This posting is in response to a request for information on JOHN MACKAY of Melness. "Captain KENNETH MACKAY was in the prime of life. He was the lineal descendant of Col. ENEAS MACKAY, second son of DONALD, First LORD REAY, and grandson of the redoubted WILLIAM of Melness. He was, therefore – failing the present family of Reay, descendants of the laird of Skibo, and after the Holland MACKAYS, descendants of General MACKAY, second son of JOHN, second LORD REAY – the next heir to the titles and estate of Reay. His father, JOHN MACKAY of Melness, married ESTHER, daughter and heiress of KENNETH SUTHERLAND of Meikle-Torboll, in Strathfleet, parish of Dornoch, a small property which for generations was possessed by a family of the name of SUTHERLAND, cadets of the noble family of DUFFUS, whose ruined castle at Skelbo we had passed on our way from the Little Ferry to Embo. Capt. MACKAY's father, I believe, sold the property, and the family was, at his death, reduced to the greatest extremities. His eldest son, Kenneth, born in 1756, entered the army, where he never rose higher than the rank of lieutenant, and was under the necessity of retiring on half-pay, at his father's death, in order to take charge of his affairs. And never, indeed, it is probable, were affairs so involved more judiciously managed, or more successfully retrieved. With only his lieutenant's half-pay, the landless heir of Meikle-Torboll took his quondam property as a farm at a moderate rent, and at a time when agriculture was but little understood, and its produce turned to small account, he so successfully laboured that, in a very few years, he snatched his family from starvation, and for himself acquired a comfortable independence. At the time I first saw him he had the farms at Torboll, Embo, and Pronsy, in the parish of Dornoch, was factor for the estates of Reay and Skibo, and collector of the county revenue. His children at that time amounted to six – HARRIET, ESTHER, JEAN, LEXY, GEORGE and JOHN; they were afterwards increased to fourteen." Mem. Dom. (1889), pp 148-149.

I'm a new subscriber and I know my query is a total long shot. But I'm at a 'brick wall' in my research. My 4th great grandfather was Isaac Sutherland and I have traced him in the US back to 1750 in northern Virginia where he lived with his wife Sarah on land he inherited from his only brother Abraham who never married. I don't know his birthdate or place, his parents, his marriage date or place or any other children than the one I am descended from. He ended up in Tennessee about 1790 and probably died there. My 3rd gr grandfather is probably his youngest son, Thomas. Just always hoped he came from Scotland or maybe his parents came from there. If you know of anyone who has these names in their tree that can help me get farther back, I would be ecstatic!! I live in Indiana and have been researching Sutherlands - my maternal line since 1986, tho not so heavily in the last several years. I got interested in doing it after a vacation to Scotland in 1984. Plan to go back for the Sutherland Clan Gathering in September 2001. Thanks, Diane Rice Hope never dies in a real gardener's heart.

Ron wrote: > I obtained this book some weeks ago, a 1975 reprint, by ILL, from the Public > Library in Goderich. I have not found a copy for sale ANYWHERE in the free > world... > Ron > Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario Canada L0S 1J0 I am wondering, Ron, if you are able to supply all the details so that I might be able to find this book in a library, please? ISBN? and, who, or what is 'ILL' thanks, Lyndall Canberra, Oz > > ______________________________

Hello Rena, I think that you are wonderful! I'd really appreciate to learn what chapter 9 of Memorabila Domestica has to say about the following man: > CLUNESS, Captain, of Cracraig. Also, from chapter 10, about the following: > Robert Mackay married > CLUNES, MEDLEY, niece of > CLUNES, UM, Colonel, of Cracaig, Loth. Many, many thanks. Lyndall Canberra, Oz

