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July Over The Years #3 – #SevenforSeptember
Hi all 👋 My latest post for Becky’s Squares.
My next series of posts for Becky’s challenge is July over the past 7 years… today we’re in Dundee for July 2019.
Minnie The Minx
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July Over The Years #2 – #SevenforSeptember
July Over The Years #2 – #SevenforSeptember
Hi all 👋 My latest post for Becky’s Squares.
My next series of posts for Becky’s challenge is July over the past 7 years… today is July 2018.
Buchanhaven Beach, Peterhead
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Thrilling Showdown: Dumbarton vs. Peterhead ⚽
Get ready for an electrifying clash between Dumbarton and Peterhead! Who will emerge victorious in this high-stakes football showdown? Tune in to witness the excitement unfold! 🎉⚽️
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Slaine’s Castle - Read about our experience here!
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Slains Castle, UK (by Martin Bennie)
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A Wild Day at the Coast – RDP
A #Wild Day at the #Coast is my latest post for RDP Friday: Noises #photography
Hi all 😃 My post for Ragtag Daily Prompt Friday: Noises.
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Johnny Ramensky, the Scottish safe cracker was born on April 6th 1905 in Glenboig, Lanarkshire.
His father was a Lithuanian immigrant miner who died when Johnny was young and the young Ramensky also became a miner. It was while he was down the pit that he learned his skills with dynamite which were to prove so useful to him in later years.
Johnny drifted in and out of trouble from the age of eleven and moved to the Gorbals area of Glasgow during the Depression with his mother and two sisters. He developed an amazing physical strength and acrobatic ability but in order to obtain some money, he became a burglar, specializing in robberies involving climbing up external rone-pipes to gain entry to premises. He also developed skills in picking locks and safe-cracking with explosives.
He won the nickname Gentle Johnny because he never used violence. And he escaped from prison several times, even staging a rooftop protest at Barlinnie in 1931. Johnny was what you would call now a career criminal, his life of crime saw him spend an estimated 40 years in prison, which was only punctuated by his extraordinary service during the Second World War.
When the war started he wanted to contribute something. He went to the governor of Peterhead Prison, where he was being held at the time, and asked for help to join the forces after he got out. The governor recognised he was something special and that he could be extremely helpful to our secret services. He served his full sentence and was collected by MI5 agents at the gate.
Ramensky was known for his athleticism and aced basic military training before he was parachuted behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied Europe. One early success was at the Italian port city La Spezia.
Johnny was able to hide himself in the mountains and used a compass to direct RAF bombers to the harbour. He was also a smashing saboteur and blew up a lot of railway lines. And after the Germans fled Rome, Johnny was able to recover a huge volume of secret documents from locked safes, which were very helpful in the conclusion of the war.
Ramensky also spent time in North Africa and almost had the opportunity to kill Nazi military commander Erwin Rommel. He broke into Rommel’s headquarters and unfortunately Rommel was on the front line. Had Rommel been there the course of the war would have changed because he would have been prepared to kill him. Of course, he did also break into Rommel’s safe and got plans that were helpful.
Mr.Ramensky’s wartime exploits formed the basis of the 1958 film ‘The Safecracker’, starring Ray Milland.
After the war Johnny went back to his old ways, even jumping off the train to blow open a safe on the way back to Glasgow hours after he was demobbed. . He went to blow a safe at a bank in York because his criminal contacts tipped him off. He has been described as an adrenaline addict. He seemed to like danger.
When he got back to Glasgow he became a folk hero because people had heard about his exploits in the army. Various people offered him employment, including one of the big demolition companies. But that wasn’t exciting enough for him.
Even in his declining years when his physicality began to leave him he still couldn’t settle down. He tried to be a bookie but lost all of his own money, because he was a gambler. He never really went straight.
Ramensky died aged 67 in 1972 while a prisoner in Perth. He kept diaries which were burned by prison authorities, but one early extract survived.
It read: “Each man has an ambition and I have fulfilled mine long ago. I cherish my career as a safe blower. In childhood days my feet were planted in the crooked path and took firm root. To each one of us is allotted a niche and I have found mine. Strangely enough, I am happy. For me the die is cast and there is no turning back.”
There has been talk of a movie about Johnny being made, but it is still to happen.
