Dear List, A few months ago I mentioned to the list that I had come across an excellent source for Scottish history books, namely the Tuckwell Press near Edinburgh. I mentioned that I was thinking of getting the Book "Black Douglases" and, at some stage, "Scotland and the Low Countries 1124-1994", in order to explore the Flemish connection to Scotland and Dumfries & Galloway. Well, I have now purchased "Black Douglases" (my Christmas present to myself ;-))and am working my way through it, as the Douglases' seat of power was Threave Castle near Castle Douglas, so the book has a lot of background information about the region and the families in it in medieval times. The reason I mention this is because you may also want to take advantage of what I discovered when I finally went to order the book: They have a revamped website (www.tuckwellpress.co.uk), you can now order online, and: they deliver anywhere in the world free of charge, which those of you like me living outside the UK can probably also appreciate. The book took exactly a week to reach me in Germany (obviously from a separate warehousing company), but before I ordered, I filled out the online form to request a printed catalogue. Talk about fast - I did that very late Wednesday evening, so they probably didn't see it till Thursday, and the postman delivered it here in a village in Germany a day after that, on Friday morning at 9 a.m.! I have no connection with the company, but that really impressed me, and I expect to return to their site when I've finished the first book! Hope you are all enjoying the pre-Christmas period, and it's not as cold where you are as it is here (easterly wind from Siberia)!! Paul ************************************************************** Robert Kiyosaki (author of the Rich Dad Poor Dad books) finds: "Even if you win the rat race, your're still a rat." Own your own online business and generate cash flow while you do something else. See "Opportunity" at: http://tcc.mybigplanetusa.com or http://tcc.mypharmanexusa.com. Or if you just want to go Christmas shopping, take a look at www.tcc.mynuskin.com - worldwide! (Shipping is free!!) *** Look better Feel better Live better***

Hi Paul and others researching Kirkcudbright and surroundings. I have not read the "Black Douglasses that you mentioned but I just finished the "Scotland and Low Counties 1124-1994". For anyone researching the derivation of Scottish names and other information, I would highly recommend reading this book. I obtained it for a 2 week period free from the county Library, they had to borrow it from a University as they did not have it in stock. But it is a wealth of information about things Scottish and the fact that many Scottish Regiments served with William of Orange in the war with France, then returned to Scotland with Flemish wives and in some cases emigrants from Flanders. Apparently, some of Scottish names and words came from Flemish. I found it very interesting. Stuart Livingstone Brown - Cornwallis Nova Scotia - Canada Searching for Donabies (and other spellings), Houstons, Browns, Maitlands and Livingstones.