A Visit to the Past

After catching up on some rest for the remainder of Wednesday, I was pretty much ready to rock and roll again on Thursday.  The plan was to go to Peterhead (pronounced Peterheed) and see for myself the place that Carl’s people originally called home.



Houses Along the Harbour Road



I caught the 6:3-ish city bus back down to Union Square – the bus and train stations are side by each – and was in time to catch the 7:30 to Peterhead.  Whiling away the time until the bus arrived, I chatted with two other passengers.  One was for Peterhead and the other, unknown.  We talked of Canada and the places they knew.  One instructed me on the proper pronunciation of “Peterheed.”

It was not quite an hour and a half ride up.  Through the villages of Boddam, Cruden Bay we went.  Farmlands mostly, with the lane and a half roads most often seen in British television shows.  Past HM Prison Peterhead and what a cold, harsh place the old buildings would have been in the winter, then arrival at my destination.

St. Peter's Church

Peterhead is the largest city on the northern east coast, having a population of about 19,000.  It lies on the North Sea and now, as then, it is a fishing town.  The fish market on the harbour lies in the same place now as it did over one hundred and fifty years ago.  The streets are paved with cobblestones and wind here and there, with wynds and closes.  I located St. Peter’s Church, where the Mackie family had been christened, married and from where they were sent off to their maker.  Thanks to a very helpful lady, I was also able to find the Old Churchyard Cemetery, where I spent a soggy hour or two locating the few remaining Mackie headstones.  Though I am not a Mackie born, it was still an incredible feeling to walk the same streets and see the same things that they had.  The connection was there and I am happy beyond words that I will be able to pass on the Carl, the kids and the grandkids a sense of the place from where they came.

After I had my fill of wandering around, I stopped at a wee shop for a swiss and bacon baguette, then headed back to the bus interchange for a return to Aberdeen.  More chat about Aberdeen later.

One of hundreds of jellyfish
on the beach of Peterhead Bay