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THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE ST. ANDREW'S SOCIETY OF LOS ANGELES

For more information about the Northern Picts visit www.facebook.com/groups/NorthernPicts

For updated information about Gordon Noble and Nicholas Evans visit the University of Aberdeen website www.abdn.ac.uk/archaeology

Join us at the Tam O'Shanter

For our new member reception!

2980 Los Feliz Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90039

Saturday, July 3

1:00 pm to 4:00 pm 

SPACE IS LIMITED!

Must RSVP by Friday, July 2nd.

SCOTS WORD OF THE DAY

Join our Poet Laureate, Len Pennie, as she teaches us new Scots words and their meanings!

Brady Brim-DeForest of Balvaird Castle, FRGS, FSA Scot

Brady splits his time between Topanga, California; Northport, Maine; and Perthshire, Scotland where he is in the early stages of restoring the family pile. He serves as CEO of Theorem, an enterprise innovation consulting firm, but finds himself spending his spare time studying a variety of antiquarian topics, with a special interest in Scottish architecture and heraldry. He was granted arms and a territorial designation by Lord Lyon King of Arms in 2020. He is a Lifetime Member of the Saltire Society, a Lifetime Member of the Royal Celtic Society, a Lifetime Member of the Royal Stuart Society, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, and a Life Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He is a member of St. Andrew's Society branches in New York City, and in Maine, and is excited to have recently joined the LA Society as well. 

SCOTS AND THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

As we prepare to celebrate July 4th this weekend, let's not forget the Scots who helped establish this great nation and our Declaration of Independence:

Of the fifty-six members of the Continental Congress of 1776 who signed the Declaration of Independence, James Wilson of Pennsylvania and John Witherspoon of New Jersey were natives of Scotland. William Hooper of North Carolina, George Ross of Delaware, Thomas Nelson, Jr., of Virginia, and Philip Livingston of New York were of Scottish descent. Matthew Thornton of New Hampshire and James Smith and George Taylor of Pennsylvania were natives of Ulster, and Thomas McKean of Pennsylvania and Edward Rutledge of South Carolina were of Ulster-Scottish descent. John Hart of Hunterdon County, N. J., and Abraham Clark of Elizabeth, N. J., both were from Scottish settlements. Robert R. Livingston of New York and John Houston of Georgia, both of Scots descent, were active members of Congress, but were absent on duty when the original copy was signed (August 2, 1772). Yes, Scots have had a huge impact on the shaping of America. Look no further than at the Declaration of Arbroath.

IAN SKONE-REES, MBE

Congratulations are in order to our Past President, Ian Skone-Rees on receiving an MBE and becoming a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by Her Majesty for his services to strengthen UK and US relations!

We're very proud of you Ian!



Lost Lives, New Voices: Unlocking the Stories of the Scottish Soldiers at the Battle of Dunbar 1650 -- Chris Gerrard, Pam Graves, Andrew Millard, Richard Annis, Anwen Caffell

In November 2013 two mass burials were discovered unexpectedly on a construction site in the city of Durham in north-east England. Over the next 2 years, a complex jigsaw of evidence was pieced together by a team of archaeologists to establish the identity of the human remains. Today we know them to be some of the Scottish prisoners who died in the autumn of 1650 in Durham cathedral and castle following the battle of Dunbar on the south-east coast of Scotland. Fought between the English and the Scots, this was one of the key engagements of the War of the Three Kingdoms.

Using the latest techniques of skeleton science, this book gives back to the men a voice through an understanding of their childhood and later lives, tracing the story not only of the men who died through the course of research but also of those who survived. Archaeological and historical evidence allows us to reconstruct with vivid accuracy how and why these men vanished off the historical radar.

Of the prisoners who survived, about 150 were transported to the colonies. Following the trail of their biographies takes us across the Atlantic to the frontiers of New England. An extensive genealogical appendix traces what is known of the later lives of the Dunbar men, through extensive 17th century records including wills, inventories and employment records, examined by their modern-day descendants in collaboration with project historians. The names of just about all the transported men have been established with varying degrees of accuracy and for each there is an entry composed of surname and forenames, residences listed by state, date of first known appearance in New England records, years of birth and death, based on evidence contemporary with the man, together with notes on his later life, employment, family history and decadency, sometimes down to the present day.

