"http://www.borderreivers.co.uk/Border%20Stories/ballad_of_kinmont_willie.htm Looks interesting Best regards"
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Ronald Drysdale
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Bad hyper-links on Douglas Archives
Started this discussion. Last reply by William Douglas Nov 14. 1 Reply 2 Likes
Sometimes when a link is posted, ning automatically adds some garbage to the end of the hyper-link address and this corrupts the link - for example:…Continue
The Ancestry money grabbers are after our records!
Started this discussion. Last reply by William Douglas Sep 25. 1 Reply 1 Like
ScotlandsPeople is under attack from Ancestry - if they succeed then access to Scottish records may become too difficult/expensive for us little guys in the future and we may not be able to post…Continue
Old maps of the British Isles - 1631
Started this discussion. Last reply by Nicole Henderson Sep 16. 1 Reply 1 Like
The theatre of the empire of Great Britain, presenting an exact geography of England, Scotland, Ireland, etc. ... 1631A very nice publication with heraldic shields, pics & lots of old maps of all…Continue
Difficulty finding a Scottish Parish marriage record? Maybe there isn't one & never was!
Started this discussion. Last reply by William Douglas Jun 26. 1 Reply 2 Likes
Dear all,I recently came across a parish entry for a 'Private marriage' in Edinburgh.…Continue
Ronald Drysdale's Page
Latest Activity
"Hi Ian,
You're right I did make a mistake there, I said:
John Mitchell employed John Mitchell Douglas as a Ships Master on his ship called the John Mitchell.
When of course it should have been "James Mitchell…"
"That’s looking really good Ron,awesome if we are on the right track,there is a couple of things ,one is you said above John Mitchell is brother in law of John Mitchell Douglass,you meant James.now secondly I believe Henry was born in 1850.what…"
"Hi William,
You are right about the AI & its pronounciation of Scottish names and words, you can try and get around this problem by writing the names etc in the song phonetically - but that's presuming you actually know yourself what…"
AI again!
What can happen if you turn the power of AI loose on traditional Scottish folk songs, Ballads, Poetry etc?I had a few hours spare, so I thought I would experiment with an update/remix of the poem "The Lads of Wamphrey" by Walter Scott into rock ballad style music.The AI I used was Suno, online.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUTS2jHA3H0Lads of Wamphray historical notes:This folk-poem, celebrates a bloody skirmish between the Scottish…See More
"Hi Ian,
I'm sorry for the info overload.,
James Mitchell Douglas' father was William Douglas and he was married to Catherine Mitchell who in turn was the sister of the Shipowner John Mitchell.
John Mitchell was thus the brother in…"
"Hi,you know how to confuse an old bloke,so where did the Douglass name come into the equation?if as you speculate James father was John Mitchell and mother Catherine Mitchell
ian"
"Post script - From Wikipedia we can see that John Mitchell was married to Janet Hamilton in 1813 and I think it is reasonable to speculate that this must be from whence the 'Hamilton' comes from in your Henry Hamilton Douglas relative."
"Hi Ian,
I know you are not too happy with James Mitchell Douglas, but after some further checking I've discovered that James' mother, Catherine Mitchell, was actually the sister of shipowner John Mitchell - John…"
"Hi William,
James Mitchell Douglas had his full name recorded on his birth record and on his death record, for the rest of his life he called himself James Douglas.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/266594645/james-m-douglass
In early 1852 he was…"
"I think that you have ruled James Mitchell Douglas out? But here is what I have:
Liverpool Mercury; 22nd February 1853"Dec 5th, at the residence of Capt James GARDNER, San Francisco, of tetanus aged 32, Capt James Mitchell DOUGLAS, of the…"
"Hi Ian.I'm not sure I follow your logic there, on 4th May 1850 James Douglas was in Glasgow as the Lloyds Register Survey report of that date confirms.
Captain/Master - one & the same"
"Hi ron
i don’t think captain James Mitchell douglas is one in the same as our captain James Douglass."
"Hi Ron,I see that James was the master in 47 to Ceylon madras,then in 48 to port Adelaide and on to Melbourne,as captain and the “captain fits “with his change in accreditation from master.but then in Melbourne the John Mitchell was…"
"Hi Ian,
"our James captained the barque John Mitchell to australia from london in 1848/9 and my trail has gone cold in Melbourne"
But the trail has not gone cold! - after James was in Melbourne, he took the ship back to Glasgow and,…"
Profile Information
- Which Douglas line are you researching? Dates and places help making connections.
- Drysdale Sept
- Who is your earliest known Douglas ancestor?
- 1448 - Thomas Douglas of Dryfesdale
Ronald Drysdale's Blog
AI again!
