“Breid Jean” Connel (1786-1871) was a social carer and delivered bread to old people in the country around Cumbernauld right up until her death. Married to a soldier in the 79th regiment in 1813, she and her husband both fought at the Battle of Waterloo.
I liked this bird’s eye view of Cumbernauld *in progress* (1964).
“interestingly informal”
“maximum privacy in a small space”
“specifically Scottish”
On the 25th and 26th November 1454, the entire town of Govan was put “in ane flote” by “ane richt gret spait”. Every inhabitant had to sit on the roofs of their “houssis, bernis, and millis” as the flood took them sailing down the Clyde.
he Erskine Ferry was an important part of the Glasgow to Greenock trade route and was the oldest ferry on the Clyde, started in 1777. Here are the tolls for the year 1845. Roughly equivalent to 50p per foot passenger and £15 for a four wheeled carriage.
In January 1856 the Provost of Dingwall had a dinner party that left two Catholic priests and a laird dead. The cook’s servant brought her monkshood (a,b) instead of horseradish (c,d) for the roast beef. The provost had them planted 18″ apart in his garden.
Tyberius Winchester was a “serial gyser” in Elgin.
His rapsheet:
May 1593- playing the pipes and drums with “rascalls”
Jan 1594- bagpiping after dark, being riotous
Dec 1596- dancing in kirkyard
Jan 1604- riding through town with pillowcase on his head
He was also done in 1604 for “uttering uncomlie speaches the nycht the minister catecheized”.
Also his name was TYBERIUS WINCHESTER and he couldn’t be stopped. Another top-shelf name, like HERCULES ROLLOCK.
The Kirk Session at Elgin tholed no nonsense in their time.
In 1698, someone tried selling their wife…
The wife-selling saga continued.
In 1592, the kirk had an “imaginative” punishment for a poor woman who self-harmed and heard about how splashed feet almost killed someone.
Sometimes they just couldn’t be bothered with naughty people, like Barbara.
In 1614, Elgin asked their bakers to stop stealing the gravestones from the kirkyard to make their bread ovens. It wasn’t their first warning and it’s not clear they stopped!
At the weddings of Avoch fisherfolk, the best man would untie the groom’s left shoe before the ceremony to defend against meddling by witches. The shoe needed to be worn untied for the rest of the day, night, and following morning.
CAISEAN-UCHD. n. Breast-strip of a sheep that was singed and sniffed to ward off evil spirits in a house. Passed around clockwise for the next person to inhale. Bad luck if it went out on your turn. Used at Xmas only in other places, but all the time on Islay. It must’ve smelled awful.