mcleanscotland are local Scots who pride ourselves on showing you the nooks & crannies other tours companies pass on by. We can show you those hidden gems even Scots do not know! SCOTTISH NEWS AND VIEWS WITH MCLEAN SCOTLAND VACATION COMPANY FROM PERTH IN SCOTLAND |
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Stories from Scotland
Issue One 2009. Edited in Perth, Scotland
English shops 'should
accept Scottish money' 21 January 2009 3 December 2008 parts
of the Scottish Highlands woke up to temperatures as
low as -12C and motorists faced treacherous
conditions with icy roads, blizzards and freezing
fog patches in some areas.The B974 between Banchory
and Fettercairn was blocked by snow and ice and
Traffic Scotland warned that roads in the Highlands,
Strathclyde, the south-west, the Lothians and the
Borders were all affected by ice. Nine schools in
Aberdeenshire and three in the Highlands were
closed.NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said five of
its A&E departments had recorded their busiest ever
day on Tuesday as the cold snap took hold. The
health board said 1,906 emergency patients were seen
- a 20 per cent rise on the previous highest
recorded figure of 1,583.The average number of A&E
patients seen in the area per day is 1,226 -
Tuesday's level was 55 per cent above this.
Glasgow's Victoria Infirmary treated more than 300
patients, a 40 per cent increase over its normal
attendance.
A SCOTTISH SONG OR TWO. WHO IS PIGASUS? see here . SCOTTISH FACTS and history HISTORIC kilt ILLUSTRATIONS CASTLES some remote castles you van still visit, SOME MOST HAUNTED! SCOTTISH BOOKS as recommended by Paul McLean What is the Scottish sport of SHINTY? THE WEATHER REPORT! www.scotsman.com/weather.cfm SEE THE PIPES AND VETERANS PARADING THROUGH PERTH - JUNE 2008
World's No 1 whisky stock heads to Edinburgh
08 October 2008 HE has devoted 36 years of his
life to putting together the world's largest stock
of whiskies. But Brazilian Claive Vidiz has said
goodbye to his 3384-bottle collection as it embarks
on a new life in one of the Capital's best known
tourist attractions.
THE world's most expensive tartan is rolling
off the production lines at a Scottish textile mill.
Kilts in the tartan will cost up to £5,000 and it
has been described as a champagne fabric rather than
a bottle of beer". The tartan, woven from pure
Mongolian cashmere, has been designed by Peebles
knitwear firm Holland & Sherry to celebrate 172
years of operation in the Borders town. It will sell
at around £500 a square metre and will be unveiled
at November's Dressed to Kilt fashion show in New
York, modelled by
Restoration plan for 12th century chapel 12
September 2008 A 900-YEAR-OLD chapel where
Robert the Bruce's descendants prayed for his soul
is to be restored, it was announced yesterday.The
12th century chapel next to Airth Castle, near
Falkirk will once again be used for weddings and
other special occasions. Detailed plans for the
historic ruin include a futuristic glass building to
be encased within the existing walls. According to
the proposals, the chapel's medieval arcade and
tower will also be restored. Graves, including those
of Bruce's descendents who owned the castle, will be
maintained and a walled garden and land created to
surround the chapel. The plans have been unveiled by
entrepreneur Steven McLeod, boss of Airth Castle
Hotel and Spa Resort, in whose grounds the chapel
stands.
I KNOW ITS NOT SCOTTISH - but it IS Celtish!
Senior Three in a Row Achieved in Style. In an
awesome display Kilkenny recorded their first three
in a row since 1911 with a display of sheer power,
skill and hurling artistry to win todays final.
Ahead 2-16 to 0-5 at the break the side finished
3-30 to 1-13 ahead
More than £1 million of the £3.2 million needed has
been raised and organisers of the Black Watch
Heritage Appeal are confident of securing the rest
to complete the upgrade by 2010. The Earl of Airlie,
the appeal president, said: "The Black Watch is one
of the most famous regiments in the world and the
red hackle symbolises all its many achievements. We
must ensure these achievements are recorded for
posterity and this appeal will enable us to do so."
The Black Watch, which first saw battle in 1745,
is famous for the red hackle on soldier's caps. In
2006 it was merged with other Scottish regiments to
form the Royal Regiment of Scotland. Its title is
now The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal
Regiment of Scotland. Perth's provost, Dr John
Hulbert, said: "It is right that the future of
Balhousie Castle should be secured for the Black
Watch, for Perthshire and for Scotland." Seven rooms
of the castle contain prized regimental artefacts,
including a broadsword used in the attack on Fort
Ticonderoga, New York, in 1758. Major David Noble,
the appeal director, said the castle was an
important part of Scotland's heritage, which needed
to be preserved. He added: "We are doing everything
we can to make sure the name of the Black Watch
remains as relevant today as it has in the 267 years
of its history."
SAYS
PAUL MCLEAN "Come on and see what YOU can do to help
this famous regimental museum. Being in Perth myself
I feel closer to this museum than even my own Grand
Dad's regimental museum at Stirling castle (The
Argyll's). Please do what you can".
SEE THIS PAGE
Tartan army raps Brown's 2012 UK team plan 24
August 2008 'Haunted house' in £1000 charity challenge to Sir Sean MAKING A PLEDGE: Staff at The Real Mary King’s Close will give £1000 to charity if Sir Sean is not impressed by its tour 23 August 2008 SIR SEAN CONNERY has been challenged to put his money where his mouth is after criticising one of Edinburgh's top visitor attractions. Staff at The Real Mary King's Close were left stunned after the legendary Scottish film icon made some scathing comments on the attraction in his new book, Being a Scot. Owners were bemused at his description of the Royal Mile attraction, which has around 170,000 visitors a year, as "a Disneyfied haunted-house experience". They have now challenged Sir Sean, who is in Edinburgh to launch his book at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, to visit them and see for himself. As an incentive they have promised to pay out £1000 to a charity of his choice if he is still unimpressed with what they offer visitors. In return they have asked him to agree to pledge the same amount to their nominated charity, the Sick Children's Foundation at the Royal Hospital in Edinburgh, if he does change his mind about the attraction. Sir Sean's publicist could not be reached for comment on the challenge. But Paul has a few words; aye, away you go big man, lets see how you do, and while I am here, when do you think you will be living in your beloved Scotland again?
10 July; A MAIN road in southern Scotland
is set to be closed for up to eight weeks after a landslide triggered by
heavy rains. Police confirmed that the A7 at Auchenrivock, south of Langholm, in
Dumfries and Galloway, would remain shut for some time as much of the nation was
lashed by downpours. A further landslip also partially closed a stretch of the
same road north of Langholm. Severe weather warnings were issued for parts of
Scotland, with the south appearing to be the worst hit. In Edinburgh, about 23mm
of rain fell between 9pm on Wednesday and 9am yesterday – more than a third of
the city's average rainfall for July. In Eskdalemuir, Dumfries and Galloway,
which has a July average of 98mm, a total of 23mm also fell overnight, while
24mm fell in Bishopton, Renfrewshire, which has a July average of 76mm. This is
despite this year seeing the warmest May ever recorded in Scotland and 2008
being on target to be one of the ten warmest years. Saved from Vikings – and bound for home 1
July 2008 FIFTY years ago Douglas Coutts was a
schoolboy volunteer on a dig on Shetland when he unearthed the single most
important archaeological discovery in Scotland for more than a century. As he
scraped away the earth inside the foundations of a ruined medieval church on
tiny St Ninian's Isle, the 15-year-old stumbled across the finest hoard of
Pictish silver ever found in Britain – silver brooches, bowls and other
artefacts buried 1,200 years ago by islanders to prevent them from being seized
by the Vikings. On Friday, the 50th anniversary of his find, Mr Coutts, 65, a
retired librarian from Bressay, will be the guest of honour when the St Ninian's
Isle Treasure returns to Shetland for only the second time since it was
discovered. The treasure, which is housed in the National Museum of Scotland,
last returned to the islands in 1967 when the hoard was briefly displayed in the
former Shetland museum. Mr Coutts : "Being a novice I was a bit bemused by the
whole thing. But we were all told that we were not to let anybody know about the
find and I took that to mean that I had found something very unusual. I remember
a flight being arranged for me to go to Glasgow to do media interviews. That was
my only reward." Jane Carmichael, the director of collections at the National
Museums Scotland, said: "The loan is part of our ongoing partnership with
Shetland Amenity Trust and working together we will strive to ensure that as
many people as possible in Britain have the opportunity to see this part of
Shetland's rich heritage." The history behind this; ST NINIAN'S Isle is a tiny
island at the southern tip of Shetland, linked to the mainland by a 500m sand
spit. The treasure hoard is believed to have been buried around AD800 by
islanders at a time of frequent Viking raids on Shetland. The hoard consisted of
29 objects – 28 made of silver and a porpoise jawbone. The archaeologists
uncovered eight silver bowls, a silver spoon, 12 brooches, three cone-shaped
objects, possibly thimbles, two pieces of sword scabbards, a sword hilt and a
pronged implement which is believed to have been used for eating shellfish. 29 June 2008 THOSE English nationalists who claim Scotland is lagging behind the rest of the UK might soon be able to prove their point. English Conservative MPs are backing a plan to move England ahead of Scotland by an hour, in a bid to resolve a long-standing dispute over the UK's most appropriate time zone. The move is being backed to bring it into line with western Europe.The plan is backed by environmentalists, farmers and road safety experts in England who say it would make better use of the light down south, but in Scotland it has been met with fierce opposition. (too bloomin right!) With dawn in winter arriving later in Scotland than England, opponents have warned that farmers would be forced to work in the dark until mid-morning, while schoolchildren would have to go to school in pitch black for months on end. A two-time zone nation would immediately raise several problems, for example, over TV scheduling. If London-based schedulers moved to the new English time zone, the watershed in Scotland would effectively begin at 8pm "local time", and not 9pm as at present. A spokesman for the SNP said: "In Scotland, the majority of people would prefer the extra hour of daylight in the morning. Scottish children should not have to go to school in the dark." Paul says "once again we have those English trying to push us into something we do not want, just because they do! Bring on Independence I say, the faster the better!" ........................... Fort William Football Club - superstars?
28 June 2008 Club: Fort William FC 23 June 2008 THE rain was beating down heavy on the Clyde. The sky was
grey, the water was grey, the buildings were grey. And then a grey fin
appeared.The distinctive curve of a dolphin emerged from the water with an
explosion of air from its blowhole before it slipped back down to hunt for food.
