Major, let me just say that my ex in-laws were the most obnoxious bunch of boors you would never want to spend more than a few hours a year with who would argue with you that black was white. They were socialists (almost communists) who were also staunch home-rulers. I remember when Diana was killed my ex brother-in-law said; "So what, she was English." They were lowland Scots from Dundee & I heard many a story about the Tay Bridge & Mark had that disaster posted a few days ago. 

BTW, being a contrarian I always took the English side of the discussions telling em they couldn't make without London & of course that set em off. They actually thought that Scotland was a real country. Imagine that. They were always suspicious of me because of my Catholic upbringing even though I had not practiced in decades. Said all Catholics were missionaries. They used to go on holiday to some place (forgot) that had Fort in the name & raved about it. Any clues.  

Further to the last; I do miss my ex mother-in-law who was a sweet lady. She is in the great beyond now & she was the only one in the family who immigrated here who because a naturalized citizen. She liked the queen too. I got along better with her than her daughter did. 

‍Pat & Mike sitting on bar stools;

Pat - Mike, when I die will ye poor a bottle of Irish whiskey oer me grave?

Mike - Aye Pat, do ya mind if I run it threw me kidneys first? 

New Years was always a big thing for the Scots. More so than Christmas. We use to go out side the house and bang pots and pans together and make a lot of noise. Maybe that was to scare away the bad spirts Tommy or Hogmanay. The Highlanders were mainly Catholics while the lowlanders were prod-dies. If you want to see one of the first Catholic Cathedrals which was built, look up St. Andrews Cathedral on google. It was something else in it’s time. First built I think in the 1100 hundreds. I have a picture of my Aunt and two Great Aunts standing at the main entrance in 1953 and every stone is still there and the same today. 

Tom, I think the fort in question will be Fort William

Almost certainly Fort William, it's one of the main tourist destinations on the west coast along with Oban and Mallaig, it's the place to stay if you want to climb GB's tallest mountain Ben Nevis.

Another feature of St Andrews are the tunnels beneath the castle. You can crawl through them if you're slim enough as I was when I visited about 25 years ago. No good if you've put on weight or if you're claustrophobic.  

While we're on the subject, two Scottish-themed anniversaries for today and tomorrow.

31 December 1720 - Charles Stuart "Bonnie Prince Charlie" born.

Born in Rome the elder son of James Stuart "The Old Pretender". He led the 1745-46 Jacobite Rebellion in his father's name in which he landed with a small army in Scotland and advanced into England as far south as Derbyshire before retreating. Eventually defeated at the battle of Culloden he fled back into exile in France. 

1 January 1766 - James Stuart "The Old Pretender" died. 

Father of the above. Son of King James II. He was taken into exile aged just six months in 1688 when his father was deposed. He inherited his father's claim to the Throne upon his death in 1701. James made two attempts to seize the Throne, firstly in 1708 when his ship turned back within sight of the Scottish coast. On the second occasion he spent six weeks in Scotland over the winter 1715/16 before fleeing back into exile never to return.  

That's it Fort William, they went there via train & also spoke of Ben Nevis. In fact when I took them to Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondacks they said the terrain reminded them of Ben Nevis. Both mountains are around the same height.

I have posted old family post cards on Google of Ben Nevis. I’m sure it is a winter scene. Still can’t get to my computer to pass it on but if you go to google maps you will see my old postcard picture there it you type Ben Nevis into the search.

2 January 1492 - Granada surrendered to the Spanish.

By 1489 the city of Granada was all that remained of the Muslim Kingdom of al-Andalus that had once ruled over most of the Iberian peninsula. In October 1491 Sultan Muhammad XII entered into lengthy negotiations with the Spanish for a peaceful surrender. On 2 January the city was occupied by Spanish troops. The departing Moors were treated extraordinarily kindly, they were allowed to cross the straits to Morocco while Muhammad himself was given an estate at Laujar de Andarax where he remained for nearly two years before crossing the water and settling in Morocco where he lived for a further 40 years.  

3 January 1946 - William Joyce "Lord Haw-Haw", executed.

British fascist and traitor hanged for treason. He fled to Germany on the outbreak of war in 1939 and became the voice of German propaganda radio broadcasts to GB. He earned the nickname Lord Haw-Haw from his fake clipped accent (Jairmany calling, Jairmany calling). 

