excerpt
Don Hymie was an excellent teacher in that he would explain the
events of history by telling me what the subject of his story was doing
when he was my age. It made things very understandable. For example,
I remember him telling me of a fellow from Macedonia who came from
an influential family.
He told me, “He was known as Alexander. When he was seventeen,
he became the head of an army; when he was nineteen, he had conquered
most of the known world of the time, and by the age of twenty-one, he
had conquered it all. I wanted to give you that piece of information—
make sure you are not a slow learner!”
~~
One of the most vital pieces of information that James Chesney imparted
to his grandson was the story of Rurik of the Rus. The family story was
accompanied in due course with the daunting responsibility for one of the
earliest known compilations of a family history in book form, which Ken
still holds in safekeeping. The earliest pages of this volume are made of split
leather and the earliest entries circa 746 AD. Later entries were recorded on
parchment, followed by modern materials. Much of the early text is written
in Old Norse, similar to present day Icelandic, but unfortunately no longer
readily understood.
Leafing through this treasure, you can trace the evolution of language
through the ages, as well as the family lineage, from Rurik of the Rus,
through the Chesney family, to Kirkby. It dates back to the pre-Sagas. The
Nordic peoples were great recorders and English history begins with the
Sagas. The leather pages are carved, or inscribed with the profile of every
person noted. The book contains details of the family tree ending with Ken’s
only son, Michael, who is also the great-grandson of Don Hymie.
My grandfather told me the story of my warrior ancestor for the first
time when I was about eight years old. We were sitting on our favourite
cliff above Francisco’s beach. “This is an important story,” he said.
“The other stories I tell you are interesting—but this is important.”
Mayanaam
vequinox
Manolis 