- Don't be cruel, villagers tell Elvis empire
By Craig Walker
(Daily Record, March 25, 2004)
VILLAGERS were shaken and rattled yesterday by threats over their Elvis history. But they are vowing not to roll over after the mega-rich Presley empire tried to warn them off. Tiny Lonmay only discovered its links to Elvis's ancestors this week.
But yesterday, within 48 hours of the Aberdeenshire village celebrating its new-found fame, the money men in America were demanding their cut of any money the villagers make from the connection. Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc, who control rights to the rock legend's image from his former home, Graceland, in Memphis, Tennessee, said they objected to unauthorised use of their trademarks. But media director Todd Morgan added: 'We are always open to hearing proposals from any entity seeking the appropriate and necessary permissions.'
Last night, villagers were amazed at the huge corporation's stance. The Ban Car Hotel has already discussed plans to commemorate Elvis, possibly by changing its name to Heartbreak Hotel or renaming one of its dining areas. Barman Michael Stewart, 37, said: 'I can't believe Graceland are coming out with this already. The place has been buzzing since we found out Elvis is linked to the area. 'Everyone thinks it's great and we are planning to hold some kind of celebration for his birthday. We're just having a bit of fun. I think the bosses at Graceland are getting a little bit carried away.'
Banff and Buchan MSP Stewart Stevenson slammed Graceland's 'heavy- handed' tactics. He said: 'They should be flattered to be linked to Scotland. I am sure whatever they try to do, we will see people coming from America and all over the world to see where the great man came from. This is a gross over-reaction and if Graceland have a look at the situation they will realise we are a little bit off taking over their mantle. However, this might just spur on the couple of dozen residents of Lonmay to do just that.'
The row started when Scots author Allan Morrison claimed this week he had traced Elvis's ancestors back to Lonmay and tourism bosses predicted a surge in visitors to the village.
- Thousands visit village linked to Presley
By SUE LEEMAN
(tallahassee.com / Associated Press, March 25, 2004)
A Scottish writer's assertion that Elvis Presley's ancestors came from a quiet corner of northeast Scotland has fixated fans and brought batches of journalists and TV crews to Lonmay, a Scottish village near Aberdeen.
Mindful that Elvis's Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tenn., gets more than 1 million visitors a year, the Aberdeen and Grampian Highlands Tourist Board has seized on the prospect of an Elvis connection with delight. "It could be really good for tourism," said Ian Hainey, spokesman for the Aberdeen and Grampian Highlands Tourist Board. "We get Elvis fans coming to Prestwick, even though Elvis only spent an hour there once," he said, referring to Presley's stopover at the Scottish airport in 1960. ...
- Big Hunk o' Lonmay
(Hello!, March 24, 2004)
A best-selling Scottish author has discovered that Elvis Presley, the King of rock and roll, is actually a Scot. Allan Morrison has traced Elvis Presley's ancestors back more than 250 years in order to write his most recent book, The Presley Prophecy. The first Presley in America was Andrew Presley, from Lonmay in the North-east of Scotland, who arrived in North Carolina in 1745. From this landing of the first Presley in America, Elvis's ancestry can be directly traced to 1933, when Vernon Elvis Presley married Gladys Love Smith in 1933 and on January 8, 1935, Elvis Aaron Presley was born. Allan Morrison said: "'Scottish genealogy is a high profile, popular subject, and it gets no bigger than Elvis Presley. "Elvis Aaron Presley is the world's most enduring icon. Even today, some twenty-six years after his death, Elvis' works and life are continually featured in the media. He added: "Having established that the Presleys were of Scottish origin, it has been a joy to trace back their past and write about the adventures of Elvis's ancestor, Andrew Presley, who lived in Scotland during an exciting period of history, namely the Jacobite rebellion."
Jim Presly, 70, from Oldmeldrum near Lonmay, has researched his own family's Elvis connection over the years. He said: "I definitely think there is some truth in this as there are lots of Presleys from this area. Sometime during the mid-eighteenth century my family's name was changed and the 'e' disappeared because of someone's spelling error. I know this both through looking at local census records and due to the fact I have an old bible belonged to my grandfather's father and in it his surname is spelt the same way as Elvis's. "Both myself and my sister, who lives in America, have been interested in this for some time. We knew that Elvis's ancestor, Andrew, emigrated from Paisley, but we did not know that he was originally from the Lonmay area. "I've been associated with Elvis all my life because of my surname and because I was born only two years after him, also my wife always thought our son James looked like Elvis when he was younger."