Ours is a 1889 copy, rather delapidated! Ann Mackay

Hi list . Anyone links to above couple please. Mary

Thanks for this Rena. I correspond with a descendant of this family who will be thrilled with this. Christine -----Original Message----- From: I.L.Singleton [mailto:rena@pathtech.org] Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2001 1:45 PM To: SCT-SUTHERLAND-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: Re Sage and McKay and Gordon, Toronto Hi Christine, Ordinarily, I might not be able to add anything to this note but last night, for bedtime reading, I picked up a reprint of "Toronto, Old and New" by G. Mercer Adam, 1891. And, surprisingly, I read the business biography of Donald Mackay. Here's what it said: "The old and long established wholesale dry goods house of Messrs. Gordon, Mackay & Co., was founded in Hamilton in 1855, by the late Mr. John Gordon and Mr. Donald Mackay. In 1859, the shipping advantages of Toronto attracted the firm to this city. Two years later, they built the Lybster Cotton Mills at Merritton*, an industry which they still own and operate. The firm built in 1871 the extensive warehouse at the corner of Bay and Wellington Streets which they now occupy, a picture of which will be found in our pages. The senior member of the firm, Mr. John Gordon, who was a well-known and much esteemed citizen, died in Paris in 1882, whither he had gone three years previously in pursuit of health. Two of his old and trusted employees were then admitted by Mr. Mackay into the business. The firm now consists of Donald Gordon, C.C. Robb, and J.W. Woods. The house earned a reputation in its early history for systematic business methods, and has steadily maintained its good name for the long period of thirty-five years. "Mr. Donald Mackay, of the firm of Messrs. Gordon, Mackay & Co., wholesale dry goods merchants, was born in Lybster, Scotland, in the year 1815. Coming to Canada in the early thirties, Mr. Mackay served in the Rebellion of 1837, on the Loyalist side. He resided a number of years in Montreal, where he entered into mercantile life with his two elder brothers. In 1848 he removed to Hamilton, and with his nephew, formed the now extensive wholesale dry-goods house of Gordon, Mackay & Co., 48 Front Street West. Mr. Mackay is a director of the Ontario Bank, of which he was formerly Vice-President. He is also a Director of the London & Canadian Loan and Agency Company, and is identified with several other business enterprises. Mr. Mackay, who is one of the most respected of our chiefs of commerce, is a member of Knox Prebyterian Church, and of St. Andrew's Society." * Merritton is in present-day St. Catharines, Ontario. Rena >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Original Message <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< On 4/14/2001, 2:43:48 AM, "Christine Stokes" <chris@northants26.freeserve.co.uk> wrote regarding Re Sage : > Hello > Thankyou Rena for all the information. I thought readers would like to read > the following. > During my trip to Alberta last year I spent some time in the archives at Red > Deer. There I found information on a family named Sage Murray Bannerman. > Knowing I had come across the name before and being fascinated by the name > Sage, I acquired as much as I could before heading back to Britain. When > studying this later together with my own work on the Murrays I found a > connection between this family and one of the Sage stories. > This is what I have on Sage Murray Bannerman: > 2-006/2 BARBARA MURRAY married JOHN > BANNERMAN > [born 1791] > [born 1781] > Barbara is the daughter of John Murray and Barbara Corbett of Marrel, Loth - > see 4-150/2. She and her husband, John, had the following children > (BANNERMAN) born in Helmsdale, Loth: William, born 1809 (went to Nova > Scotia, Canada, where he changed his name to Macdonald); Thomas, born 1811 > [married Barbara McKay - see note below]; Barbara, born 1814; Anna, born > 1817; Margaret (Peggy), born 1820; Mary, born 1813; Hanna, born 1822; John, > born circa 1823 (known to have had a son named Robert, who lived in Toronto, > Canada) and Elizabeth, born 1825. > Thomas Bannerman married Barbara, daughter of John McKay and Janet Murray - > see 4-081. This marriage took place in Loth on 18 December 1835. Thomas > and Barbara had the following children (BANNERMAN) born in Loth: Sage > Murray, born 20 June 1836 Helmsdale [died 1 November 1913 Calgary, Alberta - > buried Union Cemetery, Calgary] [married Christina McKay, who was born 1836 > at East Zorra, Ontario, daughter of William McKay - see note below]; Janet, > born 1839 [died 21 December 1926 Edmonton, Alberta] [married Hugh Mackay in > 1866 at Lybster, Caithness - they had six children some of whom were born in > Helmsdale]; William, born 1841 [died 1914]; Lucy, born 1843 [died 1904]; > John, born 1845; Catherine, born 1847 [died 1921]; James, born 1849 [died > 1927]; Joseph, born 1851 [died 1932]; Elizabeth, born 1854 [died 1938] and > Elsie, born 1856 [died 1934]. All these children, apart from Elsie, went > out to an uncle William Mackay, in Ontario, Canada. > Sage Bannerman and Christina McKay married on 10 August 1865 in Woodstock, > Ontario. They had the following children: James Alexander McKay Bannerman, > born 1869 Woodstock [died 1955 Edmonton, Alberta] [married at Red Deer in > 1897 to Janet Martin]; Barbara Elizabeth Bannerman, born 1870 Ontario [died > 1948 Edmonton] [married in 1889 to William J. Baird]; Annette Christina > Bannerman, born 1871 [died 1953 Vancouver, British Columbia] [married in > 1892 at Red Deer, Alberta, to George Beatty and secondly in 1909 to Joseph E > Wright]; William Thomas Bannerman, born 1873 Springfield, Ontario [died 1959 > Calgary, Alberta] [married in 1903 to Harriet Jane Elless and secondly in > 1951 at Calgary to Elizabeth Ann Jones]; Lloyd Mungo Fraser Bannerman, born > 1877 springfield, Ontario [died 1956 Edmonton, Alberta] [married in 1915 at > Edmonton to Nettie May Roche] and Nellie Lewis Bannerman, born 1890 [died > 1933 Veteran, Alberta] [married in 1915 at Calgary to Albert Adams]. > The following information on Sage Bannerman was taken from a book in Canada: > "Sage was born in Helmsdale, Sutherland, in 1836 and in the early 1850s came > to Canada. He worked in the lumber business in Ontario and in 1865 married > Christina McKay, a member of one of the oldest pioneer families at Embro, > West Zorra. In 1878 Sage decided to check his prospects in Western Canada, > ultimately ending up in Calgary where his brothers James, William and Joseph > had settled. In 1883 Sage decided to move north and bought a place at the > Red Deer Crossing settlement. The following year, he secured a license to > operate a ferry. Sage was a very hospitable person and his home soon became > one of the favourite stopping houses along the Calgary - Edmonton trail. > The first Presbyterian Church service in the region was held at the > Bannerman home. In 1898 the Bannermans were generous supporters of the > construction of the first Presbyterian church building in the fledgling > hamlet of Red Deer. Mrs Bannerman died in 1910 and was buried in the Red > Deer Cemetery. Sage then moved to Calgary to live with a brother. He > passed away there in 1913." > The Calgary Herald ran an obituary on 1 November 1913 - it refers to Sage M. > Bannerman as "one of the best known old timers in the west - old timers > still talk of his courage in remaining at the ferry at Red Deer river during > the Riel rebellion in 1885. He was one of the new settlers in outlying > districts at that time and during the turbulent days life was very uncertain > for all." > Returning to Memorabillia Domestica by Sage I found that his nurse, Miss > Corbett, was a sister to Barbara Corbett, grandmother of Sage Murray > Bannerman: > 1-011/3 ALEXANDER MURRAY married MISS > CORBETT > [probably born around 1740-50] > The following is an excerpt from "MEMORABILIA DOMESTICIA" (Parish Life in > the North of Scotland), written by The Reverend Donald Sage, A.M., Minister > of Resolis. Reverend Sage was born circa 1789 and died in 1869 - he wrote > the following when a young man: > "A family named Murray, lived at the place of Tuaraidh, Kildonan. The head > of the family was Alexander (Alister) Murray, one of Captain Baigrie's > sub-tenants, as indeed he had been of his predecessor, Major Sutherland of > Midgarty, who held Tuaraidh as a Highland pendicle to Midgarty. Murray's > wife was a sister of Barbara Corbet, my nurse, and an intimacy, in > consequence of this connection, held between us children and the family. My > brother, my sisters, and myself were often invited, and nearly as often went > to spend days and even weeks at Tuaraidh, and the scenery, as well as names > of hill and dale, in that wild and sequestered spot, are still familiar to > me. The Innis mor, the Innis beag, the Lon, as also Tuaraidh-bheag and > Tuaraidh-mhor - the site of Alister Murray's house, of his barn on the brow > of the hill, of his swaggering corn-rigs, of his peat-moss on the banks of > the Loist, which meandered through the Lon, and the houses of his > sub-tenants, are all at this moment vivid in my memory. > Two events arise as fresh to my remembrance as if they had happened but > yesterday. These are the marriages of Murray's two daughters, Barbara and > Janet. Barbara was married to Robert Mackay, a native of Clyne. At their > wedding my sisters, my brother and I were amused and feasted for nearly a > week, whilst our fellow-guests numbered about fifty. Her sister Janet, a > few years later, also married a young man named Mackay, a younger brother of > William Mackay in Ascaig* [see note below] who was one of my father's > elders, and as single-hearted and sincere a Christian as I ever knew. It > was at Janet's wedding that this impressive incident took place. The > marriage service was performed by my father in church at noon. As was the > practice, after the day's festivities, the guests of both sexes retired to > sleep in the barn. My brother and I were placed beside each other at the > lower end of the building; the season might be about the end of autumn, as I > remember that the nights were dark. So long as the sound of the voices, > after we had all lain down, rang in my ears from all corners, I felt very > drowsy; but when to the hum of speech, a deep silence succeeded, broken only > by the hard breathing of the sleepers, I became wide awake. > I felt an undefinable dread creep upon me, and looking towards the upper > part of the barn, the whole of which was enveloped in pitchy darkness, I > noticed a white figure gliding slowly down from the upper to the lower part > of the building, where it disappeared. It seemed to be a human form covered > with some white garment hanging about it in loose folds, but although it > passed within little more than a yard of me, I could neither see its > countenance nor even hear the tread of its feet. > On my way home the next day, I told the circumstance to those who > accompanied us, and they accounted for it by saying that a young woman at > Tuaraidh-bheag had long been confined to bed with consumption, and that she > had been found dead in her bed that morning. Be that as it may, I never > could satisfactorily account for the singular apparition. Had it been any > of my bed-fellows rising in their sleep, and walking in the night-clothes, > which, of course, were white, I could not possibly have perceived them > without the aid of light, and light there was none, either shining from > without through the chinks of the doors, or yet from within. Then how could > the figure pass me without my hearing the tread of its feet. What it was I > am as unable now, after the lapse of forty years, to account for as I was > then." > * note: After the "Sutherland Clearance" of 1819, Mr William Mackay of > Ascaig, with many others, removed from Kildonan to Latheron in Caithness, > where he died in 1843. He was buried at Mid-Clyth. Out of a family of ten, > three sons and two daughters, emigrated to Canada. Of these, his sons, > Joseph and Edward, founded the wholesale firm of "Mackay Borthers" in > Montreal. The former died, on 2nd June, 1881, and the latter on 6th May > 1883 - both unmarried and each in the 71st year of his age. They have > bestowed munificent donations of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, and the > College in Montreal. The youngest son, Donald, has been in partnership with > his late nephew, Mr Gordon, as a wholesale merchant in Toronto. Their > sister Euphemia was married to Mr Angus Mackay of Grubmore in Strathnaver. > Her three sons - Hugh, James and Robert - continue to conduct the business > firm in Montreal. (8/00) > Fascinating stuff. > Christine > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.248 / Virus Database: 121 - Release Date: 4/11/01 > ==== SCT-SUTHERLAND Mailing List ==== > You may, at times, wish to check out previous messages to this list. You can do this at http://archiver.rootsweb.com/SCT-SUTHERLAND-L/ > ============================== > Join the RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: > Linking the world, one GEDCOM at a time. > http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com ==== SCT-SUTHERLAND Mailing List ==== You may, at times, wish to check out previous messages to this list. You can do this at http://archiver.rootsweb.com/SCT-SUTHERLAND-L/ ============================== Create a FREE family website at MyFamily.com! http://www.myfamily.com/banner.asp?ID=RWLIST2 --- Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.248 / Virus Database: 121 - Release Date: 4/11/01 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.248 / Virus Database: 121 - Release Date: 4/11/01

