“Wherever I wander, wherever I rove, The hills of the Highlands forever I love."
—Robbie Burns [1]
In Parts 1 and 2 of this series, I wrote about two legacies Frank left us. Part 1 describes the gift of his “red book,” A Darroch Family in Scotland and in Canada, a precious repository of family information. Part 2 tells of how Frank obtained his Coat of Arms.[2] Frank’s legacy amounts to even more—some of it tangible and some of it intangible. This post, Part 3, touches on some of those elements.
Tangible Legacies
The first tangible element Frank left is the research materials for his book A Darroch Family in Scotland and in Canada. Frank wrote several editions before printing 500 copies of the red-covered final edition. Once printed, he entrusted the pre-press materials to Garfield Darroch of Burlington, Ontario. Many years later, Gar still feels honoured to be the recipient. Considering so many descendants revere this book, one can hardly doubt why Gar feels fortunate. Frank saw him as a conscientious keeper for that portion of his work.
Another tangible by-product was the red book's "desk copy" where Frank added corrections and updated information that emerged after printing. Frank’s daughter, Bonnie, inherited that copy. In teacher parlance, the "desk copy" contains answers to exams and quizzes. Frank’s father, Will Darroch, was a teacher, as was Frank. So too was his daughter, Bonnie. With three generations of teachers in the same family line, the desk copy of Frank's work has particular significance for Bonnie. To this day, she keeps it in the top drawer of her personal desk.
Frank seemed to love all things Scottish, especially the Highlands. Robbie Burns’ quote at the top of this post describes Frank’s passion for his ancestral home: “Wherever I wander, wherever I rove, / The hills of the Highlands forever I love.” Frank owned a set of full Highland dress, including a jabot, gillies, two sporrans, and two kilts. He wore these at formal events such as his granddaughter's wedding where he escorted her down the aisle.
Frank passed on many of these keepsakes to family members. For example, his sealskin sporran went to Bonnie. She also inherited his Highland history books and passed them on to Steve Darroch. One kilt went to Archie Calder, who later passed it on to Gar Darroch. Frank did not bequeath his other kilt. As a final acknowledgment of his Highland heritage, he was buried in his kilt after he passed away on December 26, 1989.
Intangible Legacies
Frank was willing to share his family heritage with other Darroch descendants, evidenced by how he carefully bequeathed the memorabilia, above. He also left an intangible endowment: the desire to research, document, and preserve family history. Among those who picked up on Frank's passion was a distant cousin, Malcolm Darroch of Vancouver, BC. [3] Mal was grateful for and fascinated with the work. He founded the website Darroch.org, which greatly extended the reach of Frank’s research and writings. Mal wrote:
"The inspiration for the creation of this site is primarily as a result of the monumental efforts of Frank Darroch in researching and compiling his wonderful compendium of one branch of the Darroch family…. I hope that by making this site available to all who wish to access it I may be able to, in some small way, contribute to and continue that important historical work that Frank Darroch began those many years ago." [4]
Frank stated that one of the purposes of his book was, “for those who find it interesting, [to] encourage them to delve further...and...bridge some of the gaps that are obvious in our family history.”[5] Mal's website gathered interest and questions from Darroch descendants whose ancestors had emigrated to Canada, the United States, New Zealand, and Australia. He tracked and communicated with these people for many years.
I, too, have benefited greatly from Frank's work. I feel a similar call to research, record, and preserve Darroch family stories. As I quoted in Part 1 of this series, “If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”[6] Frank did both: he wrote content worth reading and accomplished things worth writing about. And he invited us to do the same. This is one reason why I wrote this three-part series about Frank and his work.
Please share our Darroch family endowment with your siblings, children, or cousins, and allow this family history legacy to continue.
References
[1] Robert Burns, “My Heart’s in the Highlands” http://www.robertburns.org/works/290.shtml
[2] To see a photo of the 1968 Chieftain document granted by the Lord Lyon King of Arms, see this post for Steve Darroch's photo.
[3] Mal’s grandfather, Arthur Darroch, was a first cousin to Frank. Therefore, Mal and Frank are first cousins twice removed.
[4] www.darroch.org retrieved June 1, 2018.
[5] Frank Darroch, A Darroch Family in Scotland and in Canada (Harriston, Ontario, 1974), 3.
[6] Attributed to Ben Franklin. Abraham Lincoln is quoted as saying something very similar.