Additions to the Clan Cameron Archives

[Thomas Cameron]

;D Hi All,

If anyone "out there" has anything to add to the Clan Cameron Archives (www.clan-cameron.org/archives.html), or would like to suggest some new content, by all means post your ideas within this thread.

Whether it might be scans of Clan Cameron related artwork/photos/maps, additional poetry or song which we don't yet have, or anything else of general interest, we'd be interested in adding it to the Archives.

Awaiting your wonderful Cameron ideas...

[Ailean Glas]

Tom,
We need a cameron poetry page. I have at least one effort(a poem about the links between Lochaber and the Australian exiles) that I'm proud of; and possibly one or two more that won't grate on folks. Bhal is not a bad hand at the odd verse either. I would also like to be able to post them on an alternative forum as insurance policy.

Dias Mhuire duit a Thammais dubh!
Ailean Glas MacRaibert.

[Thomas Cameron]

Hi Alan,

Great idea! As you, and the others, may have noted, there is now a poetry board within the Message Center - "Rhyme and Reason." Enjoy leaving your creative works there - it should be grand fun!!

[Thomas Cameron]

Thanks to the inspiration of Chris Doak, a dedicated Scottish member of the Clan Cameron Association, we have a new idea for the Archives: postcards. Have any of you acquired those old, impressive Clan Cameron postcards which were issued in the late nineteenth/early twentieth centuries? Thanks to Chris we now have four, which will be up in the Archives next week, but we would like more! If you have them, and would like to contribute an image to the Archives, please consider doing one of the following:

- Make a professional, high quality color photocopy of the postcard(s) and send them in to us. Remember, the quality of your copy will be directly related to the quality of the image we can scan.

- Loan us the original(s). We're good for it, and will ship back the postcards within a reasonable period of time.

The postcards in question are the type produced by Tuck & Sons, W. & A.K. Johnston, C.P. Company, Valentine, and others in England and Scotland. While there are a number of more recent, nice quality cards, please don't submit anything too new (we already would have that on file.)

We would also like postcards showing Cameron-related places, such as Achnacarry, Tor Castle, Loch Arkaig and the Cameron stone at Culloden. It might be best to e-mail a description of what you have first, and we can figure out a plan to get that image up for the entire clan to share!!

As always, thanks for making the Clan Cameron Archives a premier, unique facet to our website! Electronic preservation, with desktop access to Camerons worldwide, is our goal, and it is being met thanks to the content contributions of fine Camerons such as yourselves!!

[Thomas Cameron]

Hi All,

There have been quite a few new additions to the Clan Cameron Archives (www.clan-cameron.org/archives.html) as of late. Just in the last week we have added four new text pages, and four new graphics. Some of you may have also noticed that at the bottom of each text page there are now three graphical links. This should make it much easier to navigate around, giving you a choice to either return to our main page, the main archives page, or the Clan Cameron Museum page.

We are still looking for additional content, so please feel free to suggest ideas.

There is also a plan taking form where new poetry and short stories (and perhaps artwork) would be submitted by Camerons (and sept families, descendants...) Their work would be handed off to a panel of Association members and the winners (either the top one or top three) would have their content preserved electronically in the Archives each year. Look for more details in 2003.

[Thomas Cameron]

This week we added a couple of new postcards, both "photo postcards" of actual soldiers from the 79th Regiment (Cameron Highlanders.) They are listed in 1895 and 1916, respectively. Enjoy! ;D

[Andy]

Hello to all Camerons especially those I knew from Gathering of the Clans.
I hope to be able to make a positive contribution to your forum and add to your archives.
Best wishes.
Andy.

[Andy]

!841-1881 census online for Inverness-hire, Fort William area, and encompassing most of the Cameron territory, excepting Rannoch, and I think Sunart, Ardnamurchan and Mull parts of which were settled by the Camerons.
Many hundreds of Cameron references.
Andy.

[Alans]

Andy old mate its great to see on this forum, but not at all surprising given your interest in the people and History of Lochaber.
I hope all is going well for you at the moment. What is the best way to access this online Census? I have had a look at some of it previously ( I think on the Morrison GOTC forum)
but there would be many readers here who may not know how to link with it or what to put in a search engine.
Look forward to seeing your future contributions-it might tempt some of those "shy" Camerons out into the forum to post a wee bit.

Dias Mhuire duit a an Sgoileur mhor na Chloinn MacGillemhoire!

[ChrisDoak]

The easiest way to access this valuable website is by going to a Search Engine(I use http://www.google.com),and typing in "1841 Census Fort William).The top item on the page should be the one to click on.

