That is such a touching story Elaine ... I have always loved the 'pipes, and hope that someone will play them for me when I finally come to the final transition of this long journey homeward....
The Scots were always a 'wild and wooly' deeply sentimental bunch.One of the deepest visions ingrained my cells is of my great great (great) grandfather Andrew Laird poignantly playing his bagpipes in an ode to his beloved Homeland, a land that he was never to see again.
The English at one point so persecuted the Scots that they were not even allowed to wear their native kilts, and we're ripped from their lands in blood and tears.
My own Scottish grandmother still retained some of that hatred of the English, in that she repeated little 'handed-down thru generations' colorful sayings like "Fee fie foe fum, I smell the blood of an Englishmon" and "It's worse than a bloody Pil' "....lols.
Now I look back, and honor the bravery of all those souls caught in the crosshairs of war, and their infallible grit. ?
@elaineg I agree. Love this story. Blind musicians are a strong part of Irish/Scots culture - O'Carolan, the famous Irish harpist was blind (as was the harpist Dennis Hempson. Hempson's harp is the one that is in the Guinness factory in Dublin. I made a pilgrimage just to see the harp. Hubby made a pilgrimage for the Guinness! ? ). There are famous stories of the 'blind pipers of Clare'
@stargazer I, too, had Scottish grandparents! (My father's parents - they came here in the 30s from Scotland). I lived in Scotland in 1988 and spent a lot of time with my cousins. This was during the Thatcher years and the Scots intensely disliked Thatcher (mostly because she tried all her privatization schemes out on Scotland first before England.) I vividly remember my cousin (actually my father's first cousin - so, I think she was in her 60s at the time), taking the dishtowel she was holding and snapping it right on the face of Margaret Thatcher on the TV screen while emphasizing how much she disliked the woman.
With that said, I also remember my family taking great pride in the service they gave to Great Britain, particularly during WWII. My perception (at least in the 1980s) was that Scotland took pride in being part of Great Britain, but disliked England and the way they were often treated. They actually loved the Queen - but the Queen Mum was a 'Scot'.
@ana I too have wondered if my ancestors have helped me discover information about them. Sometimes I wonder if I am being guided to a missing link.
Here's a fun, true story: A couple of years ago we were on vacation and plans called for us to travel through an area where my husband's ancestors had had a homestead around 1900 +- a few decades. I did some research and found the location of the cemetery where his gg-grandparents were buried. Although it was not a large cemetery, we walked around several times and could not find the graves! But then my husband saw a furry animal sitting near the edge of the cemetery-- it sat there for a while and he went to get a closer look. It ran away before he got there, but it had been sitting on his gg-grandmother's grave! Turned out (from close examination of photos husband had taken) the animal was a beaver. Which is a little weird because there were no large bodies of water nearby, just an irrigation ditch. But what is also interesting is that gg-granddad worked in a lumber mill. We probably would have left without finding the grave had it not been for the "spirit beaver", as we now call it.
You may already be aware of this, but in 1933 a book was published that detailed Peter Bulkeley’s ancestors all the way back to the Plantagenets. The PDF is available online. It’s called: “The Bulkeley genealogy: Rev. Peter Bulkeley, being an account of his career, his ancestry, the ancestry of his two wives.” Incidentally the Bush family – yes, that Bush family – is also descended from Peter Bulkeley and his first wife.
My Bulkeley descent was through my father but I have an interesting story about my mother’s family. We had a family tradition that there was a Native American ancestor on one of her lines. Several years ago my mother, a few of my siblings, and I, all had our DNA done at 23andme. None of us had a single trace of Native American DNA, but my mother and two of my siblings had a trace amount of sub-Saharan African ancestry. My theory, which I will likely never be able to confirm, is that the Native American story was either a conscious or unconscious prevarication to explain some darker skin in the family.
That's so cool, that you were able to voyage back to Scotland my dear ...
It's ironic isn't it, that the British now so embrace everything Scottish ( Balmoral Castle?), when history is so filled with the blood spilled upon Scottish soil.
Well, they are still proud Scots, and one day may Scotland regain their autonomy....? I feel it may go the way of the Native American ancestors here in America though, through assimilation of course, and subjugation, as we stand in 2020 and the 21st century.
Our warrior cultures are transforming, as the whole world is..... ?
This story is kind of sketchy, cause it's been years since i read it. It's about an old black man after the civil war. He helped out at a white church, doing things like ringing the bell, and putting out books. He got sick, and until he died the ladies of the church took care of him. Reading the Bible to him.
That is amazing Cindy. Quite a story. ( What a horrible name too).
I think we should put our intuitive minds together and figure out what it is that is going on with these experiences.
How fortunate to live close enough to have a school trip to such a historic place as Gettysburg. Sacred Ground. Sacred Ground.
During WWII, My Daddy didn't go to war, but he did go to California for a year to work in the shipyards as a welder. I had three uncles that did go. Afton (Seabees), Leon and Weldon (Navy0. Weldon came home with shellshock (PTSD). When he would hear a load noise, Weldon would start shaking. People would make fun of him, but Leon took up for him. Resulting in numerous fights. He got over it though, because I never saw it.
@lovendures and @cindy We know that trauma is passed down through the DNA.