Vol 21 No 3 October 2014 Clan Little Society New Zealand & Australia

Sprig Of Heather October 2014 Sprig Of Heather Vol 21 No 3 October 2014 The Official Newsletter of Clan Little Society New Zealand & Australia www.littleclan.net Sprig Of Heather October 2014 Politicians of all persuasion’s want to garner and capture public support. Here in New Zealand our General Election was held on Saturday 20th September. In the UK a couple of days prior on Thursday 18th, the referendum on whether Scotland should be an independent country took place. To vote in the referendum people needed to be aged 16 or over on 18 September 2014 and live in Scotland. Voters may have been British, qualifying Commonwealth or European Union citizen and registered to vote by 2nd September. Weather or not people are pleased with the outcome, its clear effort must now be put into unification of the people. All the money which was spent garnering public support needs now to be valued in terms of national unity and civic pride. It will be interesting to see how the energies and imagination of the Scots will be harnessed for good. Over the years there have been many notable Little’s in Politics’. A current New Zealand MP Andrew Little (B 1965) currently on Labours list just made it back into the House after a huge decline in his parties popularity. John Albert "Jack" Little (1914–1988) was an Australian politician. He had been a shoe factory worker and official with the Victorian Boot Employees' Union a real toiler for workers rights and a fair deal. In Canada a leading academic Professor Margaret Little Ph.D. has interests including welfare; poverty; violence and Canadian social policy. She is an anti- poverty activist who works in the area of single mothers on welfare, neo-liberal welfare reform, and retraining for women on welfare. Its clear we can be both proud of and thankful for those of us who engage in or around the Political process. Whilst there may be some kudos when there are popular outcomes, I suspect there are many long hours of contemplation, frustration and fatigue getting things to happen. Regardless of personal preference or the proliferation of propaganda, I hope us Little’s continue standing up and being counted because democracy has not been without a cost to those who fought for it. Sprig Of Heather October 2014 Scottish Food The true Scotsman enjoys his food and there are many delicious recipes which are rightfully Scottish. These recipes are used every single day in homes of our people. Scotland’s fertile soil and healthy attitudes produce an amazing variety of natural foods which set the country cooks on the front line of the culinary world. As in any culture food is prominent amidst cultural festivals, seasonal celebrations and events such as Hogmanay or the last day. Traditional foods are enjoyed at Burns Suppers where the authentic Scottish dishes such as haggis champit tatties and bashed neeps are served. Whilst there are supposed traditions which are coloured by romantic notions of pleasure and delight, there are recipes guarded close to the hearth by those who know their secret ingredient’s. We all know the stereotypical notions of traditional Scottish fare - haggis, porridge and whisky. Not anymore. Scotland's new elite super-chefs like Gordon Ramsay, Nick Nairn and Andrew Fairlie are taking the country's incredible natural produce like beef, venison and seafood, elevating them to on the menus of discerning diners. The traditional Burns Supper, Hogmanay and St Andrews Day celebrations are still very much a part of Scottish culture where delectable delicacies are of importance. Sprig Of Heather October 2014 Connecting with Little’s One of the biggest challenges we face is simply finding and connecting with Little’s in a relevant and engaging manner. Please can you take a few moments to check your address books or local information sources such as directories and copy any potential “Little’ contacts and send these to me. I will follow up either with a phone call or letter to ascertain any possible interest in Clan Little. The Border Reivers Having just enjoyed a DVD about the Border Reivers it seems a good time to write about what has been learnt. The Reivers came from families who "rode with the moonlight" with their "lang spears" and their "steill bonnets." There are 77 predominant family names who can claim to have been Reivers. Border Clans included the Armstrongs, Johnstones, Scotts, Elliotts, Fenwicks, Bells, Nixons, Maxwells, Kerrs, Dodds, Taits, Howards, Cecils, Douglases, Homes, Croziers, Forsters, Grahams, Irvines, Robsons and Storeys. These names are still common around the Border country. Of particular interest was life in the ‘West March’. The term Scottish Marches was used for the Anglo-Scottish border during the late medieval and early modern eras, characterised by