Grace Notes Newsletter of the Memphis Scottish Society, Inc.

Vol. 37 No. 1 • January 2021 President’s Letter This has been a trying year for all of us and for the Memphis Scottish Society. I very much appreciate the support of the many members who have renewed their membership for this year and have joined us in our Zoom meetings to keep in contact. Throughout this time the Board’s concern has been the im- pact of Covid-19 and that many of our members are in the high Memphis risk age group and with health concerns. This will continue to be the case with all indications being that the second wave is Scottish worse than the first. Jason’s meeting room is currently closed for Society, Inc. all meetings. Board BYOH! Our Virtual Burns Nicht, is coming together, and will have President the main elements of a Burns Nicht, so Bring Your Own Haggis! John Schultz As currently planned the program will be: 901-754-2419 [email protected] • A couple of segments of the prologue video and welcome Vice President • The Scottish National Anthem Mary Ann Lucas • A quick medley of two Scottish country dances 901-725-1879 [email protected] • The Phoenix Pipes and Drums Treasurer • The Flowers of the Forest Debbie Sellmansberger 901-465-4739 • The Selkirk Grace [email protected] • The Address To a Haggis Secretary Sammy Rich • A Man’s a Man for A’ That 901-496-2193 [email protected] • The Immortal Memory Members at Large • The Toasts Shari Moore • 901-598-1802 [email protected] Stay home and keep well. Wishing you all a really Guid New Year! John Schultz Kathy Schultz 901-754-2419 [email protected] January Meeting Program: Holly Staggs presented by Sammy Rich via Zoom 901-215-4839 [email protected] “To Mary in Heaven” See page 2 for further information

Tennessee Tartan. Created by the Heart of Tennessee Scottish Celebration as a State tartan. Passed by Tennessee Public Acts 1999, Chapter No.82, Senate Bill No. 73. The source of the tartan 2526 was: Bill Bickford of the Tennessee Tartan Committee. January Program “To Mary in Heaven” Zoom presentation by Sammy Rich What could be more appropriate for a January meeting than a Burns’ song?

Notice to Program Presenters: John Schultz requests that if you plan to use his computer equipment for your presentation at the monthly meeting, please contact him at least a week before the meeting so he knows to bring his equipment and can work out any bugs ahead of time. His phone number is 901-754-2419.

This is your last chance to pay your 2021 DUES! Annual dues are $20 for individuals and $25 for families. You can pay via mail to our Treasurer, Debby Sellmansberger, 14670 Hwy 193, Willis- ton, TN 38076; or You can mail your dues to MSSI, P.O. Box 383092, Germantown, TN 38138; or online dues payment is available on our website by clicking on the Join/Renew menu, or you can go directly there by clicking this link: memphisscots.com/membership/.

Burns Nicht A Little girl plays with a Monument . The giant sculpture is on the Poet’s Path which connects ’ cottage Burns Cottage, the first home of Robert Burns is located (his birthplace) in , South , . It was built by his with his muse- father, William Burness in 1757. Burns, Scotland's national um and visitor poet, was born there on 25 January 1759. It is a simple two- centre at Allo- roomed clay and thatch cottage and has been fully restored way near in to become part of Robert Burns Birthplace Museum. Scotland.

Editorial Staff

Sue Malone Grace Notes Editor, (901-385-1938) [email protected] Grace Notes is the official publication of the Mem- phis Scottish Society, Inc. It is published monthly. George Malone Like the Society itself, the credo of Grace Notes is Publisher, (901) 385-1938 “to foster education and promote understanding [email protected] of things Scottish.” to foster education If you have something of interest to readers Gavin Anderson and promote understanding of this newsletter, please submit a typewritten Circulation Editor, (901-485-8270) of things Scottish manuscript to the editorial staff. If the article or [email protected] notice is very brief (30 words or fewer), e-mail

or just use the telephone. Grace Notes will accept Karen English and publish good quality photographs. Please address all correspondence to: Circulation Editor, (901-396-9134) The deadline for all submissions is the fourth Grace Notes [email protected] week of each month preceding the month of The Memphis Scottish Society, Inc. publication. Please include a self-addressed [email protected] stamped envelope with each submission, if you Submissions P.O. Box 383092 want the material returned. [email protected] Germantown, TN 38183

