Celtic Life - 25th Anniversary - Special Edition

On this beautiful sunshined day, while reading away stories from Celtic Life -  25th Anniversary Special Edition which compiles the “Best of the Best” articles published in the last quarter century,  a title grabbed my fullest attention: Child Slaves From Scotland; A Story rarely told .   !!??

Child Slaves From Scotland by Douglas MacGowan - Source: Celtic Life (celticlife.ca)

Written back in 2001 by Douglas MacGowan, it’s an horrific account on Scottish slavery. Slavery was dubbed “the most profitable evil in the world”.

In his article, Douglas McGowan talks about:

• An Opera telling the story of two slaves from Scotland: Haki and Hekja who journeyed to North American shores with a group of Vikings
• The practice of selling children into slavery as portrayed in Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel Kidnapped
  
• Peter Williamson’s memoirs written in 1756 which got him arrested for publishing his ordeal of being forced into labour

Took me only two seconds to raise from my reading chair  and get in front of my computer to google away about the Opera!

Not that I’m a fanatic of Operas, but because I wanted to know more about the legend and eager to discover what triggered Michael Parker’s mind to compose an Opera around Haki and Hekja’s legendary story.

Here’s what I found…

THE LEGEND

Haki and Hekja

Together since childhood, they were captured in their late teens by Viking raiders on their home island of Stronsay, taken to Norway, and sold to King Olaf Tryggvason who gave them as a gift to Leif Eiriksson when he was visiting Norway.

Leif Eiriksson took Haki and Hekja back to Greenland with him and later loaned them to Thorfin Karlsefni to aid him in his expedition to Vinland, which is where we find them in this opera.

Leif Ericson Discovers America - Source: history-world.org

 

They are in a sense one person and rely on each other’s companionship to endure their slavery and exile. Their slavery, however, which has lasted for over ten years, is somewhat paradoxical because, being swifter than deer, they could simply run away from the Vikings on one of their scouting missions.

Part of the problem has been that in the rugged countries of Iceland and Greenland where the Vikings have taken them, Haki and Hekja have had nowhere to run to where they could survive on their own.

The other factor is that running together gives them a sense of freedom which allows them, temporarily at least, to transcend their pain and deny the real condition of their lives.

Hekja especially has entrenched in her character the state of shock they experienced when their families were slaughtered and they were taken to a foreign country in chains.

Their exceptional ability as runners, in fact, is an outgrowth of that shock, an expression of their desire to escape the horror the Vikings brought on them. Thus, ironically, they have accommodated their slavery.

Their skill as runners that has made them valuable to their masters has also been their own solace. But in Vinland Hekja sees the possibility of escape and transformation.

Although Haki is deeply tempted, he continues to be more inclined to accept the conditions of Viking society and to hope for freedom within it. What he longs for is to return to their ancestral island in Scotland, to continue their family’s interrupted history there.

Hekja still feels herself propelled away from her old home by the horror that destroyed it; only more distance and more change will satisfy her.

They both vacillate in their wishes; both feel they have been weakened by collusion and dependency.

Source: http://www2.swgc.mun.ca/mparker/visitor.htm

THE IDEA FOR AN OPERA

As mentioned below, Michael Parker was commissioned by Music Canada 2000 and the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra to write an opera to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the Viking arrival in Newfoundland.

The Visitor: an Opera in Five Scenes with Prologue. Op. 58 (2000) Curtain Calls -Opera- The Visitor- Source: www2.swgc.mun.ca In 1998,  the Newfoundland Symphony and Music Canada 2000 commissioned me to write an opera to be premiered in 2000 to commemorate the millenium anniversary of the discovery of Newfoundland by the Vikings. I approached Newfoundland writer John Steffler to produce the libretto. He went to the Vinland Sagas and found a reference to three obscure characters: two Scottish slaves named Hekja and Haki, and a German rune-stone carver named Tyrkir. John Steffler (L) and Dr. Michael Parker - Source: www.mun.ca/gazette/2000-2001 These became the focus of the libretto and the opera. The Visitor is scored for Mezzo-Soprano (Hekja), Lyric Baritone (Haki), Bass Baritone (an Icelendic Bard, Tyrkir, Decker) and Speaking Part (an Interpreter, Agnes), and chamber orchestra consisting of 2 Violins, Viola, Violoncello, Contrabass, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Piano and 2 Percussion. The plot is a simple one on the surface. The first three scenes take place in AD 1000 as the Vikings are about to return to Europe from Vinland (Newfoundland). In the last two scenes, the setting suddenly changes to AD 2000 although Hekja and Haki remain. The two Scottish slaves, brought to Vinland by the Vikings to reconnoite the place, are trying to decide whether to return to Europe with their Viking masters or to escape from them to take their chances in the new world. As they ponder these choices, they encounter several other characters. In Scene II, they encounter Tyrkir, a German rune-stone carver. He is disgusted with life in the new world and longs to return to his wife in Europe. In Scene IV Hekja and Haki meet Agnes, a modern doctor who has come to Vinland to escape painful memories of the brutal murder of her family in Africa. They also meet Decker, an archaeologist who sees in the 1000-year-old artefacts of the Vikings a chance to better his position in his job. In the end, Hekja and Haki make their decision. At its heart, The Visitor is an opera about home, about where we all belong, about wishing for better things somewhere else while perhaps not recognizing those precious things that are right at hand. The opera was written between January 1999 and March 2000. It received two very good concert performances in September 2000. As a result of those performances, I have decided I would like to revise some of the work. I look forward to doing that in the near future. http://www2.swgc.mun.ca/mparker/opera.htm

 THE AUTHOR/COMPOSER

Michael Parker - Composer - Source: www2.swgc.mun.ca

Welcome to my homepage.

