Remembering Camille

Almost six months to the day before Camille died this past February, he and his wife Lucette and the three of us walked to one of our favorite spots in the Vosges, Belbriette, a hidden valley unknown even to some locals, and then had lunch in one of his favorite restaurants, l'Auberge de Belbriette. 

Two months before he passed, Camille was still swimming for exercise in the local pool.  He would have been 89 years old this summer.  He was a renowned photographer in France, a decorated World War II hero, a member of the French Resistance, the founder of the basketball program in Granges, father, friend, mentor, coach.  His absence is felt profoundly by all who knew him and many who didn't. 

When we visit his wife Lucette, it is as she has said--as though any minute he would come walking in the door carrying either his camera bag or his fishing equipment. 

Yesterday, the local chapter of the Veterans association in France honored Camille with a ceremony and a commemorative plaque on his tomb.  The mayors of the surrounding towns came, and his war history was read, including his efforts to support the American troops by sabotaging the Germans who were occupying the area, and by hiding and transferring supplies and weapons dropped by plane.

Lucette calls Camille a phenomenon, and that is what he was--a once-in-a-lifetime phonomenon who loved life and loved people, and who left a hole in the world that will not be filled.

Camille was a believer--he loved to go sit at the foot of the statue of Mary that stands in the woods above Granges, and pray.  On his deathbed he called for the priest and was given last rites.  We will meet him again--we'll probably find him organizing a basketball tournament (Angels vs. New Arrivals?)!

One last thing--For Camille's 80th birthday, we brought him a basketball signed by Coach K of Duke that reads, "From Coach K to Coach C."  From the hospital not long before he died, Camille told Lucette to be sure Ren gets that basketball.  Even then he was thinking of others.

Scotland Part V Etcetera

1) Ren plays with Uncle Dave's Ipad...

2)Cool tower in downtown Hawick...

3) Can you guess the last one?...

Scotland Part IV Magical History Tour

Hermitage Castle, Newcastleton (said to be one of the bloodiest in Scotland.  Mary Queen of Scots visited her lover here.)

Hume Castle (Patrick, Ren, Cindy)

Melrose Abby, where Robert the Bruce's heart is buried.  It's in ruins because Henry VIII had a little temper tantrum when the Pope wouldn't grant his divorce, and he destroyed all the Catholic churches and abbies.  Third one is of Patrick standing in front of flushing canal used by the monks for eliminating waste.

Hadrian's Wall and Roman fort ruins (my uncle Dave, Patrick, and Ren):

Gilnockie Tower, where the famous Reiver Johnnie Armstrong lived:

Scotland Part III Police Constable Little: Redeemed Past

It may have taken a few decades, but it looks like our branch of the Littles in the Borders region of Scotland did redeem themselves, through my great great grandfather Jimmy Little, who was a Police Constable in Hawick in the mid-1800s.  Through police records, we learned that he had blue eyes, dark brown hair, and a fair complexion, and that he was considered a good policeman.  In 1869 he was granted leave to go to America with his new wife.  (Picture of official police record with description of Jimmy and permission to move away.)

 

Through relatives in the US, Cindy had found his actual hand-written police log, which she scanned into a PDF file and transcribed.  After the historic society in Hawick, called Heritage Hub, found out about this, they were so excited to have a copy of the log that they arranged a private meeting for us during off-hours, and they let us have private use of the archives for the afternoon with their help and guidance.  It was very exciting, and we felt honored!  The next picture is of Cindy and the historian looking at the actual handwritten police records from the local headquarters.  We were able to see the eventual results of the cases PC Little had written in his personal log.  They plan to use some of the more interesting cases along with Jimmy's story to help bring local history alive for school children. 

Next piece of exciting news (for us) was that the house across from the archives was the police headquarters where Jimmy reported 150 years ago.  (Picture with orange door)

Through information the women who work in the archives gave us, we were also able to locate and go to the house (or ruins) where Jimmy was born, called Salinside, just outside of Ashkirk:

...and the one where he lived with his family when he was five years old, at Clerklands:

All in all, a productive and exciting visit to Hawick and the surrounding towns.

Scotland Part II: Questionable Past

We learned from Aunt Cindy that the Littles were Reivers.  According the website for the North American branch of Clan Little, "The Scottish border Clan LITTLE was named in an act of the Scottish Parliament of 1587 as one of only 51 truly independent clans in all Scotland, 17 of which were clans of the English-Scottish border. A Clan is a tribe with a strong tie of family blood. In the Anglo-Scottish border wars of 1296 - 1603 the LITTLES were one of the fighting clans living close to the border on the Scottish side. They were constantly raiding or reiving on both sides of the border (reivers are thieves and ruffians, a group of lawless independents). They were horsemen and held in contempt all who went on foot, and by the close of the 16th century they had earned a reputation as the finest light cavalry in Europe . The borders clansmen were an ever ready source of fighting men, a permanent mobile task force when war broke out.

