Duncan Livingstone 1896 Morvern Family Account

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Canadian Livingstone
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Duncan Livingstone 1896 Morvern Family Account

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Duncan Livingstone was born in Vernon Township, Scioto County, Ohio in 1850 son of Angus Livingston born 1808 in Barr, Morvern Argyll and his wife Margaret Livingston of Inverness-shire. Duncan became a prominent Ohio lawyer and in his later life became interested in his Morvern Livingston family history. As young boy in Ohio, he learned from older Livingston relatives from Morvern who had settled in Ohio and New York State who were descended from Hugh or Ewen Livingston of Savary Morvern a brother of the famous Donald Livingstone 1728-1816 also of Savary Morvern who as an young man joined the Appin Regiment and participated in the 1745 Rebellion as a Jacobite soldier and was present at the Battle of Culloden in April of 1746 when Bonnie Prince Charlie and his Jacobite forces including the Appin regiment led by Stewart of Ardshiel was defeated by the Duke of Cumberland and his Army. The story how the young 18 yr old Donald Livingstone rescued the fallen Appin Banner from the battlefield of Culloden, returned the banner to the Stewarts in Appin and escaped capture by the Red coats was a tale apparently told to some of his Livingston relatives by old Donald himself as some of them were old to have met the man in their youth. In 1896 in a three part article entitled The Stewarts of Appin at Culloden published in Volume 4 of the Celtic Monthly in 3 part article in the February, March and April issues, interestingly in the March edition his Morvern relatives are mentioned in talking about the story of the rescue of the Appin Banner by Donald Livingstone in 1746 at Culloden. These final comment in the March issue part 2 of the article regarding some of Duncan's Morvern Livingston relatives that lived in America who were the source of his information on Donald Livingstone and the rescue of the Appin Banner in 1746 is very interesting:

"The story of the preservation of the Appin banner at Culloden the writer has often heard when a child from two nieces of Donald Livingstone, Mrs. Mary Livingstone Boyd and Sarah Livingstone Burke, who got the same from the lips of Donald Livingstone himself. The former Mrs Boyd, died in the early part of the sixties, and the latter Mrs Burke, in the early part of the seventies, both at a ripe old age. They were daughters of his brother Eoghan or Ewen. He also heard it when a child and after arriving at manhood from eight other descendants of Ewan among those who the Story is well known as well as from several persons familiar with the traditions of Morvern." (Ewen Livingstone also referred to as Hugh Livingstone See 1779 Argyll Census that includes Hugh Livingston grass keeper of Savary, Morvern and his famous brother Donald. D.C.)

There is regrettably next to no info this Hugh or Ewen Livingston of Savary, Morvern and there are no Morvern records that mention Donald's brothers Hugh or Ewen Livingstone to my knowledge except the Census of Inhabitants of John Duke of Argyll's Property in Morvern 1779. In that Census at Savary in the year 1779 there is Hugh Livingstone (grasskeeper with 8 occupants, Donald Livingstone tenant with 10 occupants and a Malcolm Livingstone tenant with 5 occupants.

I have no idea who this Malcolm Livingston was but he may have been a fourth brother and son of John Livingston 1700-1757 and Ann Mcinnes of Morvern. One brother apparently died in 1746 serving with the Appin Regiment in the 1745 Rebellion with Donald Livingstone and according to family historian Duncan Livingston of Oho in his 1896 article this was a brother named Angus who was killed at Culloden while trying to assist a wounded friend admidst the carnage on the battlefield. This is to my knowledge the only source of information on this brother Angus, but the fact that this information came from Duncan's elderly Morvern relatives I think gives it an air of authenticity.

A significant piece of family information is included in Aunt Betty's (Mrs Donald Livingston's) 1912 Obituary as it mentioned that " Mr Donald Livingston the husband of Mrs Livingstone predeceased her by many years. His great-grand Uncle was the famous Donald Livingstone who played such a heroic part on the day of Culloden." By this I think is meant that Donald Livingstone of Savary was Donald Livingston's great Uncle. I am pretty certain that Donald Livingstone 1728-1816 of Savary was the Uncle of Donald Livingston's father Duncan Livingston son of Hugh or Ewen Livingston of Savary. If so that would make Donald Livingstone of Savary the hero at Culloden 1746, Aunt Betty's husband's great-Uncle I should think. Anyways i think you get the idea.


regards,

Donald
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