It was a rare sight for the centre of Glasgow yesterday and attracted a stream
of onlookers willing to brave the weather for a glimpse of the creature. The
dolphin seemed content, despite being surrounded by litter, at one point peeking
through the water with a salt-and-vinegar crisp packet on its fin, and later
with a plastic carried bag caught around it. The animal spent hours swimming
near the Glasgow Science Centre. 2014 Commonwealth Games
joy for Glasgow
- (story November 2007). A guesthouse owner from Argyll has taken the honours in the annual world porridge-making championships. Story 7 October 2007. A dozen cooks from across the UK had gathered in Carrbridge, in Strathspey, for the contest to see who can make the finest bowl of the oatmeal dish. Judges marked the entrants on their porridge's appearance, consistency and taste, before deciding on a champion. The winner of the coveted Golden Spurtle, or stirrer, was Maria Soep from Kilchrenan. Ms Soep, who reached the final last year, came out victorious after a three-way cook-off. She said her secret was a special batch of pinhead oats bought from Oban (och no better place in the world!), on Scotland's west coast. "I buy my pinhead oatmeal from a health food shop - it is the best that money can buy," she said. "I soaked them overnight, added a bit of salt and some good water. "But it's the oatmeal that counts." Mrs Soep added: "It feels great to have won - I am delighted." A spokesman for the competition's sponsor's, Hamlyn's Oats of Scotland, said: "The judges thought it was the toughest competition yet. "The standard was incredibly high and the final was very tense." The event was won last year by Army Sergeant Coleen Hayward MacLeod, who has been responsible for making porridge on a daily basis for hundreds of soldiers from the 1st Royal Irish Regiment at Fort George, near Inverness. 6 OCT. Historians puzzle over black face in ancient tapestry of Culloden battle A TAPESTRY of the Battle of Culloden has revealed a new mystery about the last battle fought on British soil. The historic work, which shows events at the 1746 conflict from the point of view of government troops, was bought at auction by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) for about £4,000. It will play a central role in the new £10 million visitor centre at the battlefield near Inverness. Among the red-coated troops charging the Jacobite Army and a tartan-clad Bonnie Prince Charlie is a black figure who may have played a part in the battle. Trust officials and historians have been baffled by the discovery of the man.The trust says he may be a servant of a government officer, General McNaughton. Katrina Thomson, the NTS's deputy curator, said it is not clear whether the tapestry is a true depiction of a scene from the battle or whether it reflects later influences. But she said historians are excited about the mystery figure and efforts are being made to find out more about him. "We just simply don't know who it is. We are presuming it is a black character," she said. "When we bought the needlework there was a suggestion via Bonhams [auctioneers] that he was a servant of a General McNaughton. "We tried to chase this up with some historians but they had not come across the name, or a mention of a black servant." Clare Meredith, the NTS chief conservator, added: "There is a figure with a black face wearing a bright blue jacket and a grey cap, standing beside a horse. He could be a manservant to a serving officer. "We hope that when it goes on display historians and members of the public will shed light on this." The panel clearly reveals the allegiance of its original owners to King George II. It is thought to have been worked in the late 18th century by women in the household of Charles Edmond Hay, third Laird of Hopes - a relation of John Hay, fourth Marquess of Tweeddale, who was Secretary of State for Scotland during the critical years of the Jacobite uprising. Ms Thomson added: "The needlework has suffered some damage over the 250 years but although it will not be the prettiest textile in the new exhibition, it is arguably the most fascinating. "Objects which project government, rather than Jacobite, loyalties are rare. Its depiction of a critical point in the battle makes it invaluable to the interpretive displays in the new visitor centre which aim to tell the story of Culloden from both sides." NTS said the 4ft by 2ft panel was a section of a larger wall hanging. It will be among over 250 original objects associated with the history of the battle, including loans from the National Museums of Scotland, the Royal Armouries in Leeds, the Drambuie Liqueur Company and Inverness Museum among others. The project has received support from the Scottish Government, the European Regional Development Fund, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Gaelic development agency Bòrd na Gàidhlig. The most famous Jamaican servant was Francis Barber, who was born on a sugar plantation in Jamaica around 1735 and worked for Samuel Johnson, as servant, companion and surrogate son.6 OCT. Clan chief leaves £15m in his will A CLAN chief who tried to sell a Skye mountain range has left more than £15 million in his will. John Macleod, of the clan Macleod, caused outrage when he put the Cuillins up for sale to fund repairs to clan seat Dunvegan Castle. He died in February aged 71. The majority of the money was left to his eldest son, Hugh.6 OCT. Scots-made club holes out at £89,000 A SCOTTISH-made golf club has fetched a record-breaking £89,577 at auction. The 18th century long-nosed putter, attributed to Leith clubmaker and former caddie, Andrew Dickson, was sold by Sotheby's in New York. A collection of 11 antique St Andrews-made golf clubs also earned more than £60,000. They were designed by two of golf's most illustrious names - "Old" Tom Morris Sr and Hugh Philp. The sale of the Scottish clubs was part of a larger lot - the Jeffrey B Ellis Antique Golf Club Collection - which fetched more than £1 million in total when it went under the hammer. It was the largest collection of golf memorabilia to come up for auction in recent times.5 October 2007. Orkney arrowheads find points to Scotland's earliest settlement THEY may look like just a collection of broken stones, but the finds made in a field in Orkney might be evidence of the earliest settlement in Scotland. Two flint "tanged points" or arrowheads found on the island of Stronsay are thought to have been used by hunters between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago, just after the Ice Age. The arrowheads were found among a collection of scattered artefacts, including bladed tools, on a farm by Naomi Woodward and a team of MA students on an archaeology course at Orkney College. The discoveries were made during a two-week research trip in April, but have just been made public. Two points from the late upper Paleolithic period (13-10,000BC) had previously been found in Orkney, at Ness of Brodgar, and on Stronsay - but both were lost in the 1920s. Ms Woodward said: "I had been out there a couple of times and the landscape for archaeology is quite minimal compared to the rest of Orkney; not a lot has been made of it. "The tanged flint points are signs of a very early archaeology, which at this moment is not particularly understood in Orkney or Scotland. "They are probably hunting implements, most likely mounted and used as projectile points. "We think they could be early Mesolithic or late Paleolithic, so maybe from 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. "It would be just after the Ice Age and there have been European examples of these kind of points." In 2001, a team from an Edinburgh University project called Scotland's First Settlers confirmed that a shell midden found at Sand, near Applecross in Wester Ross, was used 9,500 years ago, making the site one of the earliest dated human occupations in Scotland. An encampment at Cramond, near Edinburgh, has also been dated to 8,500BC. It is also known that settlements of people were established in the west of Scotland around this time from discoveries at another site, at Kinloch on the island of Rum. Ms Woodward is reluctant to claim that the Stronsay site is the earliest, but said: "If we have a site that these items are found in context, then it could be. "But, at the moment, they are only surface finds - although it seems we have an assemblage of pieces from individual chance finds that relate to each other. "The next step now is to see if we have actually got a site beneath this."CalMac wins £43m islands ferries tender (20 Sept 2007). CALEDONIAN MacBrayne, the state-owned ferry company, was yesterday awarded a six-year contract to run lifeline services, ending a controversial tendering process in which it ended up as the only bidder. CalMac retained the 26 routes it operates around the Clyde and Hebrides with a subsidy of £43 million in the first year, a rise on last year's £31 million. The new contract, to start from 1 October, will include improvements to services for a number of islands, but the Scottish Government rejected the case for a new route between Mallaig and Lochboisdale in South Uist due to high costs. The new contract includes additional sailings to Gigha, Arran, Coll, Tiree and Mull in winter and an improved summer service to Islay. It also includes the introduction of a performance regime, giving CalMac an incentive to deliver the services to the standard set in the contract. w/e 15 sept. How Buffalo Bill won wild west of Scotland BUFFALO Bill gained immortality as the gun-slinging hero of American frontier folklore, but it has now emerged how he also locked horns with the Old Firm giants of Scotland's wild west coast. The full story of Colonel William Frederick Cody's remarkable stay in Glasgow has finally been told nearly 100 years after he hung up his spurs and six-shooters for the final time. A new book has revealed that the legendary figure of the old West caused a sensation by turning up at a Rangers game at Ibrox, sending a team of hardbitten cowboys to play in a charity football game at Celtic Park and giving money to shoeless urchins in George Square. Cody, the book reveals, also caused uproar in the Court of Session in Edinburgh and, during a subsequent national tour, set a goods yard ablaze in Dundee and threw the Aberdeenshire fishing industry into crisis. For three months in the winter of 1891/92, the soldier, bison-hunter and showman brought his Wild West spectacular to the district, while in 1904 he took the show around the country from Dumfries to Inverness. Before the travelling circus opened at the 7,000-seater Glasgow amphitheatre, Cody produced a series of inspired publicity stunts. Learning that a 12,500-strong crowd was expected at a Glasgow Cup clash between Rangers and Queen's Park at Ibrox, he provoked deafening cheers by arriving at the ground in full western regalia. Cody was then presented to both sets of players at half-time and issued personal invitations to the players to come and see his show. "Buffalo Bill knew virtually nothing about football, but he a was master showman and publicist, and wanted to turn up at the biggest game in town." Cody also sought to harness the popularity of the city's other big club by sending his right-hand man, Major John M Burke, on to the pitch at Celtic Park (Paul's team) to help kick off the team's clash with Dumbarton on New Year's Day 1892. A month later, Cody sent out a team of his cowboys to take on Glasgow amateur outfit Brandon for a charity challenge match at Celtic Park. Another first-hand report reveals how Cody took pity on a down-at-heel George Square news vendor, her shivering barefoot daughter and another "poor body" by giving them enough money to buy new clothes. w/e 15 sept. Scottish 'embassies' to go global as SNP bids to raise nation's profile THE Scottish National Party is planning a major expansion of Scottish 'embassies' in a bid to boost the nation's profile across the globe. The plan will add to the three official Scottish Government delegations in Washington DC, Beijing and Brussels. Ministers and officials are also examining whether the diplomatic staff should be primarily based within existing UK embassies or, as a far more expensive option, housed in separate Scottish Government buildings. Scotland's existing presence in the US and China takes the form of a sole Scottish Government civil servant based within each UK embassy. Both officials focus on trade and cultural exchange, including the Tartan Week celebrations in the US and on liaison between Chinese and Scottish universities and colleges as part of the drive to attract foreign students. The Brussels office is based at a separate Scotland House, along with Scotland's enterprise agencies, and has a role in keeping an eye on moves at the EU which might affect Scottish interests. w/e 15 sept. Nicklaus maps out new course A NEW championship golf course was mapped out in Scotland yesterday by a legend of the sport, Jack Nicklaus. The 18-time Major winner and his design team was in Stonehaven to inspect a site on a £40m leisure development. It includes an 18-hole championship course which Nicklaus says will provide a "memorable golfing experience" on the Ury Estate. Yesterday he planned out the routing for all but four of the 18 holes. w/e 15 sept. I don't normally do this, but och, come on, what a Saturday! Hearts 4 - Rangers 2 IT is tempting to see the goal-a-thon at Tynecastle through the prism of Scotland's exploits in France. In barnstorming fashion Hearts were able to rediscover their mojo - and how! Emphatic win puts Celtic top Celtic 5 - Inverness Caly Thistle 0 CELTIC went to the top of the SPL yesterday with a crushing destruction of Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Notching their third five-goal league victory on the trot, Celtic were only rarely at their imperious best, yet still contrived to dismantle their opponents in a thoroughly professional manner. "We are doing fine, it's the best start to the season since I've been here," said manager Gordon Strachan afterwards. That's true, and knowing what happened in the league after two lesser starts, the rest of the SPL should worry that they may already be playing catch up. 'Mon the Hoops! 