Maitland Matters.

Newsletter for the Clan Maitland Society of North America - Spring 2000.

Contents

• Howard Harrison Cooksey, an appreciation
• New Members
• 21st Annual Clan Gathering Las Vegas
• Declaration of Arbroath
• International Tartan Center
• New Scottish collar for Lord Lyon King of Arms
• Royal Apartments at Edinburgh Castle recreated
• At long last, a kilt that won't chafe
• Sean Connery - Century's Sexiest Man?

Howard Harrison Cooksey

We are saddened to announce that Howard Harrison Cooksey, 78, retired Army lieutenant general and decorated combat veteran in three wars, died December 22 of a vascular disease at the Fairfax retirement community in Fort Belvoir.

Gen. Cooksey was born in Brentsville, Virginia, and raised in Manassas. He was deputy chief of staff for research, development and acquisition when he retired in 1978.

His combat duties as an infantry officer were with the 158th Regimental Combat Team in the Philippines in World War II, the 7th Infantry Division in the Korean War, and as a general officer, with the American Division and the Ist1st Regional Assistance Command in Vietnam. He qualified as a paratrooper in 1958. Other military assignments were with Gen. Douglas MacArthur's honour guard during the occupation of Japan and with the 2nd Battle Group, 6th Infantry Division, in Berlin. He was also assistant professor of military science at Drexel Institute in Philadelphia and commanding officer at Fort Dix, New Jersey.For ten years after his retirement, Gen. Cooksey was president of the Cooksey Corporation, a military consulting firm based in Alexandria, Virginia.

He owned and operated two farms near Independence, Virginia, for 12 years. In 1986, he moved to Berryville, Virginia, where he served on the Clarke County Planning Commission for four years. He was also president of the Lions Club, chairman of the board of Grafton School for autistic children, , and a member of the Shenandoah Valley Chapter of Retired Officers Association.

A 1943 graduate of Virginia Tech, he earned a master's degree in foreign affairs from George Washington University in 1964. He served on the board of directors of the Virginia Tech Alumni Association for ten years. An active Episcopalian, he served as treasurer of the Church of the Epiphany in the District and on the vestries of Immanuel Church-on the- Hill in Alexandria, Grace Church in Berryville and St. John's in Arlington.

Gen. Cooksey's military decorations include the Distinguished Services Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit with an oak leaf cluster, the Bronze Star with V and an oak leaf cluster, the Air Medal with 28 oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters, and the Purple Heart.

He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Althea Hooff Cooksey of Fort Belvoir, a son, Paul Hoof Cooksey of Alexandria, a daughter, Allison Cooksey Hyland of Annapolis, a sister, Carolyn Cooksey Baker of Falls Church and six grandchildren.
Funeral services with full military honours were held at the Old Chapel, Fort Meyer, followed by burial at Arlington National Cemetery.

Howard Cooksey was a founding member of the clan and was our first treasurer when the first executive was formed in January of 1980. He had attended to the many details of setting up the meeting. The meeting was held at the Old Town Holiday Inn in Alexandria, Virginia. The festivities of the evening included a cocktail party at the home of Howard Cooksey, followed by a banquet at the Holiday Inn. Thus Clan Maitland, Inc. was established.

The ninth annual meeting was again held in Alexandria, Virginia and once again Gen. Howard Cooksey and Althea were our hosts. Their home was opened to us for cocktails before proceeding to Joe Theissmann's restaurant for dinner. Howard had arranged for our group to tour the White House and his son Paul had made arrangements for us to tour the Treasury Department Building.

It was at this meeting that our name Clan Maitland, Inc. was changed to the present Clan Maitland Society of North America.

These two meetings have many fond memories for those in attendance. Gen. Howard Cooksey and his family will remain with us.

New Members

It is a pleasure to welcome new members into our Clan Maitland. We look forward to meeting you at future gatherings.

Michelle Lynne Maitland
Father : Ernest Rogers Maitland, VA
Grdfather : Harvey Winfield Maitland, VA
Gr. Grdfather:John H.Maitland, VA

Arthur D. & Eleanor Maitland
Father: Philip E. Maitland
Robert A. & Virginia R.(Watson) Schaeffer
Her Gr. Grandfather: John Richard Maitland, b. Brandon, Ireland

Charlie Watson
GrGrdMother: Elizabeth Mary Maitland Watson
Gr Gr Grdfather : John Richard Maitland

G. M. Richardson Dougall
His Maternal Grandfather: George Maitland (1849 1916) of Detroit, MI Deceased:

Deceased:
James L. Claybrook, MD

Birth:
Clare and Elsa Maitland are happy to announce the birth of another granddaughter. Rebecca Florence Trimble-Maitland came into this world on January 8,2000 at 10 lbs. 6 oz. A sister for Caroline. David Maitland and Brenda Trimble are proud parents knowing that all went well.