"Many clansmen with less warlike dispositions found their vocation as monks in various abbeys such as Sweetheart, Holyrood and the Franciscan convent of Greyfriars in Dumfries, scene of the murderous episode which launched Robert Bruce of Annadale on the road to the throne.
"The LITTLES for over three centuries shared with the Armstrongs and Beatties the steep-sided dales (valleys) immediately to the North and West of the present town of Langholm [which is where Archibald and Barbara's house was, and where they are buried] at the extreme east of Dumfriesshire (county). Each successive Chief resided on an estate at the foot of the side valley half-way up Ewesdale which is beside the present day road A7, near the stretch from Langholm to Hawick.  [We stayed in Hawick, pronounced "hoik", and Jimmy Little was a police constable there in the 1850's.]

"Edward Littil founder of Clan Little (and there have been over 25 spellings of the surname) was active in 1296/7 in South-West Scotland as a guerrilla fighter with Sir William Wallace, the great Scottish patriot who led the first phase of the wars of independence against the oppressive occupation of Scotland by Edward I of England . Many of those who supported Wallace most closely were kinsmen, not the least of whom was “Eduuard Litill” his nephew.

"Simon Little was chief of the Little clan at the ending of the border wars; his son Thomas succeeded him, to be followed by David Little, last Laird of Meikledale, who in 1672 was the last chief to be officially recognized. Since David's time, the Littles have been one of Scotland 's many “heidless” clans (headless - without a chief).

"The clans began to scatter in the 17th century. Littles and Lytles, with neighboring Beatties, Thomsons, Elliots, Armstrongs and Irvings fled from persecution and overcrowding to the Ulster plantations. (Plantations were communities established in North Ireland by England ) Many moved later into neighboring English Cumberland where today, as in Ulster , there are twice as many Littles as in their home country of Dumfriesshire. Many crossed the oceans to North America , Australia , New Zealand , proud of their origins but, over the generations, losing contact with the descendants with those who stayed behind.

"Many of the Littles, Lytles and Lyttles in Ulster re-emigrated as Scots-Irish back to Great Britain or, like hundreds of Littles from the border, headed overseas. The most numerous are in the United States . There are now over 45,000 Little families in the English speaking world, some of English and some of Huguenot origin but most (and especially those in and from Scotland , Ulster and England 's northernmost counties) with deep roots in the old West March of the Scottish border."


We haven't established a direct link from our Archibald to William Wallace YET, but we are hopeful!

In Hawick, a statue (pictured below) shows a Reiver claiming victory for the town.  The other photos show two descendents of the Reivers along with our personal family historian Cindy (excluded from the following comment)--ample evidence that the apples don't fall too far from the trees...

(Actually there were family members of the Littles who were not actively raiding and pillaging, and we'd like to believe our ancestors fell into that group...)

Scotland Part I: Archibald Found

We started our visit to Scotland in Langholm in the Borders region, meeting up with Arthur Bell, a man my aunt Cindy Cochran had contacted before we arrived who is knowledgeable about the history of the region.  Cindy had come across an article published in 1925 about my great-great uncle Andrew Little which states that his father William Little was from "Bombie Bush."  Mr. Bell had never heard of Bombie Bush, but he had heard of Bombie, and through discussion it was concluded that Bombie was most likely the location of William Little's birthplace.  The first picture is the ruins of a house built (most likely) on the exact site where William Little was born and where his father and mother, Archibald and Barbara Little, lived.  (It is my understanding that there is a law in the area that houses may only be built on the location of a previous house, so this is most likely the spot since this location is called "Bombie".)  The lambs were a bonus: they ran up to us expecting food! 

The second picture is of our wonderful guide Mr. Bell, who is 80 years old.  He's the one talking to Patrick--he looks much younger!  He took us to Westerkirk Church (pictured below), just up the valley from Bombie, where Clan Little donated a stained glass window. 

Mr. Bell arranged to get keys to the church so that we could see the window, and from there we walked a short distance up the road to the cemetery, where, after searching tombstone by tombstone, Ren found what was one of the highlights of our trip: the grave of Archibald and Barbara.  (Pictured: Archibald and Barbara's descendents my uncle Dave Cochran, Ren, and me.) 

The grave stone reads:

Erected in memory of Archibald Little who died at Bykine-burnfoot 30 Dec 1830 aged 79 years. Also Barbara Anderson his spouse who died at Bombie 13 Oct 1807 aged 53 years.  Also John Little their son who died 29 March 1806 aged 25 years and Andrew son of Archibald Little who died at Longholm (sic) 4 Feb 1855 aged 48 years. Also Janet Jackson second spouse to Archibald Little who died at Knockmains 7 Feb 1857 aged 76 years." 

Several things we didn't know before finding the grave: death dates or years, that Archibald had married again, and where he died.  Bykine-burnfoot is located between Bombie and the church and is really just a spot near the Bykine-burn river. 

 

We took a picture of the bridge that leads to the church and cemetery from Bykine-burn and Bombie, built in 1734.  It is certainly the one our ancestors crossed going to and from church.

It is an exciting feeling to find these locations, and we were blessed to have a professional researcher (Aunt Cindy, retired librarian) as our family historian and guide.  I'd like to believe that the connection I felt to the area wasn't just my imagination!  It is a beautiful area, and we felt so welcomed by Mr. Bell that we loved it even more.