24 August 2007, Russians buy up hardy Highland cattle Breeders of Highland cattle are receiving scores of requests for their distinctive £5,000-a-head beasts from farmers in the world's largest country. Russians want the beasts for their ability to survive cold weather, thrive on poor grasslands, scrape through snow for grazing, and even scare off predators such as wolves. The massive interest has come in the wake of a visit to Moscow by a delegation of British cattle producers, farm equipment manufacturers, and technical consultants. Tatyana Petukhova, an agricultural manager in Central Russia, said: "We have a lot of interest here in the breeds and techniques which you have in Scotland and in the UK. We want to improve the breeds and techniques here." Farmers and crofters view Highland Cattle and Blackface sheep as better able to fend for themselves than many other kinds of livestock. After a snowfall, the sheep and Highlanders will scrape the ground looking for food while many other breeds of both sheep and cows will be helpless. Ken Brown, the chairman of the society, said: "They are ideally suited to the climate over there. Their thick hair and skin keeps them warm in the winter, but the thickness of their skin actually helps them stay cool during the Russian summer, which is hot. And a major issue over there is wolves. Now while we don't have wolves in Scotland, Highland cattle tend to gang up on a predator and try to chase them if a calf is threatened, for example by dogs."Trump's plan to create £1bn coastal golf resort BUSINESS leaders in the North-east Scotland yesterday (22 August) threw their weight behind Donald Trump's controversial plan to develop a £1 billion golf resort on a picturesque stretch of the Aberdeenshire coast. Environmental groups have condemned the billionaire tycoon's proposals to build two championship golf courses on environmentally sensitive links land on the Menie Estate, near Aberdeen. But the North-east committee of the Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI) is urging Aberdeenshire Council to approve the plan, which it claims will bring a "truly world-class project" to the area. Duncan Skinner, the committee chairman, said: "The diversification of the North-east economy over the next ten to 15 years is vital, and we should achieve much of this diversification when the oil sector remains particularly strong. Diversification against a backcloth of success is much easier than when attempted in an environment of decline. "Clearly, the tourism sector is one that offers much potential for the region, but we are not in the mass-market game. We have to build our tourist industry at the top end of the quality spectrum and offer exceptional experiences for our visitor target market." He added: "The reputation of Trump golf projects around the world is such that the location of such a facility in the North-east will send out a strong message globally about this region, what we stand for and what we can offer as a destination." Paul's comment; yes, it would be nice to have another golf course here (we only have a few) and yes, tourism might grow in the area and surrounding areas. BUT, with this type of golf course and its owner, what kind of tourist would we get? Maybe high powered Exec's that fly in for a round, then fly out again. Is that tourism? No. Yes locals could play (could they, would they be allowed?) and maybe one or two money rich golfers would wander off the resort, but methinks a hotel on site, every facility for pampering these rich golf folks would be available within the resort, why then would anyone need to leave it? And where would profits go? Aye, to the Tower back home. So upon reflection, I would like to hear more and maybe Mr Trump would kindly email me? Over to you Mr Trump, the ball is in your court (or should it be "hole" ) now.England in a flap again as they lose 2 - 1 (he, he, he!) Wed. 23 August.ENGLAND head soccer coach Steve McClaren refused to rule Paul Robinson out of his European Championship plans despite another howler last night from the Tottenham goalkeeper. Robinson, whose air-shot blunder condemned England to defeat against Croatia last year, gifted a German striker a first-half equaliser as England slumped to their first defeat at the new Wembley. Robinson was substituted at half-time, with Portsmouth's David James taking his place, but McClaren said: "I was disappointed with the way we conceded that goal. It may have been a mistake, but there were two or three mistakes before that. Germany coach Joachim Loew was understandably delighted. "There are very few places in the world where winning is such a good experience," he said with a smile. "My players are dancing happily in the dressing room. SO WHERE WAS THE HIGH AND MIGHTY BECKHAM? exactly! C'mon Scotland ... Scotland 1, South Africa 0 LOOK OVER YOUR SHOULDER ENGLAND, WE WON! ALEX McLeish (our manager) last night savoured his fourth win in five matches as Scotland manager. Kris Boyd stepped off the substitutes' bench to grab the only goal of the challenge match against South Africa at Pittodrie and while McLeish admitted his experimental team were outplayed at times by the visitors. Boyd's goal was his sixth for his country in only ten appearances, five of which have been as a substitute... said Parreira, (oc S Africa) "I think the result was fair, but I was pleased with the performance of my team. It was good for them to be exposed to playing a team of Scotland's style. As I say, Scotland are very direct and that's fine because it is the way they want to play. Scotland should keep that way and they have possibilities to qualify for the European Championships." Irish eye up a 21-mile bridge ... to Scotland STRETCHING for 21 miles, it would span one of the last major expanses of water separating European states and allow rail passengers to travel from Glasgow to Dublin in about 90 minutes. An Irish think tank has proposed that Ireland should join the European high-speed rail network, via a new bridge or tunnel to Scotland. The Centre for Cross Border Studies admitted the link would be a "hugely ambitious" project, but predicted it would provide major economic benefit to both countries. Andy Pollak, its director, said a bridge was more likely than a tunnel across the North Channel between County Down or County Antrim and the Mull of Galloway, near Stranraer. However, he was unable to say how much it might cost. A new one-and-a-half mile bridge across the Forth is estimated to cost £1.5 billion, while a four-mile tunnel - the shortest option - would cost £2.1 billion. Mr Pollak said the link could be built by 2030, when trains travelling at 187mph could reach Paris from Dublin in seven-and-a-half hours. Mr Pollak said: "A link would provide a massive boost to economic and social links between both parts of Ireland and Scotland, something a lot of people, including the Taoiseach and both the Northern Irish and Scottish First Ministers, view as an unadulterated good." Alex Salmond, the First Minister, discussed improved transport links when he met Ian Paisley, his Northern Ireland opposite number, in June. Mr Pollak said the project would also boost Ireland's trading opportunities with Europe and relieve pressure on Ireland's overloaded airports. He admitted the plan would also require costly upgrading of the 100-mile Stranraer-Glasgow rail line, which is protected under European law because it is already classed as a trans-European route. Mr Pollak said the original idea was that Ireland should be linked into the European high-speed rail network, which stretches only as far north-west as Glasgow He said: "I put it forward because I think it could be one of the triggers to the next phase in Ireland's economic development. And who's not to say that it could not also be part of the next phase of Scotland's economic development?" However, the scheme was met with a muted reaction in Scotland yesterday. A spokesman for the Executive said: "While there are potential economic benefits to both Scotland and Ireland in building better transport links, we have no current plans for a bridge."The North Channel Partnership, which comprises local authorities and business groups in Scotland and Northern Ireland, said the 1,000ft deep Beaufort's Dyke trench could pose problems. It also warned about the impact on the current £40 million redevelopment of the Cairnryan ferry terminal. The port will handle the lion's share of the two million annual Scotland-Northern Ireland ferry passengers when Stena Line moves there from Stranraer to join its rival, P&O, next year. Robert Higgins, the partnership's chairman, said of the link plan: "It's an interesting idea, but if anyone is doing some blue-sky thinking on this then the challenges have to be weighed up against the perceived benefits, not least the position and depth of Beaufort's Dyke. "Also, the ferry companies are investing in the port currently so the implications there also need to be considered." Mr Pollak's proposal is the latest in a series of such schemes that stretch back more than a century. Test borings for a tunnel under the North Channel were considered in 1895, and several politicians in the British and Irish parliaments have since called for a link. A tunnel under the Irish Sea to Wales has also been proposed. Lossiemouth's chance to rival Cape Canaveral LOSSIEMOUTH, we have lift-off. Space tourism - including a plan by Sir Richard Branson to launch commercial rockets from Scotland - should be encouraged by the government, according to a group of MPs. The call means that, within a decade, Cape Lossiemouth could rival Cape Canaveral as a launch centre, and Scotland could be hosting international visitors eager for the ultimate tourism experience. The spin-off would be the creation of hundreds of well-paid jobs and the attraction of investment in the "knowledge economy". Sir Richard's firm Virgin Galactic has already pledged to launch commercial space flights from RAF Lossiemouth on the Moray Firth by the end of the decade. Sigourney Weaver, star of the sci-fi film Alien, and Victoria Principal, the former Dallas actress, are among more than 150 who have already booked their £114,000 seats on the programme. Space tourism became a reality in 2001 when American multi-millionaire Dennis Tito paid £10 million for a trip to the International Space Station aboard a Russian spacecraft. He orbited the Earth for a week. Although Virgin Galactic will be based in New Mexico, it plans to create a European launch site, and has already identified the "ideal" conditions at RAF Lossiemouth. Its space tourists would be taken to a height of about 55,000ft at which point the rocket would be fired, propelling them out into space before returning to Earth in an operation similar to that of a Space Shuttle landing. The whole flight would take about two and a half hours, with tourists spending 15 minutes in space, including five minutes of weightlessness. Seven or eight people would be able to travel on any one trip. Scottish Enterprise is staking a claim for the country's future space industry through Careers Scotland Space School - a world-leading programme supported by the Executive and the international space community. A total of 26 young Scots are preparing to travel to the space school in Houston, Texas, in September as part of a programme that aims to inspire them into a career in space science.The oldest naval ship afloat in the UK, the HM Frigate Unicorn, has welcomed ghost hunters aboard in a desperate bid to save it from being lost forever due to a lack of funding. While paranormal buffs have welcomed the chance to spend a night with the spooky inhabitant of the Dundee-berthed vessel, maritime campaigners say they are saddened such measures are needed to save what is an internationally recognised ship. The 183-year-old, 150ft-long vessel is funded solely by revenue from admissions and donations and receives no government or local authority funding. The city's more famous nautical attraction, the RRS Discovery, is secured by public subsidy. Urgent work to preserve the Unicorn's ageing wooden hull is now required and the situation is so serious that the ship has been added to National Historic Ships Committee 'Vessel At Risk' list. Manager Bob Hovell said: "The ship has a fascinating history and like many old structures we appear to have at least one former resident who appears reluctant to leave. Over the years I have had visitors reporting hearing and seeing things. I'm a sceptic, but I have seen and heard a couple of things that are quite difficult to explain." The ghost vigils are part of a wider campaign to raise funds to allow the vessel to be moved from Victoria Dock to a dry dock nearer to the city centre, where its fragile hull could be shielded by a canopy. 15-Jul-07
JULY 2007; CLAPPED-OUT buses groaning on the rock highways. Fast-food stalls blowing burger-sized holes in the ozone layer. Guitars cranked up to 11. Green fields turning into a giant mudbath. And the high-voltage static of thousands of shellsuits clubbing together into the queues for the loos. Welcome to the alternative to the planet-saving platitudes of Live Earth - T in the Park. Scottish rock fans faced a dilemma yesterday. After a rain-lashed Friday, they might have been tempted to stay at home with a six-pack and a caramel wafer, and watch the eco-spectacular on TV. After all, James Blunt was playing! enough said. So who was on the bill? Beach Boy legend Brian. Wilson topped the bill at the Pet Sounds tent. The View fromDundee were headliners in King Tut's tent, having played another festival earlier in the day and made a mad dash from Ireland by helicopter. Arctic Monkeys and 70-odd acts including Arcade Fire, Rufus Wainwright and new Scots disco king Calvin Harris. Even on the campsite, T in the Park looks different from other festivals. There are none of the Glastonbury deluxe mobile homes surrounded by white picket fences. Everyone beds down in little green igloo tents. Then it's beer for breakfast and on with the party. It goes on until Sunday night! JULY 2007; ONE of Scotland's top TV producers has warned that the country's television industry has been plunged into crisis due to a massive cut in spending by the major network companies. Recent figures reveal the BBC and the other major networks have slashed their spending on programming in Scotland by millions of pounds. And Allan MacDonald, the Scottish head of the TV producers' body PACT, said: "Scotland was leading the way five or six years ago, but we're now way back. It's dropping right across the board, BBC, ITV and so on. Television and film in Scotland are in crisis." The BBC has slashed spending in Scotland by £20m, most of it due to a cut in the number of network programmes being made - those shown across the UK such as the flagship Monarch Of The Glen. In its annual report, the BBC revealed its spending on television programmes in Scotland fell from £105m in 2005-2006 to £85m in 2006-2007, down almost 20%. But at the same time spending in Wales increased from £66m to £71m, and in Northern Ireland from £37m to £49m. In the English regions the amount spent was also up, from £267m to £300m. PAUL'S NOTE; HERE WE GO AGAIN, THE BBC IS ENGLISH TV AND NOT BOTHERED ABOUT SCOTLAND, IT NOW BECOMES PLAINLY OBVIOUS EH! 1 June 2007. A RECORD number of Scottish beaches have gained the coveted Blue Flag or Seaside Award status in the annual battle to reach European Union standards, it was revealed today. Seven Scottish beaches - one fewer than last year - and one marina have this year been awarded a coveted Blue Flag, the international benchmark for water quality and cleanliness. The seven beaches awarded the Blue Flag this year are Montrose in Angus, Broughty Ferry near Dundee and five beaches in Fife - Aberdour Silver Sands, Burntisland, Elie Harbour, St Andrews East Sands and St Andrews West Sands. Nairn beach in Moray, which won a Blue Flag last year, has been dropped from the list and instead gained a Seaside Award. Blue Flag beaches are judged against 29 criteria which include bathing water quality, litter management, provision of environmental information and safety measures. Seaside Award beaches have to meet more than 15 of the criteria. IONA AND MULL GATHERINGS THE man was little to be envied, wrote that curmudgeonly genius, Dr Samuel Johnson, "whose piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of Iona". Next weekend sees Iona and its larger island neighbour, Mull, hosting two Gaelic praise traditions, which should more than satisfy the ecumenical credentials of the 60-year-old Iona Community, and make stunning listening, regardless of one's beliefs. Next Friday 8 June to Sunday , Fèill Chaluim Chille - a festival of Scottish and Irish Gaelic culture - will host such Celtic music stars as Scotland's Capercaillie, Ireland's Kíla and the Scots-Irish-Cape Breton fusion of Dàimh in a 1,000-plus capacity marquee at Torosay Castle on Mull. The bill also features Kerry accordionist Seamus Begley and Scots fiddler Aidan O'Rourke and friends, as well as a host of other performers from Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. The festival celebrates the pan-Celtic Saint Columba, but also marks the tenth anniversary of what was originally Iomairt Cholm Cille - the Columba Initiative, established to foster greater links between Scottish and Irish Gaeldom. But apart from the big names, there is a particularly appropriate resonance in the appearance of two choirs - Cor Cúil Aodha, from the village of Coolea in the south-west Cork Gaeltacht, and the Gaelic Psalm Singers from Lewis, both of whom perform in Iona on Friday evening and (with local schoolchildren and choirs from Ireland's Aran islands) in a Saturday morning choral celebration at Iona Abbey, these days magnificently restored.
