tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52316935162266542602015-06-28T07:17:49.736-07:00On this day in ScotlandIan Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.comBlogger439125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231693516226654260.post-65872486263820392522011-02-01T07:30:00.000-08:002015-02-01T10:15:35.920-08:00'Bloody Friday' - the Battle of George SquareOn the 1st of February, 1919, after ‘Bloody Friday’, soldiers patrolled Glasgow’s streets.<br /><br />“I rode a tank <br />In the General Strike <br />When the workers raged <br />And Government stank.” <br /><br />Anyone with an interest in 20th Century politics and the history of Scotland will undoubtedly have seen a famous, black and white image of ‘Red Clydeside’. It’s a newspaper photograph of the raising of the ‘Red Flag’ above thousands of striking engineering workers who massed in Glasgow’s George Square during the ‘General Strike’ of 1919. The mass demonstration became the notorious ‘Battle of George Square’ and it took place on the last day of January, 1919. The newspapers of the following day dubbed it ‘Bloody Friday’ and the extraordinary industrial and political militancy that spawned those events led the Russian revolutionary leader, Vladimir Lenin, to dub Glasgow “the Petrograd of the West.” By the next day, the 1st of February, the Government had deployed its soldiers and tanks on the streets of Glasgow.<br /><br />After the First World War, the campaign for a shorter working week and improved conditions for workers remobilised the organised labour movement. In 1919, Glasgow’s engineering unions called for a general strike, starting on the 27th of January, to demand a 40-hour week. That took place in the midst of an era of political radicalism known as ‘Red Clydeside’, which was a significant landmark in the development of the movement in the United Kingdom, and Scotland in particular. It grew out of socio-political militancy amongst industrial workers on the banks of the River Clyde; in places such as Clydebank, Greenock and Paisley, and it lasted from the 1910s until, roughly, the 1930s.<br /><br />Of course, the media of the day brought the term ‘Red Clydeside’ into popular consciousness, but that’s fine; that’s a purpose of newspapers. In some ways, it was a 20th Century manifestation of the concerns that led to the formation of the ‘Friends of the People’ in 1792 and the ‘Radical War’ of 1820. As the organised left grew to replace the Liberal Party as the party of the working class, several ‘Red Clydesiders’ were elected to Parliament at the 1922 General Election. Two of the Clyde Workers’ Committee strike leaders, Emanuel Shinwell and David Kirkwood, joined other Independent Labour Party members, such as James Maxton, John Wheatley, Neil Maclean and George Buchanan, in the House of Commons.<br /><br />On the 31st of January, a massive trade union rally took place in George Square, where it has been estimated as many as 90,000 were present when the ‘Red Flag’ was raised. Whilst the flag was run up, strike leaders were meeting inside the City Chambers with the Lord Provost, Sir James Watson Stewart, who was due to read a public response from the Government to the Unions’ request for intervention. Outside, it was a riot. It has been said that it started after a tram tried to make its way through the square, but whatever provocation the Police might have had in its collective heads to justify its actions, a baton charge was mounted against what had been, up to that point, a peaceful demonstration. Issue 237 of the ‘Socialist Review’ (January, 2000) suggests the Police acted “under secret Cabinet orders”, but in any case, the Police launched a savage, unprovoked baton charge on the demonstrators, felling men and women. The crowd, with many ex-servicemen to the fore, quickly retaliated with fists, iron railings, which were pulled up, and bottles from a passing lorry, before forcing the Police into a retreat.<br /><br />Sheriff MacKenzie attempted to read the ‘Riot Act’, but it was torn from his hands and fighting continued, in and around the city centre streets, throughout the rest of the day and into the night. The Townhead area of the City and Glasgow Green, where many of the demonstrators had regrouped after the initial Police charge, were the scenes of running battles. Earlier, when the noise reached the Provost’s office, the strike leaders rushed out to see what was happening.&nbsp; Kirkwood was promptly felled by a police baton and, along with Gallacher, Shinwell, Harry Hopkins and George Edbury, was arrested and charged with incitement to riot. The next day, the 1st of February, the front page of ‘The Strike Bulletin’, the official publication of the ‘40 Hours Movement’, carried the headline “Glasgow’s Bloody Friday – Brutal attack on defenceless strikers.”<br /><br />At the news of the gathering, the Coalition Government appears to have panicked. No doubt it feared a threat to order, but maybe even a Bolshevik-style insurrection. After all, it was only fourteen months since the Russian Revolution and the German Revolution was a current affair. In fact, the Secretary of State for Scotland, Robert Munro, said at the time, “It is a misnomer to call the situation in Glasgow a Strike - this is a Bolshevist uprising.” The Home Secretary, Winston Churchill, sent 10,000 soldiers armed with machine guns, six tanks and a 4.5 inch Howitzer to Glasgow; the largest deployment of British troops on native soil. The army appeared on Glasgow’s streets on the 1st of February, 1919, in a calculated show of force. The Howitzer was positioned at the City Chambers, the cattle market was transformed into a tank depot, Lewis Guns were posted on the top of the North British Hotel and the General Post Office, and armed troops stood sentry outside power stations and the docks. Revealingly, the Government’s intent is obvious from civil unrest ‘Regulation 965’, which stated ominously that “It is undesirable that firing should take place over the heads of rioters or that blank cartridges should be used.” Other ‘rules’, such as reading the ‘Riot Act’ or consulting with Magistrates were only to be followed “if time (or circumstances) permits.”<br /><br />Churchill confined the local regiment to its barracks in Maryhill, fearing the Glasgow troops would sympathise with the strikers, but the claim that all deployed troops were English isn’t backed up by contemporary accounts, which stress the youth and inexperience of the soldiers, rather than national origins. There are mixed reports, such as in ‘The Times’ of the 3rd of February, 1919, in which a veteran, based with the Seaforth Highlanders at Cromarty, recalls, “We had no idea what was going on in Glasgow. But one morning the whole battalion was paraded and all men from Glasgow and district were told to come out to the front of the parade. We thought that was us going to be demobbed, but instead we were kept in Cromarty while all the rest (around 700 men) were sent to Glasgow to shoot if it were necessary.” Contrast with the January 30th Minutes of the War Cabinet Meeting, which record Sir William Robertson stating that “there were certain disadvantages in employing Scottish troops, but on the whole he thought it would be safer to use them than to import English battalions.” Also, the ‘Evening News’ of the 31st of January, which reported “long columns of khaki-clad men who belong to the Seaforths, the Gordons and other Highland regiments.” Interesting.Ian Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231693516226654260.post-43690589687544945412010-10-21T23:56:00.000-07:002014-10-06T01:31:04.920-07:00Sir Roderick Impey Murchison<span style="font-weight: bold;">Sir Roderick Impey Murchison</span>, 1st Baronet, KCB, DCL, FRS, FRSE, FLS, PRGS, PBA, and MRIA, pause for breath; the geologist and geographer who established the Silurian and Devonian systems, and predicted the discovery of gold in Australia, died on the 22nd of October, 1871.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Roderick Impey Murchison</span> was saved from a life of idle debauchery, and the butchery of foxes, by an interest in geology he got through the encouragement of Sir Humphrey Davy and the eccentric William Buckland. After helping Wellington win the Peninsular War, Murchison turned to hunting and killing foxes instead of Frenchmen. He was exceedingly capable at both these pursuits, but the novelty kinda wore off and, thankfully for the advancement of science, he thereafter devoted the rest of his life to geology. In keeping with his earlier exploits, Murchison didn’t hang about and after investigating sedimentary rocks in Scotland, the Welsh Borderland and South Wales, he made geological tours “at a furious pace” to continental Europe. He famously visited the Ural Mountains in Russia, where he got the nickname ‘Count Siluria’, and the Alps, where he studied the geological formations. He was the first to penetrate the mysteries of the Permian frost, but before that, he became the first to identify and classify the Silurian and Devonian eras and put a period to the Cambrian and the Ordovician.<br /><br />His important contributions included ‘The Silurian System’ in 1839 and ‘Geology of Russia in Europe and the Ural Mountains’, which he co-wrote with the French palaeontologist, Edouard de Verneuil, and the German geologist, Count Alexander von Keyserling. Obviously, the Peninsular War was long forgotten. In 1839, Murchison’s work on the Devonian with Adam Sedgwick, the Professor of Geology at Cambridge, identified the ‘Old Red Sandstone’ system that a certain Hugh Miller made famous in his book of the same name. Murchison was never shy of publicity and was always in the public eye, but to the layman, he represented the ‘official’ voice of geology and was anything but idle in the cause of the advancement of science. Apart from Hugh Miller, he encouraged the Minister from Newburgh, John Anderson, when he discovered extensive sandstone deposits of ‘ganoid’ fossilised fish in Dura Den, in Fife. Murchison became the top man in British geology when he was made Director-General of the Geological Survey and as many as twenty-three geographic features on six continents have been named in his honour. His personal tally of topographical features includes Mount Murchison in New Zealand, Murchison Falls (he didn’t) in Uganda, the Murchison River in Australia, and Murchison Island off the west coast of Canada. And, there is a 58km wide crater on the Moon that has been given his name.<br /><br />Roderick Impey Murchison was born in Tarradale House on the north shore of the Beauly Firth, not far from Muir of Ord, on the 22nd of February, 1792. Funnily enough, that’s not a million miles from where Hugh Miller was born and reared. At the tender age of seven, Roddie was sent away to Durham School and then spent his early teenage years at the Military College in Great Marlow. Then, at the age of fifteen, Roderick joined the army, where he was commissioned and in 1808, landed in Spain with the ‘Duke to be’ of Wellington. He served his country for eight years before Napoleon’s defeat in 1815 ended both men’s military ambitions. He returned to England, studied arts and antiquities, and took up fox hunting before, at the age of thirty-two, he had his epiphany moment.<br /><br />Encouraged by his wife, who collected fossils, Murchison began to attend lectures at the Royal Institution and became fascinated by the young science of geology. He joined the Geological Society of London, where he gave his first paper in 1825, and thereafter embarked on his travels in geology. His highly acclaimed book, ‘The Silurian System’, resulted from his extensive research into the fossils contained within the ‘greywacke rocks’ – a layer of sandstone in Wales. That work established the Silurian geological time period of 443-417 million years ago and not satisfied with that, he followed it up a year later by identifying the Devonian period of 417-354 million years ago, along with Alan Sedgwick. Spurred on by his success, he took off for Russia and the Urals, where incidentally, a Murchison memorial has now been erected by the ‘Ural-Scottish Society’ in Yekaterinburg. The stone and cast-iron plaque features the tooth whorl of a Permian shark called the ‘Helicoprion’. The chairman of the Ural-Scottish Society, Alexander Zyrianov, said at the time, “We [Russians and Scots] have a lot in common – nature, climate and mountains… We are highlanders and that speaks volumes.”<br /><br />The output of Murchison’s time in Russia was the collaborative ‘Geology of Russia in Europe and the Ural Mountains’ of 1845 in which the Permain period of 290-248 million years ago was first categorised. And it was his study of the deposition of gold in the Urals that contributed to the discovery of gold in Australia. Later, Murchison also produced a collaborative study of the structure of the Alps that would come to be regarded as a classic. Towards the end of his career, he was involved in a wee bit of an argument with another famous Scottish geologist, James Nicol, who held the chair of natural history at the University of Aberdeen from 1853. Murchison and his initially fearsome advocate, the young Archibald Geikie, believed in ‘stratigraphic continuity’, but Nicol proposed that the rock succession was not continuous. That led to the ‘Highlands Controversy’ over Nicol’s theory that the formation had been ‘tectonically’ broken, resulting in the fault zone that runs from Eriboll to Skye and known today as the ‘Moine Thrust’. Murchison’s reputation and Geikie’s support meant that it wasn’t until after Nicol’s death that his theory was accepted, thanks to Geikie, who coined the term ‘thrust’.<br /><br />Sir Roderick Impey Murchison died in London on the 22nd of October, 1871, and was buried in Brompton Cemetery.<br /><br />A new book by Arthur Murchison chronicles Sir Roderick's early life and military career; find it on <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/War-Before-Science-Murchisons-Associates/dp/1936320746/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1412583827&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=War+Before+Science%3A+Sir+Roderick+Impey+Murchison%27s+Youth%2C+Army+Service+and+Military+Associates+During+the+Napoleonic+Wars" target="_blank">Amazon books</a>.Ian Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231693516226654260.post-67803130828591191392013-06-24T11:30:00.000-07:002014-02-11T08:55:49.907-08:00The anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uiLyoOxhxH8/UtlWDKL1JqI/AAAAAAAAAIM/tys7FmM4wOg/s1600/8505f793-cbef-4911-8ed4-99edec2666c6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uiLyoOxhxH8/UtlWDKL1JqI/AAAAAAAAAIM/tys7FmM4wOg/s1600/8505f793-cbef-4911-8ed4-99edec2666c6.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a>Robert the Bruce's speech, prior to the second day of the Battle of Bannockburn, 24th of June, 1314<br /><br />Sometime around midnight, edging into the 24th of June, 1314, Robert the Bruce, in a stirring speech, rallied his closest followers. Round his camp fire, he regaled them with a dramatic monologue, sharing his intimate thoughts about the coming second day's battle and the justification for its fighting, condensing the momentous events that had led them to their present circumstance into a famous rallying cry. To a man and prior to retiring for what would be to more than a few, their last night on earth, they were inspired by their magnificent leader. The results of that motivation were to be seen the following day, when the Scottish army roundly defeated that of England, despite the enemy's superiority in knights and chivalry. It was a shock result that sent reverberations<br /><a name='more'></a>throughout the civilised world and caused it to sit up and once again take notice of the “small country at the edge of the empire” as the Romans once had it.<br /><br />Unbeknownst to The Bruce at the time, a young squire had sat at the fringes of the gathering around the fires, albeit back in the shadows, lest he be seen. That young man had no right of station, which would have entitled him to listen to the Bruce's motivational speech, nevertheless, he overheard it sufficiently well to have been able to record it, most of it, for posterity.&nbsp; Drawn by the sound of his King's voice, the squire took up his clandestine position, but not for any purpose untoward, rather it was as if he'd been magnetised, mesmerised at least, by the compelling authority, power and passion in the voice of Robert de Brus, for ten years King of the Norman-Scots, for better or worse and by might if not right. <br /><br />At the time, the young man was unable to write down the words he had heard, but sat on his haunches, mouth agape, eyes aglow and absorbed, it was as if every word entered his mind through his open mouth and imprinted itself on his consciousness. Weeks later, in the aftermath of battle and despite the sense-numbing carnage of war or perhaps, conversely, because his senses had been heightened by the emotional effects of relief and disbelief at and in the fact of his survival, he was able to put ink to paper and reproduce the famous panegyric.<br /><br />The young squire was Tam Colville, a natural son of Sir Thomas Colville, Lord of Oxnam. No doubt as a result of heroic efforts on the battlefield of Bannockburn, the details of which we can only assume for he neglected to provide us with a version of those events, Tam was knighted, at Cambuskenneth, by the man who had gained yet more right to be called King of Scots. <br /><br />Here then is the extant fragment of the latter part of the panegyric of Robert de Brus, King of Scots, as faithfully recorded by Sir Thomas Colville of Gosford, at Cambuskenneth and sometime during the month of July, 1314. It has been translated from the medieval Scottish vernacular by Ian Colville, a proud descendant of Sir Thomas of Gosford. <br /><br />Note also, however, that at some stage prior to 1356, probably while he was at Dunkeld, Sir Thomas' record somehow found its way into the hands of John Barbour, Archdeacon of Aberdeen from 1356, who it seems incorporated a major part of it into his epic, narrative poem 'The Brus', which he introduced by the words: “My Lords, who'd listen for to hear, romance begins now here.”<br /><br />“...to doubt this truth, this awful fact, disposed<br />'fore God this night with head and heart exposed<br />to doubts and cares in woebegone array<br />would be to say, we have a choice this day,<br />(think you that's true?) I fear you'd not yet stay<br />and choosing lose, instead decide to stray<br />from path of destined fate, our purpose right,<br />o men of steel be true and weigh your might<br />against what's yours by gift and grant to hold,<br />defend and keep, let feudal rule be tholed,<br />it matters not we're here, this watershed,<br />where bolder now by far since Wallace led<br />his men; afraid? not he! (I think you know)<br />we are the brave, are we afeard here now?<br />(uncertain looks, I see) they're echoed here,<br />behind these eyes, my own, there lurks, not fear,<br />a dread perhaps? (for death think you?) this night<br />my friends, that altered state holds neither fright,<br />nor angst, a dies natalis, day of birth, <br />yet I retain a fearful glance (such mirth!)<br />it cannot be, for fear of failure looms,<br />it eats at me, for which my Lady swoons<br />lest we regret this day that's come so near,<br />a morn, if lose we do, when all I fear<br />above all else, the fact of Scotland's shame<br />and not for dying mind, for that, no blame,<br />for not aspiring high, for triumph's lack,<br />for stripes, the masters's game on victim's back<br />and murder, famine, pain all etched in gall,<br />in vacant eyes of villein and the thrall,<br />those folks for whom without we'd not survive<br />for whom perhaps we fight, I may surmise<br />(what's that my friends?) you think I rant or worse,<br />have lost my senses now to speak out thus?<br />for all ye fight for gain of land in fee,<br />rewarded all shall be who fights with me<br />and rightly so, for Norman Seigneurie,<br />but stop, pray think, may I suggest it be<br />your duty lies with you and with your tail,<br />for who will tend the land for whom if fail<br />upon this Park that stretches south to burn<br />with limbs agley, our blood to feed the worm,<br />if all that we achieve this day forsooth,<br />this day, this fateful day, this day of truth,<br />the Feast of John the Baptist, Saint of Rome,<br />let this be Scotland's day, let's send him home;<br />outnumbered by the King's men ten to one<br />(you hear the din, their camp's not far off, son!)<br />de Bohun no longer with them, headstrong lapse,<br />no braver, foolish knight at such synapse,<br />he challenged King of Scots upon the field,<br />yet pose yourselves this query why he failed<br />when mounted on a horse against my mount<br />and wearing helmet, steel cuirass, so stout<br />(ye murmur 'mongst yourselves?) I'll tell you why,<br />a gesture from our God, the Lord on high,<br />despite the sentence passed from Avignon,<br />declared unchurched by Clement Pope, now gone,<br />who has expired, while conclave ballots votes<br />it gives respite, a cry of hope from throats<br />renewed and I, that hewed Red Comyn down<br />forsaken I am not, by God! (ye frown?)<br />as yesterday upon the field I struck<br />and down he fell, the blow that did its work<br />was guided by that hand, the reaper's thief<br />renews our hope, restores our faith, belief<br />in that we're right to stand and fight, destroy,<br />disdain the odds that Edward's men enjoy<br />(and send him homeward, do you say we can?)<br />as well ye know, this King is scarce a man<br />for strife, who thinks this war's already won,<br />we're dealing not with father, but the son<br />who must avoid the shame, curtail dismay<br />get Stirling Castle back by deadline day,<br />unlike his sire, his prime ancestral light,<br />a man you'd underrate through oversight<br />or fault and peril be the consequence<br />of that (a fine reward ye say?) nonsense!