Dear Brother & Sister

[marilyn morning]

Talk about a brick wall

While thumbing through some family history tonight this letter popped up from my great great grandfather, Matthew Morning from Johnstone, Scotland. He sailed to America in 1883 and settled in Grafton/Millbury, Massachusetts. I thought it is an interesting insight into his personal thoughts that day and I'm very thankful the letter was never mailed to whoever "Dear Brother & Sister" might be? Sadly, he passed away six months later.

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June 6, 1898

Dear Brother & Sister,

Just a few lines to let you know that we got the valise allright and was very thankful for the very handsome presents it contained. Janet was proud about her boots, and annie about her doll, and Johnny is tickled about the jacket & vest as they just fit him or me nicely. Maggie claims all the rest but she not saying much as she is not very well lately. We will return the valise after a while but let us know if letty would not need her plaid as we are led to believe that it is colder in main than here. We hope that yous will enjoy yourselves and that yous will like your place. No word from annie or janice yet. would have wrote sooner but was expecting letter with valise that about all except Johnny tell him that annie is wanting to know when we are going to see him again. tell him we will send him something when we return the valise be sure and tell him Uncle Matthew will come and seel him along with aunty maggie
no more as I ain't feeling well from your brother & sister M & M Morning

Millbury & Grafton is running full.

Write Soon

[Russell]

Hi Marilyn

It's fantastic to find a genuine insight into family isn't it.
Although no my family I was given a whole bundle of letters and cards from the WWl front for brothers from here in Kilbarchan. My family history group are itching to sort them out and extract the snippets of information they contain.
I was intrigued in your letter to find the west of Scotland usage of 'Yous' . So its not just a modern slovenly pronunciation. It is part of local dialect in everyday use.

Russell

[marilyn morning]

It's fantastic to find a genuine insight into family isn't it.
Although no my family I was given a whole bundle of letters and cards from the WWl front for brothers from here in Kilbarchan. My family history group are itching to sort them out and extract the snippets of information they contain.
I was intrigued in your letter to find the west of Scotland usage of 'Yous' . So its not just a modern slovenly pronunciation. It is part of local dialect in everyday use

Yes, Russell it is fantastic and this letter holds a special place in my heart, because its the only piece of family history that actually belonged to him. My goal is to someday discover a picture of Matthew hided somewhere? My favorite part of the letter is

"Johnny is tickled about the jacket & vest as they just fit him or me nicely."

Johnny is my g gf and I have pictures of him, so through Matthew's description of the vest I have an understanding of his build.
Now tell me more about the usage of "Yous" Matthew was born & raised in Johnstone, would this be part the local dialect in Johnstone?

Those WW1 letters sound like they contain treasure chest of information!

Regards
Marilyn

[annie1]

Hi Marilyn,

What a wonderful piece of history to have, a letter is such a personal thing and you can almost feel thier personality, your so lucky. My family had one from 1890, but an Aunt had a clear out and burnt it! I could never understand her reason of " its just an old letter"

I laughed when I saw the word "Yous", we used to get a sharp tap if we said it, but my gt granny was born in Cellardyke Fife, and this word was used by her, and my granny all the time.

I hope your lucky, and some day you find your photograph of Matthew!

Ann

[Tracey]

I love the gossip about the locals in the ones we have and whats going on socially in the villages (Rathven, Lossie.......)a Dance club, suicide, fishing. Also the chat about their thoughts on what was going on historically. I have only been able to pass on copies to the Gaskell Society (as in Elizabeth Gaskell, author) and to the family of my gt grandfathers cousins family so far. I have scoured the internet for years looking for relatives of those mentioned so i can pass on copies to them and im not giving up looking !.

[Russell]

Hi Marilyn

I think Ann has answered part of your question 'Yous' seems to have been part of the older Scots tongue across the country and not just West coast.
Don't give up on that photograph either. My wife never expected to know much about her great aunt who married Richard Jamieson in Carsphairn. A descendant of one of Richard's brothers sent us a photo which had been found in an album at the back of an outhouse out in Australia She was thrilled to bits.

Ann
I have quite a few Cellardyke folk in my tree including Watsons, McRuvies, Andersons, Murrays, Tawse, even the Rodgers. I woder if we have any in common ?

Russell

[annie1]

Russell,

I do have Watson's in my Cellardyke family, my x3 grandmother was a Betsy Watson, daughter of William Watson and Mary Galloway, the last time I looked at this branch I got a bit muddled, as you will know there were many Watson's in Cellardyke!
and the same for my Doig's!

Ann

[marilyn morning]

Hi Marilyn,

What a wonderful piece of history to have, a letter is such a personal thing and you can almost feel their personality, your so lucky. My family had one from 1890, but an Aunt had a clear out and burnt it! I could never understand her reason of " it’s just an old letter"

I laughed when I saw the word "Yous", we used to get a sharp tap if we said it, but my gt granny was born in Cellardyke Fife, and this word was used by her, and my granny all the time.

I hope your lucky, and some day you find your photograph of Matthew!

Ann

Ann, the letter from Matthew is a copy given to me by a cousin of mine from Massachusetts. Matthew had a lovely penmanship as well as grammar, which tells me he was educated even though by the time he turned 14 ,he is listed in the 1871 Census as working in a Carpet Factory. The letter was preserved in his wife’s Margaret Morning’s family bible and if a picture of Matthew was ever taken, I would think it would have been stored there tucked away between the pages. But, I’m not giving up on the hunt!

I’m truly sorry that your family tossed the letter from 1890. Believe it or not, my Aunt was going to toss three love letters between my g gf John Morning and his soon to be bride, because she thought they to be too personal! Thank goodness I convinced her to mail them to me and I now have them preserved for the future generations.

By the way, how did you get on with those relatives that settled in New Hampshire, USA?

I love the gossip about the locals in the ones we have and what’s going on socially in the villages (Rathven, Lossie.......)a Dance club, suicide, fishing. Also the chat about their thoughts on what was going on historically. I have only been able to pass on copies to the Gaskell Society (as in Elizabeth Gaskell, author) and to the family of my gt grandfathers cousins family so far. I have scoured the internet for years looking for relatives of those mentioned so i can pass on copies to them and im not giving up looking !.

Oh Tracey keep on trying, because someday in the future a relative might show up to claim their rightful ownership. Three cheers for your attempts…… Can you post some of the gossip or is it too personal? I have several very old photos with no names, dates or places and I’d love to find some relatives of the rightful owners, if not I will donate them to the local historical society for future preservation.

Hi Marilyn

I think Ann has answered part of your question 'Yous' seems to have been part of the older Scots tongue across the country and not just West Coast.
Don't give up on that photograph either. My wife never expected to know much about her great aunt who married Richard Jamieson in Carsphairn. A descendant of one of Richard's brothers sent us a photo which had been found in an album at the back of an outhouse out in Australia She was thrilled to bits.

I have repeated “Yous” over a few times in my mind and giggle with glee over the thought of him saying it. I know this might sound silly to some, but it gives me an insight into his accent, etc.

Regards
Marilyn

[annie1]

Hi Marilyn,

I now have all my grandmothers letters, postcards etc all filed away and my children told they have to care for things like this, but I suppose some people just dont get it!

I did really well with my New Hampshire people thanks, I think its a great help when you can look at these later census, and the libraries were so helpful. I was lucky with passenger lists too, I managed to get heaps of info compared to some.
Ann