I am a composer of contemporary concert music. I was born in Toronto but have been living in Newfoundland since 1976. The next few years will see some important anniversaries for me.

2006 will mark my 30th year living in Newfoundland.

2007 will mark my 30th year of teaching at Grenfell College, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Finally, 2008 will mark my 60th year of living on this planet. What I’ve been doing during all this time is documented throughout this site. I hope you enjoy it.

This webpage will provide you with detailed information about all of the compositions I have written. It will also give you some insights into my live outside of composing. (…)

Newfoundland 1941 Sir Wilfred Grenfell Stamp Commemorates His Hospital Ship: Strathcona II

Further Reading:

THE VIKINGS, NEVIL SHUTE AND CAPE COD

Cape Cod was discovered by the Vikings a thousand years ago. That is what is believed by many researchers after reading the Vinland Sagas. The geography fits perfectly. It is also what Nevil Shute believed when he wrote his novel, An Old Captivity in 1940 and his screen play, Vinland the Good in 1946 about Leif Ericsson’s visit to Cape Cod.

(…)

Nevil Shute visited Cape Cod in 1939 and described Cape Cod as one of the most beautiful places in the world. Interested in the Viking sagas, Shute wrote his sixth novel, An Old Captivity, about the Vikings discovering Cape Cod. It is set in the 1930s and is about an archeologist who explores the Viking sites on Greenland. He hires a pilot to take him there from England in a seaplane. The pilot, overworked and under great stress, cannot sleep so he takes sleeping pills and dreams about Leif Ericsson and two Viking slaves, Haki and Hekja.

http://www.nevilshute.org/cc05.php

I’m now going to dig into the other two aspects of slavery mentionned in Douglas MacGowan’s article: the practice of selling children into slavery and the story of Peter Williamson’s book: The Life and Curious Adventures of Peter Williamson, Who Was Carried Off from Aberdeen, in 1744, and Sold for a Slave , and will come back with more.

A bientôt!

Janice

John MacCrae - Scott 487 - October 15, 1968

Ken McGoogan, Harper Collins, First Edition 2010

.

In reading Mairiuna’s very moving post “In Flanders Fields…Lest We Forget…“, a question came to my mind: when did John Alexander McCrae’s ancestors emigrated to Canada?

Glancing through the bookshelves of my library, looking for a reference book that could answer this question, I stumbled upon Ken McGoogan’s  book “How The Scots Invented Canada“.

Ah ah! maybe I’ll find my answer in here…

The book is divided in three parts:

• The Pioneers
• The Builders
• The Visionaries

Surfing down the table of contents, I get to chapter 14:  “Ladies from Hell” where I happily can read the title of a sub-chapter: John Alexander McCrae: In Flanders Fields.

Alleluia! I found something!

But, why in the world would John McCrae fall inside a category such as “Ladies from Hell” alongside with Guy Laffin, Margaret MacDonald, and Max Aitken ?!?

Let’s read on…

(…) But during the Great War, 600,000 Canadians had served in the military. More than 60,000 had died and 170,000 were wounded, including some who were disfigured or dismembered. Today, those figures look almost surreal.

Black Watch Piper Figurine

Proportionately, given a population of only eight million, Canada made a contribution which exceeded that of virtually any other country.

During that war, members of Canada’s kilted regiments distinguished themselves. They performed so valiantly that they became known as “the ladies from hell“, because that is what the German troops are said to have called them. People also marvelled at the ethnic diversity of these Scottish battalions. Canadians of various heritages, including my Huguenot-descended grandfather, had taken to identifying themselves as warrior Scots.

And why not? Scots had begun forging a military reputation in Canada as early as the 1750s. Three Scottish regiments fought for Britain during the Seven Years’s War that saw the defeat of New France: : the Black Watch, the Montgomery Highlanders, and the Fraser’s Highlanders.

The first two had already distinguished themselves in that war, the Black Watch with a ferocious but futile assault on Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga), and the Montgomery Highlanders by capturing Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh) . (…) “

Now we know where the expression came from!

Getting back to my initial quest, here’s what Ken McGoogan reveals about the ancestors of John McCrae.

” The paternal grandparents of the doctor-poet, Thomas McCrae and Jean Campbell McCrae, came from Scotland in 1849 and settled in Guelph, Ontario. Their son David married Janet Simpson Eckford, and John (b.1872) was the second of three children.

He grew up staunchly Presbyterian and attended Central Public School and then Guelph Collegiate Institute. While there, he played the bugle in a military regiment commanded by his father, and also began writing poetry.

Photo by Bill Barber - Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wdwbarber/3012604983/

(…) McCrae had remained involved in the military, moving from Guelph militia regiment to the Toronto-based ‘Queen’s Own Rifles’, where he became a captain and commanded the company. He also continued to write – notably some poems inspired by the death of a woman he loved. While at university, he published sixteen poems and several short stories in various magazines, among them Saturday Night. (…) ”

Ken McGoogan | kenmcgoogan.com

As stated by Peter Mansbridge on the back cover of the book, ‘Ken McGoogan is required reading for any Canadian who want to know the real history of our country’. And that’s just what I am going to do…read the whole book. 

