A tale of pocketwatches

"The stars in their courses plot against us!"

Once upon a time there was a family who was perfect in every respect save one: They could not reconcile their schedules to their pocket-watches.

"We shall be there promptly!" they swore to each event. And they meant to. They really did.

"We shall be a tad late, actually." The Outsiders learned to watch for this second alert--indeed, they came to expect and to plan thus, for the family always followed up the former with the latter; they were quite punctual paying this compliment.

More often than not the family rang up the Outsiders again: "If it isn't too much of an inconvenience we'll be there...well...to put it quite frankly, rather late." Which the Outsiders learned to take as a sign that the family wouldn't be there at all.

 In the end the Outsiders were always right, which vexed the family to no end. They certainly didn't like this brouhaha between schedules and pocket-watches. It was the family curse--how could they help it? They couldn't. So the family continued to make their promises and swear to timeliness and get everything prepared in advance, but still their schedule moved at a tardy lounge and their watches flew till you'd think the gears would fly off, and late the family continued till the Outsiders never expected them at all.

"Wait for us!" the family shouted. "We'll be there! We promise!" And sometimes when the family held on with their teeth and dug in with their heels and slapped everyone and everything together with peanut-butter-and-jelly so they wouldn't slide about so, the Outsiders would glance out their front windows and nearly have a heart attack to actually see the family coming up the walk at a fashionably flustered pace.

The Aged member of the family no longer checked her pocket-watch and merely waited for the summons-or-not which came unfailingly.

The Seasoned members of the family learned to formulate plan B's and C's and D's and E's and F's (and even H's---just for good measure) and never to fret about the Plan A which hardly ever came about.

But the Youthful members of the family (not the Infantiles--they were too young to have pocketwatches) would not give up despite the wisest counsel. As a result they were the voice the Outsiders heard on the other end of the phone, or the senders-of the texts and emails expressing regrets, and over time they became quite a bit jaded with it all.

"Why can't we ever be on time?" Some of them grumbled.

"Better not to plan things at all," the Thunderous one suggested.

"We can still make it if we all leave NOW!" the Optimist would say.

But inevitably one or another of the Youthful Members would find they had lead and steel in their shoes instead of leather, or their watches had sped along in a way abnormal even for them, and the jading continued because they had been going about this way for so long.

Then one day, ONE DAY, the family had had enough. More than enough. Several of them were in tears over another aborted mission. (though this time the abortion was aided by an Outsider.) One of the Seasoned Youthful Members cracked her knuckles. She cleared her throat. She straightened her spine and Harrumphed at the pocketwatches and the digital watches and the mickey-mouse watches which all conspired against the family.

And do you know what this Seasoned Youthful Member did? She sat down in high dudgeon and wrote a blog post. And she hoped that someone in the wide wide world of blogging might have a wee spot of sympathy for the family and their timely curse.

The End.
(but she still thinks her family is pretty lovely. :)

"O I wish I was a Lassie" : National Tartan Day! :)

"Oh ye tak' the high road
And I'll tak' the low road,
And I'll be in Scotland 'afore ye...."

So today is the day every American who observes such holidays digs up their Scottish genealogy and displays their clan tartan proudly. Or, if you are like me, you bemoan the fact that you came from the Irish MacWilliams, and look up your Scottish cousin's tartans! :P
So pretty much, here we are! These are the MacLeod Clan's crests! (MacWilliams being an offshoot of the MacLeod clan) The motto: Murus Aheneus Esto means: "Hold Fast" which relates to the time when the Clan Chieftain wrestled a bull to the ground and the crowd shouted "Hold Fast!" *Swoons at thought* ;)
I love the language of heraldry, and learning what various symbols mean. The crest within the crest badge is blazoned a bull's head cabossed sable, horned Or, between two flags gules, staved at the first. Basically, all these various symbols stand for such tangible things as diamonds, gold, rubies, and topaz, and for such virtues as faith, obedience, and gentility. Better and better! :)
As a clan badge, we can also wear a sprig of juniper in our hats, or for ladys, at the shoulder of our tartan sash. Which brings me to our tartan! :)