MAY 27, 2007. The Scots boy racer who beat the odds to become a legend Dario Franchitti, Indianapolis 500 winner On Sunday, the 34-year-old became the first Scot in more than four decades to claim one of American motorsport's most esteemed prizes. After a gruelling 166 laps in torrential rain, the Bathgate native took the chequered flag at the 91st Indianapolis 500, emulating the legendary Jim Clark's achievement in 1965. As Franchitti himself declared with no little humour in the build-up to the race, it is the "Superbowl, or the Academy Awards with wheels". Boasting a total purse in excess of $10 million (£5.04 million). SUNDAY 13 MAY Epic film quest for Rome's lost Scottish legion - we told you of this absolutely ages ago, remember? IT IS a timeless tale that has been cherished by generations of spellbound schoolchildren: a mighty force of Roman troops disappears without trace after marching into Scotland to subdue rebellious Celtic tribes. The Ninth Legion. After several false starts by other directors, Macdonald believes he will be the first to make a feature film of Rosemary Sutcliff's celebrated historical yarn. He wants to create a swords-and-sandals "western", filmed on location in Scotland, in which the Romans speak with American accents. Sutcliff's 1954 novel is set in Scotland after the building of Hadrian's Wall and recounts the story of a young Roman's search to discover the truth behind the disappearance of his father, who was a member of the Ninth Legion. The 4,000 elite Roman troops marched into Scotland in a bid to subdue the pugnacious indigenous Celtic tribes but, according to legend, they vanished without trace and were never seen again. (Paul's note; so don't mess withus then, a lesson). The origins of the real Ninth Legion are uncertain, though it distinguished itself in Spain around 24BC and became known as the Legio IX Hispana. It also served in Germany, Hungary and Africa, before probably joining the 40,000-strong army assembled to invade Britain in 43AD. There is evidence to suggest the Ninth was stationed at Eboracum (York) from 71AD. But the Romans never subdued the northern Celtic tribes - variously referred to as Brigantes, Caledonians and Picts - who repeatedly launched raids into the mighty Roman Empire. The Romans began construction of Hadrian's Wall around 120AD, in an attempt to keep the hordes at bay. It is much the same time the Ninth Legion disappears off the page of history, with many concluding they must have been sent to Scotland and were slaughtered by the ferocious paint-anointed mountain warriors. (Paul again; so, we are to have another blockbuster as we did for Braveheart, bring it on!)HISTORICAL NOTE: Unlike England, Scotland was never considered part of the Roman Empire although the Romans did advance into Scotland several times during their 300-odd years in Britain. Their first foray north was made in 79 or 80 AD by Cnaeus Julius Agricola from Carlisle, reaching as far as Perthshire. Later expeditions in 82 and 83 established forts as far north as Aberdeenshire and the following year Agricola's forces defeated the native Caledonii at Mons Graupius. However, most of his forts were abandoned shortly after and by 118, the effective limit of Roman rule was marked by Hadrian's Wall (named after the emperor Hadrian), a defensive barrier running across the north of England between the Tyne and the Solway. During the 140s, the Romans tried to move their border northwards and built a new defensive barrier, the Antonine Wall, between the Forth and the Clyde. For the next forty or fifty years, the Romans regularly occupied and abandoned this position in favour of the security of Hadrian's Wall. Between 208 and 211, the Emperor Septimus Severus conducted a major campaign against the Caledonii and other tribes from major camps based around the Tay and Angus. When Severus died in 211, the Romans retreated again to Hadrian's Wall. The final incursions came a century after Severus but this time, the Picts (a confederation of tribes based north of the Forth) fought back and by 367 had overrun Hadrian's Wall which the Legions finally abandoned in 400.
12 May; SCOTTISH fishermen yesterday won a key victory in their battle to prove the sustainability of stocks of monkfish in northern waters - only three months after the supermarket group Asda (part of Walmart) halted the sale of the species. The store chain sparked a storm of protest in the fishing industry earlier this year by announcing plans to stop selling monkfish in response to concerns the company had about the species' long-term survival. But it has now been revealed that the leading environmental pressure group, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), has taken monkfish from northern stocks off its "fish to avoid" list, following a recent meeting with representatives of the Scottish white fish fleet. An MCS spokeswoman said scientific evidence, compiled by Dr Chevonne Laurenson from the NAFC Marine Centre at Scalloway in Shetland, suggested there had been a "significant increase" in the abundance of the stock over the past five years and that there were no biological indicators to suggest monkfish was being exploited at unsustainable levels. Mike Park, the executive chairman of the Scottish White Fish Producers' Association, said the industry had made big sacrifices to protect stocks. "The removal of monkfish from the MCS 'fish to avoid' list is acknowledgement of measures we have deployed to protect the environment," he said. ... continuing a story we mentioned a wee while back .....
Walk of the week - GLEN TROOL, GALLOWAY This walk passes the site of a major Scots victory over the English, in a battle that led eventually to Bannockburn and one of the nation's proudest moments. There is a memorial to mark the spot, and the route is well marked by the Forestry Commission. Stout footwear is needed, and you should take the usual precautions for walking in a remote area.Distance
Five miles. Park In Caldons car park. Turn right at marker-post 49, a mile and a half past Glentrool visitor centre - the car park is on the left just before a bridge. Walk Cross the bridge over the Water of Trool, then take a path to the left. (If you go right here and follow the path for a few hundred yards, you reach a memorial to six Covenanters shot dead in 1685.) The path to the left follows the Southern Upland Way (SUW), along the river and over a wooden footbridge, then through woods to another bridge. Cross the bridge and bear right at the SUW marker-post, up an increasingly steep path through conifers. The path then drops down to the edge of Loch Trool, opposite Glentrool Lodge. Continue along the undulating path, passing Maiden Isle, which lies closer to the far (north) bank. A little further is the site of the Battle of Glentrool, where Robert the Bruce, with only a small force, defeated 2,000 English soldiers in 1307, seven years before Bannockburn. After the battle site information board, climb some steps and carry on past the edge of a plantation, eventually dropping down and turning left towards a stile. Cross the stile and take the footbridge on the left, over the Glenhead burn, then go left along a path, leaving the SUW. Once at a track, go left and then through a wooden gate, before crossing the Gairland burn. After a kissing gate by a cattle grid, the track rises up towards Buchan. Ignoring a path to the lodge on the left, carry on up and then to the left, dropping down to Buchan Bridge, where the burn cascades below. Keep going uphill and round two sharp bends, then turn left to see Bruce's Stone (the memorial to the battle) - from here you get great views of the loch and valley. Return to the track and go left. You pass Glentrool Lodge after about three-quarters of a mile, and 300 yards after the gates you take a path on the left - signed with a white marker-post. The path rises through a forest plantation and then drops back down to the loch before bearing right. About three-quarters of a mile further on, you reach the Water of Trool and a path that leads back to the car park. Refreshments The café in the visitor centre does very good soup. Alternatively, try the House o' Hill hotel at Bargrennan, located two miles before the visitor centre after turning off the A714 from Newton Stewart.
