In 1996 members of our family went to Scotland in the Aberdeen and Gampian Highlands section to find some of our heritage. Kenneth and George Oerke had traveled through Spain, France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Holland and took a ferry to England. We picked up Elisa in London and traveled north to Medieval York, a fortress of the Romans. After seeing the city and the Jorvik Viking Center we drove by Hadrian’s Wall into Scotland. The Picks and the Celts were early peoples also in this area. Ronnie Jones and Sarah Welch, our aunt, flew into Glasgow, once a great shipyard location, and took in a taxi to the beautiful Best Western Country Inn in the surburb of Canark.
We checked in the pleasant Rabvensneuk Guest House in Edinburgh, the "Prince of Cities." We first went to the striking, Edinburgh Castle and drove the Royal Mile, the Old Town center, and Prince Street, which ends at The Palace of Holyroodhouse, for centuries has been the royal residence. It was time for some Pub Grub and all of us enjoyed a Haggis lunch and a beer at an old and quaint downtown pub. After some shopping, a quick trip to the Royal Botanic Gardens and a photo stop the highest point, The Calton Hill City Observatory, we left this striking capitol city of Edinburgh and headed North.
Sarah guided us to famous St Andrew’s Royal and Ancient Golf Club, started by the Celts in the 6th century (1745) and has given us the rules of golfing.. The five of us now headed directly to Aberdeen, the third-largest city and "rose capital" of Scotland and the area for which we had set our sail. After a lunch is a pleasant cafe with lace curtains, we visited the Aberdeen and Northeast Scotland Family History Society, 164 King Street, for more information on our family history of the Massie’s and Hutchinson’s. Old church registers of churches in the area are kept here. We drove north-east to Peterhead, Scotland, the staging area for North Sea oil operations. Just a few miles west was Mintlaw and LONGSIDE, SCOTLAND, our destination! On the edge of town was a "Welcome to Longside" sign and we stopped for a picture. Near there was the well preserved stone, St, John’s Scottish Episcopal Church, it was the church in which John Massie (1838-1920) and Sarah Hutchinson (1833-1928) were married, September 11, 1838. The marrage combined the Matheson Clan with the MacDonald Clan of our Scottish heritage .Clans have Highland dress tartan plaids and we made some purchases.
The Scots taratans date back to the 5th century. The Reverend Alexander Low was the minister at the time who was famous as a clergyman and writer and his painting was hung in the church and the north window is in his honor. We sat in the church and thought of all the meaningful experiences that had taken place here throughout the many years. The stained glass windows in the santuary commemorate 143 years of continuous ministry. The font near the porch door, the marble altar, and the lectern were outstanding.
The history of the church reflects the many conflicts in English and Scottish history. St John’s is one of the three churches that together form a group in Central Buchan. The Rectory is in Mintlaw. As we left St. John’s church, George Marshall, the Group Secretary in his pickup, stopped to talk and sent us some family records.
The night’s lodging was on the northern most tip of the mainland at the Pennan Inn on the North Sea. in a tiny coastal fishing village of Pennan. After driving some time into the Grampian Mountains and the Scots whisky distilleries, we arrived at Balmoral Castle, residence of the Royal Family and Queen’s each autumn on the River Dee. Sarah was able to chat with the gate guard so we could drive in the close parking lot because of her smile and age. We drove through Inverness, up along the Moray Firth to Cromarly, on the Black Isle, and watched a city lawn bowling game played in a light drizzle and to a confortable B & B with Mrs Ricketts in Beechfield House, she sent us a Christmas card the next year. Back through Inverness, capital of the Highlands, which strickly speaking are the Mountains that lie in the center and along the west coast of Scotland. Then along the valley and the Lochs that make a coast-to-coast gash across Scotland. Of course we searched the dark surfaces of Loch Ness for signs of the mysterious monster. The woolen mills had displays near Fort William.
Our next leg of the trip was to Glasgow to meet Sara’s plane. We saw thousands of sheep on the long drive to Newcastle Upon Tyne to meet our large ferry, The Color Viking for our overnight sail to Bergen, Norway
