Hello again! It's been a while! I've been doing all sorts of new research and transcribing old letters from the 1800's. It occurred to me I hadn't yet posted something about the Renwick side of the family (my roots), so here's a little story for you:
This is a coaster I bought at a yarn shop a number of years ago. Little did I know then that the picture would relate to our family history. (It was actually my great-niece who pointed out that it does say "Family Album" :)
Our Renwicks were shepherds from Tweedsmuir Parish, in the Borders area of Scotland. Our 3x great grandfather Walter, was born in 1812 and grew up with his 8 siblings in a little stone cottage on a farm called
Fingland. They raised Cheviot sheep and/or Black Faced
sheep (like the ones on the coaster and in the real life picture below).
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| Real Black Faced sheep near a Renwick home in Scotland |
"Our" Walter Renwick, and his little son son
John emigrated to Canada when Walter's first wife suddenly died in 1853. They settled in New Hope, now known
as Hespeler, Ontario. Instead of carrying on as a shepherd, Walter opened a
butcher shop and made meat deliveries around the village. In 1857, he married a fellow
Scots immigrant, Ann Anderson Davidson, and they had 4 more children. Our branch is descended from their son Walter.
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The Renwick home in Hespeler, Ontario, built in 1897
Walter's butcher shop was just around the corner |
We've long lost the accent, but a couple of Scottish words have managed to filter down to our generation: “stravaging” (to roam) and
“doon” (down). I've even managed to find a Renwick tartan, though, fun fact “our” shepherds would have wrapped themselves in a
“maud” not a “tartan”.
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| The Renwick tartan |
The maud is a length of woolen cloth with a basic plaid of tiny black or blue checks, and is apparently particular to the Borders area. It was the warm and versatile wrap of choice for the shepherds. Wrapped around the waist and over the shoulder, it could even be folded to create pockets for provisions and carrying lambs. Who knew? (I want one!)
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