Taking a short (artistic) break..

Capt Lightning

Capt Lightning

Well-known Member
Location
Historic Buchan, Scotland
Heading off this week to Helensburgh on the W.coast of Scotland. For ages we have wanted to see Charles Rennie Macintosh's house (The Hill House) which has undergone extensive preservation. For those not familiar with their work, Macintosh (along with his wife, Margaret MacDonald) were some of the most influential architects and designers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They were closely associated with the Art Nouveau and Secessionist movements in Europe.
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A MacIntosh textile design from 1915
We also hope to take the train to Glasgow to visit the Kelvingrove Art gallery and Museum - the most visited gallery outside of London.

With luck we'll get a bit of sightseeing done, although the weather forecast isn't great. The W coast of Scotland has statistically about 4 times the rainfall of the East.

Anyway, off tomorrow and back next weekend. Hopefully have a few pictures.
 

Ooooh I do envy you, going back to my family home... . On Sundays when we were teens we used to drive to Helensburgh..just for the sake of driving and playing loud music .
I used to play truant from school, and spend the day I the Kelvingrove Museum... oooh I can visualise it all in my head now.:love:. and of course at Christmas time for 6 weeks of the year we had the best indoor Carnival and Fair in the whole world in my mind when I was a teen...at the Kelvin hall...

have a great time.. October isn't the time I'd choose to go to the coast in Scotland , but Have at it... (y)
 

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They make a pretty good apple too!
iu
 
Cheers Hollydolly.. October isn't the time I would choose either, but with Covid, family visits, and every Tom, Dick & Harry with a caravan heading for the West coast in the summer, we've just grabbed the chance to get away before the COP26 kicks off.

I don't really know that part of the world, although Mother lived in Dennistoun (back in the early 1900's.). I'm more acquainted with Ayrshire and southwards. I used to love visits to Girvan and Ayr, but they seem to have 'run to seed' in recent years. I used to visit our sister IBM plant in Greenock and the town has undergone a lot of redevelopment since then. It used to be really spooky driving through the deserted shipyards along the Clyde.
 
Capt Lightning said:
Cheers Hollydolly.. October isn't the time I would choose either, but with Covid, family visits, and every Tom, Dick & Harry with a caravan heading for the West coast in the summer, we've just grabbed the chance to get away before the COP26 kicks off.

I don't really know that part of the world, although Mother lived in Dennistoun (back in the early 1900's.). I'm more acquainted with Ayrshire and southwards. I used to love visits to Girvan and Ayr, but they seem to have 'run to seed' in recent years. I used to visit our sister IBM plant in Greenock and the town has undergone a lot of redevelopment since then. It used to be really spooky driving through the deserted shipyards along the Clyde.
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I haven't been to Girvan, Ayr, Saltcoats or Ardrossan in 40 years.., my granny used to take us for days out there when we were kids .

As a teen I lived and worked on the isle of Arran so regularly would take the Ferry from Ardrossan.. to the Island every few weeks

As a small child I lived in a foster home in greenock with my siblings.. I remember if fondly but I saw it on Google Maps recently..it's a very sad place now..

I hear as you do it's all very different to when I was growing up... . Dennistoun was the other side of the city to where I was raised in Kelvinside in the west of the city ... ..just a short bus ride from the Museum and art gallery , so I knew of it but not anyone who lived there.. it had quite the reputation back in the day as did all those areas in the South & East of the city at the time..
 
Hollydolly.. one evening (many years ago now) mother was watching TV and the presenter made a reference to the singer 'LULU' having come from the 'Slums of Glasgow". Mother nearly hit the roof exclaiming that Lulu's family came from one street away from her, and in those days, when you lived in Dennistoun, you were looked on as a snob! I believe it remained a fashionable area of Glasgow into 1920's & 30's though it never quite achieved its intended status.
 
Capt Lightning said:
Hollydolly.. one evening (many years ago now) mother was watching TV and the presenter made a reference to the singer 'LULU' having come from the 'Slums of Glasgow". Mother nearly hit the roof exclaiming that Lulu's family came from one street away from her, and in those days, when you lived in Dennistoun, you were looked on as a snob! I believe it remained a fashionable area of Glasgow into 1920's & 30's though it never quite achieved its intended status.
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LOL...yes it may have been fashionable in the 20's and 30's.. but Lulu didn't live there until the 50's and 60's... by which time it was not a fashionable place to live..sadly . In fact my best friend at school, and her family had moved from Dennistoun to the west end and co-incidentally my friends' older sister, had been in the same class as Lulu.
 
Never been to Scotland, but your posts sure make me want to visit.

