TIME CAPSULE FOR PITCALNIE AND SHANDWICK

CHIEFS OF PITCALNIE AND SHANDWICK

TIME CAPSULE FOR CLAN CHIEFS
1711	Malcolm Ross, fifth of Pitcalnie, was the rightful heir to Balnagowan, but Lady (Anne Stewart) Ross had schemed in 1685 with her brother Earl Alexander Stewart of Moray to transfer title and estate to Francis Stewart. William, twelfth Lord Ross of Hawkhead, was infefted in the Balnagowan estate in 1707, due to earlier payment of debts.
1713	Thence, the estate of Balnagowan and title of Chief were infefted to Lieutenant-General Charles Ross, but full possession came after the death of Lady Ross in 1919.
1714	The last Stewart monarch, Queen Ann, died, thus ushering in the German House of Hanover. The Act of Union in 1707 had been an incorporating union instead of the federal union most Scots would have preferred. Among the Rosses were those who saw the re-establishment of the House of Stewart as a priority to regaining Scottish independence; naturally, there were always those who aided the opposition in the Scottish habit of hedging one's bet.
1715	In this year of the first Jacobite rebellion, the Jacobites were defeated at the Battle of Sheriffmuir.
1719	At the Battle of Glenshiel, Jacobites with Spanish assistance clashed with government forces.
1720	Charles Edward Stewart was born in Rome on December 31.
1727	Neil Gow, first of a famous family of Fiddle players and composers, was born Strathearn, Ross & Cromarty on March 22.
1728	James Cook, circum-navigator of the globe, was born to Scottish parents in Yorkshire on October 27.
1732	Colonel Charles Ross, grand-nephew of Lieut.-Gen. Charles Ross, took up residence in Balnagowan Castle until his death in the Battle of Fontenoy on May 11, 1745. Title reverted to his father, George, 13th Lord Ross, until his death in 1754.
1736	James Watt, mathematical instrument maker, developer of the steam engine, inventor of the condensor and copying machine was born. He died on August 25 1819.
1744	The world's first Golf Club (the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers) was founded. The St. Andrews Society of Golfers wasn't constituted until May 14 1754.
1745	Charles Edward Stuart, raised his standard at Glenfinnan, at the start of the second Jacobite uprising on August 19, 1745. In September, he occupied Edinburgh and was victorious at the Battle of Prestonpans where the Jacobite army of just over 3,000 defeated the English Royal forces led by Sir John Cope. Malcolm Ross of Pitcalnie, heir apparent to Pitcalnie and Clan Ross, was declared a rebel along with most of the Earl of Cromarty's regiment, when most were captured by the Earl of Sutherland on the day before the Battle of Culloden.
1746	On April 16, Bonnie Prince Charles Edward Stewart was defeated at Battle of Culloden. English forces under the Duke of Cumberland routed the supporters of the prince, who escaped to France.
1747	The Proscription Act was introduced on August 1, banning Highlanders (other than British soldiers) from wearing the tartan (known as the"Breacan") and carrying weapons.
1754	An unmarried William, 14th Lord Ross, survived his father by two months. The Hawkhead line and title to Balnagowan passed through heirs female to the daughter of the 12th Lord Ross, Lady Grizel Lockhart, whose descendants adopted the surname Ross. Four of their five sons inherited Balnagowan and became Baronets, the fifth of whom introduced Cheviot sheep into the County of Ross and began the "Highland Clearances".
1756	Road builder John McAdam (inventor of "tar macadam" road surface) was born on September 21.and he died on November 26, 1836.
1759	Robert Burns was born in Alloway on January 25.
1763	(Sir) Alexander MacKenzie, explorer of the North-West Territories of Canada, was born in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, and the family became residents of Avoch, Black Isle, before emigrating to the New World. He gave his name to the MacKenzie River in 1789 as a fur trader with the North West Company. He was the first white person North of Mexico to cross the continent. Died 1820.
1768	The first edition of "Encyclopaedia Britannica" was published in Edinburgh by William Smellie.
1770	On March 9, Haggis was served on board Captain James Cook's ship "Endeavour", anchored off New Zealand, in celebration of the birthday of a Scottish officer who was on board. James Bruce discovered the source of the Blue Nile in north-west Ethiopia on November 14. The Clyde Trust was created to convert the River Clyde, which was at that time an insignificant river, into a major thoroughfare for marine communications. This required a major programme of excavation and dredging.
