Cunninghams, Castles, and Cairns
- slaventure0
- May 13, 2024
- 5 min read
A Cunningham by birth, I was blessed to attend elementary and junior high during the glory years of Happy Days. "Do you have a brother named Ritchie?" I was asked frequently. I didn't have brothers, just one sister named Cindy (not Joanie), yet somehow my surname still granted a smidge of coolness. I was related to fictional characters who were the friends and surrogate family of the epitome of cool: Arthur Fonzarelli.
My friends called my parents Mr. and Mrs. C, but my mom and dad were not cool. My parents were so not cool that Cindy and I were not allowed to watch Happy Days during its first season because of depictions of necking in cars and the Fonz's amorous proclivities. Eventually, they caved and became as fond of Fonzie as Howard and Marion were (though still disapproving of his promiscuity.)
In due time, Fonzie jumped the shark (literally) and I entered high school. The name Cunningham lost any coolness it had. I was super excited to become a LaVenture upon marriage at the age of 25. LaVenture is an inherently cool name. Thanks, honey. Now I will always be cool. Perhaps married couples should choose the best last name between the two and go with that. If there's a tie, they can hyphenate.
We All Come from Somewhere
As I grew older, I developed a faint interest in ancestry, especially after traveling to Ireland a few times. Weren't there Cunninghams in Ireland? Could I claim Irish heritage? It turns out that while my ancestors did live in Ireland for about 250 years, they were actually Scottish. My DNA shows I'm 5% Irish, about 25% Scottish, and 60% English (with bits of Welsh, German, and Scandinavian.) I was hoping for something exotic and surprising, but alas.
My friend Niamh taught me that the Cunninghams were interlopers in Ireland, part of the Ulster Plantation. James I of England decided to grant land in the north of Ireland to some of his Scottish besties so that they would contribute to the civilization of the barbaric Irish. In other words, the English forced people off their land and stole it. They punished the original owners by prohibiting them from speaking their language, playing music, and practicing their religion. Let's face it - the English are the undisputed masters of imperialism.
Still, I wanted to know more about my Cunningham ancestors and my recent trip to Scotland afforded me the opportunity. I discovered our crest is a unicorn's head, our motto is 'over fork over', and our tartan is red, black, and white. Famed as "bonnie fighters," we engaged in a bloody feud with the Montgomery clan for three centuries. My ancestors held the title of Earl of Glencairn for centuries and supported the Scottish Reformation, hosting the first communion service performed by John Knox at Finlaystone House, the Cunningham ancestral home in 1556. My direct ancestors skipped out of Scotland in the early 1600s when King James granted them 5000 acres of land in Donegal, Ireland, and stayed there for a couple of centuries until the potato blight drove them to seek their fortune in the U.S. in 1854.
Cairns and bairns
History comes alive when you make a personal connection. You don't need a DNA link; just grasping the interrelatedness of all humans can spark interest. I love visiting prehistoric burial sites like Newgrange (@5200 years old) in Ireland or Clava Cairns (@4000 years old) in Scotland. The wisdom of ancient people fascinates me. How did they align the entrances of their stone tombs to the solstice? What was the purpose of the stone circles? What were their beliefs and practices?
Though we have access to much more knowledge than people did thousands of years ago, our Neolithic ancestors were intelligent and capable of complex thought. I wonder about the knowledge we have lost. Over my teaching career, I observed students lose the ability to tell time on an analog clock, write and read cursive, and even tie their shoelaces. Driving anywhere without GPS is fast becoming a lost art. Who knows what 'superpowers' the ancients had?
Parents have always passed down wisdom and knowledge to their children, or bairns as they're known in Scotland. According to dictionary.com the word bairn is derived from the Old English word for bearn, a “descendant.” Those adorable wee bairns grow into adults with opinions and abilities of their own. They keep some of the knowledge we offer and discard some of it along the way. I suspect that has always been the case.
And Now For an Outlander Interlude
For those of you who are Outlander fans, I did attempt to time travel by placing my hands on various standing stones. Sadly I remained in the present, with no sign of Jamie Fraser or any other handsome Scotsman arriving in the nick of time to sweep me off my feet.
Later that day, we somberly walked the trail at the Culloden battlefield where the British decimated the Scottish army, putting an end to the Jacobite rebellion. The Outlander version of the battle gave me a deep appreciation of the lives that were lost there. There is power in fiction.
Castles, Castles, Everywhere
While we didn't visit any castles used as Outlander filming locations, we stumbled across several others. The first was Urquhart Castle, its ruins gracing the shore of Loch Ness. Dating from the 13th century, the castle played a major role in Scottish history but was ultimately blown up by the government in 1692 so that it could never be used as a military garrison again.
Eilean Donan is another castle that dates from the same period. I snapped this photo with my crappy old iPhone. In person, it's even more incredible. We walked around the perimeter of the castle trying to envision the lives of the people who had lived there.
The bagpipe player was there busking. If ever there was an ideal place for a musician to earn a few bucks, this was it. I enjoy the sound of a bagpipe, but not everyone does. In fact, in 2015 Boris Johnson attempted to ban pipers from busking in London due to its 'piercing' and 'annoying' sound. Pipers were pissed. Here's a hilarious ShortList by Danielle DeWolfe recommending 13 Things Boris Should Have Banned from London Instead of Bagpipes.
At the time, Johnson was the mayor of London. But time and history march on. BoJo, whose disastrous blond hair is said by some to rival his integrity, goes on to become Prime Minister and play a key role in Brexit. Sigh. He should have stuck with banning musicians. Regardless, I bet his mother loved him. He probably loves his bairns.
Sometimes families aren't what they're supposed to be. Fonzie's dad abandoned him when he was three. He was largely raised by his Grandma Nussbaum. Then the Cunninghams became his family. And despite all the wisdom dispensed by Mr. and Mrs. C, Fonzie still jumps the shark. Perhaps children are wise to discard some parental advice, but please, don't jump the shark.
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