Sunday Spouting

So I stuck a small and not very good Pizza in the oven, carefully fixed the wrong setting, and got on with the job.  The job was family history, and it was tricky.  Either Great, Great, Grandad was born in 1777 or he was born in Fargo during 1781, and I canny fond proof of which was is correct.  So I searched and no proof of birth exists it appears.  No record for 1777 but there is for 1781 but he is incorrect.  The tombstone proves the man was born in 1777 so Fargo is out.  But where is the man? 

Anyway, I got caught up in this and my 12 mins pizza managed 25 mins before I rescued it, and the place it quite warm already today.  I sit here pondering surrounded by black crumbs, I know not where they came from, and my few remaining teeth inform me the pizza was overdone, in case I had not known.

Not much was happening in 1777 it seems, just the British army, that is English Redcoats, being defeated several times by those rebellious American rebels.  This for King George III who spent time producing a fifth daughter, Sophia, and little else it seems.  Lord North was Prime Minister and The Lord Advocate was one Henry Dundas, who made money for himself whole also spending much needed cash in Edinburgh, a city that had suffered badly after the need less selling out by the corrupt Lords in 1707.  

His forefathers would be farmers, just imagine the ploughing, sowing, and hoping for good weather these men endured.  Few technical advantages, no NHS, lots of accidents, and working the land from birth.  The boys would grow up strong and they would soon learn how to live off the land.  Long summer nights when harvest came, dreadful cold winter ones picking turnips!  Horses to pull the plough, and much rejoicing when the harvest was in and the cash spread around.  Not that there would be much of that.  A life very different from today, no wonder many joined the army or navy to see the world.  

That nice Yaxley-Lennon chap has got himself arrested under the 'Terrorism Act.'  We will know doubt be soon informed of the actual charge, his fans are already crying about this and I suspect planning to demand money (with menaces) for him.  His large parade yesterday, around 20-3- thousand Brexiteers, Reform members, Nigel fans and shaven headed football yobs, paraded with many flags through London yesterday attempting to make us believe they represent the majority, certainly not the 'silent majority.'  Afterwards a few were arrested and it is possible drink may have been involved.

Tommy, to use his alias, lives well in Spain, uses an Irish passport, through his parents, and masquerades as a Luton boy.  A non racist one at that!  There are many questions to answer regarding his money, where does it come from is one, and does he pass it on to his wife to avoid responsibility?   

Will these questions be answered?  Will he do at least 2 years inside?  The Met Police are not involved here, I am unsure who arrested him but possibly the Terrorist polis.  Have they discovered something else we ought to know?

No, I have not watched it either...

Families....

 

So tired yesterday all I posted was this picture, then fell asleep!

Today I managed to reply to emails, quite quickly for me.  Including one from a woman on ancestry who is researching the family line.  Quite how she fits I fail to see however, family lines spread out and who knows how close a relative she might be?  I hope she is rich?  

There was a ship, the 'Lyon,' which sailed in 1640 to New England.  On board were a hundred or so seeking a new life, possibly for religious reasons, possibly for adventure.  One visitor from the USA informed me that from those who arrived all those years ago there were now 3 million descendants.   

This is worrying, as my fathers line tended to have several children each, they probably went off breeding happily around the world, and here may be 3 or more million of us lot being miserable old goats in all parts of the world!  

I was wondering if those long gone family were like us?  Did they have the same inherited attitudes?  Did they use the same terms we use today, or had their experiences, running or working on farms, created the attitudes and outlook that came down to us?  Grandfather was a drunk, my father went the opposite way because of this, but what were they like previous to that?  Great Grandfather took a pub in a period of agricultural downturn, though he kept 40 acres nearby.  You cannot run a pub and be a drunk, even if your daughters do most of the work.  Women have a nasty tendency to say what they think...

If we met our forefathers and mothers would we recognise ourselves in them by the way they spoke, the mannerisms, their looks?  I have mentioned previously the football team of 16 years old from 1896, I recognised three of them as young men following the Heart of Midlothian in the 60s.  Clearly they were the grandchildren, would we recognise out grandfathers in similar fashion, if indeed we had photographs of them?  

I am just imagining several generations of my family on my fathers side in one room, all complaining about something, all moaning and all being 'right!'  Maybe it would be good, maybe it would be tiring!

