Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1877-04-13
A CIRCAssIAN sCOTCHMAN.

/ may mention a strange ac-
quaintance made when travelling
on the great plain which stretches
from the Sea of Azof to the Cas-
plan. One day l accidentally noticed
on my travelling map the name
"Shotlandskays Koloniya" (Scot-
tish Colony near the celebrated
baths Of Platigorsk. | was at that
moment in Stavropol, a town about
eighty miles to the north, and could
not gain any satisfactory informa-
tion as to what this colony was.
Some well-informed people assured
me that it really was what its name
implied, while others asserted as
confidently that it was simply a
small German settlement. To de-
eide the matter l determined to
visit the place myself, though it did
not lie in my intended route, and |
accordingly found myself one morn
ing in the village in question. The
first inhabitants whom | encounter
ed were unmistakably German, and
they professed to know nothing
about the existance of Scotchmen
in the locality, either at the present
or in former times. This was dis
appointing, and was about to turn
away and drive off, when a young
man, who proved to be the school
master, came up, and, on hearing
what l desired, advised me to con-
suit an old Oircassian who lived at
the end of the village, and was well
acquainted with local antiquities.
On proceeding to the house indi
Gated, | found a venerable old man
with fine regular features of the
Circassian type, coal-black spark
ling eyes, and long grey beard
that would have done honor to {
patriarch. To him | explained
briefly, in Russian, the object o
my visit, and asked whether hi
knew of any Scotchmen in The
district. "And why do you wisl
to know ?" ne replied, in the sam,
language, fixing me with his keen
sparkling eyes. Because | an
myself a Scotchman, and hoped t.
| find fellow countrymen here" lie
the reader imagine my astonish
ment when, in reply to this, he an
sSered in genuine, broad Scotch
!" Cd m6u, Pm n Scotchman, tae
Nv name is JIohn Abercrombie
Did We never hear tell 6 John AT
ercrombie, the famous Edinburg'
doctor ?" l was fairly puzzled b
this extraordinary declaration. ID
Abercrombie's name was familia
to me as that of a medical pRaeti
toner and writer on psychology
but | knew that he was long sine
dead. When had recovered lii
tie from my surprise, l ventured t
remark to the enigmatical person
age before me that, though hi
tongue was certainly Scotch, hi
face was as certainly CircassiaI
Weel, weel," he replied, evidentl
enjoying my leok of mystificatioi
"You're mo- far wrang. I'm a OH
cassian Scotchmanl" This extr
ordinary admission did not dimir
ish my perplexity, SO | begged N
new acquaintance to be a lit
more explicit, and he at once con
piled with my request. His lor
b story may be told in a few word
In the first years Of the presel
century band of Scotch mission
> aries came to Russia for the purpo
of converting the Circassian tribe
and received from the Emper
{ Alexander l a large grant Of lar
in this place. which was then
the frontier of the empire. He
l they founded a mission, and beg
or the work; but they soon discover
that the surrounding populate
a were not idolators, but Mussulmar
and consequently imperyious
4 Christianity, IntAis difficulty tn
n fell on the happy idea Of buyi
:, Circassian children from their p'
IN ents, and bringing them up
Christians. One Of these childrt
purchased about the year 1906, v
hO little boy called Teoona. AS
i. had been purchased with mou