An introduction from Scotland!

Then why is it every time I come down to R3, I get chastised and made fun of about my accent rand run out of town after the party. JK of course.

We, over here in North America do cherish out heritage. I suspect Australia and NZ are similar. My Scottish side came over here with my Grandfather on my father's side in the early 1900's. My mother's side came over here long before that from Ireland. That was so long ago, that they actually homesteaded land given to them by the Canadian government to encourage settlement in the west of Canada. They are still there farming a lot of that land. A lot of that land was sold over the years bit we maintained rights to what is beneath the surface. Now I own a portion of this. Land which is on the edge of the Bakken Formation. Don't know if we are on that field but they are drilling and pumping very close by.

They drilled out land and capped it back in the fifties, before they discovered Bakken. What they discovered was not economical to bring to the surface but it is there if eventually it becomes worth while to bring it to the surface. Here's hoping though.

We are becoming quite a mixed race over here now. Inter racial marriages are common, mine included.

 

My maternal grandfather was an eccentric and by all contemporary accounts a nut case. He said, back in the 1930 that "America will eventually be recognized as a race and they will be coffee colored skinned individuates much like Polynesians." Everyone called him crazy but I think he was on to something.

By the way, I did some reading about the Irish and Scots that came to Canada (My family was in this group). Those people were freaking tough. Those fields they plow today were old growth forest and they cleared it by hand. That included stump removal.

 

Most cleared land on the prairies was grassland. But none the less, there was bushes to be cleared. But the trees on the prairies are often smaller in circumference that a limb on the trees on our west coast. But hell ya!. They worked hard. Harder than any poor complaining bastard of today who closes down a central warehouse because there are mosquitoes flying around the shipping floor. Laugh? That happened where I worked before I jumped on the horse and became a Mountie.

Back at VF-Scott. My years of service in an unrelenting occupation where everyone shits on you, and you see some of the worst in human kind, I tend to be a bit none emotional. But I have to tell you. Our tour bus stopped at the England - Scotland border. We got out and there was a piper there. Have to admit, there was a lump in my throat which really caught me off guard. You see, a gust of wind came up and....well.....HE WAS WEARING FUGGEN BOXERS!. JK

Just a beautiful country you live in there. I hope to return and spend more time there, next time though, Glasgow will be part of my trip.

 

In my case a woman in the early 1930's did the research and wrote and published a book on the family history. Something she had done apparently to gift to the various families, keep the connection alive as you say. I picked up an 80 year old original of the book this year on eBay. Not much value outside my family but interesting to us, gifted it to dad on his 70th.

Scotland is on my bucket list to visit and ride those roads, love that country side!

 

My people settled in Quebec. Some are still there even today. They had trees.

I loved the pipes so much I learned to play. I competed in grade 4 and could do OK with the slow march tunes. Jigs and Reels were beyond my skill but I had a good time. I let my pipes go but I still have my chanter if I want to get back in the game. Used to wear tight shorts under my band kilt (for the support!) Freaking kilts are killer hot at a Highland Games in Texas in August.

I once heard a Canadian regimental piper playing a slow lament for the dead of WWI. Man did I get choked up big time.

 

Mu Aunt and Uncle moved to California in the early fifties from Glasgow,made their fortune and retired to BC,my other Uncle moved there from Scotland to join them he married a full blooded Native Canadian,then they had a son who in turn Married a Japanese,got this image of their offspring as Kilt wearing,samurai,with feather headress.

 

Becoming part of the family of a "Status Card" carrying First Nations Person (Canadian politically correct way of referring to aboriginal Canadians which is supposed to be non- PC for some reason) in Canada has extremely positive benefits. No taxes are ever collected from a Status FN person if the transaction takes place on a reserve. No income tax is deducted from a status FN person who earns that income on a reserve. Even though everyone thinks we have free medical here, we don't. We do pay for it either in taxes or as a monthly premium. But not status FN people. All medical, dental, and eye care is paid for 100% by the Canadian tax payer. That's just the tip of the iceberg thanks to an archaic Act put i place by the Brits a couple hundred years ago.

I am 100% against that, but if I had the chance to take advantage of those rights, damned right I would.

 

I have distant relatives in Quebec. Their son married a Japanese girl and they had two ceremonious, one with pipes and kilts and the other in Japan with Kimonos. The pictures were great of him as the traditional Japanese groom.

 

WOW! Some excellent ancestral stories here! It's amazing that you can research your families history so far back. It must make for some fascinating reading. Sounds like I'll have to get plenty of haggis and whisky in for when you ancestral Scots get your arses over here!!

Thanks for the welcome. My fathers side of the family are from NI. His great grandfather came from Londonderry and his mother and his cousins etc come from Broughshane. They were over recently for his wedding. Great bunch of people! Motorbike mad too. My great uncle Tommy is 74 and still rides!

If you do come over, make a point of visiting applecross. the old road is awesome and has become a secret fav of bikers and fast car owners alike. but the little village on the sea is worth a visit itself. beautiful.








Scott.

 

What great pictures! Thanks.

Over here genealogy studies are the bastion of the retired and elderly. I have reaped the benefit of my mom's delving into the family's past. The US has a census every ten years. One of the quickest ways to track a family member is by looking at census records (they are available on-line for a fee). You can tell if they were alive at a given time, where they lived and what they did.

One more story: About 20 years ago my mom and dad were on the Isle of Arran for a vacation and to try and dig up (figuratively) information of my mom's side of the family. They were at the hotel desk talking with the clerk and describing their quest. My mom said that they were looking for a connection to a long lost relative with the last name of Kerr. The family split after immigrating to Canada and they lost track of each other. The clerk said that a couple from Canada named Kerr had just checked out and gave my parents their destination. Later that day they met John and Elizabeth Kerr. John is the son of the great aunt they were looking for. It is a small world after all.