Me & My Sassanach ~ Scottish & English Roots

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2020 Week 38 (ON THE MAP)


I am a fan of Outlander.
I have read all the books, and watched all the television episodes. 

I always felt the story spoke to me because of my Scottish heritage.
I can claim Clan Graham on my mom's side & Clan MacTavish on my dad's. 

It's also possible my growing up in a town with a strong 'hippy' culture
helped with my belief in the magic of the standing stones,
OR as I like to call them, the fairy circles. 

My great grandfather Thomas Thomson
with his bagpipes

I  love the bagpipes. 

Whenever I hear them I feel like my heritage is calling me. 


Now back to Claire & Jamie's story!

Outlander is a story of love:

across time, 

over battles, 

forever
and 

always
It's a tale of Jamie Fraser and his Sassanach!

The trials and tribulations they experienced throughout their lives is mirrored in the tale of my husband and I. 

Claire and Jamie are involved in many battles where they team together to win against all odds, but their beginning battles were not successful.
There was often ale involved in their successes and failures. 

My husband and I were also involved in battle the first night we met. We met in a nightclub where we teamed up to race tricycles. That first week of races we lost because ale guzzling was not a skill my husband had which slowed us down. The following week he redeemed himself, and we were the reigning champions for a few weeks before moving on to other battles. 


One of them is Scottish (Jamie), and one is English (Claire). 

In our relationship:
one of us is Scottish (me) and one of us is English (him).
Jamie calls Claire his Sassanach.
May I introduce my Sassanach. 

This is where the similarities between us and them ends. 

In considering who to write about for this week's ON THE MAP I was intrigued to find that my husband and I each had one family line that seemed to have stayed put. I think this is the only line in my entire half of the Bramble Bush that had done so. My Slicer/Black line was in the North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland area back to at least the 1600s. My husband's Woolfenden line was in the Rochdale, Lancashire, England area to at least the 1600s.

Source: Google Maps, Retrieved September 19th 2020

Even though these two families were separated by only 240 miles they were far greater apart. The Scottish English divide of the day would have resulted in us never getting close enough to meet.

Then again my research indicates that my Scottish ancestors may have supported the English so maybe we would have met at a grand ball where there was games and ale - sort of like our actual meeting! 

Or maybe we would have rejected our family's expectations because we both have a lot of counter-will and would have still met. 

Part of the English & Scottish ancestors 
that make this BRAMBLE BUSH

On my husband's side his 5th great grandparents were:

Thomas Woolfenden

BIRTH ABT 1766 • Rochdale, Lancashire, England

DEATH 1814 • Rochdale, Lancashire, England

&

Martha (Matty) Holt

BIRTH Unknown

DEATH 1802 • Rochdale, Lancashire, England

Thomas was the son of:

William Woolfenden

BIRTH 1732 • Rochdale, Lancashire, England

DEATH 1792 • Rochdale, Lancashire, England

&

Ann Whitaker

BIRTH NOV 1741 • Rochdale, Lancashire, England

DEATH FEB 1803 • Rochdale, Lancashire, England

My 5th great grandparents were:

George Black

BIRTH 6 DEC 1754 • North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland

DEATH 7 OCT 1828 • North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland
&

Alison (Allison) Kilgower (Kilgour)

BIRTH 7 JULY 1755 • North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland

DEATH 14 SEP 1834 • North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland

George was the son of

George Black

BIRTH 9 NOV 1729 • Dirleton, East Lothian, Scotland

DEATH ABT 1785 • East Lothian, Scotland

&

Suffia (Sophia) Fleming

1730–1780

BIRTH ABT 1730 • East Lothian, Scotland

DEATH ABT 1780 • East Lothian, Scotland

Our Bramble Bush is a story of love:

across time, 

over battles, 

forever
and 

always

It's a tale of me and my Sassanach!

This is why I search - 

Cause ... 

You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!

***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

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