Twechar
(rhymes with checker)
is a Scottish village
in East Dunbartonshire
northeast of Glasgow
(click the pictures for surprises)
.
Twechar lies on the Forth & Clyde Canal near the River Kelvin.WeI sing a song called "Kelvin Grove" and we were thrilled to find the River Kelvin so close to our namesake village. A search of the web tuned up this early postcard (left) of a boat, the "Gypsy Princess," on the canal. In 1990, Twechar had no postcards. During my visit the postmaster asked "Why woud you want a postcard of Twechar?" On the right is a more recent photo of what may be the same boat preserved by the local canal society.
Here is a panoramic view of Twechar sent to me by David Boyle. David was a teenager living in Twechar. He found my page with an internet search. Since then we have been corresponding. Who says the internet is impersonal! . The photographer is another Twechar resident, Samuel Trueman MacKay Cowie. He sent me a very nice note when he saw his photo on my web page. He tells me that it's actually a panoramic view from the Triangulation point on top of Barrhill (or as Twecharites know it...Castle Hill) and shows the village of Queenzieburn on the left and the town of Kilsyth on the right. Sam included a Scots good luck wish "Lang may your lum reek" (long may your chimney smoke). (click to see it full size)
Here is a link to some wonderful Twechar photographs.
My father, Joesph Quigley Nelson was born in Twechar in 1905. John, my grandfather, was a coal miner born in Ballymena, County Antrim near Bushmills. He met my grandmother, Mary, in Scotland. She was the daughter of another coal miner in Twechar. Her family was from Larne in Ireland.
They met in Scotland and bore fifteen children. Twelve of the children grew to adulthood and most of them emigrated to North America before WW I. However, dad didn't escape Scotland without the obligatory photo in kilt. My dad and his brothers and sisters fancied they were Scottish and adopted the Clan Gunn because it included the name Nelson. However, our family name apparently started as O'Neill. Over the generations, it seems that we kept changing it (O'Neill to Neill to Neilson to Nelson) until the English figured we got it right. My fathers birth certificate bears Neilson.
When I visited Twechar in 1990, I had to travel from Glasgow. At the Glasgow terminus I asked the agent, "Where do I catch the bus to Twechar?" He replied with typical Glaswegian humor, "There's no bus to Twechar. You'll be wanting a coach. And you won't have to catch it. It will stand still and allow you to board."