Blog 6 Scotland - golf and family history


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August 2nd 2015
Published: August 3rd 2015
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Mull of KintyreMull of KintyreMull of Kintyre

Views forever - all the way back to Ireland
Blog 6 Edinburgh/St Andrews Scotland

Oslo/Copenhagen/Edinburgh flight interesting! SAS airlines underestimated the number passengers on the Copenhagen/Edinburgh leg travelling with golf bags. We had a huge head wind and arrived an hour late only to find the golf bags were not with us. They had been sent via Stockholm along with many other golf bags and the queue at the missing luggage counter was very long. Then the hire car queue for Europcar was really long and moving painfully slowly as well – The British Open brings thousands of visitors to the airport each day!!

It was good to get the hire car and finally get out of the airport. It should have been easy to get to our accommodation accommodation at Clatto Bothy, near Cupar but the road was closed for 2 hours for resurfacing. Needless to say we were tired and in need of a good night’s sleep when we finally checked in. Thankfully the accommodation was perfect but the weather was already turning foul with really high winds and rain.

Started the Robertson family history trail driving to the little villages where we knew they had lived. Also learnt that headstone inscriptions can be a
Clatto Bothy, near CuparClatto Bothy, near CuparClatto Bothy, near Cupar

Our new home for 5 days - not bad for a restored farm workers and servants cottages that were part of a 17th century farm
lot more useful than Scottish Records. Women in Scotland are buried under their maiden name and then have the name of the husband and children. The parish records don’t record maiden names – not helpful for ancestoral research!

Saturday - our big day at the Open and supposedly day 3 of the competition. As you all know play was abandoned and yes the sun was shining but OMG the wind was howling – little wonder the balls were being blown off the putting greens.

We actually had a lovely time walking around the course which looked amazing in the bright sunshine. Joined the hoards with nothing else to do in the Open Shop. It was doing a roaring trade – so much so that the shelves were almost bare. So we waited for ages in the hope that play would start. We sat in the stand overlooking the 17th 18th and a view coming onto the 2nd green. The wind was really blowing and the grandstand was moving quite noticeably. At 3.30 in the cold wind we called it quits not having seen a ball hit.

Sunday - family history looking for the ancestoral home of Dad’s
Clatto BothyClatto BothyClatto Bothy

view from the window of our cottage
2x great grandmother – Mary Reddie wife of George Robertson of Beeac. Drove to Dunfirmline and had the most amazing day visiting John and Margaret Graham who own the farm where William Reddie and his wife Mary MacLean and their family including a young daughter Mary lived at a place called Old Craigluscar. Their daughter Mary eventually married George Robertson in Aus. Mary had written extensively about her life at old Craigluscar near Dunfirmline and included a description of her family home as well as a preaching rock that was visible from her house and the school she walked to.

Margaret and John have made good use of their farm and have developed and an amazing activity centre where you can do Clay Pigeon Shooting, Rifle shooting, hovercrafting and all sorts of outdoor activities (www.craigluscar.co.uk). We still cannot believe what we achieved that afternoon because of their generosity of time and interest in our story.

John and Margaret had always wondered about the tumbled down house ruin up the back of their farm. They were suspicious that it was Old Craigluscar but had been told it was called Thornhill. Using photos we had collected from the Bath Family
British Open - St Andrews - 3rd day of playBritish Open - St Andrews - 3rd day of playBritish Open - St Andrews - 3rd day of play

Canberra couple enjoying the sun but NOt the wind at St Andrews - shame about the lack of play that day.
and Chris Stewart as well as maps that Graham had downloaded from Scotlands Places we showed Margaret the picture of the house at Old Craigluscar. She took one look at the tree in the background and knew immediately that it was the old house. She later told us how that particular tree has been a landmark for people in the area for many years. It was also good to hear her confirm Graham's suspicion that the place mapped as Thornhill on the maps he was using was actually old Craigluscar.

Margaret then took us on a walk to the old house site and the well that the Reddie Family would have used. We then took a short walk across the paddock to the fenceline and down to The Preaching Stone. It was so rewarding cause it was easy to see how Mary Reddie as a little girl would have come to love the view. Margaret also did a marvellous job of taking photos of us climbing the big preaching stone – have attached a few for you to enjoy.

