Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Update on Hoppringill Hill

Dear Kinsmen,

I would like to thank and recognize James of Torwoodlee for graciously taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with Aggregrate Inc. As you know James from Torwoodlee was kind enough to meet with the representatives of Aggregate Inc. concerning the quarry, the future of Hoppringill Hill, and the remains of our original clan seat. I must say I am grateful to Aggregrate Inc., for setting up and meeting with James and fully discussing their plans. I am glad to say that the hill and the remains of the keep will be safe, at least for the length of the current proposed contract which is 21 years.

If you wish to see the specifics of the quarry proposal discussed at the meeting, please see the pertinent sections of the email below.

Dear Jeff

I met today with Tom Lewis of Aggregate Industries and Allan Doig of JWH Ross (who have been contracted to prepare the planning application) who talked me through the proposal and showed me plans of where and when the quarrying will take place.
I am delighted to be able to reassure you that the site and hill of Hoppringill will not be adversely affected by this application. From the current location of the settlement there appears to be some 30 metres of height to the summit and then the top of the proposed new phase will be below the summit and on the opposite side of the hill. The access track will be around and meandering up to the new phase on the west of the hill and Aggregate Industries claim that they will be 'restoring' both the existing quarry and the new phase as they go.


I hope this allays the concerns of Pringle's everywhere and that we can now be satisfied that our heritage will be safe without any doubt, at least for now. We must still, remain vigilant for the hill and all other sites precious to our clan, lest they be lost.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Heritage In Danger

Fellow Kinsmen,

One of the biggest problems our clan faces is the degradation, neglect, or simple lack of funding to preserve, restore, or save from destruction the many towers, buildings and lands that are historic to our clan.

Some already have funds set up to stabilize them such as Torwoodlee Tower(Torwoodlee has been in Pringle hands since 1501 and no matter what your branch is a vital part of Pringle history). Others have been restored already such as Whytbank Tower which had fallen into disrepair. Some are in state care, such as Smailholm Tower. Other's such as Hoppringill Hill are in danger of irreparable damage not to the buildings themselves but to the historic lands that surround them. It likely will be slow going as some are no longer are in the family, and may take years for even an attempt to bring them back to us, however the importance to all Pringle's remain. We will when we can and have funds to begin such an effort be setting up a fund to buy back our traditional lands and repair and restore the buildings so all Pringle's now and future can enjoy our heritage. As I said before, whatever your branch all these buildings are important. Please if you can, give so that our heritage can live on for our future generations. The Book Records of the Pringle's gives an excellent account of our history, especially in the early days and expresses how much influence and prominence we really had. This can be read online for free at: http://salhun.100webcustomers.com/TheBook.htm#_Toc97635935 . This should let all Pringle's who are not aware, see why it's so important to save these lands and buildings.

Below is the link to the Torwoodlee Tower Fund.
Kinsmen, if you can, help us preserve our heritage!
http://www.torwoodlee.com/support-us

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Welcome All Clan Members!

Dear Clansmen,

After much time drifting, we are beginning to come back together as a family and clan at last. We have now an opportunity to rebuild our heritage, reunite with our family(since all Pringle's are essentially related by blood), and find our clan chief using DNA. However in order for us to be able to accomplish these goals we need to raise(as Murray pointed out) our public profile so other pringle's worldwide become interested in the clan. Therefore we need to get as many Pringle's involved as possible.

The biggest part of that of course is the above mentioned DNA project which is located at http://www.dnaheritage.com/surnameform.asp?GroupUnique=622867424&Surname=Pringle . This is being used to determine our clan chief. I urge all male Pringle's to join the DNA project. This not only can determine our clan chief, but also can be used for genealogical purposes as we get more members and can begin to determine DNA patterns with various branches.


On another note, the saga of Hoppringill Hill continues, (for more details go to http://www.thesouthernreporter.co.uk/news/A-wind-farm-a-quarry.5670736.jp?articlepage=1 ) which fortunately it sounds like we caught on to it in the planning stages, meaning we may have a chance to save our ancestral home from being bulldozed by a large quarry company(for information to contact the quarry company in protest feel free to email me at jpringle1979@hotmail.com). We must not let anything happen! Hoppringill Hill is the very definition of our surname and clan! James from Torwoodlee is kind enough to negotiate with the quarry company in person. Let's wish him the best of luck!

Clan Pringle now has an official site at http://www.clanpringle.org.uk as well as a yahoo group http://groups.yahoo.com/clanpringle and a facebook account(I'll post information for this at a later time). This is the beginning of a network for Pringle's being set up so Pringle's worldwide can communicate and coordinate efforts. I urge all Pringle's to get involved, we have in the works a clan association. The more people involved, the better the clan organization, and the more we can accomplish!

Once again, welcome to all clan members, it's good to be able to communicate with Pringle's worldwide, and may all find you well.