Photo – John MacRae licensee of the Sir Colin Campbell Inn.

As President of the Clan MacRae Society of Australia and New Zealand I was fascinated to find that a number of MacRaes/McRaes turned up in my recent research concerning Ben Hall and his gang and other associated bushrangers around the 1860s.

On 25th September, 1863, two events took place. Firstly, Ben Hall and his gang robbed Mr. John Loudon’s station “Grubbenbong’ which was situated some 15 miles from Carcoar, near Bathurst. Loudon had arrived in the southern colony in 1841 and later operated a flour mill at Kings Plains just out of Bathurst by 1848. The discovery of gold in 1851 increased his business and with the help of his wife Helen they were able to purchase “Grubbenbong” in 1857. Hall’s gang stayed for a meal with their captives and talked till the early hours.

The other event started when two men who had been arrested at the same time as Thomas Frederick Lowry, another bushranger, were set free from the court in Goulburn. Tom Lowry had held up the Mudgee Mail Coach on the 29th August, 1861, and stole a haul of bank notes.

John MacRae’s name was also associated with the Mudgee Mail Coach holdup. Some time after the holdup one of the stolen Australian Joint Stock Bank’s notes from the robbery turned up in Goulburn and an investigation found it had been paid to James Ross by John MacRae, who was the licensee of either the Buck’s Head Inn or the Sir Colin Campbell Inn at the time. Ross had then paid the note on to James Marsden who had banked it in Goulburn.

The call of the pipes finally became too much, so with tears in our eyes we said goodbye to the land of our Irish ancestors and embarked on a new journey of discovery to the Highlands of Scotland to seek out the lands of Flora McRae of Auchtertyre Ross and John MacRae of Sallachy Ross , the fore fathers of Ann McRae my Great Grandmother.

A brisk sunny morning greeted us as we arrived on a wet oval with views almost like Scotland.

We erected our tent and began to arrange our coffee, tea and Scottish yummies. Some of our visitors look for some refreshments during the day.

As the sun climbed the warmth returned and a more perfect day could not be imagined.

14 bands from thought out the country arrived and began forming and tuning instruments. The pipes and the drums brought a reality to the day and the crowds knew they were in for a Scottish feast of movement, colour and music.

The Scottish dancers were a treat to see, the results of many months of practice. The movement, the colour and their steps near brought a little moisture to the eyes. I am sure the tradition will live long at this place.

In 2011, our daughter Angela, was accepted as a  presenter at an international education conference held at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom.

Angela, a PhD student with a research scholarship from the Australian Government, apart from being extremely  intelligent, is well organized beyond belief.  Thus, she set in place a schedule of 42 days travel, with all flights, transfers and accommodation booked and accounted for, with a number of side excursions to places of interest arranged for each location.