Iron- and sawmill workers, farmers and fishermen adapted to a new life in the vast forested landscapes. Some flourished, others did not but none returned to the country of their birth. Lost Lives, New Voices continues a forgotten narrative, interrupted for over 350 years, from a distant Scottish battlefield to the New England of modern America.

SAINT JOHNSTONE WINS THE

SCOTTISH FA CUP

St Johnstone edged Hibernian (Leith) 1-0 to win the Scottish Cup for the second time and seal a domestic trophy double( Won the League Cup earlier in the season) for the first time in the club’s history.

Wingback Shaun Rooney scored the winner off a header at 30 minutes off a cross from Man of the match David Wotherspoon. This victory matches St Johnstone’s previous FA Cup win in 2014. The win was considered a minor upset, as Hibs finished in third place in the SPL, and Callum Davidson’s players finished 5th, in his first year in charge in Perth. The victory gives St. Johnstone the ticket to a rare European appearance, as they qualify for the playoffs for the Europa League. Zander Clark’s heroic play in goal for the Saints kept a clean sheet for the final.

Manager Davidson lit up social media with a spectacular “otter slide” on the wet floor of the locker room as his ecstatic players celebrated a famous win for the club.



Williamina Paton Stevens Fleming was born May 15, 1857, in Dundee, Scotland. She was a celebrated astronomer who pioneered in the classification of stellar spectra.

Early Life and Career:

Williamina's father died at an early age which led her to become a pupil-teacher at the age of 14 to help financially support her mother and her eight siblings. Then at 21, she immigrated to Boston from Scotland with her husband James O. Fleming. Her marriage ended shortly thereafter which forced her to seek employment to support herself and her newborn son. She immediately became the housekeeper for Edward C. Pickering, professor of Astronomy and Director of the Harvard College Observatory. After becoming annoyed with his male assistants, Pickering famously stated that his maid could do a better job than them. He then asked her to work at the observatory as a temporary employee doing clerical work. Impressed by her intellect and vigor, he made her a permanent member of the research staff in 1881 and for the next 30 years, she collaborated on the analysis of stellar spectrum photography. In 1898 she was appointed curator of astronomical photographs at Harvard.

Fleming is best known for her work on the classification of stellar spectra—the pattern of lines caused by the dispersion of a star’s light through a prism placed before a telescope lens. Using a technique that came to be known as the Pickering-Fleming system, she studied the tens of thousands of celestial photographs taken for the Draper Memorial—a project dedicated to the amateur astronomer Henry Draper of New York. During the course of her career, she discovered 10 novae, 52 nebulae, and hundreds of variable stars. She also established the first photographic standards of magnitude used to measure the variable brightness of stars.

Fleming’s most important works include the Draper Catalogue of Stellar Spectra (1890), “A Photographic Study of Variable Stars” (1907), and “Stars Having Peculiar Spectra” (1912). She received considerable recognition for her work and became the leading female astronomer of her day. She was made an honorary member of the Royal Astronomical Society of London in 1906, making her the first American woman and sixth woman ever to be given this honor. Wellesley College elected her an Honorary Fellow in Astronomy, and she was presented with a medal by the Astronomical Society of Mexico.

Williamina died in Boston in 1911. Today, there is a memorial plaque at the University of Dundee commemorating Williamina's outstanding achievements.

Sources:

https://library.cfa.harvard.edu/phaedra/fleming

https://www.nls.uk/learning-zone/science-and-technology/women-scientists/williamina-fleming/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Williamina-Paton-Stevens-Fleming

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS

 2021 

• The Tam O'Shanter - New Members Reception: Saturday, July 3 - 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm (By Invitation)
• POLO (Will Rogers State Park - Palisades) Meetup: Sunday, August 1 – 11:00 am to 2:00 pm 
• Rosenthal Winery Malibu Meetup: Saturday, Sept 18 - 12:00 noon to 3:00 pm 
• Seaside Highland Games: October 8, 9 & 10 (TBD)  
• All Hallows Eve “Samhain” - Film Meetup-Forest Lawn: Saturday, October 23 (Time TBD) 
• Kirkin’ of the Tartans: Beverly Hills Presbyterian - Sunday, October (TBD) 
• St. Andrew’s Day Dinner: Saturday, November (TBD) 
• Holiday Event: Saturday, December 18 (Location & Time - TBD) 

2022 

• Robert Burns Supper: Saturday, January 22, 2022 
• SASLA AGM: Saturday, February 26, 2022 
• TARTAN Film Festival: April 6 thru April 10, 2022