I believe I now have a happy and healthy computer, after several bouts of difficulties in the last weeks.
One of the things I did while without a computer was watch the movie Braveheart. Yes, I know, I'm way behind the times, but at least this movie did come out while I lived in Japan, so I had a halfway plausible excuse for knowing almost nothing about it until reading Wild at Heart which I wrote about here.
The movie is notable for its violence, which makes the Lord of the Rings trilogy almost look like a Sunday School picnic. But other than that, I had a bit of a naru hodo moment about a piece of genealogical information in my family tree. My great-great grandfather's given name was William Wallace (Wally) Van Valin. I was only vaguely aware before this that I had come across other men with that first and middle name combination, and figured they were named for someone, but I didn't realize the mythical status of the famous Scot, William Wallace. Wally's great-grandmother was Scottish, and others in his family line were named for her family, so perhaps the family had an affinity for that branch of their heritage. I know I've always liked to milk the tiny drop of Scottish that comes down to me for all it's worth! I think there's something of the Highlander freedom fighter in my psyche.
So, here's one of my all-time favorite tunes to celebrate:
1 comment:
My paternal uncle claimed that he (and thus my father) was %100 Scottish. Now I've done a little poking, I know that isn't altogether true, although there is an awful lot of Scott on my father's side. My mother's father was "Scoth-Irish" which means various things, depending on who you ask -- unfortunately, I'm not sure what my grandmother meant by it! It had something to do with the family originating in Scotland and then migrating to Donegal, in Ireland, before moving to America. He was a direct descendant of William Wallace, evidently.
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