Two Galloway genetic tales

Talking recently with a Galloway doctor I asked about an old tradition that the family of a man involved in the death of the Wigtown Martyrs had been cursed by his descendants being born with webbed fingers.

He said that he knew the family and instances of webbing in the family are still occurring today. The Wigtown Martyrs were two women who were tied to stakes and drowned by the incoming tide at the Galloway town. They refused to accept the subjugation of belief to Royal decree and today are heroes of the Covenanter movement. The killings took place on May 11, 1685. And one of the men who assisted is said to have been punished by the webbing in the fingers of some of his descendants. Webbing of the fingers is an unusual but not unknown genetic condition which, of course, has nothing to do with superstition.

Another, less serious, feature of another family is their curly hair. Running into one of them recently, I asked her about the curly hair story. “Well, my hair certainly isn't curly,” she laughed. But she did say that it was in many members of the family. Tradition ascribes this to the presence of a West Indian way back in the family history. The man was thought to have been a servant of a wealthy local family that had extensive interests in the West Indian sugar trade. This, of course, was founded on slavery.

Don't talk to the peasants

Gavin Maxwell's book “Ring of Bright Water” is a much-loved account of the otters that live in Galloway.

He lived from 1914 to 1969 and had a very colourful life. A short distance north of Port William, on the top of a cliff overlooking the sea, can be found a bronze statue of an otter and a plaque commemorating Gavin Maxwell.

Talking a few days ago with some ladies who remembered him and the Maxwell family, it became apparent that the family had a very well defined concept of its superior social status. One lady said that her grandfather and father put the plumbing into the big house and she and other children went along some days. “But Gavin and his brothers and sisters weren't allowed to talk to us as we were only the children of working men.”

History on Tap

The World Peace Society does wonderful work and it has a centre about six miles north of Dumfries with a wide range of activities and programmes.

The Society is based at Allanton House, which looks as if it was built at the start of the 20th century.

There are some lovely period details, including a tiny wash basin in a WC, compete with the original “Hot” and “Cold” taps “Shanks and Co. Patentees.” The wall tiles are also original and give a flavour or a perhaps more elegant age, when the throne was suitably placed up a step in an elevated position.

The Shanks Group is today Europe's leading waste management company, being a member of the FTSE 250 group listed on the London Stock Exchange. Revenue in 2009 was £696 million. The company began in 1880 when Guy Shanks and Andrew McLewan set up a a construction company. They worked mainly in the west of Scotland. Today the group has a huge range of interests.

In the grounds at Allanton there is a family vault containing the remains of members of the Symington family. A Symington family was, and very much is, hugely important in the Port, Madeira and Duoro wine trade. The dynasty was founded by a man from Scotland, who went out to Portugal in the late 19th century. Whether or not these Symingtons are connected with Allanton House is not known, at least by me.

See www.worldpeace-uk.org

The wild garlic is sweet and new now and it is a wonderful addition to recipes.

Out strolling and rolling through an ancient deciduous wood we found ourselves next to swathes of beautiful young wild garlic. This is technically known as allium ursinum, or Ramsons.

A large handful of leaves was quickly gathered and later chopped fine to be cooked with a roll of beef brisket, a lovely, inexpensive joint that needs long loving cooking but is wonderfully tender if it gets it. Our chopped wild garlic went into the slow cooker with red onions, shallot-onions, a beef stock cube, a splash of soya sauce, water and some dried herbs. Delicious. The taste of wild garlic leaves is much milder than the more familiar cloves and heads of garlic. Some people eat the leaves raw in salads – but we prefer to play it safe and enjoy them cooked.

The Latin name acknowledges the fondness of bears for the roots of the plant and these are also a delicacy much appreciated by wild boars.

Fog horn memories

Anyone who accuses their partner of snoring like a fog horn will wish to visit the Corsewall Lighthouse on the Rhins Peninsula of Galloway to have a look at the real thing.

Today, everything is automated in lighthouses and the Corsewall Lighthouse is a fine boutique hotel, which has won many awards for its outstanding cuisine and ambiance.

However, the light is still working and a walk around the front of the building, above the jagged rocks below, finds a huge fog horn pointing out to sea. Corsewall is at the southern entrance to Loch Ryan, for centuries the major port for ships travelling to and from Ireland. Today the loch is as busy as ever, with huge modern ferries constantly moving in and out from bases at Stranraer, at the head of the loch, and Cairnryan, about half way up on the northern side. On a recent visit the weather was glorious, except down in Loch Ryan, which was wrapped in a fluffy blanket of sea fog. The lighthouse was similarly swaddled, but the old fog horn was not working. Apparently, modern navigational aids have made long-range fog horns largely unnecessary.

The light from the Corsewall Lighthouse first shone out in 1817. It was automated in 1994 and is now operated from Edinburgh. But local people still remember the lighthouse keepers and at least one is still around, efforts are being made to trace him to find out more about life in a Galloway lighthouse.

The four-star, owner-operated, hotel is set in 20 acres of grounds. The hotel's Range Rover will pick up guests from railway and bus stations in Stranraer, and there is no problem with vehicle access – head north of Kirkcolm. Pickups can also be arrange from Glasgow and Prestwick airports.
Corsewall Lighthouse Hotel, Corsewall Point, Kirkcolm, Stranraer, Scotland, DG9 0QG. Telephone 01776 853 220. www.lighthousehotel.co.uk. Among the items on a sample menu are: “Supreme of Wood Pigeon from the Craufurdland Estate pan eared and carved onto a nest of crisp salad leaves, served with a tangy tomato chutney and pink grapefruit segments; Roast Rack of Galloway Lamb, pan roasted and presented with a mint-scented gooseberry jelly glace; and Breast of Succulent World Renowned Goosnargh Duck, pan roasted and presented with a rich Cointreau and orange zest game jus.”

Bells ring for Osprey arrival

The bells were ringing in Wigtown first thing this morning to announce the arrival of the season's first osprey.

Wigtown has been home to ospreys for several years with pairs arriving to settle into a giant nest and usually raising a couple of chicks. The County Buildings, or equivalent of the Town Hall, has a special bird room on the top floor with a link to a camera focussed on the nest, whose location is secret.

This morning the first arriving member of staff was delighted to see an osprey sitting calmly in the nest. She dashed for the bell rope and rang the bell to alert the town to this happy event. Quickly, people came along and there was great interest in the visitor. Apparently, no ring could be spotted on the bird when it stood up, so it may be a new visitor. Or, perhaps an older one that has lost its ring.

Half a dozen people were quickly on osprey watch at the screen but when we visited, he or she was off flying around. This is an early check in to the nest, last year the first bird arrived two days later.

Great hopes are held for this year's eggs and chicks.

Update: Another osprey arrived at the nest a short time afterwards. It was confirmed that the male was “EP” and the female “H/D” - not, perhaps, the most exciting names in the world for such elegant birds. They have both returned to Wigtown after wintering in Africa. EP has been out and about collecting sticks and started digging an egg hollow in the nest. His partner has enlarged the hollow and moved twigs around to make it comfortable. Meanwhile, swallows have also arrived, being seen in Newton Stewart and the Isle of Whithorn

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A glimpse of the farming past

This old farming equipment is quietly rusting away at a quiet spot on the Rhins Peninsula.