Auld Lang Syne

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Thank you, Robbie Burns, Scotland’s national poet, for recording the lyrics of Auld Lang Syne. Translated as “for the sake of old times,” it's "one of Scotland's gifts to the world, recalling the love and kindness of days gone by, but in the communion of taking our neighbours' hands, it also gives us a sense of belonging and fellowship to take into the future.” (1) This ballad is a reminder to remember friends from the past, recounting the good times shared together.

Written in 1788, this song has been popularized in modern times in movies and shows, and it is now a permanent fixture of New Year’s celebrations worldwide. As the clock strikes midnight in your respective time zone this coming week, here’s a “translation” of the lyrics, which often seem to trip up those of us across the pond. Happy 2015!

Auld Lang Syne

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
And surely you’ll buy your pint cup
and surely I’ll buy mine!
And we’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have run about the slopes,
and picked the daisies fine;
But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun till dine [dinner time];
But seas between us broad have roared
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand my trusty friend!
And give us a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

..........

Sources: Mostly plagiarized from this, this, and this. Also, more info on Burns.

Christmases Past: Trees and Traditions

That first Christmas tree that you get as a newlywed couple, grand or not so grand, is a memory that probably stays with all of us. Looking back on almost 80 Christmases, memories of their first trees, both when they were children and when they had their own children, are some of the Christmas memories that have really stuck with Ralph and Ella. 

Ralph related:

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When the twins were born...on December 10, [1953], and with Christmas coming on the 25th, we had only 15 days. With the surprise of the twins, there was a of activity going on! I don't remember a lot of gift giving or things like that. We were kind of wrapped up with two children. I remember we did get a tree….We had a very small apartment. I think we paid 50 cents for one of the last trees before they threw them all away. (“I think it was a little one that was sat on something, because we didn’t have room,” Ella chimed in.) But we did want to have the Christmas spirit, so bought this tree for 50 cents. We put some decorations on it. I think we made some from colored paper, chains or something like that. I don't remember a lot of family coming over. We stayed pretty much at home by ourselves.

I guess it was the next year...and we wondered how we'd put the Christmas tree up and not have the babies tear it down, playing with it. So we put it inside their playpen! On a suitcase or something so it was set up a little bit. So we had a tree with lights, and they would look at it….

With our  family, we always, of course, had a Christmas tree….We would have everyone get around the tree after breakfast, and open the gifts. Sometimes we had some toys open they could play with, and we had the wrapped gifts. It was a lot of fun, and a lot of good memories about it.

For Ella, Christmases as a young girl in Scotland weren’t accompanied by all of the tinsel and lights that many of us associate with the holiday. Afterall, this was wartime.

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We didn't have any Christmas trees. Only the rich people had Christmas trees. No decorations or anything like that. I remember my grandma [Charlesina] had some paper decorations that she'd string from the ceiling. It was very sparse. We didn't have decorations outside - the city wasn't decorated. But this was wartime when I was growing up. War broke out in 1939 when I was 5. We just didn't have much at Christmas time.

The thing I do remember, when I was in grade school, they always had us go one day, with our Sunday clothes on, on a walk from school to a Presbyterian church that was not too far away, for a Christmas service. Because I was a good reader, I was chosen one time to give the scripture reading from the pulpit. That was the highlight of my life that year!

So that was it. Our Christmases were very sparse. Nothing like in America, like when we came over here and all of the things that they do here. But it could be different there now, ya know; I grew up during wartime when things weren't available, and it was just a different life.

Ralph remembers the first Christmas tree his family had as a boy. After his parents (Jaunita Inglish and John Virgil Mitchell) separated when he was about 2 years old, he and his mother and brother Johnnie moved to Mesa to his grandmother’s house (Bertha Clarice Copeland) for a year or so.

I remember the excitement my mother had when we moved into a little rental unit away from my grandmother. My mother wanted to be independent, so we moved into a little rental unit,  probably a block or so away from Grandma's. We had our first Christmas tree there that year. My mother,  and my brother Johnnie, and I….It was a pretty meager little Christmas. We just had a small tree, and it was just the three of us.