Margaret also read Mary’s recollections of her childhood and corrected some of the transcription errors. From where we were
British Open Day 3British Open Day 3British Open Day 3

No trouble getting a seat in the stands to watch the 1st, 2nd, 17th and 18th holes.
standing up at the house she was able to show us exactly the line that Mary would have walked to go to her school in Dunduff. Also the view towards Stirling and Dunfermline. It was a bit of a pity that our photos are not so good but the weather was being very unco-operative with heavy mist.

It was great meeting Margaret and John and getting to know the families who care for the land (and the ruins) where our ancestors once lived and worked as part of raising their family.

Finished the afternoon with a drive into Dunfirmline to see the old Abbey that Mary had written about. It is a truly amazing structure including the cathedral and abbey grounds which are under excavation. Hope to return here one day for a longer visit.

Monday – for the first time in about 40 years the golf had to be extended to Monday because of all the weather problems. We decided to go back and watch the Aussies tee off before driving north to the Scottish Highland and North Appin.

Walked in passed the practice chipping green and watched Adam Scott do his chipping routine -
British Open Day 3British Open Day 3British Open Day 3

Views across to the 18th green to St Andrews township
his shots were immaculate. We thought it was looking good. Then headed up to get a spot in the stand to watch all the Aussies tee off. By now the weather was changing quickly - it was getting cold and the showers had started. Saw Adam Scott tee off thru a sea of umbrellas. We were so excited when he birdied the first. Followed him to the third and then had to start walking a long way thru mud and ongoing showers back to the car park.

Driving to Appin (north of Oban) was rainy all the way but the BBC golf coverage was excellent and we were so excited because all the Aussie boys were doing so well. Then it all went belly up and we were a shattered mess by the time we pulled in at the BandB. We were cheering so hard for Mark Leishman and hoping JD might get 2nd. Anyway they did well and we R very proud of them. Not sure how AS will think about his golf after what happened….

Tuesday – touring and family history for the Campbell family on my mum’s side. We visited Kinlochlaich House and gardens and
Old Craigluscar - near DumfirmlineOld Craigluscar - near DumfirmlineOld Craigluscar - near Dumfirmline

Finally found where old Craigluscar family home of Mary Reddie who married George Robertson (Leanne's 2x Great grandmother's childhood home)
got great photos of the garden set down by John Campbell before he came to Aus in the 1830’s. He was a son of the Duke of Argyle. The gardens were surrounded by the estate’s huge stone wall. This kept unwelcome people out but also provided a sheltered area for a massive food garden and formal gardens to walk in. It is a lovely place but it is now part of a large commercial nursery. We were really interested in the way the fruit trees had been espaliered on the rock walls.

Drove on to Inverary Castle home of the Duke of Argyle who is the head of the Clan Campbell and guess who was there handing out the colours to his regiment.. the 13th Duke an guess who got her photo taken with him - yep it was me. He was very nice and ever so approachable. So after that we walked down to the Highland Games which were in full swing on the castle oval. It is really a big event here in Scotland and it is like and old fashioned family day with a public holiday. We saw the hammer throwing and a bicycle race on
Old Craigluscar FarmOld Craigluscar FarmOld Craigluscar Farm

In her writings Mary Reddie (Robertson) described the view from their cottage to the famous old preaching stone that looked out over the valley
the wet oval. But can you believe it there was a really serious Eistedford competition for the bagpipers. We have never seen so many beautifully dressed pipers in a big muddy paddock tuning up etc. What a noise they all make. Missed the ‘wife carrying’ where the guy who wins the race wins the weight of his woman in beer. Apparently a tradition that goes back to when the Scottish Highlanders were attacking villages and stealing the women!

So after all that fun we drove to Oban for food and a wee dram of whiskey tasting at the distillery. The local drop was very nice and they were serving it with tiny pieces of crystalised ginger – it was unusual but we agreed that it complimented the flavour of the 16 year old Oban distillers specialty drop. Also had a try of the 16 year old Lagavaulin – always one to warm the cockles of your heart. Finally arrived back at the BB exhausted after a great day out on a mostly sunny day in northern Scotland.

