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Doug Carson born at Meiklewood

Accents

Uncle Doug Carson was born at Meiklewood, in Scotland, came to Australia, and married Aunty Elsie Arnold.
His accent fascinated the tribe of nephews and nieces.

Top, L-R Elsie, Hazel, Olive, Frances, Lower Dot, Myrtle, Rupert, Edith. Missing is 3rd child, Alfred.
This photo was taken 17 June 1969, celebrating the birthdays of the eldest two, Myrtle, 9 June 1897, and Rupert, 10 June 1899, seen sitting in the centre front.

Reunions

The Arnold and Wilson families of Tarnagulla were holding annual reunions at Arnold's Bridge on the Saturday of Daylight Saving weekend. The date was chosen as one easy to remember. I discovered it also commemorated the arrival in Australia of the Arnold family on 31 Oct 1856 on the Startled Fawn
Aunt Rose, the family historian, helped me write a book for all the cousins to see how they are connected.

Finding
Tongland

Uncle Doug's parents, Jane Douglas 1879 - 1972 and William Millicent Carson 1879 - 1970, were married 6 June 1902 at Lockarbriggs. William Douglas Millicent Carson was born 1905 at Meiklewood, and his birth was registered at Tongland.
The map shows it was a long journey for the newly weds to make, going from poverty to a ploughman's job on a farm. When the six children had grown up, the family decided to leave Scotland. Doug chose Australia, and the parents and siblings went to Canada.

On 16 June 1998, we arrived at Dumfries and followed the road to Castle Douglas. The rain poured, the traffic was light, and the shower stopped as we reached a parking place in front of the Tourist Information booth. We discovered that modern Meiklewood is a Bed and Breakfast provider, and easy to find.

Meiklewood
	Can you see Meiklewood? It is a farm, marked on the Army ordinance survey map? North of Tongland and south of the Chapel.

Itself

Again the road was good, and the rain stopped as we reached the farm entry.

The gate is open, and the name sign clearly visible, we have found our target.
We drive in, and park the brown Allegro on the north side of the barn
The back of the barn is as clean and tidy as the front entry
Even the pregnant ewes were unconcerned by our visit. Did Uncle Doug know this farm house?
No. The cottage was built in 1970. This is the original home, and No, the present owners took over from another owner. There is no memory of the Carson family.

Tinwald

At Lockarbriggs we were told that the nearest church is at Tinwald, down that narrow road going east. This Australian found the Scots accent required concentration.

It was too wet to explore the Lockarbriggs cemetery, so we decided to see the church built high on the hill.
The path runs north. The grave stones are the biggest we encountered - we were very impressed. No Carsons found.
A closer view of the building, from the east, shows the moss on the roof and the stones.

You will notice that the rain stopped while we visited. Droplets starting again reminded us we had another destination for the evening - across Scotland and back into England to reach Lindisfarne, and to have another adventure.