Forfar Family News January 2002

Heap on more wood! The wind is chill;
But let it whistle as it will,
We’ll keep our Christmas merry still.

The full Scottish song by Scott is located here Heap on more wood! The wind is chill.

During this special time of year we send you warm greetings from Prince Edward Island where we are enjoying a Christmas card scene outside as snowflakes flutter past the window and Christmas lights abound through the town..

Scotland continues to see the traditional Hogmanay (New Year's) celebrations remain strong each year Hogmanay.net has extensive coverage of Hogmanay celebrations in Scotland this year. A British tradition in Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia which remains strong is the New Year's Day Levee circuit, which are a series of receptions held by various public officials. The word levee is derived from the French verb "lever" - to rise. French aristocrats, so the story goes, received guests, after arising in the morning.

Any citizen can visit the Lt. Governor (Queen's representative) at his home, thus I honoured the tradition by visiting Government House this morning - a wonderful old mansion on the water which was designed and constructed by my wife's ancestor Isaac Smith.

This afternoon the Premier will hold his levee. Counting religious, fraternal, municipal and educational institutions there are about 20 different levees that people can choose from. Some real keeners make a day of it and dress in kilts and hire a bus to take them around to all of them. We also have a Polar Bear dip for those who prefer a swim suit and a dip through the ice to start the new year. Our family have been avoiding activities involving kilts and swim suits, but Andrew (20) has several friends who take the Polar Bear Dip.

I have been enjoying reading over the holidays, about the contribution that the Scottish culture made to the modern world through a new book, How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World and Everything in It by Arthur Herman. It provides an excellent history of Scotland, of the Scottish Enlightenment and the impact that the ideas produced through the Enlightenment have had on the world today. There are 27 sample pages from the book at Amazon.com site along with an excellent review:

The arrival of the year 2003 is a special date in the family history of the descendants and relatives of Sergeant David Scott and Jeannie Dalgity who came from the Royal Artillery base in Woolwich Eng. to a posting in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Although we do not know the exact date of their Atlantic passage we do know that they were in Woolwich in 1800 and in Halifax in 1803 thus we can safely say that our relatives have been in the North America for 200 years. A recently published image of Halifax which is dated 1801 now shows the exact view that they saw upon their arrival to serve the Royal Artillery. (see below)

Although the Citadel continued to evolve over 200 years, the aerial view today shows the well preserved site. Visits for historical research in the military history library within the restored citadel continue to reveal more about the lives or our relatives. Wives and children lived within the barracks with the men. As less than 10% of a regiment were allowed to marry, the life of Jeannie and their children remains of interest as they were among the very few "children of the fortress".

2002 has been a special year for me in connecting with several branches of the family. A visit during the summer of Nancy & Jack Marshall of Wexford, PA. and Nancy's sister Martha Wilde of Bradenton, FL to Prince Edward Island allowed us to meet in person and be part of a truly historic occasion since the last recorded time the two original branches of the family (Pittsburgh and Boston-Canada) had visited was in 1870. We were able to share a letter that documented the 1870 meeting and had a great time getting to know each other. There was lots to get caught up on !!!!

Another happy occasion which allowed me to enjoy American Thanksgiving, visiting with several branches in California. My great aunt had visited in 1893 and my father in 1946, thus there was once again lots to get caught up on. I was especially pleased to visit relatives who I had corresponded with but never met before. Although our grandfathers were brothers the distance across the country has restricted visiting among cousins over the years. Meeting several younger generations was also very special. Time was restricted as travel as an addition to a business trip, thus I was not able to make contact with all relatives throughout California in the limited time available.

This month saw publication of Scott materials from HomePort related to the Novato CA. family of A. Dill Scott as part of the Newsletter of the Novato Historical Society. The research for the article has added new knowledge to family history research and according to the article, our family history work has solved a longstanding mystery for local historians in Novato regarding the naming of the community. Their main site is hosted by the Novato History Museum site and the article is located here The Novato Historian - Feature Section *

(Editors note - the link is no longer current in 2017)

Happy New Year

A New Year's wish would not be complete without mention of Auld Lang Syne and the story of how a Canadian (Guy Lombardo) made this Scottish tune by Robbie Burns part of popular culture in the 20th Century. An item in our daily paper had the story which is taken directly from an interesting feature at the Canadian Encyclopedia site.

Back issues of this newsletter are kept on the web site and this will be added soon.
Thank you for all the genealogical updates provided, they are much appreciated
All best wishes for 2003
Sincerely, Ian Scott
HomePort
But let it whistle as it will,
We’ll keep our Christmas merry still.