I give thanks that the massive Microsoft outage has missed this house, though I know not why.  The NHS, airports, airlines, and big business are grounded, while many individuals have the 'Blue screen of death!'  It is many years since I saw that, it was once common, and I am glad to have avoided this.

How can Microsoft have such an outage?  How can so many suffer this way at one time?  Surely there was some system to limit exposure to outages?  We all know their wonderful machines work well until they don't, and while accepting the complexity of the inner workings it remains clear that some 14 year old was not doing his job today.

I have said for a long time there is no need to fear bombs.  Putin makes a big mistake dropping bombs, all he has to do is close down the electricity power stations, block all the Microsoft workings and victory is assured.  Without electric nothing happens, without computers nothing happens.  And on top of that there is no backup on card to overcome this.  Rail travel systems are down, carboard tickets would still work mind.  I laugh when they say 'Buy tickets online,' but not if the system is down, not if the individuals laptop is dead, and not if the bank cannot pass the cash!  

More of this to come.

Ancestry and Nicola

Another month has raced by, I did not really notice it as it passed by so quickly.

Another day spent trawling other people's findings on Ancestry to enable me to speed up the search for my friends family.  All very interesting, but so much information is missing.  However, I am back to 1777 which, some of you will remember, was a good year with the English army being defeated by the American rebels.  No tea was hurt in the making of these battles.

This family had a hard life at all times.  Mostly agricultural labourers, with some losing several children before they were 10.  Not unusual for the time however, losing a 5 year old and a 7 year old six months later must have taken a toll.

So I slogged away at this, quite warm as the laundry was drying on the heaters, and gave up before my head exploded.  Almost immediately an e-mail arrived with info regarding the Great War memorial.  A wee bit confused so that will be the task tomorrow, my mind has stopped now.

Not a fan of the ex-First Minister, however, from what I have seen of the Covid Inquiry yesterday there was little attempt to uncover facts, just unmitigated assault on a woman they all fear.  Both Alex Salmon and Nicola Sturgeon are powerful politicians, and Westminster fears them.  They know either could enable Scotland to lose its colonial position, a move that would weaken England greatly, so all media was brought to bear on Nicola.  

The English fear and loathe her because of their fear.  I was dropped from one 'Daily Mail' column because people disliked my support for her stance.  Tee Hee, how they hate easily.  The imperialist English cannot cope with Scots putting them in their place, and you can bet there is much more of this to come soon.

    My router keeps failing so I may find myself in this position sometime soon...

 

Research

 

 

I foolishly agreed to search for a friend on Ancestry.  So, cheerfully I began the search, cheefrully I continued, until less cheerfully I could not find Joshua.  After much searching I gave up.  Yesterday I tried again, this time looking for the man's actual name!  I had asumed the name 'Josey' was short for 'Joshua' or some such but I was wrong.  They already had a 'Joshua' so called him Josey.  I suppose when you have 9 kids you lose interest in names?  

Anyway, I have been trapped here behind a laptop, finding info and screaming quietly as things went wrong, the laptop hit the wrong button, and things disappeared again.  Just like old times!

This morning I finally found a wife.  That is, she was not on the 1881 census, but as several kids were I knew she had to exist somewhere.  It appears she passed on between 1872 and 1881.  Possibly with the last child, but this I canny confirm.

Just think, 9 children all living plus 3 either miscarraige or still birth.

However, I had enough by this time, he can have what I have found and wait until next week for the rest.

I hope he realises his folks never married...

 

The Harbour Window, 1910 Stanhope Forbes

 

Family History

 

I wonder if this is true?

Do our forefathers live in our heritage?

I suspect there is some truth in this, but I see problems.  For a start, while I know much about my family's history, what if I knew nothing?  Imagine I had been dumped at birth, my dad often mumbled something about this, then I would not have the family influences upon me, how much heritage would I carry with me?  

Knowing my parents does mean I am influenced by what influenced them, both family and the world in which I lived.  My father was born when his father was 62, his mother dumped him within six years because of the drinking and this left a mark on dad.  So, in that sense his history leaves a mark on me, especially as dad was born before the Great War, and I after the second.  By the time I was a teenager the world he expected to find had changed, wealth was growing, housing, NHS, radio and now TVs existed, and in the year he died men landed on the moon.  Such a change in his lifetime, this clashed with my outlook as an adolescent.      

