To start this spiral I needed to repost the "full circle" story I wrote in 2018. Back then, I thought it was a closure, a completed circle of personal history.
I was wrong
Last year my seemingly complete ring began to spiral in the most unexpected and wonderful way. It started with us taking a dear friend on holiday to see the Fochabers Folk Museum. We'd actually never been there ourselves. Most times Fochabers is a town we drive through travelling to somewhere else.
First of all I can say it's a surprising Tardis of a seemingly small museum, full of unexpected twisty ways leading to all sorts of fascinating things. We all enjoyed it, but it was at the end, talking to the ladies who volunteer there, that the real magic happened.
They have a display for Allen Wilson. If that name means nothing to you, then please read my blog post Full Circle or look up the Shangani Patrol.
And this is where the circle became a spiral
My father's father, Gabe Frost, found a British Cavalry sabre from the 1800s Matabele wars, out in the wilds of Matabeleland in the 1950s. This is a photo of him.
After my grandfather died, my dad became the owner of this beautiful sabre. I'm
afraid to say, I used to sneak it out of my dad's wardrobe and have
imaginary swordfights in the garden. I grew very adept at beheading my
mother's flowers. But mostly it has stayed hidden away, wrapped in cloth
and stored in chests and wardrobes.
But no longer
This month, August
2025, I donated it, and a military bugle, to the Fochabers Museum. They were very pleased. And today they phoned to say that they are going to wall mount it above the Allen Wilson display. Not just a full circle, but an ever spiralling portion of our mutual histories.
I wrote this many years ago years ago, but decided to post it again for friends and family.
What do Rhodesia/Zimbabwe and this very impressive stone building in Scotland have in common? Some things I never knew and someone I would NEVER would have expected!
This gorgeous neo-Gothic building is a school in the Morayshire town of Fochabers. I decided to look up more about the place and what I found has led me on a most amazing (and very moving) journey through three continents and my childhood memories.
I hope you enjoy this remarkable adventure as much as I have.
The school is the Milne Institute; it was built by a man named Alexander Milne who was born in Fochabers in 1742. That might have been the end of this blog post, except in finding the story of Alexander Milne I stumbled onto a name I knew very well... Allan Wilson.
wikimedia.org Shangani memorial panel postcard
To most people that won't mean much, but to any Rhodesian it means a lot. Allan Wilson is a hero, both in Rhodesian and British history, but I never knew he was born right on my "doorstep" until I found him listed as a "famous Fochaberian" and read that he had been a student at the Milne's Institute school.
The Famous Fochaberians site says this:
Allan Wilson was educated at Milne's Institution, excelling in outdoor pursuits. In 1878 he emigrated to South Africa and joined the Cape Mounted Rifles, later being commissioned as a lieutenant in the Basuto Police. He was appointed Major in command during the Matabele Campaign in which he and many of his soldiers were killed.
He led his small band of soldiers across the Shangani River seeking to capture Lobenguela, the King of the Matabele. The King escaped them. On their retreat, Wilson and his men found the Shangani in flood … after a brave fight, they were all killed. Buried in the Matopo Hills near Cecil Rhodes' grave, Allan Wilson was long regarded as a national hero.
Reading that brought back so many memories, especially of childhood visits to the Shangani memorial, where Allan Wilson and his men now rest, in the absolutely stunning spot high high up on those giant granite Motopos hills that will always be home.
Some friends sent me photos of their own memories of the Wilson Memorial, to share. The first lovely family shot is courtesy of Bill Teague. He's the little guy pointing up in the bottom photo.
The people of Fochabers placed two standing stones in a memorial garden, in 2002, to commemorate all the remarkable people born in their town. We went there to take a look...
The stone on the right has Allan Wilson's name at the top
We took photos, shed a few tears, and stood in awe that we'd come a full circle in such a story; so wonderfully complex, this journey of lives and deaths.
Another stone memorial, another stunning view
It's a long walk up to that burial site on the Motopos hill, but once you were up there... oh what a view! I'd turn in a circle and feel like an eagle, flying free.
Did Allan Wilson's spirit return to his own home on the River Spey?
For years I've been telling people about the amazing midsummer nights here in northern Scotland. There's a Scottish word for it - "gloaming", the twilight time between sunset and complete darkness. Well... in mid summer there is no complete darkness up here, but I've never been able to photograph it as most times midsummer has been cloudy.
But this past week, we have had perfectly clear skies. :) Here's a patched together view of the Northern horizon from where we live. It's a bit blurry as I am taking a zoom shot. The time was just after midnight and the date was the 22 of June. You'll need to click on the photo to enlarge.
Several years ago, we went to Skye for the day. I'd completely forgotten about it until recently. My friend, Amel, reminded me. She was talking about her trip to London. You should go look at her photos. they're great! She even took photos of some really fancy public toilets. That made me laugh, because I've been known to take photos of public toilets as well! :D
And that's when I remembered the toilet in Skye. This was at a little place, where you stopped before going across the bridge that links Skye to the mainland. It was completely decorated with posters, postcards, toys and ornaments. I've never seen anything like it!
In February I gave an author interview for a book blogger and she kindly made my book covers into bookmarks. :-)
From March I was pretty quiet on my blog, because mid-year was taken up with other people's books. I did a few reviews, I helped a friend by proofing her book for publishing and I helped someone else ghost-write another book. And in between we had another friend come stay with us for a week's holiday!