APRIL 2007 Board meeting It's a far cry from Bondi, but for the surfing fraternity Thurso is the place to be this month. Professional surfers from across the globe are heading north to Caithness and the O'Neill Highland Open, part of the World Qualifying Series tour, with a prize purse of 125,000 (£64,000). The surf breaks in Thurso are rated among the top 20 in the world. It's no surprise to learn that Thurso is widely recognised by surfers as the coldest event on the World Qualifying Series circuit. "It's kind of amusing," says Heddle. "You get guys from Brazil and Hawaii coming in to try on wetsuits - they've obviously never needed a wetsuit before they encountered the Pentland Firth." But it's all part of the great surfing experience - or so Heddle assures those who think charging into the Firth, even in a wetsuit, is an activity bordering on lunacy. "It's hard to describe surfing to people who don't do it," he acknowledges. "But the buzz you get from riding the waves is something else, believe me." The huge popularity of events such as the Highland Open certainly seems to endorse that sentiment, and Andy Bain is delighted that the Thurso event has now been upgraded to a six-star contest, in recognition of its status as one of the most progressive in competitive surfing. "We were rated so well last year that this year we're at level six," he explains. "This means that 10 per cent of the top surfers in the world will come here to compete for a place in the surfing world championships. That's pretty good, I reckon." Scottish surfing champion Malcolm Findlay has no qualms about endorsing that. "Thurso East has its own special character, much the same as a fine malt whisky stands apart from its rivals," he says. For professionals such as Findlay, surfing Thurso is a great experience because of, rather than despite of, the unpredictability of the waves and weather. The fickle conditions all add value to the experience - especially when the first-time visitor encounters a popular surfing spot known universally as "the s*** pipe". "There are two really good surfing breaks at Thurso East," says Findlay. "One is in front of Thurso Castle and the other is to the right of an old sewage outlet pipe into the bay - now thankfully defunct. "We get Aussie surfing aces coming over and asking, 'Right mate. Where's this s*** pipe?'" The O'Neill Highland Open runs from 26 April to 1 May. For more details, visit www.oneilleurope.com/highlandopen Repaint the town red, yellow, blueITS multi-coloured façade is an iconic, picture postcard image known to millions of television viewers. But the famous harbour front of Tobermory is taking on the appearance of a "shabby, neglected backwater" according to locals. Now Argyll and Bute Council is being accused of failing to properly maintain Mull's main town, known to many as the backdrop for the BBC children's programme Balamory. In a stinging letter to Allan Macaskill, the council leader, Michael Asher, director of Tobermory Harbour Association, has claimed that local people are becoming "ashamed" of their town and urges action. Mr Asher's wish-list of improvements includes the resurfacing of the town's main street, restoration of all street signs, the repair and painting of railings, lampposts and public toilets, and a general tidy-up of the Ledaig car park by the marina. He said his letter was inspired by locals with serious concerns about the lack of maintenance: "We all pay our rates as required and in return we expect maintenance work to be carried out by our council to restore the fabric of our environment to an acceptable level. "Tobermory has taken on the appearance of a shabby, neglected backwater and we are becoming ashamed of it." Mr Asher said the town attracts hundreds of coach tours and an increasing number of cruise ships each year, adding: "Tourists coming in to Tobermory will be met with shocking roads, shabby lampposts and toilets which have not been painted in years and broken railings." He said it would take a relatively small investment from the council to maintain facilities. See! We don't only bring you those nicey nicey stories where everything is happy as Larry, we are honest and aye, we agree with the complaint. Tob is getting a wee bit dour and does need a lick of paint, hopefully it will! Paul Mc. Scottish Cup ill-served by muddled coverage THERE are some football tournaments, such as the World Cup and European Championships, in which every ball kicked is televised and re-televised, analysed to death then prodded back into life before being dissected again. There are some, such as the FA Premiership, in which enough matches are shown to give us a reasonable cross-section of what is going on. Then there are others where there is little or no apparent connection between what is shown on TV and what is actually relevant to the outcome. The Scottish Cup, alas, has been placed firmly in the latter category these past couple of seasons. Games you don't want to see are trailed for days then presented as if they were the apex of sporting excellence, while others you wouldn't mind catching a glimpse of are left out entirely, reduced at best to that most lowly of TV presence, 30 seconds of 'news' footages a day or two after they happened. Take this season's competition, for example. The BBC, which has the right to show two games at any stage before the final, opted for Aberdeen-Hibernian in the third round, then Motherwell-St Johnstone at the quarter-final stage. That left the company unable to show last weekend's semi-final between Hibs and Dunfermline, and, as Sky had already opted to show St Johnstone's clash with Celtic, the two East Coast teams played before a live-in-person audience of approximately 25,000 and a live-on-TV audience of exactly zero. In the event, the game was not exactly gripping, and ended goalless after 90 minutes. Which means there will be a replay on Tuesday, which Sky - as their entitlement is one original match and one replay per round - will be able to screen. This time, though, the problem, rather than lack of exposure as was the case with the original tie, is going to be too much. The fact that ITV is showing a fairly attractive-looking Champions League semi-final between Manchester United and AC Milan the same night should knock a few thousand more off the Hampden attendance. So in the end, what should be one of the highlights of the Scottish football calendar will be played before a small crowd, watched on the box by a small audience, and generally devalued. In my view (Paul) the BBC are totally uninterested and biased towards Scotland. The English media in general are the same.Diners fuel new oyster cultTHEY were once so common that ale houses would offer complimentary bowls of them to customers, to be eaten by the handful. But native Scottish oysters fell on hard times, to the point that wild examples of the species hold protected status. However, a resurgence in the popularity of the shellfish - including its appearance on the menus of London's top restaurants - has prompted an 85 per cent rise in production, according to the Scottish Shellfish Farm Production Survey. At the peak of production, during the 18th and 19th centuries, 30 million native oysters were being produced per year around the country - in Edinburgh alone, it is estimated that 20 million were consumed in one year - supporting a thriving industry, including exports. James McCallum, a Scottish Natural Heritage spokesman, explained why the native oyster had lost favour. "In the past, over-harvesting, diseases and chemical pollution were all factors in the species' decline, while today the biggest threat to the recovery of them is the unlawful harvesting from sea lochs," he said. "Collection of native oysters is unlawful without consent from the Crown Estate." Despite describing them as very difficult to open and "quite ugly" compared with the average oyster, Mr Cumming said he would still like to have them on his menu. "I would love to serve them. I think they would probably cook up quite well," he said. "I would probably just do them simply, with a dash of lemon juice, and serve them that way." Chef Martin Wishart uses native oysters in his Leith restaurant: "They have a much nuttier, more iodine taste than other types," he said. "I have served them in certain dishes, dropped into them at the last moment or chopped up. If a certain dish requires it to bring forward the taste, then we will use them." SO WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?SCOTTISH THE native, or Scottish, flat oyster (Ostrea edulis) are virtually all dredged, legally, from wild stocks, and some of these may be re-laid to grow and "fatten" on inshore beds. The process of fattening helps the oysters to become plump and succulent, but they actually contain almost no fat, as the reserves they build up are mainly glycogen, which is a carbohydrate. Native oysters spawn in the summer, and so are not marketed in the UK from May to the end of August.PACIFIC THE Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) was introduced to the UK during the 1970s and is cultivated in hatcheries, then grown to market size in suitable areas. Techniques for on-growing Pacific oysters commonly involve use of plastic mesh bags fastened onto steel or timber trestles with rubber bands. The best farming areas are sheltered sites, such as Scotland's Loch Etive and Loch Fyne, where some mixing of marine and fresh water occurs.Spring 2007. Film-makers restage Battle of Culloden - 200 miles away in the Borders IN TERMS of its accurate portrayal of the realities of war, it will compare to the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan. The costumes will be authentic and the weapons replicas of those used in the heat of battle. However, one aspect of a filmed re-enactment of the Battle of Culloden will not be real - the scene of the battle itself. The five-minute film is to be shot as the centrepiece of a new £10 million visitor centre at the battlefield, near Inverness. But due to sensitivities over filming at the real site on Drumossie Moor, the shooting will instead take place on Lauder Moor, about 200 miles to the south, in the Borders. The Culloden site still includes the graves of some of those who fought in the 1746 battle between the Jacobites, under Prince Charles Edward Stuart, and the government troops, led by the Duke of Cumberland. The National Trust for Scotland (NTS), which owns the site, says it is not appropriate to film the re-enactment on a war grave. Deirdre Smyth, its property manager, said: "It wouldn't be right to have people running around the battlefield in costume and making a film. More than 300 professional actors and volunteers drawn from re-enactment societies will be recruited to take part in the film. Alexander Bennett, the project co-ordinator at the NTS, said the film would be the centrepiece of its new exhibition and would be shown on floor-to-ceiling screens: it is known as an immersion theatre. "We will immerse the visitor into the heart of the battle," he said. "They will be in the thick of it as we try to demonstrate the brutality of war and show people the awfulness of this conflict and what it must have been like to be part of it. People will be leaving possibly feeling terrified, and we are not holding back on that. War is a brutal thing and why should we hide the truth?" He went on: "Some of the costumes will be produced especially for the film, but we hope to also use existing costumes. We will also use existing or replica weapons - there are huge banks of these things available nowadays, as there have been many productions of this type in recent years. The new visitor centre is due to open in August as part of the Highland Year of Culture. It will tell the story from both sides of the last battle fought on mainland Britain. The NTS has already raised more than £6.5 million in grants for the project and a public appeal aims to raise a further £500,000 towards the cost. No decision has yet been taken on who will officially open the new centre.JACOBITES' LAST STAND CULLODEN was the scene of the last major battle fought on mainland Britain. The conflict on 16 April, 1746, was the Jacobites' last stand in the failed '45 rebellion, led by Prince Charles Edward Stuart, against government troops under the Duke of Cumberland. The fighting was over in less than an hour, ending Jacobite hopes of restoring the Stuart dynasty to the throne. It was not a Scotland v England, or Highland v Lowland, affair - the Jacobite side included both Highlanders and Lowland units, while the government army was joined by the Argyll militia and Highland clans.