In August of 1941, his mom married Lester Johnson, when Ralph was 7 years old. Often at Christmas, the gifts that they'd get were things that they needed anyway: pajamas, underwear, a bicycle tire. There was some singing and ceremoniously opening Christmas presents. Lester even dressed up as Santa a few times to pass out the gifts!

With their own children, Ralph remembers:

I remember this about your Grandma Ella: She would always make a lot of good decorations, things around the tree, making things nice for the kids. I remember one year a wooden train track for BM, and she was up late at night, laying it out, fixing it up.

Another fun memory is when they lived in Long Beach, California, they made a tradition to drive to Watsonville to cut down their own tree. They did this for two or three years. One year they borrowed a motor home from a friend, took the kids and a friend each (except SM, who was very young.) "The motor home was pretty full! We cut a tree, tied it on top, and brought it home."

Now, when did Grandpa get those fantastic Christmas socks??? The red, green, and white striped ones, knee high?

Your mom and BM got those for me, in San Jose, in 1963. They're a few years old now! I still have them. Grandma has darned them and fixed them, patched them. Then your mom has knitted another pair for me. So I wear the old pair a little bit, and the new pair a little bit. I always wear them on Christmas morning. I could even wear them to Church today, Honey! It was either in '63 or '64.When you wear them just once a year, they last a long time!...That's part of a family tradition, to wear those Christmas socks every year.

Ralph and Ella with great grandkids GF and NM - December 2010.
Ralph is sporting his legendary socks!

A Christmas tradition I remember with Ralph and Ella is of making hard candy together, licorice flavored. We had to carefully stir the candy concoction, then pour it out on newspaper that lined the kitchen table, that was covered in powdered sugar. We’d have several of us working together, each with a pair of scissors to quickly cut the candy into small pieces before it cooled too much. Although we did this when I was in high school in the mid 1990’s, Ralph and Ella actually started doing this with their kids decades earlier: "HG really liked doing that. We did that in Broken Arrow [Oklahoma] with her friend Amy." One time, when the work was done, HG and her friend got in a powdered sugar fight! The sugar was all over the kitchen, in their hair, on their faces. They obviously had a great time!

Merry Christmas!!!

Source: From a phone call recorded on 22 December 2013 with Ralph and Ella.

Places of Significance: Aberdeen

“It’s a beautiful city, because of the granite...when the sun comes out after it rains and shines on the mica in the granite. That’s how it got its name, ‘The Silver City by the Sea.’” And indeed, Ella’s hometown is beautiful, just as she describes.

Photo by KF - Sept 2006

Photo by KF - Sept 2006

Such stately buildings line the streets, creating an air of dignity and decorum. Much of the older/central part of the city was constructed from locally quarried granite in the 1700s and 1800s. And that stateliness is evident whether admiring the grand buildings on Union Street (such as the Central Library, St. Mark’s church, and His Majesty’s Theatre - referred to as “Education, Salvation and Damnation” by the locals) or the more humble tenement buildings.

The Central Library, St. Mark's Church, and His Majesty's Theatre (Photo Source) 

It’s so fun to visit Aberdeen with Ella, or to even have her describe it, as she remembers much of the city still. She can navigate through the streets in her mind, describing how one road turns to another, veers to the side, passes this or that landmark, until you get to your destination. It’s etched into her memory, obviously from walking and biking its streets so much as a youth. 

And what’s additionally so neat is that the the city's buildings are not that different today compared to the early 1900s, and perhaps even the mid to late 1800s, thanks to the durability of the granite. It was during those time periods that there was a surge in construction of buildings and public parks, thanks in part to technological advancements in granite working. (Source)

What this means is that the same buildings that were built a century or more ago are still standing, the exteriors virtually unchanged. It gives you a sense of history, a place in time. We can walk through the city and feel a connection to the past. After all, Aberdeen is not just Ella’s hometown, but the ancestral roots are deep there: at least 4 generations back on her mother’s side, and at least 3 generations back on her father’s. Our ancestors walked down those same streets and admired those same buildings and bridges and parks.