1771	The writer Sir Walter Scott was born on August 15. He was famed as an English-style poet and writer of fictitious period novels about Scotland until his death aged 61 on September 21, 1832. Mungo Park was born at Foulshiels, near Selkirk on September 10. He became an explorer and doctor who charted the course of the River Niger.
1773	On September 15 the "Hector" left Loch Broom, near Ullapool, to sail to Pictou, Nova Scotia, carrying emigrants escaping from the "Clearances".
1778	Munro Ross, seventh of Pitcalnie, had his claim as an "heirs male" successor to the Earldom of Ross sustained by the Court of Session and the House of Lords, but it appears that no decision was reached.
1782	The Proscription Act was repealed on July 1, thus allowing again the wearing of tartan and the carrying of weapons (banned as a result of the 1745 uprising).
1788	Charles Edward Stewart, "Bonnie Prince Charlie" died on January 31.
1792	"The Year of the Sheep" - Sir John Lockhart-Ross (no relation to the legitimate Chiefs of Clan Ross) began to introduce Cheviot sheep onto his lands. A determined but futile stand was attempted at Beauly, Black Isle, in order to drive the sheep from the lands. Dr. John Robert Ross wrote, "The Highlands have never made a full recovery from the devastation of the Clearances."
1799	Income tax was introduced for the first time.
1802	On October 10 , writer and geologist Hugh Miller was born on the Black Isle, at Cromarty. He died on December 24, 1856.
1813	David Livingstone, missionary and explorer, was born at Blantyre (8 miles South of Glasgow) on March 19. On November 17, 1855, he reached Victoria Falls in Africa. He died on May 1, 1873. John Rae , explorer and surveyor of Canada's northern coastline was born in Orkney on September 30.
1814	The "Year of the Burnings" - The first clearance of Strathnaver in Sutherland occurred.
1815	John A MacDonald, First Prime Minister of Canada in 1856, was born on January 11 in Rogart, Sutherland.
1818	The Honours of Scotland were put on display in Edinburgh Castle after being rediscovered by Sir Walter Scott.
1822	The Caledonian Canal was opened.
1826	Scotland's first commercial railway was opened between Edinburgh and Dalkeith.
1830	Composer Alexander Muir, creator of "Maple Leaf Forever", was born at Lesmahagow, Lanark, on April 5.
1838	Queen Victoria was crowned at Westminster Abbey on June 28.
1843	There was a disruption of the Church of Scotland and formation of Free Church of Scotland. On October 4, 1929, most of United Free Church merged with Church of Scotland. Most Presbyterians in Canada joined with the Congregational and Methodist Churches to form the United Church of Canada on June 10, 1925.
1847	Alexander Graham Bell was born in Edinburgh on March 3. The telephone was first used successfully in Brantford, Ontario, on July 26, 1874, but it was patented (Patent 174461) on March 7, 1876. He died in Nova Scotia on August 2 1922.
1848	Greenwich Mean Time was adopted by Scotland.
1850	Novelist and poet Robert Louis Stevenson was born on November 13 in Edinburgh. He died in Samoa on December 3 1894.
1854	The "Slaughter at Greenyards" and the "Massacre of the Rosses" - The last evictions at Strathcarron occurred.
1868	The Scottish Reform Act was passed, giving the vote to all male householders.
1879	Tay Bridge Disaster (bridge collapsed in storm taking a train with it - enquiry revealed corners had been cut during construction to reduce costs).
1890	Forth Rail Bridge opened, after taking six years to build.
1896	Opening of the Underground Railway (the "shooglie") in Glasgow. It remains the only underground in Scotland.
1900	Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the future Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, was born on August 4.
1903	Born in 1867 at Balnagore, Fearn, Ethel Frances Sarah Williamson Ross registered arms under Lord Lyon as "Ross of Pitcalnie" after her brother's death and became 27th Chief of Clan Ross.
1908	Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, was born on May 28.
1911	The Chapel of the Thistle was dedicated in St Giles Cathedral.
1914	WWI began on August 1.
1915	Britain's worst train disaster took place near Gretna Green, south of Dumfries, killing 227 people.
1918	Armistice Day - World War I ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
1926	Queen Elizabeth II (I of Scotland) was born in London on April 21, 1926, the first child of the Duke and Duches of York, subsequently King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. She married Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten on November 20, 1947. Her coronation was on June 2, 1953. In January, John Logie Baird provided the first public demonstration of TV. He transmitted the first colour television on July 3, 1928.