2 What You Need to Know About the Scottish Poet Robert Burns By Forbes Inglis, www.britishheritage.com/history, Sep 11, 2020 There are apparently more statues of the Scot- poem, Tam o Shanter, a tale of a farmer, who, hav- tish poet Robert Burns in the US than anywhere ing over-indulged in alcohol, rode home in the else outside Scotland. So why is an 18th-century dead of night. Spotting lights in the old church at Scot, who wrote largely in the Scots language, of Alloway he stopped for a closer look, only to see international importance? Part of the attraction is witches and warlocks dancing. Tam, forgetting his reputation as “the plowman poet,” yet there is himself, called out, and within seconds he was rid- much more to Burns than that. ing for his life, pursued by the unholy host. Tam The family, then known as Burnes or Bur- was well aware that witches could not cross run- ness, originally lived in the northeast of Scotland. ning water, so he knew if he could cross the bridge In search for a better life, moved over the River Doon he would be safe. Tam es- around the country before finally settling in Ayr- caped, but only just, the leading witch managing shire, where he met his wife Agnes. Their first child, to grab his mare Maggie’s tail, leaving the poor Robert, was born in a but-and-ben (a Scottish term beast with only a stump. It is an epic poem, writ- for a simple two-roomed thatched cottage) at Allo- ten in a rhythmic way to portray the chase, while way, built by William himself, on January 25, 1759. not meant to be taken too seriously, and it is one he Within days of Robert’s birth, the gable end of the probably never bettered. building collapsed in a storm, and Agnes and baby The romantic Burns also wrote many fine songs had to seek refuge in a neighbor’s house. It was an and Bob Dylan claimed to have been inspired by inauspicious start, but certainly not an ill-omen of the poet’s finest love song, “My love is like a red, what was to follow. red rose.” Lines such as “Till a’ the seas gang dry, The idea many people have of Burns is that he my dear, and the rocks melt wi the sun, And I will was a self-educated man, but that is far from the love thee still my dear, while the sands o’ life shall truth. Despite the hardship of his simple farming run” would surely charm any woman. life, William knew that education was important Yet Burns’ undoubted talent could have been for his sons, and he employed 18-year-old John lost to the world. In 1786, the poet’s life was in Murdoch to teach the boys. Today that may appear something of a turmoil. He had fathered an ille- to be a token gesture, but Murdoch was extremely gitimate child – the first of at least four – and gone capable. through a form of irregular marriage (acceptable According to Burns’ younger brother, Gilbert: under Scots Law) to , who was preg- “With him, we learned to read English tolerably nant with what proved to be twins. Jean’s father well, and to write a little. He taught us, too, the was furious about her taking up with a man he English grammar; but Robert made some profi- saw as a waster, and he issued legal action against ciency in it, a circumstance of considerable weight Burns, seeking to have him arrested and forced to in the unfolding of his genius and character.” pay a large sum in damages. Robert built on this foundation as an avid read- In Burns’ view, there was only one way out er, eagerly devouring any books that were avail- and that was to immigrate. He was on the point able to him. Murdoch went on to teach in a school of leaving for the slave plantations in Jamaica to in Ayr and Robert was able to continue his edu- take up a post as a bookkeeper there. However his cation there on occasion, although his attendance book, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, generally was often restricted by his farming duties. The re- referred to as the Kilmarnock edition, became an sult was that Burns was fluent in English and in instant success, selling out within weeks, and so his native Ayrshire dialect, both of which he would relieving some of the financial pressures and en- use to great effect in later life. suring his celebrity status. This caused Burns, and Burns was undoubtedly conditioned by im- Jean’s father too, to have second thoughts; Jean be- portant events around him. Born little more than came his wife and bore him a total of nine children. a decade after the Jacobite uprising in Scotland, he A second edition was published, and versions lived during both the American War of Indepen- of the poet’s work were soon being printed in the dence and the French Revolution and supported larger cities of the English speaking world, includ- their ideals. ing London, Dublin, Philadelphia and New York. As