<br />It's not the older Edward Rex that shines,<br />who led his armies north too many times,<br />who coaxed the fires from hell, unwelcome guest<br />who tore the heart from hero's beating chest,<br />who drove a last crusade, caused this land strife<br />and died campaigning, how he lived his life,<br />contented not with Aquitaine and Wales,<br />with Ireland vanquished now beyond the pale,<br />he sought dominion here to add to fame<br />as Hammer of the Scots he played a game,<br />direct in line from Odin, doubtless Thor,<br />as Normands heir, he always wanted more<br />and now the Hammer's son, a mallet just<br />who covets what he doesn't want but must,<br />his goal to vie, compete, with father's ire<br />he lacks, it's plain, the spirit of his sire<br />and yet beset by hazard here, one throw<br />is all we have, once cast, the dice will show<br />we trust full sure in strength, we do but seek<br />their doom and pray for one mistake, thou meek<br />and English King, esteem us false and rue<br />the day you challenged Scots of iron brood<br />(I see ye nod at that, my Good Sir James)<br />we fight, but not for glory's sake nor fame,<br />nor welfare of a nation not yet born,<br />the battle looms for life, for if we're shorn,<br />revenge endured shall cause good men to wail,<br />we've come too far from Methven Wood to fail,<br />our fate awaits, think now of honour's heights<br />against the wagered sums of English knights<br />who'll flounder ’neath the trees, a countless sum<br />will die upon our spears, we'll not succumb<br />to yoke of southern foe, we'll make him burn<br />his bannocks men, like Alfred whom we'd scorn,<br />and strive, advance, with but one hundred men<br />of us alive, if that's the outcome when <br />the day is done, declare your rights, your oath,<br />remember that, when next we're in Arbroath<br />and set your heart and strength to win the day,<br />await your foes that come in horse array<br />and ride with speed, their arms so boldly brought,<br />we'll wreak our mighty will, be vengeance wrought<br />with one accord and stubborn versus cruel,<br />we'll stoutly meet the first and still the fools,<br />the hindmost, make them tremble, have a care<br />to carry honour men, this day and bear<br />your arms with pride to gain the end I pray,<br />o Scotland fight with valour, not dismay,<br />ye might have lived in thraldom, never earned,<br />but freedom's not for giving up when yearned<br />for now's the time and now's the hour to fight,<br />Almighty God, we seek your guiding light.”<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />Ian Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231693516226654260.post-87882002416765551252011-11-16T15:49:00.000-08:002014-02-07T09:19:16.953-08:00James Macpherson was hanged in Banff<br /><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">James Macpherson was hanged in Banff on the 16<sup>th</sup> of November, 1700.</div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">James ‘Jimmy’ Macpherson, the famous fiddling freebooter, was a Banffshire outlaw and the last man to have been hanged in Banff prior to the abolition of Heritable Jurisdiction. Whilst the story of Jimmy Macpherson is true, his history has rather become intermingled with folklore, but it seems that the best legends are those that embellish true facts. So, whether or not Jimmy truly was an expert swordsman and a famous fiddler, he does appear to have ended up as the leader of a band of thieves and vagabonds with a sideline as a legitimate horse dealer. He was of gypsy origin as confirmed by the records of his trial, so it’s amusing to think that the lived as a lot of such folk still do, by buying and selling the means of transport; horses then and second-hand cars now. According to many accounts, Jimmy seems to have evolved into Banffshire’s answer to Robbing Hood, but Macpherson's downfall came through conceit. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">James Macpherson was born about 1675, the illegitimate son of one of the Macphersons of Invereshie and a beautiful gypsy girl he met at a wedding. Jimmy was acknowledged by his father and brought up at Invereshie House near Kincraig until that man’s death, after which he was brought up by his mother's people, with some measure of support from his paternal family. Jimmy’s father was said to have been killed while attempting to recover a spread of cattle stolen in Badenoch. His mother’s people were gypsies or ‘Egyptians’ as such folk had been known in Scotland since the time of the early Stewart Kings, given that ‘gypsy’ derives from the term ‘Egyptian’. According to the first volume of the ‘New Monthly Magazine’, Jimmy “grew up to beauty, strength and stature rarely equalled”, but how can we believe that; not even Johnny Depp deserves such an accolade. The anonymous author of that magazine article would also have us believe that “no act of cruelty, or robbery of the widow, the fatherless, or the distressed was ever perpetrated under his command” – and, neither he nor his men had to wear tights under their kilts.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Macpherson’s band of lawless freebooters operated in the shires of Aberdeen, Banff and Moray, and although he was captured on two occasions, he managed to escape on both occasions. According to a report in ‘The New Statistical Account of Scotland’, published by William Blackwood and Sons, in 1845, Macpherson and his large, armed gang developed the habit of arriving on market days in places like Forres, Elgin or Banff and marching in as cock-sure as you like, behind a blawing piper. His ‘reign of terror’ came to an end at Saint Rufus’ Fair in Keith in September 1700, when Macpherson and his crew were surprised by Alexander Duff, the Laird of Braco, and some of his followers. Braco was the first to seize upon Macpherson and a desperate fight ensued in which one of Macpherson’s men was killed. It was only by blankets being thrown over his head from the windows above that his numerous assailants could obtain any advantage over him. However, he still contrived to escape their clutches and fled “seeking to reach the gable of the church” and “parrying the attack of his enemies by the way”. But, “he fell over a gravestone” and was captured and lodged in the tollbooth in Banff. Three of his men, a Gordon and twa Brouns, were also captured and imprisoned.</div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">MacPherson was tried at Banff before Nicholas Dunbar, the Sheriff of Banffshire, on the 8<sup>th</sup>of November, 1700. His three cohorts were tried the following Spring, but bear in mind that at the end of the 18<sup>th</sup> Century in Scotland, it was still a capital crime merely to be an ‘Egyptian’ and it was under such a statute that MacPherson was tried. An extant procès-verbal of his trial records the details for posterity: “Forasmeikle as you James M’Pherson, pannal are found guilty by ane verdict of ane assyse, to be knoun, holden, and repute to be Egiptian and a wagabond, and oppressor of his Magesties free lieges in ane bangstrie manner… Therfor, the Sheriff-depute of Banff, and I in his name, adjudges and discernes you [Macpherson] to be taken to the Cross of Banff… to be hanged by the neck to the death… betwixt the hours of two and three in the afternoon…”</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">The foregoing is essentially fact, but now the legend takes over. Apparently, Macpherson was a fiddler of renown and a composer to boot, but that is something for which there is absolutely no contemporary evidence. One of his men, Peter Broune, who was jailed with him, “got money sometyms for playing on the wiol [viol – a precursor of the modern fiddle]...”, which might be significant; at least it’s an interesting coincidence. On the other hand, a broadside entitled ‘The Last Words of James Macpherson, Murderer’, which was printed about 1705, contains nothing at all about any dramatic gesture such as he was supposed to have made. If true, rarely has death been faced with such perfect contempt as in Macpherson’s grand gesture of defiance before he was ‘turned off’ by the ‘common finisher of the law’ on the afternoon of the 16<sup>th</sup> of November, 1700. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Macpherson’s lasting fame is assured, because everyone is prepared to believe that he not only composed his eponymous ‘Lament’ but that he played and sang it before the gallows. As the final notes died away on the breeze, he offered his viol “to anyone in the crowd who would think well of him” and as no one was brave enough to take it from the hands of a condemned man, he broke it over his knee and cast it into the crowd. Some versions of the story get carried away and report Macpherson dashing his fiddle over the head of the executioner, before flinging himself headlong into oblivion. Other reports suggest he threw pieces of the instrument into his awaiting grave. Both are almost as absurd as his having been at all allowed to play the viol. Nevertheless, the broken remains of his fiddle can be seen in the Macpherson Clan Museum in Newtonmore.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">The tail end of the story involves the legend of the town clock, which was said to have been put forward by a quarter of an hour in order to get Macpherson hanged before the arrival of a messenger carrying a reprieve from the Laird of Grant. Allegedly, the Magistrates were punished for that perfidious expedient and for many years were forced to keep the town clock fifteen minutes behind the correct time. It is also said that Macduff has no west facing town clock visible to the folks of Banff across the bay so they can't see the right time. If you apply some small measure of logic to all of the above, if they were in such an indecent haste to ‘turn off’ Macpherson, you’ve got to ask yourself, why would they have granted him time to cavort on the gallows? Whatever the truth, it is a fact that, to this day, folks in the North East make jokes about the veracity of the time in Banff.</div>Ian Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231693516226654260.post-48043124714476725032010-09-30T00:06:00.000-07:002013-07-19T13:19:48.268-07:00Dr. John Rae<span style="font-weight: bold;">Dr. John Rae</span>, surgeon, fur trader, author, explorer and surveyor of Canada's northern coastline, was born in Orkney on the 30th of September, 1813.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">John Rae</span> was, without doubt, the most outstanding of the 19th Century Arctic explorers, however, he remains somewhat of an unsung hero. In four expeditions to the Canadian Arctic, he explored and mapped over 1700 miles of coastline and it was Dr. John Rae, not Sir John Franklin, who discovered the route of the fabled Northwest Passage. He was a controversial figure and his individualism did not endear him to the establishment, particulary his having ‘gone native’, which was seen as a disgrace. Nevertheless, his character, ability, achievements, legendary powers of endurance and his capacity for leadership single him out as one of the greatest explorers of all time. Latterly, he has been recognised as the foremost authority of his time in cold climate survival and travel techniques. Some of the greatest Arctic explorers, men such as Roald Amundsen, have since acknowledged their debt to Rae’s innovations.<br /><br />The secret of his success was that he was willing to learn and adopt the ways of the indigenous Arctic peoples, such as the Cree Indians and the Inuit, in order to live off the country. He learned vital survival skills such as how to ice the runners of a sled, construct igloos, combat snow-blindness, hunt caribou, seals and waterfowl, and how to store and preserve the meat. He also acquired expertise in making warm and waterproof clothing from animal skins and using snowshoes. Tales of his exploits are legendary as when he walked twelve hundred miles on snowshoes, from Red River Colony to Sault Ste. Marie, in two months and, instead of losing weight, he gained two pounds. That feat earned him the nickname ‘Aglooka’ – ‘he who takes long strides’ – from the Inuit and he was described by a Hudson’s Bay Company clerk as “the best and ablest snow-shoe walker not only in the Hudson Bay Territory but also of the age.”<br /><br />John Rae was born on the 30th of September, 1813, at the Hall o’ Clestrain in the parish of Orphir, in the Orkney Islands. In 1829, he went to Edinburgh to study medicine and qualified as a licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in April, 1833. In the summer of that year, Dr. John Rae was appointed surgeon to the Hudson’s Bay Company ship ‘Prince of Wales’ and sailed to James Bay at the southern end of Hudson Bay. During an enforced stop, due to the early onset of the winter ice floes, Rae relished the harsh conditions, of which he said, “thinking from what I saw that I should like the wild sort of life to be found in the Hudson’s Bay Company’s service.” The Chief Factor recommended Rae to the Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company and as result, instead of returning to Orkney, Rae became resident surgeon at Moose Factory, where he remained for ten years.<br /><br />Rae took part in three searches for the Franklin Expedition, which had disappeared in 1845 whilst trying to find the Northwest Passage. In fact, on an earlier expedition, Rae was actually within one hundred and fifty miles of the Franklin expedition’s two ships, H.M.S. ‘Erebus’ and H.M.S. ‘Terror’, but at that time, he was unaware of their desperate plight. In 1851, Rae found the first evidence of Franklin's presence when he found two pieces of wood in Parker Bay that probably came from one of Franklin’s ships. However, it wasn’t until 1854 that Rae gained conclusive evidence of the fate of Franklin and his men. Arriving at Pelly Bay in April with his two boats and twelve men, Rae met an Inuk who told him about a party of about forty white men who, “four winters past”, had perished from starvation. Some time after seeing the men, the Inuit hunting party had discovered thirty dead bodies and a number of graves. Rae did not actually visit the site of the lost expedition, saying that the Inuit were reluctant to make the ten or twelve day trek. Instead, he relied on their accounts and spent two months with them going over and over the details. He was able to identify the site as being in the vicinity of the Montreal Islands at the mouth of the Great Fish River. He also purchased from the Inuit several items that had belonged to members of the lost expedition. Those included inscribed silverware and Franklin’s ‘Order of Merit’. His investigation proved beyond doubt that all one hundred and thirty-four members of the Franklin Expedition had died.<br /><br />Tragic as that fact was, there was more to come, which caused a sensation in Victorian Britain. Rae reported that “Some of the bodies had been buried (probably those of the first victims of famine); some were in a tent or tents; others under the boat, which had been turned over to form a shelter, and several lay scattered about in different directions.” He went on to add, “From the mutilated state of many of the bodies and the contents of the kettles, it is evident that our wretched Countrymen had been driven to the last dread alternative.” The ‘establishment’ immediately condemned Rae's account and his integrity was called into question. He was labelled an opportunist who relied on the dubious words of “unreliable savages” and criticised right, left and centre, but he stuck to his guns and defended the credibility of his Inuits. His most vitriolic critic was Franklin’s wife, who could be forgiven for grief, but not for her attitude towards Rae. With the help of Charles Dickens, her systematic campaign denied Rae any credit and his place in history. According to Dickens, it was unthinkable that the English Navy “would or could in any extremity of hunger, alleviate that pain of starvation by this horrible means.” Later on, Rae was vindicated, when an 1859 expedition, led by Francis Leopold McClintock, found Lieutenant Crozier’s cairn at Point Victory on King William Island. Subsequent expeditions and modern analysis of the skeletons of some of the last survivors also proved beyond doubt that the bodies had been cut up using knives and that the men had undoubtedly resorted to cannibalism.<br /><br />Frankly, it’s a crime that Franklin remains in memoriam outside the Admiralty and inside Westminster Abbey, lauded as the discoverer of the Northwest Passage. Rae Strait, named after its true discoverer, was the final piece of the Northwest Passage puzzle, which the stubborn Royal Navy refused to acknowledge until Roald Amundsen made it through the ice in the early 1900s and confirmed the fact beyond doubt. Franklin and his officers were posthumously knighted, but Rae alone of all the major explorers of the era has never been granted such honour. In contrast, his fellow Scot and contemporary, David Livingstone, was knighted and buried with full imperial honours in Westminster Abbey. Rae died in London on the 22nd of July, 1893, and was quietly buried in the churchyard of St. Magnus’ Cathedral in Kirkwall. Today, if you pay a visit to the Orkneys, within the Cathedral you will see a striking memorial to this heroic explorer.<br /><br />&nbsp;If you want to read more about Rae, try this excellent biography by Ken McGoogan - <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fatal-Passage-Ken-McGoogan/dp/0553814931/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1374264878&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=fatal+passage+mcgoogan" target="_blank">Fatal Passage</a>.Ian Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231693516226654260.post-62553798861477476742011-07-08T11:51:00.000-07:002013-01-20T12:54:27.572-08:00Sir Henry Raeburn<b>Sir Henry Raeburn</b>, the renowned Edinburgh artist noted for his portraits of Sir Walter Scott and other notables, died on the 8th of July, 1823. <br /><br />Despite being less well known than he should have been outside Scotland during his own lifetime, Sir Henry Raeburn is now recognised as a world class portrait painter. He was certainly the leading Scottish portrait painter during the late 18th and early 19th Centuries. He worked almost exclusively as a portraitist and the demand for his work was sufficient to sustain a career wholly in Scotland. Alongside Sir David Wilkie, Raeburn is considered the founder of the 'Scottish School' of painting. <br /><br />The painting for which he is latterly best known is one that itself was almost unknown until purchased by the National Gallery of Scotland. It is another painting with a long name; his portrait of ‘The Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch’, which most folks would recognise as ‘The Skating Minister’. It is one of Scotland's best known paintings and a kind of Scottish cultural icon.<br /><br />However, a new book, 'Context, Reception and Reputation' (Edinburgh University Press, January, 2013), by Dr Stephen Lloyd, a past Senior Curator for the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, which has contributions from leading academics and art historians, strongly suggests that the painting was not by Raeburn. Lloyd points to X-ray evidence, which reveals that the painting lacks the white lead paint Raeburn typically used for his faces and that, therefore, the work is “utterly alien” to his technique. Lloyd, supported by&nbsp; Pierre Rosenburg, one of the foremost authorities on French painting and a former director of the Louvre, is convinced the work is by French emigre artist, Henri-Pierre Danloux.<br /><br />Raeburn painted many of the most prominent Scots of his day, including Sir Walter Scott and his work did much to define Scottish society in a period of enlightenment and intellectual distinction. His approach was often to paint directly on the canvas without preliminary drawings and he also experimented with lighting effects. Maybe he experimented with white lead free paint once or twice.<br /><br />Henry Raeburn was born in Stockbridge, which is now in Edinburgh, on the 4th of March, 1756. He was orphaned at an early age and brought up under the general supervision of his elder brother William. He went on to be educated at Heriot's Hospital in Edinburgh, now George Heriot's School. At the age of fifteen, he left school to begin an apprenticeship under James Gilliland, an Edinburgh goldsmith and jeweller. Raeburn demonstrated considerable skill painting decoration on ivory insets in jewellery and from that inauspicious beginning it was only a short step to the production of portrait miniatures, which were fashionable at the time. Henry’s first efforts were of his friends and using water colours, before he moved on to the use of oils.<br /><br />Raeburn was almost entirely self-taught, but he showed considerable talent. Via his employer, that talent came to the attention of David Martin, who was then Edinburgh's leading portrait painter and who, for a period during 1775, encouraged Raeburn's work and helped him by lending him portraits to copy. With Martin’s guidance, Raeburn began to develop his personal style and progressed from painting miniatures to full portraiture. A portrait of George Chalmers, painted in 1776, is Raeburn’s earliest known portrait, and its faulty drawing and incorrect perspective suggest his lack of formal training. However, within a fairly short period of time, Raeburn was earning a good living as a portrait artist. <br /><br />In 1778, he married Anne Leslie, the widow of John Leslie, 11th Earl of Rothes, who was twelve years his senior and a mother of three. It is said that he married her within a month of meeting her after being commissioned to paint her portrait. Whatever the truth, his wife was wealthy and having married into financial security, he was able to devote his time entirely to improving his artistic skill and concentrating on his career as an artist. Some years later, in 1784, he travelled to London. Either he was on his way to a tour of Italy, to gain a better understanding of the history and breadth of art, or he was influenced so to do by the English artist Sir Joshua Reynolds, whom he met in London. Reynolds’ works were already familiar to him and he undoubtedly exerted some influence. It appears Raeburn was convinced to study in Italy on Reynold’s advice and that Sir Joshua also gave him letters of introduction to many eminent people in the Italian art scene. He spent his time in Rome, between 1785 and 1786, developing his technique. <br /><br />Raeburn and his wife returned to Edinburgh in 1786/7, where he set up a studio in George Street. He developed from bust-sized figures to full length portraits and his reputation spread. In marked contrast to many of his Scottish contemporaries, who perhaps felt they had to move south to develop successful careers, Raeburn spent most all of his life in Edinburgh, apart from his educational Italian interlude and the occasional trip to London. So, although he was never as well known outside Scotland as his skill deserved, he became hugely influential amongst his contemporaries. In 1798, he moved into a studio at 32 York Place, in the centre of Edinburgh, where the high windows that he installed to give him as much daylight as possible are there to this day.