He was arrested by British troops as he attempted to flee into Denmark in May 1945 and sent for trial at the Old Bailey on charges of treason. His trial ran into difficulties when he claimed to be a US citizen and therefore could not be guilty of treason against the UK. However after much wrangling he was convicted on the strength of his using a British passport to enter Germany in 1939. 

He was hanged at Wandsworth Prison aged 39.

6 January 1842 - The retreat from Kabul began.

In 1839 the British installed a friendly ruler on the Afghan Throne who relied on British troops to maintain control. However he was unpopular with the Afghans at large and in 1841 a wide scale revolt erupted. Following the murder of the Governor of Kabul and his deputy it was decided to evacuate the entire garrison to Jallalabad 90 miles away, this in the depths of winter.

On 6 January 1842 a convoy of 4,500 British and Indian troops plus 12,000 civilians left the city heading east. They were attacked within a mile of the city gates by fanatical Afghan fighters and most of the baggage train was lost or captured. They struggled on through the snow with hundreds lost every day either to the cold or Afghan attacks. Most of the men were killed but a number of women and children were taken prisoner. On 13 January at Gandamak, still 20 miles from Jallalabad, a last stand was made before being overwhelmed. That same day a single soldier, Surgeon Captain Brydon rode into Jallalabad, the only European to escape from Kabul. Over the following weeks a few Indian sepoys made it to safety, but the captured women and children plus a few high ranking officers were not released until the end of the year when a relief force recaptured Kabul.        

7 January 1785 -  First crossing of the English Channel by air.

Barely a year after the first ever balloon flight the Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and an American John Jeffries took off from Dover Castle and crossed the Channel in 2.5 hours landing at Guines near Calais.    

6 January 1842 - The retreat from Kabul began.

In 1839 the British installed a friendly ruler on the Afghan Throne who relied on British troops to maintain control. However he was unpopular with the Afghans at large and in 1841 a wide scale revolt erupted. Following the murder of the Governor of Kabul and his deputy it was decided to evacuate the entire garrison to Jallalabad 90 miles away, this in the depths of winter.

On 6 January 1842 a convoy of 4,500 British and Indian troops plus 12,000 civilians left the city heading east. They were attacked within a mile of the city gates by fanatical Afghan fighters and most of the baggage train was lost or captured. They struggled on through the snow with hundreds lost every day either to the cold or Afghan attacks. Most of the men were killed but a number of women and children were taken prisoner. On 13 January at Gandamak, still 20 miles from Jallalabad, a last stand was made before being overwhelmed. That same day a single soldier, Surgeon Captain Brydon rode into Jallalabad, the only European to escape from Kabul. Over the following weeks a few Indian sepoys made it to safety, but the captured women and children plus a few high ranking officers were not released until the end of the year when a relief force recaptured Kabul.        

‍The graveyard of empires indeed. Who backed the Afghan with $ & arms way back then? Or did they do it with primitive weapons & overwhelming numbers?

They appear to have armed themselves with a handmade rifle called a jezail.