In April one of my poems went to LA with a photography exhibition by Katherine Cooper...
In June I published a little book of my poetry and blog stories for friends and family. Including all the poems that had a very busy 2015. ;-) In July we dashed about Scotland with our friend, so there are no July blog posts, but loads of August posts of the photos we took that wonderful summer.
September was a whirlwind of emotions and happenings as I took part in the "60 ways to Peace" and Scotland steamed towards the independance referendum. I can sum up both of those events with a poster from the referendum.
September ended with me more active in politics than I have ever been in my life and I'm not the only one. The Scottish referendum set the country on fire and the blaze is still burning. It has led me to new friendships and helped inspire my Blogblast for Peace entry this November 4th.
I made another of my peace poems into a graphic for Facebook and blogs.And in October I lived up to that poem by joining several groups and organisations involved in positive change. :-)
In November I finally finished a video for my second book, WISDOMS OF THE LIGHT.
Here's a slide from that video...
This year has had some lows as well, including the sudden death of a friend and fellow-blogger's husband.
For Jurgis...
And for all those loved ones (friends or family) that we remember at this time of year...
Years ago a friend sent me a link to Mayan astrology. For fun I popped in my birth date and came out as... White World Bridger. At the time the write-up amused me, because it fitted my personality so well. I am and always have been a world bridger. In fact... I even won a blog award for it!
As a long-standing member of Blog4Peace I've recognised the vital need for our planet to build bridges... between the divides of countries, races, religions, and political aspirations. We can accomplish nothing unless we work together.
On the surface that might make my recent stand on voting Yes for Scottish independence seem strange. You would think the alternate side slogan of "Better Together" would fit a world-bridger better. In theory... it should, but bridges can only be built when both sides are strong. You cannot bridge a divide when one bank is weak and crumbling. It just won't work. Plain and simple - your bridge is going to collapse. The truth, sadly, is that the United Kingdom is not made up of equally strong and respected sides. Most simply summed up by the coat of arms...
Ever notice that the Scottish unicorn is
chained? I never did until recently, but I've certainly felt it since
I've lived up here. There are words for partnerships where one side is chained up... and none of them are good!
And that is why I voted Yes, because I believe bridges between equally strong sides will do more to unite this planet than simply ignoring the issues and trying to hide from them. Our planet is divided. We are never going to be all the same. We are of different skin colours and language groups. We worship in different ways, or not at all. We have issues special to our particular cultures. We will never all be the same and why should we? We glory in the diversity of Nature, don't we? We don't want a planet with only one bird species... so why do we try to enforce a world with one humankind? One religion? One political viewpoint? One country?
In a strange twist of fate, Mayan astrology links this fortnight back to that White World Bridger symbol.
Action for Transformation... forgiving the other side in order to build the bridge. Letting go of the illusion that there is no hope of changing things for the better. Bridgers see the bigger picture, I think. We see the fact that you can work together and still keep your independent unique identity. It's all about building those bridges of mutual respect.
And this brings me back to the recent referendum in Scotland. Whether Scots voted Yes or No, most of them voted with a passionate hope in a better future. Now comes the tricky part - building the bridges between those two sides. Both are equally strong, since the voting was an almost equal 45-55%. We can build across that easily, with determination. We can create a better future.
I went to bed at 6:00 am today, then got up and 9:00. it was a long, long night. And it doesn't look to be over yet.
I don't normally talk politics on my blog, but this month I made an exception. I am a YES voter for Scottish independence. Being an anti-nuclear blogger for Peace and pro-Green, a YES was the obvious choice for me.
It was an equally obvious choice for all my in-laws and friends, including many born in England and elsewhere. There were so many well-wishers, including most of my English friends who saw this as a move towards sanity for the entire UK, for various reasons. People like Keith, who writes a political blog down in England. Here's the letter he sent to 10 Downing Street, before the voting began. A letter supporting the YES vote, as many of my English friends do, both here in Scotland and in England.
To say last night's NO results were a shock is an understatement.No-one I know was expecting such a low YES count. And the shock keeps deepening...there have been videos on Youtube and Facebook showing what looks very much like vote-rigging. This is appalling viewing!
I've lived in two African countries where vote-rigging has taken place. I've witnessed it first hand in the 1980s, as a teenager helping out at a polling station. Sadly, the world shrugs when you mention election fraud in Africa, but in the UK...???
I thought I'd put up a song for the day. Everyone seems to be putting up Dougie MacLean singing Caledonia. So I went with something different. One of my favourite musicians, who also happens to be a YES campaigner - Eddie Reader. Singing a slightly different version of one of my all time favourite songs by Fairground Attraction - Perfect.
This first photo is a panorama of the River Ness looking back towards Inverness. You can see a bit of the cathedral on the left bank and the castle up on the hill on the right bank. Please click on photos to enlarge.
Here's a close up of the castle.
After that we went up Tomnahurich, to look at the view.
I've been up here lots of times over the years, but this was the first time I noticed this sword on the rear view of this war memorial.
Here's the yew tree behind the memorial, looking back along the top of the hill. It is HUGE, but then most of the trees here are enormous.