My mothers mother died in childbirth, how did this affect her?  Her father lost three wives this way!  Growing up in a poor mining family, the entire town was poor, they shared the hardships with others around them, did this make them better people?  Six long months of the General Strike pulled people together in mining areas, did this influence her outlook?

Remembering how miners were 'enslaved' from 1609 until 1799, and the situation did not improve much after this for many years, how did that influence me, a lazy, well fed, insolent brat?  Not much it appears.  It was years before I understood what the family's had gone through, years before I realised how much they gave for me and others.  Years before I began to realise just how lucky I was to have this family and not one of the others around me. 

Clearly our immediate family influenced our outlook, but is this because the society around them influenced them more?  Society was different one hundred years ago, not always better.  The society in which one side worked down dangerous mines, merely a big hole in the ground, or farmed large areas of land during economic ups and downs, must have influenced their outlook.  Miners pull together, farmers are on their own.

How much of that gave my fathers side a reputation for decency and constant grumbling?  The mothers side always good honest thoughtful, but no fools, people.  Are the generations far from me better because of their forefathers, and can we see influences in them today I wonder?

Anyway, that is today's homework.  I will mark your answers tomorrow.

Family History, Berwick on Tweed

I finally finished the family History printing and sorting.  This was to take a bit longer than intended, as my great niece had manged to insert a child into the wrong spot.  It was as I attempted to work out how a man could be Baptising his child in 1815, when he himself had only been born in 1808 that I realised something was amiss.  Young Mary was sent to her actual father and was probably the better for this.

So I sent off what I thought relevant to the lass somewhere in Canada.  Hopefully she is able to make the journey to Edinburgh and Berwick.  I would like to go back to both places sometime, but not at the moment.  

It is somewhat strange to look at streets 150 years after the forefathers have lived there.  Outwardly much remains the same, yet the conditions were very different.  Gas lighting in the streets, if any that is.  Oil lamps in homes, horses and carts, Cows, pigs, sheep and other farmers goods in the street on market day.  Fancy outfits, all revealing class, especially from the upwardly mobile.  No NHS, leave school at 13, or earlier if no one looking, no radio, tv, yet there was an abundance of newspapers and magazines readily available.  Some like to think this was a better time, unless you had TB or rickets I suppose.

This little intrusion does make me want to look again and check all the facts that we know.  However, as most were farmers in the borders this means I must pay more to the Scotland People site to seek info.  Quite why they could not do a Scotland Ancestry instead of a separate organisation I know not, but I smell money here.

However, here is a short tour of Berwick on Tweed.

Barbers For Shearing

In an effort to lose weight I decided to make a start today.  I had a haircut!  Early today I limped round to the Market Square and entered the Barbershop.  Careful praying before leaving was required, Tuesday is 'Old Men's Reduced Price Day,' and therefore I wished to be first!  I entered a quiet shop. two chairs filled, and almost finished, an aged woman looked through aged magazines as she awaited her aged man, the quiet chatter continued as I slid into the seat and waited.

Shortly afterwards the far chair emptied, I was motioned forward, telling the woman, who done me last time, to finish the coffee she had been trying to scoop down.  She refused as by now it was cold anyway, indicating non stop work since opening. 

The chat was amiable, the hair removed in similar fashion to shearing sheep.  The machine bussed, the hair flew, large dollops falling to the ground as she spoke.  Eventually the job was complete, I felt a stone lighter, I saw my ears once again, and at my feet was sufficient wool to knit a pullover.  

I paid my £10, plus £3 more as a tip for more coffee, and almost skipped out the door past the five men now awaiting removal of the grey stuff.  I was happy, and the only dull note was Easter, when asked I mentioned I did nothing but attend church and the response was, er, hesitant.  A good shop however, but interesting.  Two women on today, clipping as hard as they can, though with many of the old boys awaiting there is plenty of room in the middle of the grey hair!

Back home I considered the jobs awaiting.

I ignored them.

So, back to ancient history.

This American lass wants info on the family line.  I have lost much of it and must scramble through what is left and what I have improved upon.  I am amazed at what I have recovered, and amazed at how hard all this is now.  Once it was fun, now it is difficult.  Especially as I am not back into the 1700s and unsure if these are the correct men.  Ho hum.