<br /><br />Raeburn spent the next thirty years painting a variety of prominent and influential Scots men and women. By about 1790, he had completed the portrait of his wife and the double portrait of Sir John and Lady Clerk of Penicuik in which he experimented with unusual lighting from behind those sitters’ heads. That was the first of his paintings to be exhibited in London, where it was shown at Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery, in 1792. The background is the estate at Penicuik and the landscape that inspired Ramsay's ‘The Gentle Shepherd’. All told, Raeburn painted over 700 portraits of wealthy and not so wealthy patrons, including four portraits of Sir Walter Scott. Amongst his famous sitters were philosophers Adam Ferguson, Thomas Reid and David Hume, the geologist James Hutton and his advocate, the mathematician John Playfair, fiddler Neil Gow and many others. He also painted two Highland chieftains, ‘MacDonell of Glengarry’ and ‘The McNab’, both of which embody the romantic ideals of his time, no doubt influenced by Scott.<br /><br />Raeburn was elected president of the Society of Artists in Edinburgh, in 1812, and in 1815, the same year as the Battle of Waterloo, he became a full member of the Royal Scottish Academy and of the Royal Academy in London. He was knighted at Hopetoun House by King George IV during his visit to Scotland in 1822 and, shortly before his death, was appointed His Majesty's Limner for Scotland. Sir Henry Raeburn died intestate at his home of St Bernards in Edinburgh, on the 8th of July, 1823. The inventory of his estate, which was administered by his son Henry, lists many payments owing by the rich and famous for their portraits.<br /><br />He is best represented in the National Gallery of Scotland, which contains, amongst many others, his self-portrait and portraits of Sir John Sinclair, Mrs. James Campbell, Dr. Alexander Adam, and Lord Newton. The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Frick Collection in New York City and the Huntington Art Gallery in San Marino, California, have examples of his work. The University of Edinburgh also has a major collection.Ian Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231693516226654260.post-67232778072440563952011-07-25T11:08:00.000-07:002012-11-12T13:30:21.429-08:00Charles Macintosh<b>Charles Macintosh</b>, inventor of the ‘Mackintosh’ raincoat, died on the 25th of July, 1843.<br /><br />Charles Macintosh was a Scottish chemist and inventor whose name is known the world over from the eponymous raincoat. Look it up in a dictionary, but remember to check the spelling; it has a ‘k’ inserted, following the ‘sasunnach’ convention. Interestingly, the first notable use of Macintosh’s rainproof cloth was by Sir John Franklin’s 1924 Arctic Expedition. Of course, his cloth became both indispensable and famous as without Macintosh there would have been no imagery for ‘Aqualung’ nor, indeed, an unforgettable prop for ‘Lieutenant Columbo’.<br />&nbsp; <br />Although Macintosh is primarily remembered for his patented process of using rubber dissolved in coal tar naphtha to produce a double textured, waterproof cloth, he also made a series of important contributions to the field of industrial chemistry. At one time, he had a plant in Glasgow for producing ammonia from coal gas waste and he introduced the manufacture of lead and aluminium acetates to Britain. Macintosh also made advances in cloth dyeing processes and helped develop a method for making bleaching powder. In addition, he patented a way of using a current of coal gas to provide carbon content when converting malleable iron to steel. Unfortunately, the process wasn’t commercially successful, because he wasn’t able to solve the problem of keeping the furnace gas-tight. Macintosh also worked with James Beaumont Neilson on his hot blast process to produce high quality cast iron.<br /><br />Charles Macintosh was born on the 29th of December, 1766, in Glasgow. His father was a Highlander, who had moved to Glasgow to set up a ‘manufactory’ of the purple dying powder called ‘cudbear’, obtained from various lichens and capable of colouring wool and silk. In the 1760s, George Macintosh &amp; Co was located ‘by the Craig’s Park’ in what is now known as Dennistoun. Although he was supposed to follow his father into the business, Charlie gained an interest in the processes employed in the factory and that developed into his passion for science and chemistry. After leaving school, Charlie attended University in Glasgow and became a student of chemistry under Joseph Black at Edinburgh. He was then employed as a clerk with a Glasgow merchant, but he found the time to study science, particularly chemistry. <br /><br />However, by the time he was twenty, Charlie had resigned and opened a plant in Glasgow for the manufacture of chemicals, particularly sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride) and Prussian blue dye. He also traded white lead, a constituent of paint, with the Netherlands. Later, in 1797, he established Britain’s first alum works at Hurlet, in Renfrewshire, for the manufacture of aluminium acetates. He had found a source of the alum in waste shale from coal mines. Macintosh then entered into a successful partnership with several notable characters, including Charles Tennant, who ran a cloth and paper bleaching business in Paisley, James Knox, William Couper and Alexander Dunlop. Tennant also had a chemical works at St. Rollox, near Glasgow, where Charlie helped him develop a dry bleaching powder made from chlorine and slaked lime. Tennant patented the process in 1799 and Macintosh remained a key figure in Tennant Knox &amp; Co. until 1814. The success of the plant made it for a while the largest chemical works in Europe with reputedly the tallest chimney in the world.<br /><br />Macintosh inherited the cudbear factory on his father’s death and armed with a share of the profits from the bleaching business was seeking ways to invest his wealth. Around that time, in 1817, the Glasgow Gas Light Company was established and Macintosh became keen to find a means of using the waste products from the coal gas industry. One such product was coal tar naptha, a volatile liquid hydrocarbon mixture, which was a by-product of distilling tar. Although it could be used in flares, Macintosh worked hard at experimenting to find more ways to yield value from the tar waste and discovered it was possible to dissolve india-rubber in naptha. That wasn’t a novel idea, but Macintosh’s brilliance lay in applying his knowledge of textiles, gained as a dye-maker, to use the liquid rubber for waterproofing fabrics. In June 1823, Macintosh patented his process using a solution of india-rubber in naphtha sandwiched between two layers of woolen cloth. The two-layer concept was also ingenious as the solution remained sticky if left exposed. His patent, No. 4,804, described how to ‘manufacture for rendering the texture of hemp, flax, wool, cotton, silk, and also leather, paper and other substances impervious to water and air’.<br /><br />Macintosh began the manufacture of waterproof textiles, initially in Glasgow and later in Manchester, in 1824, after he went into partnership with the industrialist, Hugh Hornby Birley, who was a director of the Manchester Gas Works and owner of a cotton mill. The result was a factory producing waterproof material marketed under the name ‘Mackintosh’ – with the extra ‘k’. The rainproof cloth was used by the British army and navy, who wouldn’t have minded the smell, and the Franklin Arctic expedition. It was introduced to the general public as the ‘Mackintosh’ – the world’s first raincoat.<br /><br />In 1825, Macintosh granted a licence to Thomas Hancock, the ‘father of the UK rubber industry’, to manufacture his patented ‘waterproof double textures’. Hancock was an important contributor to the development of Macintosh’s material. He became Macintosh’s partner in 1831, and after merging his own company into the business, ran Charles Macintosh &amp; Co. The discovery of vulcanization, initially by Charles Goodyear in 1839, and separately by Thomas Hancock in 1843, the year Charles Macintosh died, completely altered the fortunes of the company. That process solved several problems inherent in the original material, particularly its susceptibility to temperature changes. Further developments led to single texture fabrics, vulcanized using sulphur chloride, and an award-winning appearance at the Great Exhibition of 1851. Charles Macintosh &amp; Co. continued until 1923, when it was taken over by Dunlop.<br /><br />Charles Macintosh was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1823, in recognition of his various chemical discoveries. He died on the 25th of July, 1843, at Dunchattan in Scotland and was buried in the graveyard of Glasgow Cathedral, where a stone in the north wall marks his grave. Charles Macintosh with a ‘k’ and his eponymous invention are as much a part of everyday vocabulary as sandwich, biro, hoover and google; even if posterity continues to misspell his name.Ian Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231693516226654260.post-91589188879764903282012-11-12T10:30:00.000-08:002012-11-12T10:30:04.097-08:00The feast day of St. Machar<b>The feast day of St. Machar</b> occurs on the 12th of November each year.<br /><br />Saint Machar is the patron saint of Aberdeen, which can't be a bad thing as there surely aren't many saints in the Granite City. However, the trouble with Machar is that despite 'giving' his name to the cathedral church in Aberdeen, he's kind of invisible. Reputedly a 6th Century missionary, who was sent by St. Columba to preach on Deeside, he also goes by the names of&nbsp; Mochumma, Mochrieha or Mochreiha. Having a selection of names would appear to make him more visible to history, if only he could be pinned down. And that's the major problem, nowhere in the ancient biographies of St. Columba does Machar appear. <br /><br />If you take the stories of Columba dispatching Machar to Deeside as gospel, surely<br /><a name='more'></a> the latter saint would warrant a mention in the 'Life of Columba' written reasonably contemporaneously by St. Adomnán, the ninth abbot of Iona who knew monks who had known Columba personally. They also knew his followers. The most telling piece of lack of evidence for the existence of any Machar is the absence of his name from the list of the twelve 'disciples' who left Ireland with Colum Cille for their exile in Iona.<br /><br />Basically, St. Machar is either a legend or at best, a case of mistaken identity – some say he's one and the same as St. Mungo. The legends have it that in A.D. 581, St. Machar received word from 'on high' that he should establish a church where a river bends into the shape of a bishop's crosier. Alternative stories suggest that it was Columba who gave Machar instructions to search for a place where a river formed the shape of a crosier and found a church. That alternative legend involves Machar being sent away, because his contemporaries were envious of his 'great powers'. Allegedly a missionary on Mull, Machar is said to have cured lepers and turned a wild boar into stone. So for the sake of peace amongst his flock, Columba sent Machar to convert the Picts. Mind you, he also sent Drostan for the same task.<br /><br />Apart from the cathedral, which doesn't count, there three (only three) pieces of 'evidence' for the existence of a Machar in Aberdeenshire. A wee bit west of Aboyne Castle, there lies what's left of what was known as St. Machar’s Chair (Cathair Mochrieha). Not far away is St. Machar's Well and what's called St. Machar's Cross, cut into a nearby granite rock. In the days of Columba and his contemporaries, such as St. Mungo (Kentigern), Aboyne was the location of a Pictish hillside settlement and a notable place where folks could reasonably cross the River Dee. Maybe Machar, if he truly existed, never got as far as Aberdeen?<br /><br />Nobody can say when Machar became a saint; the dates are not available, just as they are not for Columba, Mungo or Ninian for that matter. That means the personage who got the accolade of St. Machar could have been someone known locally as Machar, but with no connection to Columba's band of followers. Before the end of the 11th Century, it was common practice for local bishops or primates to confer beatification and/or canonization. It was also the case that those honours were always decreed only for the local territory over which the person conferring the accolade held jurisdiction. The practice of conferring universal sainthood is something the then Bishop of Rome introduced around the turn of the 12th Century, by which time St. Machar's legend was probably fairly well established.<br /><br />St. Machar's 'history' stems from a late 14th Century verse account and, primarily, the Aberdeen Breviary, an early 16th Century Scottish Catholic liturgical book. As it was compiled long after the traditional date of Machar's life, it is probably wrong to take the Breviary, which contains brief accounts of various Scottish saints, at face value. The Breviary was edited by William Elphinstone and printed in Edinburgh, in 1507, by Walter Chepman and Androw Myllar.<br /><br />The idea of a Machar being sent by Columba to bring Christianity to the Picts is also, to some extent, a bit dubious. It's claimed that Columba visited the northern Picts of the High King, Brude (Bridei mac Maelchon), in an attempt to bring them the Word of God, with that being the first they'd heard of the Christian deity. However, a quick look at the 5th Century St. Ninian will tell you that, at the very least, the southern Picts had been christianised around a century earlier than Machar and Columba. In fact, it's generally accepted that the Christian faith was brought to Ireland from Scotland and not the other way round, with a pupil of Ninian being one of the prime movers in that regard. <br /><br />How come, if the southern Picts had been Christian, their northern cousins were oblivious to the situation; ask yourself that. The question is a good one if you accept that another of Ninian's pupils, St. Ternan, had established a church at Banchory (Banchor or Bangor) on the Dee, amongst the Picts, at the same time as St. Carnoc was striving to bring the Word to the heathens in Donegal, long before Columba's (and Machar's) birth.<br /><br />Another piece of the puzzle regarding St. Machar is that the Book of Deer, a 10th Century illuminated manuscript from the earlier, 6th Century Pictish monastery at Old Deer in north-east Aberdeenshire, makes no mention of Machar. Quite strange indeed, considering the monastery is associated with one of Columba's mates, Drostan, ostensibly&nbsp; a good mate of Machar – if he existed as such. The Book of Deer, in the possession of the Monastery of Deer prior to 1000, is the only pre-Norman manuscript from that area and provides a unique insight into the early church, culture and society of the period.<br /><br />St Machar's Cathedral in Aberdeen, the history of which does indeed go back to around 580 A.D., is named in Machar's honour, but don't forget that these days it's a Presbyterian church and a cathedral in name only – the Cathedral Church of St Machar. In days gone by, however, it was known as the Cathedral church of St. Mary and St. Machar, with the female saint's name being removed at some stage during the Reformation. What did poor Mary do wrong, you might wonder.<br /><br />Ian Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231693516226654260.post-197905247151568872012-10-08T10:30:00.000-07:002012-10-08T10:30:02.302-07:00Margaret Stuart (Lady Margaret Douglas), Countess of Lennox<b>Margaret Douglas</b> was born on the 8th of October, 1515.<br /><br />Margaret Douglas, who subsequently became Margaret Stuart, the Countess of Lennox, lived in interesting times to say the least. They were also dangerous times, spanning the English reigns of Henry VIII, his son, Edward VI, and his daughters, Mary I and Elizabeth I, and James V, Mary I, Queen of Scots, and James VI in Scotland. Things wouldn't have been so interesting for Margaret if she hadn't been related to most all of the above in one way or another. And she wasn't some distant relation or natural daughter of minor royalty, either; she had a decent pedigree as those things go and, at one time, she was in line to succeed to the throne of England. Not bad for a lassie born to Archibald Douglas, the 6th Earl of Angus, albeit she was born in England, a niece of Henry VIII and a cousin to Mary I and Elizabeth I.<br /><br />Margaret's father, the Earl of Angus was once described by his own uncle, Gavin Douglas, as<br /><a name='more'></a>a “young, witless fool.” Perhaps not so foolish in intent, Angus married as his second wife, none other than Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII of England, elder sister of Henry VIII, and Queen Dowager and Regent of Scotland. Maggie Tudor was the widow of Scotland's James IV, he who had been slain at the Battle of Branxton Edge in 1513. With the Douglas-Tudor marriage on the 6th of August, 1514, Margaret Tudor had to give up the regency as a condition of the late King's will, and that ushered in yet more political strife in Scotland. Was it ever any different? <br /><br />So when John Stewart, the 2nd Duke of Albany, became Regent in 1515, Margaret Tudor was forced to surrender her two sons, the infant King James V and his wee brother Alexander, to him. By then, she had become pregnant with Angus' child and fearing for her safety, she fled to England and pitched up at Harbottle Castle in Northumberland, where her daughter was born on the 8th of October, 1515. Two years later, in 1517, Margaret Tudor returned to Scotland with her daughter. Margaret Douglas then lived in Scotland until 1529, under custody of her father. Margaret's parents were divorced in 1528 and in the year following, the Douglases were proscribed by James V. Margaret's father then sent her to Norham Castle in England, to the household of her godfather, Cardinal Wolsey.<br /><br />After Wolsey died, in 1530, and because of her nearness to the English crown, Lady Margaret Douglas went to live at Beaulieu, the household of her first cousin, Princess Mary. It's interesting to note that the future Queen Mary, who became known as 'Bloody Mary', remained a lifelong friend of Margaret Douglas, a not insignificant Roman Catholic. Mary I restored Roman Catholicism after the short-lived reign of her Protestant half-brother, Edward VI, and in her own five-year stint, had over 280 religious dissenters burned at the stake. They called them the 'Marian Persecutions'. <br /><br />After Henry VIII had divested himself of Mary's mother, Catherine of Aragon, by annulment of the marriage, he took up with Anne Boleyn, the mother of Elizabeth I. When Anne’s court was established, Lady Margaret Douglas was appointed her Lady-in- Waiting. Then, in 1536, when Anne was charged with adultery and treason, Anne's daughter, Princess Elizabeth and her half-sister, Princess Mary, were declared illegitimate, by the Second Succession Act. At that point, Edward VI, son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, had yet to be born, so that left Margaret Douglas in the line of succession to the English throne as a non-illegitimate heir. Margaret found herself heir presumptive to the throne, which placed her in an awkward situation.<br /><br />Maybe she didn't realise just how awkward as she allowed herself to fall in love with Lord Thomas Howard, Anne Boleyn's uncle. In July, 1536, when Henry VIII found out about their 1535 marriage agreement, the King, still without a male heir, threw a wobbler. Henry had the pair arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Lord Thomas was condemned without trial on the 18th of July. The act of attainder alleged that Howard was “...ledde and seduced by the Devyll ...yt is vehemently suspected and presumed malicyously and trayterously myndyng and imagynyng to putt dyvisyon in this Realme. And to interrupt ympedyte and lett the seid Succession of the Crowne... .”<br /><br />Margaret's affair with Howard is immortalized in verses by his nephew, Henry Howard, the Earl of Surrey. Henry and his friend, Sir Thomas Wyatt, were the founders of English Renaissance poetry and primarily responsible for the introduction of the Sonnet, long before Shakespeare. Lord Howard died in the Tower, perhaps of a broken heart at hearing that Margaret had renounced her love for him. Mary was released from her imprisonment two days before Howard's death, his demise occurring on the 31st of October, 1537. With the birth of Prince Edward having taken place on the 12th of October, no doubt Henry felt that Margaret was no longer a “valuable and dangerous pawn in the succession.”&nbsp; <br /><br />Nevertheless, three years later, in 1540, Margaret was back in the Tower, not having learnt her lesson. On that second occasion, it was merely because the increasingly paranoid Henry VIII didn't like the idea of her affair with another Howard nephew, Sir Charles, the brother of the Queen consort, Catherine Howard, his fifth wife. However, she was released after a while and became First Lady Of Honour to Anne of Cleves and later, to Catherine Howard. Incidentally, Howard the poet also succumbed to the paranoia of Henry VIII, when the King had him beheaded on the 19th of January, 1547.<br /><br />Margaret Douglas was also a poet, as is evidenced by the <a href="http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/The_Devonshire_Manuscript/General_Introduction#The_Works_of_the_Devonshire_Manuscript" target="_blank">Devonshire Manuscript</a>, where many of the words she wrote to her lover are preserved, as are Howard's poems to her. The poems were probably composed during their mutual, but separate, imprisonment in the Tower. The manuscript also shows signs that Margaret was a primary editor and two other poems attributed are also included, listed as “the sueden chance ded mak me mves” and “now that ye be assemblled heer.”<br /><br />Margaret eventually married Matthew Stuart, the 4th Earl of Lennox, on the 6th of July, 1544. Their son Henry, Lord Darnley, later wed <a href="http://iainthepict.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/coronation-of-mary-i-queen-of-scots.html" target="_blank">Mary I, Queen of Scots</a> and when Margaret's grandson, James VI of Scotland, became James I of England, the fears of Henry VIII were ultimately realised, long after he'd gone. Margaret Stuart, Countess of Lennox, died on the 7th of March, 1578. <br /><br />Ian Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231693516226654260.post-33914048213200445182012-10-03T10:30:00.000-07:002012-10-03T10:30:01.821-07:00The Battle of Glenlivet<b>The Battle of Glenlivet</b> was fought on the 3rd of October, 1594.