We have just spent 3 relaxing days in Campbelltown at the southern end of Kintyre. The islands off the west coast
The preaching stone Old CraigluscarThe preaching stone Old CraigluscarThe preaching stone Old Craigluscar

The stone was much larger than we thought and very slippery to climb. At the top, the stone is shaped like a big arm chair - only problem is trying to get comfortably seated in the first place.
of Scotland are quite remote with lots of little windy roads where one has to always be on the lookout for a passing bay or be prepared to do some serious backing up of the car.

We played golf at the old links at Macrahanish twice. The first time we were so rusty we were in serious danger of running out of balls at the 8th tee. Had to put our heads down and straighten up the drives as the rough is ferocious. The second round was much better and we went out with an extra ten balls just to make sure!

On Thursday we had our first experience of walking across a tidal walkway to Davaar Island. It was about a 5km round trip. The tidal changes here are extreme and we had about a 4 hour window before the tide started to rush back in. The walk across the sand and rock was easy but once we got to the island we had some tougher rock climbing to do to reach the cave where we were heading to see a little bit of rock art. Lots of families were doing it and a few kids needed
The preaching stoneThe preaching stoneThe preaching stone

Graham working on the words for his sermon!
a bit of bribery to keep going. It was a great walk and we also saw some big seals sunning themselves.

Finished the day driving to South End and the Mull of Kintyre. The road was very narrow and really steep. We met quite a few people walking the high cliffs with their walking poles and also saw a girl riding a draught horse. The views across to the many islands as well as Ireland were really lovely. It is amazing to think that we were only 13 miles away from Ireland.

Friday - Kintyre is indeed a quiet and beautiful part of the world and currently we are sitting on the 7am ferry cruising the beautiful Argyles coast in bright sunshine with a freezing cold wind as we head to Brodick Harbour on Arran Island to pick up passengers before heading back to the mainland at Ardrossan. Drove from the little port of Ardrossan along the coastline and the Clyde Firth towards the mouth of the River Clyde. This is a beautiful waterway.

We drove to the portside town of Greenock. It has a long maritime history and is the place where the Reddie Family (Mary
Old Parish Church Cupar, near St Andrews ScotlandOld Parish Church Cupar, near St Andrews ScotlandOld Parish Church Cupar, near St Andrews Scotland

Dad, this is where your 3x great grandparents, Andrew and Helen Robertson were married in 1838
Reddie married George Robertson) started their journey to Australia. Apparently back in the 1850’s when the Reddie family shared a small boat from Greenock to catch the famous fast clipper Marco Polo to Melbourne, Greenock was a busy port. On the dockside we found the plaque that indicated where the small boats and larger passenger ships loaded passengers bound for Australia and America.

We visited the maritime museum and learnt a great deal about the golden age of Greenock. In the 1850’s, on average 400 ships tied up at the docks bringing sugar cane from the West Indies to Greenock for processing at the sugar mill. Hundreds were employed there. It somehow seems bizarre to move the raw cane all that way but heck, that was how things happened back in the 1850’s. As the weather began to cloud over we drove south to Prestwick for our 4 day visit and hopefully some great golf.

Sunday – Golfing at Royal Prestwick – this is where the British Open began. Well let’s just say it is an Old Tom Morris designed course and has not changed since he designed it about 150 years ago. It is a long course
Logie Church at Logie VillageLogie Church at Logie VillageLogie Church at Logie Village

