I thought I'd throw out an account of the emigration of William MACPHAIL, brother of my wife's G-G-Grandfather. William was born in Nairn in 1800 and attended Kings College in Aberdeen. He became a schoolteacher in the Highlands, his chosen vocation. While at Kingussie, in Inverness-shire, he wrote a report to the government on the conditions in his school: "The very richest here, if there are any moe so than others, are so far from being able to pay fees, that it is no uncommon thing for their children to shun school because their parents cannot purchase the necessary school books; and the parents, in this situation, offer me part of their subsistence in barter for the book, though that subsistence is often far too scanty for themselves ..." In 1832, William and his wife Mary Macpherson left Fort William for Canada. Quoting from Sir Andrew Macphail's, "The Master's Wife," "the voyage lasted nine weeks. Ship fever broke out. The captain ran for Prince Edward Island, where he knew the Earl of Selkirk had established settlements. A storm arose. The passengers were under closed hatches. Panic broke out. The captain was in despair. Mary [Macpherson Macphail], the grandmother, began sining the 46th psalm, and all sang with her: God is our refuge and strength ... We will not be afraid ... Though waters roaring make ... When Highlanders sing psalms their mood is governed by the psalm they sing, and they can find a psalm to fit every mood. The panic was allayed ... But the storm increased. The ship was demasted, and finally cast herself away on the north shore of Nova Scotia close to the mouth of the River John. The passengers and crew escaped with their lives only ... The castaways were kindly cared for by some American fishermen who were drying their nets ... [William] brough ashore his pocket copy of "Horace" ... [and] when the tide fell and the wind went down, [also found] were a Gaelic bible and a spinning wheel." Cheers, Joe Broom