A Clash of Cultures…Carruthers in the Arizona Indian Wars

When the United States acquired the area from Mexico, they inherited a corridor that became nationally prominent as the Southern Overland Mail Road, connecting the eastern U.S. to California. Unfortunately, Apache Pass lay in the heart of Apacheria. Because there was a fairly reliable water source at Apache Springs (at the pass), this location wasContinue reading “A Clash of Cultures…Carruthers in the Arizona Indian Wars”

Scottish influence in American Culture: Enlightened Education and Democracy

In the history of America’s birth, the names of James Madison, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, Honorable William Findley, along with other founding fathers, are shining stars. Nonetheless, few Americans today would recognize the extraordinary influence on those “fathers” by such men as Adam Smith, Thomas Reid (one of the founders of Common Sense Philosophy),Continue reading “Scottish influence in American Culture: Enlightened Education and Democracy”

The Highlander immigrants who helped build America

The Highlands of Scotland proved to be a natural recruiting ground for emigrants that were to help build North America during the 18th and 19th centuries. The breakdown of Highland society and culture created bleak prospects on home soil for ordinary folk while the revered fighting powers of the clans made their men sought afterContinue reading “The Highlander immigrants who helped build America”

Chasing Your Own Tail

Yes the first names are great as they help distinguish the individual in records and make identification easier–usually. One should not assume that there are no contemporaries with the exact same unusual name as often names of this type are passed down from one generation to the other and I’m sure every family has oneContinue reading “Chasing Your Own Tail”

Canonbie United Parish Churchyard

“Canonbie Churchyard, on the north or left bank of the Esk, is one of the largest parish burying grounds in Scotland, and is kept in such good order as to be an example to many others. A few years ago my worthy friend the present minister wisely made arrangements for gathering together the fallen gravestones.Continue reading “Canonbie United Parish Churchyard”

HOW I CAME TO BE SCOTS-IRISH

As the war went on and they faced the British at Cowpens, Kings Mountain and a generation later in New Orleans, these mountain men with their precision rifles gave fearful account of their fighting prowess. They made up a good part of the Pennsylvania Line on whom Washington could rely more than on any otherContinue reading “HOW I CAME TO BE SCOTS-IRISH”

Border-Reivers-Their-Part-in-the-Northern-Rebellion-of-1569

In the autumn of 1569 Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland and Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland, rose in rebellion against the English queen, Elizabeth 1 and her government. Ostensibly the rebellion, to which thousands of men from the north of England flocked in sympathy, was to smash the stranglehold that the Protestant religion,Continue reading “Border-Reivers-Their-Part-in-the-Northern-Rebellion-of-1569”

Border-Reivers-The-Clay-Biggin & Border-Reivers-Pele-Tower-as-a-Refuge

To the left is a little map of the Border Marches on each side of the English Scottish Border from the Solway Firth in the west to the North Sea in the east. This is the area that dominated the national history of England and Scotland from the thirteenth to the seventeenth centuries. These Marches were theContinue reading “Border-Reivers-The-Clay-Biggin & Border-Reivers-Pele-Tower-as-a-Refuge”

BORDER REIVERS-BUCCLEUCH’S RAID ON CARLISLE CASTLE

Walter Scott was born in 1565. His ancestral home was Branxholme in Teviotdale. Today one of the four original towers of Branxholme still stands, the Nesby tower, about five miles south of Hawick in the Scottish Border country.       The-Nesby-Tower-Branxholme-Scottish-Borders In 1590 he was knighted by James V1, king of Scotland, and appointedContinue reading “BORDER REIVERS-BUCCLEUCH’S RAID ON CARLISLE CASTLE”

Border-Reivers-Invade-English-Tynedale

In October 1593 the Border Reiver clans of the Scottish Border valleys answered the call to arms. They were intent on teaching the English a lesson in ‘might is right’. Such a large-scale raid had never been planned before. For once the Scottish clans put their differences behind them, the relentless feud and blood-feud, andContinue reading “Border-Reivers-Invade-English-Tynedale”