Category Archives: Scotland 2016

Farewell To Stromness

Posted on 2021/04/30 by Bartholomew Barker

For today’s prompt from Robert Lee Brewer’s Write Better Poetry blog, write a goodbye poem. Whether leaving for a holiday or going to get groceries, many people find themselves in positions of saying goodbye to each other. So this feels … Continue reading →

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Silence: A Halloween Nightmare

Posted on 2019/10/30 by Bartholomew Barker

Silence The silence surprises me— no more thumping from my chest— no more swooshing through my ears— the little gurgles of a living body are now absent and missed. The last light to enter these eyes was from cold clinical … Continue reading →

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The Globe Inn

Posted on 2017/03/06 by Bartholomew Barker

On my trip to Scotland last summer, I visited The Globe Inn in Dumfries, once frequented by the Bard of Ayrshire, the Ploughman Poet, the great Robert Burns. I wrote a poem while enjoying the Haggis, Mashed ‘Neeps and Champit … Continue reading →

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Knights of Essex

Posted on 2016/10/10 by Bartholomew Barker

At the Sorbie reunion I attended a few months ago in Scotland, I learned that one of the “cousins” I met there lived in Colchester, England. I had suspected that one of my great great great grandfathers, Sebborn Gonner Knight, … Continue reading →

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Hampden Park

Posted on 2016/07/14 by Bartholomew Barker

To conclude my trip to Scotland, I visited the national stadium, Hampden Park in Glasgow. They have a lovely museum of Scottish Football in the basement which has lots of fascinating exhibits of the early days of football in Scotland … Continue reading →

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Research Findings

Posted on 2016/07/13 by Bartholomew Barker

I believe travel, especially abroad, is a virtue unto itself, so this trip to Scotland would have been well worth it even if I’d been konked on the head and forgotten everything I knew about Mary Milligan and her husband … Continue reading →

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Kilmarnock F.C.

Posted on 2016/07/12 by Bartholomew Barker

I took the day off from genealogy and instead took the train from Dumfries to Kilmarnock to visit Rugby Park, the home of my beloved Kilmarnock Football Club. This was my first trip on ScotRail and I was very impressed. … Continue reading →

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Robert Burns

Posted on 2016/07/11 by Bartholomew Barker

Dumfries has made a minor industry from Robert Burns living his final years here. After checking into my hotel yesterday, I took a wee walk around the various Burns sites. Intuitive readers might assume that my first stop was the … Continue reading →

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Haggis at the Globe Inn, Dumfries

Posted on 2016/07/10 by Bartholomew Barker

Haggis at The Globe Inn – Dumfries Down an alley called a “close” not much wider than a crack in a wall they say this pub was frequented by Robert Burns two hundred years ago rough hewn walls painted white … Continue reading →

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Sorbie Family Reunion

Posted on 2016/07/09 by Bartholomew Barker

Today was the family reunion that provided the excuse for me to return to Scotland. As we introduced ourselves we also described our connection to the family. I said that my great great great great grandmother was knocked up by … Continue reading →

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