Interview of Edward and Mary Ann Gibson

1 May 2004 (volume quality is very faint, some of what they say is very hard to make out) Edward and Marianne Gibson Edward Mark Walter Gibson (Sinco, Ontario, October 29, 1934). He is the second of two children. Their son, Walter, was named after Sir Walter Scott. They have been to Jedburgh, Scotland, searching the Reekie family connection. Edward has also been to Scotland a few more times, with the military and for academic reasons. He was with the Canadian Black Watch for seven years. He went to high-school in Ontario, military service was obligatory. He did his Ph.D (Geography) at UBC and then applied to SFU. He was a cultural geographer. He was a choir and alter-boy in the Anglican Church. He is on the left politically. He also raised Highland cattle in Canada and sells grain-feed beef. He has a strong emotional connection with the pipes, especially from the Black Watch days. When asked if they have any feelings of "Scottishness" when visiting Scotland, Edward says he always feels a "moment of anticipation" and "moment of arrival" when they come to Scotland. They "feel at home" in Scotland. And a lot of the country reminds them of Canada, especially when they see Douglas and Scotch firs. They both say they have a Scottish "identity" and that it is mainly to do with keeping in contact with traditions and histories. Edward has a great feeling, especially through his mother's side, of being a Lowland Scot. He talks of the strong Scottish connection at Simon Fraser University. His father was Walter Hogdens Gibson (St Katherine's). A large number of the Gibson clan were born in St Katherine's from the time of the American Rebellion on the Niagara Frontier. A lot them migrated to British Columbia. Walter's side of the family were therefore Empire Loyalists. One of his ancestors came from Scotland out to the USA. Edward's great-great-grandfather came up from Pennsylvania on the Trail of the Black Walnut. He was one of three sons. He was a shoe-manufacturer from the Depression onwards. Walter was a strong Methodist and then went to the United Church. He was very anti-smoking and anti-drinking. Had very strong emotional connections with Cape Breton and Nova Scotia and brought back tartan from there. But he always "saw himself as Canadian". His mother was Katherine Lee Dickson Gibson (Dutton, Ontario, 1898). Her father, a Reekie, came from Jedburgh, Scotland, to settle in Dutton in the 1880s. They became shop-keepers. Kenneth Galbraith was three years ahead of his mother at high-school. Edward talks of the "Scottishness" of Dutton: clean yards and white-framed buildings. Katherine had a strong love of her Scottish side and Edward got most of his knowledge of his Scottish heritage from her. She was a Presbyterian. Religion was a very big interest in the Gibson family. For example, there was great opposition when Edward's sister told the family she was going to marry a Catholic. Marianne Louise Moore. Her father was Irish and is part of the Edward's Estate and traced his ancestry back to captain Kidd. Her mother has a Scots-German background and was a Highland dancer. Her mother's Scottish ancestors came from Fifeshire, moved to the USA in early 1800s, and then came to Canada. Her feelings of "Scottishness" comes from a feeling of never being beholden to anyone and always putting a strong public face on things, despite problems in the family etc. Keywords: Ontario, UBC, SFU, United Empire Loyalists, religion