Hi Ian,

Another fascinating tip into the history of Campbeltown - thanks for the Feb edition.

My wife was most pleased to find in December a Campbeltown single malt in a local shop here in Switzerland. She must have started a fashion as we were back there yesterday and there were 6 different malts all from Campbeltown!

Best regards from a rainy Bern,

David.

I got back to David..

Hi David,

Thanks for your ever-welcome e-mail, and thanks for saying nice things about the Mag.

You must tell me more about these single malts your wife is finding. My Helen and I have, over the years, built up a collection of some 1,200 miniature whiskies. We have visited every distillery in Scotland - including the isles - and have been able to collect direct from the distillery. A little known fact about distilleries is that, although they have a license to make the 'cratur', they don't always have a license to sell it.! Most of them in that category, 'though, were happy to pass over some minis for a donation to the local; charity. Usually the Lifeboat.

David, don't start me babbling about whisky!

All the best for now from a flat, dull, dour East of England.

Ian

And he was good enough to reply....

Hi Ian,

Gulp 1'200 different varieties - wow I knew there were lots but I would have guessed around 300-400 level.

Campbeltown is really significant in my family tree with about 25% of people (from around 4000) coming from the area. My wife is also a keen Scots fan (although she is Swiss) and she was really surprised to find a malt from Campbeltown.

My knowledge of whisky is limited to Bushmils (sorry) and Glenmorangie for use with Irish coffee - ha what savages the English are !

The Campbeltown malt is very interesting - it has a very very different taste to the blends I have in the past had. I'll make a note next time we pass the shop to record what they have in stock from Campbeltown.

Best regards from a sunny Bern,

David

I don't always have the last word. Do I?....

Hi David,

OK, my friend, even though you invoked the name of an Irish whiskey - Bushmills - I forgive you. The Irish - gawd blessem - have a wonderfully variant society, but they don't know how to produce (or spell) whisky.

Your gulp was right, of course. When I said that my H and I had a collection of some 1,200 minis, that included blends as well as malts.

The existing Campbeltown malts - Springbank and Glen Scotia, and their offshoots Campbeltown Loch, Longrow, etc., are a far cry from the 32 malts which used to be produced in the town. Most of the houses on the 'high road' 'low road' were built on the proceeds of the whisky trade.

My Helen and I hope - one day - to retire to the 'town where I, at least, can indulge myself with a glass of the'cratur' on a regular basis.

Cheerio the now from an overcast Farcet.

Ian
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Hi,

I just spent some time reading the text on your site - about Kintyre and Southend (which I am particularly interested in.)

I spent a few days at Southend in August of last year - looking for any trace of my ancestor Andrew Willson of Polliwilline, who was a Scotish covenanter of the Ayrshire (Skelmorlie) family, who died in 1691 (or Pollewilling as it is spelled in the doc's we have refering to his son and grandson).

I am not 100% sure on this one, but I wondered if I had located his grave near the entrance to Keil cemetry - it had no writing on it but the coat of arms carved on the flat stone sunk into the ground showed the hound and one other emblem of my family so I wondered if that might be him.  The grave beside it was illegible but it looked like Wilson so I wondered if there is a plan that might shed some light on this one.  Since the named Wilson grave would suggest to me that that might be Andrew Willson's grave next to it.  There is of course another Wilson's grave directly behind those two (much more recent) so perhaps there are a few of my family in those plots.  I took a few photos of the graves to examine later and blowing that one up on the PC really suggests to me the Wilson arms, I am familiar with.

I located Edward Wilson's grave I believe - it was of red sand-stone but well weathered and I spent a few hours examining the graves and in particular the graves relating to Polliwilline.

I enjoyed my stay in Southend and found it spiritually refreshing in some ways.  I guess watching the dawn rise from the mound where St. Columba's footprints are is a spiritually moving thing for most people!  :-)  I enjoyed imaging how the ancient Druids might have welcomed the returning sun there after the winter solstice and why St Columba would see the need to Christianise such a thing!

All in all I found the Southend to be an interesting place with nice people and a great beach, so I hope to take another trip down there before long :-)

Thanks for a nice site,

David Wilson.

I answered David...

Hi David,

And welcome to the Mag. Thanks for saying nice things about it. With your permission, I'll post your e-mail on the Wee Drams Page of the March edition.

I love Southend. As is always the way, when I lived in Campbeltown I didn't spend much time exploring and taking heed of the wonders around me but, since I got married 24 years ago, my Helen and I have put that right. One of our favourite places is Southend. We park the car at the big car park below
the footprints, and wander off along the beach. Our best time is around sundown, when we stand and watch the beautiful colours over the Mull.

We also love to walk along the beach to Dunaverty Rock. I sometimes get a wee shiver knowing how much blood has drenched that place for centuries. Like yourself, I have quite a good imagination, and like to visualise how things might have looked long ago.

Thank you again for your most interesting e-mail and, if you have a tale to tell - or anything at all, relevant to the Mag - please do share it with us all.

Ian

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I just received an absolutely marvellous treatise on James Maxwell, Chamberlain of Mull, died 1829, who liquidated his estate.  It comes from Alistair Garvie, of the Mull Museum.  There should be more communication among all those totally wonderful historians over there!!

I will transcribe it and send you a copy.

Heather

Heather also mentioned that she was thrilled to 'see her name in lights'.I e-mailed Heather back...

OK, Heather,

It was a bit over the top, but I did give you the opportunity to come up with a header for your page by yourself. I got a bit carried away with my fancy fonts!