<br /><br />The Battle of Glenlivet, which took place near Allanreid and Morinsh, is one of those battles to which several alternative names have been appended. It's been called the Battle of Balrinnes, from Beinn Rinnes, the mountain that formed a splendid backdrop to the engagement and would recollect it still, if asked. The battle is also known as the Battle of Strathaven or the Battle of Allt a' Choileachain (pronounced hullachan), from the wee burn that runs alongside the battlefield. It's probably significant that Historic Scotland's inventory process seems to have settled on Glenlivet.<br /><br />The battle, like many since AD 32, had religious connotations, but<br /><a name='more'></a> politics and power struggles were also at work and that would make it disingenuous to blame it entirely on religion. The Argyll-led Protestant forces at the battle represented Scotland's King James VI (the future James I of England), who was officially a Protestant monarch. The Catholic side was led by Huntly, who was a good mate of the king or at least, he had been – and would be again. It was a kind of love-hate relationship, but you'd have to ask the Cock o' the North for the intimate details. <br /><br />Two years before Glenlivet, Huntly's relationship with the King had been on a good footing, when he received a commission to apprehend James Stewart, the 'bonny' Earl of Moray, and bring him to trial. However, Huntly was responsible for Moray's death at Donibristle, in Fife, slashing him across the face with his sword and eliciting, allegedly, these last words from Moray; “Ye hae spoilt a better face than yer ain.” Interestingly, the king didn't punish Huntly. Some folks say Jamie Saxt was complicit in the murder and there are claims that Moray was the Queen's lover. It would make a good costume drama.<br /><br />Two years later, in 1594, Huntly was a 'Catholic rebel'. The perceived danger to Scotland was the distinct possibility of foreign support for the disenfranchised Catholics, through the intervention of Philip II of Spain, an upholder of the faith if ever one there was. For much of the 1580s and '90s, there had been that potential for an invasion from the continent, to restore Catholicism. The decree of&nbsp; the 12th of November, 1593, by which Catholics were ordered to give up their faith or leave the country, contributed to significant unrest and Huntly, believing himself cocksure in the north, refused to comply. <br /><br />In response to the non-compliance of George Gordon, the 1st of Marquess of Huntly, and Francis Hay, the 9th of Earl of Erroll, the King dispatched to the north young Archibald Campbell, the 7th Earl of Argyll, with a large army. With superior numbers, Argyll could be forgiven for not following advice to wait for reinforcements. With ten thousand men marched to the top of a hill, Argyll quite happily resolved to risk battle against his adversaries' two thousand. Huntly, not about to be assailed in his own castle, had combined his relatively meagre forces with those of Errol, to meet the 'heretics'.<br /><br />The entire Catholic army prepared for battle by invoking Divine assistance through confession and holy communion. A Mass was said at Auchindoun, by a Father Gordon, S.J., and two or three other Jesuit Priests, before Huntly and Errol marched off through Glenrinnes. Their weapons had been sprinkled with holy water, and a white cross was placed on their armour, symbolising their resistance in defence of the Cross of Christ. You can imagine they might have felt invincible.<br /><br />The two armies met at Balrinnes in Glenlivet, where the Campbell's Highlanders were already posted on the steep mountainside. Notwithstanding their numerical disadvantage, Huntly and Errol had two pluses Argyll didn't, several artillery pieces and a one hundred strong troop of mail-clad cavalry with pointy lances. So despite the superior enemy numbers and disposition, the Catholic Lords were determined to attempt an assault and Errol, supported by Sir Patrick Gordon's cavalry, led the Hays up the hill “in the very face of the foe.” While that vanguard advanced, a Captain Kerr brought his artillery to bear on Argyll's front. That impolite greeting wasn't very welcome at all and caused some of the Protestant force to leave. Some left permanently and other ran off without as much as a by your leave.<br /><br />Enough of the Campbell's force did stay to face the Gordon's horsemen, which found the steepness of the slope more problematic than he had imagined. The echelon was forced to wheel and expose its flank, and it suffered a fair bit of damage from volleys of bullets and arrows, losing around twenty killed and about forty to fifty wounded. By then, Huntly had engaged with the centre and soon overran his adversary's banner, while the cavalry, recovering somewhat, had reached more even ground, higher up, where their horses were less encumbered. The king's forces were unable to withstand the cavalry lances and were driven off the hill. During that panic-stricken retreat, they are said to have thrown their weapons into a small lochan, which became known as 'The Loch of the Swords'.<br /><br />It was an “utter rout” at the end and serves to show how ill matched the armies really were, despite the discrepancy in numbers. Agryll and his Highland infantry were no match for the Gordon's mail-clad knights and express delivery cannonballs. The Highlanders on the Catholic side were delighted to chase their fleeing counterparts. The Macleans alone stood firm, goaded by their heroic chief to repel the assault of the horse. But even the Maclean Chief couldn't stand forever and he was dragged off the field by his clansmen. Argyll fled, tears of rage running almost as fast as his horse. <br /><br />The Protestants lost several hundred men, including Campbell of Lochinzell. Of the noteworthy on the Catholic side, the saddest loss was that of&nbsp; Sir Patrick Gordon, Huntley's uncle, who had his head hacked off by Argyll's men. Another loss was Gordon of Auchindoun, the brother of Father Gordon. Incidentally, it was observed by one Jesuit, somewhat partially, that none of those who bore the mark of the cross lost their lives. <br /><br />The Ballad of Balrinnes, in which appear the following lines, commemorates the battle:<br /><br />“I saw three lords in battle fight<br />right furiously awhile,<br />Huntlie and Errol, as they might,<br />were both against Argyle.”<br /><br />A later verse confirms the differential in numbers:<br /><br />“And yet Argyle, his thousands ten <br />were they that took the race, <br />although they were as nine to ane,<br />they caused them tak' the chace.” <br /><br />In the aftermath, the king intervened in person, with his own army, and after Slains Castle was destroyed, the 9th Earl of Errol was forced into exile for a while. Argyll lost the Royal Favour and Huntly hunkered down in his lair, while the Spanish troops never ever materialised.<br /><br />Ian Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231693516226654260.post-7994689402086900182012-09-23T11:00:00.000-07:002012-09-23T11:00:03.606-07:00 The Earl of Mar's Regiment of Foot - 'the Earl of Mar's Gray Breeks'On the 23rd of September, 1678, the Earl of Mar was commissioned to form Mar's Regiment of Foot.<br /><br />The history of many of Scotland's regiment's goes back to the 17th or 18th Centuries. One of the earliest was the Earl of Mar's Regiment of Foot, which was raised in Scotland to suppress the Covenanters, during what has been called the Second Whig Revolt. That revolt lasted a year or so, between 1678 and 1679, but the persecution of the Covenanters went on for some time afterwards, reaching its peak in the 'Killing Times'. <br /><br />The Earl of Mar at that time was Charles Erskine, the 5th Earl. Erskine was a Stuart loyalist, which meant he was a supporter of the Catholic king, James VII &amp; II, who had a wheen troubles wi' the Covenanters before he was usurped by his ain daughter and her first cousin, Orange Wullie. Wullie became King William II &amp; III and his Protestant wife, James Stuart's daughter, became Queen Mary II &amp; II. You can argue what you like, but<br /><a name='more'></a>first cousins definitely sounds like inbreeding, a lot of which went on within the 'royal families' of Europe in those days.<br /><br />After the Whig Revolt, Mar's Regiment was used ostensibly to “keep the peace and put down brigands, mercenaries, and rebels.” In fact, the regiment that came to be nicknamed 'the Earl of Mar's Gray Breeks' was involved in some serious persecution of the Covenanters, most all of whom were innocent of any real wrongdoing. Read 'Ringhan Gilhaize', by John Galt, if you want to find out more; it's a revelation. <br /><br />The Covenanters had been around for ages, since before the Bishop's Wars and the time of Montrose. However, by the time Mar's Regiment got involved, the Covenanters referred to were really just the ordinary Presbyterian worshippers. Those folks just wanted to be left in peace to worship after their own fashion, but King James was having none of that. The ordinary peasants and their ministers were forced to hide and have their services in the fields, in makeshift 'churches' behind a ditch or a drystane wall or under a tree, in what became known as Conventicles.<br /><br />Jardine's Book of Martyrs, an online resource researched by historian, Dr. Mark Jardine, has a wealth of information on the Killing Times. There are also a few references to Mar's Grey Breeks on Jardine's website. It seems a good number of Mar's officers carried out the duty of “putting down rebels” with some degree of enthusiasm. In addition to more famous names; the likes of General Tam Dalyell and 'Bluidy Clavers', who gained his own infamy and fought the Covenanters at Drumclog and Bothwell Brig, eight of the Earl of Mar's officers are mentioned by Jardine. Those men oppressed the populace throughout most of south-western Scotland for years, imposing fines and forfeitures, and even divesting them of their property. But it got worse – those were the Killing Times, which was no misnomer. Many were summarily executed in the fields and lots more were killed or mutilated after being put on trial for 'rebelling' against the King's authority.<br /><br />The rogues gallery that put a stain on the name of Mar’s Regiment of Foot included Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Buchan, “a most violent persecuter” who helped himself to upwards of 4000 pounds Scots; Majors Andrew White (who later became the Lieutenant-governor of Edinburgh Castle) and John Balfour; Captains Thomas Douglas and John Dalziel; and Lieutenants William White, William Burnett of Barnes (the great-grandson of the 'Hoolet of Barns') who was known to have appropriated “much Spoyl” and John Bell, who shot a man called William Paterson at Strathaven Castle, without any trial, for refusing the abjuration.<br /><br />Thankfully, the reputation of 'the Earl of Mar's Gray Breeks' improved significantly thereafter. The regiment converted to fusiliers and became the Scots Fusilier Regiment of Foot in 1689, the year of the 'Glorious Revolution'. However, when James VII &amp; II fled to Ireland, it changed sides. The following century, during the War of the Spanish Succession , the regiment performed with distinction, gaining the nickname of 'the Duke of Marlborough's Own' and in 1712, became the Royal Scots Fusilier Regiment of Foot.<br /><br />Its Scottish heritage, at least as far as its name was concerned, didn't last long, though, as the following year it was renamed the Royal North British Fusilier Regiment of Foot. Later, at Culloden, the regiment fought on the Hanoverian side against the Jacobites and, in 1751, it became the 21st Royal North British Fusilier Regiment of Foot. That lasted over a hundred years until 1877, when its name was changed once again; to the 21st Royal Scots Fusiliers Regiment of Foot. Then came the Childers Reforms of 1881 and the regiment became the Royal Scots Fusiliers.<br /><br />In 1959, after two World Wars in which the regiment served with honour, the Royal Scots Fusiliers were amalgamated with the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment) to form The Royal Highland Fusiliers, (Princess Margaret's Own Glasgow and Ayrshire Regiment). These days, the regiment has morphed into the Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland (since 2006). 2 SCOTS, is a Light Role Infantry Battalion, which forms one of seven Battalions in the Royal Regiment of Scotland.<br /><br />Latterly, the regiment has seen service in Afghanistan, and since its less than auspicious beginnings, it can be justifiably proud of its history and the battle honours that it has won from Blenheim and Ramillies to Waterloo, two World Wars, and the Gulf War. The regiment has won a number of VCs, with the first being won by Pte. George Rogers (actually of the 71st Highlanders, which had been known as the 1st&nbsp; Battalion the Highland Light Infantry since 1809 - later, in 1959, amalgamating with the Fusiliers). Pte. Rogers won his VC during the Indian Mutiny for 電aring conduct at Marar, Gwalior, on the 16th of June, 1858, in attacking by himself a party of seven rebels, one of whom he killed.<br /><br />Another hero of the 71st was Piper McLaughlin, who, despite having both his legs shot off by a canon ball at the Battle of Vittoria, continued to play his pipes, encouraging his comrades until he expired. <br /><br />Ian Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231693516226654260.post-71568816273474013652012-09-20T11:00:00.000-07:002012-09-20T11:00:04.356-07:00The Turnberry Bond<b>The Turnberry Bond</b> was signed at Turnebyry in Carryke, on the eve of St. Matthew; the 20th of September, 1286.<br /><br />The historical event involving the Turnberry Bond is better known as the Turnberry Band. For some strange reason, the event that was the signing of the Turnberry Bond instead became known by a collective noun for its group of signatories. According to logic, the bond of agreement that was signed shouldn't and couldn't have been called the Turnberry Band. It was a bond and it was known, at least in Scotland, as a bond – the Turnberry Bond. The band of rogues that signed it could've been given various names and calling them the Turnberry Band is one of the more generous options.<br /><br />The prime movers in the signing of the Bond were<br /><a name='more'></a> the Bruces, father and sons. The father was Robert de Brus VII, the 5th Lord of Annandale, known as the 'Competitor'. The sons were Robert de Brus VIII, the then Earl of Carrick, and his brother, Richard de Brus, uncle of the future king, Robert the Bruce, which latter was all of twelve in 1286. <br /><br />That's important, because Wikipedia’s article on the Turnberry Band has a note referring to the 'fact' that “Bruce and his like-named son, witnessed a charter of MacDonald to Paisley Abbey, sometime in the reign of Alexander III” and goes on to suggest that “This charter is probably the earliest historical record of the man who would later become Robert I, King of Scots.” Well, obviously that's incorrect as the Bruces referred to are clearly the grandfather and father of the future king, rather than being Robert the Bruce and his father. <br /><br />Two further illustrations of the note being erroneous are that: (i) Robert I, King of Scots, didn't become Earl of Carrick until 1292, when his father's wife died and the title passed to the son; and (ii) the father of Robert I didn't become&nbsp; the 6th Lord of Annandale until either: (a) 1292, when his father renounced his title rather than swear fealty for it to Balliol; or (b) 1295, when his father died.<br /><br />The remaining members of the Turnberry Band were the Dunbars (Patrick de Dunbar, Earl of Dunbar, and his three sons, Patrick, Master of Dunbar, John and Alexander); three Stewarts (Walter Stewart, Earl of Menteith, and his two sons, Alexander and John); two more Stewarts, one a Guardian who was also High Steward of Scotland (James Stewart, the Guardian, and his brother, John Stewart of Jedburgh); the two Ulstermen (Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster and Thomas de Clare, Lord of Thomond); and the Islesmen (Aonghas Mor mac Domhnaill, Lord of Islay, and his legitimate son, Alexander Og).<br /><br />A reproduction of the Turnberry Bond appears in Latin in 'The Red Book of Menteith' by William Fraser (Edinburgh, 1880) and here's the key extract: “Bond by... [the aforementioned, whereby they engage to] ...adhere to the noble men, Sir Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, and Sir Thomas, Lord of Clare, in all their affairs, and with them and their accomplices to stand faithfully in resistance against all their adversaries, without prejudice to the faith of the Lord the King of England and without prejudice to the faith of him who in the Kingdom of Scotland, by reason of the blood of the Lord of happy memory, Alexander, King of Scotland, last deceased, shall obtain and succeed according to the ancient customs of the Realm of Scotland approved and customary until now.”<br /><br />According to Michael Brown in 'The Wars of Scotland, 1214-1371', the purpose of the Bond was the obvious one of curtailing Hebridean support for the Ó Neill and Ó Domhnaill dynasties, enemies of the Earl of Ulster, through an alliance of Scottish and Anglo-Irish nobles. Brown's interpretation is that, despite links to the Stewarts and Bruces, the need for a bond indicates that the loyalties of Angus Mor of Islay, head of Clan Donald, were a wee bit suspect. Alexander of Argyll, on the other hand, had a link to John Comyn of Badenoch, but because he had been the agent of Alexander III in the Isles, he was somehow less suspect. Anyhow, getting the Comyn's brother-in-law on-side wouldn’t have pleased that faction.<br /><br />Michael Penman in his book, 'The Scottish Civil War', suggests it would be a mistake to underestimate the Bruces' ability to rouse significant opposition to Comyn dominance in the south west and, indeed, throughout Scotland at that time. Ostensibly, what Penman means is that, in addition to the obvious, knowledge of the Bond's existence must have given food for thought to many potential territorial rivals of the Comyns and their allies i.e., friends and potential allies of the Bruces. The Bond served as Bruce propaganda.<br /><br />If you like, the ambitions of the elder Bruce, the 'Competitor', can be deduced from the Bond, although it's was nothing like a blatant “up yours” to the Comyn-led Guardians of Scotland. But if you take into account the actions of the Bruces after the Bond was signed, it's not a stretch to see it as the 'Competitor' rallying support in preparation for a tilt at the crown. Alan Young, in 'Robert the Bruce's Rivals: The Comyns, 1212-1314' and referencing Barrow, says that the fact that such a pact of family and factional, if not national intent, could take place and that a Guardian was involved, was certainly an ugly defiance of the “community of the realm.”<br /><br />In relation to the Bruces activity, Brown states that the 'Competitor' took the field “in force of arms with banners displayed” with Carrick, his son, and captured the Royal castles of Wigtown and Dumfries, and also Lady Dervorgilla's stronghold at Buittle. Thereafter, the Bruces wreaked considerable damage in the south-west. Young offers that, because of the fear of further violence and Bruce's actions in the south-west in late 1286, the Guardians issued a brieve asking for the host to be on twenty-four hours' alert.<br /><br />The Bruces actions certainly seem to have been targeted at upsetting Comyn dominance of the Guardianship and the government of Scotland, which the 'Competitor' undoubtedly felt necessary, because the exclusion of the Bruces was likely to threaten any future claim of theirs to the Scottish crown. Ultimately, the Bruces failed to win widespread support at that time. Perhaps they overestimated the extent of that significant opposition. Between 1286 and 1289, the Guardians stood firm against the Bruces' challenge and their 'little war' ended with them handing back the castles they'd taken and swearing fealty to Margaret, the Maid of Norway.<br /><br />Ian Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231693516226654260.post-79412142903247294252012-09-17T11:00:00.000-07:002012-09-17T11:00:04.070-07:00The 'Canter of Coltbrig'<b>The 'Canter of Coltbrig'</b> occurred on the 17th of September, 1745.<br /><br />There are several events in Scottish history that are subject to an enduring level of interest. Most recently, the life of William Wallace has come under renewed scrutiny and the story of Mary I, Queen of Scots, is one that will be no doubt forever told and retold. Another event that consistently captures the imagination is the 'Forty-five', the Jacobite Rebellion or the Jacobite Rising, according to preference. As stated in 'Historical Geography of the Clans of Scotland', by T. B. Johnston and Col. James A. Robertson, “It is full of incidents of personal daring and romantic adventure.” More to the point as Johnston and Robertson go on to illustrate, “it has all the pathetic interest which attaches to the last struggle of a lost cause.” But it didn't appear to be a lost cause at the outset.<br /><br />Well, you might suppose if Cameron of Lochiel had stuck to his guns and refused to join the Bonny Prince, the story might have been stillborn at its very onset. Despite being a zealous Jacobite, Lochiel had no notion of there being any prospect of success. On his way to Borradale to advise Charlie to go back to France, Lochiel stopped in by his brother, John Cameron of Fassefern, advising the latter that the Prince had brought neither troops, nor money, nor arms. For those reasons if nothing else, Lochiel was determined not to be caught up in the affair, but when his brother said, “If this Prince once sets his eyes upon you he will make you do whatever he pleases,” he was right.<br /><br />When Charlie said, “I will erect the royal standard and proclaim to the people of Britain that Charles Stuart has come to claim the crown of his ancestors, to win it, or to perish in the attempt,” Lochiel gave in, instead of biding at home to read about it “from the newspapers.” “I will share the fate of my Prince,” said Lochiel, “and so shall every man over whom nature or fortune hath given me any power.” The Cameron's example was&nbsp; followed by all the Jacobite clans and on the 19th of August, 1745, the Prince went from Kinlochmoidart to Glenfinnan, and there the standard of King James VIII was unfurled by the Marquis of Tullibardine.