violence and cross-border raids. The Scottish Marches era came to an end during the first decade of the 17th century following the union of the crowns of England and Scotland. In commenting on the history one needs to be aware of myths, legends, license and good old fashioned romantic notions which endure to give flavour and colour to much of our folk lore. Sprig Of Heather October 2014 Families in one area were hostile to inhabitant’s of another as in the case of the ‘Bells’ who were particularly hostile to the Grahams. The Charlton (Carleton) family was English but their name appears in south west Scotland. The Charltons were one of the hardiest and most intractable families on the English side and were alternately allied to and at feud with the Scottish in the west. They were engaged in a bitter vendetta with the Scott’s of Buccleuch. The Elliots were Scottish. Less numerous than the Armstrongs with whom they were frequently allied but as predatory as any clan on the border. Occasionally under English protection, they received a subsidy from Queen Elizabeth during their feud with the Scotts. Notable names: Martin Elliot of Braidley, Little Jock of the Park, Robin of Redheuch, Archie Fire the Braes, William of Lariston, Martin’s Gibb. Johnstone Scottish but possibly of English origin were powerful reivers and also frequent Wardens. Their feud with the Maxwells was the longest and bloodiest in Border history. Maxwell’s were considered the strongest family in the West March until the Johnstones reduced their power in the 16th century. Maxwells were often wardens. One of the most powerful families in the whole Border, both as reivers and as officers were the Scott’s. Today the Duke of Buccleuch is the largest private landowner in the United Kingdom and his family still possesses an extensive art collections which is kept at the family's great houses of Drumlanrig, Bowhill and Boughton. Other long established families in the West March include the Carlisle, Beattie, Carruthers, Glendenning, Moffat and our own Little’s. Sprig Of Heather October 2014 Sprig Of Heather October 2014 For more information about Clan Cameron visit www.camclan.orconhosting.net.nz Sprig Of Heather October 2014 Review: A History of Everyday Life in Twentieth- Century Scotland (Ed-1) Edited By: Lynn Abrams and Callum Brown Over the twentieth century Scots' lives changed in fast, dramatic and culturally significant ways. By examining their bodies, homes, working lives, rituals, beliefs and consumption, this volume exposes how the very substance of everyday life was composed, tracing both the intimate and the mass changes that the people endured. Using novel perspectives and methods, chapters range across the experiences of work, art and death, the way Scots conceived of themselves and their homes, and the way the 'old Scotland' of oppressive community rules broke down from mid-century as the country reinvented its everyday life and culture. This volume brings together leading cultural historians of twentieth-century Scotland to study the apparently mundane activities of people's lives, traversing the key spaces where daily experience is composed to expose the controversial personal and national politics that ritual and practice can generate. Key features: •Contains an overview of the material changes experienced by Scots in their everyday lives during the course of the century •Focuses on some of the key areas of change in everyday experience, from the way Scots spent their Sundays to the homes in which they lived, from the work they undertook to the culture they consumed and eventually the way they died •Pays particular attention to identity as well as experience Sprig Of Heather October 2014 New Zealand's last living survivor of World War I died 11 years ago. But last year TV3s Campbell Live heard a rumour that there was a naturalised Kiwi who lived through that era, and in 1916, came back with wounded soldiers from Gallipoli on the troop ship Marama. They tracked the survivor down to a rest home in the Hawke's Bay. ‘A tortoise’; our last survivor is a female Greek tortoise, nicknamed 'Torty', picked up by Beth Little's father-in- law just after Gallipoli in Salonica. In 1914 Ms Little's father-in- law Stuart Little left his home town of Dunedin for the desert, where he was a stretcher bearer at Gallipoli and accompanied the many wounded to hospital. "One day, Stuart saw this tortoise walking around [where] they took the wounded from Gallipoli and then immediately this terrible thing happened," says Ms Little. As it turns out, Torty was run over by a French gun carriage and when Mr Little picked her up, there was the large dent in the shell - her own war wound - and the dent is still there. A chuck of her shell was broken off and she also lost a few toes.

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