When Ella returns to Aberdeen, one thing that strikes her as a big difference between now and when she was young is the traffic. As a girl, her impression was that the only people who had cars were lawyers and doctors (who made house calls). Most Aberdonians took public transportation (buses or trams - many of the tram tracks have since been removed). Ella’s father would ride his bike to his job at the shipyards, and they also all did a lot of walking. “It was just fun to walk together.” Ella said, describing how she and her friends liked to walk home from school together, weather and time permitting.

What were favorite places to frequent or places of significance for Ella and her family? Here's a handful:

• 40 Merkland Road East - Where her paternal grandparents, George and Charlesina lived at one time, and where her father, George, was born.
• 26 ½ Bank St - Where her maternal grandparents, John McDonald Beattie and Ursilla Katharine Bruce lived; where her parents, George and Ursula ("Kate"), were married; and where her sister Ina was born.
• 10A Prospect Terrace - Where Ella was born. They lived here until Ella was about 5 years old.
• 311 Holburn Street - Where Ella’s family lived until they emigrated in 1949.
• Duthie Park - A beautiful public park where they would go to walk, enjoy outdoor concerts and picnics.
• The River Dee - Where her family was baptized.
• 4 Ferrier Crescent - The street that her paternal grandparents, George and Charlesina, lived on for many years in their later lives. This is the home where Ella and her family would visit them, especially for family dinners on Saturday nights.
• Ferryhill Library - Ella loved to read!
• The building downtown where the small branch of the church met. On George Street (now a pedestrian street), just off of Union Street in central Aberdeen. At the time of our visit, their rented space was above a Gap clothing store.
• The Aberdeen Harbour - Where Ella’s father worked as a shipwright.
• Allenvale Cemetery by the River Dee - Burial place of Ella's maternal grandparents, John McDonald Beattie and Ursilla Katharine Bruce Beattie.
• The Regent Cinema movie theater, on Justice Mill Lane, near Holburn Street- Where she would watch the Mickey Mouse Club on Saturday mornings. Later renamed to Odeon; currently it's a fitness center.

The Regent Cinema
Ella would watch the Mickey Mouse Club here on Saturday mornings. 
Image Source

Something Ella often says is that she’s grateful she was a little older (aged 15) when her family emigrated, rather than several years earlier, before WWII, like they had originally hoped. As a result, she’s able to remember and appreciate so many details of her homeland and hometown. We’re all grateful for that too!

Sources: 

• From a phone conversation with Ella on 8 Dec 2014. Unfortunately, the recording froze and was not captured (Argh!), though notes were taken.
• See also: A Brief History of Aberdeen, Scotland

Recipe: Blonde Brownies

It's the day before Thanksgiving, and all across the United States (and for AG and her brood in Glasgow!), families are preparing for their big feast. What will Ralph and Ella be bringing as guests to the Thanksgiving table? I bet all the grandkids can guess: blonde brownies! And mashed potatoes with horseradish, and salmon ball, of course!

Ralph is known as the maker of blonde brownies, but he's quick to caveat that by saying that it's Ella's recipe - he just provides the "mixing strength." And Ella "adds her loving touch with the chips."

These brownies are present at not just Thanksgiving, but really any family gathering, formal or informal, and it sure seems that Ralph and Ella's cookie jar is always full with them any time we stop by for a visit. My favorites are the chewy corners! 

Earlier this week, in a moment of pregnancy craving and being in a sentimental mood at the holiday, I whipped up a half batch, enjoying them both late at night and before breakfast the next morning too. Yum! 

Enjoy the recipe, below!

Ella's handwriting on this recipe card.

Ella evenly distributing the chips on her batch. (I just dump them in!)

A pre-breakfast treat at my home - Nov 2014

Blonde Brownies

2 cups sifted flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup butter

2 cups light brown sugar

2 eggs, slightly beaten

2 tsp vanilla

1 pkg chocolate chips

In a medium sized bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside. 

