The Western Isles

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Charging the phone in Inverness

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 On Sunday evening I landed in Inverness station with hardly any phone charge since the train PowerPoints did not work, and it took a while for me to realize that. Many photos later. This was important as all the directions to get into my guesthouse were on the phone. Sipping my lemonade in the train station pub, charging my phone and checking the walking route to the R……. Guesthouse. I am not naming it a si did not give it a good review. I had a nice English couple across the table on the journey up to Inverness who kept me informed of where we passing through at any one time. They are staying at Muir of Ord where I will be tomorrow, so I might see them in the street! This was the home of the Bains in 1841. The funny thing on the trip out, when chatting to a couple heading off to London, I learned that they lived in Kirkhill, home of the Bains in 1851. I had been to Moniack Castle or Tower but it was not visible. A very small world indeed. The Guesthouse By no means was this a Faw...
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Digging out Alexander

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Well it was really was not so much digging out, more scraping away - lichen. I went to Maxton Churchyard where Alexander, brother of Robert Buchan, was said to be buried with wife Jane and son James. There is an image on FindAGrave. I could not find it, and I looked twice. There were about 40 headstones lying on the grass, and many were covered in lichen. Nearly an hour later I sadly drove away, thinking there had been an error. The next day in Hawick, I went straight to the Monument Inscription book for Maxton Churchyard. Sure enough, it was there, and at least I now knew the surrounding names, and I had seen them! Back I went that evening. I found all the names on the page except Buchan. I decided to scrape away lichen. Two headstones revealed the wrong names! And my finger nails were broken, but fear not, no blood. I tried the third, which had a small softwood stick lying across it. You can guess. Yes it was, and I was very careful as I removed the lichen. Fortunately it had fallen ...
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The military family

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 Today we went to the Black Watch museum somewhere near Perth. It was formed from Highlanders who were loyal to the Hanoverian King George II about 1739. Was created from six loyal clans? They were happy to join to a) protect their peoples in the Highlands and b) continue to wear the kilt and bear arms following the proscription of these things after 1715. The original Black Watch was known as the 42nd Regiment, and when they raised the second battalion it became the 73rd Regiment. This latter one was sent to Australia in the 1790s. My x5 great grandmother, Margaret Leslie, was on board one of the transport ships of the regiment along with three teenage children. Her husband William Lewiston, probably an Irishman, was part of this regiment and must have been expected to travel to the colony of New South Wales for his family to be on board. She soon after married another soldier from the regiment. See the end of this post for my other relative associated with the Black Watch. We wer...
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