Hi Glen I think you mean "A History of Lairg" by Lesley Ketteringham. I have this book and so can give you the ISBN 0-9531724-0-6 The book was first published in 1997 by The Byre, Little Achfrish, Terryside, Lairg, Scotland IV27 4DL A revised and reprinted edition was released in 1998. Now, I have not seen it on the web but perhaps with the ISBN number you may just hit lucky. If you can't get it let me know and I will ring the publisher and ask where folks can buy a copy overseas. Christine -----Original Message----- From: Glen Matheson [mailto:jag.matheson@ns.sympatico.ca] Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2001 3:27 PM To: SCT-SUTHERLAND-L@rootsweb.com Subject: History of Lairg Can anyone suggest where one might purchase a copy of a History of Lairg? It was published within the last five or six years. I would like to find an on-line source. Thanks, Glen ==== SCT-SUTHERLAND Mailing List ==== You may, at times, wish to check out previous messages to this list. You can do this at http://archiver.rootsweb.com/SCT-SUTHERLAND-L/ ============================== Visit Ancestry.com for a FREE 14-Day Trial and enjoy access to the #1 Source for Family History Online. Go to: http://www.ancestry.com/subscribe/subscribetrial1y.asp?sourcecode=F11HB --- Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.248 / Virus Database: 121 - Release Date: 4/11/01 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.248 / Virus Database: 121 - Release Date: 4/11/01