My father was born in Edinburgh, his father just across the border near Berwick.  The family were farmers, tenant farmers I assume, as they kept moving around.  It was probably the agricultural/economic downturn that drove my great grandfather into Berwick.  Here he ran a pub, 'The Black Swan' opposite the market place.  He also farmed 40 acres nearby.  This makes sense, his girls mostly ran the pub, one was deaf and dumb but worked there for many years, he could manage the small acreage, he had 175 acres before this, and my grandfather worked there also for a while as far as I can tell.  

Great grandfathers father also farmed, back in the 1700s.  How hard was this work?  His father also farmed, but it is dubious which man was his father, not because of 'hank-pankie' but the line offers one or two suggestions.  A lot of the lines include the name 'Robert.'  Father to son we see 'Robert,' and this name is found on all possible lines.  I am hoping this line goes back to the one called 'James!'

Now I am worn out by my mental efforts, it does not take much, and I seek rest and repose.  I may dream, as some can, of travel to far away places once visited, though the Scottish borders are not as warm as middle eastern places some have trudged about on.  I am lucky I can still make Tesco!

Spam History

My night out on Monday was a delightful one.  SPAM was a small meeting, the holidays meaning many are far off and only the 'leftovers' gathered for a cheap drink.  I say cheap, but £2:95 is a lot to one who is poor.  However, I worked my usual magic by turning up late.  This ensured they all had purchased their drinks so I only needed to buy my own.  

The chat returned to all the old favourite places, boring in many respects, but we managed to put the world to rights and agree happily with one another that we are right.  A little bit like a 'Daily Mail' comments section but actually right, as apposed to just biased.

Of course in the middle of this Doug decided he needed a drink and, as only five of us were gathered, offered to buy for all.  Naturally, having a half filled glass, I refused, but he insisted, so I was forced to accept a gift.  Tsk!  Such is life.

Doug and I then warmed to the Bishops motives, both agreeing in principle that something must be done.  At the moment we must await developments, which in the CoE means lots of carpets turned up, files lost, and meetings arranged.       

By now I decided to rise slowly from my seat and return the empty glasses, the barmaid asleep at the bar, and I did so the offer to buy fell from my willing lips.  Sadly however, the taxi arrives to take the old men home.  Being afraid of her indoors they all ran for home, sadly, saving me money.

That is the fourth time in a row I have got away with this...  

I received an email from a woman in the USA seeking advice on tracing the family tree.  According to the DNA results we undertook some time ago we hail from the same region (penury I suspect) and she was asking family questions.  Well, I sent her an immediate answer and promised to look into it.  This is the point where I remember I lost all the stuff  a while ago and did not replace it!  So, I have begun to trawl the links, not understanding half of them, and have missed half the day while doing so.  While it is unlikely we are directly related it is possible some distant cousin fled the land and sailed off into the west hoping for success.  I hope he found some.

Now my eyes hurt...

Grave Thoughts

Working my way down the new Twitter stream this morning it struck me how many people have died.  Now this is not new, people have been dying since people began, in case you did not notice, and sadly, one day we will join them.  It is a thing to be noticed that there are more dead than there are living in this world, and the number of the dead increases all the time.  

I was becoming more aware of this as people I once watched on TV or listened to on radio have departed.  At my age when musicians from the 'Punk' era are dying it makes me feel old, as they are still in their 60s.  Yet more and more people who became famous, or perhaps infamous, have departed and they are still doing this.  Singers, TV personalities, comedians, footballers, actors, troublemakers, strikers, politicians, good and bad, all pass on.

In my family only two of the original 6 remain, and I keep reminding my sister that she is much older than I. The aunts and uncles have long gone, friends, neighbours, those who make up my past have moved on.  The life I grew up into has long gone, and most people with it.  How strange.

Yet this is life as it has always been.

My mother lived until 94, all her friends went long before her.  Friends and family from her youth have long passed on, their sons and daughters also!  All that remained were memories and some fading photographs.  

Of course, not all we knew have been missed.  Many we saw regularly on TV or in the press ought to have benefited society by going sooner.  A great many harmed society in many ways, politicians, businessmen, celebrities, and spam merchants.  These are not missed by many.  

