“The Jessie Thoms of Limekilns and the May Queen: A Seafaring Adventure” by Jean Barclay The content of the Dunfermline Monthly Advertiser was generally fairly routine, but in September 1858, the editor published a communication he had received from Lerwick, Shetland, which was out of the ordinary, a tale of daring on the high seas. The ship involved in this adventure was the Jessie Thoms and the crew of nine consisted of Captain John Monro, the master, his father, Andrew, the owner, as `super-cargo – and six men and a boy. The Limekilns sailors were no strangers to long distances and on this voyage the Jessie Thoms was sailing from Archangel in Russia to Liverpool (1). Brig ‘Jessie Thoms’ of Limekilns (Captain JohnMonro) Entering The Harbour of Malta, 1854from `Limekilns and Passagium Regimae’ Edinburgh1929 According to John Monro, at 4 am on Sunday September 5th, when the Jessie Thoms lay between the islands of Faroe and Foula, he was on deck when he spotted through a glass a ship about four miles away, with a signal of distress flying halfway down from the peak and apparently drifting. They immediately made sail and bore down on the ship, noticing as they came near another vessel coming from the west which passed round the stern of the stricken ship and went on its way, rendering no assistance. Receiving no reply when they hailed the drifting ship, John Monro with three men and the boy launched a boat and boarded her. They found the ship…
Thomas Henry Tuckett and the puzzle of the Inscribed Stone
This article was inspired by an inscribed stone on the side of the road bridge at Rumbling Glen. George Robertson was intrigued and his investigation has resulted in a brief biography of the man those name is recorded there, “Thomas Tuckett and the Puzzle of the Inscribed Stone”. This interesting article also gives us an insight into the life of a successful professional in the mid 19th Century and of how the roads were maintained in those days.
A Dunfermline Bluestocking
In “A Dunfermline Bluestocking”, Jean Barclay presents a short biography of a Victorian pioneer in women’s education. Jane Duncanson was a primary school teacher who passed the LLA Diploma from St Andrews University.
Captain Gilbert Rae, OBE
During the Second World War, the newly formed BOAC continued flying civilian services to several countries, including neutral Portugal and Sweden. These flights could be of great importance to the war effort and of course, could be very hazardous. In “Captain Gilbert Rae, OBE”, George Beattie discusses this little known aspect of the war and gives us a short biography of one of the brave pilots involved in these dangerous times. Captain Rae was the grandson of Gilbert Rae who founded the well-known lemonade manufacturer in Dunfermline. By George Beattie By the time he completed his apprenticeship, aged 21, Gilbert had enough flying experience, to immediately transfer to the pilot staff of Scottish Airways. For the next two years, he flew light aircraft to the Western Isles. Scottish Airways provided both scheduled passenger flights and an air ambulance service that would land on the grass runways and beaches of the outer islands. Dick Smith, who was brought up in Golfdrum Street, recalled that during the 1930s, Gilbert, on more than one occasion, landed a bi-plane in a field near Berrylaw, on the west side of William Street whilst visiting his parents at Baldridge. Captain Rae’s flying colleagues, when operating in the Fife area, used the factory chimney at Baldridge Works as a landmark, naming it, ‘Gibby’s chimney’. Gilbert left Renfrew in 1940, to join the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). He spent most of that year training on the Flying Boats,…
The Collier’s Bearer and the Stolen Child
by Dr. Jean Barclay Part 1 – the Child-Stealing. In May 1817, in the harsh times after the Napoleonic Wars, a young woman, Janet Douglas of Gilmerton near Edinburgh, aged about 18, found herself out of work as a collier`s bearer. The job, which involved hauling hewn coal from the bottom of the shaft to the pithead, was heavy and degrading but at least brought in a wage however small. Janet, who was said to be sober and industrious, looked about for work but could find nothing in her locality. She was told, however, that there was work to be had at Halbeath Colliery across the Forth near Dunfermline and that she stood more chance if she had a child with her as a potential pair of hands. Janet decided to try Halbeath and on May 12th began her journey north. Reaching the Grassmarket area in the late morning, she noticed a little girl of about three in a light dress, a checked pinafore and a green bonnet and, giving her some sweets, persuaded her to come with her. The little girl was Margaret or Maggie Reach, one of the three children of James Reach, a mason, of King`s Stables, Portsburgh, and his wife, Marion Brown. With Margaret in tow, Janet headed towards Queensferry, stopping now and then to ask for food and water for herself and `Jeannie`, as she called the little girl, and at Muttonhole (now Davidson`s Mains) a Miss Marshall gave her a penny to help pay for the ferry crossing. Passing Braehead near Cramond at about 3.30pm, they reached the ferry, crossed to North…