www.littleclan.net Sprig of Heather December 2016 Sprig Of Heather Vol 23 No 3 Newsletter of December 2016 Clan Little Society New Zealand & Australia www.littleclan.net Sprig of Heather December 2016 As I began preparing this edition another Earthquake has struck New Zealand. At 7.8 R, this event has caused damage in many and varied settings around middle NZ. Worldwide Earthquakes have been recorded since 1831 BC with a Chinese quake. In January 1199 AD there was a quake in Scotland with another in June 1668 on the Scottish Borders. We know how modern quakes affect us but the question must surely be how did Earthquakes affect our ancestors. In Scotland the picturesque and unassuming Perthshire village of Comrie holds a few rather curious secrets. Also known as the Shaky Toun (or “Am Baile Critheanach” in Gaelic), Comrie lies close to the Highland Boundary Fault and has suffered more earthquakes than anywhere else in Scotland. Despite the country not being generally associated with earthquakes or tremors, Scotland actually housed the world’s first seismometer, which was built and installed in Comrie, one of the most geologically active areas in the United Kingdom. The first earthquake in Comrie was recorded as far back as 1788, and an early seismometer installed in the village in 1840. Built on a rocky outcrop, in a field to the west of the village, Comrie is also home to Earthquake House, one of Europe’s smallest listed buildings. It was once a centre for seismology, recording tremors that were common to the area in the 19th century. Built in 1869, it was the first purpose-built earthquake observation centre in the world just a shame it was built a few decades too late, as seismic activity had declined in the area by the time it was built. Comrie was once a hotbed of geological action It is said that during the 1830s, 7,300 earth tremors were recorded in the area. In 1816 an earthquake took place, so fierce, it was felt over much of Scotland. Lasting six minutes, an Inverness sailor claimed he was “tossed on his bed, as he had never been tossed out at sea, for five full minutes.” In 1839. measuring an estimated 4.8 on the Richter scale, another powerful quake was felt across the country. Many houses in Comrie were damaged and the impact caused a dam near Stirling to fail. Known as the Great Earthquake of 1839, the action prompted postmaster Peter Macfarlane and shoemaker James Drummond, to set up an instrument to measure earthquakes and began keeping formal records. Earthquake House was built in 1869, and was the first purpose-built earthquake observation centre in the world. By the time engineers at the house were able to read tremors accurately, they were less frequent. In 1869 a fresh set of tremors renewed interest in earthquakes. But by 1911 technology had moved on, and the building became redundant. The original has now been replaced with more modern equipment. Steward www.littleclan.net Sprig of Heather December 2016 Change ahead Economising Because of rising Postage and Printing costs along with low income, it seems prudent for us to economise. It’s suggested that future editions of Sprig Of Heather are emailed to people who want to receive it. Sprig of Heather is also available for reading both on our web site and in the Facebook group. Please can you advise if this arrangement would be acceptable to you. A special dedicated email address has been set up and it is [email protected] To join the email distribution list please send the word Subscribe to us on email:- [email protected] www.littleclan.net Sprig of Heather December 2016 Pioneers to New Zealand Long before the Scottish, Polynesian explorers are known to have made the long sea voyage from the Marquesas islands to the Hawaiian islands, around 400 A.D. Away to the southwest, lay New Zealand, supposedly empty and isolated, occupied only by birds and coastal mammals and as yet, unsettled and un-peopled. It is difficult to get a balance of the historical events as far back as these early times in New Zealand, since there is no documentary evidence. Modern Maori claim their people are the 'indigenous' people of New Zealand, yet there is now sufficient scientific carbon dating evidence, to show there were other human races here, on these islands, many years before the arrival Maori. Other explorers of the Pacific Ocean, of Melanesian background from the Society or Marquesas Islands, had, many years before, been swept into the Australian currents and stormy Tasman Seas where after weeks they had been finally been cast ashore onto the Taranaki coast some time before AD 750. These people had the name Mai-oriori, often