When I started researching on the subject of Scottish migrations to Canada, I was amazed to learn how many emigrants has become Canadian nation-builders from coast to coast, and a little book written by James Alexander Roy, ‘The Scot and Canada‘ is a ‘must’ for all Scottish-Canadian readers.

(…) By the time they have reached the second generation they have become more Canadian than Scot, yet they have retained the qualities that make for success, and have given their racial characteristics to Canada more than any group.

In the first half of The Scots and Canada, Professor Roy outlines the conditions which have governed the growth of the Scottish mentality. In the second half he comes down to cases, depicting some of the outstanding Scots associated with British North America, including those who came to Canada by way of Continental Europe and the United States.

He recalls romantic incidents that have been too lightly forgotten, as for instance in the pages dealing with Flora MacDonald which alone makes the book worthwhile.

The account of Lord Selkirk’s Settlements in Prince Edward Island and on the Red River is particularly good. Admirably told, also, is the story of the Scots in Upper Canada. (…)

Happy reading!

Talk soon,

Janice

PS: being myself a Scottish descendant, for my grandmother, on the paternal side, was Elizabeth Mitchelson, born in Berthierville, QC, Canada on January 1, 1888 from Scot descendant Joseph Mitchelson (b. May 1860) and Celanire Pelland Martin (b. March 1863), residents of ville Jacques-Cartier (which since 1969 was renamed “Longueuil” ) , I’m in the works of sketching out the branches to upper levels of ancestry.  Wish me luck my friends!

Soon it will be Armistice Day marking the end of the terrible conflict in Europe

when our soldiers bled with yours.

Iain and Margaret

Hi everybody,

A WEE surprise from Iain and Margaret was waiting for us in the mailbox yesterday… a BIG wee surprise I must say ;-) and another one from Janice too! WOW! It’s so very kind of them! And it came at a time when I needed something to cheer me up after a crash of my computer had let me in a very bad mood and with lots of problems to solve!

We found treasures on opening our packets and I will share them with you soon: Iain and Margaret sent us a very interesting book about the Auld Alliance ;-) and also a funny little volume containing an article about George Mackay Brown, my very favourite Scottish author. As for Janice, she sent me a book containing a beautifully illustrated Irish ghost story. She knows how I do love ghost stories and with Christmas approaching , it’s a good time to read ghost stories, isn’t it? Of course, you’ve not forgotten Dickens’s famous and marvellous Christmas Carol. Indeed, George Mackay Brown who wrote a great number of short stories did write a few excellent ghost stories too.

But an article sent by Iain & Margaret quickly drew my attention. It was entitled «The unknown soldier : how a corpse became the focus of a nation’s grief». Our friends have an extraordinary sense of ‘à propos’ often sending us cards, books or documents which recall the stories of great people and events just before anniversary dates. This time we were about to celebrate the Armistice Day.

The unknown soldier - The Week 15 November 2008 1

 ‘As an outpouring of public grief, only the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, has ever matched it.’

The unknown soldier - The Week 15 November 2008 2

I sat in front of the fire and soon got deeply immersed in this article, trying to imagine the hell into which so many people had been precipitated. Ten million people lost their lives in WWI and many families, from all over the world, can claim as their own one or even several of the white little crosses which line on endless rows in the French military cemeteries. When I was a young girl I often wondered about the big portrait of a handsome young soldier hanging on the wall in the room where we slept during the holidays at my grandmother’s house. I soon learned that it was the portrait of her first husband. She never spoke of him but I know it took years to find his body on the battlefield where he had been buried bayonet in hand during a shell attack. They have been able to identify him thanks to his number plate and his portrait had been done well before his body was found.

Life and Nothing But Bertrand Tavernier film 1989

There is a very beautiful film by Bertrand Tavernier with Philippe Noiret and Sabine Azéma about the search and identification of WWI lost soldiers.

I’ve chosen a few interesting extracts from the article:

In November 1920, the decomposed corpse of an unidentified British soldier was sent to London, to be entombed amid much pomp and solemn ceremony in Westminster Abbey. John Preston recounts the story of the Unknown Warrior.

On the stroke of midnight on 7 November, 1920, Brigadier General L.J. Wyatt, General Officer Commanding British Troops in France and Flanders, entered a hut near the village of St Pol, near Ypres in northern France. In front of him were the remains of four bodies, all of them lying under Union flags. Earlier that afternoon, the bodies had been disinterred from unmarked graves in each of the main battlefields: the Aisne, the Somme, Arras and Ypres. Four blank crosses had been chosen from the forest of crosses that now covered the shell-pocked French landscape.

Wrapped in old sacks, the four dead soldiers had been brought to St Pol, where they were received by a British clergyman and two undertakers who had travelled to France for the occasion. The exhumation party had been ordered to find bodies of men who had died early in the War, to ensure they had sufficiently decomposed so as to be unidentifiable. Nevertheless, the bodies were inspected again, for identifying marks, then placed inside the hut for the rest of the day. Wyatt stepped into the hut as midnight struck. He lifted up his lantern to take in the scene. Then he simply reached out and touched one of the Union flags. That was it; he had made his choice. He had picked a body to go inside the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior.