Others are missed, even if we knew them only from TV programmes, mews headlines, and goal scoring feats at the football.  Many a musician is missed today as there is no one to equal them now.  In the locale there are always people who benefit the area by doing those little jobs, such a 'Lollipop Lady,' escorting kids over busy roads, or by just keeping an eye on disabled or lonely folks.  These are irreplaceable.  

In our town, population around 40,000, each one has a story to tell.  Some well known faces, some well known to the constabulary.  Each known to someone.  How many have lived here since Neolithic times when a handful of people foraged in these then woods with stone implements to survive?  Since the town blossomed 2000 years ago many have walked the lanes, built houses, had lives and loves, fought wars, made babies, traded goods and services, and fought for better conditions.  Holy days were celebrated, as there were few other holidays, some were serfs, others made it big.  While most worked the fields there were others who travelled the world, usually in an army or a boat.  Many went to the new world, others were forced to Botany Bay!  Still other came for the work on offer and their descendants remain.  

When I worked in Maida Vale Hospital at night, I often wondered about the many who had gone before.  The doctors who had created the Neurological studies during the 19th century had left their pictures in the Board Room.  The nurses, passing doctors, porters and other staff were rarely shown this way.  Occasional names arose but many staff had worked for years in the building and at that time they were now forgotten.  Just like we will be in the days ahead.  

Depressing though this may appear it is not so.  This is life as it is.  We all go through it, some more easily than others, and the good news is the bad days that surround us, which are not as bad as they have been or could be for us, will end one day.  The rogues who hamper us will meet their end, the situations that are difficult will soon leave us, and possibly we will see better days yet.

I confess, if it was not for Jesus it could be a depressing time for me.  However, I look forward to better days, and life is already improving as the days indeed are getting longer.  Nothing better than rising with the sun shining in the kitchen window, and the rush hour beginning with the setting sun brightening the skies outside my window.

Boris, Eton Boys, and Family!

Thirty years of schoolboys attempting to outdo one another and get the top job have ended up with the entire world in a mess.  One man can make a difference for good or evil in this world, two Eton schoolboys jealousy of one another have given us Brexit!
For thirty years we have had lies spewed out of Brussels by Johnson and his cronies, known lies told not to benefit the people but to gain advantage for themselves.  The damage he and his friends in the right wing media have wrought might never be corrected.
Today we have a parliament led by Johnson and Rees-Mogg, under the tutelage of Dominic Cummings, which cares nothing for the damage to the nation, nothing for the hurt caused to people and are happily enjoying those benefits only people in Hedge Funds understand. 
Bojo has so far lost about 23 MPs, his brother and Three major votes all within a handful of days, a record that might never be broken again, unless he does something worse.  So he has run of to Aberdeen, a Brexit laced area.  The fishermen foolishly thought, like the farmers, that leaving the EU would benefit them, as if Boris understood fishermen?  Does he know they still exist?  He might find some support, as long as he does not walk the streets, but it will be lost if he does not keep his mouth shut.
Well done the SNP, holding back the desire for a General Election sufficiently to stem Boris.  Working with the opposition to ensure an election when it suits them is a great idea.   There are 13 Tory seat at the moment, most will be lost in an election, along with that East Dunbartonshire one of the lib-dem leader Swinson.  She will be out also.  It might be only Murray for Labour in Edinburgh, a Lib-Dem in the Shetlands and a Tory in the south west that are left if the SNP handle this right.  The only downside to the SNP in my view is Sturgeon, she of the chip-on-the-shoulder girly attitudes.  She has to go for Scotland to prosper. 

The family history has kept me amused these past few days.  I ought to have been fixing the broken things, painting the bedroom and sorting those other cupboards but I accidentally  got hooked on my grandfathers first family.  I decided to write them up individually thus giving me a better idea of each of them and this was an interesting experience. 
At 15 he is in Edinburgh studying rail mechanics intent on being a driver.  
At 21 he is working on the farm and marrying a woman.
The woman he marries has mental problems.  