From time to time I have seen requests for information regarding the SAGE family. In the event that the following may be of interest to someone, here are excerpts from the Pelton genealogy, pub Albany, NY 1892 by J. M. Pelton JohnPELTON (6) John (5) John (4) John (3) Samuel (2) John (1) married (1) Jerush SAGE about 1785 or 1786, sister of Mrs. Marshall Pelton of Portland, Conn and daughter of Lemuel SAGE of Middletown, Conn, USA 3 children: Clarissa, Betsey, Philena William Walter PELTON (7) William (6) etc etc. of Portland, Conn married at Cornwall, Conn, 8 Nov 1801 Mary SAGE dau of Alexander SAGE of that place. 2 children: Henry and Wilbur Marshall PELTON (5) Josiah (4) etc etc married at Portland Conn. 3 January 1793, Betset SAGE dau of Lemuel SAGE of Middletown, Conn 3 children: Betsey, Sally Maria and Cynthia Perhaps this will be of use to someone fpatter@golden.net F. Pelton Patterson Stratford, Ontario Canada

ILL: Interlibrary loan. Title: Memorabilia Domestica: or Parish Life in the North of Scotland Author: Rev. Donald Sage original: 1889 reprint: 1975 ISBN: (of 1975 edition): 284 98572 4 Ron Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario Canada L0S 1J0 -----Original Message----- From: Lyndall [mailto:lyfrah@goldweb.com.au] Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2001 7:25 AM To: SCT-SUTHERLAND-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: Mem Domestica in Ontario Ron wrote: > I obtained this book some weeks ago, a 1975 reprint, by ILL, from the Public > Library in Goderich. I have not found a copy for sale ANYWHERE in the free > world... > Ron > Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario Canada L0S 1J0 I am wondering, Ron, if you are able to supply all the details so that I might be able to find this book in a library, please? ISBN? and, who, or what is 'ILL' thanks, Lyndall Canberra, Oz > > ______________________________ ______________________________

Hi Lyndal, Missed this one in my reply. In this section, Sage discusses the GORDONS of Embo and focuses on ROBERT HUME GORDON. "Robert Hume Gordon, having some years before canvassed the county, with the view of being its representative, in opposition to the influence of the Duchess of Sutherland, built this splendid manor for the purpose of entertaining the electors. Mr. Gordon lost the election, yet by a narrow majority. He was supported by the most respectable barons of the county, Dempster of Skibo, Gordon of Carrol, Gordon of Navidale, Captain Cluness of Cracaig, and Captain Baigrie of Midgarty; and most of those gentlemen, being tacksmen and wadsetters on the Sutherland estate, gave, by their opposition to the candidate of the Sutherland family, almost unpardonable offence." Mem.Dom (1889) pp 147-148. Rena

Hi Lyndall, The CLUNESS references come from a section describing GEORGE MACKAY of Araidh-Chlinni, chieftain of a sept of the Clan Mackay. "ROBERT, his eldest son was, when a young man, on marriage terms with one CHIRSTY GUNN, our dry-nurse during my mother's life-time, and a woman of eminent piety. She died, however, just when they were to be proclaimed in church. He afterwards got a commission in the army, and rose to the rank of captain. He married a Miss MEDLEY CLUNES, niece of Col. CLUNESS of Cracaig, parish of Loth, by whom he had one daughter. He retired on half-pay, and established his residence in the neighbourhood of Inverness. His daughter married Col. Mackay. She is a woman of piety and talent." Sage then continues with GEORGE MACKAY's second son, GEORGE. Mem. Dom. (1889), page 184. Rena >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Original Message <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< On 4/14/2001, 7:21:28 AM, "Lyndall" <lyfrah@goldweb.com.au> wrote regarding Re: Memorabila Domestica, Chapter 9: > Hello Rena, > I think that you are wonderful! I'd really appreciate to > learn what chapter 9 of Memorabila Domestica has to say about the following > man: > > CLUNESS, Captain, of Cracraig. > Also, from chapter 10, about the following: > > Robert Mackay married > > CLUNES, MEDLEY, niece of > > CLUNES, UM, Colonel, of Cracaig, Loth. > Many, many thanks. > Lyndall > Canberra, Oz > ==== SCT-SUTHERLAND Mailing List ==== > You may, at times, wish to check out previous messages to this list. You can do this at http://archiver.rootsweb.com/SCT-SUTHERLAND-L/ > ============================== > Shop Ancestry - Everything you need to Discover, Preserve & Celebrate > your heritage! > http://shop.myfamily.com/ancestrycatalog