In death, the body was to enjoy a fate that would, in all probability, have been unthinkable in life. Feted by the King-Emperor, attended with the most lavish pomp and solemn ceremony that the country could muster, this collection of bones was about to become the focus of a nation’s grief (..)

Amid all the public anguish, no one thought to wonder what had become of the other three bodies that had been disinterred from their unmarked graves. A rather less exalted fate awaited them. After Wyatt had made his choice, the Union Flags were folded away. Then the three bodies were loaded onto the back of a truck, tipped into a shell hole beside the road near the town of Albert – and promptly forgotten.

 

“I’ve found on You Tube an interesting video based on historical documents which perfectly illustrates this horrible page of history.

Unknown Soldier’ after WWI .A tree is felled from the grounds of Hampton Palace. It is made into a coffin of English Oak. Fixed atop is a 16th century crusaders sword, taken from the Tower of London.

A British soldier, unknown by name or rank, is exhumed from the battlefields of World War 1.

In France 1000 school children form a mile long procession in front of his coffin.
In England a King and Country wait to honour him. A cenotaph is unveiled to him and all the glorious dead.”

(Comment from Psari)

Tomb of the Unknown Warrior Westminster Abbey London

BENEATH THIS STONE RESTS THE BODY
OF A BRITISH WARRIOR
UNKNOWN BY NAME OR RANK
BROUGHT FROM FRANCE TO LIE AMONG
THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS OF THE LAND
AND BURIED HERE ON ARMISTICE DAY
11 NOV: 1920, IN THE PRESENCE OF
HIS MAJESTY KING GEORGE V
HIS MINISTERS OF STATE
THE CHIEFS OF HIS FORCES
AND A VAST CONCOURSE OF THE NATION

THUS ARE COMMEMORATED THE MANY
MULTITUDES WHO DURING THE GREAT
WAR OF 1914 – 1918 GAVE THE MOST THAT
MAN CAN GIVE LIFE ITSELF
FOR GOD
FOR KING AND COUNTRY
FOR LOVED ONES HOME AND EMPIRE
FOR THE SACRED CAUSE OF JUSTICE AND
THE FREEDOM OF THE WORLD

THEY BURIED HIM AMONG THE KINGS BECAUSE HE
HAD DONE GOOD TOWARD GOD AND TOWARD
HIS HOUSE

‘On the morning of 10 November, the coffin was taken to Boulogne. With it were six barrels of earth from the fields of Flanders. In Boulogne, the mile-long cortège passed through the streets of the town to the strains of a military band playing Chopin’s Funeral March.

From Piano Sonata Op.35 No.2 played by Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli

A Very Long Engagement Jean-Pierre Jeunet 2004

Some random principle wanders through the world,

choosing people for no good reason and plunging them into hell (…)

Hell, hell, hell, hell, hell.

(John Burnside – Glister)

Let us end on a more sentimental note. I’ve seen this film. It’s a very moving one. Some passages about war in the trenches are so hard to watch that I nearly went out of the cinema in the middle of the film. Nevertheless it’s a great film with remarkable actors. It won many awards.

Many thanks to Iain and Margaret for having shared with us this article on that particular day. Let us pass the message, how sad it be, lest we forget our soldiers who fell on France and Flanders fields…

A bientôt.

Mairiuna

It is fascinating to learn that King James Bible is the most published book of Bible translation!

As an introduction to its famous story, click on the arrow below to watch the video and discover, how very long ago, it all came to form…

The Marshall Islands sheetlet of 12 stamps, celebrating the 400th Anniversary of the King James Bible, depicts the twelve (12) apostles, with the portrait of King James VI of Scotland (and James I of England) in the four corners of the salvage.

Apostle Andrew
Apostle Philip
Apostle Simon
Apostle James the Lesser
Apostle Paul
Apostle Matthew
Apostle James the Greater
Apostle Thaddeus
Apostle Peter
Apostle John
Apostle Bartholomew
Apostle Thomas

 

Marshall Islands - May 2,2011- King James Bible 400th Ann - Sheet 12 stamps

In 1567, James Charles Stuart was crowned King James VI of Scotland at the age of just 13 months. Reared by tutors, he became one of history’s most learned and intellectually curious monarchs. His writings were among the most influential of their period, and his book, — Basilicon Doron — or “the Kingly Gift” — became a bestseller. In 1603, he ascended to the English throne and became King James I of England as well.

Perhaps King James is best known for commissioning a new translation of the Holy Bible. The Authorized King James Version — begun in 1604 and completed in 1611 — has eclipsed all previous and subsequent versions of the Bible.

In 2011, the world celebrates the King James Bible’s 400th Anniversary.

Source: Unicover.com

Stamp designs ©2011 Marshall Islands Postal Service Authority. All rights reserved.

BIBLE TRANSLATION TIMELINE:

Bible Translation Timeline - Source: www.kingjamesbibleonline.org

If you wish to read more about the fabulous story of King James Bible, hop over to the Official King James Bible Online website, into the section dedicated to the 400th Anniversary of King James Bible.

Enjoy and talk soon,

Janice

AMAZON CUSTOMER REVIEWS

This review is from: Holy Bible King James Version Study Bible (Burgundy) (Leather Bound)

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional value!

by “rnf4118″ (SW Oklahoma)
1. GENERAL EVALUATION: The intent purpose of a Study Bible is to give the reader assistance in understanding the scriptures through cross references, comments and exegesis carefully compiled by a board of theology scholars. There are many Study Bibles available, as you likely discovered [....] Each version and publisher differs to varying degrees. I own and use four Study Bibles. All my Study Bibles are very helpful.

