was to be administered on the 11th of June, and my marriage to take place nine days afterwards. On my journey to Thurso I stopped at Kincardine manse, on Wednesday,. the 7th of June. Mr. and Mrs. Allan, my kind friends, received me with much cordiality. Mrs. Allan was sister of my co-presbyter, Mr. Stewart of Cromarty. Some years before then I had seen her when a young lady at the manse of Kirkhill. Her marriage with Mr. Allan took place very soon after mine with my departed and beloved Harriet; for on our way north we met Mr. Allan near Pitmachie going south for a similar purpose. Nothing could have conveyed to my mind at the time a more perfect idea of connubial bliss than that presented to my view by this most amiable couple during my stay under their most hospitable roof. [Mr. Hector Allan was ordained missionary-minister of Fort-William in 1819, and translated on 12th April, 1821, to Kincardine in the Presbytery of Tain. He died 9th December, 1853, in the 63rd year of his age and 35th of his ministry.—Ed.] Next day I proceeded on my journey, and after crossing Bonar Bridge, struck across the hill, by Torboll and the Mound, to Golspie. I arrived at Thurso on the evening of Friday, the 9th.

I had resolved, in existing circumstances, to make as few public appearances on that occasion as I possibly could, and, notwithstanding Mr. Mackintosh's pressing solicitations, I declined preaching in English at all. I consented only to preach in Gaelic at the tent on Saturday, and exhort at a few tables in the same language on Sabbath. My venerable friend Mr. Cook of Dirlot preached in English on the Monday, and I engaged his services to solemnise our marriage.

On the 20th June, 1826, our marriage took place as appointed. Mr. Cook performed the nuptial rite. Those present were, Mr. and Mrs. Mackintosh and family. Capt. and Mrs. Sutherland, Mr. George Sinclair, yr. of Ulbster, and Mr. William Smith, minister of Bower. We all dined together at the manse, and my wife and I remained over night. Capt. Sutherland and his wife (who was Mr. Mackintosh's eldest daughter) and Miss Margaret Sutherland, from Dunfermline, the youngest daughter of Mr. William Sutherland, minister of Wick, accompanied us next day as far as Ulbster, Capt. Sutherland's place of residence. Whilst visiting at Wick, in her father's lifetime, I had seen Miss Margaret Sutherland, but had little or no acquaintance with her. She might then be about twenty years of age, and fifteen years had passed since, so that she was now considerably beyond her prime. She accompanied us from Caithness to Resolis, and resided with us for nearly twelve months. It was then that I was able to appreciate the excellence of her Christian character. In respect of meekness I never met with her equal. It was indomitable, and rose above every rude assault made upon it. Nor did this arise from any natural want of perception or sensibility. Her perceptions on all subjects were clear and scriptural, and she was largely endowed with all the finer sensibilities of our common nature. This great equanimity of mind, and temperance in all things, contributed to secure to her uninterrupted health; and, when at last attacked with a deadly disease, the patience with which she bore it helped to defer the final issue.

You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/parishlife/chapter24.htm

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


Poenamo
-------
Sketches of the early days of New Zealand, Romance and Reality of Antipodean life in the infancy of a New Colony by John Logan Campbell (1881)

We now have up several chapters...

THE TOWN THAT NEVER WAS.

Chapter VII.
The Mess of Pottage which floored the King of Waiou's Grand Scheme

BOOK THE THIRD.

WITH THE MAORIES ON TE HAURAKI SHORE.

Chapter I.
Why we Invaded Waiomu
Chapter II.
We are Adopted by the Ngatitamatcras
Chapter III.
We Secure Apartments for the Winter Season
Chapter IV.
De Pluribus Maori Rebus
Chapter V.
A Maori Wake

Here is how Chapter IV starts...

Big bluff Waipelia, King of Waiou, but now of no subjects dependent on his barrack-bunk and table d'hote six-dollar-a-week hospitality, gave us a kind, hearty shake of the hand and our boat a vigorous shove into deepwater as we bade him farewell that eventful morning when we started, not only for Waiomu, but in the race of life, for in reality this was our true starting point.

We had been hovering about the course, not knowing exactly for which stake we were going to run, but the die was cast now. We had the world before us, and we must make or mar our own fortunes, for on ourselves only we must depend. It did not seem a 's-cry aspiring step to go and live at a small Maori village and help a Pakehia carpenter to build us a boat, but here we were, turning our backs on civilisation, deserting the grand Herekino promenade, with no higher object than first to have a boat built, and thereafter to go and squat on a little island utterly beyond the pale of even Pakelia sympathy. However, it was setting our feet on the first round of the ladder.

"Haere—haere!" exclaimed Waipeha as the rowers dipped their oars in the water, and we turned our backs upon the glories of Herekino. There stood the king all alone. How changed the scene from what it was when I first landed and saw a knot of gay young fellows playing pitch-and-toss with sovereigns! Those coins were not so plentiful again for many a long year, though, fortunately, we did not know it.

"You'll come back here when the boat is finished before you go to the Waiternata," shouted Waipeha to us.

We waved our assent, turned the point or the bay, and were out of sight.

Many were the occasions upon which afterwards for a decade of years I stumbled across Waipeha, but from that day when we left him standing on the shore of his deserted kingdom, his former glory, which had now so completely waned, never returned, and the King of Waiou, by slow but inevitable degrees, was robbed of his once supreme power.

