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Throughout May we have been celebrating all things Clan Brown. We have met some famous faces, visited many sites, and gained great insight into the history of this ancient clan. Finally, we called upon the valued Clan members to share their stories and we had a wonderful response; read the blog to find out more!
Read the Brown Stories
Anna White - ScotlandShop Founder
In our ScotlandShop office we even have a member of Clan Brown - our founder Anna White whose father was a Browne - and Anna's family story has some literary connections:
"We have always been a family who love to write and when I spent a year in Canada age 17 my Dad wrote me a very entertaining, if slightly illegible, letter almost ever week. Until that point I hadn't really realised that his skills went so far beyond his dairy farming abilities however as we went further back through the years my brother-in-law unearthed where his talents maybe came from. “Colorado Morton’s Ride” is a poem written by Rivers Swinton Browne and Leonard Bacon, which appeared in the Saturday Review of Literature, May 16, 1925. The pair were behind cowboy ballads and Rivers Browne was credited for providing the plot and local colour, and Bacon the working up and versification of the work. Further research and trawling of census records revealed Rivers Browne lived in Sweet Grass County, Montana in 1920-1940. It seems his father was born in West Bengal, India and served with the 5th Punjab Infantry, so my goal now is to visit Rhode Island's library where there are papers preserved that might tell me a bit more about my poetic relative and how he ended up in Montana."
You can read more about Anna's Browne poetry heritage on her blog here.
Neil Brown
Neil got in touch and sent us a couple of photos, and a wee bit about his grandfather:
"My grandfather came to Canada during the War and brought his war bride. The family has not kept in touch with extended family over there, and granddad did talk much about growing up overseas. I started doing Strongman competitions when I was 18 and specialised in Scottish heavy events. Not knowing a lot about our tartan and it not being available here in Canada at the time I wear and compete in our provincial tartan. someday I would love to get the Brown tartan made and proudly sport it wherever I go."
Thank you, Neil!
Mark Brown
We spoke with Mark Brown, a Spirits and Whisky Specialist in New Zealand, about his Brown connections, love for Scotland and whisky. Thank you Mark for speaking with us, it's wonderful to read your story!
Mark, what does your Brown heritage mean to you?
Connection, connection to a land, country, people history. I feel a deep connection to Scotland and I always have, the first time I was there I felt at home, my soul and Spirit felt at home ... I am eligible for a UK ancestry visa and I would love to live in Scotland, I am planning on going back next year.
Are there any specific traditions or ways you connect with it?
When I hear someone is a Brown I think "hey, we are in the same club". I am proud of my heritage and the other clans my ancestry is associated with.
What have you discovered about your Brown ancestry that has been interesting or surprising?
I always had dreams that I was descended from Highlanders, I have also always liked Orkney and the viking history of Scotland, I have found out that I have ancestry connections in the Highlands and in Orkney. I was happy and I was thinking I wonder if that is why I have always been fascinated with them, it was like a ancestral echo.
Can you tell us more about your trip to Scotland in September 2023?
Yes, in September 2023 I went to Scotland with my father (he and my mother had been there a few times) where I was traveling around Glasgow, Edinburgh, the central belt area, part of the Highlands and Islay ... I specialize in spirits and it was great to meet connections from the industry (and also satisfy my love of history). I have WSET Spirit's level 2 pass with distinction 100%, all of the main qualifications from Edinburgh Whisky Academy except the Diploma in Single Malt Whisky which I plan to get (and hopefully the Diploma in the art of tasting whisky) as well as other qualifications. It was great to meet Ian McKerrow of Edinburgh Whisky Academy in Edinburgh, have a good talk and share a dram or two at SMWS in central Edinburgh. I was amazed at how I was walking around Edinburgh and Glasgow with such ease as if I had been doing it my whole life, leaving felt like I was leaving home.
You visited your grandfather and his family's village before they moved to NZ?
Yes it was great to be there, I have always wanted to go there. My grandfather, his brothers, sisters and parents were living in Lesmahagow before they moved to New Zealand. My great grandfather was a coal miner, he had lost a lot of friends to the mines and when an opportunity came up to move to New Zealand he decided that he was not going to sacrifice his sons to the mines.
The family packed up, my great grandfather left his numerous siblings and they took a slow voyage across the seas to a land called New Zealand, they arrived in Auckland and settled in a western part of it called Kumeu where he lived the rest of his life in a subtropical climate. His sons became successful, my grandfather started and ran his own drain laying business where his 3 sons eventually were working with him.
How was that experience for you?
Going to the village (Lesmahagow) where my grandfather, his brothers and sisters were born and living before they came over to New Zealand was truly amazing, and in a way very spiritual.
We met up with Laura Hughes whom I had been talking with for quite awhile online and we had concluded that we are distant cousins (I have done an ancestry DNA test unfortunately at the time this goes out my results will be a week away from being revealed). Laura showed us around the village, we went to the old church and walked around the graveyard finding a few Brown grave stones.
It was an amazing experience being there, my father who is not really into family history was also feeling emotional about being where his father came from (it was his first time there out of all his trios to Scotland), it was wonderful that we would connect with this trip as he is going to be 75 in July, it may well be his last trip to Scotland.
Do you own anything in the Brown Modern tartan, and if so what?
My dad has a Brown clan tartan tie which I have been told that I will inherit when he dies (thanks mum), I had a standard kilt and I am in the process of getting a kilt with the family tartan.
Anything you'd like to share about being a spirits/whisky specialist?
As I mentioned before I am a spirits specialist (I mainly specialize in whisky although I have knowledge and qualifications of other spirits), I enjoy learning about spirits, helping people connect with something they like with a bit of knowledge and history thrown in.
In New Zealand I work for Glengarry Wines Limited, I help run an Ardbeg embassy where I like Ardbeg and I have been to the Ardbeg distillery. I help people with advice on spirits and sometimes educate them on styles and brands, I have helped various spirit brands in New Zealand, I have been a temporary brand ambassador a few times representing Scottish and New Zealand whisky brands, I was the first member of International Drinks Specialists in New Zealand, I am a member of Distilled Spirit's Aotearoa DSA (roughly a New Zealand's version of SWA except it cover all spirits), In June I am going to be a spirit's judge. I have extensive connections in the spirits industry around the world and it feels like a great community especially when I get to go to distilleries.
I am planning on returning to Scotland next year, I look forward to traveling around more of Scotland and if I could I would live and work there.
Unfortunately May has come to an end, that certainly doesn't mean our love for Clan Brown is over, so be sure to get in touch with us if you fancy chatting all things Brown!