The Holy Bible King James Version the King James Study Bible from Thomas Nelson Publishers is an outstanding value. [....]

2. FORMAT: The binding is genuine leather with gold color stamped letters. The page are also gold edged. The paper is high quality Bible paper and thin but not so thin that the printing on the reverse pages is distracting. This Bible is quite thick. The flexible leather covers are very helpful in holding the pages open for easy reading. A stiff cover might make the inside printing somewhat hard to see. The type font is large and very easy on the eyes.

The page format is the standard two column Bible arrangement with a third column between the main texts. The center column is a wealth of information. In the middle column, references to related scriptures are given. Also if an original Greek or Hebrew word has more than one meaning, that meaning is printed in the center column. There is more information in the center column that is too lengthy to describe in this review but a complete, clear explanation is given in the front section of this Bible. Suffice it say that the center column alone can indeed greatly expand the meaning of the texts.

Icons are used to clarify to what a note or comment refers. Doctrinal Footnotes Icons are used for systematic Biblical teachings. Personality Footnotes Icons give descriptions and information on persons in the Bible. Archeological Footnotes Icons refer you to information about places in the Bible and recent discoveries. These footnotes and icons are of significant help to the reader.

The Holy Bible King James Version the King James Study Bible differs from many Study Bibles in the format the notes are presented. The notes are, as with most Study Bibles, on the lower part of the scriptures pages. However, in many Study Bibles, you will see: See notes on Mt 4.16 as example. Turning to that reference can cause one to lose the train of thought. This is not so in The Holy Bible King James Version the King James Study Bible. In well over 90% of footnotes, all the information pertaining to the text is on that page – complete.

The expositors did an exceptional job of a running account of clarifying each verse! There are many references to the original meaning of Greek in the NT and Hebrew words and thoughts in the OT. This, alone, should help the reader gain a better understanding of the Bible.

Maps are included on the pages to which they relate.

3. CONCLUSIONS: Nelson’s comment, “The most comprehensive KJV Study Bible ever printed” is indeed accurate. The study notes and comments are, to say the least, profuse and in depth.

A word, if you will, on the debate over the King James Version. Some folks claim the King James Version is not an accurate translation. This is simply not true. This version is, in reality, quite precise. The basis of this opposition may well be in the language used in the 1600s when the King James Version Bible was translated. The word archaic language pops up in most debates. Archaic is not the proper word. POETIC is! The wording in the King James Version is lilting, flowing like a Mozart symphony. Archaic, no. Beautiful, yes. If you are one who thinks the King James Version is archaic, try reading the lines as you would a poem. Allow the words to sing the message.

- 4 – CONCLUSION: No mater what translation a person selects and/or prefers, they all tell the same time proven, enduring message.

To augment understanding of the Bible, I would suggest reading whatever version you prefer with a copy of The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. This book has Greek and Hebrew dictionaries. You do not have to know Greek or Hebrew to use the dictionaries. The words you want defined are looked up in the concordance in English and referenced by numbers in the Greek or Hebrew dictionaries. While the words are in Greek or Hebrew, they are also transliterated into English. [...], this book is a real bargain.

I have no reservations in giving this exceptionally well-done Bible five stars.

I hope my comments are of some value to you.

 

The King James Study Bible -Thomas Nelson (June 16, 1993) - 2,208 pages

I sincerely hope the weather is fine while you are roaming the roads during this festive season to visit family members and relatives in different parts of your lovely French country.

Upon your return, you will have added more than 2,000 kilometers to your car’s km counter and that is quite some mileage!

Let us take together a moment to wish all Scotiana’s loyal readers, a very Safe & Happy Holiday season, and all the very best for the New Year!

The Christmas Holiday season being one of sharing, I would like to share a very inspirational story about someone who has benefited by the “Habit of Going the Extra Mile”.

It starts like this…

“Many years ago, an elderly lady was strolling through a Pittsburgh Department Store, obviously killing time. She passed counter after counter without anyone paying any attention to her. All the clerks had spotted her as  an idle “looker” who had no intention of buying. They made it a point of looking in another direction when she stopped at their counters.

Finally the lady came to a counter that was attended by a young clerk who politely asked if he might serve her. “No,” she replied. “I am just killing time, waiting for the rain to stop so I can go home.”

“Very well, madam,” the young man said with a smile. “May I bring out a chair for you?” And he brought it without waiting for her answer. 

 After the rain slacked, the young man took the old lady by the arm, escorted her to the street, and bade her goodbye.  As she left, she asked him for his card.

Several months later the owner of the store received a letter, asking that this young man be sent to Scotland to take an order for the furnishings of a home.

Andrew Carnegie -USA 1960 Scott# 1171

The owner of the store wrote back that he was sorry, the young man did not work in the house furnishings department. But he explained that he would be glad to send an “experienced man” to do the job.

Back came a reply that no one would do except this particular young man. The letters were signed by Andrew Carnegie, and the “house” he wanted furnished was Skibo Castle in Scotland.

The elderly lady was Mr Carnegie’s mother. The young man was sent to Scotland.