April 12 2007. Scots VC hero of Crimean War gets memorial at last ONE of Scotland's forgotten war heroes was finally given permanent recognition yesterday - more than 120 years after being buried in a pauper's grave. Serving soldiers were joined by Second World War veterans during a dedication service honouring Sergeant James McKechnie. The Scots Fusilier Guard was one of the first men to be awarded the Victoria Cross when he won the medal for gallantry during the Crimean War. But he later fell on hard times. About 80 people yesterday gathered at the Eastern Necropolis in Glasgow where Sgt McKechnie was buried in an unmarked grave. The regimental padre, Angus Kerr, led the dedication service and paid tribute to Sgt McKechnie, who was born in 1826 in Paisley, Renfrewshire. Mr McKechnie was a 28-year-old sergeant in the Crimea - in modern-day Ukraine - when he made history. On 20 September, 1854, at the Battle of the Alma, his battalion was thrown into disorder amid withering enemy fire when a pole carrying the Queen's Colour was smashed and its silk riddled with bullets. But Sgt McKechnie turned the tide when he held up his revolver and dashed forward, rallying the men around the flag. The Scot was wounded in the action but became one of the first to be awarded the VC during its inauguration in 1857. The crosses were cast out of the bronze of two cannon captured from the Russians at the siege of Sebastopol in the Crimea. Sgt McKechnie retired from the army following 22 years of service and moved back to Glasgow. The hero married relatively late in life but his wife is thought to have died soon afterwards and he passed away on 5 July, 1886, not long after her death. He was 59 years old. William Brockie, the secretary of The Scots Guards Association, said: "He was one of the first people awarded the VC and it's very sad that he was laid to rest in a pauper's grave. "The dedication service was the right thing to do because it was high time he was given a burial with the military honours he deserves." The Edinburgh-based firm Abercorn Memorials donated the 27in grey granite headstone, worth £500, and it was put into place last week. Sgt McKechnie's VC medal is kept in a vault at the Scots Guards' regimental headquarters in London, but a replica is on display.April 2007. Sir Sean would quit Bahamas for an independent Scottish nation SIR Sean Connery has said he will return to his native Scotland if it is granted independence, born in Edinburgh's Fountainbridge but left Scotland more than half a century ago. Sir Sean, 76, moved to London in the Fifties, then to Spain in the Seventies. In 1999 he took up residence in the Bahamas, where he still lives, with his second wife, the painter Micheline Roquebrune. But in an interview with a Sunday newspaper the former James Bond actor said he would "look forward" to coming home to an independent Scotland. He says Scottish independence would offer further opportunities for his goodwill activities.Lewis ferries report throws Highland Sabbath overboard. Easter 2007. IT IS the last bastion in the fight against outside interference in the Highland Sabbath. Sunday sailings to the Isle of Lewis had been ruled as totally against the will of the Lord, but that could be about to change after the economic benefits have been taken into account. A £15,000 report commissioned by the local council has said that Sabbath sailings from Ullapool in Wester Ross to Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides could create jobs. As a result, battlelines have been drawn, with traditionalists fiercely trying to protect the day of rest while supporters of a seven-day a week economy say their cause has been boosted. The Stornoway-Ullapool ferry service is one of the Caledonian MacBrayne's busiest routes and carries 92,000 passengers a year. The main vessel, the Isle of Lewis, is the biggest Cal-Mac ship, carrying 680 passengers and 92 cars, and taking two-and-a-half hours to cover the 42-mile crossing. "Tourism would receive a boost because the lack of a seven day service... suppresses the island's ability to penetrate the short break market [as] some people wish to return home on Sunday for work on Monday. It causes bunching of demand in hotels in Stornoway, with the knock-on effect of losing bookings to the island as a whole." A spokesman for the Western Isles Council, which is known officially by its Gaelic title of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, said that the report would be discussed in detail after the local authority elections next month.Day of rest from sheep shearing to hanging out the laundry. April 07. Presbyterianism in its present form arrived in the Outer Hebrides in the 1820s and 1830s, as freelance preachers, equipped with newly-available copies of the Gaelic Bible, packed out churches and revivalist meetings. Many of those church-goers then plumped for the new Free Church. The only works allowed are "works of necessity and mercy" such as cooking dinner, rescuing a sheep from a ditch, working as a nurse in a hospital, a GP on call, a firefighter or a police officer. However, shopping, unnecessary travel, school homework, cutting peats, computer games, planting crops, shearing sheep, sports, housework, watching TV, knitting and gardening are generally out and many will take offence at incomers, or locals for that matter, who hang their washing out on a Sunday. Individual households and churches will have their own variations. The very strict might ban whistling, washing the dishes, the use of scissors or colouring pens, listening to services on radio or tape, and using public transport, even to go to church. The Western Isles are not uniformly Free Kirk, or even completely Presbyterian. While the northern islands of Lewis, Harris, Scalpay, Berneray and North Uist are mainly Protestant, the 'Southern Isles' of South Uist, Eriskay, Barra and Vatersay are largely Roman Catholic.Do you believe in fairies? IF YOU had asked your great-great-grandmother if she believed in fairies, she would have looked at you askance. Believe in fairies? Of course she did! Ninety-five per cent of Scots continued to believe in fairies right up until the middle of the 19th century. These were not the diminutive, be-winged fairies of 1800s children's books. No, these were strange folk who bewitched you, killed your cattle and kidnapped your wives and daughters. Fairy lore flowed through the centuries, their presence acknowledged in ballads, poems and stories. They came in all shapes and sizes and different parts of Scotland had different myths. Even today they are remembered in the fairy glens and fairy hills found in every part of Scotland. There's no question that they existed. John Frances Campbell of Islay was one of the first to go into print with his new theory. "I believe there once was a small race of people in these islands," he wrote in 1860. Campbell’s theory remained speculative until a remarkable archaeological discovery in 2004 on the Indonesian island of Flores. The skeletal remains of a dwarf man, similar to modern humans, were discovered in a cave. Carbon dating proved that this small humanoid co-existed with modern man and may have survived until fairly recently. In light of this discovery, Indonesian folk tales of "little people" are being re-evaluated and questions are being asked if these abnormally small people have been living with us all along. Whilst it seems unlikely that a race of little people were hiding in the woods of Scotland, the commonality of fairy lore still demands some universal explanation. One man not afraid to stand up and state his belief is Sir Iain Noble, the owner of Hotel Eilean Iarmain on the Isle of Skye. "There's no question that they existed. They most definitely did," Noble insists. "We have two fairy houses quite close by and we have records of conversations between fairies and people on the island." Nobel is referring to the houses at Glenn an Uird, but so-called fairy houses cover Skye like a rash. The island is particularly rich with fairy stories and these underground homes have long been regarded as the doorways the fairies, or na Sithein, used between their world and our own. "From 1000BC onwards, the Iron Age people were prevalent in Skye," says Martin Wildgoose, an archaeologist who helped in the excavation of the fairy houses and concedes there could be a fact-based explanation for fairies. "They were probably much smaller than us, and they lived in turfed underground houses.WANT A new flag? Ask a postie. April 07. When Orkney council decided to create a new standard to represent the island chain, help arrived from an unexpected source. Its centuries-old banner could not be made official because Scotland's heraldry supremo ruled it was too similar to other existing emblems. So postman Duncan Tullock set to work with his grandchildren's crayons. Now his blue, yellow and red design will flutter over the islands forever - even though it bears a suspicious similarity to the flag of Norway. Tullock's blue and yellow Nordic cross on a red background was voted the most popular standard out of 100 designs submitted to the council. Tullock, who lives in Birsay, the ancient capital of Orkney, said: "I was absolutely delighted when I heard that my design had been chosen for the new flag. "I am not a designer but I just thought I would have a go, and used the grand-bairns' crayons and one of their colouring books. It took a couple of hours to get it right. "The red and yellow are there because they are in the traditional Orkney flag. Red is the Orkney colour and the yellow is in recognition of both the royal standards of Scotland and of Norway, and it's the colour of the sand on the beaches. The blue in the flag is for the sea all around us." The islands' council asked its 20,000 inhabitants to choose from a shortlist after being told that its traditional banner - the red and yellow cross of St Magnus - could not be made official by the Lord Lyon. The Cross of St Magnus is believed to date from the 14th century when it was the flag used by the temporary union of Sweden, Denmark and Norway, and by extension Orkney and Shetland. But the Lord Lyon, who rules on Scottish heraldry, told the council the St Magnus cross was too similar to a number of designs, including the old arms of the Kingdom of Ulster. Islanders were told that if they wanted an official banner they would have to come up with something fresh. There are now plans to "saturate" the islands with the new flag in a grand display of Orkney pride.
DISGUISES WHO WON THROUGH
SHINTY - SCOTLAND'S OLDEST GAME
We have selected two teams for you, both from Oban, where Paul was born, a natural choice!.
Just over five million people live in Scotland, yet estimates of those claiming a Scottish heritage range from 40 to 80 million. Whether they stayed in Scotland or left for whatever reason, being Scottish is something people clung to through the centuries. Hardly a country exists without the Scottish footfall. Scots took not just themselves and their families, their skills and talents, but their values and beliefs. The Scots have made their mark around the world. THE St Andrew's Society of the State of New York is arguably the most prestigious of all Scottish organisations in the United States - and possibly the world. It is a veritable Who's Who of power and influence, and at one time owned the land where the New York Stock Exchange sits. Duncan Bruce, the 95th and current president of the society, was born in the US, but considers himself a proud Scot. "My two grandparents, Archibald Bruce and Mary McTavish Bruce, were from Argyll, one from Lochgilphead and one from Ardrishaig," he says. "They were married in 1890 in Philadelphia as soon as Mary got off the boat. Archibald had come over here and built a house as he was a carpenter. Both spoke Gaelic." Bruce is keen to promote the diaspora and has mooted the idea of a Scottish Hall of Fame. To some extent, it mirrors The Scottish 100, which details the global success and achievements of Scots. Want to trace ancestors? see our links page.
some Scottish/American facts
New £2.5m cull launched to rid the islands of
10,000 marauding mink
Stone's destiny is
to sit in castle MINISTERS last
night rejected a call to return the Stone of Destiny
to its traditional home in Scone Palace. Patricia
Ferguson, the minister for culture and the arts,
said she appreciated the arguments in favour of
moving the stone from Edinburgh, but said there were
no plans to do so. Murdo Fraser, the deputy leader
of the Scottish Conservatives, used a short debate
in the Scottish Parliament to appeal to the
Executive to move the famous stone to Perthshire.
The Mid-Scotland and Fife MSP said that Scone was
the traditional home of the stone and that
transferring it to Perthshire would help to tourism
and give the whole area a boost. The Stone of
Destiny has long been a potent symbol of Scottish
nationhood and it was installed in Edinburgh Castle
when Sir Michael Forsyth, the then Scottish
Secretary, secured its release from Westminster
Abbey in 1996. It is currently housed with the
Honours of Scotland, the Crown, the Spectre and
Sword of State. Mr Fraser told parliament: "There is
no historical, political, constitutional or economic
reason for the stone to be in Edinburgh. Indeed, the
first time the stone was ever in Edinburgh in its
entire history was when it arrived there ten years
ago. Prior to its removal from Scotland by Edward I,
it had always been located in Scone, and I believe
it is now time for it to be returned to its rightful
home." He added: "I understand that there are
practical difficulties that would have to be
overcome. A new setting would have to be created for
the stone at Scone Palace, and adequate security
safeguards put in place. I do not believe that any
of these problems are insurmountable." STEALING THE ANCIENT SEAT OF SCOTTISH KINGS THE Stone of Destiny is reputed to be the seat on which the kings of Scotland were crowned, in the ancient capital of Scone. The stone was located there until 1296, when it was stolen by King Edward I (Longshanks) of England and taken to Westminster Abbey, where it was incorporated in the Coronation Chair. From then on, subsequent kings of England, and after the Union of the Crowns, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, were crowned on it. However, there have long been rumours that the Abbot of Scone tricked King Edward, hiding the real stone and substituting a block of local rock instead. The Stone was taken from Westminster Abbey once, when it was "stolen" by a group of Nationalists in 1951 and repatriated to Scotland. The stone was found later in Arbroath Abbey. It was repatriated officially in 1996, when it was moved to Edinburgh Castle. So what do you, our readers think? WE think it should be back at Scone (pronounced, Scoon), but, and a big but, was it the real stone Longshanks took in the first place? Ha!
