Hello all- A personal note to add to Muff's great summary & Margaret's comment about Gaelic traditions " for the sake of tourism": Five yrs ago on my 1st visit to Orkney, the stronghold of the Norse/Vikings for centuries before the Orkney Islands became a marriage dowry, I was wearing a Cunningham tartan tie-my mum's family. On the ferry from Scrabster to Stromness several Orcadians commented jokingly to me that I'd better be careful since there was "none of that tartan foolishness in Orkney." And no tartans (nor gaelic) proved to be the case...until I visited again in 2002 and lo & behold what do I see in just about every craftshop in Kirkwall but bolts of "the official Orkney tartan"- hot off the looms for the cruiseship tourists who come to Scotland expecting to see tartans everywhere. The Orkney tourist board decided it was better to switch than fight... The point has been made that we of Scottish descent are more than just 1 strain of genes whether Scotti or Welsh or Anglo Saxon or Norse- most dog trainers will tell you the "Heinz 57" breeds are usually smarter. cheers Thompson in Prince Edward Island, Canada (where boatloads of Scots started arriving in 1770) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Margaret Cameron" <margaret077@sympatico.ca> To: <DUMFRIES-GALLOWAY-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, November 15, 2004 9:59 AM Subject: [D-G LIST] J Davidson/Passport > If Scotland wanted to become a 'country' again, wouldn't it be simpler for > a country to have its own passport, but, then, of course, noting the fact > that the majority of highland families departed the country known as > Scotland centuries ago, and now Scotland is really just a part of that > countrly named England...without any Gaelic traditions except for the sake > of tourism...for gullible descendants of highland origin...etc. > > > ==== DUMFRIES-GALLOWAY Mailing List ==== > FIND YOUR ANCESTORS > http://www.directcon.net/tomas/Ancestry/index.html/ >

When I told my cousin about the Graham's he ran to the computer to do a Google search for the Graham tartan etc. How could I tell him? He was just so excited; it took him away from his dreary day to day problems, and gave him something nice to think about. He has even made a shield thingy (yes I know, and I'm not even blond!) that shows his heritage...well, that's what it said on the website, so it must be true!! Just gladhe can't afford to send off for anything 'official'! lol Helen ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dutch Thompson" <dutchink@isn.net> To: <DUMFRIES-GALLOWAY-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, November 15, 2004 6:52 PM Subject: Re: [D-G LIST] J Davidson/Passport > Hello all- > A personal note to add to Muff's great summary & Margaret's comment > about Gaelic traditions " for the sake of tourism": > Five yrs ago on my 1st visit to Orkney, the stronghold of the > Norse/Vikings > for centuries before the Orkney Islands became a marriage dowry, I was > wearing a Cunningham tartan tie-my mum's family. On the ferry from > Scrabster > to Stromness several Orcadians commented jokingly to me that I'd better be > careful since there was "none of that tartan foolishness in Orkney." > And no tartans (nor gaelic) proved to be the case...until I visited again > in > 2002 and lo & behold what do I see in just about every craftshop in > Kirkwall > but bolts of "the official Orkney tartan"- hot off the looms for the > cruiseship tourists who come to Scotland expecting to see tartans > everywhere. > The Orkney tourist board decided it was better to switch than fight... > > The point has been made that we of Scottish descent are more than just 1 > strain of genes whether Scotti or Welsh or Anglo Saxon or Norse- most dog > trainers will tell you the "Heinz 57" breeds are usually smarter. > > cheers Thompson in Prince Edward Island, Canada > (where boatloads of Scots started arriving in 1770) > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Margaret Cameron" <margaret077@sympatico.ca> > To: <DUMFRIES-GALLOWAY-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Monday, November 15, 2004 9:59 AM > Subject: [D-G LIST] J Davidson/Passport > > >> If Scotland wanted to become a 'country' again, wouldn't it be simpler >> for >> a country to have its own passport, but, then, of course, noting the fact >> that the majority of highland families departed the country known as >> Scotland centuries ago, and now Scotland is really just a part of that >> countrly named England...without any Gaelic traditions except for the >> sake >> of tourism...for gullible descendants of highland origin...etc. >> >> >> ==== DUMFRIES-GALLOWAY Mailing List ==== >> FIND YOUR ANCESTORS >> http://www.directcon.net/tomas/Ancestry/index.html/ >> > > > ==== DUMFRIES-GALLOWAY Mailing List ==== > ********************************** > YOU HAVE ENTERED A FLAME FREE ZONE > ********************************** > >