Dear Unborn Siblings,

How are you doing? How many are there of you out there? I am sorry I took so long to get back to you again as I am finding life quite busy and chaotic. Right now I am helping the Marketing team give the website a facelift at PurpleSwift, Derek’s company. Before I dive into what mom and dad did and where they came from I thought I would like to explain the family crest motto with which I ended off in my the last letter. “Invictus maneo” is the Armstrong family motto. The English meaning, when translated from the Latin, is “I remain unvanquished”.  

I remain Unvanquished is what I chose when I set foot in this family. You know father came from reivers who raided along the Anglo-Scottish border between the 13^th and 17^th centuries. This would take place anywhere from Edinburgh to Yorkshire.  To Reive means to rob or plunder and they were violent and ruthless.  They stole cattle and caused trouble such as murdering and burning homes which was quite common during that time as that seemed an acceptable way of living. Can you imagine living in those times? Aggression, fear and animosity? I am just so grateful that I wasn’t living in those conditions and times. I don’t think I could survive. Come to think of it there are places today that are ravaged by fear and violence. It’s just too awful to think about.

Let’s move on

There are lots of intriguing stories that I have read speaking of blackmail and illegal protection as well. Liddesdale, where the Armstrong clan had their home base, was known as the “Cockpit of the Border.”  Who it was who said that, I cannot tell. So the reivers, along with the Armstrongs were notorious.  There was also fighting between the Armstrong clan and other clans. Some refer to the Armstrong clan as a formidable clan. As legend would have it the Armstrong clan got its name during a battle. The “said” warrior lifted the fallen King back on his horse with one arm, and this is how he got his name. To be honest I almost fell asleep while reading about the several accounts to which they are referring and I think the jury is out as to which King it was. And at the end of the day does it matter where we come from and how we got our name? I think, more importantly, it matters what we do with our lives in the “here and now” and our future.  Do any of you regret your choice of not entering this world?  On a lighter note it is not surprising that there are movies produced like Braveheart, 1995; Rob Roy, 1995; and the Netflix series: Outlander.

What we do know about the Armstrong clan?

The Armstrong clan were known to head up the 12 Devils or the Devils Dozen. There are many surnames such as Nixon, Scott, Johnson, Bell, Hall, and Elliot etc. of which Armstrong is one of them. Some people also accused this reiving group to be godless. I mean, you can see why with their behaviour and such. They were eventually banned from setting foot inside church and were even cursed to go straight to hell. The reaction of the Armstrong clan was to go and raid and burn down churches so I don’t think they were deterred by the threat.  The leaders of the Armstrong’s were executed whenever they were caught. I am surprised that there are any Armstrongs  left as it seems like they tried to purge the land of them. If you really want to read about the Border Clans you should read The Steel Bonnets by George MacDonald Fraser, Alfred A. Knopf, New York.  I am planning to visit the Armstrong museum sometime and I’ll keep you posted, if there are any interesting tidbits.

The Tartan and language.

Tartan is not very old when it comes to the Scottish culture, especially in the Lowlands where we originate; for example the oldest tartan known is of the Falkirk clan and seems to be associated from the 1800’s. It was hardly ever worn in lowlands but in the Highlands, in 1689, McDonnell’s men wore a tartan of “triple stripes” in the Battle of Killicrankie. There was a time too when the tartan was banned; that was after the Battle of Culloden.  Wearing the kilt or the tartan was made a penal offense after the law was introduced as the Dress Act in the Act of Proscription and they were also not to carry a weapon for self-defence.  

You might be wondering what language we speak. In those days, oh goodness, there is a long line of influences such as the Romans, Brythonic, Picts, Danes, Angles, Norse and Scoti. It’s what they call Southern or Border Scots. One thing I found rather amusing in my digging of language is that one of the roots of the Scots language comes from Cumbria where the dialect was Brythonic. They don’t know much about this language anymore but the shepherds have kept a little rhyme alive to help them count their sheep. Numbers one to twenty are: yan tyan, tethera, methera, pimp, sethera, lethera, hovera, dovera, dik (being ten) yanadik, tyanadik, metheradik, bumfitt (being 15) yanabumfitt, tyanabumfitt, tetherabumfitt, metherabumfitt and giggot (being twenty).  If you are interested in the language development of Scotland through history you can look here where is https://clancarrutherssociety.org/2021/02/12/clan-carruthers-southern-scots-the-language-of-the-border-reivers/

Mom has Norse blood and we could dig up a fair amount of plundering stories there but that’s enough of digging and delving.

I must be ending this letter soon but I did say I would talk about breathing again:
In the beginning there was Breath who came to live on earth, in the earth all around, like a spoken word manifesting matter. Matter becoming beings, objects, inanimate and animate all with breath: “Living Beauty” inhabiting the earth and manifesting Life. You can’t have breath without life; you can’t have life without Breath. And so we came to be and so we pass through this world and leave once more when our breath departs. Do you know what it’s like to be half living? With your breath squashed out of your lungs, well of course you don’t you haven’t been born. But I do. 50% capacity of air in my lungs, sounds like a lot or air but you try going about your daily affairs, walking, carrying things, even getting out of bed; it all becomes such an effort. At 45% I landed up in hospital, diagnosed with asthma for the first time when I was 18 years old. You can die if you don’t breathe, if you don’t have enough air for your lungs. For us living it sounds obvious but you might not know that. That is why it’s so important to keep on breathing.

Breath is life. To breathe is to embrace life and be revitalized. It’s a cycle we commit to for the rest of our life. We might forget how Sacred this cycle is but we embrace life so many times a minute, so many times an hour, a day, etc. It’s wonderful and a privilege.

Yes I know, maybe I have been a bit morbidly serious this week, I am sorry. Let’s hope for better times. There is so much I want to tell you about: where I grew up and even what it is like to give birth. Random hey? Well don’t suffocate while waiting for my next letter, I’m not a very regular correspondent.

Cheers Morag