Still deeply immersed in the archives and cemeteries of Aberdeenshire!This weekend we visited the old graveyards of St Comb's and St Meddan's, ever in the quest of the elusive family which lived on the farm in the 1700's.
These stones are inside the ruins of the church of St Meddan's at Cothal. They belong to the Forbes family, major landowners in this area. The church is in a perilous state: as my daughter said "It's a deathtrap!" We fell down rabbit holes and impaled ourselves on thorns at every turn. The inscriptions were almost impossible to read, worn by the weather and overgrown in the intervening centuries. A hauntingly beautiful place though.
There were so many inter-marryings of the big landowning families in this part of the world, all with the same names, generation after generation. We still haven't found the missing link but between the stones and the books I know I am getting closer.The book in the photo is a record of Society of Friends Births Deaths and Marriages for Scotland - found on the shelves of the local branch library, untouched for decades. Fantastic stuff! It had not occurred to me that the family might be Quakers, until now. All the right names and places. I just need to join the dots...
2 comments:
oh, but you've made the socks beautifully! well done, you!
And, well done on the farm family front, too.
Pretty socks.
You weren't that far from us this weekend. Should have popped in for a coffee. I was busy knitting DD's christmas present.
I'm doing a hoodie, hoping to actually complete my first knitted garment that it's a hat, gloves or scarf.
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