The Lawson Family of Muchty, Scotland

The Lawson Family of Muchty worked as farm labourers. ploughmen, dairy maids, and as domestic maids.After WWI my Grandfather( Lawson) and Grandmother(Smart)left Mucty to go to PEI. Canada to find their' only living son who had met and married there while stationed in the Brit navy in Halifax. My Great Grandmother was heart broken as their oldest boy had been killed in France the day he was to come home and she was insistent that she had to be near Matt.They packed up their younger girls, sold everything they had and went to PEI. The older girls stayed on the farm and continued to work for thr Laird. Times were very tough on PEI for new immigrants without money behind them.They all went to work on local farms, and gradually brought out the other girls and 2 Grandchildren. Two of the younger girls married locally,one of the older girls(who had been widowed by WWI in Scotland )also remarried. There is a terrific story of my Great-granddad(he stood 5 foot 4)wiry- fiery red hair,having caught his employer trying to have his way (against her will)with his oldest daughter(a real beauty).He caught this man(who happened to be an Official of the government)on top of the hay stack, threw him to the ground and then held a pitch fork to his stomach.The other men pulled him off the Official but not before the Official wet his drawers. This man was a senior elder in the local Kirk.He went to church the next Sunday as if he was going to be appointed to the Sainthood.My Great-grandfather never went back to the Kirk as the Minister knew what had happened and would not remove the Official from the membership.My Great-grandfather never had much faith in equality for the labouring man again. My Grandmother married a fellow Scotsmen and had seven children here on PEI .But she was her fathers daughter nobody interfered with her or her bairns(Barb was only 5"0 tall..She worked full-time until she was 73.She became a successful business woman.But she never really liked it in PEI. She went home often, in the 1930's, 40's,and 50's,by ship, and from the late 50's by plane. In the early 1930's her parents and siblings went back to Scotland,leaving three girls and families on PEI.The Lawson's were a very close family hence the visits back to Fife.When her older sister on PEI was dying and wanted to die in Scotland she was taken home and nursed in Kirkcaldy by her sisters and parents.When her parents were ill, Nanny went back for the winters to nurse them and assist the other sisters with their care.During the war hollowed loaves of bread were sent to family members in Scotland with treats, stockings, and health needs. As I close I would like to tell a funny story about my feisty Nanny. Before she left for PEI, she and her sister were walking from the farm into Muchty to have a day out.They were dressed as young women of the time would have been dressed.They came upon twa laddies giving a wee boy a leathering.Nanny marched up to them grabbed the twa bullies, knocked their skulls together, and kicked their behinds, they were terrified and ran away. But Nanny looked so fierce that the other wee boy was scared and ran off too.Her sister (a lady)refused to go to town with her as her hat was off, and her hair a mess. Another story from her youth was when she hid her Bible in a dyke and skipped the Kirk to go walking out with a boy. He began to take liberties and she pulled out her hat pin and jabbed him.The next day his father showed up at her house to let her know that the boy had blood poisoning.Needless to say she attended the Kirk faithfully after having been caught. Our family are still in Muchty and the rest of Fife. We continue to see each other yearly and email weekly.The last of my Nannies sisters died in Kirkcaldy,Dec 2000 she sang until an hour before she died.They were a strong family that believed that they could overcome any obstacle together as a family. Thank-you for the opportunity to tell about my family's remarkable journey to PEI and back to Scotland.
Regards Velvet Wood PEI, Canada

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