I was told growing up that we were descendants of Rob Roy MacGregor, but I never believed it. I know that we did have Mackays in the family. A few years ago I did some research on a genealogy website and it turns out I am descended from one of Rob Roy's sons who changed his name to Mackay. Also found out Rob Roy has probably a million living descendants, not just me! Many living in the US. Anyway it gives me something to look for when I get there.
 
You might want to visit the Burrell Collection while in Glasgow. Another great place is the Pot Still on Hope Street. They have over 200 different single malts to sample.
 
In April 1603 James VI of Scotland issued an edict that proclaimed the name of MacGregor as "altogidder abolisheed". This meant that anyone who bore the name must renounce it or suffer death. In 1604, MacGregor and eleven of his chieftains were hanged at Mercat Cross, Edinburgh. As a result, the Clan Gregor was scattered, with many taking other names such as Murray or Grant
 
hollydolly said:
you can't put a good McGregor down
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Like that!

Went back and looked it up, apparently we kept the MacGregor name longer than I remembered, grandson changed it.

Robert Rob Roy MacGregor -> Lt James Drummond Mohr MacGregor -> James Roy MacGregor (Moved to America, South Carolina ~1760, probably changed his name before the move) -> John Mackey, born 1766, the first born a Mackey -> Martha Lockhart Mackey -> Maria Mackey Williams -> Louisa Brandon Burtchaell -> my Grandfather -> my Mother -> me.

Genealogy can be fun. All found on the free website: https://www.familysearch.org/
 
Of course at school in Scotland we were taught all about the Clans, including Rob Roy McGregor... and my own family names are Clan names too

My family name on my paternal grandmothers' side is Mckay , so my great grandfather was Granda Mckay and my granny was Mckay before she married,( I;ve heard non Scots pronounce it Mac-Kay or Mic Kay .. just for clarity it's Mic KY.. as in Sky .... on my mothers' side it's Campbell ( my maternal grandfather).. and I hail from the Irish Cassidy's from my maternal grandmother
 
hollydolly said:
I;ve heard non Scots pronounce it Mac-Kay or Mic Kay .. just for clarity it's Mic KY.. as in Sky
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My family says "Mac-Key", one syllable, but I have heard all versions.

Does this make us 8th cousins or something?

The book "Cracker Times and Pioneer Lives: The Florida Reminiscences of George Gillett Keen and Sarah Pamela William" contains a chapter written by my great something Aunt Pamela Williams Mackey about her antebellum life, it was written in about 1860. https://www.amazon.com/Cracker-Times-Pioneer-Lives-Reminiscences/dp/1570033463
 
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Capt Lightning said:
Heading off this week to Helensburgh on the W.coast of Scotland. For ages we have wanted to see Charles Rennie Macintosh's house (The Hill House) which has undergone extensive preservation. For those not familiar with their work, Macintosh (along with his wife, Margaret MacDonald) were some of the most influential architects and designers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They were closely associated with the Art Nouveau and Secessionist movements in Europe.
View attachment 189630

A MacIntosh textile design from 1915
We also hope to take the train to Glasgow to visit the Kelvingrove Art gallery and Museum - the most visited gallery outside of London.

With luck we'll get a bit of sightseeing done, although the weather forecast isn't great. The W coast of Scotland has statistically about 4 times the rainfall of the East.

Anyway, off tomorrow and back next weekend. Hopefully have a few pictures.
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Ohhhhh! Macintosh is INCREDIBLE! How lucky you are! I ADORE the Glasgow girls and Macintosh's linear artwork is PHENOMENAL!
And, YOU GET TO SEE THIS IN REALITY!
 
Gaer said:
Ohhhhh! Macintosh is INCREDIBLE! How lucky you are! I ADORE the Glasgow girls and Macintosh's linear artwork is PHENOMENAL!
And, YOU GET TO SEE THIS IN REALITY!
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so many places in Glasgow with Macintosh style furniture and decor.. cafe's, hotels, restaurants , galleries etc
 
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Sounds like a great time! Enjoy and keep us informed. I would love to hear about all of it as its something I would never be able to do!.
 
dobielvr said:
Omgosh. that building itself is beautiful! I'd love to walk those halls, and see everything. I noticed a lot of stairs, do they have elevators in there?

Is there an admission fee ?
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it's free, and yes it has lifts. It didn't used to have but it had a refurb a few years ago, and now it has..... I spent so many times in there playing truant from school, I loved it ..... . despite being over 50 years ago when I used to go regularly I can still feel the sensation of those big stairs under my feet...:D...also next to it is the Botanic gardens.. and the beautiful kelvingrove park...
 

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