The More of It 
My Dad's Grandfather
My Dad's brother, Tom, said Raymond was espically good with the horses used in
the family's dairy business. He liked other animals too; and I think it
went beyond just animals. He liked fishing, and eating fish. But he
could also let them go.
You often hear that some trait or another is in the gene's.
Well, I think Dad had some genes, or training, or something.. that
stood him well over the years. I believe this extended to his job
as a vocational high school teacher. Kids liked him; and that
enabled him to reach more kids. Where did these traits arise?
No doubt, some came from his mother, Jennie Muir. And perhaps some more
from his grandfather, Mungo Muir. Although his family and all official
records knew him as Mungo, the name in the 1851 Scottish household
census was Magnus. One can only speculate on how his family and
environment shaped his traits. He was one of a 13 member farming family
on the small Orkney island of Sanday. There were many Muirs on
those small north Atlantic islands, and still are today. The family
farmed in Ortie of the Burness parish; an area well know from 1780 to
1830 for the production of kelp. Sanday is in the shape of a y,
with Ortie is on the northwest branch. The sea was mere yards from the
farm-- the Burness peninsula is only a mile wide. So I think
Magnus grew up with kelp, limpets and fishing.
Ten or so miles to the south, at the bottom of the y, is Hacks
Ness. Walter Traill Dennison published "The Selkie that deud no'
forget" in 1880, long after Mungo left Scotland. With such a long
walk between Ortie and Hacks Ness, I think it unlikely that my
greatgrandfather is part of the Dennison tale, but.......... perhaps he
had a horse!
Too, the tale is of long ago; perhaps closer to the time of Magnus'
namesake: 1115. Another story of a gentle
man... Incidently, Magnus' brother, William
Traill Muir, lived his entire life a Sanday farmer.
Walter Traill Dennison's wonderful tale is here. and a version more easily read by Americans is here.