NOSTALGIC SCOTTISH MEMORIES

“A little way out of Aberfoyle we found the lodge on the Craigenveoch estate where my mother and family had lived. On warm, summer evenings she, Jack and Ray leaned out of their bedroom windows, watching their parents sing along with friends to gramophone music as they rowed across Loch Ard. The loch was described by Sir Walter Scott as a ‘beautiful sheet of water … a spacious mirror’. The main house at Craigenveoch, where my grandfather had worked as gardener, still stood proud and well cared for. My mother told us that the house, land, lodge, and two staff apartments over the garage, sold for a little over £3,000 in 1939.” [Excerpt from The Scottish Connection: A Journey Back – Mini-memoir]

In this nostalgic, illustrated mini-memoir I share memories of my 1978 journey back to Scotland with my mother and young sons, to revisit our Scottish roots. “The Scottish Connection” contains a wealth of information - Scottish ancestry, historical facts, genealogy, comparable 1978 prices, geographical descriptions, personal anecdotes, nostalgia and precious old photos. Available to download from Amazon as an e-book for only $2.99 and also in paperback:

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THE SCOTTISH CONNECTION CONTINUES!

This article, “Little house with global connections”, by Senior Reporter Kaiya Marjoribanks appeared in “The Stirling Observer”, Scotland, yesterday. It draws attention to my mini-memoir “The Scottish Connection” and also my other works.

A previous illustrated article published in the “Stirling Observer” on January 13th of this year about “The Scottish Connection” had caught the attention of the present owner of “Craigenveoch Cottage” and he contacted me. “Craigenveoch Cottage” (formerly “Craigenveoch Lodge”), Aberfoyle, Scotland, was where my late mother and her siblings spent their formative years before joining the RAF during World War II.

The owner of Craigenveoch Cottage, which is up for sale by McLean & Stewart, Dunblane, at “offers over £270,000”, sent me lots of interesting information and photos of the cottage.

It really is a gorgeous little house; completely modernized. My mother and her siblings would have been so thrilled to see it now! 

Craigenveoch Cottage now (courtesy of the current owner)

FREE for limited time only! – “The Scottish Connection”

As a tribute to my Scottish mother, the late Josephine McMurtrie Johanson, who passed away ten years ago this month and with Mothering Sunday coming up, I am offering the e-book version of “The Scottish Connection: A Journey Back – Mini-memoir” FREE for a limited time only.

In this nostalgic illustrated memoir I share memories of my 1978 journey back to Scotland with my mother and young sons, to revisit our Scottish roots. The Scottish Connection contains a wealth of information - Scottish ancestry, historical facts, genealogy, comparable 1978 prices, geographical descriptions, personal anecdotes, nostalgia and precious old photos.

My mother, the late Josephine McMurtrie Johanson

Excerpt from The Scottish Connection: “A little way out of Aberfoyle we found the lodge on the Craigenveoch estate where my mother and family had lived. On warm, summer evenings she, Jack and Ray leaned out of their bedroom windows, watching their parents sing along with friends to gramophone music as they rowed across Loch Ard. The loch was described by Sir Walter Scott as a ‘beautiful sheet of water … a spacious mirror’.”

Click here to download your FREE copy!

LOVE AT SUNSET AND SECRET PASSAGES!

An old photo of me in front of Boquhan Cottage,
Balfron, Scotland, where I lived as a small child
(during one of our visits back to the country of my birth)

I have been asked if Craigenveoch Cottage, which I wrote about in my mini-memoir “The Scottish Connection”, was the setting for the Scottish part of my romantic suspense novel “Love at Sunset”. I actually drew on my experiences as a child at Boquhan Cottage on the Boquhan Old House estate for the novel and I researched old houses like Boquhan and Craigenveoch to ensure that my descriptions were accurate for the era when they were built.

There was no secret passage in either Boquhan and Craigenveoch houses, as far as I know. That was completely from my imagination! However, from my research I found that secret passages were often included in these old homes when they were built, because of the religious unrest at the time. Priests and soldiers sometimes needed a place to lie low and to have a quick escape route!