Old Photographs

It is a wet blah day in Oxfordtown. Humid.... warm... but, at least we are not being roasted alive today. Today's missive is on the value and practice of looking at Old Photographs. I recommend the practice highly. The quantum physicists like to tell us that there are many dimensions, that time and place are not what they appear. I believe this and have always sensed this to be true. We are all but a dream and we are all but dreamers.

Leslie Harris McCain and Sarah Pearl Tweedy circa 1920 in Madison County Mississippi


When one looks at old photographs you can experience times and events past, knowing that somewhere some how, they exist now. I am in the process of digitizing many old family photographs I have. It is paranormal experience often, at least for me. My dear grandmother McCain née Tweedy was born in 1883 and passed in 1962. I only knew her some 10 years and a few months, yet I remember her like it was yesterday, and maybe it was. Sometimes when I look at photos of her that were taken when she was young I am thrown into her late Victoraian world and it is a very pleasant experience. The Tweedy family were Scots-Irish and came to the New World very early, circa 1705 so. They have a wondeful history. The family lore says they are 'fey' and this may be true as my grandmother had the Second Sight.


Sarah Pear Tweedy circa 1905




Treasure your ancestors as they are still here, in you, and around you.

One Very Fast McCain...

From McCain's Corner today I present the case of Anthony McKane, one fast fellar he is...
As many of you know I have spent a lot of time in Ireland over the years. Our McCain family is still very numerous in County Donegal. McCain as a surname is an anglicised spelling of the Gaelic surname Mac Eáin, other common anglicised spellings are McKean and McKane. My own family spelled our surname McKean and McKeen for many years in fact. We know where our people are in Donegal because we did a DNA Y chromosome test to confirm our kinship with our Irish branch of our tribe. We knew who we thought they were, and our Irish branch also knew we were theirs, so to speak, but many of us left Ireland so very long ago, that we all felt the DNA would be the best way to confirm the fact. There are other McCain families, both in Ireland and Scotland, that are not connected to ours.

Last summer when I was in Donegal I met with some 2o or so McCain families. It was great meeting and talking with them and it is great having a large extended family in Ireland. The McCains are by origin Highland Scots, Gaels from mid Argyll. We are not sure of the exact date we relocated to Donegal, but records suggest it was between 1568 and 1595. We settled on clan Ó Dónaill lands, which after the flight of the earls in 1607 became the lands of James Hamilton and his family, which is when we start showing up in the written records. Later some of our McCains moved into Tyrone, Derry, and northwest Antrim, and we did well for the most part.

The account below is a news story from today concerning one of our tribe with a heavy foot, or whatever it is called on a motorcycle! BTW 260 KPH is about 161 MPH!!! Given the roads around Donegal Town, this McCain not only fast, but brave, or foolish. The state police in Ireland are called the Gardaí (plural), one policeman is called a Garda.



Saturday, July 4, 2009
Charges dismissed against bikers clocked doing 260km/h



PADDY CLANCY

FOUR MEN who were accused of driving their motor bikes in convoy at 260 km/h escaped a dangerous driving conviction yesterday.

The charges against them were dismissed after the prosecution evidence against one of them, Enda Connor (27), was ruled unsatisfactory by Judge Denis McLoughlin at Ballyshannon District Court.

The case was brought after south Donegal Garda traffic corps chief Sgt Iggy Larkin clocked four bikers driving at 260km/h along the Bundoran bypass in a 100km/h zone at Finner last September 27th.

Sgt Larkin and his traffic corps colleague, Garda Elaine Gordon, told the court the bikes were going too fast for them to follow.

Sgt Larkin said: “I certainly wasn’t going to risk our lives and the lives of others on the road trying to catch the bikers.”

Gardaí in Donegal more than 20km away were asked to stop them.

Sgt Larkin said when he reached the Tullyearl roundabout outside Donegal town four motor-cycles were pulled in on the left. He showed them the figure registered on his handheld speed-gun.

He said: “Some of them said they couldn’t do that speed.”

The court heard that Mr Connor admitted driving a yellow and blue Honda to Garda Gordon when she spoke to him before later arresting him for dangerous driving.

Judge McLoughlin said he was ruling that evidence inadmissible because Mr Connor had not been cautioned at the time that anything he would say could be given in evidence.

The judge also said the gardaí were unable to identify which bike was clocked at 260km/h. Sgt Larkin had admitted he was unable to read the number plate registrations.

The judge dismissed the charge against Mr Connor, of Sechelles, Rathlee, Easkey, Co Sligo.

When Insp Paul Kilcoyne, prosecuting, said the evidence would be the same in all cases the judge also dismissed dangerous driving charges against Enda McCann (31), of Dartry View, Kinlough, Co Leitrim, Anthony McKane (31), of Ashdene, Dungannon, Co Tyrone, and John Donnelly (28), of Cloughfin Road, Sixmilecross, Omagh, Co Tyrone.

Mr Connor’s solicitor, Kieran Ryan, paid tribute to Sgt Larkin for the “honesty” of his evidence.

Judge McLoughlin said: “Like any garda he was extremely fair. He didn’t try to gild the lily and I’m grateful.”

--

McVities and Tea

Working with the Ulster Heritage DNA Project has been fascinating. History is much different in reality than the pre-packaged often agenda driven pulp variety we are commonly asked to digest, and Ulster history is more complex than most. Now this could drive us to tears, but really it should not, as it is wonderfully rich and older than the hills. It is epic and our people have made their mark in the four corners of the world. Hard to top that.

