[djma] DJMA Newsletter #15

In the last issue Ute Penny announced her retirement as Editor.Ute has decided that her work and running a home had to come first. We are very grateful to Ute for producing the newsletter and the new incumbent hopes he can follow in her footsteps. I have never produced a newsletter before (and I am just becoming acquainted with the technology of a recently acquired computer)

STOP PRESS

We have just learned that Cherry Good, author of the wonderful new book 'On the Trail of John Muir' will be in Dunbar on 29th July.Cherry will take part in family talks and workshops during the day leading up to Brian McNeill's concert.. Cherry's passion for life, travel and Muir make her a must for the close of East Lothian Council's Festival of Science and Nature. Venue - Corn Exchange 3pm-5pm - admission free.

President's Message

Hello again, well the exhibition in Dunbar is now on show and perhaps the number of visitors is not up to expectations. Jim Thompson informs me that up to the end of June, numbers totalled 2400, so far about 30 per day., so I suppose that is not too bad. I believe more people are visiting the Birthplace than the Church. Perhaps more advertising or renewal of advertising is required. I am still keen to get more school groups to come although this will have to wait until after the summer holidays..

My grateful thanks to everyone who is assisting at the two venues. It is a big committment and hopefully our lottery application will bear fruit for the furtherance of John Muir's message.

Jim also informs me that a number of Muir books and two maps have been donated to Dunbar Library by Mr Jan Dunbar of California. We will obviously send him a thank you letter for this gift to the town..

I have also just learned that Historic Scotland have visited the house and expressed themselves as satisfied with the feasibility study (see Newsletter 12 )

Duncan Smeed

Duncan has informed us of his intention to stand down as convener at the next AGM. Duncan, a founder member of the association, took over at short notice when Ian Parsons left the area. Duncan's vision and leadership over the past three years will be much missed and we hope we will not lose his talents by persuading him to remain on council

A Date For Your Diary

The Back o' the North Wind

Brian McNeill, one of Scotland's foremost folk musicians presents his stunning one-man show

Saturday 29th July, Dunbar Grammar School - starts 7.30pm

Tickets £5.00 (conc. £3.00)

Mrs Maymie Kimes

To acknowledge the considerable contribution of Mrs Kimes and her late husband Bill, to the rediscovery of John Muir in his native town, DJMA invited her to become an honorary member of the Association and we are delighted to say that she accepted.In her letter to us, Mrs Kimes referred to items which she had sent to Edinburgh for the 'Infinite Storm of Beauty' exibition and advised us that it was her wish that they be given to the John Muir Birthplace. The items which include an inscribed copy of 'John Muir, A Reading Bibliography', 'John Muir's Wild America' by Tom Melham, and a full sheet of stamps of the first issue in Muir's honour and signed by the designer, will it is hoped be handed over to the Birthplace Trust by Graham White, on 29th July either during Cherry Good's talk or the Brian McNeill concert.

Rediscovery of Muir

(Abstract From Graham White's Introduction To Frederick Turner's Biography as provided by Graham White)

The event which began the process of Muir's rediscovery in Scotland occurred in 1967 when Bill and Maymie Kimes, the eminent bibliographers of Muir left California on an environmental pilgrimage to Dunbar. They wrote to the town's Provost asking if a local historian could guide them around the castle, the harbour, Muir's birthplace, and the beaches where he had first encountered wild nature in the 1840s. On receipt of the letter the lady Provost began an urgent search for background material on Muir, of whom she knew little. To her embarrassment, neither the county library in Haddington nor the Dunbar library had a single copy of any book by John Muir, or about him. Finally, after considerable effort, some volumes were borrowed from Plymouth on the south coast of England, 500 miles from Dunbar. Following their return home Bill and Maymie wrote a letter of thanks gently suggesting that Dunbar might acknowledge its most famous son by placing a plaque on the house in which he was born.. The town council agreed and in 1969 it was installed with the inscription: ' Birthplace of John Muir, American Naturalist, 1838-1914, which reflects the perception of Muir in Scotland at that time. In view of the fact that for over 70 years Muir regarded himself as Scottish, spoke with a marked Scots accent and became an American citizen only late in life, the plaque might more accurately describe Muir as a ' Scottish-American Naturalist '. Indeed as the Father of the American National Parks , and arguably a seminal figure in the birth of the world-wide nature conservation movement, Muir was rather more than just a naturalist. It would be gratifying if a new plaque with a more edifying inscription were to be installed at Muir's birthplace.