Historic dig 4 Dec 2006.... PILRIG PARK is
the last place you might expect to find the remains
of a 16th-century English fort. But a team of
archaeologists knew exactly what they were looking
for when they carried out a recent series of digs
there. Researchers revealed they have unearthed part
of Somerset's Battery, an artillery fort from the
1560 Siege of Leith. The remains are thought to be
the only 16th-century siege works ever found in
Britain, and archaeologists believe the discovery is
of international importance in terms of military
history. The Siege of Leith led to the Treaty of
Edinburgh, the eventual fall of the Catholic Church
in Scotland and the end of the Franco-Scottish
Alliance. The facts ... France sent thousands of men
to Leith during the Anglo-French War of 1549-1550 to
drive out an English garrison on Inchkeith. The
French troops remained for the next 12 years and
expanded to other parts of the city, notably Little
France. But by this time the people of Edinburgh had
had enough and, led by the Protestant Lords of the
Congregation, a force of 12,000 set out to clear the
French from the walled fortification they had built
- but to no avail. They turned to Queen Elizabeth of
England, who sent a fleet and troops to reinforce
the siege, which went on for more than a year. It
only ended in June 1560 with the death of the Queen
Regent at Edinburgh Castle, which led to the Treaty
of Edinburgh, under which the French agreed to go
home. CAR RENTAL URGENT NEWS ... SEPTEMBER 2006. THIS HAD BEEN DOWNLOADED FROM TAYSIDE POLICE WEBSITE: 18-09-2006 Today heralds a change in the law surrounding the carrying of children in all cars, vans and goods vehicles. In the simplest terms - From now on all children under 135cms in height or 12 years of age will be required to use an appropriate restraint. If a car travelling at 30mph stops suddenly the force renders the occupants between 30 and 60 times their normal bodyweight. A small child of about two stones would then weigh somewhere between 60 and 120 stones and, if they are not correctly restrained, the impact for them and other occupants can be devastating. GUIDANCE ON THE NEW LEGISLATION: Any child under the age of 12 or under 135cms in height must travel using the correct child restraint. It remains the driver’s responsibility to ensure that all passengers under the age of 14 are correctly restrained and the law applies to all vehicles, cars, vans and goods vehicles. Children up to 13kgs (approximate age birth to 9-12 months) - The correct restraint is a rearward facing car seat with internal harness. A rearward facing car seat cannot be used in the front where there is an active air bag. A child should weigh at least 9kgs and be able to sit up unaided before switching to a forward facing seat. Children 9kgs to 18kgs (approximately 9 months to 4 years) -They require a forward facing car seat, with internal harness. When a child reaches 15kg they can use a booster seat. This type of restraint has a back on it, but no internal harness. Instead the seat has guides which allow the adult seat belt to be worn in the correct position for a child. For children from 22kgs and under 135cms in height, or younger than 12 years of age (whichever they reach first) - A booster cushion is required. Booster cushions guide the adult seat belt into the correct position to hold your child. Choose a booster cushion with a guide for the diagonal part of the seat belt. This ensures the belt is directed across your child’s shoulder and not their neck. Put simply, you cannot carry children using an adult seat belt in a vehicle until they reach 135cms in height, or 12 years of age, whichever comes first.
Bothy for sale (a snip at
£80,000) A RUN-DOWN fishermen's bothy, with no
electricity or water supply, a rusting
corrugated-iron roof and holes in its 200-year-old
wooden floor, is set to spark a bidding war, despite
an £80,000 price tag. Berryhill Bothy at Balmedie,
on the outskirts of Aberdeen, was last used by
salmon netsmen to store their gear. Its sale has
already attracted interest from prospective buyers
as far afield as the United States, because of its
prime location on the doorstep of Murcar Golf Club,
one Scotland's top links courses. It is also just a
short distance from the site where billionaire
tycoon Donald Trump plans to spend £300 million
developing the "world's greatest golf course" on an
unspoiled stretch of coast. The Category B-listed
bothy is being sold by Gary and Julie Fraser, who
own the Black Dog Salmon Fishing company. The
building is now surplus to requirements. Murcar Golf
Club was established in 1909 and regularly features
in lists of the top 100 courses in Britain. The
bothy is also close to the celebrated links at Royal
Aberdeen, which recently hosted the British Seniors
championship. Gleneagles tees up £18m for Ryder preparations GLENEAGLES, the luxury Perthshire hotel owned by Diageo, is to invest £18 million in improvements and preparation for hosting the Ryder Cup in 2014. The hotel also announced it will not be going ahead with a £100m joint venture development nearby in Blackford, known as Gleneagles West, with the Dubai-based al-Tajor family, which could have added another 600 acres to its grounds and seen the Gleneagles name attached to a golfing-based development of luxury homes. SHOULD YOU WISH TO ATTEND THE GOLF AT GLENEAGLES IN 2014 OR ANY OTHER YEAR (hopefully closer to 2007!) please let us know, we do offer golfing packages (with sightseeing if required).
SCOTS DOWN UNDER: THE FACTS
Unlucky roots of Friday the 13th DO
YOU suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia? This
long-winded word is not a wind-up, but the
psychological term for the morbid and irrational
fear of Friday the 13th. This date is regarded as
the "devil's day" in Scotland. The day Friday and
the number 13 have been associated with bad luck for
thousands of years, The number 13 has also had
negative connotations throughout the ages. According
to Norse legend, 12 gods were invited to a banquet
at Valhalla, the mythical hall of the glorious dead
who were slain in battle. Loki, the evil god of
mischief, crashed the party, bringing the total
attendees to 13. He incited Hod, the blind god of
winter to attack his brother Balder the Good, the
favourite of the gods, with a spear of mistletoe,
killing Balder instantly.
The Knights Templar,
the fighting monks who became rich and powerful
during the Crusades to the Holy Land, were rumoured
to have found biblical artefacts – possibly the Ark
of the Covenant or the Holy Grail. By the 1300s, the
Knights were a political and cultural threat to Pope
Clement V and King Philip IV of France, who was
struggling with huge debts. After taxing of his own
people to fill the void, Philip's attention turned
to the rich Templars. In a remarkable effort of
organisation for the time, he coordinated the
arrests of Jacques de Molay, the Grand Master of the
Knights Templar, and thousands of other Knights
across Europe, decimating the powerful group. The
day of this infamous event? Friday the 13th of
October, 1307 - some 699 years ago. When Philip
raided the headquarters of the Knights, he found
that the treasure had been moved. Some believe it
was transported to La Rochelle two days previously
and shipped by the Templars to Scotland.
MCLEANSCOTLAND ARRANGE TEMPLAR TOURS HERE IN
SCOTLAND ALL YEAR ROUND, Robert the Bruce, Knight
Templar graves and locations. Waiting for you! Best small island in the world? INDEPENDENCE Day on the tiny island of Gigha, off the Mull of Kintyre, is 15 March. That was the day in 2002 when Gigha's 98 inhabitants were at long last able to purchase their island home from its absentee landlord using grants from the National Lottery. THE community-owned island of Gigha has passed another significant milestone in its drive to reverse centuries of economic and social decline. Islanders announced yesterday that the population has now topped 150 - a rise of more than 50 per cent since the £4 million buy-out from a private landlord in 2002. In the 18th century the population of Gigha was over 700, but by the 1960s it had fallen to 163 and to 143 by 1991. By the time of the community takeover it was down to 98, one of the worst cases of decline of any Hebridean island. However, since then it has shown one of the greatest growth rates, with the population rising to 123 within two years of the change in ownership and standing now at 151. The latest additions are Micky Little, 47, who has become the new head gardener at Achamore House, the island's main residence. Mr Little, his wife Tracy, 42, and their two children have relocated from Dartmoor. Willie McSporran, chairman of the Isle of Gigha Heritage Trust, the community owners, said the island is now on track to achieve the target population of 200 by the next census in 2011. He said: "Perhaps the most pleasing statistic is that the number of children attending the Gigha Primary School is 21, up from six, four years ago. The island has come on leaps and bounds since the buy-out. Under the feudal system the landlord was under no obligation to reinvest in the community, The trust turned 300 years of population decline on its head by encouraging new development and the growth of the local economy. A sign of the surge of people wanting to relocate to Gigha is that we are struggling to meet the demand for housing despite building 18 new homes." There are now just 26 people aged over 65 in Gigha and 46 under 25, with 11 under five, highlighting the recent arrival of young families. The island also attracts about 15,000 visitors a year, and most of them stay in the Gigha Hotel, Scotland's only community-owned hotel. Feel like an island break? then tell us and we will arrange it for you. SCOTLAND BEAT FRANCE 1 NIL! SCOTLAND became the best football team in the world (SATURDAY 7 OCTOBER). Or that's how we in the Tartan Army will be describing it today. Just a few weeks ago France beat Italy, the new World Champions in a Euro 2008 qualifier. Yesterday, at Hampden Park in the same competition, Scotland beat France 1-0, superb! Hampden erupted in the 67th minute when ( Celtic defender) Gary Caldwell under pressure from a defender, managed to swing his right leg and ram the ball home. GOAL!!! Hampden went crazy. Saltires and Lions Rampant rose and waved into the Scottish night! What a sight!!! I saw the game at my local pub, Christies in Perth, it was heavin! Davie had one too many but otherwise a great evening (5pm kick off). The hugs from Davie were a wee bit on the strong side, bloody hell Davie, loosen up man! A great atmosphere and much singing were what was called for, we sang Flower of Scotland so many times, singing and dancing in the pub, fully loaded with beers, what could be better. Beware any English who walked in, ha! Your tea, managed and incredible 0 – 0 draw, oh dear. We saw the game live on Sky tv. Down in sassunach land they watched their game on the BBC. Now can I just say now, this is yet another totally biased thing they did, another anti Scottish broadcast, not caring a hoot for anyone but themselves… the beeb in all its glory started the day with England, England, England, even their lead story was about the numpty boy Wayne Rooney, he had had a shave! Och come on! Did they mention us at all? No. Not until almost kick off did they mention us. Then to add insult to injury the daft commentator mentioned the fact we (Scotland) had humped the San Marino team 6 – 0. Sorry when I watched that game it was the faroes we beat 6 nil. Oh God save us. Then he was mistaken with our players names, calling Jaimie McFadden Lee McCulloch! He got the Mc right, maybe he thinks everyone up here has a name starting with Mc? So, who needs em, we won and they didn’t, we are top of our group by 3 clear points, so all you numptys at the BBC, stick that where the sun don’t shine boys! (sorry to our younger readers) A FAMILY will give up their home in upstate
New York later this month (October 2006) to
start a new life on the most remote inhabited island
in Britain. Tom Hyndman, his wife Liz and their son
Henry, five, will leave the historic and cultural
centre of Saratoga Springs, New York, a city with a
population of about 35,000, some 100 restaurants, a
wide range of department stores and a number of
museums and arts centres. It is 30 minutes from the
state capital, Albany, and just over three hours
from New York City. Their new home on Fair Isle has
just 70 residents and is a two-and-a-half-hour ferry
journey from their nearest neighbours. The island
has no pub, hotel or restaurant and just a small
primary school, bird observatory and shop. The
Hyndmans beat off international competition for one
of the two houses offered for rent by the island's
owner, the National Trust for Scotland (NTS), last
year. The other has gone to a family from Aberdeen.
As the search for new residents for one island ends,
another starts, as the NTS is looking for two new
families to boost the population of Canna, where
only 15 people live. Mr Hyndman, 44, who has a
hat-making business, plans to operate the family's
new home as a bed and breakfast establishment. His
wife, who makes educational videos for New York
state, heard the Fair Isle appeal on a radio show.
Mr Hyndman said the move has met with a mixed
response from friends: "Some are jealous and wish
they could go and some are saying 'but where do you
shop when you don't have four department stores
within easy access?'." In all, 94 applications were
received for the two houses, 70 from the United
States and others from the UK, Australia and
Hungary. Two houses are also on offer on Canna,
which has just one pupil in its primary school, but
attracts 30,000 visitors a year. Alex Lindsay, the
NTS director for the Highland and Islands, said
bringing in new residents would help to safeguard
the school, community and economy of the island and
increase the skills base. Black Watch goes global
"MAGNIFICENT", "an epic", and "a triumph": just some
of the praise showered on the runaway success story
of this year's Fringe. The National Theatre of
Scotland (NTS) has unveiled its plan to parade Black
Watch across the globe. The play, described as an
unauthorised biography of the legendary regiment,
will open at venues across Scotland early next year,
including Perth - the historic home of the Black
Watch - Dundee, Glasgow, Inverness and Dumfries. In
the summer, the NTS will make its first foray across
the Border, staging the play in London, followed in
2008 by performances in France, Germany, the US,
Canada, Australia and New Zealand. But NTS executive
director Neil Murray insisted Black Watch would stay
true to its origins, revealing there would be no
changes to the play's cast of relative unknowns, and
ruling out potentially lucrative TV and cinema
spin-offs.
