Scotland forever

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Portknockie harbor
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Pops’ home on Clunie Street, Banff Scotland
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69 Seatown in Portknockie, my great great grandfather’s home
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My grandfather often spoke about jumping off the wharf into the harbor from the lighthouse. The kids still do it, I was told, but they now wear wet suits.

 

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In Banff, “yes” is prevalent…

Pops, my maternal grandfather emigrated from Banff, Scotland shortly after WWI to America with his family. He had lost two brothers in France during the war, and he, himself, had volunteered at fourteen years old. After a stay in Canada and then Detroit, he ended up in Cleveland, Ohio. His brothers and sisters stayed in Detroit and his mother in Canada. I often heard him tell stories of his North Sea town where all his people were fishermen. This summer I visited Banff and found his home, and that of my great great grandfather, in nearby Portknockie. So today, as the polls are closing in Scotland on the historic vote for their independence, I salute my ancestors, the Cormacks, who fought in the wars and fished the seas, who left their homeland to find a better life in America. IMG_0238

2 thoughts on “Scotland forever”

  1. Very interesting legacy, and a part of Scotland that I have not yet had the opportunity to visit. I have been engaged in researching a McCormack family (also married into the Ramsays) that wound up in Liverpool and particularly Thomas McCormack , who served in the Liverpool Scottish in WWII and the Commandos and was killed in the raid on St. Nazaire. I wandered into this entry from the Joan excerpt (really good work). That Scottish-Jehanne connection is still strong! Keep the faith — Kevin

    1. Thanks Kevin. Sorry for the delay. I hope to find a publisher for “Playing with Fire” but am considering self-publishing as well. Working on another, india based novel. I loved Banff and northern Scotland and continue to find more things about my people there. All fishermen!

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