1934	The liner Queen Mary (81,235 tons) launched at John Brown's shipyard, Clydebank on September 26. She went on to break the Atlantic record (the "Blue Riband") four times. On March 24, 1936, an estimated one million people watch the Queen Mary leave the Clyde for the first time, and on May 27 the liner made its maiden voyage.
1938	The ocean liner Queen Elizabeth, then the largest passenger ship ever built, was launched in September at John Brown's shipyard, Clydebank.
1939	September 3: Start of the Second World War.
1941	Hitler's Deputy Rudolf Hess parachuted from a plane just south of Glasgow at Eaglesham. His purpose remains one of the great enigmas of the war.
1943	More than 1000 people were killed over two days in Clydebank and Southern Glasgow during the only sustained German Luftwaffe attack on Scotland during the Second World War.
1945	May 8: Victory-in-Europe Day, end of World War II in Europe.
1950	Students of Glasgow University stole the "Stone of Destiny" from Westminster Abbey and placed it on the bar of the Arlington Pub while they had an ale or two. This was Scotland's Coronation Stone, taken by the English in 1296. By tradition all British Monarchs have to be crowned while sitting on it. It was eventually recovered from Arbroath Abbey, although some claim this was a copy, and the original remains in Scotland.
1957	Miss Rosa Ross Williamson Ross became 28th Chief of Clan Ross upon the death of her older sister. She died at the age of 99 years on March 24, 1968.
1959	Scotland's first nuclear power station was opened at Chapelcross in Dumfriesshire.
1964	Forth Road Bridge opened by Her Majesty Queen Elisabeth II. It was the longest suspension bridge in Europe.
1965	Tay Road Bridge opened - for a short time the longest bridge in the world, at just over one mile.
1967	The Queen Elisabeth II (QE2) was launched in Clydebank. It was the last of the great clyde-built passenger liners.
1968	The chiefship of Ross and the armorial dignities were transferred to David Campbell Ross, eldest son of the late Sheriff Charles Campbell Ross, Q.C., of the cadet branch house of Shandwick.
1971	Decimal currency was introduced, abandoning 12 pennies to a shilling and 20 shillings to a pound.
1973	Mohamed Al Fayed purchased Balnagowan Castle; over the next 20 years, millions were spent refurbishing it.
1975	The first oil was piped ashore from the North Sea at Peterhead.
1988	Scotland's worst terrorist incident occurred when a bomb exploded on board a Boeing 747 air liner on course from Frankfurt to New York. It crashed on the village of Lockerbie in Dumfriesshire, killing a total of 275 people, which represented all on board and a number on the ground.
1990	Scotland defeated England to win the Rugby "Grand Slam".
1996	A deranged gunman killed 16 five-year-old children, their teacher and himself in the Primary School at Dunblane in Perthshire. This is the worst tragedy of its type in the U.K. The "Stone of Destiny", Scotland's Coronation Stone, was returned from London to Edinburgh Castle, exactly 700 years after being stolen by Edward I in 1296, when Scotland was annexed by England. It was not delivered to Scone Palace because that continues to be the residence of the Earl of Mansfield. It was placed along side Scotland's Crown Jewels and other Honours of Scotland in Edinburgh Castle.
1997	On August 31, Dodi Fayed and Lady Diana were killed in a car crash in Paris.
1999	On June 4 - Statutory Instrument 1999 no. 1350, The Scotland Act, 1997, was in force ... adding control over the majority of domestic issues and the ability to vary the income tax to their rights to a separate education and legal system. Following this devolution of powers from London, England still retained control of defence, foreign affairs and economic policies of the British Isles. A Scottish Parliament was finally re-instated after 292 years. On May 12, the Scottish Parliament convened for the first time since 1707. The Official Opening of Parliament by the Queen was on On July 1. This was the first ever, directly elected Parliament in Scotland. On December 29, David Ross of Ross's petition that he be recognized as David Ross of Ross and Balnagowan was granted.
2000	On January 15, Mohammed Al Fayed, was instructed by the Scottish heraldic court to remove the personal Heralic Achievement or "Arms" owned by David Ross of Ross and Balnagowan from the recently installed gates at the entrance to Balnagowan Castle.