He received an order for several thousand dollars worth of household furnishings, and with it a partnership in the store. He later became the owner of a half interest in the store.”

Skibo Castle in Scotland | Source: www.libraryhistorybuff.org

Isn’t this a great story! It’s taken from Napoleon Hill’s book The Master-Key To Riches, a timeless and such useful work for all motivational thinkers.

We should always make a greater effort to get the task done correctly, or to please someone. Going the extra mile also means ”to do more than one is required to do” to reach a goal. Very inspiring…

Andrew Carnegie - Scottish Immigrant

Andrew Carnegie was born on November 25, 1835 in Dunfermline, Scotland. In 1848, the family moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where Carnegie eventually made his fortune in the steel industry.

In 1900, he sold his steel company, to become the “richest man in the world” and dedicated his time to philanthropy. Carnegie created many funds, charities, and foundations to distribute his wealth, but the bulk of it would go towards education, mainly libraries.

Carnegie was strongly opposed to war and used his finances for publications and conferences to promote peace. Through his efforts, he established eleven national hero funds, three temples of peace and an endowment for international peace. Andrew Carnegie died on August 11, 1919.

Source: www.epokhe.com/entrepreneurs/andrew-carnegie

Great Britain Aerogram - Andrew Carnegie | Source: libraryhistorybuff.com

Larry T. Nix from the libraryhistorybuff.com wrote a great philatelic tribute “Carnegie Librairies on Stamps” and the stamp images below are sourced from his site.

Andrew Carnegie donated more than $56,000,000 for construction of 2,509 english-speaking library buildings

.

Canada - Victoria Public Library in Victoria, BC (1904) - Funding came from Andrew Carnegie

Other Related Webpages:

- Andrew Carnegie: A 175th Anniversary Tribute

- Carnegie Library Links

I’m gonna treat myself tomorrow and go to the bookstore to buy more Napoleon Hill & Andrew Carnegie related books.  I suggest you do too

Bye for now,

Janice

As mentioned in my previous post, Donald Alexander Smith (1820-1914), 1st Baron Strathcona, was famously known for having created, at its own expense, the most illustrious military regiment, the Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians).

Born on Scotland’s northeast coast, in the small town of Forres, Morayshire, in Scotland, he really had simple personal taste.

Sleeping no more than six hours a day, preferring soda water to whisky and citing porridge as his favourite dish, his endurance was remarkable.

He had unusual courteous manners, was never rude but always managed by his evasiveness to subtly get out of all kinds of situation.

Donald Alexander Smith had always been interested in Scotland’s most popular glen, Glencoe, that was owned by the McDonalds of Glencoe until 1894, when Archibald Burns McDonald put the land up for sale.

The Pap of Glencoe, Scotland © Scotiana 2007

He probably heard about the sale of the Glencoe Estate while working at the Hudson Bay Company in Canada from the mouth of a colleague who happened to be the son of Archibald McDonald of Glencoe.

Upon taking possession of the Glencoe Estate in 1895, he moved from Canada to Scotland with his wife Isabella Sophia Hardisty and built a very imposing house, the Glencoe House.

Even though he planted a Canadian-like  tree forest on the Estate to resemble his wife’s native land’s environment, she could not overcome home sickness. They consequently moved back to Canada and a portion of the land was transformed into a beautiful park offering three different walking trails, known as the Glencoe Lochan Walks.

The Glencoe House was subsequently transformed in a hospital for elderly people. In 2009 , the Glencoe Hospital last three patients were transferred to a nearby nursing home as the building is in the process of being sold.

Old Glencoe House, now Glencoe Hospital © Scotiana 2007

Donald Alexander Smith - 1st Baron Strathcona (Source: www.glencoe-heritage-trust.com)

When news leaked out that he had chosen the title Lord Glencoe, after a glen where Scottish chieftains had been slaughtered in 1692, a glen he had only recently acquired, colleagues prevailed on him to reconsider. He created the name Strathcona, a Gaelic variant on Glencoe.

Lobbying by Tupper and Chamberlain allowed his first peerage to be superseded by a second, created on 26 June 1900, permitting the title to pass to the male heirs of his daughter. Smith delivered his maiden speech in the House of Lords in the summer of 1898.

He was named a fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1904, when he was given the Albert Medal for his services to railways. He was made a GCVO in 1908 and a knight of grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem in 1910.

“In 1935, the Strathcona family sold most of the estate to a number of buyers, retaining a portion for themselves. In 2001 the last remaining part of the Glencoe Estate was put up for sale by the descendants of Lord Strathcona.

The land comprised of about 130 acres, including the largest stretch of the River Coe;   a half share of the historic Eilean Munde (traditional burial place of the McDonalds of Glencoe); The ruined Old Mill of Glencoe;  the Crofters Common Grazings;   the last remaining Ancient Woodlands of Glencoe;  Fishing rights on Loch Triachtan; plus 8 miles of Salmon netting rights on Loch Leven”

Glencoe Lochan Trail, Scotland © Scotiana 2007

“Owing to the historic nature of the land, the sale generated much interest, and was complex. Alistair MacDonald, a descendant of the McDonalds of Glencoe, realized that the only way to save this land was by raising private funds, as government support was highly unlikely.

At the eleventh hour, Alistair secured the sum of £105,000 from family & friends by way of unsecured loans, and after careful consideration by the sellers, his bid was accepted; he immediately formed The Glencoe Heritage Trust, who own the land.