When I started my path to study Ulster history I knew there was going to be trouble when I was reading up on the 16th Century Clann Mhic Dhónaill taoiseach named Somhairle Buí Mac Dónaill. He pretty much ran things from Coleraine east to Cushendun in his day. I read an Irish written account that described him as a ‘Scottish warlord,’ and I then read a different Irish account of him that called him a ‘Scottish pirate.’ Now which was it, lads?

Notions such as native Irish, Ulster Scots, etc., quickly become unravelled when examined through the microscope lens of Y chromosome DNA testing. A new world and more accurate history comes into focus. You will see a Donegal family that has distant kin to a family in the Hebrides, etc., reflecting the movement of clans in days gone by. One family will be quite Irish, one family quite Scottish, perhaps even different religions now, but the same family. When you get your DNA test results in, it is much like having a time machine; you see where your people were living centuries ago, even millenniums ago. A world of families and their long forgotten tribal affiliations appear.

Barry R McCain with his cousins in County Donegal Ireland, a long way for a Mississippi boy!


I created one of the early Ulster family DNA projects, the McCain DNA Project, and it was very successful. My first DNA match was to a McKane gentleman, born in north Antrim. He immigrated in 1979 to the USA. When I was over in fall of 2004, I did stop to visit his (and my) in-laws and relations in Ballyrashane Parish, County Antrim. I pulled up my rented Toyota Matrix and knocked on their door, a rural place, still a working farm. My people left in 1718, so it did take a few minutes of explanation to sort out exactly how we were kin, but I saw the very moment of their realisation. The expression on their faces changed, yes, and they knew how we were connected. Yes, you are ‘our’ McCains… It was McVities and tea and a nice chin wag then.

Irish Coffee

Irish Coffee… The Rest of the Story

Let's see, Irish whiskey, good strong black coffee, a bit of sugar, then nice thick cream, poured over the back of a spoon, so that it sits on top of the coffee, whiskey, and sugar mixture; what's not to love. When made right with good ingredients Irish Coffee is the perfect restorative. Last summer on my travels in Ireland I came upon the real story of Irish Coffee, in Ballybofey, County Donegal.

There is a common and widely held myth that Irish Coffee, that most wonderful of elixirs, was first created in the bar in Shannon Airport. It is true this luscious, Gaelic concoction, was served there at a very early date. But… it wasn’t the first place to serve this wonderful drink, it actually originated in County Donegal at Jackson’s Hotel, in Ballybofey.

There was a seaman named Joe Jackson, a Derry man, who served in the Merchant Navy during World War II. It was his misfortune to be on a ship that was torpedoed in the north Atlantic. When he was rescued he was suffering from exposure and was revived with a high proof drink made from coffee and rum, which was a Navy practice of the day. The rest of Joe Jackson’s service was in the eastern Mediterranean and there he was exposed to drinks containing cream, sugar, and spirits.

With the war over Joe returned home to Ireland and married a woman in the catering business in Ballybofey. Joe purchased a hotel in Ballybofey and calling upon his experiences during the war, began to experiment with new drinks. One of the specialties of the house was an ‘Irish Coffee’ which was made of strong black coffee, sugar, Irish whiskey, and then a layer of cream on top. This was circa late 1940s.

In the early 1950s a Scottish motoring magazine published an account of Joe Jackson’s Irish Coffee. The drink was replicated, according to lore, on 10 November 1952, in the bar of Shannon airport, but this was several years after Jackson’s Hotel served the drink. Perhaps it was a public relations coup or perhaps Donegal was in those days too distant and away, for whatever reason, the Shannon airport origin for Irish Coffee began to take root.

The real story is Irish Coffee is the creation of Mr Joe Jackson and was first served at Jackson’s Hotel in Ballybofey, County Donegal, where they still serve it today, exactly as it was created by Joe Jackson in the late 1940s.

Barry R McCain ©2017

29 June 2009, Life In Oxford

Life In Oxford Mississippi

We have had some very hot days in Oxford recently. My home thermometer has been hitting 98 F for the last few days and the weather station at our wee airport very near that. But, late yesterday a front, or what passes for one this time of year, came through. We had a thunderstorm and some rain. This morning I woke to a stunning (this time of year) 64 F at my house. I opened the doors and drank coffee outside with my two Manx cats, Piscín and Pangur.

The air cool, the sunlight filtering through the trees. A slight breeze in the air.

I live only 5 miles from Ole Miss, a little less from The Square, yet woods are all around me. Such is the way of what is still a small Southern town. As I sat outside, drinking coffee, I heard a local rooster and a wild turkey exchange threatening cries to each other.

Quality lads and lassies.

April Freeze in Oxford

April freeze in Oxford, Mississippi and my tomatoes.

Well, the Weathermen assured me there would be no frost last night. The official low was circa 36 degrees Fahrenheit. However, I live in a hollow. For those of you not familiar with Southern terms, a hollow (said 'holler'), is a bowl shaped geographic feature, surrounded by some hills. Low hills in my case.

There is a phenomenon with cool air pouring into low areas and you get a drop in the temperature in that one small area. And so it was last night.

The Weather Channel was beaming a low of 36 to 38... but when I read my thermometer when I got up in the morning, I saw a 31.8. Yikes, I did not cover my tomatoes as I believed the Weather Channel.

Casualties are two dead and two wounded tomato plants. And I remind myself, the Weather Channel is now owned by NBC and that is to say they are not to be trusted anymore.

What I Like About The South

One of pleasure of living in the Deep South is Crawfish boils... here's some we enjoyed over the weekend.



musician and songwriter Donovan McCain shows off a fine crawfishy

The Bonnie Blue Flag, 2009

A Passing

Well, I've been gone for awhile. A dear, dear, friend was killed in a car wreck on the evening of 13 March, and I frankly have not been able to get over it yet. I will be back later, perhaps. Just need time to heal.

Barry

Back When The World Was Real