<br /><br />In response, Sir John 'Johnnie' Cope, Commander of the Government troops in Scotland, ordered “as many men as could be spared from the garrisons” to concentrate on Stirling, with the intention of marching into the Highlands to oppose the Jacobites. By that time, the Prince’s force had grown to about 3000 Highlanders and it was clear his intent was to descend into the Lowlands, via the Corryarrack Pass. Cope, with limited numbers of men at his disposal knew opposition at that juncture would be fatal, but he had a dilemma. An attack up Corryarrack was out of the question as was staying put to be assailed by the Prince's greater numbers, but returning to Stirling on the other hand would aid the “insurrection” by encouraging sympathisers in the north. In those circumstances, Cope decided to march on to Inverness; to at least show willing. His token gesture made, Cope reached Inverness on the 29th of August, while the way to the Lowlands – and Edinburgh – was left clear for Charlie and Lochiel.<br /><br />Charlie reached Perth and, on discovering that Cope intended to sail south from Aberdeen, determined to press on southwards to seize Edinburgh. On the 11th of September, the Jacobites vacated Perth and, via Dunblane and Doune, reached the Fords of Frew on the 13th, before arriving at Linlithgow on the 15th at six in the morning. The Jacobites were good at arriving earlie in the morning; just ask Johnnie Cope.<br /><br />In Edinburgh, which was almost defenceless, confusion prevailed, but nevertheless, the Government did manage an attempt at raising a regiment of volunteers, after a fashion. Its purpose was to hold the city until Cope's arrival. Amongst the candidates were sixteen companies of civic troops, each of between 80 and 100 men. Those were known as the Trained Bands and, according to Sir Walter Scott, of dubious reliability. There were also the 126 members of the Town Guard or the old 'Town’s Rats' as they were called, but in terms of proper soldiery, there were few. The volunteers were formed into companies and did sensible things like add fortifications to the city walls, incidentally, under the direction of Colin Maclaurin, Professor of Mathematics at the University. <br /><br />On the 15th of September, with rumours of marauding Highlanders having reached Kirkliston, Gardiner’s dragoons, who had retreated from Stirling ahead of the advancing Jacobites, and Hamilton’s dragoons, who had been encamped on Leith Links, were ordered by General Guest to march up to Corstorphine. The idea was for this force, supported by the city volunteers and ninety of the City Guard, to oppose the Prince in battle. However, as they marched down the Bow and through the Grassmarket, the volunteers had a change of heart and little more than forty-five of them (now there's a coincidence) made it to the West Port. By nightfall, they had all retreated back to their homes. The Hanoverian dragoons were left to themselves.<br /><br />On the morning of the 17th, the Jacobites advanced to Corstorphine, where the dragoons had been drawn up by Colonel Gardiner, at Coltbridge, to halt their progress. When the Jacobites came within sight of the dragoons, some well mounted members of Charlie's force were ordered to ride out and reconnoitre the enemy. Those men rode up close to the dragoons, made faces at them and fired their pistols for good measure. Scared out of their wits and seized with a general panic, the dragoons turned and ran. Their pell-mell flight has since become known as the 'Canter of Coltbrig'. <br /><br />The officers tried in vain to rally the men who galloped off through the fields by the Lang Dykes, now taken up by the New Town. The dragoons never stopped until they reached Leith, but only to let their horses take a breather, before continuing on by Musselburgh. They were prepared to bivouac for the night near Preston Grange, but someone cried out that the nasty Highlanders were coming, so they upped and ran again, stopping only when they reached Dunbar. As it happened, nobody had made any attempt to pursue them. <br /><br />At midday on the 18th of September, 1745, King James VIII. was solemnly proclaimed at the Cross. Cope disembarked at Dunbar on the same day. Prestonpans came next, but that's another story.<br />Ian Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231693516226654260.post-60605748034788991942012-09-09T01:45:00.001-07:002012-09-09T01:45:22.424-07:00Coronation of Mary I, Queen of ScotsMary I, Queen of Scots, was anointed on the 9th of September, 1543.<br /><br />Mary Stuart was the one and only very first Queen Regnant of Scots to actually rule Scotland in person. The one and only very first Queen of Scots was Margaret, the Maid of Norway, but the bairn never made it to her realm to rule in person, although she had a Regent rule on her behalf for a while. The next Queen Regnant of Scots was Queen Anne I, whose husband was King William I (of Scots), the Orangeman frae the Netherlands. It's often been written, particularly by Nigel Tranter in his wonderful books, that such and such a King was the umpteenth of his line. Tranter also wrote that when she was crowned and anointed Queen of Scots, albeit she succeeded to the throne nine months earlier, on the 14th of December, Mary Stuart was the one hundred and seventh of her line. And better than that, Tranter added that her line was the most ancient, unbroken line in all Christendom. You might find that amazing or hard to believe, or something in between. I guess it depends on what<br /><a name='more'></a> Tranter meant by her 'line' and 'unbroken'.<br /><br />The commonly accepted interpretation of the word 'line' is as in ancestry or lineage, perhaps house as in the house of Windsor, of which Elizabeth I, Queen of Scots, is the present holder of the title and wearer of the Scottish crown. Well, she disnae wear it often as it usually sits quite comfortably, thank you, in Edinburgh Castle, ogled daily by a flock of tourists, for a not so small fee. <br /><br />Mary Stuart was the eighth ruler from the house of Stewart, preceded by five Jameses and twa Roberts, numbered accordingly. The fifth of those James was her father, James V, believe it or not. Well, there's no reason not to, which is something you cannae say about her ain offsrping, another James, the VI to be, whose faither may weel have not been the King Consort, Lord Henry Darnley-Stuart as is generally accepted. Aye, it's lang been mooted that Fiddler Davie Rizzio, yon Italian secretary, had something to dae wi' it and there's more'n a wee bit o' a resemblance to see there, if ye look hard enough, ken. Then again, some folks wad say it was the bonny Earl of Bothwell, but that's more of a stretch again.<br /><br />Before the Stewarts, ancestors of the present Queen as they were, there was the house of Bruce, the smallest house, in terms of occupants, barring one, but only just. The Bruces comprised just Robert I and his son, David II. The smallest house was that of Balliol, with John Balliol, the so-called 'Toom Tabbard', being its only representative, despite the attentions of Edwards I and II of England and various Comyn Lords and Earls, red and black alike. You can trace Mary's lineage back through the Stewarts to the Bruces quite easily as Robert II was the son of Robert the Bruce's eldest daughter, Marjorie, by the sixth hereditary High Steward, Sir Walter Stewart. David II had no issue to speak of and consequently, his heir became his nephew or his nephew became his heir if you like, same difference.<br /><br />But what of the transition between Balliol and Bruce? Here you get to the first problemo if you're looking for an 'unbroken line'. John Balliol's rightful heir was his son, Sir Edward Balliol and neither man had anything to do with slotting themselves in as a progenitor to the Stewart line. Och aye, they might've tried slotting something in between, but ye ken whit I mean. There was no issue involving a Balliol and a Bruce or a Stewart that occupied a place in a direct line of ascent from Mary I, Queen of Scots. So, for a connection, you have to go back to the roots of a relationship between the Bruces and the Balliols. That connection was the Earl of Northumberland, a man who never became King of Scots, but was descended from one, namely David I; his son, to be exact, known fondly as Earl Henry. So, there you go, you can trace Mary Stuart back to the son of David I, looping round John Balliol to a common ancestor. Neat trick. Nice one, Nigel.<br /><br />But we're still seeking ninety rulers if Mary is to be the one hundred and seventh. She was the seventeenth in line after David I, Malcolm IV (Malcolm the Maiden), William I (William the Lion), Alexander II, Alexander III, Margaret I (the Maid of Norway), John Balliol, Robert the Bruce, David II, Robert II, Robert III, and James I – V inclusive. Some might argue that England's Edward I ruled Scotland, at least during the Interregnum, but be that as it may, Longshanks was never crowned King of Scots, so his period of rule, whether de facto or de jure, doesn't count in that regard.<br /><br />If you go back beyond David I, you get Alexander I (we're going in the other direction now), Edgar, Donald III (again – as joint ruler with Edgar for a wee while), Duncan II, Donald III (for the first time, when he was known as Donald ban), Malcom III (Malcolm ceann mor), Lulach, Macbeth, Duncan I, Malcolm II (the Destroyer), Keneth III (perhaps joint ruler with Giric), Constantine III, Kenneth II, Culen, Dubh, Indulf, Malcolm I, Constantine II, Donald II, Eochaid and Giric (joint rulers), Aed, Constantine I, Donald I, and Kenneth I (Kenneth mac Alpin). That's another twenty-four Kings, if you dont' count the two Girics. That leaves sixty-six to go to get to the one hundred and seven.<br /><br />So, where are they going to come from? The only place to go is the Pictish King lists. There are two of them, known as the Pictish Chronicle list A and the Pictish Chronicle list B, respectively. As an alternative, bearing in mind that Kenneth mac Alpin was the last mentioned King, we could go back down the Kings of Dalriada, but that only gives us another twenty-nine that ruled on what is now Scottish soil. The Pictish lists on the other hand, give us a lot more. The awkward thing is that the two lists don’t exactly tally, either in names or in dates, although there is quite a significant alignment in places.<br /><br />List A gives us a further sixty-six names. Voila! List B give us a mere sixty-three names. I guess Tranter had his eye on the A list, from Gud to Bred; good man Nigel! Of course, there is also the legendary link to ancient Egypt via Princess Scota and her flight to Ireland via Iberia. That takes in names such as (going backwards) Cruithne, Cinge, Luctai, Partalan, Agnoin, Buain, Mais, Fathecht, Jafeth, and Noe. Quite a heritage there, eh? One thing is reasonably certain, the ancient Neanderthal inhabitants of Scotland did come from what is now the Iberian peninsula, but back then, 300,000 years ago in the Paleolithic period, during the Purfleet interglacial, Britain was a peninsula in its own right and there was no English channel to navigate.&nbsp; <br /><br />Ian Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231693516226654260.post-46734899249484874772012-08-25T04:26:00.000-07:002012-08-25T04:27:39.904-07:00The Highland chiefs' Bond of AssociationHighland clan chiefs sign a 'Bond of Association', on the 24th of August, 1689.<br /><br />Many Scots and, indeed, very many of the Scottish Diaspora, have a romantic view of the Jacobite era, fuelled perhaps, by tales such as&nbsp; 'The Jacobite Trilogy' by D. K. Broster, comprising books you will have read; 'Flight of the Heron', 'Gleam in the North' and 'Dark Mile'. However, any critical investigation of the earlier rule and influence of James VII &amp; II would unearth a regime of which not to be so proud. 'Bluidy Clavers' is a more fitting epitaph than 'Bonny Dundee' and 'Ringhan Gilhaize' a better book to read than any pretender's eulogy.<br /><br />Regardless of your religious persuasion, surely<br /><a name='more'></a> nobody could look back and justify the merciless hounding of the Covenanters, the Presbyterian majority, most of whom were ordinary folk – poor peasantry – merely wanting leave to worship after their conscience. The Covenanters, at a height of fanaticism, decided they should obey their ‘Heavenly King’ rather than succumb to the persecution of Charles II &amp; II or James VII &amp; II in turn, during his brief, totalitarian reign. The Privy Council and its dread tribunals, led by the likes of Archbishop Sharp and ‘Bluidy’ Mackenzie, made the ‘Holy Office’ of the Inquisition look quite tame. The Acts sponsored by the Committee of Public Affairs were barbarically executed by the swords of a thousand men under the likes of Sir James Turner and aye, ‘Bonnie Dundee’.<br /><br />Against that background, the majority of highland chieftains supported their King James, not because of an affinity with his religious intolerance and lack of moral justice, albeit they mostly shared his religious denomination. The clan chiefs didn't support the person and character of their king, rather, they supported the concept and institution of their rightful king, for better or worse, which is a big difference. The clans supported the eponymous Jacobite cause out of loyalty, misplaced you might argue, but nonetheless commendable for that. Historically, Scottish kings had a more direct relationship with their subjects, despite the concept of 'Divine Right', than any English (subsequently British) monarch since William and Mary, who were essentially 'invited' to rule by the aristocratic elite. <br /><br />The Jacobite Wars began in Scotland with the raising of the standard, at Dundee Law, by John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee, on the 16th of April, 1689. There followed battles at Killiecrankie, on the 27th of July, Dunkeld, on the 21st of August, 1689, and the Haughs of Cromdale, on the 1st of May, 1690.&nbsp; Later, in Ireland, James’&nbsp; army was defeated at the Battle of the Boyne, on the 12th of July, 1690, and the Irish Jacobites were finally defeated after the Battle of Aughrim, in October, 1691. The Jacobite Wars were to be continued, in the years of 1708, 1709, 1715, 1719 and 1745-6, culminating in the Battle of Drumossie Moor (or Culloden).<br /><br />The first Jacobite Rising or Jacobite Rebellion if you favour the ruling government side, was prompted by the so called ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688, when the Dutchman, Orange Wullie, became William III of England in place of his ousted father-in-law, James VII &amp; II. Depsite the Union of the Crowns, there was not yet a Union of Parliaments, so the Scottish Government needed to ratify the Orangeman as William II (William I was the 12th Century's William the Lion). A Convention was called for the 14th of March, 1689, and by the 9th of April the decision to abandon James in favour of the Williamites resulted in Viscount Dundee, storming out. By the time Dundee got back home, he was declared an outlaw with a bounty of £20,000 on his head. Thus, the arrogant, handsome and charismatic Dundee became the first Jacobite leader and the mastermind of the first Rebellion to be so called.<br /><br />Dundee made it his business to rally the Highland Clans in support of James VII &amp; II. The predominant clans involved, included the might of Clan Donald, with the MacDonalds of Clan Ranald, Keppoch, Glengarry, Glencoe, Kintyre and Sleat. Also present were the Stewarts of Appin, MacLeans of Duart, McNeils of Barra, Macleods of Skye and Raasay, Frasers, MacNaughtons, MacAllisters, MacLachlans, MacGregors, Lamonts, the Grants of Glenmoriston, and those of Lochiel’s Camerons who had made it in time. And somewhere amongst the massed ranks of saffron clad Hielantmen was an eighteen years old Rob Rob MacGregor and his father, MacGregor of Glengyle.<br /><br />Not all Highlanders supported James VII &amp; II as, for example, in 1869, the Earl of Argyll raised a regiment of six hundred men, 10 companies of about 60 men each, in aid of William of Orange. That same year, Aulay MacAulay of Ardincaple, although attached to Episcopacy, was no partisan of the Stuart King and raised a company of fencibles for the Orangeman and his Stuart wife.<br /><br />Those who did support King James included Lieutenant-Colonel Donald Glas MacGregor, Rob Roy's father, and who was designed as 'of Glengyle' and the Ceann Tigh (head) of the house of Clan Douill Chere (mouse coloured Dougal). On the 24th of August, 1689, at Blair Athole, MacGregor, along with the chiefs of several other Highland clans, signed a Bond of Association, under which he undertook to raise one hundred men for King James. The Bond of Association was a way of playing for time, since Dundee's death had left them essentially leaderless. They resolved to bond themselves to each other and meet again in September, and to bring aid to any one who was attacked. Prior to the signing of that bond, the Highland Clans had penned an answer to General Mackay's outrageous effrontery in offering the clans terms of surrender. That response, which basically suggested that Mackay 澱ugger off!・was dated at Birse, on the 17th of August, 1689. <br /><br />Amongst those others who signed the Bond of Association&nbsp; were representatives of the Murrays, Robertsons, Menzies, the Stewarts of Appin, the MacGregors of Roro, Farquharsons, Macphersons, Frasers, and Gordons, none of whom promised more than two hundred men. Notable signatories included, Donald MacDonald of Benbecula, who had fought at Killiecrankie with his young ward and Chief, and Allan MacDonald of Dalchosnie, also present at Killiecrankie. Another signatory was John MacNaughton, who also joined Viscount Dundee at Killiekrankie. MacNaughton is said to have undertaken to appear with fifty men for the cause of King James, at whatever place and time might be appointed. However, according to Matthew Cock, the MacNaughton chief had been captured on the 21st of August, after signing the letter of defiance on the 17th, so it's unlikely he signed on the 24th as he was in prison for at least fourteen months. <br /><br />When Dundee fell at Killiecrankie, the spirit left the Highlanders and that heralded the beginning of the end for the hopes of James VII &amp; II, which were finally scuppered at the Battle of the Boyne.<br /><br />Ian Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231693516226654260.post-32113639326306632652012-07-28T12:49:00.001-07:002012-07-28T12:49:28.573-07:00The exile of Mary I, Queen of Scots<b>Mary Stewart</b> departed for France on the 28th of July, 1548. (N.S. 7th of August, 1548). <br /><br />Lang Mary Stewart left Scotland for exile in France as the six years old Mary I, Queen of Scots. During her thirteen years in France, Mary Stewart became Marie Stuart, was betrothed and later married to the Dauphin, became Queen Consort of France for a wee while as the wife of François II, upset Elizabeth I of England, and lost her husband. That latter became something of which she made a habit, but that's a story for another day. Mary sailed from Dumbarton on the 28th of July, 1548, accompanied by a fleet of French ships and arrived a week or so later at Saint-Pol-de-Léon. She was accompanied by her own court including the 'four Marys' (Beaton, Seton, Fleming, and Livingston) and a governess, Janet, Lady Fleming.<br /><br />Mary Stewart was the only surviving legitimate bairn of King James V of Scotland. She was born<br /><a name='more'></a> when her father was in his sick bed and only six days old when James V died. Mary became Mary I, Queen of Scots, on the 14th of December, 1542, but she wasn't crowned until nine months later, on the 9th of September, 1543. As Queen Regnant of Scotland, she ruled in her own right, with all the sovereign powers of a monarch, albeit she was absent for a while and always more in theory rather than practice. As Queen Consort of France, Mary shared her husband's rank and held the feminine equivalent of the monarchical titles of François II, but she didn't share his political and military powers, not that he had any, in truth. As potential heir to the throne of England, Mary also shared the ambition of François II or rather his father, Henry II, and her uncles, the Guisers, brothers of her mother, Mary of Guise, whom she'd left behind in Scotland as Regent.<br /><br />That ambition was, in effect, the unification of the thrones of France, Scotland and England, and Mary's marriage to the Dauphin who became François II was arranged with that outcome in mind. That was more than a wish list item, it was a distinct possibility at the time. Previously, under the Treaty of Greenwich, signed on the 1st of July, 1543, between England and Scotland, Mary had been promised to Edward, the son of Henry VIII. The Prince and Princess were to have married when Mary was ten and the canny Scots made sure that if the couple failed to have children, the proposed union of the two countries (as it then was) would dissolve.<br /><br />However, Henry VIII reckoned without Cardinal Beaton, a worthy adversary and protector of Scotland in many folks' eyes (a Catholic and a sinner in the eyes of those who later murdered him). Unsurprisingly, Beaton was for an alliance with Catholic France and ensured the treaty was rejected. That rejection prompted the 'Rough Wooing', and English forces spent the next several years attacking the Scots, which led to Mary being exiled for her safety. The war continued after both Beaton and Henry VIII died and it was then that Henry II of France stepped in with an offer of military assistance in exchange for Mary's hand for this son. A Scottish Parliament agreed to a French marriage treaty on the 7th of July, 1548.<br /><br />Once the French agreement was formally ratified, Mary, then six, was sent to France, to be raised in the royal court until the pair had reached a decent age to be married. They must've made an odd couple at the wedding; Mary was 5ft. 11in. tall – hence her nickname of 'Lang Mary' – and was fluent in several languages, whereas François was truly wee and had a bit of a stutter.<br /><br />When Mary, who was fifteen, married the fourteen years old Dauphin at Notre Dame de Paris on the 24th of April, 1558, their union seemed destined to give&nbsp; the throne of Scotland to the future&nbsp; kings of France along with a claim to the throne of England. Mary's claim to England stemmed from her great-grandfather, Henry VII, and the elder sister of Henry VIII, but the Third Succession Act and the last will and testament of Henry VIII meant that Elizabeth was to be heir to her sister, England's Mary I, and the Stewarts were specifically excluded from the English throne. At the time, in the eyes of many Catholics, Elizabeth was illegitimate – because she was the daughter of the opportunistically Protestant Henry VIII and the offspring of an unlawful marriage – and Lang Mary was the rightful heir.