Day 14–June 30–Bus Tour of Ayreshire
We had planned for an all-day bus tour of Ayreshire, the county where both of our ancestors had started out. The two major stops on the tour were Culzean Castle and the various museums and monuments to the poet Robert Burns. Culzean Castle provides an excellent history of the late years of the monarchy and the landed gentry in England and Scotland. The tour’s time budget of about two and a half hours was enough time to tour the castle, the grounds and enjoy a reasonably leisurely lunch in the cafe.
We understood that summer in Scotland is about like a winter in Texas, and had packed for day-time temperatures as low as the high 40s. For the walks around the Culzean Castle grounds, I used the fleece pullover, wind breaker, wool hat, and fleece gloves that I had brought for cold days and I was not overly warm.
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Day 13–June 29–Another Day at the Library
Today was another rainy day, and we really needed another day at the Mitchell Library, so we took the train in and spent another fruitful day at the library. I spent more time with guild records, and ended up reading a very interesting history of penal transportion to America before the revolution. Convicts were essentially slaves and conditions were so bad that second time offenders who had been previously transported to America would advocate for execution rather than another trip to America.
This was another day when we appreciated good rain gear.
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Day 12–June 28–Library in Kilmarnock
Kristin had planned to spend the day at the library in Kilmarnock to view some records held only there. I had planned to go, but had a cold and stayed back at our AirBnb instead. Kristin took the train in from Paisley to Glasgow Central and from there to Kilmarnock. Unfortunately, the archivist had not checked the catalogs closely when she responded to Kristin’s inquiry a few weeks before the trip; the record was actually on loan to another library. Kristin still had a fun if rainy outing.
This was another day when we appreciated good rain gear.
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Day 11–June 27–Glasgow Mitchell Library
Today had originally been planned for a trip to Buke Island, but we woke up to rain, and decided to go the the library instead, followed by Wednesday at the library in Kilmarnock and Thursday or Saturday at Buke Island. It is only about a mile from Glasgow Central to the library, but there is quite a hill in between. According to Google Maps, we could have taken a bus, but due to schedules, walking was faster.
This was another day when we appreciated good rain gear.
The Glasgow Mitchell Library has a number of free terminals for access to Scotland’s People, which can save you a lot of money over the per-document costs of browsing from the U.S. Unfortunately, they fill up fast, so you really need to reserve them in advance. This is true of most of the libraries in Scotland. Since we had not planned to use the terminals, we were unable to get one.
The various guild records at the Mitchell can be an important part of your research. Through guild and birth records, I figured out much of the history of a William Logan, though I am not sure that he is THE William Logan that I'm researching. There are a variety of other records that are not online and are with the visit.
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