May 23 – 1308 Battle of Inverurie, also known as the Battle of Barra, or Battle of auld Meldrum. A victory for the Scottish King Robert Bruce over his chief domestic enemy, John Comyn, 3rd Earl of Buchan. This 1818 map, 500 years after the battle of Inverurie, showing Inverurie on the Urie River, 16 miles northwest of Old Aberdeen on the Atlantic coast, with Old Meldrum, and Meldrum, to the Northeast in Aberdeen shire. Berrie, Blackdogton, Caskbain, Cranebog, Daviot,Dyce, Echt, Egie, Fintry, Garioth valley, Gd Holme, Glaswege, Greenburn, Hillton, Housedale, Kenmay, Kier, Kingswells, Kinkell, Kinmundy, Kinnellar, Kintore, Mains, Midmarr, Milltown, Oldmill, Paisley, Parkhill, Rock of Blackdogton, Skeene, Skenell, Tarbet, Uptope.

Earl of Buchan. It was followed by the Harrying of Buchan, Brus or Bruce 1050 2Stewart2Kennedy 2Montgomery2Blair 2Cochrane2Miller 2Simmons2Choate zoe ToaG

Bruce defeats the Comyns at Inverurie – 1308. Bruce defeats Aymer de Valance, John Comyn’s brother-in-law, with superior tactics. Soon after Edward I dies on route to Scotland. With his great enemy dead, the tide had begun to turn in favour of Bruce. Video: A history of Scotland: Bishop Makes King.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/history/wars_of_independence/bruce_defeats_the_comyns_at_inverurie/

1504 – James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran appointed Lieutenant General of Scotland and in May 1504 commanded a naval expedition to suppress an uprising in the Western Isles.

[Hamilton 2Stewart 2Millar 2simmons 2Choate 2Sorensen]

1866 London. John Nicholson, a Scot, was in charge of three hundred and fifty emigrants bound for Utah. The voyage over the water was made in the vessel “American Congress” which left the dock of London on May 23, and anchored in the New York harbor in the month of July.

https://familysearch.org/photos/artifacts/872907

1701 – William “Captain” Kidd, died, Scottish pirate (b. 1645).

dlmentertainment.com

1718 – William Hunter, Scottish anatomist (d. 1783)

1788 South Carolina ratifies the Consititution, becomes a state, has these Scottish Place names (wikipedia) – Anderson, Cameron, Dunbarton (Dumbarton), Elgin, Kershaw County, Elgin, Lancaster County, McBee, McClellanville, McColl, McConnells, McCormick, McCormick County, Scotia

1807 Thomas Cochrane, Lord Cochrane. was elected by Westminster in a more democratic election. Cochrane campaigned for parliamentary reform, allied with such Radicals as William Cobbett, Sir Francis Burdett and Henry Hunt. A satirical print depicting Gambier and Cochrane during the Battle of Basque Roads; Gambier is shown reading the Bible, ignoring Cochrane’s request to pursue the French fleet. Wikipedia.

Lord Cochrane’s outspoken criticism of the conduct of the war and the corruption in the navy made him powerful enemies in the government. Lord Cochrane’s criticism of Admiral Gambier’s conduct at the Battle of the Basque Roads was so severe that Gambier demanded a court-martial to clear his (Gambier’s) name. This made Cochrane important enemies in the Admiralty. The Westminster Election in 1807 by James Gilray
Sir Francis Burdett and Thomas Cochrane are at 
the top of the poll and are followed by the defeated 
candidates in the election.

1824 – Ambrose Burnside, American Union Civil War general (d. September 13, 1881). Ambrose’s 2nd great-grandfather Robert Burnside (1725–1775) was born in Scotland and settled in the Province of South Carolina. Burnside’s Mexican-American War, American Civil War, First Battle of Bull Run, Burnside’s actions included North Carolina Expedition, Battle of Roanoke Island, Battle of New Bern, Maryland Campaign, Battle of South Mountain, Battle of Antietam, Battle of Fredericksburg, Knoxville Campaign, Overland Campaign, Battle of the Wilderness, Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, Battle of North Anna, Battle of Cold Harbor, Siege of Petersburg, Battle of the Crater.  1964 5-cent issue, Battle of the Wilderness centennial commemorative stamp.

1953 Young Bess is a 1953 Technicolor biographical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer about a young Elizabeth I (descendant of Margaret of Scotland and Matilda of Scotland). The film starred Jean Simmons and Stewart Granger as Thomas Seymour, with Charles Laughton as Elizabeth’s father, Henry VIII, a part he had played twenty years before in The Private Life of Henry VIII. Card. When Henry marries his last wife, Catherine Parr (Deborah Kerr, the now-teenage Elizabeth finally rebels against her latest summons. However, the suave, handsome Lord Admiral Thomas Seymour (Stewart Granger) persuades her to change her mind, and Elizabeth and Catherine become good friends.

1958 Drew Carey, (born May 23, 1958), comedic actor and game show host, Scottish heritage from both parents. Carey in his U.S. Marine Corps uniform, with rank insignia of a Corporal.

 

1990 Utah is ranked 2nd highest (4.6% of the state population) among the 50 United States with the top percentages of Scottish residents (Wikipedia 26 March 2017 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Americans#Scottish_Americans_by_state ).   1997 Utah waterfowl stamp. How are the Scots in Utah doing? Utah ranked first in 1990 of state life expectancy at birth for white males.

 

 

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