A worldwide appeal was immediately set up to repay the six donors, and to date £49,000 is required to ensure that these historic lands never come up for sale again.”

Source: http://www.glencoe-heritage-trust.com

Glencoe Lochan Trail © Scotiana 2007

No wonder the MacDonalds were eager to buy back the ancestral land!

The Guide to Glencoe & Loch Leven qualifies the walking trails of Glencoe Lochan as  “the most idyllic settings one can come across”.

The Guide To Glencoe & Loch Leven

Do not hesitate to tour the site if you happen to be near. We had the pleasure of doing so in 2007 and brought back wonderful memories.

I personally appreciated the “Canadian” look of the trail as it reminded me of lakes from my native country.

Talk soon.

Janice

Loch Katrine Scotiana.com 2007

Loch Katrine Scotiana.com 2007

Once more, history, legend and landscape happen to be intricately mixed in our discovery of Scotland, each element contributing in its own way to enhance our sense of place there. We’ve made several incursions into the Trossachs during our different tours in the country and in 2007 we drove along Loch Katrine up to its end, discovering on our way breathtaking landscapes on a very sunny day. On the shore of this beautiful loch,  we found a blue board giving us information about the history of the place.

Scotiana.com 2007

It read :

Children of the Mist

Loch Katrine was made famous by the exploits of real-life Rob Roy MacGregor, whom Sir Walter Scott romanticised as his Highland hero.

For hundreds of years this land belonged to MacGregors, the Children of the Mist. Rob Roy MacGregor – clan leader, dispossessed landowner, cattle trader and rustler – was born nearby in Glen Gyle, at the head of the Loch.

Tradition has it that Rob Roy MacGregor sought to revenge the cruel attack on his wife and the loss of his home at Craigrostan at the hands of the Duke of Montrose’s men.

He stole rent collected by the Duke’s evil factor and kinsman, Graham of Killearn, and carried him off to the island, now known as Factor’s Island. Rob forced the factor to write to the Duke demanding compensation for burning Craigrostan, but he let him go unharmed. Killing the factor would only have added to Rob’s problems!

So, we were driving on Rob Roy’s territory ! What better guide to visit the country than the Scottish Robin Hood! But let us try to know more about our invisible fellow traveller.

No doubt that Rob Roy is a venerated figure in Scotland !  Suffice it to say that crowds of visitors go to see his grave at Balquhidder and his birth place at Glen Gyle. Monuments have been erected here and there in the country and there are entire rooms dedicated to his memory in Scottish museums.

Rob Roy statue Peterculter Scotiana 2007

One day, while we were driving across the bridge of Culter Burn, at Peterculter, in Aberdeenshire, we suddenly noticed, in the distance, a very colourful statue standing out in the greenness of a dense vegetation, on the ledge of a cliff overhanging a roaring torrent.  We immediately stopped the car to take photos! Could it be a statue of Rob Roy?

Rob Roy statue Peterculter Scotiana.com 2007

What we could see, with a close-up of our camera, was the painted statue of a strong man clad in highland dress and armed with a long sword and a round shield covered with brass studs. Judging by the spike sticking out of it that kind of shield must have been as offensive than defensive. After them!

MacGregor tartan (Vestiarium Scoticum) Source : Wikipedia

The vivid colours suggested that the statue had just been painted and though we’re not expert in the subject, the tartan worn by the statue appeared to be that of the MacGregor clan. Interestingly enough, I’ve seen other pictures of this statue since, and on them Rob Roy seems to be wearing different colours. But we know there can be many variations in the colours of a clan tartan.  I’ve also learned that the Peter Culter statue of Rob Roy had been erected to commemorate his flight from Aberdeen in the early 18th century after he had visited some relatives of him to gain support for the Jacobite cause.

Frederick, Warne & Co edition

Much of what I’ve learned about Rob Roy, apart from the usual web sources and Walter Scott’s novel Rob Roy,  I’ve got it from this old beautiful edition of a book I have in my library and which was written by Francis Watt and Andrew Carter, two English reverends who had travelled all over Scotland. It’s good to begin with such attractive reading before immersing in more austere books of history.

Frederick Warne & Co edition Frontispice illustration

Picturesque Scotland illustration

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Rob Roy’s real name was Robert MacGregor. He got his nickname when he was young, because of his red hair.  When the name of MacGregor was outlawed, in 1694, he adopted his mother’s name of Campbell but finally he arranged to have the words “MacGregor despite them” engraved on his tombstone, in Balquhidder.

Rob Roy was born in 1671 at Glen Gyle. In 1693, he married Helen Mary of Comar, a member of the MacGregor clan, and first lived with his family at Portnellan, on the north side of Loch Katrine.

After a tumultuous life as an outlaw, he was finally rehabilitated and died peacefully in Balquhidder, in December 1734, at the age of 63.

He was immortalised in Sir Walter Scott’s novel Rob Roy, published in 1818. I’ve begun to read this book, all the more interested by the story that it begins in Bordeaux.

Walter Scott Rob Roy Folio edition 2001

Among several editions of the book which can be found in my library I’m particularly fond of the illustrated Folio 2001 edition.

For those who aren’t against a romanticized version of history I would mention the film by Michael Caton-Jones with Liam Neeson and Jessica Lange (2001).