Not long after the first child he is placing this ad in the local paper, there is trouble afoot.
So to Edinburgh in 1880 a few children later so something must be working.
He drives trains now, lucky man!
But one daughter, now 13, lives far away in Newcastle, possibly to avoid mum. 
Near centuries end tragedy strikes twice and brings a response.
1891 Mary is born, 1892 Mary dies of Bronchial Pneumonia.
!898 eldest son, 24, is found semi-conscious after taking a 'large dose' of Laudanum, the usual Victorian pain killer.  But was he a habitual user?  l ask because he is now with another aunt in Berwick, a sister also, was he in their care?
The next day he dies.  A post mortem claims a blood clot in heart is the cause. 
By 1901 mother has gone, she is in the Lunatic Asylum at Dundee, one of the best in it's day.  
Family rumour of poison might be true.     
1904: Sister in Newcastle marries the lodger.  In Dundee mother passes away.
We are running out of family.
Two years later father marries again thus making widow Christina my grandmother.
Three children arrive.  
Two sisters join brother who has been working in Birkenhead.
1910 one marries an insurance clerk and runs of to Edinburgh, Liberton no less. 
1911 Granddad has left the home, Grandmum and three kids, plus three from previous marriage remain in Dalry. 

Granddad is in the workhouse! 
Queensberry House before and during the Great War was the Workhouse!  What a size! There must have been a fair few old folks in there.  Today it has been spruced up and serves as offices for the Scottish Parliament just behind it.  
One sister remains in Birkenhead until brother emigrates to Canada then returns to Edinburgh (I think).

1914: Brother in Canada joins Canadian army.
1916: Brother in Canadian army dies at Ypres.  Remembered on Menin Gate.
1917: Father dies from apoplexy at Queensberry Hoose.
1922: Sister married to Swede dies aged 43 leaving him three teenagers.  
1928: Insurance accountant loses his wife to cancer.  
Not many left!
1933: Insurance man, doing nicely thank you, up in Liberton, marries eldest sister.
1936: William, the brother who went to sea, served through the Great War on sloops in the Mediterranean, based in Malta, dies.  He is reported as 'presumed drowned,' while serving on an untraceable ship (merchant navy).  
1943: Insurance man dies.
Is eldest sister alone?  Is there anyone left?
She dies while living in comfortable surroundings in Ayr during 1954.
No wonder my lot are a bit strange....

One thing that conjecture brings is the image of the eldest sister.  My aunt and one sister were brought to mind as I wondered about her.  I got the impression of the elder sister who has to keep things going while the family dither. The other girls appear normal as does William the sailor who never married, as sailors who served abroad for three or so years at a time never did.  So many parts of my family can be seen in my mind here.  However the mother appears to have given one or two problems to the family.  Maybe that is who they moved so often, though that was not uncommon with a growing family.  If only we knew more.

 

Historical Music for my Family

Life has been so trying recently.
The painting, the repairs, the weather, the knees aching, all have been irking me.
So for two days I did nothing.
This has not helped in any way but I am enjoying it anyway.
Actually I did catch up on family research.  An American, one of the more sensible ones, contacted me regarding an email from 8 years ago. 
He moves at my speed.
Looking into my records I realised they were in a mess and have had to go through what little I have found and put it into some order.  This has been effective as Robert had disappeared and I could not find any details about him.  However I now know he died in 1898 and have sent off for the birth certificate (£24) to discover why he died at 24.  It was rumoured he took poison and this is likely.  His mother (my grandfathers first wife) ended up in a lunatic asylum, this guy apparently died by suicide and by the time she was 13 a sister of his was living in Whitley Bay with an aunt. 
Something was not right in the house.
No wonder granddad took to drink!
The girl in Whitley Bay eventually married well, her sister in Edinburgh did also.  Both died early from disease I think and the Edinburgh one was replaced by the elder sister.  Keep it in the family I say.
One brother joined the Royal Navy and so some service during the Great War, not much I reckon.  Another had moved to Canada just in time to enlist in 1915 and do the decent thing and get shot at Ypres in 1916.  Now I need to know why Robert died! 
Robert is a problem name as almost everyone with our surname made use of it, from father to son and on, brother, cousin, uncle all of them had Robert somewhere and there were many with that name in the borders!  There are many false leads to chase here. However that took up much of my time and didn't involve walking anywhere.  Today I have completed that part of the task and now need to check those one step backward, being 'backward' was an accusation often offered to my family, notably myself for some reason.