RYDER CUP GLORY DAY... Euro skipper Woosie dedicates victory to brave Darren's wife. IAN WOOSNAM last night dedicated Europe's hammering of the USA in the Ryder Cup to the memory of Darren Clarke's late wife Heather. The Welshman insisted that the team's determination to retain the trophy for the wife of the Irishman, who lost her battle with cancer last month, was a huge factor in the 181/2-91/2 victory at Dublin's K Club. Clarke wept after winning his match with Zach Johnson on the 16th green. And after seeing his wild card pick win each of his three outings over the weekend, captain Woosnam said: "Every single one of us has dedicated this to Heather." Clarke's friend and team-mate Paul McGinley said: "Heather would be right in the middle of all this if she was here and big D, you've been great this week and we're so proud of the way you've handled everything. "We are all one big family and we miss Heather dearly." To our friends in USA, och maybe next time eh! This is a true story
(reported by Reuters). Daniel McCaig, a worker
at the Bombardier aircraft manufacturing plant in
Toronto was annoyed at the move to lay-off 130
workers. So, dressed in his kilt, he hoisted himself
three stories into the air on a crane and serenaded
the factory with his bagpipes. He played Auld Lang
Syne and other favourites for four hours - and
responded to requests for particular tunes from his
cheering workmates below. Afterwards, the company
took him to court, claiming that the work stoppage
had cost them C$200,000. However, the judge,
exercising a considerable amount of "amazing grace"
dismissed the case so long as McCaig did not
serenade the Bombardier factory again. McCaig was
helped by five law students from York University in
Toronto who drew up a defence based on
"constitutional ethnic issues." mcleanscotland offer you many excellent Whisky, Pub and Inn tours of Scotland, all year round see: www.mcleanscotland.co.uk/pubofthemonth.asp and www.mcleanscotland.co.uk/remotescotpub.asp On the whisky link you will find lots of whisky tours. www.mcleanscotland.co.uk/whiskypage.asp If you have a wee group, just a couple or a large group, we can design a tour for you. Our whisky is different to other whisky's, our beers are strong and taste great! We get you meeting the locals, mix with them and swap a story or two. These tours can be informal or regulated, whatever you wish, but one things they both have in common: we make them fun. DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE. mcleanscotland offer driver guided tours for whisky and beer touring of Scotland. Please e mail us for details. SOME PIPE & DRUM BANDS PAUL IS MEETING IN ATLANTA - STONE MOUNTAIN -OCTOBER 2006
IT IS a long and choppy way from Oban on the windswept west coast of Scotland to Clarenville on the east coast of Canada – 2,240 miles to be precise. But thanks to a cable stretched out two miles below the cold Atlantic Ocean, Scotland's links to North America became if not physically closer, then a lot clearer, 50 years ago this month. The first transatlantic submarine cable went live at 6pm on 25 September 1956 – instantly trebling the number of calls that could be made between the UK and the United States or Canada and giving customers vastly improved sound quality. The cable, which replaced unreliable, crackly radio links, allowed for 36 simultaneous transatlantic conversations. Amazingly, considering that it cost the princely sum of £3 for three minutes – today the same call would cost less than 30p – the cable carried almost 300,000 calls in its first year of service. The cost reflected the huge investment and technological difficulties of installing the cable, in a joint initiative between the Post Office Engineering Department, the American Telegraph and Telephone Company (AT&T), Bell Telephone Laboratories and the Canadian Overseas Telecommunications Corporation. Fifty per cent of the shares were held by the American companies, 40 per cent by the Post Office Telecommunications and 10 per cent by the Canadians. The project was extremely ambitious, with two armoured sub-sea cables developed by Bell Laboratories used to connect Oban with Clarenville. The cable was laid by the cableship Monarch – built by the Post Office in 1945 to replace a vessel of the same name destroyed during the war - and it was the only ship capable of conveying the 1,500 nautical miles of cable which had to be laid in one piece across the deepest part of the Atlantic. The Oban end of the cable was then connected to Glasgow and London, with the Clarenville end linked to Newfoundland and on to Nova Scotia. "The advent of the first transatlantic cable, which was nicknamed TAT1, was hailed as a major breakthrough in telecommunications and heralded the age of reliable and cost effective mass communication across the Atlantic," says David Hay, BT's head of heritage and corporate memory. It was instantly popular with members of the public wealthy enough to use it. In the first 24 hours, there were 588 calls made between London and the US and 119 from London to Canada. In its first year of service, TAT1 carried about 220,000 calls between Britain and the US and 75,000 between Britain and Canada, raising £2 million revenue shared between the three countries. A CAMPAIGN to raise £7.5
million to transform the site of the
Battle of Prestonpans into a tourist attraction to
rival Culloden was launched yesterday. All that
currently marks the site of the greatest victory of
Bonnie Prince Charlie's Jacobite troops against the
Hanoverian forces of King George II in 1745 is a
dilapidated coal bing and an anonymous cairn. There
are also fears the ever-expanding development of
housing around Prestonpans and nearby Port Seton and
Cockenzie may threaten the future of the battlefield
as open ground. Members of the community have set up
a heritage trust, which yesterday revealed ambitious
plans to breathe new life into the battlefield with
a visitor centre and facilities that they hope will
draw up to 250,000 tourists a year. Today (21
September 2006 ) is the 261st anniversary of the
battle, and the trust said yesterday it hoped to be
able mark the occasion next year with at the very
least the opening of a temporary visitor centre and
improved facilities. If it wins full funding, the
trust hopes to have its "first class" visitor centre
opened within five years. Scots actor Brian Cox is
one of the big-name supporters of the plan. He said:
"Bonnie Prince Charlie's victory at Prestonpans was
a defining Scottish moment. It filled the nation
with hope and optimism, the belief that the cause
would be triumphant. It should be celebrated and I
am delighted to support the campaign to ensure it
is." Peter McKenzie, a retired history teacher and a
founder member of the trust, said: "The Battle of
Prestonpans represents a really important part of
Scotland's heritage and now is the time to take
action to protect it. A properly interpreted site
will benefit the local community and Scotland as a
whole." SEE PAGE
ON THE BATTLE Are Scots really from Egypt? "From various writings of ancient chroniclers we deduce that the nation of the Scots is of ancient stock, taking its first beginning from the Greeks and those of the Egyptians." WALTER Bower wrote his compendium of Scottish history, Scotichronicon, in the 1440s. The queen's name was Scota – from where comes the name Scotland. The Greek king was Gaythelos – hence Gaelic, and their son was known as Hiber – which gives us Hibernia. Nor was Bower the first to propose such exalted lineage for the Scots. The story goes back further and was even included in The Declaration of Arbroath. This seminal document - written in 1320 by the Barons and noblemen of Scotland - was a letter imploring the Pope to intervene on their behalf during the Wars of Independence. The text refers to "the ancients" who "journeyed from Greater Scythia … and the Pillars of Hercules … to their home in the west where they still live today".
PAUL
REPORTING ON THE SHINTY CUP FINAL 16 SEPTEMBER NOT REALLY NEWS, but I like the image! It's sunset over OBAN. Paul was born just down the road from here, near Dunstaffnage and Connel Bridge. We arrange tours all over Scotland and also ferry tickets to anywhere!
JOIN the
INTERNATIONAL CLAN GATHERING AT CULLODEN 2007
Archaeology
September 2007 and all year round WANT TO TOUR SCOTLAND’S RICH
ARCHAEOLOGICAL LOCATIONS? Then just let us know,
along with a qualified expert in the field, we will
design a tour to suit your requirements. Standing
stones, burial cairns, Pictish stones, ancient sites
or a mix of them all, we will assist you to design a
historical tour here in Scotland. We will make a map
of sites, book all your accommodation, organise
transport, give you expert notes and guide maps to
ensure this tour fulfils all your dreams … and more!
Scottish Archaeology Month is September, a great
time to tour Scotland. Contact us at:
bigdig@mcleanscotland.co.uk
SCOTLAND'S
corncrake population is at its highest
since the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
started monitoring the threatened species 28 years
ago. Figures from the 2006 survey show a total of
1,141 calling males. The Argyll islands remain a
stronghold, with Coll, Tiree, Iona, Mull, Oronsay,
Colonsay and Islay between them holding 654 calling
males - some 57 per cent of the population. In the
Outer Hebrides, there was a slight increase, to 430.
Flora MacLean, who crofts with her husband on
Tiree, said: "I have heard and seen more this year
than ever before. I even saw some young ones
crossing the road in front of our house." A
corncrake conservation programme started in 1993
when only 470 calling males were recorded. The
species was in a long-term steady decline and
heading towards almost certain extinction as a UK
breeder. Scottish Natural Heritage, the Scottish
Executive, farmers and crofters have worked together
in key corncrake areas to help reverse the downward
spiral. Remains of Edinburgh's medieval tolbooth have been unearthed during road repairs on the Royal Mile. The archaeological investigations, carried out as part of a £1.5 million upgrade of the Royal Mile, have discovered a large section of the lost building's northern wall which they believe dates to the late 14th century. The wall begins below the junction with George IV Bridge when heading down the High Street in the direction of Holyrood. Starting under the current road, roughly in line with the statue of David Hume, it continues down the Royal Mile for about 12 metres before turning right towards St Giles. John Lawson, the archaeology officer for the Edinburgh. "The wall that we've found seems to be the foundation of the old tolbooth building. We think it dates back to 1386 when the tolbooth was rebuilt after being destroyed a year before," he said. "With further road works we hope to uncover the remaining part of the wall, which we believe continues right down to the entrance to St Giles' Cathedral and turns right into south side of the church. Obviously we can't dig that place up, but at least we have an idea where the exact location of the tolbooth is." In 1817, the building was demolished to widen the road. To mark the area where prisoners had entered the gaol, the Heart of Midlothian stones were laid. .............................................................................................................. THIS ONE
WILL BE OF MOST INTEREST TO MACLEAN'S OUT THERE,
but everyone can gain some insight from this ...
The township of Shiaba, Isle of Mull Some of
the most fertile area on Mull in days gone by
(thought to be) was in the Ross of Mull, owned by
the Duke of Argyll (well wouldn’t he just!). A small
township lay there by the name of Shiaba (pronounced
SHE-uh-ba), good land, some sheep and some motley
collection of sad looking coos. Stone houses where
the norm, families lived in one half while the
animals in the other half. In 1846 - the tattie
crops failed. People began to starve. I cannot find
a record of the eviction date. Some people were
moved elsewhere on Mull (possibly), others emigrated
to America, Canada and Australia, but the Campbell
threw them oot! The Book: The Scottish Nation,
1700-2000 by TM Devine is well worth trying to find.
More Mull people were cleared in the next years. The
damaged houses were never repaired. The sheep were
given the freedom of the township as the Duke
(Campbell) rented the land to only one farmer.
Wonder if this farmer was named Campbell?
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