a result, Burns the radical was very much His success made him a favorite with the cream of a “common man,” a fact which for all his fame he Edinburgh society, although they are quickly tired never forgot. Like most writers, he was a keen ob- of him; class distinction meant he would always be server of the natural world and the society around the plowman, albeit a very talented one. him. He was also an idealist, a romantic and a In 1789, the same year as the start of the French satirist, while at the same time someone endowed Revolution, Burns became an exciseman to supple- with great imagination. ment his meager income from farming, although These elements come together in his famous (Continued on Page 4) 3 (Ccontinued from Page 3) Hospitality and Incivility at What You Need to Know About Inveraray in 1787 the Scottish Poet Robert Burns Journal of the Clan Campbell Society, Winter 2020 he continued to work Ellisland until 1791. By then For 18 years, except for the season [in 1777-78] it was clear that the farm had no future, and Burns when the 5th Duke of Argyll had been danger- gave up the lease on Ellisland and moved to Dum- ously ill, he and Duchess Elizabeth had lavishly fries. The following year he was promoted and in entertained friends and strangers at their castle 1793 he and his family moved to Mill Vennel, now at Inveraray. Dozens [in] every season arrived by called Burns Street. invitation, but many more came as strangers, or The house was well appointed for the time and provided with an introductory letter. John Knox in Jean and the family continued to live there after 1785 records that the normal procedure for gentle- Burns’ death thanks to income from his poetry, his folk was “to leave their servants, horses, carriages government pension and the generosity of his sup- at the inns, while the company pay their respects porters. A biography, written by Dr. James Currie, to the noblemen or gentlemen in the neighbor- also raised a considerable sum for the family. hood.” Unfortunately, Currie, a reformed alcoholic, The less privileged might find themselves out was largely responsible for portraying Burns as a of luck. Robert Burns, making a tour of the High- heavy-drinking womanizer. In fact, the poet had a lands in June, 1787, records that he had “lately weak stomach and simply enjoyed the social ele- been rambling over by Dumbarton and Invera- ment rather than drinking. Certainly, he was fond ray…and running a drunken race on the side of of the opposite sex, and they of him. With such Loch Lomond with a wild Highlandman.” Burns a silver-tongued way with words, the girls must added that they had both fallen from their horses have been drawn to the 18th-century celebrity. and he was much bruised. Burns arrived at Inver- Burns died in Dumfries on July 21, 1796, aged ary only to be snubbed by the innkeeper at the just 37, his body broken by agricultural labor and Argyll Arms, John Frazer, who was indolent and the poor climate. The likeliest cause of death is rude, which inspired scathing lines that Burns now believed to be endocarditis – inflammation of etched on the window pane of his room at the inn the heart lining – probably caused by an earlier (which has been preserved). bout of rheumatic fever. Frazer declared himself “too occupied” with Because he had been a member of the local mi- the “surplus” from the overfull castle to have any litia, the Dumfries Volunteers, Burns was given a time to pay attention to mere “passing travelers.” military funeral. A large crowd lined the streets This called for a now immortalized epigram and the volunteers fired a salute over his grave. from the poet. A plaque in the Argyll Arms hotel, He was buried in a quiet corner of the churchyard, which also still displays the etched window pane, but in 1813 an appeal was launched to build a fit- reads: ting memorial for Scotland’s greatest poet, with subscribers including the Prince Regent, later “On Incivility Shewn Him at Inverary” King George IV. A fine mausoleum was built and on September 19, 1817, Burns’ body was exhumed Who’er he be that sojourns here and reburied there. I pity much his case The story of Robert Burns is a fascinating one, Unless he come to wait upon but if you can’t make it to Scotland, do at least ac- The Lord their God – His Grace. cess his work online. You may initially encounter There’s nothing here but highland pride difficul- highland scab and hunger; ties with If providence has sent me here the Scots T’was surely in an anger. language, but it is worth persever- ing. “The Plowman Poet” is truly wor- thy of a greater audience. Inside Burns’ Mausoleum, Dumfries 4 Robert Burns, Auld Lang Syne, and Crodh Chailein By Dr. Michael Newton (our speaker at last year’s Burns Nicht)