Hi Christine, Ordinarily, I might not be able to add anything to this note but last night, for bedtime reading, I picked up a reprint of "Toronto, Old and New" by G. Mercer Adam, 1891. And, surprisingly, I read the business biography of Donald Mackay. Here's what it said: "The old and long established wholesale dry goods house of Messrs. Gordon, Mackay & Co., was founded in Hamilton in 1855, by the late Mr. John Gordon and Mr. Donald Mackay. In 1859, the shipping advantages of Toronto attracted the firm to this city. Two years later, they built the Lybster Cotton Mills at Merritton*, an industry which they still own and operate. The firm built in 1871 the extensive warehouse at the corner of Bay and Wellington Streets which they now occupy, a picture of which will be found in our pages. The senior member of the firm, Mr. John Gordon, who was a well-known and much esteemed citizen, died in Paris in 1882, whither he had gone three years previously in pursuit of health. Two of his old and trusted employees were then admitted by Mr. Mackay into the business. The firm now consists of Donald Gordon, C.C. Robb, and J.W. Woods. The house earned a reputation in its early history for systematic business methods, and has steadily maintained its good name for the long period of thirty-five years. "Mr. Donald Mackay, of the firm of Messrs. Gordon, Mackay & Co., wholesale dry goods merchants, was born in Lybster, Scotland, in the year 1815. Coming to Canada in the early thirties, Mr. Mackay served in the Rebellion of 1837, on the Loyalist side. He resided a number of years in Montreal, where he entered into mercantile life with his two elder brothers. In 1848 he removed to Hamilton, and with his nephew, formed the now extensive wholesale dry-goods house of Gordon, Mackay & Co., 48 Front Street West. Mr. Mackay is a director of the Ontario Bank, of which he was formerly Vice-President. He is also a Director of the London & Canadian Loan and Agency Company, and is identified with several other business enterprises. Mr. Mackay, who is one of the most respected of our chiefs of commerce, is a member of Knox Prebyterian Church, and of St. Andrew's Society." * Merritton is in present-day St. Catharines, Ontario. Rena >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Original Message <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< On 4/14/2001, 2:43:48 AM, "Christine Stokes" <chris@northants26.freeserve.co.uk> wrote regarding Re Sage : > Hello > Thankyou Rena for all the information. I thought readers would like to read > the following. > During my trip to Alberta last year I spent some time in the archives at Red > Deer. There I found information on a family named Sage Murray Bannerman. > Knowing I had come across the name before and being fascinated by the name > Sage, I acquired as much as I could before heading back to Britain. When > studying this later together with my own work on the Murrays I found a > connection between this family and one of the Sage stories. > This is what I have on Sage Murray Bannerman: > 2-006/2 BARBARA MURRAY married JOHN > BANNERMAN > [born 1791] > [born 1781] > Barbara is the daughter of John Murray and Barbara Corbett of Marrel, Loth – > see 4-150/2. She and her husband, John, had the following children > (BANNERMAN) born in Helmsdale, Loth: William, born 1809 (went to Nova > Scotia, Canada, where he changed his name to Macdonald); Thomas, born 1811 > [married Barbara McKay – see note below]; Barbara, born 1814; Anna, born > 1817; Margaret (Peggy), born 1820; Mary, born 1813; Hanna, born 1822; John, > born circa 1823 (known to have had a son named Robert, who lived in Toronto, > Canada) and Elizabeth, born 1825. > Thomas Bannerman married Barbara, daughter of John McKay and Janet Murray – > see 4-081. This marriage took place in Loth on 18 December 1835. Thomas > and Barbara had the following children (BANNERMAN) born in Loth: Sage > Murray, born 20 June 1836 Helmsdale [died 1 November 1913 Calgary, Alberta – > buried Union Cemetery, Calgary] [married Christina McKay, who was born 1836 > at East Zorra, Ontario, daughter of William McKay – see note below]; Janet, > born 1839 [died 21 December 1926 Edmonton, Alberta] [married Hugh Mackay in > 1866 at Lybster, Caithness – they had six children some of whom were born in > Helmsdale]; William, born 1841 [died 1914]; Lucy, born 1843 [died 1904]; > John, born 1845; Catherine, born 1847 [died 1921]; James, born 1849 [died > 1927]; Joseph, born 1851 [died 1932]; Elizabeth, born 1854 [died 1938] and > Elsie, born 1856 [died 1934]. All these children, apart from Elsie, went > out to an uncle William Mackay, in Ontario, Canada. > Sage Bannerman and Christina McKay married on 10 August 1865 in Woodstock, > Ontario. They had the following children: James Alexander McKay Bannerman, > born 1869 Woodstock [died 1955 Edmonton, Alberta] [married at Red Deer in > 1897 to Janet Martin]; Barbara Elizabeth Bannerman, born 1870 Ontario [died > 1948 Edmonton] [married in 1889 to William J. Baird]; Annette Christina > Bannerman, born 1871 [died 1953 Vancouver, British Columbia] [married in > 1892 at Red Deer, Alberta, to George Beatty and secondly in 1909 to Joseph E > Wright]; William Thomas Bannerman, born 1873 Springfield, Ontario [died 1959 > Calgary, Alberta] [married in 1903 to Harriet Jane Elless and secondly in > 1951 at Calgary to Elizabeth Ann Jones]; Lloyd Mungo Fraser Bannerman, born > 1877 springfield, Ontario [died 1956 Edmonton, Alberta] [married in 1915 at > Edmonton to Nettie May Roche] and Nellie Lewis Bannerman, born 1890 [died > 1933 Veteran, Alberta] [married in 1915 at Calgary to Albert Adams]. > The following information on Sage Bannerman was taken from a book in Canada: > “Sage was born in Helmsdale, Sutherland, in 1836 and in the early 1850s came > to Canada. He worked in the lumber business in Ontario and in 1865 married > Christina McKay, a member of one of the oldest pioneer families at Embro, > West Zorra. In 1878 Sage decided to check his prospects in Western Canada, > ultimately ending up in Calgary where his brothers James, William and Joseph > had settled. In 1883 Sage decided to move north and bought a place at the > Red Deer Crossing settlement. The following year, he secured a license to > operate a ferry. Sage was a very hospitable person and his home soon became > one of the favourite stopping houses along the Calgary – Edmonton trail. > The first Presbyterian Church service in the region was held at the > Bannerman home. In 1898 the Bannermans were generous supporters of the > construction of the first Presbyterian church building in the fledgling > hamlet of Red Deer. Mrs Bannerman died in 1910 and was buried in the Red > Deer Cemetery. Sage then moved to Calgary to live with a brother. He > passed away there in 1913.” > The Calgary Herald ran an obituary on 1 November 1913 – it refers to Sage M. > Bannerman as “one of the best known old timers in the west – old timers > still talk of his courage in remaining at the ferry at Red Deer river during > the Riel rebellion in 1885. He was one of the new settlers in outlying > districts at that time and during the turbulent days life was very uncertain > for all.” > Returning to Memorabillia Domestica by Sage I found that his nurse, Miss > Corbett, was a sister to Barbara Corbett, grandmother of Sage Murray > Bannerman: > 1-011/3 ALEXANDER MURRAY married MISS > CORBETT > [probably born around 1740-50] > The following is an excerpt from “MEMORABILIA DOMESTICIA” (Parish Life in > the North of Scotland), written by The Reverend Donald Sage, A.M., Minister > of Resolis. Reverend Sage was born circa 1789 and died in 1869 – he wrote > the following when a young man: > “A family named Murray, lived at the place of Tuaraidh, Kildonan. The head > of the family was Alexander (Alister) Murray, one of Captain Baigrie’s > sub-tenants, as indeed he had been of his predecessor, Major Sutherland of > Midgarty, who held Tuaraidh as a Highland pendicle to Midgarty. Murray’s > wife was a sister of Barbara Corbet, my nurse, and an intimacy, in > consequence of this connection, held between us children and the family. My > brother, my sisters, and myself were often invited, and nearly as often went > to spend days and even weeks at Tuaraidh, and the scenery, as well as names > of hill and dale, in that wild and sequestered spot, are still familiar to > me. The Innis mor, the Innis beag, the Lon, as also Tuaraidh-bheag and > Tuaraidh-mhor – the site of Alister Murray’s house, of his barn on the brow > of the hill, of his swaggering corn-rigs, of his peat-moss on the banks of > the Loist, which meandered through the Lon, and the houses of his > sub-tenants, are all at this moment vivid in my memory. > Two events arise as fresh to my remembrance as if they had happened but > yesterday. These are the marriages of Murray’s two daughters, Barbara and > Janet. Barbara was married to Robert Mackay, a native of Clyne. At their > wedding my sisters, my brother and I were amused and feasted for nearly a > week, whilst our fellow-guests numbered about fifty. Her sister Janet, a > few years later, also married a young man named Mackay, a younger brother of > William Mackay in Ascaig* [see note below] who was one of my father’s > elders, and as single-hearted and sincere a Christian as I ever knew. It > was at Janet’s wedding that this impressive incident took place. The > marriage service was performed by my father in church at noon. As was the > practice, after the day’s festivities, the guests of both sexes retired to > sleep in the barn. My brother and I were placed beside each other at the > lower end of the building; the season might be about the end of autumn, as I > remember that the nights were dark. So long as the sound of the voices, > after we had all lain down, rang in my ears from all corners, I felt very > drowsy; but when to the hum of speech, a deep silence succeeded, broken only > by the hard breathing of the sleepers, I became wide awake. > I felt an undefinable dread creep upon me, and looking towards the upper > part of the barn, the whole of which was enveloped in pitchy darkness, I > noticed a white figure gliding slowly down from the upper to the lower part > of the building, where it disappeared. It seemed to be a human form covered > with some white garment hanging about it in loose folds, but although it > passed within little more than a yard of me, I could neither see its > countenance nor even hear the tread of its feet. > On my way home the next day, I told the circumstance to those who > accompanied us, and they accounted for it by saying that a young woman at > Tuaraidh-bheag had long been confined to bed with consumption, and that she > had been found dead in her bed that morning. Be that as it may, I never > could satisfactorily account for the singular apparition. Had it been any > of my bed-fellows rising in their sleep, and walking in the night-clothes, > which, of course, were white, I could not possibly have perceived them > without the aid of light, and light there was none, either shining from > without through the chinks of the doors, or yet from within. Then how could > the figure pass me without my hearing the tread of its feet. What it was I > am as unable now, after the lapse of forty years, to account for as I was > then.” > * note: After the “Sutherland Clearance” of 1819, Mr William Mackay of > Ascaig, with many others, removed from Kildonan to Latheron in Caithness, > where he died in 1843. He was buried at Mid-Clyth. Out of a family of ten, > three sons and two daughters, emigrated to Canada. Of these, his sons, > Joseph and Edward, founded the wholesale firm of “Mackay Borthers” in > Montreal. The former died, on 2nd June, 1881, and the latter on 6th May > 1883 – both unmarried and each in the 71st year of his age. They have > bestowed munificent donations of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, and the > College in Montreal. The youngest son, Donald, has been in partnership with > his late nephew, Mr Gordon, as a wholesale merchant in Toronto. Their > sister Euphemia was married to Mr Angus Mackay of Grubmore in Strathnaver. > Her three sons – Hugh, James and Robert – continue to conduct the business > firm in Montreal. (8/00) > Fascinating stuff. > Christine > --- > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). > Version: 6.0.248 / Virus Database: 121 - Release Date: 4/11/01 > ==== SCT-SUTHERLAND Mailing List ==== > You may, at times, wish to check out previous messages to this list. You can do this at http://archiver.rootsweb.com/SCT-SUTHERLAND-L/ > ============================== > Join the RootsWeb WorldConnect Project: > Linking the world, one GEDCOM at a time. > http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com