The fault for this debacle lay entirely at the feet of the commander, Elphinstone, an altogether useless officer who credited the muslims with his own sense of duty and honour. War is deception said Mohammed, who deceived many of his enemies with assurances he immediately broke and in the case of the Jews, cut thousands of heads off after first luring them with false assurances to surrender themselves to his tender mercies. Elphinstone initially had over 20.000 troops and around 30.000 other people of various trades etc, to keep the city functioning in the European style. They lived a peaceful and prosperous existence, only because the government back in India paid the tribes plenty of money to leave them alone. This policy appeared so successful that the government in India withdrew about 16.000 of the garrison soldiers and civilians and cut the bribes paid to the tribes too. The tribes responded by killing a senior political officer in Kabul, to send them a message of discontent. The idiot Elphinstone allowed this major transgression to go unpunished, which the tribes naturally took as weakness and followed it up with other robberies and murder and slowly the British troops were becoming more and more engaged in conflict. Elphinstone called for reinforcements from Kandahar but it was now impossible for them to get there through the snow filled passes. Elphinstone now called on their leader to come to the negotiating table and he agreed to meet a delegation for talks. The moment the delegation entered the Afghan's village, they were dragged off their horses and murdered. What Elphinstone did next defies all sense and logic. First of all the prize winning idiot did not retaliate for the massacre of his delegation and followed that up by giving the tribes the very latest arms, including cannon and gunpowder in the totally deluded belief they would allow them free passage from Kabul. which they promised. Yeh right. They now encamped and made their way to Jalalabad but before they had vacated the city, the killers and looters were already massacring the late stragglers. They had just ten miles to cover before they made the dangerous pass, which they needed to get through for safety's sake, as it was the perfect ambush place but what does Elphinstone do? He makes camp after just six miles. The next day they arrived at the pass and guess what? The Afghans had already set up there and began killing the men women and children using the very weapons Elphinstone had given them. He lost 60% of his men trying to force a way through and in a final act of abject appeasement he and his second in command handed themselves over to the muslims in some ridiculous act he thought would convince them to let his people go. Both died in horrific fashion and the attacks naturally continued. Others also followed Elphinstone's example and surrendered and they too were slaughtered. both women and children. The soldiers of the 44th Regiment (East Essex) decided to make a stand and forming a square fought to the last man, with the cry of 'stand fast 44th' being a rallying call for the regiment even to this day. Naturally the Brits didn't take too kindly to these sort of beastly habits and sent in an army with a killing general in charge this time, General Nott who relieved Kabul and set about them with a vengeance. So you see, they were not using some pop guns they whittled out of some driftwood, they had the latest technology, courtesy of General Elphinstone.

Gen. Elphinstone paid the price for his folly. He was one of those captutred by the Afghans during the retreat and died in captivity three months later. His body was eventually repatriated to Jallalabad, his intended destination during life, where he was buried.

8 January 1815 - Battle of New Orleans..

I won't go into details, it's too painful.

8 January 1815 - Battle of New Orleans..

I won't go into details, it's too painful.

"Ol Hickory said we could take by surprise, if we didn't fire muskets till we looked em in the eyes." Battle of New Orleans by Johnny Horton. Helped propel Andrew Jackson into the White House some years later. BTW, Jackson is Trump's favorite POTUS.‍

How did Johnny Horton help Jackson get into the WH?

The American traders should have been had up on war crimes because the war was already over.

9 January 1941 - First flight of the Avro Lancaster.

One of the most successful bombers of WW II. It made its maiden flight from RAF Ringway, Manchester. Major will know more about this aircraft than I do.

 ‍The victory at New Orleans, not the song Pete. Since you are going to be picayune did you mean American traitors or traders?

9 January 1941 - First flight of the Avro Lancaster. One of the most successful bombers of WW II. It made its maiden flight from RAF Ringway, Manchester. Major will know more about this aircraft than I do. I covered it in the aviation greats section.

10 January 1645 - William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury 1633-45, executed.

A victim of the Puritans in the English Civil War. He was arrested in 1640 and held in the Tower of London. At first there was little appetite for a trial and it was hoped that he would die in captivity (he was 67) but by 1643 with the Parliamentarians in control of London he was brought to trial for treason. 

However no verdict was given as it proved impossible to convict him of any crime. So Parliament passed an Act of Attainder, in effect convicting him without a trial. He was beheaded on Tower Hill aged 71.

The Tower of London reminds me of a Canadian hospital. Once admitted nobody comes out alive. 

I meant both Tommy traitors and traders.

True about my hospital stay. Thought I was going to have to climb out the window and lower myself to the ground with bed sheets tied together.

11 January 1923 - Allied Occupation of the Ruhr.

After repeated defaults on their reparation payments the German industrialized area of the Ruhr bordering France and Belgium was occupied by French and Belgian troops. The aim was to secure reparations in finished goods (iron and steel etc) and in coal and other natural commodities. They remained in the Ruhr until August 1925 during which time 130 Germans were killed during periods of civil disobediance.   

11 January 1923 - Allied Occupation of the Ruhr.

After repeated defaults on their reparation payments the German industrialized area of the Ruhr bordering France and Belgium was occupied by French and Belgian troops. The aim was to secure reparations in finished goods (iron and steel etc) and in coal and other natural commodities. They remained in the Ruhr until August 1925 during which time 130 Germans were killed during periods of civil disobediance.   

‍Never hear of this Mark. First Versailles then an occupation.......no wonder the Germans were pissed.

Ref your #118 Mark. It was the British Rhine Force that took this job over at the end of the second war with Canadians being a part of it.