Happy research,and prepare to ruin your eyesight!

[Andy]

Indexes To The Register of Deeds, Preserved in HM General Register House, have many interesting Cameron references , I have noted then all down.
Andy.

[Thomas Cameron]

Hi All,

After a long "dry spell," I've recently had a chance to make some addition to the Archives. You'll find three new text articles there, along with a new (old) map (if memory serves me, it's from about 1730.)

I hope to make a couple of research trips to our local humanities research library in the cooler months ahead, so expect some additions in the autumn. If anyone else would like to get involved, simply print out the main listing page for the Archives and use it as a check list of what we already have. I'm sure that there is a great deal of material still "out there." Anyone in Scotland looking to help out could check these two items:

Within the books and manuscripts of poet Norman MacCaig at Stirling University there is a collection of some 525 holograph poems sent by MacCaig to Miss Morven Cameron. (Manuscript collection: MS 81) is available on request. There may be some fantastic Cameron related poems within that collection.

Another one, with definite possibilities is "Etymologies and Traditions: A Lochaber Minister's Notebooks, XIX, 66-82," located at the University of Aberdeen. It may be worth a look. As always, we would need photocopies of anything submitted for inclusion, especially the long text items, as they need to be scanned for text recognition.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions of census records and HM General Register House items. We're open to adding anything relevant, so either definite URLs or hard copies would be appreciated for consideration.

Here's one for clansfolk: Lochaber cemetery records. I know that most of the cemetaries there have been surveyed - does anyone have access to copies? We might create a master file of all known Camerons buried in Lochaber. Of course, anyone willing to help with this, I'm all ears! ;D

[Andy]

Just back from six days in the Highlands which included only a short flying visit to Lochaber.
I wish to start typing out the abovementioned source Indexes To Register of Deeds,in HM Gen Reg Ho. and will either send you a printed copy or emaill to you.

A very interesting tradition was noted down in the 19th centuary, in the Celtic Magazine, of an attempt by some of the people of Lochaber to take over Strathglass.

This was in a paper by Colin Chisholm, Traditions of Strathglass, and would be of interest on this forum.
Colin Chisholm was a member of the old clan aristocracy, I think descended from the Knockfin branch, and a valuable contributor to the Celtic Magazine. and The Gaelic Society of Inverness.

Andy.

[Thomas Cameron]

Hi Andy,

In a word, "excellent!"

It sounds like you have some wonderful content, which I'm sure we can find a place for on the website. If you can send it over, we'd be able to crunch the text into electronic format. The details for submitting items are linked off the main page of the Archives, entitled "To Submit Content."

I've yet to make my first autumn research trip, but am preparing to do so (gathering up a list of what to seek.) There was a new graphic (and old postcard) which I'll be adding quite soon, but nothing major in terms of text items at the moment...

Thanks for research!!

[Cameronian]

Andy I am very much looking forward to reading this article..
In the History of The Chisholms- Alexander MacKenzie 1891 and I quote.....

Colin Chisholm is said to have been the leader at the local battle of Glasbuidhe or Aridhuiean, in an engagement which took place in his time (about late 1600's) on the hillside above Fasnakyle House between the Camerons and Macmillans of Lochaber on the one hand and the Chisholm's of Strathglass on the other. The Lochaber men came, as they had done on many pervious occasions with the intention 'lifting' the cattle of the district a practice in those days prevalent in many parts of the Highlands and for which the people of Lochaber were notorious beyond all others.(or so said Alexander MacKenzie)

The traditions that Clann ic Gille-onaich and the Macmillans of Lochaber formed the idea that they could on this occasion by uniting their forces not only lift the cattle but take possession of Strathglass itself. The Chisholms naturally failed to see the justice of all this . Such an attempt would be very galling to them at any time, but especially so, for various reasons at this time and their reply was an immediate declaration of war expressing their readiness to abide by the arbitration of the sword, and to decide the merits of their contention on the moor of Baile-na-bruthach, between Clachan and Balnahaun. The raiders objected to that large level black moor as the battle field saying that it was too much surrounded by club-farms and that women and children from these townships might be killed unintentionally. Unfortunately for them it was ultimately decided by the leaders of both the sides to fight the battle on the field of Aridhuiean, where no doubt it was an advantage for the Chisholms to fight on ground which they must have known much better than their opponents especially as there are several little hillocks on Äridhuiena and a burn running through it. This enabled Colin of Knockfin who led the Strathglass men to place all the forces under his command in a favourable position....

So basically we lost this one Andy...... I hope that your account puts a more favourable light on the event......