DECLARATION of ARBROATH

The Declaration of Arbroath is opne of the most important and famous documents in Scots history, so we thought you would like to see it here, in an Enlgish translation - the original is in Latin

To the most Holy Father and Lord in Christ, the Lord John, by divine providence Supreme Pontiff of the Holy Roman and Universal Church, his humble and devout sons Duncan, Earl of Fife, Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, Lord of Man and of Annandale, Patrick Dunbar, Earl of March, Malise, Earl of Strathearn, Malcolm, Earl of Lennox, William, Earl of Ross, Magnus, Earl of Caithness and Orkney, and William, Earl of Sutherland; Walter, Steward of Scotland, William Soules, Butler of Scotland, James, Lord of Douglas, Roger Mowbray, David, Lord of Brechin, David Graham, Ingram Umfraville, John Menteith, guardian of the earldom of Menteith, Alexander Fraser, Gilbert Hay, Constable of Scotland, Robert Keith, Marischal of Scotland, Henry St Clair, John Graham, David Lindsay, William Oliphant, Patrick Graham, John Fenton, William Abernethy, David Wemyss, William Mushet, Fergus of Ardrossan, Eustace Maxwell, William Ramsay, William Mowat, Alan Murray, Donald Campbell, John Cameron, Reginald Cheyne Alexander Seton, Andrew Leslie, and Alexander Straiton, and the other barons and freeholders and the whole community of the realm of Scotland send all manner of filial reverence, with devout kisses of his blessed feet.

Most Holy Father and Lord, we know and from the chronicles and books of the ancients we find that among other famous nations our own, the Scots, has been graced with widespread renown. They journeyed from Greater Scythia by way of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Pillars of Hercules, and dwelt for a long course of time in Spain among the most savage tribes, but nowhere could they be subdued by any race, however barbarous. Thence they came, twelve hundred years after the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea, to their home in the west where they still live today. The Britons they first drove out, the Picts they utterly destroyed, and, even though very often assailed by the Norwegians, the Danes and the English, they took possession of that home with many victories and untold efforts-, and, as the historians of old time bear witness, they have held it free of all bondage ever since. In their kingdom there have reigned one hundred and thirteen kings of their own royal stock, the line unbroken a single foreigner.

The high qualities and deserts of these people, were they not otherwise manifest, gain glory enough from this-. that the King of kings and Lord of lords, our Lord Jesus Christ, after His Passion and Resurrection, called them, even though settled in the uttermost parts of the earth, almost the first to His most holy faith. Nor would He have them confirmed in that faith by merely anyone but by the first of His Apostles -- by calling, though second or third in rank -- the most gentle Saint Andrew, the Blessed Peter's brother, and desired him to keep them under his protection as their patron forever.

The Most Holy Fathers your predecessors gave careful heed to these things and bestowed many favours and numerous privileges on this same kingdom and people, as being the special charge of the Blessed Peter's brother. Thus our nation under their protection did indeed live in freedom and peace up to the time when that mighty prince the King of the English, Edward, the father of the one who reigns today, when our kingdom had no head and our people harboured no malice or treachery and were then unused to wars or invasions, came in the guise of a friend and ally to harass them as an enemy. The deeds of cruelty, massacre, violence, pillage, arson, imprisoning prelates, burning down monasteries, robbing and killing monks and nuns, and yet other outrages without number which he committed against our people, sparing neither age nor sex, religion nor rank, no one could describe nor fully imagine unless he had seen them with his own eyes.

But from these countless evils we have been set free, by the help of Him Who though He afflicts yet heals and restores, by our most tireless Prince, King and Lord, the Lord Robert. He, that his people and his heritage might be delivered out of the hands of our enemies, met toil and fatigue, hunger and peril, like another Macabaeus or Joshua and bore them cheerfully. Him, too, divine providence, his right of succession according to or laws and customs which we shall maintain to the death, and the due consent and assent of us all have made our Prince and King. To him, as to the man by whom salvation has been wrought unto our people, we are bound both by law and by his merits that our freedom may be still maintained, and by him, come what may, we mean to stand.