On the 600th anniversary of Dunbar becoming a Royal Burgh in 1970, a modest exhibition of Muir books and photographs was arranged The exhibition organiser was Frank Tindall, County Planning Officer. Until the Kimes visit in 1967 he knew virtually nothing of John Muir. In 1974 he began negotiations with the Earl of Haddington for the leasing of part of the Tyninghame estate that is now called the John Muir Country Park: it was officially opened in 1976. This wild nature reserve of 1660 acres stretches 8 miles from the ruins of Dunbar castle beyond the wild coast of Tyninghame to the west, overlooking the gannets, puffins, razorbills and guillemots on the Bass rock and the Isle of May; for thousands the park has opened the door to Muir's story. Tindall and his family travelled to California in 1977. They hiked in Yosemite National Park and visited Muir Woods to the north of San Francisco. On Muir's birthday they were feted at a Sierra Club barbecue in the grounds of Muir's home in Martinez and were invited to stay at Bill and Maymie Kimes' 'Rocking K ranch' in Mariposa; friendship blossomed from this hospitality. The Tindalls were convinced that Scots should be made aware of the world stature which their kinsman had achieved. But ironically, they discovered that Muir's birthplace was threatened with re-development as a fish and chip shop! Fortunately East Lothian Council had no problem agreeing with Daisy Hawryluk, the owner of the house, that the top floor should be converted into the Muir Birthplace museum. The restoration of the house went ahead and in 1980 John Muir House was finally opened to the public and now attracts visitors from all over the world.

Tindall was appalled to discover that the National Library of Scotland did not hold a single copy of any of Muir's books, nor any of the biographies and literary analyses produced since 1924. However, in 1979 the National Library willingly agreed to host the first Scottish exhibition of Muir's life, and for many this was the turning point in raising national awareness of Muir in Scotland. Thereafter the National Library began a comprehensive collection of Muir books and manuscripts which includes a microfilm archive of the collected John Muir papers. However, for the general public Muir's books were virtually unobtainable in the UK. Tindall approached Canongate Publishing in Edinburgh with the object of creating the first Scottish editions of Muir's works. Muir's unfinished biography, 'the Story of My Boyhood and Youth' was published in 1987, followed in 1988 by 'My First Summer in the Sierra', both issued as Canongate Classics with the support of the Scottish Arts Council. They were re-issued in 1996 as part of a five volume omnibus entitled ' John Muir, The Wilderness Journeys', which included three other books, 'The Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf, Travels in Alaska, And Stickeen'. The gradual repatriation of Muir's ideas and ethos to Scotland has not just been literary. In 1983 the John Muir Trust was established in Scotland to purchase and conserve wild land for future generations. The Trust now owns several areas of wild land in the Highlands and Islands totalling some 50,000 acres. [The most recent purchase in June of this year was Ben Nevis and of course in 1999, the birthplace was purchased by the newly formed BirthplaceTrust.

Town Trail

1999 was another successful year with a number of overseas visitors and rather gratifying quite a lot of locals. Thanks to the good offices of Gordon Easingwood I was provided with a key which gave access to the cavern underneath the castle at the west side of the harbour. Visitors are able to see where the man-made stone is set into the natural rock. However entry can be quite hazardous when the kittywakes who live on the castle walls show their displeasure at being disturbed by decorating jackets (and hair) as Duncan Smeed and myself found out. Fortunately no visitors have been caught out. They are all warned to stay back until the gate is opened.

Among our visitors this year have been descendants of John Muir and from Australia, Mr John Hay Mather, a descendant of Granny Gilrye's sister, Margaret Mather nee Hay. Mr Mather was able to see the flat (above Thomson's fish shop) where the Mathers lived at the turn of the 18/19th century.

Anyone visiting Dunbar who would like a guided walk can contact me by letter at the JM Birthplace, 126 High Street, Dunbar or by email at mactomais@breathe.com

Bill and Maymie Kimes

An earlier item in this newletter tells of the rediscovery of John Muir in Scotland when Bill and Maymie Kimes, the Californian bibliographers of Muir made a pilgrimage to Scotland in 1967. Bill and Maymie met and married at the University of the Pacific in 1930 - when they fell in love with each other, with mountain climbing, and with the disciple of mountaineering, John Muir.They began to collect every book,article, pamphlet and photograph about Muir that they could find. Today, after seventy years of work, the Kimes-Muir Collection is the largest assembly of Muir material in private hands and will form the centrepiece of the John Muir Education Centre planned for the National Historic Site in Martinez. Bill and Maymie spent many years creating a ' reading bibliography ' in which a key paragraph from each listed article or book is indexed. First published in 1977, this ' Rosetta Stone ' for Muir scholars is used by every university and reference library in America. Maymie has kindly donated a copy to the Birthplace Trust.