Tone Deaf

Remarkably it is 50 years since the great music festival of Woodstock! 
Quite how those years have passed without me noticing is worrying. 
Sadly we never made it to the USA for the event, we could not get time off and on £8 a week the travelling costs were beyond us.  However we made it to the 'Caley' cinema in Lothian Road for the three hour film off the event which we enjoyed and I still remember of the acts.
Proper music, off its time and representative of a movement that was intended to change the world for the better.  The 'establishment' did not like nor understand it however, it certainly did not suit the neat shirt and tie, short haired US image that so many had foisted on them, and still do in places. But it spoke to the youth of the world and still does.
Of course it was based on a lie.
'Love one another' but it forgot about human nature.  Many of the acts were not loving to one another, human nature was seen all around even if the majority attempted to get along with one another you can bet there were hurt feelings abounding.  Only Jesus can change us and while 'Woodstock' represented a movement of a sort it failed because of our natures.
The music was good, it still is, while today's shallow computer made ballads fronted by women who all look the same does not make any attempt to improve the world in any way.  There was a desire for change, today's music only appears to reflect emptiness or selfishness.  Maybe I am wrong.

Research

With a strange weariness hanging over me, the weather offering frozen ground in the morning and no desperate requirement of leaving the house this meant I needed something to occupy my mind that did not require much thought, normal business as it were 
So I poked my freezing fingers into the laptop and once again returned to may family history which has lain dormant for a while.  Much of this has been done and questions asked and answered but I decided to check it out and clean things up.  
When I say family history I refer not to my family but my grandfathers first family, he remarried when a widow and I descend from the second wife not the first.  This point is important as the first wife had problems and there may have been a combination of this that led to her ending up in Dundee Lunatic asylum!  
With feet pressed against the radiator I dug out what had been found, tidied the paperwork and then somewhat foolishly decided to print off what I had found.  Grandfather and his wife had seven children in 18 years, four girls and three boys.  In spite of the age only one child died, Mary expired from pneumonia aged one year and two day in 1902.  In sorting things out I placed the printed matter in individual plastic files, all very neat, however I forgot how long it would take to print things off.  There were birth details, census's, death notices and a summary page along with individual items from each.  It also required chasing about on ancestry and the Scotland's people site going from one to another before not always finding what I was looking for.  However it did cross my mind that rather than struggle through my life with the rubbish jobs that once fed me doing something like this was more interesting and I wish I had found a way in years ago. 
It is interesting what can be found.  The British Newspaper Archive is a great help with newspapers from long ago.  This can be frustrating however when the paper you want is there but not the year you need to search!  Umpteen millions of pages but not all are as yet online.  However I did find an explanation regarding the tale of two sisters who married the same man.  One parried this insurance accountant in 1904, she died however in 1928 and then in 1933, a suitable expanse of time, her sister moved in.  This was helped by copies of the death notices in the 'Scotsman' the paper men of his ilk would have been reading at the time.  His wealth was clear as he lived up Liberton Brae, expensive middle class then as now.  Thanks to Google Maps I could also find the houses they lived in!  How strange to be excited finding info about someone I never met!  The other sister had already married well.  The behaviour of the mother might be involved here as this one lived in Newcastle and not with the family.  This before she was 13 at that.  
Another interesting insight into the mother was that two years after his marriage granddad places an ad in the local paper telling the world he is not responsible for her debts!  Something was amiss.
I got so involved in all this I ran out of black ink and had to venture out to Tesco to pay for more, £18 a go!  
The brothers were easier to sort out, at least two of them were.  One spent time in Birkenhead where his eldest sister loved with him for a while, then he is found in the 'Manitoba Rifles' fighting for the Canadian Army, aged 35, and disappearing into the chalk on the 5th July 1916.  I must look them up sometime.  William however was in the RNVR and spent the war on small 'sloops' supporting the war effort.  The details on his discharge papers are hard to decipher without a knowledge of Naval terms but he appears to have done all right.  He died in a house in East London in 1936, his probate went to his sister.
Robert however adds mystery to this.  He is 16 and a drapers assistant while at home in Edinburgh but does not appear anywhere again.  I canny find a death certificate, (there are hundreds with his name and it appears the family always had a Robert somewhere) he is not on a census, and has disappeared.  Add to this my aged aunt one time mentioned a tale of that family concerning a son taking poison and then another doing the same which makes me wonder.  In 1891 they are all at home, dad working as a steam engine driver, but in 1901 he is elsewhere along with two sisters and one son.  He remains married and one son is England but where are the rest and why is the engine driver now a general labourer at 55?  Mary has died, has son killed himself, has mother gone over the top as she is now in the lunatic asylum, and yet no info anywhere regarding this.  I need to keep digging.
That is how I have spent two cold days, filling my head with such things, all meaning little in the end but I find it interesting and it keeps me off the streets.  

