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From: "Tony & Barbara Folkard" <>
Subject: JO CURRIE, Thankyou , but is it selfish to be sad?
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 2002 13:24:02 +1000


Dear Jo,

I too have been converted to reading each and every e-mail on the Mull site, even if I leave others unread! I have learnt so much about the whole scene there, especially as I have only just ,yesterday, finished reading "Mull- The Island And It's People".
I shall have to read it at least once more as the whole story is so involved. I was amazed when I considered the amount of research that must have been required just to sort it out enough to write about it , the huge amount of reading and checking that must have been done. I certainly "dip my lid" to you and thank you for the huge amount of interest you have given us all in your replies to questions on the Mull site.

However the very sad thing is that I am only just ready to START and ask questions about my Thorburn connections, the Catherine McLean who married John Thorburn 1826,. at Bracadale, Skye; Catherine's mother being a Mary McKinnon, before marriage to John McLean. I dont know how solid that info is. I guess now that I have read the Mull book , that they probably came from Mishnish, as Catherine was born at Leiphin, Mull (we previously thought that was the Lephin in Skye!) Now I can see it on the map of Mull in the book. But how many John McLeans there were!

Was shepherding a fairly itinerant occupation in those days? From birth records we have on our forbears, it looks as though some moved around a fair bit, between Mull and Skye,or was that because the factor moved them on? Maybe they also were droving?

And so on and so on! So how do we access this info now? When will the Museum have the records accessible?
OH,having re-read your message just now, I realise that will be Sept-Oct.
By the way, I have printed a huge no. of the Mull website q's and answers...at least I can read back through them!! A computer crash means everything is lost, so when that DID happen I felt fairly smug on that count! Even more so now, though I dont know that they are really relevant to my unasked questions.

I have intended to ask if anyone has written a similar book on Skye? If not perhaps you would be just the person to do it?

Enough. If you come back to Australia, I would love to meet you as I was not able to fit in with your trip's timetable last year.
There is usually a spare bed here.

Many thanks Jo., Your input will be greatly missed. I shall watch out for your future writings.
Regards,
Barbara Folkard in Australia.

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