Can anyone suggest where one might purchase a copy of a History of Lairg? It was published within the last five or six years. I would like to find an on-line source. Thanks, Glen

Christine, the Angus Mackay who was cleared in 1811 was probably our Angus who married Helen Mackenzie (or his father), family story is that they were cleared twice, and place of births of children supports clearing from Achvandra to the muirs. The Angus in your K191 looks like the grandfather of our Angus, the Angus born in 1738 would then be the father of the Angus b. 1764--too many Angus names!! The Donald father of the Janet Mckay (Baillie) who died in the Meikle Ferry disater would then be another son of this father Angus--seems very likely, what do you think? regards, Ann & Ken

Many thanks indeed. Think the Angus at Achvandra is ours. regards, Ken & Ann Mackay

According to Patterson's "History of Tatamagouche", the Duke of Sutherland sent a number of Gaelic Bibles to the Hon. Alex Campbell in Tatamagouche for distribution to the Sutherlandshire emigrants who settled in the Cobequid Mountains. Campbell had earlier been in England conducting business, (he was a shipbuilder), and had met with the Duke concerning the lack of religious and educational material among the gaelic speakers of Earltown who emigrated from the Duke's estate. The Duke responded with the gift of bibles inscribed in gaelic to his kinsmen or clansmen of "Cattach". I can't find my notes at the moment but I believe it was in the 1830's. Oral tradition claims that there were about 30 of these bibles. Tradition also claims that some families refused to accept the gift from the family that evicted them. Some obviously accepted as there are still a few among the descendents. I suspect those who came over voluntarily from Rogart accepted while those who were cleared from Clyne rejected them. Some may have been distributed among the Sutherland people who settled in nearby Pictou County. A neighbour of mine still has a copy in relatively good condition. He acquired it in a box of junk at an auction of an old Earltown farmhouse. Glen Matheson

