Rupee got the clubs ready, arranged for a cab and easily found his way to the Royal Burgess Golf Club, instituted in 1735, making it the oldest golfing society in the world. Apparently older than the Royal and Ancient St. Andrew's. His arrival was anticipated and the welcome was sincere.
A game was arranged with a member named Fred, a retired American banker, who has lived in Scotland for 15 years. It was soon determined that both golfers had democratic leanings. It made for interesting political discussions as the game progressed. The temperature was mild but the wind was wild. Quite a bleep, bleep gale according to hubby. Nevertheless, the wind directions were helpful and guest golfer scored well, missing an eagle putt on #18 by mere inches (notice happy guy in photo below). Fred enjoyed his game, bought the beer and asked RP to return for another game. Perhaps another time as we have places to go and things to see.
By the way, on the way home the wind was described to the cabbie in very colourful, not repeatable language. The crusty old Scot just laughed and said, "Aw laddie, it was only a wee wind."
Meanwhile the other half of this traveling duo hopped on a bus headed for registry house. Registry House is magnificent and massive. The building in the photo does not come close to showing the magnitude of this genealogical repository.
Friendly helpful staff directed me to my pre-booked computer station, one of hundreds available in the buildings. To get to the Matheson Dome I had to walk through the main building and a 2nd research facility before finally reaching the dome. Interesting that one of my clan names is Matheson. All entrances and exits in all buildings are security controlled. I could not even begin to count the stations in the dome, which reached at least 2 stories. Above each station were countless leather bound, gilt embossed volumes holding records of birth, marriage and death dating back to the 1500s - row upon row. What is even more amazing is that Scotland's People have digitized each record. All my searching was done online - no permission to handle the actual volumes. So many people use this facility every day that it even has its own cafe, also with security controlled doors. A short lived computer crash allowed me the opportunity to enjoy a latte while the techies fixed the problem.
My Scot ancestors have been difficult to trace because they came to Canada about 200 years ago. The records of Scotland and Canada for that era are often non-existent, destroyed, lost or limited in information, especially when the names are unknown and/or common. I thought I had exhausted all possibilities but decided one last shot in the dark was worth it. BINGO - I now have a marriage record for my 3rd great grandparents, Robert Sutherland and Elizabeth Matheson, 22/09/1827 in Helmsdale, Sutherlandshire. Even better was finally making the Urquhart connection. Mom has insisted there was a granny Urquhart in the family and in 6 years of research, no results. My 4th great grandparents I now know were Ronald McDonald and Janet Urquhart who had a son, Daniel, born 12/05/1787 in Elgin, Moray. My Scot ancestors are no longer so elusive.
I guess hubby and I are on the same wave length; we arrived back at the inn within 5 minutes of each other. There were plenty of stories to share over our delicious Italian dinner. Long day but we are pumped to tackle the Castle and Royal Mile tomorrow, hopefully to the sound of the pipes.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Edinburgh
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