There’s a 7 minute film bout Johnny with the author of his biography, Robert Jeffrey, who I sourced most of the info for this post, and retired Glesga polisman, Les Brown, who tells of his dealings with Gentle Johnny. The Roddy McMillan song is playing throughout the clip.
That’s not the end of Johnny Gently though, he lives on at Peterhead Prison, now a museum where Ramensky served so many years behind bars, has created a exhibition space which highlights different aspects of his career.
You can get his biography by Robert Jeffrey for only £3.39, kindle version and £5.56 hardback at Amazon at the link below, I have also seen it on Ebay uk delivered for as low as £2.11
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gentle-Johnny-Ramensky-Extraordinary-Blower-ebook/dp/B0078XH7M6
Let Ramensky Go.
There was a lad in Glesga town, Ramensky was his name
Johnny didnae know it then but he was set for fame
Now Johnny was a gentle lad, there was only one thing wrong
He had an itch to strike it rich and trouble came along
He did a wee bit job or two, he blew them open wide
But they caught him and they tried him and they bunged him right inside
Alley-ee alley-ay alley-oo alley-oh
Open up your prison gates
And let Ramensky go
And when they let him out he said he’d do his best but then
He yielded tae temptation and they bunged him in again
Now Johnny made the headlines, entertained the boys below
When he climbed up tae the prison roof and gave a one-man show
Alley-ee alley-ay alley-oo alley-oh
Open up your prison gates
And let Ramensky go
But when the war was raging the brass-hats had a plan
Tae purloin some information, but they couldnae find a man
So they nobbled John in prison, asked if he would take a chance
Then they dropped him in a parachute beyond the coast of France
Alley-ee alley-ay alley-oo alley-oh
Open up your prison gates
And let Ramensky go
Then Johnny was a hero, they shook him by the hand
For stealing secret documents frae the German High Command
So Johnny was rewarded for the job he did sae well
They granted him a pardon frae the prison and the cell
Alley-ee alley-ay alley-oo alley-oh
Open up your prison gates
And let Ramensky go
But Johnny was in error when he tried his hand once more
For they caught him at a blastin’, and it wasnae worth the score
The jury pled for mercy, but the judge’s voice was heard
Ten years without remission, and that’s my final word
Ten years, my lord, that’s far too long, wee Johnny cried in vain
For if you send me up for ten I’ll never come out again
Oh give me another chance, my lord, I’m tellin’ you no lie
But if you send me up for ten I’ll sicken and I’ll die
Alley-ee alley-ay alley-oo alley-oh
Open up your prison gates
And let Ramensky go
Now Peterhead’s a fortress, its walls are thick and stout
But it couldnae hold wee Johnny when he felt like walking out
Five times he took a powder, he left them in a fix
And every day they sweat and pray in case he makes it six
Alley-ee alley-ay alley-oo alley-oh
Open up your prison gates
And let Ramensky go
Alley-ee alley-ay alley-oo alley-oh
Open up your prison gates
And let Ramensky go
Alley-ee alley-ay alley-oo alley-oh
Open up your prison gates
And let Ramensky go……….
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On December 22nd 1715 James Francis Stewart, landed in Peterhead from France.
On his unexpected arrival, he was put up in a local house for the night. He was suffering dreadfully from seasickness, was weakened from a bout of the measles which had delayed his departure from France. He must have had a few curious onlookers and was described as;
“standing with his cocked hat pulled over his eyes in deep despondency before the fire.” in his lodgings.
The erstwhile Jacobite leader went on to spend a night in the now ruined Inverugie Castle, before making his way to Aberdeen. He passed the next night at Newburgh before carrying on to Aberdeen, accompanied only by a handful of horsemen, in ill health and in disguise.
Loyalties in Aberdeen were divided: from the early 18th century there were some overt signs of anti-Hanoverian feeling but the extent of Jacobite sympathies did not become apparent until the rebellions themselves. During both rebellions a rebel Jacobite Council was elected in Aberdeen. In 1715 the rebel Council tried to help the Jacobite cause as far as possible but the rebellion never really developed any momentum.
Aberdeen’s mercat cross dates from 1686 and at the cross new monarchs were proclaimed. On 20 September 1715 the James Frances Edward Stuart was declared King at both the Aberdeen and Old Aberdeen the mercat crosses.
