5/9/02  Alastair says YES !!  So, now all we need to do is work out the details.

       5/1/2002    Gave my car rear window a new look and added a wee sticker to the rear window.
My brother George helped by generously designing it and I went to 
and they did a splendid job.

05/04/02 Alastair surprised me again. I sent "Scotland, a wee country" cd off to him
with  letter telling him how much  I thought of his site and, only a few days later, receive
an email and there it is, the whole darn 45minutes on his site with my letter and my scottish-
poet banner with links to it and scotch productions.  "Scotland, a wee country wi' a BIG Impact on the World"

5/3/02 Amy Hyde, with The Texas Scottish Festival & Highland Games asked me
if I would perform at the festival in the Kids' Tent. This is something I would love to do, so I hope it happens.

04/24/02 Donnelle McKaskle with Celtic Storm in Austin said she'd be happy to
play a copy of the cd "Scotland, a wee Country wi' a BIG Impact on the World." on the
radio show.
 

4/5/02  Then on Friday, I gave a presentation entitled "Scotland, a wee Country
wi' a BIG Impact on the World." at Highland Park Presbyterian Church. It was for the
seniors who attend Friday Fellowship and they really enjoyed my talk. I used music to
accompany a lot of it and you can hear excerpts here.  Impact
 

I was given some very nice compliments afterwards and, in the evening, it was back to
Barnes and Noble for "Scotland, Land of Poets."  I read about 14 poems from the book of
the same title and Don McPherson played his pipes at various breaks in the programme.

04/03/02 Met Don Shannon, Ebby Darden and  Gene Tiekel, Hugh, another couple at City Hall
and proceeded up to the mayoral chambers. About 9:20am the council was in session
and, we had no idea whether we'd be first or last on the agenda. Well, we were first and
Don Shannon piped us across the room and Ebby Darden introduced me to the
mayor. Then I read the following:
_______________________________________________________
"Thank you Madam Mayor
I'm delighted to receive this proclamation on behalf of
The Scottish Society of Dallas.
_______________________________________________________
There are many connections between Texas and Scotland.
 Did you know that the state capital building in Austin was built by Scottish stone masons? And
most of the leaders who battled for Texas’ independence , were of Scottish ancestry, People like  Sam
Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett.
Over half of the counties in Texas,  are named after Scots.
And one of the biggest cattle ranches in Texas, covering 800,00 acres, was The Matador, financed by
Scottish money and run by Murdo McKenzie from  Scotland who Theodore Roosevelt  called
" the  most influential.......... of American cattlemen."

 And then there's    the  "Big D and Wee D"   connection. Isn't there? ........    Big D, of course, is
Dallas, Texas, and wee D is the village of Dallas which lies in the heart of Moray, Scotland, just off
the banks of the River Lossie. The name Dallas came from the Gaelic name, Dollas, which means 'the
valley of water'.  Back in the 12th century, William de Ripley was given lands on Dallas by King William
of Lyon.   And there's fairly strong evidence  connecting de Ripley with George Mifflin Dallas, who was
Vice Pres. of the US (1845-1849)and who is credited as being the founder of Dallas.
  James Wilson & John Witherspoon, (both from Scotland)  were two of nine signers of the
Declaration of Independence who were directly or indirectly descended from Scots  and actually, we
had our very own declaration signed on
 April 6th 1320
And that's essentially what National Tartan Day is all about.
The Declaration of Scottish Independence

When I first moved to Texas, one thing that was immediately apparent to me, was how much
Americans value their freedom and so, I think that, especially in today's volatile climate, the following
lines from the Scottish declaration, will hold special significance for Americans ..
"for so long as there shall but one hundred of us remain alive, we will never subject ourselves
to the dominion of the English. For it is not glory, it is not riches, neither is it honour, but it is
Liberty alone that we fight and contend for, which no honest man shall lose, but with his life."

Thank you and have a Bonnie Tartan Day"

The mayor seemed quite charmed by it all and deliberately stretched over to
shake my hand when giving me the proclamation. She had a big smile on her face.
  Went up to Barnes & Noble for a 10:30 reading for Children. Boy, there
was me thinking that the children would be the easiest. It was quite difficult as they were
so young and inattentive. But I did a pretty good job I thought and a few of the kids really
touched me by giving me some very sweet hugs at the end.
 
 

 Right afterwards, I had to hotfoot it up to Barnes & Noble for a 10:30 reading for Children
where I gave a poetry/story reading for some very young children. It was my toughest assignment yet

POETRY & MIRTH
 
 
 

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