shortened to Moriori and were referred to as the "tangata-whenua," in Maori legend, suggesting that these people were here before the arrival of The Fleet. The Moriori people were known to be the inhabitants of the coastal lands north of Taranaki and the Bay of Plenty and none had settled the South Island. They were peaceful tribes and their menfolk unskilled as fighting warriors. Moriori who survived attacks from invaders, fled to the South Island into Southland and the Chatham Islands. By the 1899s Maori were beginning to crew the small ships plying between Sydney and the coast of New Zealand during the annual whaling season. Hearing Maori were received hospitably in Sydney and Norfolk island weaving, the great chief Te Pahi, from the Bay of Islands, decided to make a visit there aboard the Buffalo in the year 1805 and was welcomed by Lt. Governor King. He came back with a prefabricated house on board, and made landing on the small island of Te Puna, near Turtle island, Te Pahi's stronghold, where the house was erected. Te Pahi considered this a safe place for a European residence in the event of a visit of any missionary or dignitary arriving from Sydney. On the 1st of September, 1810 came the first news of the massacre of the captain and crew of the Boyd in the Bay of Islands recorded by Samuel Marsden who wrote for the Sydney Gazette. In 1841 New Zealand was declared a separate British colony, independent of New South Wales which held previous administrative oversight. www.littleclan.net Sprig of Heather December 2016 The Rev. Samuel Marsden was determined to go to New Zealand, where he wished to establish peace and to set up a missionary post. Sailing aboard the Brig Active, Marsden reached Te Puna on the 19 December, 1814. By Christmas day, a missionary post had been established and Marsden came ashore to preach the gospel for the first time in New Zealand. The maori chiefs stood quietly dressed in British military uniforms provided by the Governor of New South Wales while he conducted his first Christian service on these shores. From 1853 to 1870 our Scots forbears and in those years they made up more than 30% of New Zealand’s UK-born immigrants. The arrival of one group of Scots in the 1850s is among the most dramatic of New Zealand’s immigration stories. The charismatic preacher Norman McLeod left Scotland in 1817 for Nova Scotia. In 1851 he led his people, who were facing economic hardship in Canada, first to Australia and then on to New Zealand. In 1854 they secured land at Waipū in Northland. After 1854 more Scots came, from Nova Scotia and direct from Scotland. The total number of Waipū Scots exceeded 800. Waipū still celebrates its Scottish origins. The surge of arrivals from Scotland n the 1850s reached its height in the early 1860s, when the discovery of gold. In 1860 and 1863 more Scots left their homeland intending to settle in New Zealand. In 1864 the number of Scottish- born in the country’s total non-Māori population reached a peak of nearly 18%. Scots remained dominant in Otago and Southland: in 1871 they made up about a third of the total population in these provinces. In the other major provinces they made up less than 10% of the population. Auckland continued to draw a smaller proportion of its immigrants from Scotland than from England and Ireland. Recruiting agents in Glasgow in particular ensured that considerable numbers of Scots came to Auckland as land grant immigrants between 1858 and 1862. Canterbury received more Scottish immigrants with farming backgrounds than other parts of the country because special efforts were made to recruit Scottish shepherds. Our Scottish ancestors came and left their mark on the land they learned to think of as home. Land was cultivated and buildings erected. Still standing 12kms southwest of Milton on SH1, Otago is this quaint cottage built in the 1860s as a stopping place for miners heading to the Tuapeka Goldfields. It has been restored by the South Otago Historical Society and was re-pened on 30 May 1970. www.littleclan.net Sprig of Heather December 2016 Poets podium Chris found this verse and thought it wort sharing with our discerning Sprig Of Heather readers….. And another – The Sair Finger – You've hurt your finger? Puir wee man! Your pinkie? Deary me! Noo, juist you haud it that wey till I get my specs and see! My, so it is - and there's the skelf! Noo, dinna greet nae mair. See there - my needle's gotten't out! I'm sure that wasna sair? And noo, to make it hale the morn, Put on a wee bit saw, And tie a Bonnie hankie roun't Noo, there na - rin awa'! Your finger sair ana'? Ye rogue, You're only lettin' on.