I want to wish all the mothers out there a very special Happy Mother's Day. Enjoy your day~ you deserve it! I am spending my Mother's Day with my mom today and wanted to share some photos of our morning at the beach! Have a wonderful day!
I have always wanted to visit Scotland, and now I have an even better reason to travel there. My Sutherland ancestors. What a great way to experience the life,the beauty, the culture, and all the people of the land than to visit the place where your ancestors grew up. I may still have family there that I never even know about! Which is a good reason to continue writing this blog. Right now, I'm stuck on the Sutherland branch of my family tree. Alexander, well he's giving me fits right now; where is his information hiding? Is his data in an archive building somewhere collecting dust in the corner of a dark room that nobody ever goes to anymore? Well Alexander, I will find you! One day soon before I'm old and gray I hope! In this post, I kind of want to talk about the Highlands of Scotland where some of my Sutherland family come from.
The Highlands of Scotland lives up to the picturesque postcards with scenes of outstanding natural beauty, and while its' just natural for you to think of this region as mountainous, there are also miles and miles of beautiful coastlines with turquoise waters and wildlife. The Highlands aren't just all landscapes of green valleys and majestic mountains, but also the historic, remote castles, and the distinctive culture and language of the welcoming towns.
Even though Scotland is so beautiful, there was such hardship for the Highlanders of the region; the Scottish Clearances were during the time when Alexander Sutherland came to America. He probably thought it was in his best interest to join the British Army and come to the mainland than it would be to stay in Scotland and most likely starve. The Clearances were the terrible clearing of people from Scottish lands so that they could instead, raise sheep.
"These clearances were in the Highlands -- where the Sutherland family comes from. The Highlands of Scotland is from the Northern border of Scotland and south (about the top third of Scotland). Sutherland County is from the East coast to the West coast of Scotland. Caithness is in the upper Northeast area of Scotland. Some Sutherland's were from Caithness -- but most are from the coast to coast band across Scotland. The people were moved from the lands so they could raise sheep and many were starved or driven out."
(text content was taken from an email I received recently, name if author is confidential for privacy reasons).
"For the people who moved to the coast, life was inevitably hard. They had to adjust to a new lifestyle and try to earn some semblance of a living from fishing- something that most people had no experience doing. In many cases they continued to farm on their small plots of land. The early clearances were the most harsh of all because no alternative was offered. Emigration and migration were discouraged by the landlords as being against the interests of the country and most notably themselves. Kelping demanded a large workforce and while it prospered the landlords and to some extent the people prospered. However, once the kelp prices began to fall during the 1820s this situation changed. Those who did choose to migrate or emigrate were seldom the poorest people in society. They had the means to support themselves in Scotland if they had wished for the emigrating Highlander of this period chose to go to America." The Clearances of Scotland
Geographically Scotland consists of 2 parts: the mainland and the islands. On the mainland, one can discern 3 clear landmasses: the northern Highlands, the central Highlands and the Lowlands. The Highlands are divided by the Great Glen, a narrow gap in the mountain landscape. It's no wonder many people thought America was the land of opportunity. As compared to the life style they had been living, this must have been such a life saver for them. No pun intended.
I think that is enough for tonight! (Remember I'm on Hawaii time) More to come tomorrow. What would you like to read on this blog? Dunrobin Castle of Highland, Scotland? Let me know!
I have always wanted to visit Scotland but now that I've discovered that my ancestors lived there once upon a time, it makes me want to go even more. Just to be able to walk the land as they did hundreds of years ago, the culture that surrounded them, their lifestyles, and even the food they they may have eaten. I want to experience Scotland's history and their culture, I want to stand on the picturesque landscapes where my ancestors may have stood, I also want to be a part of the events they may celebrate, eat the food and drink with the local people. But I must say, I don't have much of a taste for whiskey! I want to experience this all first hand; and maybe one day I will. But in the mean time, my adventures will all have to be of the online variety.
Scotland's Culture
Scotland has a myriad of different types of festivals ranging anywhere from the arts and comedy to the more traditional forms of entertainment. One of Scotland's winter festivals is called Hogmanay, which is a fire festival of sorts, and a street party of live music and fireworks.
If you are like me and have yet to visit Scotland, have you ever wondered what some of Scotland's food may taste like? How about trying out a recipe? Are you brave enough to try your cooking skills? If you are, then try this recipe and let me know how you liked this particular one and if you would like to share a photo of how it turned out, family responses to the meal and so on.
Cullen Skink Soup
Ingredients
(Serves 4)
1tbsp olive or vegetable oil
1 leek, well- rinsed, chopped and cut into rough 2cm cubes
1 liter homemade fish stock or reduced-salt fish stock cube (or half standard stock cube) dissolved in 1 liter of water
200g of peeled waxy potatoes cut into roughly 2cm cubes
300g undyed smoked haddock fillet
1 bay leaf
Freshly ground pepper
2tbs whipping cream
Roughly chopped chives
Method Warm the oil in a pan, add the chopped leek, cover and gently cook for a few minutes until soft.
Add the stock, bay leaf, potato and haddock. Season lightly with black pepper. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
Remove the haddock from the pan with a slotted spoon. When the fish is cool enough to handle, remove any skin and bones, then flake the haddock back into the pan.
Blend a ladle full of the soup in a liquidizer and return to the pan.
Stir in the double cream and simmer for another 2 or 3 minutes.
Add more black pepper if necessary, then sprinkle with the chopped chives and serve.
***Serve with chunks of fresh wholemeal or grain bread.***
Recipes provided by Andrew Fairlie, chef at the world-famous Gleneagles Hotel.
Thousands of people around the globe are in search of their ancestors all the time. As for myself, it has become a daily routine. My blog is the first place I go, then I'll look at my family tree and decide who I would like to research and how far back in history I may be interested enough to do research on. I like genealogy and history both, but by no means am I a professional researcher. I only research for myself. It's a hobby of mine and the more I get myself involved, the more I want to learn. Genealogy is probably one of the most popular hobbies that people get into. That's just my opinion though. Just think about it, who wouldn't want to know where their family originally came from? Were they related to someone famous, from so long ago? For all I know, I could be related to some King or something! Hmmm..King Knut? Not too sure yet, but it's always fun to investigate and dig deeper into the history. Don't you think so? It's almost like those C.S.I. guys and I'm the investigator with a new case profile to find data on! Just kidding. I was getting too excited about the topic of genealogy again wasn't I?
I recently visited the U.S.S. Missouri in Pearl Harbor, on Memorial Day to be exact, and let me tell you, that ship had so much history behind it. It intrigued me so much that in the back of my mind I'm thinking, "Did one of my family members ever board this ship? Sleep in those bunks with the woolen blankets? Did they stand in the Truman line waiting for their meal?
What starts out as a curiosity can quickly lead to a new found obsession when it comes to genealogy research. You may just want to satisfy your own curiosity as to who you are and where you may have come from. But there are other good reasons for taking up this subject too. You may have children who will one day be just as inquisitive as you are now. What will you tell them? They need to be given a sense of who they are too, where they may have come from and how they lived their lives and what they went through during that time period. You may want to preserve cultural traditions and share them as a family. Another good reason would be medical history in your family. A family member may have had an inherited disease or disorder and you never would have known unless you researched it! Whatever reason you choose, it's very interesting to find out just who you are.
Genealogy is like a huge puzzle, just waiting for you to put the right pieces in place! Let the journey BEGIN!
I want to wish all the mothers out there a very special Happy Mother's Day. Enjoy your day~ you deserve it! I am spending my Mother's Day with my mom today and wanted to share some photos of our morning at the beach! Have a wonderful day!