Melt butter in a sauce pan. Remove from heat, add brown sugar and stir well. Add eggs and vanilla to the mixture in the sauce pan and mix well. 

Add the flour mixture, half at a time, mixing well after each addition. 

Turn into a greased 9" x 12" pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. 

Meet Robert Bruce of Burravoe (1827-1865)

Robert Bruce and Wilhilmina Inkster

Born 17 October 1827, Robert Bruce was the 4th of 11 children of Robert Bruce (1804-1852)  and Mary Young (1795-1842). Born in Edinburgh, he lived as an adult in the village of Burravoe on the south-east corner of the island of Yell, Shetland, in the Manor House. There, he was a laird, or a member of the landed gentry. 

How is it that he came to be born in Edinburgh? Records indicate that his parents were both born in Scotland, but his paternal grandparents were both Shetlanders (Robert Bruce, 1766-1844, and Ursilla Katherine Bruce, 1770-1808). And it's unclear how much of his youth he spent in Edinburgh - he was christened in Edinburgh, but according to the 1841 census, when he'd be about age 14, he was living in Burravoe. (Source)

When he was 27 years old, Robert married Wilhilmina Inkster (1835-1896)(1) on 1 May 1855at the Free Church of Scotland in Lerwick, on the main island of Shetland. She was 20 years old. Together, they had six children in their ten years of marriage. However, these were not the only children that Robert had: He had 6 children with 5 other women during this period of time, including one child born just two months after his marriage to Wilhilmina.

Christina's cottage is the one with the black roof, in the center
of the frame - Sept 2014

Christina Stove (1835-1919) was one of those mistresses, who (according to family lore) was a favored servant at the Manor House. And as the stories go, she was given a cottage on the hill in the village of Neapoback, overlooking the Manor House. Robert and Christina had two children together: Mary Jane and Laurence. It's Mary Jane who was "lost and found" by Ella and who is the great grandmother and great, great grandmother of our dear Shetland cousins.

A wider view of Christina's cottage, taken from the parking
lot by the Burravoe marina, near the fence surrounding
Robert's Manor House - Sept 2014

Robert died at the age of 37 on 16 August 1865 in Symbister House on the island of Whalsay, Shetland; the cause of his death being unknown, but Shetland Family History notes that he was "found dead in his bedroom" (Source). He was buried at the Kirk of Hamnavoe on the island of Yell - in an area partitioned off but in an unmarked grave.

Wilhilmina was 30 when he passed. She remarried at age 34 to Duncan Campbell (1847-bef 1896) on  24 February 1870 in Lerwick. 

..........

Questions:

• How did Robert and Wilhilmina meet? She was born in Tain, Scotland.
• What was the cause of Robert's death?
• Did Robert have the Manor House built? (According to the 1851 census, it looks like Robert's father was also living at the Manor House. Source.)
• Shetland Family History lists Robert's residence as 1 Shore, Burravoe in 1861. Is that the same as the Manor House?
• What additional stories about Robert have been passed on?

Notes:

1. Pronounced as "WILL-yum-EYE-na", there are many spelling variations in different records. For example: Wilhelmina, Williamina, Inster

Across Oceans and Continents

These were one-way tickets on an ocean liner. A journey that was years in the making and that would forever change the course of their lives and of their family’s history. The journey across oceans and continents was so expensive and they had saved for so many years, they didn’t know if they’d ever return to their homeland. Ella recalls: “It took everything we had to get over, so there was no way of coming back.”

After converting to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in June 1932, Ella’s parents started making plans to emigrate to America. They would leave their homeland, their family, friends, occupations, and the comfort of a communal culture...to buy one-way tickets on an ocean liner.

It wasn’t fame or fortune that called to them, but the desire to gather together “in Zion” with other members of the Church and to receive the blessings of the temple. At that time, the only operating temples of the Church were in the United States and Canada, and there weren’t any announced plans to build any others in Europe anytime soon.(1) If families wanted to receive these saving ordinances and be sealed together, they made the sacrifice to emigrate.