"What an unusual dress, Molly. Is that the tartan of your father's clan?"
"Oh...no, Mrs. Hamley. Papa said it was not like any proper tartan he'd ever seen. But Miss Rose said it was the latest fashion in London last season."
~Molly Gibson of Wives and Daughters


These are the tartans of the MacLeod clan. The loud yellow one was designed in 1841 under the name "MacLeod". It is sometimes called Dress MacLeod, or MacLeod of Lewis, supposedly to come from that side of the family. (though it was designed after the family of Lewes had ceased to be chiefs)
The blue tartan was recorded in 1831 but is thought to be much older. It is sometimes called MacLeod of Harris.
So here I am, sitting on National Tartan day wearing a bright and springy plaid shirt....and hoping that there is some genealogical mistake and we are actually from the Scottish MacWilliams. However it is, I have enjoyed the research I did! :)
~Rachel

The Family "Museum"

I love family history-things! :D For the past couple of days, Anna and I have been at my Grandmama and Grandaddy' house, helping Grandaddy clean after their church's VBS. During the in-between-times, Grandmama showed us a ton of family "artifacts". ;) We saw a dress from the `40's that my Great-Great-Grandmother had made, still in perfect condition. And then we were shown a bunch of sweet paintings that had hung in her house. They were not rich, so they are not originals, but framed prints. There is one great gorgeous one of the singer Jenny Lind, and then a few others. Also a huge framed print of some famous Revolutionary War painting. These things were really fun to see, but my favorites were the papers and photographs, and the stories that went along with them! My great-great-great-grandfather was a city jailer in Norfolk, Virginia. One night the prisoners broke out, and were about to shoot him, but one said, 'Don't shoot him- he was nice to me." So they locked him in a closet instead! :P It was all over the papers, and there are pictures of him, just as Grandmama has always described him; bowler hat, glasses, smart cane, and dapper suit. From what I hear, Great-great-great-grandfather was a bit of a dandy! :D
We were shown pictures of relatives, some unmarked. It was rather funny to see the "bathing suits" of the day, because they look like ruffly pillow-cases! :) Just like any other story there was some tragedy mixed up in the bunch. The lovely Gertie, with the most delicious dimples in her cheeks, traveled for years to try to recover from her tuberculosis, but ended up dying of it. Previously, her husband was killed by a cargo hook in a riot! :O One uncle, a police officer, was kicked by a drunken woman and died of blood poisoning! :( Rather gruesome ways of dying! But then there were some sweet stories to go along with the sadness! My Great-great-grandmother married one Gates brother, and they had my Great-grandmother. But only two years later, that Gates brother died. A couple of years later my Great-great-grandmother married the other Gates brother, and they had two more children and lived happily ever after! :) I love stories like that! :) And then there were pictures of the most deliciously adorable babies, and we aren't even sure who they are! Anyway, this may not be interesting to anyone but myself, but I just LOVE family history! The little oddities that surface when rummaging through attics, and the secrets lying on the pages of long-forgotten papers...it's enthralling! I got a peep at my Great-great-grandmother's marriage certificates! On one of them, the clerk had not finished the year! All it said was "September (something or another), 190-". He probably just forgot to finish it! But it is much more funny to imagine something about that clerk. Maybe it was a quiet wedding, and he had had a little too much of a nip at the champagne provided for the wedding party! During the ceremony, the pastor' droning voice lulled him to sleep over his pen. A few minutes later with a loud"ahem!" the clerk woke to the gruff pastor, and the loving couple watching him anxiously. With an incoherent mumble, and a rough rubbing of his suspiciously rosy nose, the clerk took up his pen again, and, not being quite himself, could not remember the year, and so skipped it, and quickly finished the certificate, hoping no one would notice. There! I have incriminated the poor clerk of over 100 years agone! Justice comes someday! ;D Hey! Wouldn't it be fun if each family could have a sort of family museum, where all the treasures were displayed? It would be so much the better to be able to enjoy and learn about the things from people who knew the owners of them, than to wait till they've all died off, and everything is merely speculation! :) Just an idea! -Rachel