SEPTEMBER 2023 DNA UPDATE

 So that's a year down the line and I've received another DNA update. This seems to have become a regular annual occurrence.

Now, the results summary - 

My Scottish ethnicity is now 82%, up 8% from last year; English is 11%, down 1%; Irish 5%, down 2% and my Norwegian ethnicity has returned to the previous 2%.

Now, my ethnicity inheritance has also been updated , as below -

The main points of note are:-

1. The English inheritance was split 4% / 10% between Parent 1 and Parent 2. Now the split is 4% / 7%.

2. Parent 2 is still providing the 5% Irish ethnicity, and is also giving me the 2% Norwegian ethnicity.

3. For clarification, I have identified that Parent 1 is my mother and Parent 2 my father. I have renamed the columns above, maternal and paternal.

There seem to be changes every time, and I seem to becoming more Scottish with each update.

I MEET THE ARTIST AND BUY ONE OF HIS PAINTINGS

 So, at the end of last month, myself and Janet went to meet with Eric Johnstone and his wife, Catriona, at their house in Selkirk. As we were a bit early we had a light lunch at The Waterwheel Café, just a mile outside Selkirk. I had previously heard that they displayed some of Eric's paintings and indeed they did - not only displaying them but they were also up for sale. About six of them, all landscapes, and from the ones I remember, there were paintings of some Standing Stones (not sure of location), The Grey Mare's Tail (on the Selkirk to Moffat road) and The Gordon Arms (also on the Selkirk to Moffat Road). All very good, with a price range of £150 to £180. Very tempted with The Gordon Arms painting, but a bit too expensive for me at the moment.

Anyway, we found the house easily enough, up a driveway about 100 yards and it stands looking over part of Selkirk with a fabulous view of the hills beyond. Eric came out to meet us and inside was his wife and Kenny, one of his two sons. We all seemed to get on very well, enjoyed a cup of coffee and had a lovely chat about Eric and Catriona's life and family. Catriona had done some of Eric's family tree and knew all about the McGlasson's, which of course was Eric's mother's maiden name. Catriona mentioned that Eric had "painted hundreds of paintings" over the years and Eric mentioned that he had started painting full time, when the local tweed mill, where he worked, had closed - when, I'm not sure, but it was quite some time ago. We stayed about 90 minutes and I left my contact details with Catriona, and we said we would pop in again at some future convenient time.

Finally, and after we had met with Eric and Catriona, I purchased the previously mentioned painting of Eric's, of Peebles and the River Tweed. It had been for sale on eBay for £127. I contacted the seller, a Fine Art gallery, and asked if they would reduce the price to £80. They said they would come down to £112 and I went back and said £96 was my maximum. I didn't hear anything further, but I then fortuitously came across their own website, which had the same painting but at a sale price of £101. In addition, if you completed a brief online survey on their website, you saved 10% on any purchase. This I did, with the result that I bought the painting for £90. With free delivery, I thought this was a good deal. From details on the back of the picture frame, it had been purchased by someone in Galashiels on 30th April 1991, but whether this was the first purchaser I don't know. So it is at least 32 years old.

Anyway, here is the said painting hanging up on the wall in my room. 

I haven't told Eric and Catriona of my purchase, but I will be arranging to go back through and see them soon and let them know then.

CONTACT MADE WITH ANOTHER SECOND COUSIN

A bit of a long story this, but I will try and keep it reasonably brief.

My sister recently mentioned on the telephone that she had two paintings, by an artist called Eric Johnstone, who, it was thought, is a cousin of our granny, Agnes Anderson (née Turnbull). Our Auntie Jean (Mitchinson, née Anderson) had seemingly commissioned two paintings from this Eric Johnstone, one of Hermitage Castle, the other of Ewes Church in Dumfriesshire. When our Uncle David Mitchinson passed away in February 2020, our cousin asked my sister if she would like anything from our uncle's house as a keepsake, hence my sister having the two aforementioned paintings.

Although I have been working on my family history for over 30 years now, the surname "Johnstone" was not one I was familiar with. I had investigated the Anderson and Turnbull sides of my family, getting quite far back on both families but had never yet seen the "Johnstone" surname. So, with no luck from my own research, I decided I would go down the social media route.

I put a post up on a Facebook page called "Lost Scottish Borders", which mainly shows old photographs of villages and towns in the Borders and such like. I mentioned my granny and the potential cousin connection and did anyone have any information about Eric. Quite a few very prompt replies, mostly telling me that they owned a painting by Eric Johnstone and although very nice that he seemed quite popular, this didn't actually tell me anything about the person. That was at the very end of last year but a couple of weeks later, in the second week of this month, I received a message from a cousin of Catriona Johnstone, Eric's wife. This cousin had spoken to Catriona, who had suggested that I telephone her at her home in Selkirk, where she and Eric had lived for over 60 years.

So, the following day, I spoke to Catriona, who said that she and Eric had lived in Selkirk since the mid 1960's, and in the same house they had had built at that time. They were both in their 80's and kept reasonably well, although Eric had suffered a stroke about 15 years ago and wasn't too keen on talking on the telephone. Catriona was quite chatty and cleared up the mystery of the family connection between Eric and my granny. Because there is indeed a connection!

My great great grandparents, Thomas and Margaret McGlasson, had 12 children including my great grandmother, Agnes and Eric's grandfather, James. Agnes had three children including my granny, Agnes Turnbull, and James had three daughters, including Daisy Martha McGlasson, Eric's mother. So my granny and Eric's mother were first cousins! This means that Eric is my second cousin once removed. (This relationship aspect can get quite complicated, particularly when we move on to second cousins, but my family history computer programme comes in handy for cases like this).

Catriona seemed quite keen for us to meet up, as indeed I was, so our telephone conversation was left on the basis that I would call her again in the next couple of weeks and arrange to go over to Selkirk and meet her and Eric. This I am planning to do next week.

As an aside, I had previously done a quick search on the internet for any information on Eric, but there was nothing at all of note. One or two of his paintings showed up and he seemed to have painted a lot of landscapes, including the two paintings my sister now has. I did find a painting of his for sale on eBay, which was described as a "contemporary watercolour of a riverside town". On further investigation, I discovered that the "riverside town" was in fact - Peebles. That was quite a coincidence and I've made enquiries of the seller of the painting to see if I could negotiate a lower price than that being asked. I await a response. A copy of this painting is below.

                         

Well, that just about covers the story up to now. I will put up another post after I meet Eric and Catriona next week.