Mesa, Arizona,would be their final destination, near where their missionary friend and sponsor John Freestone was living.

But Europe entered World War II in 1939, and their plans to emigrate were put on hold. During those war years, George served faithfully as the branch president of the Aberdeen Branch of the Church, one of only four branches of the Church in Scotland at the time.

After the war ended in 1945, their preparations resumed: Not only continuing to save what money they could, but preparing documents, passports and visas, medical records, and tickets, as well as selling virtually all that they owned (including the hand-crafted furniture that George had made) and bidding farewell to family and friends.

George's ticket for the train that would take him to
Southampton, to board the Mauretania.
Image source: Life History of George and Kate Findlay

They traveled essentially with the clothes on their back, and they also took along some of her father’s tools and books (he loved to read). Ella would have liked to have taken her special doll, or her uniform blazer with the embroidered patch on the pocket from the prestigious Central School that she attended (a college prep school) - unfortunately, these treasures were left behind. She did, however, bring her Mickey Mouse Club pin, which she still has today.

SS Mauretania

Their family wouldn’t make the journey all together but in three different waves. George (age 45 at the time) would depart first to pave the way for the rest of the family to come. He boarded the SS Mauretania in Southampton, England, on 14 December 1948, and they entered the port of New York on 20 Dec 1948. He then traveled across the United States by train, arriving in Queen Creek, Arizona,(2) on Christmas Eve.

Ella recalls that he wrote a letter to her while passing through cities and towns along the way, describing decorated Christmas trees and lights that adorned each station. This really piqued Ella’s imagination and curiosity, as such decorations were quite uncommon in Europe that was still recovering from the war, and for their family, which never had a Christmas tree when she was growing up.

While George was establishing himself and getting a home ready for his family in Arizona, Ella, her sister Ina, and her mother (Ursula Katherine Bruce Beattie - she went by "Kate") stayed with her paternal grandparents, George Findlay (senior) and Charlesina Smith Love, at their home on Ferrier Crescent in Aberdeen.

There they stayed until May 1949, when Ella and her mother embarked on their journey. Ella was now 15 years old, her mother was 44. They boarded the train at the Aberdeen Train Station in the center of town, Ella’s grandmother Charlesina saw them off at the train station, as well as two of her father’s sisters, and perhaps a cousin who was her age.

They first headed to London for a few days, where they visited with the mission president, Selvoy J. Boyer, and also took time to go to the theater, to see “Annie Get Your Gun.” From London, they took the “boat train” to Southampton, England, where they would board their ocean liner, the SS Washington, on 13 May 1949 for the eight-day trans-Atlantic journey.

From an album Ella compiled

SS Washington

The SS Washington was a luxury liner of the United States Lines, traveling from Southampton to New York City. (Source) They traveled by either tourist or third class, and Ella’s impression was that most of the other passengers were also emigrants, including an Irish father and his three sons that shared the table with them in the dining hall, with whom they enjoyed socializing. On board the ship, there was plenty to keep them busy: movies, dancing at night (though they weren’t involved with that), and passengers could walk out on the deck to get some fresh air.

From an album Ella compiled

Their cabin had eight beds (bunk beds that were two deep) and a good-sized window - “It was roomy enough....It was very airy and bright.” The dining hall had long tables for eating, not super fancy but still nice. Ella describes the food onboard as being all-you-can-eat and “wonderful!” You have to remember, “We had come out of rationing. Everything was still a spare living. All the food that we had [on the ship]! And these Irish boys, oh my gosh, could they put the food away! We were just amazed!”

Early on 21 May 1949, their boat sailed into the New York Harbor. Ella and many of the other passengers woke up early that morning to greet the NYC skyline and wave at the Statue of Liberty as they came into port. Can you imagine the excitement?

NY Harbor, 1949

Ellis Island happened to be closed at that time, so the immigration officials came on board their ship to review their papers and clear them for entrance to the United States. They had to have a physical before emigrating, including a lung x-ray. When the immigration officials got to Ella, they took out her x-ray and paused and kept looking at it; “Scared us to death! What were they seeing? Finally they put it down and said, ‘Ok, you pass.’” Phew!