You can read the rest of this chapter at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/nz/poenamo/book3-chapter2.htm

We now have the first few chapters up which can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/nz/poenamo/index.htm


Fraser's Scottish Annual
------------------------
These are articles from the 1900 - 1904 issues of Fraser's Scottish Annual.

To William Black
A Pen Etching
The Gordons at Haddo
Loch Earn at Midnight
Some Phases of Scottish Faith
The Singer of Songs
Scottish Song

Loch Earn at Midnight

By Rev. G. M. Milligan, D.D., Toronto

NEXT to his own county for all that is beautiful, every Scotchrnan places Perth. This is proof sufficient of the pre-eminent attractiveness of this fair shire. In the summer of 1897 I had a most delightful ten days' holiday in this charming country. I shall never forget the afternoon and evening spent at St. Fillans, a picturesque village at the eastern end of Loch Earn—especially the evening. An hour before midnight my travelling companion and I went out to view the scene before retiring to rest. What a scene! Stretching away to the west some seven miles, the lake lay placid as a mirror. On its bosom a short distance from us, the isle where the Neishes were murdered by the MacNabs reposed in such profound sleep that it had entirely forgotten the tragic ''thing behind." The moonlight glanced upon the eastern end of the Loch through the foliage, presenting the appearance of molten silver bubbling up from subterranean wells, or silver lamps carried round and round by invisible. hands. The hills crept down to the margin of the Loch like varders guarding its very sleep. So great was the stillness that one could fancy he might hear a leaf fall. A misty, dreamy light suffused all the landscape. In that eerie hour in such environment, with the wierd past in so romantic a setting, who needs feel ashamed that either he or his fathers believe in ghosts?

The other articles can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/canada/annual/


The Autobiography of Dr. Alexander Carlyle of Inveresk (1722 - 1805)
------------------------------------------------------
It is said that this is one of the top 5 books to read if you wish to understand more about Scottish Life.

The first chapter starts...

HAVING observed how carelessly, and consequently how falsely, history is written, I have long resolved to note down certain facts within my own knowledge, under the title of Anecdotes and Characters of the Times, that may be subservient to a future historian, if not to embellish his page, yet to keep him within the bounds of truth and certainty.

I have been too late in beginning this work, as on this very day I enter on the seventy-ninth year of my age; which circumstance, as it renders it not improbable that I may be stopped short in the middle of my annals, will undoubtedly make it difficult for me to recall the memory of many past transactions in my long life with that precision and clearness which such a work requires. But I will admit of no more excuses for indolence or procrastination, and endeavour (with God's blessing) to serve posterity, to the best of my ability, with such a faithful picture of times and characters as came within my view in the humble and private sphere of life, in comparison with that of many others, in which I have always acted; remembering, however, that in whatever sphere men act, the agents and instruments are still the same, viz, the faculties and passions of human nature.

You can get to this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/carlyle/index.htm


Report on the Burns 250 conference in South Carolina
----------------------------------------------------
We got in a report on this conference which you can read at http://www.electricscotland.com/burns/burns_250.htm


Highlander and his Books
------------------------
By Frank Shaw

It is a joy to welcome Clark McGinn back to these pages. Clark is a world ambassador for Scotland at large and Robert Burns, in particular. I’ve always heard there are types of people on earth: those who are Scottish and those who wish they were!  Clark McGinn is a man who will make the former very proud of their Scottish roots, leaving the other group wishing, even more so, that they were Scottish.

During the 2009 Burns Season, Clark spoke at New York, Oslo, City of London, Edinburgh, Birmingham, London, Westminster Abbey, Stockholm, Grosvenor House London, London, Chicago, and Washington, DC. All together, he has spoken at 17 such events. While a lot of us will be asked to speak next year during “Burns Season”, Clark is already booked in 2010 in New York, Harrow, Birmingham, and London.

Clark McGinn was born in Ayr and educated at Glasgow University. He now works as a senior director in a London bank. In his spare time McGinn speaks and writes on Scottish subjects, including Burns Suppers. His first book: The Ultimate Burns Supper Book, was published in 2006 and his newest publication, The Ultimate Guide To Being Scottish, were both published by Luath Press.

You can read the rest of this book review at http://www.electricscotland.com/familytree/frank/mcginn.htm


The Scots Magazine
------------------
I added a wee article about the history of the Scots magazine and DC Thomson also kindly donated a pdf file on Oor Wullie and the Broons. You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/articles/scotsmagazine.htm


Renaissance Faire, North Carolina, 2009
---------------------------------------
Report from Michael Craig

Michael has sent us in a wee article and some pictures from this event. In the event you'd like to get a CD with the hundreds of pictures he took let us know and for a small fee he'd be happy to master a CD and send it to you. You can read the article at http://www.electricscotland.com/gatherings/nc2009.htm


Topography of Great Britain
---------------------------
This is a 26 volume set which we felt was worth making available on the site. Volumes 24, 25 and 26 are to do with Scotland but as the Scots also were well traveled in England and Wales we thought it worth making the whole set available.

These volumes give you place names and distances between them as well as information on the history, agriculture, manufacturers and other information on the areas. The files are between 18 and 23Mb in size.

You can get to these at http://www.electricscotland.com/books/pdf/topography.htm


And that's it for now and hope you all have a good Easter weekend :-)

Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com 

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