Auld Lang Syne is Robert Burns’ best known Here’s the first verse and chorus of the song: song. It is sung around the world to close out the old year, and was commonly sung in Scotland to Crodh Chailein mo chridhe conclude many social gatherings. Few people real- ize that its melody comes from a Gaelic folksong. Crodh Chailein mo ghaoil, Here’s the story … Gun tugadh Crodh Chailein In eighteenth-century Edinburgh there were Dhomh bainn’ air an fhraoch. many clubs where men gathered to chat, debate, and share ideas – and alcohol. Each of them had its own descriptive name. Robert Burns attend- Crodh Chailein mo chridhe ed a club called the “.” The Crodh Chailein mo ghaoil term “fencibles” referred to volunteer armies that Crodh ciar-dhubh breac ballach formed in response to military crises, such as the Air dhath na circ-fhraoich. … American Revolutionary War. The first part of the name, “Crochallan,” was taken from the name of a Gaelic song, Crodh Chailein, that Daniel Douglas, Translation: the owner of the pub where the club met, was very Cattle of Colin, of my heart, fond of singing. Burns heard the song on a regu- Cattle of Colin, my beloved, lar basis from Douglas, who was a native of the Highlands. Colin’s cattle would give The tune to which Auld Lang Syne is generally Me milk on the heather(y moor). sung now is different from the older traditional melody. There’s a video of a performance using Cattle of Colin, of my heart, the older melody. The song Crodh Chailein goes back a little more Cattle of Colin, my beloved, than a century before Burns’ time, to the mid-17th Swarthy-dark, speckled, striped cattle century century. In the 17th century, Glenlyon in The color of the moorhen. … the hands of Campbells, and a part of the glen came into inheritance of young Colin Campbell. The cattle raised in the glen were part of his es- tate: Crodh Chailein means “Colin’s Cattle”. Dur- “A Red, Red Rose” ing the summer, the cattle were taken up to the By Robert Burns sheilings to graze on the fresh grass, attended by young ladies, who would milk them, make butter and cheese, and so forth. A band of the MacDonalds of Keppoch came into Glenlyon to lift the cattle from the sheilings in Cashlie, taking with them every cow and the two milkmaids who had been with them. As they ascended up the glen to the passes, the older of My love is like a red, red rose the two milkmaids managed to break the legs of That’s newly sprung in June: one or two of the calves, in order to slow down the My love is like the melody party of raiders. The party stopped at the top of That’s sweetly played in tune. the glen in order to give the cattle time to refresh How fair art thou, my bonnie lass, themselves, and while they were resting there, the So deep in love am I; older milkmaid composed the words to the song And I will love thee still, my dear, Crodh Chailein, which express her love of the cattle. Till all the seas gang dry. In the meantime, down in Glenlyon, a band Till all the seas gang dry, my dear, of Campbell men gathered to pursue the raiders. And the rocks melt with the sun; They moved quickly and reached the herd and I will love thee still, my dear, rustlers while the older milkmaid was singing her While the sands of life shall run. song. The men fought fiercely, and in the middle And fare thee weel, my only love. of the fight, the younger milkmaid was killed. The And fare thee weel awhile! Glenlyon men won the battle, forced the Keppoch And I will come again, my love, men to retreat, and returned home with the cattle. Though it were ten thousand mile. 5 Beyond the Grave By Chris Paton, Scotland Magazine, September 2020 If your ancestry or their bereaved families mento Mori website (memento-mori.co.uk) provides could afford headstones, they often yield impor- further indexes for graveyards across the Central tant clues to their past, such as dates of birth and Belt. death and the names of any relatives who may If your ancestors lived farther north, the High- have been interred alongside them. Thankfully, land Memorial Inscriptions site (https://sites.google. for anyone researching family history, many in- com/site/highlandmemorialinscriptions/home) index- dividuals and family history societies have been es burials for many regions, including Inverness- diligently recording and preserving the content shire (most notably Tomnahurich Cemetery in In- of these monumental inscriptions for decades, so verness), Ross & Cromarty, Caithness, Sutherland even when you can’t visit graveyards in person and the Western Isles. you can still use them as research tools. Finally, two additional projects well worth The Scottish Association of Family History consulting are BillionGraves (billiongraves.com) Societies has a useful database (safhs.org.uk/buri- and FindaGrave (findagrave.com). Both are long- algrounds.php) allowing you to locate graveyards, running projects involving volunteers who crowd cemeteries and crematoria across the country, source images of headstones and their inscrip- and advises on whether monumental inscriptions tions from graveyards and burial grounds across have been recorded, and, if so, where they have the world, creating virtual cemeteries. Scotland is been published. well served by them and they are always looking Many of the published collections are available for contributions. from individual societies and libraries across Scot- land, with the Scottish Genealogy Society (scots- genealogy.com) holding the largest collection in the country at their Edinburgh base. Many historic burial records and monumental Outlander Star Caitriona Balfe inscriptions are also available to consult on a vari- Launches Her “Forget Me Not ety of websites. Scottish Monumental Inscriptions Scottish Gin” (scottish-monumental-inscriptions.com), for exam- By Sean Murphy, www.dailyrecord.co.uk/scotland- ple, is a project that has been photographing and now, 16 August 2020 transcribing headstones from across the country, and making them available to purchase on CDs, Outlander star Caitriona Balfe has launched with headstone images, or as PDF file downloads, her own Scottish gin - and it’s for a great cause to if you just need the transcriptions. Many of the help support the arts and creative industries. company’s same records can be accessed on Find- The Irish actress, who plays lead Claire Ran- myPast (findmypast.co.uk)and on Deceased Online dall-Fraser in the show, has created Forget Me Not (deceasedonline.com). Gin to support the arts and “acknowledge the The subscription-based Deceased Online web- positive contribution creative industries make to site also hosts statutory burial and cremation reg- society”. isters for many local authorities across the UK, Posting on her official Twitter account, Caitri- with the records noting the names of the holders ona wrote: “This is a very special product that has of various lairs and the name of those interred combined my love of collaborating with friends, within them. For Scotland, it is particularly use- drinking and finding ways to support our belea- ful for records concerning Aberdedeen City, Ab- guered artistic community. erdeenshire and Angus, as well as the Edinburgh- based crematoria at Seafield and Warriston, and Seafield Cemetery. For Glasgow, an entirely different platform hosting many digitized burial and lair registers is called Family Search (familysearch.org), with the available records free to access through its online catalogue. They are not the easiest to find from the homepage, so we’ve provided a direct link here: http://bit.ly/GlasgowCemeteryRecords. Among the list of cemeteries included are: Riddrie Park, the Necropolis, the Southern Necropolis and the East- ern Necropolis. However, you will need to browse through the collections via “digital microfilms” “So I hope you enjoy and feel the love that has rather than perform a keyword search. The Me- gone into Forget Me Not.” 6 Calendar of Events Mondays Thursdays Memphis Pipes & Drums, MSSI Scottish Country Dancers: 6:00-9:30 Contact: Band Mgr, 7:00 pm at Riveroaks Reformed Kenny Hiner: 494-4902 for info. Presbyterian Church 1665 S. Germantown Road