Posted on December 23, 2025 at 14:30 2 Comments 0 Likes
What can happen if you turn the power of AI loose on traditional Scottish folk songs, Ballads, Poetry etc?
I had a few hours spare, so I thought I would experiment with an update/remix of the poem "The Lads of Wamphrey" by Walter Scott into rock ballad style music.
The AI I used was Suno, online.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUTS2jHA3H0
Lads of Wamphray historical notes:
This…
ContinueAi - a useful research tool or a future possible threat to traditional genealogy
Posted on December 10, 2025 at 14:30 2 Comments 2 Likes
Ai is advancing rapidly
Here is some incredible artwork from Kelly Boesch (Ai Art) - the music and video are wholly Ai generated:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZExXLvI2Cs&list=RDMMYZExXLvI2Cs&start_radio=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv9Dwo8x64U
However, apart from artwork, Ai may soon start…
ContinueAI enhanced search facility for text in old hand written historical records - Familysearch website
Posted on November 3, 2024 at 18:31 0 Comments 0 Likes
Hi all,
The Familysearch website has introduced a new experimental AI search facilty that renders old, largely unintelligible, hand written documents 'searchable', available online here:
https://www.familysearch.org/en/labs/
It is still under development and can only be used on a [fairly large] selection of Familysearch records but already it is yielding impressive results -…
ContinueLegacy family tree software - 10.0 full version totally free
Posted on June 23, 2024 at 16:29 1 Comment 2 Likes
Just came across some decent free family tree software, not a trial, fully featured & with no 'premium' extras. Has some useful features, charts & reporting options, also mapping if you download the free Legacy GeoDB add-on.…
ContinueComment Wall (51 comments)
- At 6:48 on December 24, 2025,
Ian hamilton douglas said…
That’s looking really good Ron,awesome if we are on the right track,there is a couple of things ,one is you said above John Mitchell is brother in law of John Mitchell Douglass,you meant James.now secondly I believe Henry was born in 1850.what is needed is the birth record of Henry and the mother of James .that will help tie it all together.
many regards ian
- At 4:17 on December 23, 2025,
Hi,you know how to confuse an old bloke,so where did the Douglass name come into the equation?if as you speculate James father was John Mitchell and mother Catherine Mitchell
ian
- At 16:00 on December 22, 2025,
William Douglas said…
I think that you have ruled James Mitchell Douglas out? But here is what I have:
Liverpool Mercury; 22nd February 1853
"Dec 5th, at the residence of Capt James GARDNER, San Francisco, of tetanus aged 32, Capt James Mitchell DOUGLAS, of the British barque Isle-of-Wight of Glasgow."The Isle‑of‑Wight, as recorded in the Lloyd’s Register Foundation archive, was a British barque launched in 1843 from the yards of T & J White, one of the Clyde’s respected shipbuilding firms. The register notes that the vessel “belonged to” the port of Glasgow, confirming that it was officially registered there and operated under Glasgow’s maritime authority.
Although the surviving entry does not name the ship’s owner, the context offers strong clues. Built on the Clyde and registered in Glasgow, the Isle‑of‑Wight was almost certainly owned by a Glasgow‑based merchant or shipping company—typical of the city’s thriving mid‑nineteenth‑century maritime trade.
- At 7:18 on December 22, 2025,
Hi ron
i don’t think captain James Mitchell douglas is one in the same as our captain James Douglass.
- At 6:54 on December 22, 2025,
Hi Ron,I see that James was the master in 47 to Ceylon madras,then in 48 to port Adelaide and on to Melbourne,as captain and the “captain fits “with his change in accreditation from master.but then in Melbourne the John Mitchell was under a new captain(John bickers) back to port Adelaide.On your information the John Mitchell was in 1851 enroute to Calcutta but not mastered by James Douglas.so we are back to where he went from Melbourne after June 1849…?
- At 2:08 on December 22, 2025,
William Stronach said…
Thanks Ronald - will do.
- At 0:39 on December 22, 2025,
Hello ron
i dont believe that is our
James,I think our James captained the barque John Mitchell to australia from london in 1848/9 and my trail has gone cold in Melbourne.
ragards ian
- At 12:49 on December 21, 2025,
The Gympie Miner 17 May 1893
- At 1:16 on December 21, 2025,
Hello Ron,I have a copy of birth certificate listing James as father I will post up,also the info you sent on James has been very helpfull so far,it all seems to fit.i have tracked him from Glasgow to Australia as a ships captain but the trail has gone cold as the ship he was on changed captains in Melbourne .regards ian
- At 13:35 on December 19, 2025,
Hey there I meant the link for Henry in Alton in 1871
regards ian
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