Looks as though you have had a great result from the Mull museum. I have always found that, if you are nice to people, they will be nice to you. You have gone to a lot of trouble to let the Mag folks read your wonderful stuff. Thank you very much.

I won't keep you from your reading so, until the next e, stay safe.

Ian
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Have really been enjoying your website!!  It is excellent.

Don't know if this should go to you or to surnames and queries.  I'm at a dead end tracing my ggg gp to North Carolina.  I know they came from Kintyre, but don't know how they got to NC.  They are:  Peter Johnson (abt 1778 - ?) m. Flora McDuffie.  Don't know if they married (or met) in Scotland or US.  They were in NC in late 1700's and migrated to Montgomery Co, GA (USA) in early to mid 1800's.

I've searched for Johnson, Johnston, and Johnstone with no luck.  Any help from reader's would be most appreciated.

Thank you.

Daniel P. Johnson
Gainesville, GA (USA)

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What a wonderful website! thank you.

Yvonne (Brown from Lochgilphead area/McCallum from Kilmichael glassary & N.Knapdale)@ Ontario Canada.

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Ian:
 
Congratulations on the Clyde Fishermen article. It looks great, and I hope you get some interesting feedback. I've sent copies to family members here and suggested to overseas relatives that they check it out.
 
I thought of you - again - last month when I came across some hard copies of Kintyre Magazine, dated 1977, that belonged to my mother. There were some very interesting articles in it, including one about William McTaggart, the CN artist. Not too long ago I accidentally found his work on a U.K. gallery web site and was so impressed by it that I copied some of the paintings.

Best regards,
 
Terry Meenan

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Hi Ian: Just can't tell you how much I enjoy your magazine! A story I love to tell is after deciding to join a mail list for Wilkinson
[McQuilkan] and putting my ancestors names/dates etc on, I received an Email from Missouri from a gentleman who had been to Killean area [also looking for McQuilkans] and said he had been to Kintyre in 1997; took down gravestone inscriptions of McQuilkans in old cemeteries and had found my gr/gr/gr/grandfather's grave...died 1791 !!! He said he didn't know the name of the cemetery but it was about 100 yards from the ocean.I then wrote to Iain McDonald asking the name of the cemetery, turned out to be Patchan, near Glenbarr. What a breakthrough. My ancestors came to Ontario Canada c1841 from Killean and called their small settlement Killean in Ontario.
I certainly enjoy your site, and thankyou.
Jean McKay Harnick

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Ian,

G'day from downunder.

I have been reading the web monthly magazine for the past two years and find it most interesting.  It seems you put an enormous effort into producing this magazine.

Three years ago I began research into my family history and found for the past 300 years the family resided and still resides in Argyll starting in Southend and then migrating to the farms around Campbeltown.  I have created a web page identifying some of the work I have completed and should be of interest to anyone researching the Muir family.  Apart from a couple of people the family seemed to be quiet achievers, just going on with their business and keeping their heads down.

The web page can be found at:   http://users.bigpond.net.au/amuir/index.html

I visited Campbeltown staying in May 1998 where I met some of my distant relatives and completed some of the research.  I had a great time.  I would appreciate any information available on the Muirs from anyone around the world.

Keep up the good work

Alexander (Sandy) Muir
Melbourne, Australia

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Hey Ian,

The February Mag is really a good one!  And you'd been leading me to believe you were running out of material!  Heather MacFarlane has really put together some interesting things.  We'll all look forward to more from her in future Mags!  And what a scoop:  The publishing of "The War-Time Record of the Campbeltown Fishermen."  I've printed a hardcopy to read more easily.  Also printed a hardcopy of AIB Stewart's article, which falls right in line with some information Carl Porter sent me just the other day!  The February edition was a great birthday present for me!.........

.......I'll bespending much of the day reading the Mag. Can't wait!..........

I had asked Janet about the Morrison names on the list of Kintyre Fishermen.......

.......Regarding the Morrisons in the War-Time Record...  I don't know if there could be any connection with my family or not.  We were told the ancestors of the Morrisons in Campbeltown today came into Kintyre in the 1800's.  I've worked and worked with the records on the Mormon web site
to try to find a connection between mine and any of the others, but so far nothing connects - which is weird.  Surely g-g-g-g-g-grandpa William Morison had at least one brother!  But without another generation back, I'll never be able to figure it out.  My thoughts have been turning more toward the relatives of g-g-g-g-g-grandma Janet Hall Morrison.  After all, I would be just as kin to them as to any Morrison relatives.  I think I'll pursue that.  Finding some long lost Hall cousin would give
Marie and me and excuse to go back to Scotland!  Like we need an excuse!.........

........It got up to 45 degrees today and the ice finally melted off the trees. There's still plenty of ice and snow on the ground, but it should be gone by this weekend.  Now the job of picking up all the fallen tree
limbs commences...........

........Our temperatures are moderating and most of the snow from January has melted except in shady areas.  I'm working on my garden seed order! Ah.... spring fever!........

........I did some pruning today, cutting some dead branches out of the azaleas and rhododendrons.  It was sunny and warm this afternoon.  Spring is in the air!........

Janet

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Wee Drams

Page  2:    Janet and Marie Morrison's 1999 Trip to Scotland - The Final Part

Page  3:    The Ralston Correspondence - Part One

Page  4:    Bits and Bobs / Genealogical Queries

Page  5:    Heather McFarlane's Page - The Will of Miss Lucy Campbell

Page  6:    Campbeltown's New Library & Museum, 1899

Page  7:    Aurora Borealis / Distribution and Breeding of the Barn Owl in Kintyre 1995-1998

Page  8:    By Hill and Shore - Part One

The A.I.B. Stewart Page