Tuesdays Last Thursday of the Month Memphis Phoenix Pipe Band Board Meeting: 7:00-9:30, St. Luke Lutheran 5:30 pm at Riveroaks Reformed Church Presbyterian Church 2000 Germantown Pkwy. 1665 S. Germantown Road Rick Clausi: 831-3843 for info. Monday, January 11 MSSI Monthly Meeting: 7:00 pm, via Zoom. Scottish - Celtic Program: “To Mary in Heaven” Radio Shows presented by Sammy Rich

Sat, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. “Strands of the Celtic Knot” Robert Campbell, host WEVL–FM 89.9

Sundays, 6-7 p.m. The Thistle and Shamrock” WKNO-FM 91.1

Sundays, 7-8 p.m. “The Thistle & Shamrock,” January 10: New Year LaPrelle and Irish singer and WMAV–FM 90.3 Sounds flute player Nuala Kennedy. To- gether they explore the connec- Mark the beginning of 2021 with tions between songs of love, loss an hour of new releases, hand and migration that connect Scot- picked to brighten the New Year. land, Ireland and Appalachia. January 17: Wintersong And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere, Monochrome landscapes, wild And gie’s a hand o’ thine, weather and long dark nights And we’ll tak a right gude are perfect for inspiring the willie waught songs and tunes of the season. For auld lang syne!

January 24: Burns Night — Robert Burns Our annual review of the songs of Robert Burns celebrates the enduring influence of Scotland’s National Bard. January 31: The Gathering: Song Connections Join Fiona Ritchie at the Swan- nanoa Gathering’s Traditional Song Week with her guests Ap- palachian balladeer Elizabeth Fiona Ritchie 7 Mary Campbell (Highland Mary) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Campbell_(Highland_Mary)

Mary Campbell, also known as Highland Mary (chris- tened Margaret, March 1763 – 1786), was the daughter of Archibald Campbell of Daling, a sailor in a revenue cutter, whose wife was Agnes Campbell of Achnamore (in Dunoon there is her home where she was born, on Auchamore road. On the facade of the house is a memorial plate stating: “In this house in this house was born ‘highland Mary’ fallowed by the date when it happens.”) Mary was the eldest of a family of four. Robert Burns had an affair with her after he felt that he had been “deserted” by Jean Armour following her move to Paisley in March 1786. The brief affair started in April 1786, and the parting took place on 14 May of that year. Her pro- nunciation of English was heavily accented with Gaelic and Robert Burns & Highland Mary this led to her becoming known as “Highland Mary.”

Next Monthly Meeting - Monday, January 11, 2021, at 7:00 pm, Meeting via Zoom. Program: “To Mary in Heaven”

MSSI Board Meeting - The last Thursday of the month, 5:30 pm, at Riveroaks Reformed Presbyterian Church, 1665 S. Germantown Road

GraceNotes

The Memphis Scottish Society, Inc. P.O. Box 383092 Germantown, TN 38183

www.memphisscots.com