From the harbor in New York, they took a taxi to Grand Central Station, where they would board a train that would take them to Salt Lake City. They had several hours before the train disembarked, so they took advantage of the time to explore the station and gorge themselves on food, including milkshakes. They didn’t explore much beyond the station, however, for fear of getting lost and missing their train.

Ella returns to Grand Central Station - August 2005

Their total train journey took about two days and two nights, changing trains in Chicago. They landed in Salt Lake City, where  they were met by Ella’s father, and they spent a few days touring around and spending time with a cousin(3) who was also a member of the Church. Ella’s mother had discovered this relative through her genealogy research; they were related through the Bruce line in the Shetland Islands and they had converted to the church while living in (Liverpool?) England.

From an album Ella compiled

From Salt Lake City, they traveled by bus to their final destination in Arizona. Ella sure liked Salt Lake City and the few days they spent there, and often comments about how the scenery from that point on just got more and more brown and hot the closer they got toward Arizona. “By the time I got my feet on the ground, I had an instant nose bleed!” thanks to the combination of heat and altitude. Hah! It was now the end of May.

Ella’s sister, Ina, would make the long journey from Aberdeen to the United States by herself, also sailing on the SS Washington. She arrived in New York on 14 October 1949, five months after Ella and their mother. She was 21 years old.

I wonder what thoughts were going through George and Kate's minds all those years that they were preparing, during the voyage, and when they arrived in Arizona and their family was finally all reunited again. America didn’t necessarily offer them greener pastures, either literally (they settled in Arizona, after all) or figuratively: It’s no small task to start a new life from scratch.

Ella supposes that the transition might have been easier for her mother than her father: Her mother was an only child and her parents had already passed away, while her father was the oldest of 11 with his parents and many siblings still in Aberdeen.

For Ella, she doesn’t remember any bitterness or much sadness about their move (except for leaving her grandmother), but there was certainly some excitement to be reunited with her father again, and perhaps a bit of apprehension about the future also. The hardest part she says was while they were on the boat, pulling out of the harbor, thinking “This was it! This was it!” It was a little sad, especially because she wouldn’t see her “dear sweet grandmother” Charlesina again, but it was an adventure.

Ella’s parents did return to Scotland one last time, perhaps five or six years after they had emigrated, this time traveling by airplane rather than boat. Her father had a difficult time, however; he was so homesick for his homeland that he reluctantly returned America. “From what Mother said, he did not want to come back. ‘We have to go back. Our girls are there. That’s where we need to be.’ And so he did.”

Ella often comments about how she’s grateful that circumstances were such that she was 15 when they emigrated. Why? It meant that she was older and could remember her homeland and her heritage much more clearly, something that is so dear to her.

And of course Ralph is grateful that Ella’s family emigrated as well. He likes to joke that their 5 children were up in heaven saying, “Ok, Ella’s in Scotland, Ralph’s in Arizona…we’ve got to get these two together...” And indeed, looking back at their marvelous journey and all that’s transpired since then, we can see that there was certainly some heavenly help in guiding family members to where they needed to be.

From an album Ella compiled 

From an album Ella compiled

Notes:

1. The first LDS temple in Europe (and 9th operating LDS temple) was built in 1955, in Bern Switzerland. Source.
2. Their sponsor, John Freestone, was living in Queen Creek, AZ.
3. This cousin’s name was Louise Undine Loftus Anderson Clark. She was a second cousin of Ursula’s/Kate's, a descendant of Robert Bruce (1804-1852) and Mary Young (1795-1842) in Shetland. Undine lived in the avenues of Salt Lake City, near a cemetery.

Source: From phone conversations between Ella and KF, recorded on 6 July 2014. Also an additional conversation on 26 October 2014 (unrecorded, but notes taken).

From an album Ella compiled

From an album Ella compiled

Passenger List for Ursula/Kate and Ella, SS Washington, 1949

Passenger List for George, SS Mauretania, 1948

Passenger List for Ina, SS Washington, 1949