Issue No. 13; November/December 1999
Issue No. 13; November/December 1999
Chief George and President Lamar gunning for glory at Vicksburg
And what a glorious gathering it was; all 2 weeks, 4 banquets, 98%
humidity, and 100 degrees
Fahrenheit of it; taking in Vicksburg, Louisville, Jackson, Natchez and
New Orleans.
See the Chief's own account of the highlights inside this issue.
MEANWHILE CALLING THE SHOTS FOR THE
MAC-MILLENIUM ARE
Jim and Audrey MacMillan of New York,
selling tickets like hot cakes the world-over, for the giant raffle in
aid
of the Clan Centre to be drawn at Finlaystone by the Chief in September.
Philip C. McMillan of Salt Lake City,
recruiting for the Clan MacMillan Society of Utah, the new branch of the
clan which
the Chief has just recognised; congratulations to founder and first
President, Philip.
Robert and Susan Bell of Greensboro,
organising the Appalachian Branch to welcome George & Jane to the
Loch Norman Games near Charlotte, North Carolina, where the Chief is "Honored
Guest" next April.
Also in this issue: Graeme at Stone Mountain and Richmond Games; Project MAOL reports on the ever-expanding "RH" connection, and reproduces the photo of a McMullen born in 1799; latest worldwide clan and sept-name news, and the up-to-date Clan MacMillan Directory.
PEOPLE AND PLACES
Left: Andrew McMillan and Rachael McMullen
taken by Graeme in October at the Stone Mountain Highland Games Games
in Georgia.
Andrew, who is on the organising committee for the games, very kindly made
all the arrangements for my visit - for which many thanks to him - and
Rachael sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the games' opening
ceremony, as she had done in Atlanta in 1996 at the closing ceremony of
the Olympic Games. With the temperature touching 80 degrees and such a
beautiful setting, it was a great place to be; and all the better for
meeting up there again with old friends from Grandfather Mountain '98 and
Finlaystone '96. It was particularly good to see Judge Walter McMillan
looking so fit after his recent heart scare. The following weekend saw me
accompanying Robert Bell to the Richmond Highland Games in Virginia -
thanks to Robert for the lift, and to Sue for taking time off from work to
make a most excellent lunch at their home in Greensboro before we left -
where we met up with Ed and Emily Williams, who along with Bill and Debbie
Swackhamer, have really got the M'millans well set up at one of the most
rapidly expanding games in America. It was a bit windy, and therefore a
little on the cold side; but we were able to warm up in the evening with a
visit to a pub in town run by a genuine Scouser who kept his memories of
England alive with Beatles music (he knew the Fab Four back in Liverpool)
and Speckled Hen beer.
Right:
Ed Williams' wonderful model of Castle Sween as it must have been in
its heyday. If you want one too, Ed can supply you with complete
architectral drawings and instructions on the materials and the methods
used for the model (see his address in the Clan Directory). My thanks
to Ed and Emily for a glorious couple of days spent sight-seeing in
Virginia after the Richmond Games - at the very best time of the year,
with temperatures in the low 70s and glorious autumn colours - and for the
most generous hospitality shared with other members of Emily's family.
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, on the edge of Washington DC, was the setting for a pioneering joint venture this autumn between the Appalachian and Northeast Branches of the clan to provide a first official MacMillan presence at its Celtic festival. Ed and Emily Williams were once again to the fore on behalf of the southerners, meeting up with Clan Centre Trustee David MacMillan and his father Malcolm from the north in what was apparently a very amicable and efficient working partnership. They were all particularly pleased to welcome to their ranks retired army general Theodore Stroup - a descendant of Donald (the Elder) McMillan, an emigrant from Kintyre to Canada in 1851 - who we had been delighted to meet at Finlaystone last year.
JAMES MACMILLAN the composer has been causing considerable controversy this summer with his assertions that the Scots are bigoted philistines; making it an uncomfortable place for a Catholic artist like himself to work. All the more reason therefore to congratulate him on continuing to live here rather than taking the high-road to London like so many others.
CRAIG MCMILLAN & MATHEW BELL are New Zealand
cricketers who made life particularly difficult for the English team this
summer - especially Craig whose century in one match inspired our clan
bard - otherwise known as the chief - to send him this little tribute:
Although the England bowlers may / Regard you as a villain, / Your
clan beyond the border say / Three cheers for Craig McMillan.
