The Walker Family in Scotland
We traveled to Scotland as part of the overall trip throughout the UnitedKingdom in December 2005 January 2006.
I have included pictures and narrative from some of the locations we visited
for all to see.
The road signs at the Border between England and Scotland As you can see, the same
problems we have in the States are elsewhere too. North Sea is just about a stones
throw to the right of this picture.
Scottish Borders is a commercial zone for merchants and is driven by the tourist
industry. Mainly for those foreign tourists who like to say
they have been to Scotland and never ventured more than 5 miles across the border.
The sign behind the sign tells a lot about what has happened across the UK in the past
two years. It says CAMERAS, with the international symbol for a camera. The
round sign below it is the international sign for maximum speed, which in the UK is 70 MPH.
Speeding has become a problem of such epidemic proportions that the Police now use
speed cameras to do the bulk of the traffic enforcement for speeding. If you
travel at 2 mph over the posted speed limit, and have the gross misfortune of passing by an
active camera, (yes, they have a lot of inactive ones too and they do rotate between active
and inactive, so the real question is: Do you gamble with getting a ticket or do you just
slow down) you will receive a fine of at least $75 and get 3 points on your driving license for
2 years. Rack up 12 points in two years and you will be walking ………..or driving without
a license, which if caught, will get you guaranteed jail time with your worst nightmare
for a cellmate.
This is where we stayed while in Scotland.
A very nice hotel, dating from the late 1600’s,
with modern amenities, first class accommodations and service, plus a great atmosphere.
There are a wide variety of accommodations in the area for everyone’s budget.
We stayed here because it was highly recommended, very reasonable, financially,
for this time of year and the location was perfect to our daily trips around
the countryside and into Kirkliston, about 3 miles away and the city of
Edinburgh, less than 12 miles away.
For the golfers in the family, you will be pleased to know there is a challenging course
on the grounds and St. Andrews it’s only about 1 1/2 hours away. Temperatures
while we were here ranged from the high 20’s to very low 40’s. Folks were on the
course every day at dawn, in spite of the freezing temperatures and inclement
weather. We just enjoyed the views.
The sunrises were breathtaking. This shot was from our car in the hotel parking lot.
Sunset on the same day, from nearly the same location. The daylight hours in winter
here are short, from about 9 AM to 4 PM.
The flagpole in front of the hotel.
The three flags, from left to right are: Scotland, England
and the USA. The Blue field with the White diagonal cross is for
St Andrew, patron saint of Scotland. The White field with the Red
horizontal and vertical cross is for St George, patron saint of England.
The US flag, with the Blue field containing 50 stars, one for each State
in the Union and the thirteen Red and White stripes, one for each of the
original colonies that founded our country. Most of us are accustomed to
seeing a different flag for Britain,which in reality is a combination of
flags from the different countries which originally made up the United
Kingdom.
The Kirkliston Parish Church marker, at Kirkliston, Scotland,about 11 miles
from the city of Edinburgh, oldest known home of our branch of the Walker
Family. The Walker family lines are traceable to the Yorkshire area of present
day England. The family moved north in the 1200’s. The city of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
near the present day border between Scotland and England, where the earliest known
famous Walker was listed as being, is about an hours drive south from here. The
original border for Scotland, set by the Romans in about 400 AD, was much further
south, at Newcastle – upon –. The Romans thought the Scots were an impossible group
to govern, so they walled off the northern part of the island and left us to our
own devices.
The term “Kirk” means Church in modern English. This location was originally
a fortification of the Knights Templar, a religious order which was quite
powerful and influential for about 400 years in Europe and the Middle East,
before being driven underground by the Catholic Church.
The mid section of the church, as seen in this picture, which my lovely wife is
standing in front of, dates back to about 1200AD. It was added on to over the
centuries until it reached its present configuration in the early 1800’s. We
were fortunate enough to meet the current minister, who gave us a rare guided
tour through the different parts of the church, including areas not open to the
public. The bell tower, seen here in the upper left corner, still has the
original defensive positions in the walls wrapped around the turret. The bells
are functional and ring every Sunday, pulled by a long sturdy rope from below.
As you can see, the cemetery literally wraps around the church. This is common
all over Europe, in the older churches dating back centuries. If you were
extraordinarily special, or well dialed in with the locals, you could even be
buried inside, in the floors or walls.
Most gravestones were simply markers with symbols, until the 1700’s. Literacy
was not a strong feature for the main part of the population until then,so
symbols told the story and hopefully kept away the evil spirits. The three most
prominent symbols evident here were the Skull, Crossed Bones and an Hourglass,
often resting on its side. The Skull represented Death; the Crossed Bones were the
barrier to keep the evil spirits at bay; the Hourglass represented a Life or time,
which had run out. The custom of tilting an hourglass on its side to denote the
conclusion or end of something is still in use in some western societies today.
If you look at the above picture carefully, you can see the different types of
markers from several different centuries, in the same view.
This stone marker dates back to around 1300 – 1400 AD. The style, height and
marking denote the time period. The history of who is buried and where on
the church grounds were carefully recorded. Families often kept the same locations
and buried successive generations in the same spot. It took about 200 years
for the mortal remains to completely dematerialize, literally returning to dust.
The Walker plot. The stone on the right is from 1818, placed by son John Walker. It
marks the resting place of his father James Walker, who died 4 April 1817 aged 85,and
mother Janet, died 12 December 1817,aged 79 years. The stone is heavily weathered and
very difficult to read.
The center marker dating from the early 1890’s, reads: In memory of James Walker,
Kilpunt, died 6th May 1881, aged 83 years , and of James his son ,
died 4 May 1851, aged 18 months; Elizabeth Barron, his daughter, died 14th
October 1882, aged 22 years; Margaret Johnston, his wife died 11 September
1890, aged 72 years; Margaret Young, his eldest daughter, died 13th
May 1891, in her 52ndYear; John Johnston, his eldest son, died at
Feildine, New Zealand, 19 November 1891, in his 44th year; Jemima
Janet, his daughter,died 26th December 1892, in her 39th year.
The extended family history on one marker is very helpful to trace family
ties and relatives.
Some of the local critters, in a field between the villages of Kirkliston
and Mid Calder, where an earlier generation of our family migrated to, before
leaving Scotland for Canada and finally the USA There is a strong probability
that our emigration was not one of choice, but one of being forced out by the
English, who involuntarily sent many people from Scotland in the 1600 - 1800
time span
Wool is still a major industry for this area. The terrain is representative of
the region, very similar to the rolling hills of parts of California. The stone
fences are common throughout the countryside and are made by intricate fitting of
loose stones, without any mortar. The climate is too wet to make wooden fences
practical or affordable, plus they would have to be replaced every few years.
These fences date back literally hundreds of years.