Yes, (Oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm admitting this online and in real life) I am part English as well as Scottish. There, I said it, it is what it is, I didn't get a vote in the matter, and I can't change it no matter how hard I try to fake my accent. I am a Stringfellow, and we are from the Border area(s) that divide the two countries of Scotland and England. From the history books to the unsung traditions and/or stories, I gleaned and studied as much about my family history as I could on my father's side; I let my sister do most of the work if I had to be honest about it.
My sister went through books, references, letters, archives, websites, and anything else she could find and use to make sense of where it was that we Stringfellows came from exactly. As far back as she could reach with legal and/or records inside of family Bibles, the Stringfellows were in England in the 12th century, migrated partially (at least our side) to Scotland in the mid 14th century, set up camp in the bordering areas, but there were a few who fought with William Wallace and/or their names have been laced with that lure for years. Whether or not any of it is true is anyone's guess. We truly only have the word of those who chose to record whatever they chose to record.
To date, we have found that most of the Stringfellows that are in direct line with my dad were from the Edinburgh area and just south and west of the main city, most of the brood decided not to live in or near the city itself, but clung to the rivers and creeks (burns) that lace the outskirts on both the east and west side of the city, but on the south of it, not north past the Firth of Forth. Sadly, it is true, the Stringfellows are not from the Kingdom of Fife; I have to live with that fact. I would love to say I am Jude Stringfellow, Queen of the Fife, but it's not going to happen. I can dream. It's much closer to truth to say I am Jude Stringfellow, daughter of a man who is son of a man who is son of a man who is son of a man, etc, who came from the bordering townships of lower and central Scotland back in the day. The most prominent of the Stringfellows that we could find was William Stringfellow, grandfather of James Stringfellow, again, English/Scottish bred, but at least we know James married Mary Campbell in and/or near 1660 she was definitely Scottish. I'll cling to that. James and his lot moved to America in the later part of the 1660s.
Today however, I suppose my English ancestors were up in Heaven tickling my ears, because I became interested in making both homemade lemon curd and raisin scones so that I could put it all together and have high tea at 4:00 p.m. for no reason whatsoever, other than to say that I did it. I do actually have the wherewithal inside my skull to make both recipes without looking at them on paper or from Google recipes. I've made both for years; it was fun to make them together and pour myself a hot cup of Earl Grey loose tea for the occasion. I often roll loose Earl Grey and smoke it for the hell of it, but today it was steeped and served hot with my British ancestors at hand just over my right shoulder as I practiced trying to drink from my tea cup with the tiny tiny thin handles. I don't know who thought that was a good idea - - it's not.
Scones are amazingly fun to make, and they're so easy too. I think the prep time is about 3 minutes and the cooking time about 12 on heat, then I turn off the oven and let them get all golden brown before whisking them hot out of the oven and slathering them with fresh lemon curd. I'm not gonna lie, the lemon curd was to die for too, and it wasn't even fully cooled from being made an hour earlier. It was still a bit runny - - OH MY GOSH too good for words, and I had to drown myself in Earl Grey before I had a food moment that could possibly disturb the neighbors. I only made 9 scones so it wasn't as if I could actually invite them over; I am saving the others for Laura and I so we can have them for breakfast tomorrow. Self preservation.
If you take the time to Google the two words "Stringfellow" and "England" you're going to find a very cheeky fellow, possibly a pedophile, by the name of Peter Stringfellow. Peter is a very very distant relative, we both have Reuben, Robert, Richard, and William Stringfellows in our background. Peter was the well known playboy owning several night clubs called Stringfellows - I think they had a butterfly as part of their logo. I had forgotten that fact when I added it to my own book cover - - my good friend pointed it out, and yes, I had to giggle just a little bit. Naughty, I know, but it was a bit humourous as well...damn, I used the extra "u" just then, didn't I? Wow.
So yeah, scones and curd, High Tea with Earl Grey, and may many many more days of this sort of foolery be seen and had by myself and all of the other Stringfellows near and around the borders. We deserve to be a bit ritz at times; we deserve to show a bit of class, a touch of the culinary, and to practice our good manners when possible. Just don't take us too seriously, and by all means, never ever assume we are always British - - no, no, that would not be a good thing. From time to time maybe, but the blood in my veins runs closer to the blue field, white cross, than it does the Union Jack. If I had to be completely honest about it, I'd probably have asked God if I could go back in time a wee bit earlier than I came upon the Earth so that I could have been born in the land of Heather myself, but I do enjoy the modern conveniences of toilet paper, air conditioning, and indoor plumbing. I wasn't cut out for roughing it - - I prefer High Tea to that.
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