JOHN
F. "LOFTY" MACMILLAN, a past President of the North American
Society, was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Letters "for years of
working to improve society's conditions" at the University of New
Brunswick in May. Lofty has served in the coal mines, the Canadian Navy,
the Saint John Police Force, the federal council of the New Democratic
Party, and as President of the New Brunswick Federation of Labour. He is
pictured left after the ceremony with his wife Clara, Rev. Chris McMullen
and his wife Valda. We are always grateful to Lofty and Chris for keeping
us up to date with news from New Brunswick; and this year also to Marie
Wood from Georgetown - who we welcomed to Finlaystone last year - for
an update on the Prince Edward Island chapter. We hope to hear much more
from the Canadian Maritimes in the forthcoming year as we look forward to
the International Gathering to be held there in 2001.
ORIGINS OF CLAN CENTRE VISITORS 1999: USA 36; Canada 7; New Zealand 2; Australia 1; UK 4.
Project MAOL Report
Is
this the earliest born M'millan ever to be photographed?
This picture is of Sinclair McMullen who was born on the
9th May 1799 and who died on 12th January 1884, having lived all
his life in Elbert County (later called Hart County) Georgia, USA. He was
a brother of Emily McMullen Williams' ancestor; both of whom were sons of
John McMullen "the Tailor" who emigrated from Ireland to
Virginia in 1760 (I'm grateful to Emily for the copy of this treasured
photo). In theory there could be many pictures of earlier-born
M'millans as photography was invented by the mid-1800s, which means
M'millans born as early as the 1760s could perhaps have been photographed
as very old men.
SPELLING VARIATIONS PASS 200
Birth/baptism of Catrein to Finlay McIlliveaill & Catrein
Nikermid, 12 Nov.1654, Kenmore, Perth.
Johne McGilmwell in Darnaway, Moray is recorded in the
Exchequer Rolls c.1502; he also appears in the same source as Jhone
McGillemoyll, a version already noted in our list of variations.
Andro Mulison/Mulansone/Melanesone who appears in the same records
is almost certainly a M'millan; but as the count only includes versions
using Mac/Mc the running total is now 201.
THE "R.H."
CONNECTION
One of the most remarkable works in the Clan
Centre Library is a copy of Robert H. McMillan's Record of McMillan
and Allied Familes, a detailed genealogy of Robert's family back to
the father of his emigrant ancestor Malcolm (arrived in North Carolina
1774), one John M'millan who is on record as a tenant in the Mull of
Kintyre in 1716. The index lists some 961 actual M'millans, but many
hundreds more ancestors and descendants bearing other surnames as well.
Like all American families, this one spread out from its original arrival
point - which as with so many Highland Scots was in the Cape Fear region -
into numerous other states; most notably of course Georgia where "R.H."
himself and many of his cousins still live.
We are regularly visited by cousins
of Robert, many of whom know about his book - and therefore their link
back to Scotland - but also some who do not; and who are naturally
delighted if I succeed in making the connection for them (which is what
Project MAOL is all about). 
Two
such cases this year have brought great pleasure to the people concerned:
Janet Alford from Florida came on her second visit to Finlaystone, this
time bringing her father Charles W. McMillan and all the genealogical
information he had about the family; which was enough to discover that
Charles and Pat Hammond - R.H.'s daughter - are 6th cousins. Then towards
the end of the summer Peg Woodruff from Georgia arrived knowing nothing
further back than her M'millan great-grandfather; but that was enough for
me to discover from R.H.'s book that she's his 5th cousin.
The "R.H. Connection" links many other M'millans in different parts of the USA, such as Kathy Frank in Maryland; Susan Winkler in Massachusetts; Rowene Conn in California; and the McMillans of Jasper, Tennessee: Willie Mac, Big Ed and their family. Some, but not all of these are shown on the tree opposite. I saw R.H. and Pat twice this year - in Mississippi (pictured there right) and at Stone Mountain - and I suggested to them that perhaps the time has come to organise a re-union of the descendants of Malcom. We tentatively agreed that maybe the summer of 2001 would be an appropriate time; and Georgia - hopefully R.H.'s home town of Tifton - the right place. As R.H. is now 86 - though few who see him believe it - it would be a bit much to expect him to organise such an event, and I'm too far away to do much more than encourage; so now is the time for cousins to rally round. See R.H.'s address as USA Sec. of North American Soc. in Clan Directory.
The family tree illustrating the last item appears as page 7 of the current newsletter. Other highlights in it are "The Chief's Memories of Mississippi", which includes a number of photographs (the colour versions of which will only appear on the website when the next issue comes out - in April 2000) and "From the Archivist's Aerie" (Graeme Mackenzie's personal views about various matters to do with the organisation of the clan).
The Back Page contains the very latest news about the Centre and its Trustees in the Stop Press column. To obtain your full copy of this issue of the Clan Centre Newsletter please see details about the Friends of the Clan MacMillan Centre.
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