on Thursday, December 23, 1999 11:26 PM Jackie Middleton <jackiemiddleton@home.com> wrote to: <ORKNEY-L@rootsweb.com> Subject: [ORKNEY] Penicuik?? > An uncle just sent me some old photographs of my ancestors. > With one of them, he has written that a certain ancestor was a Police Sgt. > in Penicuik. > As far as I know, there isn't a Penicuik in the Orkneys.....it's near > Edinburgh. > Is there another Penicuik that I haven't yet found? I have no records as of > yet, of any > of my Scottish ancestors coming from Scotland proper.....so I'm a bit > confused. > Jackie Middleton > searching Dickson, Ward, Weir, Hourston, Clouston, Norquay in the Orkney > Islands Hi Jackie Back from a sea trip to Norway today to find your mail. This Penicuik here in Midlothian (or Edinburghshire!) is the only one in Scotland I've heard of. You don't say who your Orkney/Penicuik ancestor was. There haven't been many policemen based in this place so he shouldn't be hard to find. Like my ancestor he may have come from Orkney to work in Midlothian. Incidental and not-so-incidental links with the northern isles abound here. We have the Pentland Hills, Orkney has the Pentland Firth. Our just-closed local bookshop was run by Orcadians. The convener of the community council is a Shetlander. The local pub is the Crown (covenanters transported from Midlothian in the ship of that name were wrecked on Orkney at Tankerness). And a powerful historical connection is provided by the Sinclairs of Orkney who built their Rosslyn Chapel right here a couple of miles north of Penicuik. Below are some Penicuik links. None of them will help immediately with your ancestor but they will show something about this place: http://www.btinternet.com/~mmgene/genuki/mln/penicui.htm http://www2.scotweb.co.uk/arts/penicuik/lookingback.html (William Young and Marjorie Fidler both have minor Orkney connections) http://www.penicuik.demon.co.uk/penicuik/oldpenicuik/oldpen.html Good wishes Roger Kelly by St Mungo's well, Penicuik (administered by the Navy Board of Transportation 1811-1820) Scotland