Ian Dunlop, Aberdeen and Grampian Tourist Board's chief executive, said: "If Elvis is indeed from Aberdeenshire, this could be great for the area. Over a million people visit Gracelands every year and over 400,000 websites are purely dedicated to Elvis. 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!" Paul Downie, spokesman for Scotland's Elvis Touch Fan Club said: "Elvis fans will be delighted with this news. ...
- Elvis was from Scotland, says new research
(Hello!, March 23, 2004)
He once sang Auld Lang Syne, and he did spend an hour at Prestwick airport in 1960 on his way home from national service in Germany, but until now that's been pretty much the sum of Elvis Presley's relationship with Scotland. But that's all about to change. Scottish researcher Allan Morrison has stirred up huge excitement with the revelation that he's traced the King's roots back to the tiny village of Lonmay in northeast Scotland, where, he says, Elvis' great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather lived in the 1700s. The offspring of his marriage, Andrew Presley, emigrated to North Carolina in 1745 and started the American branch of the family.
"I definitely think this is true as there are a lot of Presleys in the area," says 70-year-old Jim Presly, who lives near Lonmay and whose own surname lost the second 'e' decades ago because of a spelling mistake. Inhabitants of the hamlet, which boasts neither a shop nor a school, are now hoping that the discovery will put Lonmay on the tourist map for Elvis' famously tenacious fans. "Elvis was at Prestwick for an hour in 1960 and fans from throughout the world visit, so you can imagine what might happen to Lonmay," points out one local Elvis expert. "Graceland still attracts tens of thousands of visitors a year 26 years after his death," agrees Mr Morrison, who is the author of a book about Andrew Presley. Other reactions to the news were less hopeful. "It's not going to be as big as Loch Ness," prophesies the president of the Elvis Presley Fanclub of Great Britain.
- Scottish village all shook up at link with Elvis
(Yahoo! News / FP, March 23, 2004)
As locals point out, it is more familiar with wellington boots than blue suede shoes, but a tiny Scottish farming village has a new claim to rock and roll fame -- as the ancestral home of Elvis Presley. Lonmay, to the north of the country, has been identified by a writer and amateur genealogist as the home of Presley's great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather, the Times newspaper said on Tuesday.
Parish records show that one Andrew Presley got married in the village in 1713, and that his son, also Andrew, emigrated to the United States 30 years later to continue his trade as a blacksmith. Scottish author Allan Morrison told the newspaper that he had traced the generational line all the way to Elvis, who was born in Mississippi in January 1935. "I started looking into Elvis's past when I heard rumours of him coming from Scotland," Morrison told the Times. "I was able to trace his family tree, and when it got to Lonmay, it was like striking gold."
Scotland could previously make only one relatively tenuous claim on Presley, as the site of his solitary, and very brief, visit to Britain. On March 3, 1960, as Presley returned to the United States following his service with the US army in Germany, he made a two-hour stopover at Prestwick Airport near Glasgow. Lonmay locals -- who pointed out that a lot of Presleys still lived in the area -- said they were hopeful the news could boost the village's current trickle of tourists, while admitting it was more rural than rock and roll. "I'm pretty sure we've no suede shoes here," hotel manager Jim McCue told the Daily Telegraph newspaper, which also carried the story. "There are a lot of wellington boots, as this is a farming community."
- Elvis Presley's Ancestors Traced to Scottish Hamlet, Times Says
By Svenja O'Donnell
(bloomberg.com, March 22, 2004)
Elvis Presley's ancestral heritage has been traced back to Lonmay, a small village in north east Scotland, the London-based Times said, citing Allan Morrison, author of a book on Presley. Parish records are said to show how eight generations before Elvis was born in 1935, his ancestor Andrew Presley married Elspeth Leg in Lonmay on August 27, 1713, and their son was the first Presley to leave Scotland for America, the newspaper said. Elvis only once set foot in the U.K. when he spent 60 minutes at Scotland's Prestwick airport in 1960 on his way home from national service in Germany, the newspaper said. Paul Downie, a spokesman for the singer's Scotland's fan club said although Lonmay is so small it is often left off maps, it may become a draw for fans, the newspaper said.
"Elvis was at Prestwick in 1960 for an hour and fans from throughout the world visit, so you can imagine what might happen to Lonmay," the Times cited Downie as saying. Morrison said his research into the Presley line started when he "heard rumors of him coming from Scotland,'' the newspaper said. "I was able to trace his family tree and when it got to Lonmay it was like striking gold,'' the newspaper cited Morrison as saying.
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