Hello Thankyou Rena for all the information. I thought readers would like to read the following. During my trip to Alberta last year I spent some time in the archives at Red Deer. There I found information on a family named Sage Murray Bannerman. Knowing I had come across the name before and being fascinated by the name Sage, I acquired as much as I could before heading back to Britain. When studying this later together with my own work on the Murrays I found a connection between this family and one of the Sage stories. This is what I have on Sage Murray Bannerman: 2-006/2 BARBARA MURRAY married JOHN BANNERMAN [born 1791] [born 1781] Barbara is the daughter of John Murray and Barbara Corbett of Marrel, Loth – see 4-150/2. She and her husband, John, had the following children (BANNERMAN) born in Helmsdale, Loth: William, born 1809 (went to Nova Scotia, Canada, where he changed his name to Macdonald); Thomas, born 1811 [married Barbara McKay – see note below]; Barbara, born 1814; Anna, born 1817; Margaret (Peggy), born 1820; Mary, born 1813; Hanna, born 1822; John, born circa 1823 (known to have had a son named Robert, who lived in Toronto, Canada) and Elizabeth, born 1825. Thomas Bannerman married Barbara, daughter of John McKay and Janet Murray – see 4-081. This marriage took place in Loth on 18 December 1835. Thomas and Barbara had the following children (BANNERMAN) born in Loth: Sage Murray, born 20 June 1836 Helmsdale [died 1 November 1913 Calgary, Alberta – buried Union Cemetery, Calgary] [married Christina McKay, who was born 1836 at East Zorra, Ontario, daughter of William McKay – see note below]; Janet, born 1839 [died 21 December 1926 Edmonton, Alberta] [married Hugh Mackay in 1866 at Lybster, Caithness – they had six children some of whom were born in Helmsdale]; William, born 1841 [died 1914]; Lucy, born 1843 [died 1904]; John, born 1845; Catherine, born 1847 [died 1921]; James, born 1849 [died 1927]; Joseph, born 1851 [died 1932]; Elizabeth, born 1854 [died 1938] and Elsie, born 1856 [died 1934]. All these children, apart from Elsie, went out to an uncle William Mackay, in Ontario, Canada. Sage Bannerman and Christina McKay married on 10 August 1865 in Woodstock, Ontario. They had the following children: James Alexander McKay Bannerman, born 1869 Woodstock [died 1955 Edmonton, Alberta] [married at Red Deer in 1897 to Janet Martin]; Barbara Elizabeth Bannerman, born 1870 Ontario [died 1948 Edmonton] [married in 1889 to William J. Baird]; Annette Christina Bannerman, born 1871 [died 1953 Vancouver, British Columbia] [married in 1892 at Red Deer, Alberta, to George Beatty and secondly in 1909 to Joseph E Wright]; William Thomas Bannerman, born 1873 Springfield, Ontario [died 1959 Calgary, Alberta] [married in 1903 to Harriet Jane Elless and secondly in 1951 at Calgary to Elizabeth Ann Jones]; Lloyd Mungo Fraser Bannerman, born 1877 springfield, Ontario [died 1956 Edmonton, Alberta] [married in 1915 at Edmonton to Nettie May Roche] and Nellie Lewis Bannerman, born 1890 [died 1933 Veteran, Alberta] [married in 1915 at Calgary to Albert Adams]. The following information on Sage Bannerman was taken from a book in Canada: “Sage was born in Helmsdale, Sutherland, in 1836 and in the early 1850s came to Canada. He worked in the lumber business in Ontario and in 1865 married Christina McKay, a member of one of the oldest pioneer families at Embro, West Zorra. In 1878 Sage decided to check his prospects in Western Canada, ultimately ending up in Calgary where his brothers James, William and Joseph had settled. In 1883 Sage decided to move north and bought a place at the Red Deer Crossing settlement. The following year, he secured a license to operate a ferry. Sage was a very hospitable person and his home soon became one of the favourite stopping houses along the Calgary – Edmonton trail. The first Presbyterian Church service in the region was held at the Bannerman home. In 1898 the Bannermans were generous supporters of the construction of the first Presbyterian church building in the fledgling hamlet of Red Deer. Mrs Bannerman died in 1910 and was buried in the Red Deer Cemetery. Sage then moved to Calgary to live with a brother. He passed away there in 1913.” The Calgary Herald ran an obituary on 1 November 1913 – it refers to Sage M. Bannerman as “one of the best known old timers in the west – old timers still talk of his courage in remaining at the ferry at Red Deer river during the Riel rebellion in 1885. He was one of the new settlers in outlying districts at that time and during the turbulent days life was very uncertain for all.” Returning to Memorabillia Domestica by Sage I found that his nurse, Miss Corbett, was a sister to Barbara Corbett, grandmother of Sage Murray Bannerman: 1-011/3 ALEXANDER MURRAY married MISS CORBETT [probably born around 1740-50] The following is an excerpt from “MEMORABILIA DOMESTICIA” (Parish Life in the North of Scotland), written by The Reverend Donald Sage, A.M., Minister of Resolis. Reverend Sage was born circa 1789 and died in 1869 – he wrote the following when a young man: “A family named Murray, lived at the place of Tuaraidh, Kildonan. The head of the family was Alexander (Alister) Murray, one of Captain Baigrie’s sub-tenants, as indeed he had been of his predecessor, Major Sutherland of Midgarty, who held Tuaraidh as a Highland pendicle to Midgarty. Murray’s wife was a sister of Barbara Corbet, my nurse, and an intimacy, in consequence of this connection, held between us children and the family. My brother, my sisters, and myself were often invited, and nearly as often went to spend days and even weeks at Tuaraidh, and the scenery, as well as names of hill and dale, in that wild and sequestered spot, are still familiar to me. The Innis mor, the Innis beag, the Lon, as also Tuaraidh-bheag and Tuaraidh-mhor – the site of Alister Murray’s house, of his barn on the brow of the hill, of his swaggering corn-rigs, of his peat-moss on the banks of the Loist, which meandered through the Lon, and the houses of his sub-tenants, are all at this moment vivid in my memory. Two events arise as fresh to my remembrance as if they had happened but yesterday. These are the marriages of Murray’s two daughters, Barbara and Janet. Barbara was married to Robert Mackay, a native of Clyne. At their wedding my sisters, my brother and I were amused and feasted for nearly a week, whilst our fellow-guests numbered about fifty. Her sister Janet, a few years later, also married a young man named Mackay, a younger brother of William Mackay in Ascaig* [see note below] who was one of my father’s elders, and as single-hearted and sincere a Christian as I ever knew. It was at Janet’s wedding that this impressive incident took place. The marriage service was performed by my father in church at noon. As was the practice, after the day’s festivities, the guests of both sexes retired to sleep in the barn. My brother and I were placed beside each other at the lower end of the building; the season might be about the end of autumn, as I remember that the nights were dark. So long as the sound of the voices, after we had all lain down, rang in my ears from all corners, I felt very drowsy; but when to the hum of speech, a deep silence succeeded, broken only by the hard breathing of the sleepers, I became wide awake. I felt an undefinable dread creep upon me, and looking towards the upper part of the barn, the whole of which was enveloped in pitchy darkness, I noticed a white figure gliding slowly down from the upper to the lower part of the building, where it disappeared. It seemed to be a human form covered with some white garment hanging about it in loose folds, but although it passed within little more than a yard of me, I could neither see its countenance nor even hear the tread of its feet. On my way home the next day, I told the circumstance to those who accompanied us, and they accounted for it by saying that a young woman at Tuaraidh-bheag had long been confined to bed with consumption, and that she had been found dead in her bed that morning. Be that as it may, I never could satisfactorily account for the singular apparition. Had it been any of my bed-fellows rising in their sleep, and walking in the night-clothes, which, of course, were white, I could not possibly have perceived them without the aid of light, and light there was none, either shining from without through the chinks of the doors, or yet from within. Then how could the figure pass me without my hearing the tread of its feet. What it was I am as unable now, after the lapse of forty years, to account for as I was then.” * note: After the “Sutherland Clearance” of 1819, Mr William Mackay of Ascaig, with many others, removed from Kildonan to Latheron in Caithness, where he died in 1843. He was buried at Mid-Clyth. Out of a family of ten, three sons and two daughters, emigrated to Canada. Of these, his sons, Joseph and Edward, founded the wholesale firm of “Mackay Borthers” in Montreal. The former died, on 2nd June, 1881, and the latter on 6th May 1883 – both unmarried and each in the 71st year of his age. They have bestowed munificent donations of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, and the College in Montreal. The youngest son, Donald, has been in partnership with his late nephew, Mr Gordon, as a wholesale merchant in Toronto. Their sister Euphemia was married to Mr Angus Mackay of Grubmore in Strathnaver. Her three sons – Hugh, James and Robert – continue to conduct the business firm in Montreal. (8/00) Fascinating stuff. Christine --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.248 / Virus Database: 121 - Release Date: 4/11/01