<br /><br />After the marriage ceremony, France's Henry II cheekily proclaimed his eldest son and his new daughter-in-law King and Queen of England. The newly wed royal couple even had their royal arms quartered with those of England. As a consequence, Elizabeth I of England took a dislike to Mary I of Scotland and you might recall how that relationship ended. Her ain folk back in Scotland weren't too happy either when it transpired that a secret clause, signed by Mary on the 4th of April, 1558, amounted to an agreement that, if the royal pairing didn't result in any bairns, Scotland would become part of France and France would inherit Mary's claim to the English crown.<br /><br />As things turned out, François and Mary had no children. They may well have had, but for a couple of things. For one, François' testicles didn't drop and there is doubt over whether or not the marriage was ever consummated. For two, he died prematurely after just over two years and seven months of married life. Mary was hard on husbands. As Mary's first husband, François wasn't married for long, establishing a trend. François didn't reign for long either, with a mere fifteen months passing before he died on the 5th of December, 1560, from an complications after an ear infection. He had been a sickly child and a fragile teenager – hardly an adult – both physically and psychologically.<br /><br />As the couple had no issue, François' younger brother became Charles IX, at the age of ten, and his mother, Catherine de Médici, became Regent of France on his behalf. Marie Stuart, Queen of Scots, a widow for the first time, returned to her ain country, where she landed in Leith on the 19th of August, 1561. By the time Mary returned to Scotland, her mother had died (on the 11th of June, 1560), and the Protestant Lords of the Congregation were in control, despite the support of the Scottish Catholic faction and French troops. <br /><br />The Protestant Lords had been supported by English troops as both they and Elizabeth I had wanted the reformed religion to prevail. The outcome of that bit war was the tripartite Treaty of Edinburgh, signed on the 6th of July, 1560. That treaty sent the French home again and ordained that François and Mary had to stop flaunting the English arms on their heraldry, because France's negotiators had agreed to recognise Elizabeth's right to rule England. Scotland's negotiators hadn't sought Mary's opinion either and so she and wee François refused to ratify the treaty. To make matters worse, just a few weeks afterwards, the Scottish Parliament had established protestantism as the state religion. Mary sure didn't come back to much of a welcome in Scotland.<br /><br />Ian Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231693516226654260.post-33991517960718495952012-07-23T11:00:00.000-07:002012-07-23T11:00:04.319-07:00Sir Arthur Whitten Brown<b>Sir Arthur Whitten Brown</b>, Glasgow born aviator, was born on the 23rd of July, 1886.<br /><br />As every schoolboy used to know, Arthur Whitten Brown is famous as one half of a duo, being one of the first pair of aviators to fly non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean, which feat he accomplished, together with John Alcock, in 1919. Brown and Alcock were knighted for their efforts and deserved all the acclaim they got for that most significant milestone. Incidentally, in addition to being the first ever, non-stop transatlantic flight, Aclock and Brown's journey was also the first transatlantic airmail flight. However, before he became a benighted Sir, he was a Second Lieutenant Sir in the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion of the Manchester Regiment, before being seconded to 2 Squadron the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) as an observer, during the First World War. <br /><br />Stationed in France, Brown was shot down<br /><a name='more'></a> twice and injured his leg, but lived to tell the tale and meet his destiny – and Alcock. It's not clear if he ever met Flying Officer James Bigglesworth or 'Captain' W. E. Johns, for that matter. On the first occasion, Brown's aircraft was shot down by anti-aircraft fire over Vendin-le-Vieil, while he was on artillery observation duties. After recuperating from his injuries, back in Blighty, Brown returned to the Western Front, only for his BE2c 2673 to be shot down again, near Bapaume, whilst on a reconnaissance flight. Brown and his pilot, 2nd Lt. H. W. Medlicott, were captured by the Germans on the 10th of November, 1915 and sent to a PoW camp. Later, Brown was sent to Switzerland, from where he was eventually repatriated. <br /><br />Brown's 'oppo' on the ground breaking (shouldn't that be air breaking?) transatlantic flight was also a war hero; in Alcock's case, he was a bomber pilot, and another thing the two men shared was having been a prisoner of war. And just to prove that everything happens in 'threes', they were both employed by Vickers Ltd. (Aviation Department). Before the war, in April, 1913, the The Daily Mail newspaper had offered a prize of £10,000 to “the aviator who shall first cross the Atlantic in an aeroplane in flight from any point in the United States of America, Canada or Newfoundland to any point in Great Britain or Ireland ...in 72 continuous hours.” Of course, the challenge was withdrawn due to the outbreak of WWI, but it was reinstated in 1918, after the Armistice was declared.<br /><br />Alcock and Brown flew a converted Vickers Vimy IV twin-engined bomber that had been modified for the long flight by having its bomb carriers replaced with extra tanks, sufficient to carry 865 imperial gallons of fuel. They had competition from several teams, including one from Handley Page, but those others were far less intrepid than the Brits in their Vimy, powered by its two Rolls-Royce Eagle 360 hp engines.<br /><br />The two British aviators took off from Lester's Field near St. John's, Newfoundland at around 1:45 p.m. on the 14th of June, 1919. During the flight, their altitude varied between sea level (give, but not take, a few ft) and 12,000 ft. At the higher altitude, Brown's airspeed indicator went out of action, quite likely because it iced-up, and so he had to make his own estimates, but you cannae really blame Brown for the bog landing. <br />John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown landed in Derrygimla bog, near Clifden, in Galway, Connemara, Ireland, at just after 4:28 p.m. on the 15th of June, after a 1,980 mile, 16 hour flight. They made landfall not too far from their intended landing place, but the Vimy was damaged in the bog, which had appeared to Alcock from the air to have been a desirable green field. Thankfully neither of the two heroic British aviators was hurt. Cut out the overland flight distances and times and Alcock and Brown had crossed the North Atlantic, 1890 miles from coast line to coast line, in 15 hours 57 minutes at an average speed of 115 mph.<br /><br />You can find some stories about Brown having to climb onto the Vimy's wing to clear ice from the plane, but as Brendan Lynch in his biography, 'Yesterday We Were in America' explains, those tales are myth. Brown did have to clear snow, but only from a fuel-overflow gauge on a strut a metre above his head, albeit he had to do that several times and by standing up in the cockpit and swivelling round in the confined space.<br /><br />Alcock and Brown were treated as heroes on the completion of their flight and, in addition to the Daily Mail prize, presented by Winston Churchill, the then Secretary of State for Air, the two men got 2,000 guineas from a tobacco company and a spare £1,000 from Lawrence R. Phillips. The week after their historic achievement, the pair were awarded knighthoods (KBEs) by King George V at Windsor Castle.<br /><br />Arthur Whitten Brown was born in Glasgow on the 23rd of July, 1886, but his family later relocated to Lancashire, where his American father worked for Westinghouse, near Manchester. For some reason, Arthur was known as 'Teddie' and he began his career in engineering with an apprenticeship with British Westinghouse, shortly before the outbreak of the First World War. When war came, Arthur took up British citizenship and enlisted in the University and Public Schools Brigade. Brown then sought a commission and became a Second Lieutenant in the 3rd (Special Reserve) Battalion of the Manchester Regiment. After that, 2nd Lieut. Brown saw service in France, before being seconded to 2 Squadron RFC as an observer.<br /><br />Shot down twice over France, before being captured by the Germans and subsequently interned in Switzerland, Brown was repatriated in September 1917. Afterwards, he worked in the Ministry of Munitions until the end of the war and when he was released, he approached Vickers for a job. As a direct consequence of his long distance navigation skills, Brown was asked if he would be the navigator for the proposed transatlantic flight. John Alcock had already been chosen as the pilot and Brown jumped at the chance of being his partner.<br /><br />After the transatlantic adventure, Brown Metropolitan-Vickers, the company that had once been British Westinghouse and, in 1923, he was appointed chief representative for Metropolitan-Vickers in the Swansea area. During the Second World War, Brown served in the Home Guard as a Lieutenant-Colonel before rejoining the RAF to work in Training Command, dealing specifically with navigation. <br /><br />Arthur Whitten Brown died in his sleep on the 4th of October, 1948, and he was buried at St Margaret Churchyard, Tylers Green, Buckinghamshire, England. <br /><br />Ian Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231693516226654260.post-5435515368345314212012-07-17T10:30:00.000-07:002012-07-17T10:30:01.461-07:00Execution of John, Master of Forbes<b>John, Master of Forbes</b>, was executed at Edinburgh Castle on the 17th of July, 1537.<br /><br />Forbes is a surname that is found, principally, in Aberdeenshire, where the family were once rivals of the mighty Gordons. The origins of the name are are territorial, although there are claims for it stemming from a Scotti-Celtic heritage, with the usual run of wondrous stories concerning amazing feats of valour and the consequent awarding of appropriate appellations; in this case killing a ferocious bear, hence 'Forbear'. Most of those kinds of stories are made up in later centuries when it became fashionable to construct an origin story; a bit like Genesis in microcosm. The name must derive from Forbois, a Latin-French derivation that signifies 'a wild wood country' – where bears once&nbsp; abounded, mind you. Skene, in his treatise De Verborum Significatione, mentions a Duncan Forbois getting a charter of the lands and heritage of Forbois, in Aberdeenshire,&nbsp; from King Alexander (he doesn't say which Alexander; I, II or III). Forbes is pronounced <br /><a name='more'></a>in two syllables – For-bis – although in English, it gets only one syllable; cheapskates!<br /><br />Like a lot of medieval nobles, the Forbeses blew hot and cold when it came to supporting various kings and in between the reigns of James III and James V, they swapped sides a few times. Back in the day of James III, Alexander, Lord Forbes, the fourth of that Ilk, was an adherent of that king. After that unfortunate monarch's assassination at Sauchieburn in 1488, Alexander Forbes reputedly fled from the battlefield with a torn and bloodstained shirt suspended from the end of his spear; allegedly that of his murdered king. Alexander rode back to Aberdeenshire and sought to rouse the people to arms, to avenge the King's death. <br /><br />W. Anderson, in 'The Scottish nation', published in 1862, likens Alexander Forbes to Mark Antony with the mantle of “dead Ceasar,” which wouldn’t too wide of the mark if you believe the story about the sark. In any event, the nascent insurrection in the north, led by Alexander Lord Forbes and including Huntly, Erroll and Marischal, achieved nothing as they, along with the Earl of Lennox, were defeated at the battle of Tillymoss (Touch Moss) in 1489. After that, Alexander Forbes saw sense in submitting to the youngster, James IV.<br /><br />Maintaining faith with the next king, James IV, the Forbeses appeared at the battle of Flodden (Branxton Edge) in 1513, led by John, sixth Lord Forbes, and his son James, Master of Forbes. The latter was killed, but the father and most of his 'clansmen' survived as they were in Huntly’s wing, which escaped the general slaughter. In 1522, when Albany led an invading, largely French, army into England, John Forbes was the spokesman for the Anglophile Lords who refused to follow Albany – effectively the Forbeses had changed sides again. Afterwards, the Forbeses were allied with the Douglas Earl of Angus, the step-father of James V, then a minor. Angus was the man who controlled the realm of Scotland in 1525.<br /><br />John, sixth Lord Forbes, had two sons by his second marriage, a namesake and a William. The former was John, Master of Forbes and the latter became the seventh Lord. In the 1530s, the Forbeses deadly feud with the Gordons was at a peak and at least twice in that decade, the three Forbeses were cautioned to appear at the Court of Justiciary in Aberdeen. On the first occasion, on the 29th of July, 1533, it was for having “treasonably” set fire to wooden sheep pens belonging to the earl of Huntly. Even earlier, on the 10th of October, 1530, the Master had been indicted at the Court of Justiciary in Dundee, for the slaughter of Alexander Seton of Meldrum, but got a remission under the Great Seal. Young John's career as a bit of a nuisance to Huntly was well and truly under way.<br /><br />So, on the 12th of June 1536, the Master was accused, by the Earl of Huntly, of treasonable conspiracy against the King's life, and also of plotting the destruction of the King's army at Jedburgh. According to 'Ancient criminal trials in Scotland; compiled from the original records and MSS., with historical illustrations, &amp;c., Vol. I.' by Robert Pitcairn, Esq., in 1833, the charges were laid out in court as follows: “In presens of Þe KINGIS grace and LORDIS OF HIS COUNSALE ...ane nobill and michty lord GEORGE, ERLL OF HUNTLIE, &amp;c., ...delatit Þe said MAISTER (OF) FORBES ...Þis cryme of Treſoune and Leſe-majeſtie ...That is to ſay, Ye said MAISTER OF FORBESE had imagynit and conſpirit HIS HIENES dede and Slauchter be ane ſchot of ane ſmall gwne or culuering within Þe burgh of Abirdene.”<br /><br />The principal evidence against Forbes came from one of his own servants, a man called Strachene, who “ be Þe perfuafione of the Earle of Huntlie” was seduced into revealing “a Conspirasie intendit by his Maister” to aid the restoration of Douglas power. The Master protested his innocence and “offerit him to defend Þe ſamyn with his body” i.e., challenge his accuser to “Singular Combat,” a duel often allowed by feudal kings, exclaiming “God defend the richt!” Pitcairn notes that the council denied Forbes that judicial combat substitute for justice.<br /><br />In relation to Forbes' trial, which began on the 14th of July, 1537, Pitcairn, the editor, notes that it was known “[that] the greateſt pairt of the Aſſiſe war corupted be the Earle of Huntlie” and records that it could not be proven “sufficientlie and clearlie, aither by Wittneſs or other evedences, that ever [Forbes] had ſuch a purpose.” Nevertheless, Forbes was found guilty and “For Þe quhilk treſſonabill crimes ...[Forbes] hes forfaltit to our ſouerane lord his life, landis, and gudis, movable and vnmovable; And ſall be harlyt and drawin trow Þe caſſay of Edinbur and HANGIT on Þe gallouſe to Þe deid, and quarterit and demanyt as ane traytour.”<br /><br />Notwithstanding his sentence and according to Leslie, Forbes was “heidit and quarterit at Edinburgh, and his heid and quarteris affixt apoun the Portis,” no doubt to spare his relatives the ignominy of a hanging, which concession was reputedly down to the “mediatioun of some frindis.” On the 17th of July, 1537, as Pitscottie writes, John, the Master of Forbes, “swore upoun the scaffold that he was innocent of these crymes of Treasoun quhairof he was convict; but he knew weill it was the innocent Slauchter of the Laird of Meldrum quhilk had brocht him to that poynt.”<br /><br /><br />Ian Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231693516226654260.post-84786711941902947922012-07-09T11:00:00.000-07:002012-07-09T11:00:00.274-07:00Captain Charles Bruce Bairnsfather<br /><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Charles Bruce Bairnsfather</b> was born on the 9<sup>th</sup> of July, 1887.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">Charles Bruce Bairnsfather was born in India, the son of a Scot. Bairnsfather went to school in middle-England, after begin brought back to Britain, and no doubt he spoke with an English accent, but other than that, we're claiming him as Scots. If he had any English heritage, he'd have been called Barnsfeather or some such. Anyone with 'bairn' in their surname and Bruce as a Christian name, must be Scottish, eh? In any case, his story is worth including as Charles Bruce Bairnsfather grew up to become</span></div><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"> one of the best loved of Britain’s artists of the First World War. </span><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Sadly, however, Bairnsfather never received any official public recognition for the part he played in the Great War, despite being described by <span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span lang="en-GB">General Sir Ian Hamilton </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">as “the man who helped us win the war.” Typically, the authorities and top brass – the ubiquitous 'powers that be' – resented the jibes and mirth, which were often made at their expense, of course, in Bairnsfather's famous cartoons. Some people objected to Bairnsfather's drawings and one pompous member of the House of Commons is reputed to have condemned his cartoons, in Parliament, as “</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span lang="en-GB">vulgar caricatures of our heroes.” Nevertheless, his genius was appreciated by the ordinary Squaddies, whom he also portrayed so wonderfully, and whose morale, along with that of the nation, he raised, when most needed.</span></span></div><div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">Known as Bruce rather than Charles, Bairnsfather was the creator of 'Old Bill', a cartoon character with pipe, walrus moustache and tin hat, who epitomised the British Tommy in the trenches. The Old Bill character and many others, became extremely popular with the real 'Tommies' and perfectly captured their irony and cynicism. Old Bill rapidly brought Bairnsfather widespread praise and popularity and his character became a bit of a legend. In fact, you can still find Old Bill memorabilia in the form of pottery mugs and plates, playing cards, cigarette cards, jigsaw puzzles, postcards and other such merchandise. In addition, during the 1920s and 1930s, Old Bill appeared in books, plays, musicals, two feature films, and more comic strips.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">Bairnsfather's most famous cartoon is one of Old Bill being shelled in a crater with the caption: “Well, if you knows of a better 'ole, go to it.” And in fact, that sketch became a national catchphrase, after being published in Bystander Magazine on the 24</span><sup><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">th</span></sup><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">of November, 1915. Many other sketches, such as 'A Hopeless Dawn' and 'The New Submarine Danger' were equally famous and, perhaps alluding to one reason why they were less liked by the 'authorities', were once described as “the nearest thing to anti-war propaganda which the British media had to offer.” </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">As the man who wrote that last quote also pointed out in his book, 'Daily Sketches: A Cartoon History of Twentieth Century Britain', “[Bairnsfather's] cartoons were by a man who had fought in the trenches and who knew what that kind of wholly new warfare was like.” That put Bairnsfather in the same category as Brooke and Owen, the famous War Poets, as unlike other cartoonists, Bairnsfather had been “actually there on the front line.” It's fair to say that our man Bruce, in terms of his recording of the conditions in which our soldiers fought, was equal to those poets. Bairnsfather also captured very well, the sense of humour, which the soldiers brought to bear against the unimaginably dreadful conditions in France between 1914 and 1918.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">Bruce Bairnsfather published two volumes of memoirs: ‘Bullets &amp; Billets’ and ‘From Mud to Mufti’; both of which, fairly obviously, documented his wartime experiences. </span><span lang="en-GB">A Biography of Capt. Bruce Bairnsfather, including a listing of his works and collectables, and entitled, 'In Search of the Better 'Ole', has been written by T</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span lang="en-GB">onie and Valmai Holt. The publicity blurb about the book states that: “In this engrossing human story the Holts examine the life of this loveable man and go a long way towards redressing his lack of recognition.” Hear, hear!</span></span></div><div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">Charles Bruce Bairnsfather was born in Muree, on what was then India's North West Frontier and is now in Pakistan, on the 9</span><sup><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">th</span></sup><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">of July, 1887. Bruce's father, Thomas Bairnsfather, had been born in Forfar and was then a Lieutenant in the Bengal Infantry. Bruce gained his education at schools in India and at Westward Ho!, the same school as Rudyard Kipling by the way, after being brought back to Blighty and the Warwickshire village of Bishopton. In Stratford-upon-Avon, Bruce, who by that time it was clear, had a talent for art, took up evening evening classes and, in 1904, he sold his first drawing, which was an advertisement for Player's Navy Mixture tobacco, for two guineas. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">In 1905, Bruce joined the the third Militia Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and later, despite failing entrance exams to Sandhurst and Woolwich, he transferred to his father's old Regiment, The Cheshires. However, Bruce found army life boring and left, in 1907, to enrol as an art student at the John Hassall School of Art. Initially, after completing his training, Bruce produced advertising posters for household products such as Lipton's tea, Beecham's pills and Flowers' beer. After that, Bruce was unable to get further work and became a part-time artist, whilst working as a sales representative for a firm of electrical joiners.