Bill Kimes died in February 1998 aged 91, after a long and fulfilled life. During 68 years of happy marriage, he and Maymie spent their lives on the ' Muir Trail '; they hiked more than a thousand miles in the High Sierras; explored Muir's haunts in Wisconsin and Scotland; recreated his epic voyage up the Amazon and tracked him among Alaska's icy glaciers. Together they climbed dozens of peaks on America's west coast. made three ascents of Mt. Whitney (14,500 ft) and even climbed Japan's Mt. Fuji. Maymie told me recently that her epitaph should read : ' Maymie Kimes - Mountaineer '.

Bill and Maymie played a seminal role in the resurrection of John Muir as a historic figure in Scotland, where he had been long forgotten. The article on page 2 tells of their first visit to Dunbar and the search by local worthies for a Muir book which took them to Plymouth as their was nothing in Scotland. Armed with this potted history, Dunbar welcomed the Muirophiles.

Though amazed by Scottish ignorance of Muir, the Kimes enjoyed their visit and were feted in Dunbar.They later suggested Dunbar honour its world-famous son with a plaque on the house in which he was born (at that time a laundrette) and in 1969 a plaque was erected, inscribed with faint praise: 'Birthplace of John Muir, American Naturalist, 1838-1914' Evidently, even after the Kimes Muir's essential Scottishness, nor his giant stature in America.

But the times call forth the man and galvanised by the Kimes's visit, County Planner Frank Tindall arranged a modest Exhibition of Muir's books and photographs in 1970 for the 600th anniversary of the town being created a Royal Burgh. After his visit to California (see page 2), Tindall resolved to make Scots aware of Muir's world stature and with Ian Fullerton and East Lothian Council, he set about doing this. The restoration of the Muir birthplace went ahead and in 1980 John Muir House was opened to the public.

In 1978 the Kimes's revisited Scotland to help Tindall create an exhibition Muir in the National Library, using materials they had brought from the USA. This ground breaking exhibition raised Muir's standard in Scotland and planted the seeds of national awareness. We know from the earlier article in this newsletter that it was only then and by lobbying from the Kimes and Tindall that the National Library started their collection which now includes a complete microfilm archive of the John Muir Papers. and of course Canongate publishing the first British editions of Muir's works.

Bill and Maymie presented copies of virtually every book Muir wrote to Dunbar Library back in the 1970s and Maymie has gifted their 'Reading Bibliography' to the Birthplace Trust together with a copy of 'John Muir's Wild America', the superb illustrated book which she and Bill collaborated on with National Geographic in 1976. In 1999 when I curated the Muir Exhibition 'An Infinite Storm of Beauty' at the Edinburgh City Art Centre, Maymie was the first to respond to our call for material, generously ending books, photographs and posters from California. In Conclusion, one asks oneself what would have happened if Bill and Maymie Kimes had not made that pilgrimage in 1967? together, they have arguably done more to bring John Muir home to Dunbar and to Scotland than any other person, and we truly owe them a debt of national gratitude.

Scottish Seabird Centre

The Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick was opened recently by Prince Charles. This marvellous venue gives everyone the opportunity to see all the wonders of the birds in their natural habititation on the Bass Rock and Fidra from the comfort of the centre by means of manually operated cameras. There is also a fully equipped exhibition hall and experienced and helpful assistants. If you are in the area, after visiting the Birthplace, the Seabird Centre should not be missed.

Mr Jan Dunbar

Our President, Dan Cairney, mentioned in his message the marvellous gift by Mr Dunbar of Sacramento, California to Dunbar Library of eight books and two maps. Mr Dunbar made this gift following a visit to the town. The titles are:- 1000 Mile W alk to the Gulf; Muir among the Animals (The Wildlife Writings of John Muir); Rediscovering America; Our National Parks; The Yosemite; The Story of My Boyhood and Youth; The Mountains of California; My First Summer in The Sierra. The two maps are geodesic contour maps of Muir wilderness areas; In the California Sierra and Nevada Mountain Ranges. Our grateful thanks for this lovely gift to the town.

Annual General Meeting

A preliminary notice that the sixth annual general meeting of Dunbar's John Muir Association will be held on 27th September, 2000

Further details will be issued when the meeting is called but members are asked to consider nominations for the office of convenor now that Duncan has intimated his intention to stand down. There are also vacancies for council members. Any nominations should be passed to Mr Duncan Smeed , c/o JM Birthplace, 126 High Street, Dunbar, EH42 1JJ.

DJMA Newsletter #15

Newsletter No. 15

Contents

Editorial