Charles, Sometime ago you published one of Willie story [sorry, I can't remember the no.]which referred to a McCrimmon being at Moy Hall around 1745. Here's a reference I've just found to a McCrimmon related to the Skye family being at Moy Hall at about the right time. http://www.niagara.com/~robbins/mcrimmon.htm#_Hlk444952523 Regards, Rosanne ----- Original Message ----- From: "Charles F. Larimer" <clarimer@prodigy.net> To: <SCT-INVERNESS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, April 14, 2000 9:41 PM Subject: [SCT-INV-L] Tales of Dunlichity #21 > Tales of Dunlichity - The Stories of Willie MacQueen > Copyright © 1997, William MacQueen, Charles F. Larimer > > To see pictures of Willie MacQueen visit my web site at > http://pages.prodigy.net/clarimer/ > > > The Beggar and the Beggar's Wife > > Now, I'll tell you another story - true story, perhaps not in every detail > or the way it was said, but it's the truth. > > There were hawkers that used to come around this part. There was a large > family of them. I'm talking about the early 1920s. We remember them quite > well. Chrissie, my wife and I remember them quite well. And, they used to > come here and there and go around begging and the man himself, he begged for > himself. He wasn't bad for begging. But, he would be asking "tobacco" of > anybody. > > And now he had camped along the roadside there on this special occasion. > And, there was a man coming along the road in the morning and he knew that > beggar was out. And, he knew he would be asking for a bit of tobacco. And, > sure enough when the man came up to him, he asked him for a bit of tobacco. > "Oh" said the man "the very thing I was going to ask you for. I hadn't a > smoke today" which was the truth, of course. "Oh" said the beggar, "You > should never feel like that." And, he pulled a tin out of his pocket and > there were about 12 pieces in it, that his family and wife and him must have > been mooching - begging around the strath in previous days. And, there the > beggar was with plenty of tobacco and looking for more! > > Now, I think it was the next day to my grand aunt, where my son is now, the > beggar woman called there to peddle her wares. And, my grand aunt - Mary > Smith was her name - she was busy baking girdle scones. Remember the girdle > scones? Maybe you never saw them in America, but those used to be very > good. > > And, the beggar woman opened the door and walked in. There wasn't such a > thing as knocking or ringing the bell, there were no bells anyway. And, she > came in and when she saw the girdle scones she said, "Oh, what would my > family give to get a scone like that for the bairns (children)." > > So my grand aunt wrapped half a dozen scones in a piece of paper and handed > it to the beggar woman. But, of course she was a real beggar. She had a > little pail, a flaggon* she called it and "I wonder what about some milk for > the flaggon because the bairns [children] have nothing. And, the bairns > were off mooching somewhere else you see. > > Oh, the beggar woman gets that, then she wanted a little meal - oatmeal. > And then she gets that and then she wanted a few salt herring to spare. She > was very pleased to get that. And then, she wanted a few potatoes. And > then the beggar woman she asked if she had a bit salt meat in the barrel, > which used to be a common thing in the Highland crofts. So, there was no > end to her asking. > > And of course, whenever she was done of asking, then she tried to sell > something out of the basket she had. It could be needles or pins or thread > or dishes, bowls or cups... And of course, I should have told you that the > bairns were out looking in any dumps to see if they could get old syrup > tins, and the beggar woman's husband Angie, he was a kind of a tinsmith and > he used to put handles on them and go back around selling them to the people > for pennies, you know? But of course, when Woolworth stores came to > Inverness that finished all that trade. > > But, back to the story - and, then the beggar woman was wanting, wanting, > wanting and she said, "Oh, I was wanting to get a sheaf for my horse - haven > 't a thing for the horse." > > "Oh," my aunt said, "you see, my brothers outside." She was keeping house > to two brothers, you see. She was a spinster. Old in years. So, the tinker > was just outside the door and back in she comes. And she says, "Oh, I > wonder would your brothers manage to give me a bit of tobacco for the man. > He didn't have a smoke today!" > > But of course, my grand aunt knew the story from yesterday. And, my grand > aunt lost her temper and she said to her, "What else are you going to be > asking? The more you get, the more you want." > > And my grand aunt said, and to the bargain. "I see you're expecting another > bairn [child]." "Oh yes," said the beggar's wife. "I am indeed, but we > have to fill our bellies with something." > > > *A flaggon was a little tin pail that kept 1-2 pints liquid. > > ========= > > Charlie Fraser Larimer > clarimer@prodigy.net > > > >