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">In September, 1914, Bruce Bairnsfather rejoined the Royal Warwickshire Regiment where he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the 3</span><sup><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">rd</span></sup><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">(Service Reserve) Battalion. After the Battle of Mons, Bairnsfather was sent to the Western Front where he was put in charge of a Maxim Machine-Gun section. Life in the trenches was so grim and shocking to Bairnsfather that he declined leave home on the grounds that, once he left, it would be too difficult for him to return. However, there was the odd respite from the horrors of war, such as when Bairnsfather was involved in the famous 'Christmas Truce' of 1914, when the British and Germans played a game of football. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">Bruce didn't take part in the footie, but his record makes interesting reading: “This was my first real sight of [the Boche] at close quarters. Here were these sausage-eating wretches, who had elected to start this infernal European fracas, and in so doing had brought us all into the same muddy pickle as themselves.” He went on to write of the marked difference in type between the Brits and the Germans: “There was no contrasting the spirit of the two parties. Our men, in their scratch costumes of dirty, muddy khaki, with their various assorted head-dresses of woollen helmets, mufflers and battered hats, were a light-hearted, open, </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span lang="en-GB">humorous</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">collection as opposed to the sombre demeanour and stolid appearance of the Huns in their grey-green faded uniforms, top boots, and pork-pie hats.”</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;">Bairnsfather began drawing his cartoons whilst serving in the infamous Ypres Salient. It was there he created the first of what were to become his </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">'Fragments from France'</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"> on the wall of his billet; a battle-scarred cottage in the village of St. Yvon. In 1915, 'The Bystander' magazine began publishing his drawings, but prior to that, in the April, Bairnsfather had been badly wounded by a shell explosion and sent back to England. It was while he was in hospital that he was commissioned to do a weekly drawing for the magazine, which led to 'Fragments' being published.</span></div><div lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span lang="en-GB">Bruce returned to active duty in France, in late 1915, but his health deteriorated and he was classified as no longer fit for active service. Captain Bairnsfather was then posted to Albany Barracks on the Isle of Wight, to train new recruits and it was during there he created Old Bill. Strangely enough, given earlier statements, the G</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span lang="en-GB"><span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% transparent;">overnment do seem to have recognised the positive propaganda potential of Bairnsfather's cartoons as in 1916, he was sent</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span lang="en-GB">back to France as 'Officer Cartoonist', to help raise the morale of the French. Bruce drew for the Italians and the Americans, for whom he also worked as official cartoonist during the Second World War, contributing to the 'Stars and Stripes' and drawing cartoons on the noses of bombers. </span></span>In the twenties and thirties, Bruce Bairnsfather became a successful actor, playwright, film producer and author, and worked for the Illustrated London News, and for Tatler. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Captain Charles Bruce Bairnsfather died of acute renal failure, after treatment for cancer of the bladder, in Worcester Royal Infirmary, on the 29<sup>th</sup> of September, 1959.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><br />Ian Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231693516226654260.post-71079420796343216292012-07-02T11:00:00.000-07:002012-07-02T11:00:00.668-07:00Dugald Buchanan (Dùghall Bochanan)<b>Dugald Buchanan (Dùghall Bochanan) </b>died on the 2nd of July, 1768.<br /><br />Dugald Buchanan was an 18th Century Scottish Calvinist preacher who is famous as a Gaelic poet and as the translator of the New Testament into Gaelic. His poetry was intrinsically bound up in his occupation and preoccupation as he wrote, exclusively, on religious topics. Buchanan was a popular local preacher and, although he published only eight poems, amounting to a mere 1590 lines or so, in his lifetime, he brought Christian themes to Scots Gaelic literature. That was a significant departure from epic tales of myth and legend, such as Ossian, and led to Buchanan being lauded as 'The Highland’s Sacred Bard'. His contemporaries, such as James MacPherson in particular, are&nbsp; far more famous Gaelic poets outside Scotland, but Buchanan was unique, because he used poetry to promote the twinned values of salvation and righteous living. As befitting a Calvinist,<br /><a name='more'></a> Buchanan's poetry is pretty sombre in tone, with subjects such as Judgement Day.<br /><br />Although they are poems, Buchanan's book, published in 1767, was entitled, 'The Spiritual Songs' (Laoidhibh Spioradail). The poems have always been known as 'Buchanan's Songs' and they became very popular in the Highlands, where parts of them (because they are all quite long) were occasionally sung in Gaelic. There were English language translations published in 1849 and 1884. In the introduction to 'The Spiritual Songs of Dugald Buchanan', edited by the Rev. Donald Maclean, is the claim that it has always been said that these [nine poems] formed only a portion of the author's poetical compositions, and that he intended to publish others later. We shall never know. <br /><br />Buchanan also left behind a 'Diary' that spanned the ten years of his life between 1741 and 1750. That diary, written in English, was published in Edinburgh, in 1836, and presents Buchanan's personal anguish and dread of “the day of judgement” when he saw himself “entering the flames” and awakening “in great fear and trembling.” No wonder then that his most notable poem is called Latha a'Bhreitheanis (The Day of Judgment), with its 127 four-line stanzas being a sustained, and “brilliantly conducted” (according to Derick Thomson as quoted by James Robertson in 'Kettillonia: New Scottish Writing') description of the apocalypse.<br /><br />Robertson is a fan and responsible for a new translation of The Day of Judgement, but not into English. Robertson refers to Buchanan's “startling display of linguistic fireworks,” which his Scots translation wonderfully conveys as you can read in this awesome stanza:<br /><br />“Doun in the caverns they cling thegither,<br />Their fate nou firm in Satan's nieve:<br />Mansweirers, murtherers, bevvy-merchants,<br />An aw that hure an curse an thieve.<br /><br />Buchanan was a catechist, but his&nbsp; lack of education ruled out his becoming a minister in the Church of Scotland. However, his that didn't impact his other claim to fame, which was for assisting in translating the New Testament into a first edition in Scottish Gaelic. Buchanan was chosen to superintend the issue of the translation made by the Rev. James Stewart of Killin. The result of that collaboration was published in 1767 after Buchanan had accompanied Stewart to Edinburgh to oversee the printing.<br /><br />The trip to Edinburgh also enabled Buchanan to publish his 'Songs', most of which had been composed in Rannoch. Whilst there, he also attended classes in the University; Natural Philosophy and Anatomy included, and his signature can be seen in the University Album. Buchanan must've made quite an impression as the bookseller, John Reid, said that Buchanan's poetical genius was of the first order and was moved to call him “the Cowper of the Highlands,” in a reference to the English poet and hymnodist, William Cowper. It is also said that Buchanan met and was able to hold his own in debate with the great David Hume.<br /><br />Dugald Buchanan was born at the Mill of Ardoch, Strathyre, near Balquhidder in 1716. Dugald's mother died when he was six years old, but the family soldiered on and he managed to get a decent education. At the age of&nbsp; fourteen, Dugald went to live in Stirling, where he attended classes, and then, later on, he lived in Edinburgh. By the time he was seventeen, Dugald was apprenticed to a 'house-carpenter', first in Kippen and then in Dumbarton. It is also said that, for a short time, Dugald acted as tutor to a neighbouring family and that he didn't complete his carpentry training.<br /><br />That latter idea fits with descriptions of Dugald as a “dissolute as a young man” who seems to have spent a lot of time in “spiritual anguish and self-doubt.” Quite a number of years in fact as it wasn't until 1744 or thereabouts, the time of the Jacobite Rebellion, that he finally found himself. He appears to have been influenced by the evangelical preaching of George Whitefield on his visit to Scotland in 1742. Some years earlier, around the mid-1730s, Dugald's his sister is said to have encouraged him on his journey to being 'born again' and prepared the ground, you might say, for his epiphany.<br /><br />Buchanan married in 1749 and returned to Strathyre, where he became an itinerant teacher, travelling widely through the country of Lochearnside and Breadalbane. He then&nbsp; conducted an informal school in Balquhidder until, in 1755, Buchanan procured the job of schoolmaster and catechist (a licensed preacher) at the tiny hamlet at the east end of Loch Rannoch, now known as Kinloch Rannoch. That school was established by the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge in Scotland, and Buchanan's role was specifically intended to help 'civilise' the district and establish Presbyterianism. Civilisation was needed, of course, to tame the wild rebels of the Struan Estate, forfeited after the 'Forty-five'.&nbsp; <br /><br />Dugald Buchanan died, it is said, of a fever that also killed his eight children, on the 2nd of July, 1768. He was buried at Little Leny, in the parish of Callander.<br /><br />Ian Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231693516226654260.post-28041795673216369792012-07-01T11:00:00.000-07:002012-07-01T11:00:02.119-07:00Allan Pinkerton<b>Allan Pinkerton</b>, the Scots-born founder of the famous detective agency, died on the 1st of July, 1884.<br /><br />Allan J. Pinkerton was born in 19th Century Scotland, but became famous in the Wild West of America as the founder of the detective agency that bore his name. He also became famous worldwide as his name is synonymous with the term 'private eye' and he was, arguably, the world's first private detective. Interestingly enough, Pinkerton was also one of the first writers of stories in the genre; that of the private eye. A prolific author in his later years, Pinkerton's books as well as his exploits, undoubtedly influenced and inspired a host of famous exponents of the genre; the likes of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. And, of course, it was<br /><a name='more'></a> the famous Pinkerton logo, a large unblinking eye with the slogan 'We Never Sleep', that gave rise to the phrase 'private eye'.<br /><br />Pinkerton appears to have led a colourful life. Indeed, as the Thrilling Detective website suggests, that might be a bit of an understatement. The website goes on to state that, in his long and varied career, Pinkerton was called, variously, “a traitor and a patriot, an outlaw and a police officer, a thug and an idealist, a left-leaning political activist fighting for the plight of the workers and a hired goon for bosses, a defender of liberty and a trampler of rights, an immigrant and a drunkard, a rogue, an adventurer and a barrel maker.” However, it concludes with, “most of all, he was a detective,” which is only fair.<br /><br />Pinkerton's Agency got a 'bad press' in the decades after his death; in the latter part of the 19th Century and the first twenty or thirty years or so of the next. Alan Pinkerton, since he was then dead, wasn't responsible for the activities that led to his agency becoming vilified and there is no real evidence that the direction it took was one that he would have wished. On his death, the reins were taken up by his sons, William and Robert, and what they saw fit to do was what they saw fit. Expediency, a sign of the times, it was good for business; all of these things probably had something to do with the evolution of Pinkerton's. In his own day, Pinkerton's agency was by no means 'squeaky clean', but in the lawless days of the 'Wild Frontier' in which it began, it was a bastion for what was good and right. In fact, in that violent era, Pinkerton's operatives were regarded as heroes and, if admissible evidence, there were loads of 'dime novels' that sang their praises.<br /><br />It's often been written that Pinkerton's earned a reputation for toughness and efficiency and, in a summary of its activities, the Agency foiled assassination attempts on presidents; chased outlaws and desperadoes back and forth across the American West; was responsible for the apprehension of counterfeiters, kidnappers and embezzlers; solved a series of train robberies during the 1850s; had as its major, lucrative clients, the nations railroads and post offices, two businesses that were particularly at risk in the lawless West; and created the world’s first 'rogue's gallery'. <br /><br />Joseph Geringer, in 'Roots of a Detective' noted that Pinkerton's biographer, Sigmund A. Lavine, wrote thus of&nbsp; Pinkerton's contribution: “[Pinkerton was] a man of great power of observation and courage, [who] organized the first official Secret Service for duty behind Confederate lines during the War Between the States, and rode with lawmen along the Old Frontier, hunting down members of Jesse James' gang, the Reno brothers and other desperadoes.” <br /><br />It's also said of Pinkerton's that it “always got its man,” however, in the case of Jesse James, it didn't get its man. Poor Mr. Howard was laid in his grave by the cowardly act of the opportunist, Robert Ford. Some consider that failure to have been Pinkerton's biggest defeat. Nevertheless, as reported by Time-Life Books in its 'The Wild West' anthology, Pinkerton's methods were so effective “that when the government formed the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1908, it used Pinkerton's agency as its model.” You'd want to believe that the FBI didn't take on board the methods used to apprehend Jesse James.<br /><br />Hired by&nbsp; the Adams Express Company to bring the James' Gang to justice after the Gads Hill train robbery in Missouri, Pinkertons' tactics ultimately became less scrupulous and more reckless. After one of Pinkerton's detectives, Joseph Whicher, was murdered by the Jameses or their associates, the Express Co. withdrew its funding. However, Pinkerton continued to pursue Frank and Jesse and, in January, 1875, a group, led by his detectives, raided the James' farm. Pinkerton's men fire-bombed the house and the resulting explosion injured Jesse's mother and killed his eight years old half-brother, Archie. The Pinkerton Agency was condemned for the raid and effectively gave up the chase.<br /><br />Alan James Pinkerton was born in the Gorbals on the 25th of August, 1819. When his father died in a political riot in Glasgow, Alan left school to find work to support the family. He became a runner for a pattern maker and then an apprentice cooper in the McCauley Cooperage Works. In due course, Pinkerton became active in the Chartist Movement, which was the first mass working class labour movement in the world, following the tradition of earlier Radical movements, such as the Friends of the People. The story goes that Pinkerton was warned of his impending arrest on the day of his wedding, the 13th of March, 1842, and that he and his bride promptly boarded a boat for the New World to escape. You'd have to say the trip had been planned beforehand; no?<br /><br />In any case, the ship was shipwrecked off the coast of Nova Scotia and, eventually, the Pinkertons made it across the border to the United States, where Pinkerton got work as a cooper in Chicago. They then moved to the nearby town of Dundee, in 1843, where Pinkerton set up his own cooperage business. In 1844, Pinkerton worked for Chicago Abolitionist leaders and his house became a stop on the Underground Railroad, a network of secret routes and safe houses used by black slaves to escape to free states and Canada.<br /><br />In 1849, Pinkerton was appointed as a detective in Chicago and in 1850, he partnered with attorney Edward Rucker to form the North-Western Police Agency, America's first legitimate private investigation agency. The partnership was dissolved within a year and Pinkerton operated the agency himself, which became The Pinkerton Agency in 1852. Pinkerton was next hired as bodyguard to the President-elect, Abraham Lincoln, during which service he famously uncovered and foiled a plot to assassinate Lincoln. Following the outbreak of the Civil War in 1860, Pinkerton became head of the Union Intelligence Service reporting to General George McClellan.<br /><br />Alan J. Pinkerton died on the 1st of July, 1884, and he was buried in Graceland Cemetery, in Cook County, Illinois, alongside Joseph Whicher and Kate Warn, the first woman detective.<br /><br />Ian Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231693516226654260.post-90639818311912128412012-06-24T11:00:00.000-07:002012-06-24T11:00:04.906-07:00Robert Dale Owen<b>Robert Dale Owen</b> died on the 24th of June, 1877.<br /><br />Robert Dale Owen was undoubtedly Scottish as he was born in Glasgow and spent the majority of his first twenty-four years in Scotland. Nevertheless, Owen is far more famous in his adopted land of the United States, where he made his mark. Some online biographies suggest he is best known “for being integral to the founding of the Smithsonian Institution,” but that is a mere morsel and no more important than the fact of Dale, Indiana, being named after him. What Owen is really famous for is <br /><a name='more'></a>being an advocate of social reform and an anti-slavery campaigner.<br /><br />Robert Dale Owen was the eldest son of his namesake, the Welsh born social reformer, Robert Owen; one of the founders of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement, and the man responsible for New Lanark, Scotland's model industrial community. The younger Robert Owen was steeped in his father’s socialist philosophy and also, in later life, came to share a fascination with spiritualism. It's quite strange to find that both men were involved in such shamanism, more so when the elder Owen's philosophy was based, in part, on a belief that all religions were “based on the same ridiculous imagination.”<br /><br />Whilst Robert Dale Owen was conspicuous amongst “radicals” in the United States of the 1820s and '30s, perhaps his finest moment came on the 17th of September, 1862, when he wrote “man to man” to Abraham Lincoln, no less. Owen's open letter to the President was a plea to end slavery, and in addition to influencing the President's 'Emancipation Proclamation', it gave Owen material for his draft of the Fourteenth Amendment, which he submitted in 1865. Owen's letter has been described as urging an end to slavery “on moral grounds,” however, the letter covers as much of expediency as it does morality.<br /><br />Despite there being no record of Lincoln's comments, it's fairly clear that Owen's letter greatly influenced the President, because the man who delivered it on the 19th, Secretary of the Treasury, Salmon P. Chase, said as much. That fact was recorded by Richard Leopold in his biography of Owen, in which reports that Chase said, “You will hardly ever accomplish a greater work than this letter.” In that letter, independently published in 1873, Owen wrote first about greater evils ensuing if slavery was not redressed, by which he meant the impact of the rebellion of the Southern States during the Civil War. <br /><br />He wrote that “Property in man ...has become nationally dangerous” and made the point that slavery better enabled the Rebels to wage war as the slaves were “the suppliers of [the South's] commiseriat” – the means by which the South was able to sustain itself and, at the same time, send the full compliment of its adult male population to war. Owen went on to suggest that in a country in which slavery still existed i.e., if the South prevailed, there would be no assurance of “permanent peace.”<br /><br />However, Owen did indeed write that “Property in man [was] always morally unjust” and went on, in a famous passage, to say to Lincoln, “It is within your power... as the instrument of the Almighty, to restore to freedom a race of men.” He added, stirringly, “Let them breathe free once more.” Owen also extolled the President to “Extirpate the blighting curse... ,” but mixing morality and pragmatism, he added, “Give back to the nation its hope and faith in a future of peace and undisturbed prosperity.” Three days after reading Owen's letter, Lincoln read a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, in which he stated, clearly echoing Owen's sentiments “...upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgement of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God.”<br /><br />Robert Dale Owen was born in Glasgow on the 7th or the 9th of November, 1801. Robert attended school at New Lanark, before studying for four years at the Emanuel von Fellenberg School in Hofwyl, Switzerland. He returned to Scotland in 1823, to head his old school and write 'An Outline of the System of Education at New Lanark', published in 1824. A year later, Owen emigrated to the United States and settled in Posey County, Indiana, before moving to New Harmony, on the Wabash River, which his father has purchased from the Harmony Society for £30,000. That American version of the socialist community of New Lanark was where that the United States' first kindergarten, first free public school, first free library, and first school with equal education, were established. <br /><br />Owen taught school in New Harmony and was editor of the local 'Gazette', and by the time his father had returned to the United Kingdom, his own perspectives had been clearly established. Owen was influenced by the utopian Nashoba Commune of fellow Scot, Frances 'Fanny' Wright, in Tennessee. He travelled with her to England and Europe, before returning to the States. He moved to New York City, where he wrote for the 'Sentinel' and became the editor of the 'Free Enquirer', a paper he co-founded as a radical weekly. Owen's principles of socialism,&nbsp; abolition of slavery, universal suffrage, free secular education, birth control, and divorce laws were also reflected in his involvement with the Working Men's Party and his publication, in 1830 or '31, of 'Moral Physiology'.