Visit Aberdeen have a Jacobite trail and it tells us
“In 1715, the day after the Old Pretender was declared king at the mercat cross, elections were held for a new Council. Those loyal to the Hanoverians absented themselves whilst the Jacobite councillors met in the East Kirk of St Nicholas in order to elect a rebel Council: they elected Patrick Bannerman as Provost and John Leslie, John Burnett, William Simpson and John Fyfe as baillies. Writing his memoirs later, the brother of the Earl Marischal declared that this was done in order to shake off the ‘double yoak, and [to] free themselves from slavery and usurpation by the restoration of king James” Read more on this and the ‘45 at the link below.
There had been a lack of strong leadership, communication and cohesion in the 1715 uprising. Despite receiving no commission from James to start the rising, the Earl of Mar held the first council of war in Braemar and on 6 September at Braemar Mar raised the standard of “James the 8th and 3rd”, accompanied by 600 supporters.
In northern Scotland, the Jacobites were successful, taking Inverness, Gordon Castle, Aberdeen and Dundee. They were unable to capture the military fortress at Fort William or Edinburgh Castle.
By October, Mar’s forces stood with nearly 20,000 men and had taken control of all Scotland above the Firth of Forth, apart from Stirling Castle. Mar was an indecisive leader and the capture of Perth and the move south by 2,000 men were probably decided by subordinates. It was a very important strategic point, being the first place the River Tay could be forded by bridge and a major artery of communication north, south, east and west of Scotland. Mar’s indecisiveness gave the government forces under the command of the Duke of Argyll time to increase their strength until they clashed.
On 22 October Mar eventually received his official commission from James appointing him commander of the Jacobite army. The Jacobite army outnumbered Argyll’s forces by three-to-one and Mar decided to march unsuccessfully on Stirling Castle. On 13 November at Sheriffmuir, the two forces came head to head in battle. The fighting was indecisive but nearing the end of the battle the Jacobites numbered 4,000 men, compared to Argyll’s 1,000. Mar’s army began to close in on Argyll’s forces, who were poorly protected, but Mar did not order them to advance, to offer the coup de grâce possibly believing that he had won the battle already (Argyll had suffered the bloody loss of 660 men on the field, three times as many as Mar). But Mar gave away his advantage and retreated to Perth. On the same day as the Battle of Sherrifmuir, Inverness surrendered to government forces, and a smaller Jacobite force led by Mackintosh of Borlum was defeated at Preston, England.
Lacking momentum and cohesion, the war was lost before James VIII (III) even landed. By the time he arrived at Perth in January 1716, the Jacobite army numbered fewer than 5,000 men. In contrast, the government forces had acquired heavy artillery and were advancing quickly. Mar decided to burn a number of villages between Perth and Stirling to deprive the government army of supplies in a policy of scorched earth. Auchterarder, Blackford, Crieff, Dunning, Muthill were all put to the torch, as well as farms and rural properties. It must have been terrifying for the local people. On 30 January Mar led the Jacobites out of Perth and on 4 February the Pretender wrote a farewell letter to Scotland, sailing from Montrose the following day.
Aged 27, James had only spent 43 days in Scotland as an adult. He made subsequent attempts to invade and take his throne, but never again set foot in Scotland.
After the uprising Jacobites prisoners were tried for treason and sentenced to death. The Indemnity Act of July 1717 pardoned all those who had taken part in the Rising, but the whole of Clan Gregor was specifically excluded from the benefits of that Act.
In later years, James, now known as the Old Pretender, made two more attempts at the British throne but was defeated each time.
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Link
Man in Scotland jailed for hurling transgender abuse and threatening to kill neighbour
Man in Scotland jailed for hurling transgender abuse and threatening to kill neighbour
www.eveningexpress.co.uk
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On December 22nd 1715 James Francis Stewart, landed in Peterhead from France.
If you read through this you might wonder, with this amount of support, how the ‘15 uprising failed. It’s a pity the rest of Scotland didn’t have the enthusiasm as this small corner of North East Scotland.
Unfortunately it was all too late as the uprising had fizzled out after Mar’s inability to press forward after Sherrifmuir, so we shall take a look at where James Stuart came ashore, the loyal town of Peterhead. Much of this is taken directly from testimony taken around the time of the Uprising.