Dear Christine, What follows may be somewhat outside the objects of the list. If it is, please forgive me. I have noticed several subscribers are researching ancestors in the Clyne area and wondered whether some might be interested in responding to an appeal for help that appeared in the latest issue of the Highland Family History Society's Journal. The appeal was from Dr. Nick Lindsay, the Secretary of the Clyne Heritage Society, who has compiled a record of the burials and wishes to add some character to the individual records. With his permission, I quote from his appeal: "I have done a complete transcription of Clyne (Old) Cemetery, substantially revising and improving (he types modestly) the previous published records in Cowper's Pre-1855 Sutherland Monuments edition. I am interested in following this up by appealing for any information that members hold about any of the people buried in the graveyard so that I can add, excuse the expression, flesh to the bones! So rather than just publishing a list of names, places and dates, I would like to be able to add some stories and some history. So if any members have information that they feel might be relevant, please contact me by letter at "Sunnybrae", West Clyne, Brora, Sutherland Kw9 6NH, or by email at nick.lindsay@highland.gov.uk " Dr Lindsay hopes to publish his project when it is complete. In the meantime, the information is in a data base and he would be pleased to respond to any enquiries from researchers who think their ancestors might be buried in Clyne. I do not have the pleasure of knowing Dr. Lindsay, but I do not believe this project is commercially motivated. Ian <br clear=all><hr>Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at <a href="http://www.hotmail.com">http://www.hotmail.com</a>.<br></p>

This chapter describes the parish of Kildonan and includes a number of local legends. The list is short. This also is the last chapter in my store of photocopies from the book. I'll try to get more chapters copied next week. Have a great holiday! Rena Chapter VI. Topography of Kildonan. 1800. BOAG, JAMES, architect, builder of the Kildonan church GORDON, family, farmed at Breacachay for many generations. GORDON, ALEXANDER, of Dalchairn. GUNN, family, of Dalangail, GUNN, HENRY, a younger son of the tenant of Dalangail. Historic names: MURRAY, GILBERT, Bishop, 1222 MACKAY, cattle-rustlers and their conflict with MAC SHEUMAIS CHATTAICH (Son of James of Sutherland), chief of Clan GUNN GUNN, BRAISTEACH MOR, The Crowner, chief of clan Gunn, and his 1511 feud with The KEITH GUNN, HENRY, The Crowner's son, ancestor of the Caithness HENDERSONS GUNN, JAMES. The Crowner's eldest son and successor. SUTHERLANDS of Strath Uillidh, (Kilphedder), their history. SUTHERLAND, WILLIAM MOR of Kilphedder. SUTHERLAND, WILLIAM, his descendent, died Edinburgh ca 1835.