Rob Roy Michael Caton-Jones 2001

Here’s an extract of the film.

And I will end this post by encouraging people who like walking to embark on one of the most interesting thematic trails organized in Scotland, the Rob Roy Way…

Have a good walk, virtual or not !

A bientôt. Mairiuna

November 11-1918 at 11:00 am, a day to remember…

50th Ann Death John MacCrae issued by Canada Post - October 15, 1968

John McCrae, a canadian physician, grandson of Scottish immigrants, appointed as a field surgeon in the Canadian Artillery during WWI is the author behind the most memorable war poem of his time.

Even though he practised medicine for several years and served in the South African war, Dr John McCrae could never get used to the view of blood, tears and atrocious suffering of people.

During the horrible battle in the Ypres in the spring of 1915, his young friend and former student, Lieut. Alexis Helmer of Ottawa, Ontario, only 22 of age, died under his eyes.

With extreme sorrow, the following day, while observing the wild poppies blossoming and swirling in the wind amongst the killed soldiers, Major McCrae silently wrote…

In Flanders Field-Eilean Donan Castle - Scotiana.com 2001

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

— Lt.-Col. John McCrae (1872 – 1918)

My friends from Bordeaux at the John McCrae Memorial- Eilean Donan Castle - Scotiana.com - 2001

John McCrae Memorial - Eilean Donan Castle - Scotland - Scotiana.com 2001

The last line We shall not sleep, though poppies grow / In Flanders fields might point to the fact that some kinds of poppies can be used to derive opium from, from which morphine can be made. Morphine is one of the strongest painkillers made from poppies and can be used to put a wounded soldier to sleep. Sometimes medical doctors used it in a higher dose to put the incurable wounded out of their misery.

Why does poppies grow in Flanders fields?

Because poppies is the only flower that lives when everything else in the neighbourhood is dead. The poppies seeds can lie on the ground for years and years, and only when there are no more competing flowers or shrubs in the vicinity (for instance when someone firmly roots up the ground), the poppies seeds will sprout.

There was enough rooted up soil on the battlefield of the Western Front; in fact the whole front consisted of churned up soil. So in May 1915, when McCrae wrote his poem, around him poppies blossomed like no one had ever seen before.

http://www.poppies.ws/poppies/in-flanders-fields-the-poppies-blow.html

Eilean Donan Castle - Scotland - John McCrae Memorial -Scotiana.com 2001

Further readings:

In Flanders Fields: The 1917 Campaign, factual history book  by Leon Wolff in 1958 on the 3rd Battle of Ypres. Quite a rare find as this book is out of print and can usually be find only in large public or university libraries.

At the end, we can find a passage of Sartor Resartus written by Scottish writer, Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) which tries to explain the reasons and causes of such an horrible war as the Great War, if not all wars:

Sartor Resartus by Thomas Carlyle - Ed George Bell & Sons - 1898

…there dwell and toil, in the British village of Dumdrudge, usually some five hundred souls.

From these…there are successively selected, during the French War, say thirty able-bodied men: Dumdrudge, at her own expense, has suckled and nursed them; she has not without difficulty and sorrow, fed them up to manhood, and trained them to crafts, so that once can weave, another build, another hammer, and the weakest can stand under thirty stone avoirdupois.

Nevertheless, amid much weeping and swearing, they are selected; all dressed in red; and shipped away, at the public charges, some two thousand miles, or say only to the south of Spain; and fed there till wanted.

And now to that same spot in the south of Spain, are thirty similar French artisans, from a French Dumdrudge, in like manner wending: Till at length, after infinite effort, the two parties come into actual juxtaposition; and Thirty stands fronting Thirty, each with a gun in his hand.

Straightway the word “Fire!” is given: and they blow the souls out of one another and in the place of sixty brisk useful craftsmen, the world has sixty dead carcasses, which it must bury, and anew shed tears for. Had these men any quarrel? Busy as the Devil is, not the smallest!… their Governors had fallen out; and, instead of shooting one another, had the cunning to make these poor blockheads shoot.

Alas, so it is in Deutschland, and hitherto in all other lands…

MEMORABILIA

2008 Royal Canadian Mint Flower of Rememberance Coin - Scotiana.com

2008 Royal Canadian Mint Flower of Rememberance Coin - Scotiana.com

“Between 1914 and 1918 over 650,000 Canadian men and women fought to protect the peace and freedom our country enjoys today.

Of those, more than 66,000 gave their lives and another 170,000 would be wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian medical officer during the First World War, was responsible more than any other for the adoption of the poppy as a symbol of remembrance in Canada and the Commonwealth.

McCrae was also the author of the famous war memorial poem In Flanders Fields.”  Source: CoinNews.net

A portion of the poem is printed on the Canadian $10.00 banknote

$10 Canadian Banknote - Verso

Sir John A. Macdonald, depicted on the above banknote was Canada’s first prime minister and held office from 1867 to 1873 and again from 1878 to 1891.  He was born on 11 January 1815 in Glasgow, Scotland, and died on 6 June 1891.

and last, but not least…

Canada's First Ever Lenticular (Motion) stamps

The lines:  “To you from failing hands we throw the torch; be yours to hold it high” have been adopted as the motto of the Montreal Canadiens hockey team.

We remember…

Governor-General-Foot-Guard-Member-Shows-25-Cent-Poppy-Coin

Talk soon.

Janice

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