The people of Peterhead were in the main loyal to the Sturts, and were involved in the Jacobite uprisings from beginning to end. The town proudly remembers the numbers involved and the names of some…..
In total the number of Peterhead folk called to arms in defence of the town were 138 men and 10 women – yes Peterhead women prepared to take up arms to fight for the King – Janet Dickie, Margaret Greig, Geills Scott, Margaret Dun, Elspat Mitchell, Janet Cruickshank, Mrs Walker, Elisa Bruce and Widow Bodie and Widow Brown. They were ordered to arm themselves with “ane sufficient gun charged with powder and bullets, and four spare shots besides, and ane sufficient sword” and to meet at the Cross on the appointed day, where they marched and took part in military drills. 7 Spanish cannons, salvaged from the St Michael in 1588 were taken from their position on the Battery at Keith Inch, pulled across the sand bank at the Quinzie (Queenie), and mounted on the Tolbooth Green, looking down Broad Street for the defence of the interior of the town.
On 9th September 1715 the Earl of Mar, appointed Commander-in-Chief by the exiled ‘Pretender’ King James, issued a Proclamation at Braemar signalling the start of the 1715 uprising:
“Now is the time for all good men to show their zeal for His Majesty’s service, whose cause is so deeply concerned, and the relief of our native country from oppression, and a foreign yoke too heavy for us and our posterity to bear; and to endeavour the restoring, not only of our rightful and native king, but also our country to its ancient, free and independent constitution under him whose ancestors have reigned over us for so many generations.”
On 25th October the exiled King James wrote to his supporters in Scotland: “We have not been able to look upon the present condition of our kingdoms, or to consider their future prospect without all the horror and indignation which ought to fill the breast of every Scotsman. We have beheld a foreign family, aliens to our country, distant in blood, and strangers even to our language, ascend to the throne.
“We are come to take our part in all the dangers and difficulties to which any of our subjects from the greatest down to the meanest may be exposed on this important occasion, to relieve our subjects of Scotland from the hardships they groan under and to restore the kingdom to its ancient, free and independent state.
“But we hope for better things. We hope to see our just rights and those of the church and people of Scotland, once more settled in a free and independent Scots Parliament on their ancient foundation.”
On 31st October (Hallowe’en), the Magistrates and Town Council of Peterhead met at the Tolbooth (near the present Tolbooth Wynd), under the direction of the Secretary to the Earl of Erroll (from Slains Castle), George Leith, who was also Major General of Horses under the command of the Earl Marischal, with an order from the Earl of Mar, Chief Commander of King James’s forces in Scotland, which he read – ordering twelve of their number “to be ready mounted on horseback with sword and sufficient firelock, tomorrow precisely at six of the clock, to be witnesses to the said Mr Leith, his requiring the Lord Saltoun (of Fraserburgh) to give all due obedience to the foresaid orders.”
On 1st November (All Saints’ Day), 16 mounted “fenceable men” rode to Fraserburgh to proclaim the King. They were George Leith (Secretary to the Earl of Erroll), Bailie Cruickshank, Bailie Arbuthnot, Thomas Forbes, James Whyte, James Park, John Thomson, George Cruickshank, Alex. Smith (merchant), Robert Smith, John Logan, John Taylor, William Jollie, Alex. Forbes, James Blair & William Ramsay. The band of armed Jacobites rode off north towards Fraserburgh to “require” the Lord Saltoun to obey the orders from the Earl of Mar in support of King James.
About half a mile short of Fraserburgh the Peterhead band met Lord Saltoun and “obliged him to stop until the General’s orders were read to him. ”It was demanded of him “what Party he inclined to join with” and that he “appear at His Majesty’s Royal Standard”. Lord Saltoun answered that “he regarded neither Mr Leith nor his orders more than a footman” and further said that “at a whistle, he could raise a hundred men and cause them to fight all there present.”
Bailie Cruickshank answered that he believed they wouldn’t see them at Fraserburgh, where they immediately went and “proclaimed the King with all the solemnity we could, which we found did oblige the most of the inhabitants of that town.”
A party from the group went in search of arms, which they found in the chamber of the Clerk’s house. They broke open the door of the chamber with “ane big hammer” and found 24 new firelocks, proof marked, and all with A.R. (Anna Regina) on them, all charged with balls and gunpowder. The arms were taken back to Peterhead and handed to George Leith for the General’s use.