Yet if he should give up what he has begun, and agree to make us or our kingdom subject to the King of England or the English, we should exert ourselves at once to drive him out as our enemy and a subverter of his own rights and ours, and make some other man who was well able to defend us our King- for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom -- for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself

Therefore it is, Reverend Father and Lord, that we beseech your Holiness with our most earnest prayers and suppliant hearts, inasmuch as you will in your sincerity and goodness consider all this, that, since with Him Whose vice-gerent on earth you are there is neither weighing nor distinction of Jew and Greek, Scotsman or Englishman, you will look with the eyes of a father on the troubles and privation brought by the English upon us and upon the Church of God. May it please you to admonish and exhort the King of the English, who ought to be satisfied with what belongs to him since England used once to be enough for seven kings or more, to leave us Scots in peace, who live in this poor little Scotland, beyond which there is no dwelling-place at all, and covet nothing but our own. We are sincerely willing to do anything for him, having regard to our condition, that we can, to win peace for ourselves.

This truly concerns you, Holy Father, since you see the savagery of the heathen raging against the Christians, as the sins of Christians have indeed deserved, and the frontiers of Christendom being pressed inward every day; and how much it will tarnish your Holiness's memory if (which God forbid) the Church suffers eclipse or scandal in any branch of it during your time, you must perceive. Then rouse the Christian princes who for false reasons pretend that they cannot go to help of the Holy Land because of wars they have on hand with their neighbours. The real reason that prevents them is that in making war on their smaller neighbours they find quicker profit and weaker resistance. But how cheerfully our Lord the King and we too would go there if the King of the English would leave us in peace, He from Whom nothing is hidden well knows; and we profess and declare it to you as the Vicar of Christ and to all Christendom.

But if your Holiness puts too much faith in the tales the English tell and will not give sincere belief to all this, nor refrain from favouring them to our prejudice, then the slaughter of bodies, the perdition of souls, and all the other misfortunes that will follow, inflicted by them on us and by us on them, will, we believe, be surely laid by the Most High to your charge.

To conclude, we are and shall ever be, as far as duty calls us, ready to do your will in all things, as obedient sons to you as His Vicar-, and to Him as the Supreme King and Judge we commit the maintenance of our cause, casting our cares upon Him and firmly trusting that He will inspire us with courage and bring our enemies to nought.

May the Most High preserve you to his Holy Church in holiness and health and grant you length of days.

Given at the monastery of Arbroath in Scotland on the sixth day of the month of April in the year of grace thirteen hundred and twenty and the fifteenth year of the reign of our King aforesaid.

Additional names written on some of the seal tags: Alexander Lamberton, Edward Keith, John Inchmartin, Thomas Menzies, John Durrant, Thomas Morham (and one illegible).

Endorsed-. Letter directed to our Lord the Supreme Pontiff by the community of Scotland. .

Viscount Maitland, Master of Lauderdale kindly submitted this interesting and historical article for our newsletter. It will also correct the weird ideas of the movie 'Braveheart'. This was a letter, written in Latin to the Pope in 1320, after Scotland had regained her independence from England, as a protest against English aggression. The language is magnificent, including the memorable phrase: "It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom – for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself."

It is interesting to note that nearly all the signatories were of Norman origin; of the 44, 38 were Norman, Norse or English origin, only 6 appear to be Celtic. Essentially, the Scottish Wars of Independence which were won at Bannockburn in 1314 were fought by Norman knights in Scotland against Norman knights from England. William Wallace himself was from a Norman family which had migrated from England.

21st Annual Clan Gathering. LAS VEGAS-NEVADA

This will be the site of our 21st Annual Clan Gathering. Arrangements have been made for the hotel, tours and dinner meeting. We thank Bill Priddy and Rosemary Maitland Thom for their efforts in bringing about our meeting this year.
Las Vegas is man's excuse for excess. In the beginning there were slot machines, which begat all-you-can-eat buffets, which begat elaborate star-studded shows, which begat themed megaresorts. OK, you were lured to Nevada by the temptation of turning a quarter into a million dollars. Hitting the jackpot. Early retirement . A life of ease. Then reality sets in. As it turns out, you don't have the Midas touch after all. Your dreams of monetary riches may have faded, but their are other riches to be had: wide open spaces, blue skies, deserts, mountains and the culture of the American Indians.

For those who like money, visit Binions Horseshoe on Fremont street. It features 100 U.S. bank notes worth $10,000 each mounted between sheets of bulletproof glass. Fremont Street Experience boasts a canopy of more than 2 million lights arching across a four-block expanse of downtown Las Vegas

There are many museums, theme parks, conservation areas, and shopping plazas.

