Ain't nuttin but a heilin coo--BBC article

[Botnst]

Close your eyes. Now lets all imagine Presley in a kilt.

Elvis roots 'lead to Scotland

Elvis Presley visited Scotland briefly in 1960

Elvis Presley's roots can be traced back to a village in Aberdeenshire, according to a Scottish author.

Allan Morrison, from Greenock, said he had discovered that the musical icon's ancestors lived in Lonmay in the 1700s.

"I am an Elvis fan myself so it has been a joy to trace back their past and establish that the Presleys were of Scottish origin," he said.

Scotland was also the location for The King's only visit to the UK, a brief landing at Prestwick Airport in 1960.

Mr Morrison said the first Presley in America was a man called Andrew Presley who arrived in North Carolina in 1745.

I was able to trace his family tree - and when it got back to Lonmay it was like striking gold.

The 61-year-old said records showed that his father, also Andrew, married Elspeth Leg in Lonmay in 1713.

The Presley roots in America could be traced right up to 1933, when Elvis's parents married. The singer was born two years later.

Mr Morrison said he started looking into the Presley ancestry in 1998 after hearing rumours that he had Scottish links.

"I was able to trace his family tree - and when it got back to Lonmay it was like striking gold," he said.

He discovered that most of the Presleys living in Scotland during the 18th and 19th centuries could be found in Aberdeenshire.

They were based in Lonmay and the nearby villages of New Deer, Old Deer and Tarves.

'Enduring icon'

His as yet unpublished book, The Presley Prophecy, covers the adventures of Andrew Presley during the Jacobite rebellion.

Paul Downie, a spokesman for Scotland's 40-year-old Elvis Touch Fan Club, said the news would delight Elvis fans.

"For years fan have thought there was a connection with Presley and Scotland and I have always thought his roots came from the Aberdeenshire area," he said.

"I would think fans will want to visit Scotland and Lonmay - I imagine there will be an upsurge."

Ian Dunlop, chief executive of Aberdeen and Grampian Tourist Board's chief executive, said it would be great news if the claims were true.

"He is an enduring icon more than a quarter century after his death and we would be delighted to welcome Elvis fans here to Aberdeen and Grampian to search out his roots," he said.

Long live the King, we have our own little Elvis B-day celebration every year.

We also have a rememberance on 8-16 which is considered by some the best party of the year, with the exception of my Klipsch hating neighbors.

It was by accident but we have continued the tradition for 4 years now.

[jjl]

Yeah, I've heard this one before. I'm suspicious of these stories (you guys heard of The Loch Ness Monster?) because of the Scottish Tourist Board, but there might be something to this one - there's a village in Aberdeenshire called 'Presley'.

It seems that half of north america has scottish (or Irish) roots, supposedly emigrating for economic reasons, but I think it was probably the ****** weather...

Jack

[Botnst]

That's my ancestor you're talkin' about, pal--not the Wells's they're English/German mostly. My lowland Scots were reivers and were invited to seek opportunities in a more salubrious environment by their neighbors and local magistrate.

Upon arrival on the far shore, all that sexual repression from the C of Scotland burst in a wild fenzy of kilt-swinging copulation. If you look at the records, they had 4-7 adulthood-surviving children/generation. At that rate its surprising we don't ALL eat sheep stomachs stuffed with barley.

B

GRACELAND WARNS SCOTS: DON'T STEP ON OUR BLUE SUEDE SHOES

MORAG LINDSAY

09:00 - 24 March 2004
Bosses at Graceland have warned the people of Lonmay they had better seek permission from them before they think about cashing in on their connection to the King.

The Buchan community was making the most of its 15 minutes of fame yesterday after a Scottish author revealed Elvis Presley's ancestors had married there before leaving for the new world in 1745.

With news teams flocking to the area, community leaders were hoping a tourist boom would follow.

But Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc, which controls the Presley business empire, warned they would be fools to rush in to any marketing campaigns without its blessing.

The firm is notoriously protective of the Elvis identity - it owns the trademarks to Graceland, Elvis, and Elvis Presley - and last year even tried to outlaw Elvis impersonators.