Later, a party of Jacobites, led by Irvine of Crimond, captured Lord Saltoun and forced him to go south to join the Jacobite army at Perth. Fraserburgh was then occupied by a Jacobite garrison, which compelled the inhabitants to contribute towards the payment of the soldiers.
On 13th November both the Earl Marischal and James Keith fought at the Battle of Sheriffmuir near Stirling. The Earl Marischal was 22 years old, and his brother 19 at the time of the Battle. James suffered a musket ball wound in his shoulder and spent the night in agony at Castle Drummond.
James Francis Edward Stuart (King James VIII) landed at Peterhead late on the night of 22nd December 1715, suffering from seasickness and fevers after having travelled 7 days (5 or 6 days according to other sources) by sea from Dunkirk in a well-armed vessel laden with a cargo of brandy. He arrived with six other gentlemen, including James Francis Fitzjames Stuart, grandson of King James VII, and Lieutenant Allan Cameron (a son of Lochiel), whom he sent immediately to Perth with the news of their arrival.
James Stuart was 27 years old, and this was the first time he had set foot in Britain since his father was driven into exile in 1688 (when James was six months old). He had lived at the Scots Court at Saint-Germain-en-Laye near Paris under the protection of the French King Louis XIV.
At first the small boat crept along the shore and attempted to enter the River Ugie, presumably to get as near as possible to Inverugie Castle, but “the night was wet and late the tide”, so they instead landed at the old pier of Port Henry Haven. The unexpected visitors were graciously received at the harbour by the Earl Marischal’s representative – the Baron Bailie Thomas Arbuthnot.
According to contemporary accounts they were “all habited like sea-officers, and passed for friends of the Pretender, going to Perth for his Service”. The vessel was despatched back to France with the news of James’s safe arrival.
They stayed the night at what is now Park Lane, near the Longate – at the house of the Baron Bailie’s brother-in-law, Captain James Park, merchant and ship owner. Here James wrote a short letter, dated “Peterhead, December 22nd, 1715” to say “I am, at last, thank God, in my own ancient kingdom as the bearer will tell you with all the particulars of my passage. I am weary and won’t delay a moment the bearer.”
A local song which commemorated the landing of the King at Peterhead was sung for many years after this event.
“King James is land’t at Peterhead, an honour great to us indeed.The night was wet and late the tide, he couldna unto Ugie ride.He slept a night in our good town, upon a good saft bed o’ down.In the morning when he raise, the Marischal’s bailie brushed his claithes. He’s come to set auld Scotland free from cursed Hanover tyranny.”
On the morning of 23rd December King James left by horseback, past Buchanhaven and then west by the old turnpike that skirted the south bank of the Ugie, to Inverugie Castle to visit the widowed Lady Mary Keith, mother of the Earl Marischal.
He passed the next night at Newburgh before carrying on to Aberdeen, accompanied only by a handful of horsemen, in ill health and in disguise. A contemporary account reports “’Tis said the Pretender is very much indisposed since his arrival, which is imputed to the great fatigue he has suffered at sea, and otherwise of late.”
The Earl Marischal and James Keith met King James for the first time at Fetteresso on 27th December, making their way to Dundee on 6th January, James Stuart entering the town with the Earl of Mar riding at his right hand and the Marischal at his left.
On 7th January 1716, they briefly set up court at Scone and arrived at Perth on 8th January.
On 30th January, the King, along with the two Keith brothers, the Earl of Mar and other main supporters, made for Montrose, where the King sailed back to France on 4th February 1716 on the ‘Maria Teresa of St Malo’. James Stuart had been only 43 days on Scottish soil. The Earl of Mar accompanied him back to France and served as his Secretary of State until 1722.
The first picture is a contemporary (if fanciful) illustration which appeared in a news sheet at the time. Clearly drawn by someone who had never visited Peterhead, it shows James Francis Stuart’s arrival the second at Proclamation Pend in the town of Peterhead celebrates arguably one of the most most historic event in the towns history
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#photography #uk #scotland #peterhead #beach #sea #harbour
https://www.instagram.com/p/CG7o2wChpj4/?igshid=1pj1pc6opujtn
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#photography #uk #scotland #peterhead #beach #sea #harbour
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#photography #uk #scotland #peterhead #beach #sea #cliffs
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