Rosemary Maitland Thom and her niece, who live in Las Vegas, have done much of the leg work in preparation for our weekend. If you have any questions please contact Bill Priddy at (360)373-7450. Arrangements are being made to tour Hoover Dam and/or Red Rock Canyon and a chance to attend a musical - Forever Plaid.

Hoover Dam: 3 1/2 hours - AM or PM , bus $19.00, dam tour $8.00
Red Rock Canyon: 3 1/2 hours - AM or PM tour $29.00 including park entrance
Forever Plaid: Flamingo Hotel - 7.30 or 10.00 PM $24.25 incl. tax and tip

Friday night - western style BBQ planned

Our Summer newsletter will contain a questionnaire and reply to obtain an accurate count for those interested in each event planned.

The hotel is The Four Queens, Fremont Street (city centre), call 1-800-634-6045. A block of rooms has been set aside until August 28,2000. Make reservations early. Rates are
Thurs. Sept. 28 - $29.00 + taxes
Friday. Sept. 29 $59.00 To get the $59.00 rate
Sat. Sept. 30 - $59.00 you must stay Fri. and Sat.
Sun. Oct. I - $29.00 ??
Longer stays can be arranged with the hotel. All hotel bookings must be made by those who attend. So book early. Do it to-day, if not sooner. A lot of preparation has gone into making this an exciting weekend. Lets make it all worthwhile for the organizers. Watch for more details in the next newsletter.
The Saturday night dinner meeting will be held in the Royal Pavilion Room within the hotel. Cost is yet to be determined. The Clan room with its goodies will be available.

New Scottish collar for Lord Lyon King of Arms

This is an abbreviated version of the article by Mark Dennis in the MaylJune 1999 issue of The Highlander.

In the first undertaking of its kind and scale, St. Andrew’s Societies from around the world joined forces to recreate the lost ceremonial gold chain or collar-of-office of Scotland's Lyon King of Arms. Four years after this project wasinitiated by the St. Andrew's Society of San Francisco, its President William Campbell Blair presented the magnificent new Collar to Sir Malcolm Innes of Edingight, the current Lord Lyon and to the People of Scotland at a ceremony in Edinburgh in December of 1998. The Collar was publicly worn for the first time at the St. Andrew's Day Service at the High Kirk of St. Giles in the company of the Knights Thistle, the Judiciary, the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, and the assembled "great and good of Scotland".

As most will know, the Lord Lyon heads the ancient Lyon Court, the supreme heraldic authority in Scotland. The office, correctly styled the Right Honorable Lord Lyon King of Arms of Scotland, is one of the great Officers of State charged with the ordering of the State ceremonial and the regulation of all Scottish coats of arms.

Yet for nearly 250 years the Lyon had worn an English chain of office when he appeared on occasions of state in his magnificent tabard embroidered with the Scottish arms. From the time of the Stuart monarch, Charles 11, the Lord Lyon wore a golden collar of thistles which disappeared in the decade following Culloden. Since then, the Lord Lyon has worn an English collar, and his ancient right and the thistle collar itself have existed only on paper. Requests over the years to the Lord Chamberlain in London to restore the Scottish collar have been ignored.

In 1994, led by the St. Andrew's Society of San Francisco, 40 St. Andrew's Societies around the world banded together and subscribed to a new collar for the Lyon based on the ancient pattern, a Scottish collar of gold, as a gift to the People of Scotland from their cousins of the Scottish Diaspora. Sadly, in countries with very large, settled Scots populations such as the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the response was surprisingly disappointing. Only one Canadian and one Australian St. Andrew's Society subscribed. No New Zealand Society even acknowledged the correspondence.

The magnificent collar was sculpted and cast in 14K gold by the renowned artist Don McKee of Louisville, Colorado. The chain is alternating links of thistles slipped and leaved together alternating with links of crossed stalks of rue. Each is engraved on the reverse with the name of the donor society. The central pendant is an oval of gold ,with the figure in relief of St. Andrew and his Cross, enameled an ensigned with the Crown of Scotland in gold and enamel. The reverse of the pendant is inscribed with the legend

The gift of St. Andrew's Societies of the World
To Her Majesty the Queen,
Her Lord Lyon, and the Scottish People
Gens Una Sumus
(We are one people)
1998

It is anticipated that this new addition to the regalia, the treasure of Scotland, ,will be displayed in the new Museum of Scotland when not being worn on State occasions by the Lord Lyon. It is also hoped that others may be encourage to conceive and undertake like efforts that will tie our distant peoples together, that ,will at once celebrate our past and our future and that will both honour the hopes of our ancestors and be a promise to the generations yet to be.

