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Published: September 19th 2010
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The View From Stirling Castle
Is that a cranky face I see Phoebe? I don't think we ever will know why my Great-Grandmother Mary, a trained nurse, gathered her younger sisters together to catch a boat to Australia just after World War 1. The region of Aberdeenshire was booming and work would have been plentiful. Entering the small town of Strichen where she came from, it's understandable that she probably felt that there was much more to the world than the small pocket of Scotland that her forebears had occupied for centuries. Mary was a Cumming, a name which originates from the old Norman name 'Comyn'. Robert Comyn accompanied William the Conqueror over to England and then came to the region of Aberdeenshire and through advantageous marraiges and battles etc. (the way things were done back then) the Comyns, or Cummings as they were known by then, became one of the most powerful and wealthy clan in Scotland. Eventually, as things go, they lost their wealth and power, but his descendants still live on, now not only occupying Scotland, but also England, Ireland, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
We took a wander around many of the graveyards of Strichen and surrounds but nothing in particular eventuated. It seems the Cummings and
various other branches were probably too poor to afford a plot and a gravestone in the church cemetery. We did however find the grave of famous fashion designer Bill Gibb, who is apparently in some way related. But that's about as far as our claim to fame goes.
Next stop was Aberdeen, where Joanna, Mum's friend, was waiting for us with her Granddaughter Sarah......a playmate for Phoebe!! After a shy hello they were off playing like old friends. Joanna lives in a gorgeous old typical Aberdeen style house which had walls full of books, plush carpet and big comfortable armchairs. It felt like the kind of house you could hide away in for weeks, reading books and drinking tea. We were given an utterly comfortable room each and Nick and I enjoyed the luxury of proper toilets and showers every day....bliss!
One day in Aberdeen it was actually WARM! This day also happened to be my birthday. Sarah's parents got excited about going to the beach and invited Phoebe to come along. Phoebe raced upstairs and changed into her bathers. I informed Phoebe that she was probably going to the beach for a walk and play in the
Phoebe and Sarah
Day two of playing and they can barely stay still for a photo sand, and that swimming was not the done thing. I double checked with Joanna who confirmed that beach swimming was not what you usually do in Aberdeen, but then told us all how “once in the 70's” she worked up enough courage to take a dip, but has never been swimming in the ocean since.
We moved on finally to our last stop in Scotland, Edinburgh. Given that the big Edinburgh festival was on we decided to stay in a neighbouring town and train in for a day....good decision! When we got in the city was packed. It certainly felt like the centre of action as people of all shapes, sizes, nationalities and peculiarities jostled about the street. I was in huge anticipation of the “tat” as Joanna had called it, i.e. tacky, touristy Scottish gift shops, and 'tat' was what we got. We were dazzled by the tartan, bagpipes and sporrans walking up the Golden Mile, not to mention, totally harassed by all the festival performers out spruiking their show, trying desperately to stuff fliers into our hands. But the funny thing was that even though these types of things would normally irritate me, it was actually quite
Just a Tad Obvious?
The Military Tattoo Parade was sold out.....of course these guys definitely wanted tickets for their own personal use I'm sure fun. The atmosphere and vibe of the Golden Mile was buzzing and every ten metres we would stop for street performers. We even saw a performer who we recognised from Rundle Mall in Adelaide!
In the afternoon Nick and I went to Edinburgh Castle while Mum and Phoebe decided they were too “castled out” (the previous day was spent at Stirling Castle), so went kilt shopping. Meeting up with them later on Mum proudly showed us Phoebe's new kilt, and also tickets to a festival show 'The Ark'. The show was put together by a bunch of uni students who tried their best, but somehow failed to impress. You know you should doubt a show's credibility when the program reads “Sarah is studying criminology....this is her first time performing in a play”. Nevertheless it was at least original and well, you have to give them points for trying. If you were their Mum you'd probably be proud that it at least there was no bad words and contained no smutty humour.
Finally we were back in North Wales at the home of Aunt Sybil. From here we would be farewelling both my Mum and Sybil for two months during which we would be making our way south to catch a ferry to France and travelling around Europe.
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christine giles
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stories
back from Lombok,am greeted by another story .What fun.x AC