Speaking from Graceland, Elvis's Memphis mansion, Todd Morgan, director of media and creative development, told the Press and Journal: "We object to any unauthorised use of our Elvis Presley trademarks but are always open to hearing proposals from any entity seeking the appropriate and necessary permissions."

Mr Morgan might be mistaken if he thinks he will be able to stop the people of Lonmay crowing about their new-found claim to fame. Yesterday the talk was of Elvis and little else.

Christina Gibbins of the Ban Car Hotel had to raise her voice to be heard above the strains of Elvis tunes being played on the bagpipes for the benefit of the tourist board and TV crews.

The hotel was fully booked yesterday - even before the news crews from Sky and GMTV rolled into Lonmay.

Mrs Gibbins said locals were thoroughly enjoying their fame.

"It might be one of these one-week wonders," she laughed. "But you never know - Elvis has been around for a lot longer than that.

"We've been told to start advertising more so we can make the most of this.

"I'm thinking about changing our name to Heartbreak Hotel and I'm trying to get the staff to start wearing Elvis sideburns, but they're not keen."

Never one to miss a chance to put his Banff and Buchan constituency in the spotlight, SNP leader Alex Salmond tabled a motion at Westminster, calling on fellow MPs to share his delight in the discovery that Elvis's roots lie in Lonmay.

On a more serious note for the Buchan economy, he calls on colleagues to invite Elvis fans around the world to visit Lonmay and bring a welcome and long-term boost to tourism in Aberdeenshire.

Mr Salmond hailed the discovery as great news for Lonmay and the north-east of Scotland.

He told MPs: "The area has a rich musical tradition - much of which did travel to America with emigrants.

"And now we discover that it is the ancestral home of the King of rock and roll.

"It has huge tourism potential, and will be of massive interest to Elvis fans all around the world."

He is not wrong there.

By first light in America yesterday the giant ABC news network had got wind of Lonmay's claim to fame.

"The tiny Scottish farming village of Lonmay is more familiar with Wellington boots than blue suede shoes," it announced. "But a writer and amateur genealogist says it is nevertheless the ancestral home of Elvis Presley."

On the other side of the world, the Sydney Morning Herald was trumpeting "McElvis's roots revealed", while The Australian newspaper was informing its readers "Rock's king came from Highland fling" and bemoaning the absence of cheeseburgers in Lonmay.

Far East fans were alerted to the news by the Indiaweb website, which warned Lonmay was about to be besieged by Elvis enthusiasts.

The international Reuters news agency was also predicting Lonmay would become a new shrine for Elvis devotees. "You have Graceland in Memphis," their writer reasoned. "Now hopefully you will have Presleyland in Lonmay."

Priscilla Parker of the We Remember Elvis fan club, America's biggest with more than 900 members and offshoots in Poland, Sri Lanka and Madagascar, predicts many will flock to Scotland to see where it all began.

"We had heard years ago that some of Elvis's ancestors had come from Scotland but I could never find any written proof," she explained from her home in Pennsylvania.

"A lot of fans have asked what was Elvis's heritage? So I'll bet a lot of them will be interested to hear this claim and will want to find out more about where he came from."

Mrs Parker stressed that she and her friends were united not just by their love of Elvis but by their public spiritedness, which has seen them raise thousands of dollars for good causes such as their local burns unit and the Memphis Trauma Centre.

"We all get that from Elvis," she explained. "He was very charitable and he would help anybody - maybe that's because he was a Scot."

Back home, staff at Aberdeen and Grampian Tourist Board were enjoying the kind of publicity money cannot buy, with calls coming in from Elvis fans around the world.

Spokesman Kevin Robertson said the interest from the international media had been overwhelming.

"It's one of these small stories that has just escalated in a huge way," he said. "It's got people talking about Lonmay in Australia, America, India . . . that's got to be good for the area."

[jjl]

Amazing.

Still, it might give them something to do here.

Q: What do you call a sheep tied to a tree in Aberdeenshire.

A: A leisure centre.

[Botnst]

Hey jjl, did I spell that title correctly for the pronunciation?

Did it from memory. Can't be worse than "Braveheart". Okay, it could. Just don't tell me.

B

[jjl]

B., close - but more like 'Isnay nuthin lik a heelin coo'.

Hoots mon, weel yee no huv mair haggis on yer sporran.