We can be proud that the St. Andrew's Society of Massachusetts subscribed to a link for this memorable chain

At long last, a kilt that won't chafe

by Dominic Rushe

Scotsmen everywhere can breathe a sigh of relief because from now on, wearing nothing under the kilt should become more comfortable. The Cashmere Kilt Co. is launching a kilt made in that most luxurious of fabrics as the traditional Scottish garb enjoys an unprecedented boom.

Kilts have traditionally been made from wool and can be a bit hard on the wearer. "After a long night out the kilt can cause chafing, especially among redheads with their sensitive skin," said Ken Taylor, chairman of the company. No such problems should arise with the cashmere kilt. At about the equivalent of $2,200, the kilts are twice as expensive as their rougher rivals , but Taylor thinks sales will be strong, especially among the expatriate community.

Taylor developed the idea when a trade war jeopardized the future of the Scottish cashmere industry. The U.S. threatened to impose huge tariffs on cashmere imports. During the uncertainty Taylor said the company looked to diversify from traditional cashmere products such as jumpers and scarves. "We've made cashmere jackets and cashmere socks. The only thing we haven't done is make cashmere underwear," he says. Taylor developed the cloth with Johnstons of Elgin, one of Scotland's oldest weaving companies. They perfected a tightly woven cashmere cloth that holds the weight of the pleats of a traditional eight-yard kilt.

The flower of Scotland was chosen as the tartan to be woven into the new cashmere cloth as it is relatively free of clan associations. At weddings and special occasions, the Flower of Scotland tartan is by far the most popular cloth.

London Sunday Times Sept. 1999

Sean Connery - Century's Sexiest Man?

Sean Connery, one of Scotland's best-known and best-loved native sons, \vas voted "Sexiest Man of the Century" by the 16,000 women who responded to a recent survey by New Woman magazine. He defeated, among others, Brad Pitt, Niel Gibson, Paul Newman, and Harrison Ford.

Born Thomas Sean Connery, on August 25, 1930., in Edinburgh to a truck driver and a cleaning woman, he left school at 15 to join the Royal Navy and later worked in such various capacities as bricklayer, lifeguard, model -and coffin polisher. In 1962, after several years' experience in repertory theater, he was chosen to play the screen incarnation of James Bond. This role, which he repeated in six films, made him an international star- He became closely identified with the persona of Bond - witty, charming, and virile, but also arrogant, cruel, and cold.

At first he was unable to escape the typecasting of James Bond. But in 1975 & 1976, a trio of flamboyantly romantic roles proved to be the turning point in his career: a very Scots Arab in The Wind and the Lion with Candace Bergen; a Kipling opportunist with Michael Caine in The Man Who Would Be King; and the aging outlaw in Robin and Marion with Audrey Hepburn.

Having come from lowly working-class stock, Mr. Connery had, for most of his career, been advised to hide his Scottishness. In these three roles, for the first time, he let his Scots accent roar, showed how little hair he owned, and acquired true nobility by adding warmth, humor and a depth of humanity to his well-established wit, charm. and sexy virility. Mr. Connery emerged as a romantic hero who commanded the love of the public. Now, happily battered and world weary, he is past sixty and still improving.

Sir Sean Connery was knighted in the New Year. He was denied this two years ago, it was rumoured, because of his passionate Scottish nationalism and support of the Scottish Nationalist Party.

Sir Sean received an award in recognition of his contribution to cinema by the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts.

Royal Apartments at Edinburgh Castle

The Royal Apartments at Edinburgh Castle have been painstakingly restored to their early 17th century splendour. The Laigh Hall and Presence Chamber now look as they, would have in 1617 for the "homecoming" of King James VI of Scotland (James I of England). Visitors can also see the tiny room where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to the future king.

International Tartan Center

After hundreds of years, one of Scotland's best known cultural symbols - the tartan - is at long last to be honoured with a permanent home. The Center, located near the ancient Scottish city of Perth, will house the definitive world collection of tartan, tartan artifacts, records and archives. It will offer excellent facilities for scholarly study, tartan authentication, and clan and genealogical research. The center will be open to the public and hopes to become one of Scotland's leading visitor attractions and a "spiritual home to all Scottish cultural groups, clan societies and kindred associations ". There will be space for conferences and school visits and a changing program of events, displays and demonstrations of spinning, weaving, dyeing and a host of other activities associated with tartans and the cultural traditions and crafts surrounding tartan. Planned events will include fashion shows, collection initiations, trade shows, piping competitions and Scottish country dancing.