<br /><br />Owen went back to New Harmony in 1832, after a honeymoon in England, and in 1836, was elected to the Indiana Legislature. Owen was a member of Congress from 1843 to 1847 and took a part in the settlement of the 'Oregon Question' and in founding the aforementioned Smithsonian Institution. In fact, Owen became one of its Regents and chairman of the Smithsonian's Building Committee. Owen went back to Indiana in 1850, where he became a member of the Constitutional Convention and was instrumental in liberalizing women's rights. From 1853 to 1858, Owen was, consecutively, Chargé d'Affaires and Minister Resident to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, in Naples.<br /><br />Back in America, Owen joined other anti-slavery Democrats and crossed over to the Republicans. He penned his famous letter to Lincoln in 1862 and in 1863 and 1864, respectively, after heading a committee to investigate the condition of freedmen, published 'The Policy of Emancipation' and 'The Wrong of Slavery, the Right of Emancipation, and the Future of the African Race in the United States'. In the latter book, despite his moral stance, Owen counselled a 10-year delay in granting the newly emancipated slaves the right to vote. Spanning the Civil War, Owen was otherwise occupied in the Ordnance Commission and, during the Reconstruction era, The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands.<br /><br />Owen wrote several books, a novel, a play and numerous pamphlets. His books include 'Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World' and 'The Debatable Land between This World and the Next', both of which concerned spiritualism. Other books of note are: 'Discussion with Origen Bachelor on the Personality of God and the Authority of the Bible' (1832); the autobiographical 'Threading My Way: Twenty-seven Years of Autobiography' (1874); and the novel, 'Beyond the Breakers' (1870).<br /><br />Robert Dale Owen died at his “summer residence” of 'Cosy Cove', at Crosbyside on Lake George, Warren County, New York, on the 24th of June, 1877.<br /><br />Ian Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231693516226654260.post-72665272425849216832012-06-17T10:30:00.000-07:002012-06-23T05:42:22.782-07:00Elgin Cathedral and the 'Wolf of Badenoch'<b>Elgin Cathedral was burned by the 'Wolf of Badenoch'</b>, on the 17th of June, 1390.<br /><br />Elgin Cathedral, which is now a ruin, was set alight three times. All of that must be considered truly unfortunate and only goes to show that building edifices to the glory of God is also, probably, a folly. For ye catholic believers the demise of Elgin Cathedral must be&nbsp; regrettable, but for ye followers of Calvin and Knox and the religious revolution, maybe its being reduced to an historic ruin and tourist attraction is something of the order of just desserts. Elgin Cathedral was known as the 'Lantern of the North', ostensibly because it was the ecclesiastical centre of the Bishopric of Moray. Alternatively, you must consider <br /><a name='more'></a>it gained that appellation due to a predisposition for attracting arsonists. Aye, there's nae such thing as 'third time lucky' in Elgin.<br /><br />The first fire to damage significantly Elgin's ancient cathedral occurred in 1270, forty-six years after the establishment of the monastic structure at Spynie in 1224. That incident, involving a monk with a box of matches, led to a major rebuilding programme, which substantially increased the size of the cathedral. The impressive new establishment went on to survive the Wars of Independence without further damage. Much later, on the 3rd of July, 1402, the cathedral precinct suffered an incendiary attack by Alexander of Lochaber, brother of Domhnall of Islay, Lord of the Isles. The cathedral’s final demise came after the Reformation in 1560, when it was deserted by its congregation, which had moved to St Giles Kirk. The cathedral fell into a state of disrepair and it was robbed of its valuable materials, including the church bells and, in 1567, the lead from the roof.<br /><br />Sandwiched between the first and third fires, in 1270 and 1402, the most famous conflagration to warm the hands of a medieval catholic god occurred in June, 1390. The man responsible for that outrage was the son of a King. The monarch was Robert II and the perpetrator was Alexander Stewart, the Earl of Buchan. The reason commonly given for the fury directed at Elgin and its cathedral by the Earl of Buchan is that he fell out with the Bishop of Moray.&nbsp; It seems, however, that the attack came after a prolonged period of setbacks for the Earl, who had a short fuse – and a handy supply of tinder.<br /><br />Alexander Stewart was married to Eupheme (Euphemia) de Ross, the Countess of Ross, with whom he had no issue. On the other hand, he had plenty of&nbsp; illegitimate children, around forty by some accounts and at least seven 'officially'. Notwithstanding his copious acts of infidelity, Alexander had a favourite mistress, Mairead inghean Eachann, with whom he lived at Lochindorb Castle and who appears to have been the mother of an identifiable seven of his 'bastards'. Having deserted Euphemia, the rogue Earl sought divorce and annulment via the Bishop of Moray, Alexander Bur. Not to be outdone, Countess Euphemia complained to Moray and Pope Clement V at Avignon about Buchan's cohabiting with Mairead. Later, in 1392, the Pope annulled the marriage, but in February, 1390, Bishop Bur had come out in support of Euphemia and excommunicated Buchan. That action only served to add fuel to the fire of Buchan's feud with the Bishop.<br /><br />With Stewart's official elevation to the title of Lord of Badenoch in 1371 and being made King's Lieutenant north of the Forth in 1372, he assumed greater authority over Moray's ecclesiastical lands. Life became increasingly miserable for the Bishop and his tenants as Stewart was notorious for ruling his territories with an 'iron fist'. Buchan's judicial authority was questioned by the Bishop, who complained to the King; after all, he couldn't very well complain to the legitimate authority i.e., Buchan. Robert II sided with his illegitimate offspring and the Bishop's card was marked. However, another son, John, the Earl of Carrick and the future Robert III, sought to take control of the north. <br /><br />Lots of argy bargy occurred, but Stewart, made Earl of Buchan in 1382, soon after his marriage, held his own and was even, in 1387, appointed Justiciar North of the Forth. Carrick's intervention was a bit like his eventual rule, a damp squib, and it was only when the King's second son, Robert Stewart, the competent and capable Earl of Fife, became effective ruler of Scotland, in 1388, that Buchan came under real pressure. Displaying the kind of sibling rivalry all too common in those times, Fife removed Buchan from the Justiciarship and the Royal Lieutenancy and installed his own son, Murdoch, as Justiciar. <br /><br />By May of 1390, Buchan's simmering resentment at being sidelined and losing any chance of high office was coming to the boil. With the February excommunication coming after years of ups and downs, Buchan wasn't in the mood for pussy-footing around. Taking advantage of the absence of Bur's new protector, the Earl of Moray, in London for a tourney, Buchan decided on venting his frustration by going on the rampage and striking out at the Bishop against whom his rage had already been ignited.<br /><br />Buchan swept down from his fastness of Badenoch and descended on Moray at the head of a large number of “wild, wykked Hieland-men.” Buchan ransacked the town of Forres, before destroying the Abbey and Priory of Pluscarden en route to Elgin. Buchan arrived in Elgin on the 17th of June, 1390, where he torched much of the town, setting alight the Cannon’s house, the College, the monastery of the Greyfriars, the Hospital of Maison Dieu and destroying Elgin Cathedral. <br /><br />Bishop Bur afterwards wrote to Robert III seeking reparation for his brother's actions, stating, “...my church was the particular ornament of the fatherland, the glory of the kingdom, the joy of strangers and incoming guests, the object of praise and exaltation in other kingdoms because of its decoration, by which it is believed that God was properly worshipped.” God must've been on vacation at the time.<br /><br />Alexander Grant later wrote a ditty called 'The Castle o' Drumin' from which here's a couple of stanzas referencing Alexander Stewart, the 'Wolf of Badenoch'...<br /><br />“As ye brood o’er A’an’s clear waters <br />In the munelicht's silver glow <br />Does the Wild Wolf, Badenoch’s Maister, <br />Pass in pursuit o’ his foe? <br /><br />Son o’ Scotland’s king, a wild ane, <br />In his day his name spak fear <br />Tae mony a ane outside his lairdship, <br />Bishop, commons, prince an’ peer.”Ian Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231693516226654260.post-22374026427825862952012-06-11T10:30:00.000-07:002012-06-11T10:30:03.215-07:00The Battle of Sauchieburn<b>The Battle of Sauchieburn</b> was fought on the 11th of June, 1488.<br /><br />There have been many occasions throughout history where members of the same family, fathers and sons even, have fought on opposing sides in conflicts. The American Civil War springs to mind as does the British and in particular at Culloden, the last battle fought on its mainland soil. The battle at Sauchieburn was one such occasion in Scottish history as it pitted the young Duke of Rothesay against his father, King James III of Scotland. Actually, pitted is a bit of a misnomer, because the son didn't strike a blow in anger, nevertheless, the King and the Prince were on opposing sides. <br /><br />Come the end of the affray, the King lay dead and as Nigel Tranter would have it<br /><a name='more'></a> in the opening pages of 'Chain of Destiny', happit by a blanket on the floor of the dwelling of a miller in Milltown. The King had been carried into the miller's cottage, where he had called for a priest, but when the cleric appeared, he is said to have exclaimed, “I will shrive thee!” before stabbing the King to death. Tranter then has the fifteen years old Duke, now suddenly elevated to be King James IV, aghast and ashamed at such a turn of events as he had neither wished for nor foreseen.<br /><br />The battle that is famous for the death of a King must take second place to the controversy surrounding his regicide. Most modern sources cast serious doubt on the details of the story as portrayed by Tranter in his novel and some suggest that the manner of his death gave rise to one of the earliest recorded conspiracy theories. Historians point to the fact that the first, known recorded claims that James III had been murdered at Milltown, near Bannockburn, by an assassin claiming to be a priest, stemmed from the following Century. They also point, significantly, to the lack of contemporary evidence for the King's murder and to other 'stories' suggesting James had been thrown by his horse during the battle and had been killed, either by the fall or by enemy soldiers.<br /><br />The conspiracy involves the mysterious figure of the priest who, if he existed at all, was surely no man of God. Tranter mentions that suspicion fell on the High Sheriff of Angus, Andrew, 2nd Lord Gray. The parliamentary record of the time merely states that the king “happinit to be slane.” Parliament exonerated the new king, James IV, and attributed the death of his father to the old King having merely followed bad counsel. Nowhere in official records is there any mention of Gray or a priest or a mystery assassin. In fact, in a seeming denial of the events leading up to the battle, the parliamentary record states: “oure soverane lord that now is and the trew lordis and barouns that wes withe him in the samyne feild war innocent, quhyt and fre of the saidis slauchteris feilde and all persute of the occasioune and cause of the samyne.”<br /><br />If you were to cast a sceptical eye over the evidence, such as it is, you might come up with the following analysis: i) there is no more evidence for the King falling from his horse and being killed by enemy soldiers than there is for his having been knifed in the chest by a mysterious priest, therefore, either eventuality is possible; ii) that the King “happinit to be slane” means he was killed, which means that he didn't die from falling off his horse as he fled the battle; iii) a parliament consisting of rival factions recently at war, yet seeking agreement for the good of the Realm, would have had every incentive to sweep under the carpet any controversy; and iv) there is evidence for being 'economical with the truth' in the phrase “quhyt and fre of the saidis slauchteris feilde and all persute of the occasioune and cause of the samyne” as one faction clearly wasn't 'quit and free' of any blame.<br /><br />As a constant reminder of his guilt in his involvement in his father’s death, throughout his reign and as a lifelong penance, James IV wore a heavy iron chain round his waist, next to the skin. Apparently, James added a fresh link every year at Lent, but that may be archetypal. However, the point is that James didn't think he was free of any blame.<br /><br />The Battle Of Sauchieburn has been described as the last stand of a shambolic monarch. James III began his reign as a minor under the influence of his mother, Mary of Gueldres, who was made Regent. As ever in Scotland, in a vacuum of regnant authority with a young King as pawn, that was a recipe for dissent, political opportunism and rebellion. After he assumed his rule in person, relationships with the nobility became fractious and, in 1482, James' brother, Alexander, Duke of Albany, led a rebellion to claim the throne, which was supported by England's Edward IV. Albany's rebellion didn't succeed, but James' barons didn't exactly excel themselves in his defence. Six years later, ostensibly frustrated by James' pandering to his favoured courtiers, his nobles rebelled once more.<br /><br />Led by Alexander Home, 1st Lord Home, and Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus, they gained possession of the young Duke of Rothesay, claiming that his father's tenure be annulled for the good of the realm and that he should become James IV ahead of time. The royalist army on the battlefield consisted of as much as 30,000 troops, whereas the rebel army numbered about half that; reputedly 18,000. According to 'The History of Stirlingshire', “the two armies met in a tract of ground, which now goes by the name of Little Canglar, upon the east side of a brook called Sauchie Burn, about two miles south of Stirling, and one mile from the famous field of Bannockburn.” The royal army lost.<br /><br />The traditional view of James III is that he had some serious character flaws, being a weak king who surrounded himself with favoured, but low-born courtiers. Several of those courtiers had, in fact, been hanged by Archibald 'Bell the Cat' Douglas at Lauder Bridge, as a sort of reprisal. However, the leading Scottish historian, Norman Macdougall, has recently dismissed the idea of 'low-born favourites' as pure invention.<br /><br />That view appears to be backed up by Patrick Abercromby M. D., writing in 1715, in Volume II of his history: 'The Martial Atchievements of the Scots Nation being a full complete and genuine History of Scotland from the Year of God 1329 to the Year 1514.' Abercromby writes: “it is to me some Matter of Wonder, that in all the Records of those times, which I have had Occasion to peruse, (and I have perused a great many of them,) the Names of those mean Persons [i.e., the likes of Cochran, Hommil, Roger, Leonard, and Torphichen] do not occur.” Read as you wish and believe nothing but the truth.<br /><br />Ian Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5231693516226654260.post-11409407006497311012012-06-06T10:30:00.000-07:002012-06-06T10:30:03.290-07:00Jane Mathison Haining<b>Jane Mathison Haining</b> was born on the 6th of June, 1897.<br /><br />For many decades since the tail end of the Second World War, Jane Haining was one of Scotland's unsung heroines, but thankfully that has changed recently, in the first decade of the 21st Century, with a lot of overdue and well deserved media attention. Jane Haining was a Presbyterian missionary who died for her beliefs, but she didn't die defending the faith in the 19th Century, she died in a Nazi concentration camp in 1944. Jane's story is one of personal sacrifice and selfless heroism. As a matron in a Kirk mission for disadvantaged Jewish children in Hungary during World War II, when the Gestapo came calling, Jane Haining refused to abandon her charges and that bravery cost her life.<br /><br />One of only ten Scottish people believed to have been killed in a Nazi death camp, Jane has been&nbsp; dubbed 'Scotland's Schindler' by some of the<br /><a name='more'></a> more hysterical newspapers. Jane was no less brave than Oskar Schindler, who saved more than 1,200 Jews, but as Ben Helfgott, a Holocaust survivor and a Chairman of the Yad Vashem Committee of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said, “When the children were taken away she went with them to Auschwitz. She was not able to save them, but she looked after them. What she did was a supreme act of mercy and kindness.” <br /><br />In a 2010 Telegraph newspaper report, Karen Pollock, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, whose namesake, Deborah Pollock from Glasgow, died in Auschwitz, in 1942, said, “Jane Haining was a remarkable woman who took a stand by refusing to leave the Jewish orphans in her care, defying calls for her to return to Scotland. Her form of resistance ultimately ended with the sacrifice of her own life and stands as an example of how ordinary people can do extraordinary things that make such a difference.”<br /><br />Nobody truly knows how Jane Haining died or at least, if there are any witnesses left alive, they're not telling, for obvious reasons. That's not so much a matter of controversy as a simple lack of knowledge. Some websites, including that of her own Church, Queen's Park West, state that she died of starvation on the 17th July, 1944. According to Elizabeth Walker in the book, 'Legacy of Scots', and the Independent newspaper, it is “almost certain” that she was gassed with a group of Hungarian women on the 16th of August, 1944. <br /><br />The uncertainty arises partly because the Nazis sent her death certificate to the Church of Scotland. You might wonder why they'd go to all that trouble, but Jane was a British citizen and the Russians were fast approaching. Jane's death certificate reads, “Miss Haining, who was arrested on account of justified suspicion of espionage against Germany, died in hospital, July 17, of cachexia brought on by intestinal catarrh.” Jane's last letter was sent on the 15th of July, in which she wrote to Margit Prem, the headteacher in Budapest, “There is not much to report here. Even here on the way to Heaven there are mountains, but further away than ours.” Gassed or starved, either way, No. 79467, Jane Haining, was murdered by the Nazis.<br /><br />Poor Jane was&nbsp; charged with eight offences in total: 1. that she had worked amongst the Jews (true); 2. that she had wept when seeing the girls attend class wearing the yellow stars (she admitted that); 3. that she had dismissed her housekeeper (a member of the Hungarian Nazi party); 4. that she had listened to news broadcasts of the BBC; 5. that she had many British visitors; 6. that she was active in politics (the only charge she strenuously denied); 7. that she visited British prisoners of war; and 8. that she had sent parcels to British prisoners of war.<br /><br />Jane Matheson Haining was born at Lochanhead Farm, near Dunscore in Dumfriesshire, on the 6th of June, 1897. Her mother died when Jane was five, but of course, Jane went to Dunscore Village School like any other child, from where, in 1909, she won a scholarship to Dumfries Academy, where she included Latin, French and German in her studies. In 1915, Jane trained at the Commercial College at Glasgow's Athenaeum and, on completion, got a job as a secretary at the Paisley pirn makers, J. &amp; P. Coates Ltd.<br /><br />During her ten years in Paisley, Jane lived in Glasgow's Pollokshields and attended the Queen's Park West United Free Church, where she did Sunday school work, founded a Missionary library, and became a&nbsp; monitor in the Band of Hope. Fatefully, Jane got 'the call' and, resigning from Coates, she took a Diploma at the Glasgow School of Domestic Science. Jane then worked for a time in Manchester and it was there that she saw an advertisement in 'Life and Work' for the job of Matron at the Girls' Home of the Church of Scotland Jewish Mission Station in Budapest. Despite the fact that Jane couldn't speak Hungarian, she was appointed to the post and, in June 1932, after training at St. Colm's, she set out for Hungary.<br /><br />The Mission cared for 315 children, aged between six and 16 years, most of whom were Jewish, but not all as “ it was considered salutary that there should be some Christian girls amongst them.” Many of the pupils were orphans from broken or poverty-stricken homes. Jane looked after 50 of them and learned to speak Hungarian. She returned home only twice; in 1935 and 1939. When the Second World War broke out during the latter visit, Jane returned to Budapest. In 1940, as the situation became more dangerous, all Scottish missionaries were advised to return home, but Jane declined to leave. <br /><br />Later, after the Nazi invasion of Hungary in March 1944, Jane again refused to leave when ordered home, saying, “If these children need me in days of sunshine, how much more do they need me in days of darkness?” Her sister, Nan, later recalled that Jane “would never have had a moment's happiness if she had come home and left the children.” The Nazis began deporting Jews from Hungary and life in Budapest became indescribably hard. The last chapter in the life of Jane Haining began in April, 1944, when the Gestapo arrived. Jane had been 'denounced' by a cook, a member of the Hungarian Nazi party, whom she'd accused of eating the rations meant for her girls.<br /><br />On the 25th of April, Jane was arrested by two officers and taken to the Fő utca prison in Buda for interrogation. Church&nbsp; leaders begged for her release, but to no avail. Jane Mathison Haining was then moved to a holding camp in Kistarcsa, from where, in May, she was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland, where on the 17th of July, 1944, she died 'in hospital'.<br /><br />Ian Colvillehttps://plus.google.com/105249821831189276376noreply@blogger.com2