Castles

Speaking of castles, my grandfather McClellan was very Scottish, his father having been a circuit-riding minister for Cumberland Presbyterian Church on the Texas frontier back in the late 1800s. My grandmother, on the other hand, might be considered British if you trace her by the Strickland name, as well as being a Methodist. Back in the old times you didn't have much choice. You lived on a little farm out in the Texas countryside and you attended the local church whenever the preacher of whatever denomination arrived to hold church, usually Sundays of course. Whether or not we can trace our lineage back to the Stricklands, the Catholic Lords of Sizergh Castle in northern England, is not clear. My guesswork says yes but I am not sure. You would have to go back many many generations and there were other Stricklands, too, even back in the days of the Tudors so we cannot be sure. It is sort of mildly entertaining to think that my great-grandfather Henry Strickland, the Texas farmer who served in the Texas Rangers and herded cattle along the famed Chisholm trail, might have descended from the ancient Stricklands who were at one time back in the 1500s and 1600s very well connected to the aristocracy and even the royal family of England. Katherine Parr, the last wife of Henry VIII, was a close friend who spent some time living at Sizergh Castle with the Stricklands. They also could claim some connection to Mary Queen of Scots by marriage. I read somewhere that the Stricklands, who were Catholics, accompanied the King James II into exile at Saint-Germaine in France where Lady Strickland served as governess to the young Stuart prince. The Stricklands were able to arrange to get their castle back when they later returned to England. The Stricklands also took up arms in battle against the Scots on occasion, so I suppose you could say that my grandparents were also at war with each other, but, no, that wouldn't be true. We in America remember but dimly the wars of religion. In our family we were all just Protestants so we do not see any need to break down the wall. There is a wall and it is very hard to cross over when it is a matter of salvation. It is all about the joy of salvation and you could of lose it over there on that side because you can never be sure where you stand. At least I have the joy of my salvation even if nothing else. Did not Patrick Henry say give me liberty or give me death? Sometimes it is just one or the other and not both.