Are You Packed Yet?

Quite honestly, if I had a fiver for every time I have been asked that question in the past 10 days, I would be close to having my airfare paid. I never pack ahead of time. Ever. I gather. 

I gather together the things I want to take and I start piles that will eventually make it into the suitcase. Gifts to take, things I need for the plane - a book, a blanket, phone charger, passport. I have a small bag with toiletries and another smaller bag with electronics (chargers, adapters, cords, camera cards). All of this eventually makes it to where I will pile it all together so that I can transfer it all into my case and carry on the day I am heading to the airport. Then in less than 15 minutes, I can have my case packed. Clothes and the piles all go in and the zipper gets zipped and the case sits by the door until I am ready to leave. The last thing to get organized is my carry-on. Laptop, book, wallet, charger cords and snacks and I am good to go. 

Everyone seems to stress when I say I haven't even started packing and here we are the night before I fly out. But, regardless, it will get done and I will be ready and I will be at the airport well ahead of time. So I get through security, have a wander through the shops and then I can pull out my book and read. A luxury I don't often get anymore. 

Yes, I hate packing. And while my system doesn't work for others, it surely works for me. 

Now, repacking to come back home - completely different story and often a time of complete chaos....

Organize and Share your Family History

Join Clare Wilson and I in July to learn tips for organizing and sharing your family history. We will run 4 sessions, one each week for 4 weeks in July. We will alternate between Organizing and Sharing. All four sessions for one low price of $17cad (about £10)

Learn more at: https://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca/

Watch the promo video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikB_ipHoihM&t=12s

National Unicorn Day

 

Today is National Unicorn Day. This magical species is actually the ancestor of the modern-day rhinoceros, rather than the modern-day horse. And the Unicorn was much bigger and much heavier. These animals were thought to have lived 35,000 years ago, before the Ice Age. 

In modern times, the Unicorn usually appear as magical beings and resemble a white horse, with a large horn in the middle of its forehead. Some will be shown with wings, which is inaccurate. The winged horse is actually Pegasus. 

The national animal of Scotland is the unicorn. It was first shown on the royal coat of arms by William the Lion back in the 12th century. The British coat of arms has both a lion and a unicorn, symbolizing the union of the crowns in 1707.

 

 

Less than a week to go!

 

In less than a week I will be heading to Scotland for my last genealogy tour. The emotions are bittersweet. I have been so incredibly blessed by the trust of my tour participants. I have been so humbled by their joy, their tears, their surprising discoveries. Many tour participants became repeat offenders and still others became friends. Friends to me but more importantly friends to each other. Some really amazing, lasting friendships have occurred on these tours, and I am so thrilled to have had some small part in bringing those kindred spirits together.

 

Knowing I am not likely to get back to Scotland for a while is also bittersweet and I fear that the next visit may be for a funeral rather than for a catchup with family. Out of the original 21 living children of my grandfather, only 7 remain. They lived the memories I grew up surrounded by. I know that those memories will live on through my family history but seeing the joy in their faces as they recount them will be forever vanished. And that saddens me more than words can describe.

 

I will be in Edinburgh for four days then over to Glasgow for a week. Then I will be spending four days in Dublin before I head back to Canada. I was supposed to go to Dublin back in 2020 before the world changed. As always, I will be blogging while I am traveling. You can follow along if you would like.

 

And if you are enjoying the virtual journey, you might consider buying me a coffee. See the widget on the right hand side of the page.

Forth Rail Bridge - Unesco World Heritage Site

 

This is the iconic Forth Rail Bridge. It spans the Forth of Firth from South Queensferry, west of Edinburgh, to North Queensferry in Fife. It is a cantilever bridge and was the world’s first major steel structure. It still holds the record for the world’s longest cantilever bridge at a span of 2,467 metres (2698 yards). The bridge received UNESCO World Heritage status in July 2015, making it the sixth such site in Scotland. 

At the height of construction, roughly 4,000 men were employed in the building of the bridge. It consists of three separate four-tower high, double-cantilevers. These cantilevers are connected by 350 ft long girders. All of this is connected to the main bridge structure using enormous rivets. The bridge is supported by granite piers. 

In all, 53,000 tons of steel, 6.5 million rivets and 120,000 yards of concrete were used in the building of the bridge. The concrete and masonry of the piers is faced with 2-foot-thick granite. During the construction, 58 men lost their lives, and a memorial has been erected at South Queensferry naming these victims. 

The painted area of the bridge is roughly 230,000 square metres and while folklore would have it that men paint the bridge from south to north and then turn and paint from north to south all year, the reality is that the paint used is durable enough to last 20-25 years. 

Over 200 trains cross over the bridge each day. There is a double track so that trains may pass in each direction. My grandfather told his children that the trains went up and over the girders, much like a rollercoaster, which was enough to deter them from crossing over to Fife!

 

Skaill House

 

This is Skaill House, overlooking the Bay of Skaill in west mainland, Orkney. Skaill is the Old Norse name for ‘hall’. The house was built in 1620 by Bishop George Graham who was the then Bishop of Orkney. Bishop Graham’s son, John became the first Laird of Skaill House. The house has since been passed down through 12 generations of Grahams. The 7^th Laird, William Watt was living in the house in 1850 when it is purported that an enormous storm dispersed the sand, revealing a stone wall.

 

William called in antiquarian George Petrie to assist in examining his find. Between 1850 and 1878, Petrie uncovered 4 houses and documented all of the artifacts that he had uncovered. The work was abandoned for a few years and later picked up by the University of Edinburgh. In all, there are 10 houses that make up the neolithic village at Skara Brae, including one structure that appears to have been used as a workshop.

All of the structures are made of flagstones which are layered to provide extra support. Each home has a hearth which would have been used not only for cooking but also for heat. It is central to the home. They also have a chest which would have been used as a cupboard, and as well there are beds in each home. The hearth and furniture were also made of stone. It is presumed that the homes would originally have had turf roofs, likely thatched with peat.

Together with the standing stones at the Ring of Brodgar, and at Stenness, and the chambered cairn at Maeshowe, Skara Brae makes up the heart of Neolithic Orkney which has a UNESCO World Heritage designation.

 I am forever in awe at the evidence of history that still exists in Scotland. It really does make you realize we are just a blip on the spectrum.

Leanach Cottage

 

This is Leanach Cottage, the only original building to remain standing on Culloden Battlefield. The house was built in 1730 and during the Battle of Culloden, it was situated between the Government lines. Its purpose immediately following the battle is up for debate, with some saying it was likely used as a field hospital by the government troops while others tend to believe the account that following the battle 20-30 wounded Jacobite men ensconced themselves in a nearby farmhouse. Further, once they were discovered by the Government Troops, the cottage was locked, with the men still inside, and set on fire, burning them alive.

 The last inhabitant was Belle MacDonald. Belle and her family offered tours of the battlefield to interested visitors. Belle died in 1912.

 In 1944, landowner Duncan Forbes, who had managed some restoration work on the cottage and who is also responsible for building the memorial cairn on the battlefield, donated the land to the National Trust for Scotland. The Trust used the cottage as the visitor centre for the battlefield from 1961.

 The Trust has restored the roof to the original high pitch design. In 2019, the cottage was opened for visitors to see the inside.

 Oh the stories these walls could tell…