 

Rain

Today was the day for travelling somewhere, naturally thunder & lightning, stair rod like rain and a sudden desire not to travel came upon me.  I had intended to be by the estuary, you know the place where wind sweeps across chasing the birds and felling the trees on days like this, and I am somewhat happy to be here inside this smelly dump.  This signifies the good days are over after all, yesterday's near 30% will not return until next year thanks to global warming.  

Instead I intended to continue searching for dead family members but had foolishly turned off the laptop.  Updates were downloaded and when I attempted to start the machine it took almost an hour updating the Win 10!
I was not amused!  
Looking at the finished product I find they have added things (sorry apps) I do not need, never use, and don't want, while I looked through the short video telling me how great Cortana is, I however do not use it and don't see a need for it.  Just remove it and allow me more space thanks a bunch!  
The wallpaper picture has disappeared, the screen size changed, but as yet few other things have been lost as far as I can see.  No doubt these will show up shortly.  Grrrrrrr!

Now while the rain lashes against the window, shaking the dodgy frame, and the sound of cars splashing their way far too fast in the conditions I return to seeking the lost sheep of the family.  If I were to really seek the lost sheep and find them there are some who will remain unfound, indeed one or two up north might join them!  No names...

Debts, Family History and Sunshine

It has been a busy and enjoyable week for the most part, except for things that did not bring joy.  The unexpected demand for Council Tax that I thought had been dealt with turned up today and brought me great joy indeed.  How enjoyable however is the ability to pay such things via the web rather than walking into the office or posting a cheque, though I do that for other debts.  So much easier to pay bills this way and think you have money to spare until you count the money in your pocket.  I am now emptying the cider jar of loose copper coins just in case....

Coming home from the museum on Tuesday I fell into a deep sleep, I usually do, but later, before the seven nil thrashing Celtic took from Barcelona (no sniggering at the back) I noted a name of one of my grandfathers first sons. He married twice and we descend from his second attempt (which failed) and I have been tracing the first family slowly for some time.  For some reason a name arose and when I had the time (Wednesday) I sat down and traced one lost sheep.  I also found Granddad's 1906 marriage record where the phrase 'met through drink' is not mentioned.  The son however was traceable in some ways, he had joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and was enlisted on a Minesweeper HMS 'Azalea' which served in several places including the Mediterranean.  He survived the war but died in London late 1936.  His sister confirmed his body but as he was only 49 I begin to wonder why he died and why I cannot find his death record.  His probate is noted but no mention of money appears.  My aunt mentioned a son taking cyanide and so did the other she said, but memory plays tricks and she may not have been revealing the truth, she was of that nature regarding bad things.  The wife appears in Dundee Lunatic Asylum and possibly there was something in the family, however time at sea, with only one recorded incident when the ship was damaged by a mine is noted, but maybe that had a leftover with him?  Several more to investigate, though little Mary last born was soon to pass on at less than a year, sisters to investigate and a brother or two to research.  All good fun and games when you can discover something innit?

   
After spending two days sitting inside seeking dead people I daundered out on a long walk - for me - and spent some time in the very hot sunshine.  I even wore those tinted glasses that made made several young women mistake me for a Hollywood star or James Bond.  However tiring of their attentions I continued on my way clearing the spiders webs from my mind and taking in what is probably the last real sun we will see.  The rain is here in places tonight, thunder & lightning with possibly more tomorrow.  Dawn arriving as it did on Tuesday (see top picture) will be a thing of the past, dark clouds will hide the round yellow thing once again.  Then by Monday ice flows will be seen in the local rivers, frostbite will be my friend and a Normal October will inform us of its arrival.   The joy continues.