Andrew Robertson and his wife Helen (first of our Robertsons to emmigrate from Fife to Melbourne in1863) lived in this village after they married. This is the church they attended while living here in the Logie Bothy where Andrew worked as a ploughman
with lots of big carries, very narrow landing zones, crazy heather that gobbles the ball, massive bunkers (one called the Sahara!) and big sandunes (one lot so high they are called The Himalayas) to hit blind shots over. As if that wasn’t tough enough the weather was very windy with heavy rain showers. We got soaked but we did play good golf. The first hole is a par 4 and has to be rated as awesome. It has a train line right down the side making for a really interesting out of bounds shot if you are a bit wild. We managed to find our way around the course, dealt with some of the biggest bunkers we have ever seen – avoidance is the best strategy and despite the weather had an awesome time. One of our lasting memories is the welcome we received from the starter who spent quite a lot of time with us providing clues and making sure we had some idea of the course layout and the worst of the course hazards. It was interesting to note that Prestwick remains one of the old boys clubs and does not have ladies tees, rather it has ‘forward
Logie Village (near St Andrews, Scotland)Logie Village (near St Andrews, Scotland)Logie Village (near St Andrews, Scotland)

Restored bothy houses at Logie Village
tees’ for members. We really enjoyed the course because it was so varied and kept you thinking for every shot.

Tuesday - Royal Troon – afternoon tee off in light drizzle. Our wet weather gear has had such a work out over the last few days. Teed off with a pair of older gents one a Pom the other from the US. The Pom was hopeless and the American was slightly better. Royal Troon is another on the Championship Rota and is very stuffy also. They don’t have women’s tees either just the forward tees which the two guys used. It was quite weird because they were teeing off with me and Graham was going back to where we would normally see the white tees but they were actually red tees. He said he felt quite confused with the overall set up. After a while we all settled down to this arrangement and played some decent golf. We all struggled with the really long carries, Graham did really well and the rest of us had to spend a bit of time looking for balls in the rough or dropping another when required! Troon is a very long, flat course
Kilconquhar Churchyard CemetaryKilconquhar Churchyard CemetaryKilconquhar Churchyard Cemetary

Dad - we believe this is the family headstone of the Robertson families who stayed in Scotland. They are the family of Robert Robertson who was Andrew Robertson's brother
and compared to Prestwick is actually quite boring. Troon does however have some really challenging greens with sneaky burroughs that make the putt do some really weird things. Playing those kind of greens really sharpens you up and makes you put your head down to concentrate on the putt.

Finished our round with darkening skies and water pooling on the 18th green – imagine a links course becoming water logged – well that is how much rain the west coast of Scotland had this year.

Tomorrow we farewell Scotland and head south to Bedale and North Allerton for 3 days of family history investigations.

Dear all, not sure if there will be another blog as we are now heading into the last part of the trip which involves lots of golf and family history.

Hope you are all well and for those in Canberra stay warm and avoid the frost and snow.

Best wishes to you all

Leanne and Graham







Best wishes to everyone



Leanne and Graham


Additional photos below
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Monday - Final Day 2015 British OpenMonday - Final Day 2015 British Open
Monday - Final Day 2015 British Open

With the Open being extended for a day they sold entry for ten pounds which was fantastic and we just had to have another visit to the Open
Final Day of British OpenFinal Day of British Open
Final Day of British Open

Shame about the weather yet again. We watched Adam Scott tee off amidst a sea of umbrellas.
Castle Stalker, Loch Laich, North Appin, west coast of ScotlandCastle Stalker, Loch Laich, North Appin, west coast of Scotland
Castle Stalker, Loch Laich, North Appin, west coast of Scotland

Beautiful Castle Stalker was a 5 minute drive from our B&B. Unfortunately the weather in the early morning made this view look like it was later evening.
North Appin - west coast of ScotlandNorth Appin - west coast of Scotland
North Appin - west coast of Scotland

Beautiful views across Lock Laich from our bedroom window
Kinlochlaich House, Appin, ScotlandKinlochlaich House, Appin, Scotland
Kinlochlaich House, Appin, Scotland

Mum - one for your family. This is where your ancestor Captain John Campbell set down the gardens in the 1790's before came to Australia. We had a lovely time and got some great ideas for espaliering our fruit trees
Kinlochlaich House Kinlochlaich House
Kinlochlaich House

Formal gardens making great use of colour to create a lovely place to walk
Inverary Castle, ScotlandInverary Castle, Scotland
Inverary Castle, Scotland

What a castle - looks like a fairytale place but it is full of living history dating back to the 1400's. It is the home of the Duke of Argyle, the head of the Clan Campbell - another part of Mum and Nanna Ward's family history.


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