The Rampant Scotland Newsletter - your weekly insight into what has been happening in Scotland, snipped from the Scottish media, for Scots in Scotland and abroad, bringing you news, events plus a Scottish magazine section. Printed with 100% recycled electrons.
Previous editions of this Newsletter are available in the Archive and the Index to the other pages of the Rampant Scotland site is available here.
The Scottish Snippets Newsletter in its original format began in April 1997 and continued in an unbroken series for 591 issues. Although no longer produced in that format there is now a regular update on the new and updated pages on the Rampant Scotland site and also "Scottie's Diary" on an intermittent basis, To receive this, kust send an e-mail to Scottie with "Subscribe Newsletter" in the subject line.
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Historical Affairs - Topical Items from Scotland's Past
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The "Magazine" section consists mainly of brief descriptions of the items involved and a link to the Web page where you can find the full feature, if you find the subject of interest to you.
The dour, grim fighting which took place almost constantly in the Scottish Borders for centuries is recalled in this song by the Borders poet James Hogg (also known as the "Ettrick Shepherd"). Many of the surnames which appear in this song were well known in the Borders. Lock the Door, Lariston Lock the door, Lariston, lion of Liddesdale,
Why d'you smile, noble Elliot o' Lariston?
Scowled the broad sun o'er the links o' green Liddesdale,
Meaning of unusual words:
For those readers who would like to see some Gaelic here are some "everyday Gaelic phrases" related to drinking. The English phrase is followed by the Gaelic translation, then a guide to pronunciation. |
Where else would you like to go in Scotland?
The golden jubilee tour of Scotland by the Queen began in Glasgow on Thursday when she went to a service at Glasgow Cathedral and then moved on to "meet the people" in the city's George Square. Tornado fighter planes from 43 squadron of the RAF based at Leuchars in Fife flew overhead in salute. On Friday, the Queen visited Stirling to formally sign the documents which accorded city status to the burgh. She then went on to officially open the Falkirk Wheel, a massive engineering project which raises boats between the Forth and Clyde Canal and the Union Canal, allowing them to sail all the way from Glasgow to Edinburgh. On Saturday morning, the Queen opened the Church of Scotland General Assembly. In the afternoon, 8,000 invited guests attended a garden party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. On Sunday the Queen will attend a special service at St Giles Cathedral. She then travels on to Skye and Lewis in the Western Isles, Caithness and then Aberdeen, where the Scottish Parliament will be temporarily located at King's College. On the way south, she will visit Dundee in Angus and then Lauder in the Scottish Borders and Melrose Abbey - and the Melrose Rugby Club. In August, she will attend a performance of the Military Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle and there will be a garden party at Balmoral on Royal Deeside.
In an unprecedented historic occasion, the Scottish Parliament is moving out of the central belt for the first time to convene in Aberdeen next week. The Queen will address the first of three days of debate at Aberdeen University’s King’s College Conference Centre. The Parliament is moving north so that the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland can hold its annual gathering in the Assembly Hall on the Mound in Edinburgh, the premises being used temporarily by MSPs while the new parliament building at Holyrood is under construction. Two years ago, the parliament convened in Glasgow for the same reason. Aberdeen University was founded by Bishop William Elphinstone in 1495. The foundation stone of King’s College was laid five years later. It is the third oldest university in Scotland and the fifth oldest in the UK. 
In recent years, there has frequently been confusion over which flag should be flown on public buildings in Scotland on St Andrew's Day. Guidelines issued by the Executive suggested that the Union Jack should be flown if there was only one flag pole and that the Scottish Saltire should only be flown if it could fly alongside the Union flag. Of course, many local councils disregarded the advice - but buildings directly owned by the central government had to obey. The restrictions applied to a rag-bag of 12 other dates too - such as January 20, the birthday of Sophie, Countess of Wessex. After Historic Scotland confirmed that 330 of their castles, homes and monuments had only one flag pole and would fly the Union Jack on these days, the Scottish National Party expressed rage at the "forelock-tugging madness." After initial resistance, the Executive raised the white flag and said that the matter was now "under review" - and that the First Minister and Deputy First Minister believed that the Saltire should be flown on St Andrew's Day and indeed would actively encourage the flying of the Saltire on public buildings on that day. In the past, many public buildings have been provided with multiple flag poles in order to avoid this situation.
Up to £1 million to support preparatory work required for the development of Waverley Station in Edinburgh was pledged by the Executive this week. The number of trains using Waverley has increased greatly over the past 12 years - 380 in 1988 to 575 in 2000 - and the station will soon reach its capacity, but with passenger numbers forecast to continue to grow. The new money will be used to fund site investigations and modelling work required to help inform the design and layout of a re-developed station. The Scottish Passenger Rail franchise is due to be re-let in April 2004. Without new platforms and the ability to handle more trains, the ability for the next franchise to develop a 21st Century rail network will be constrained. Railtrack has already produced some outline possibilities for the re-development of the station. These involve the complete relaying of the track layout within the station and increasing platform capacity with new, "through" platforms. Note that, as seen in this graphic, the Balmoral Hotel sits alongside Waverley Station
The Scottish Parliament has launched a competition to find quotations, songs, poetry and sayings which sum up Scotland. A panel will select those which they think are most appropriate and these will be displayed on the hoardings surrounding the construction site for the new Scottish Parliament at Holyrood - and some may be carved into the fabric of the new building. No doubt the key phrases of the Declaration of Arbroath will be there and maybe even "Beautiful, glorious Scotland has spoilt me for any other country" (Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-1882), US first lady).
A bill put forward by a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) would force homeowners with over-high hedges to cut them down if they block the light to neighbours' gardens. The government is backing the bill, which has cross-party support and so has a chance of reaching the statute book. It would allow local authorities, if necessary, to cut down disputed hedges and send the bill to the owner of the hedge. It is hoped that the bill would encourage neighbours to reach a compromise, before getting to that stage. The situation was highlighted recently when the chief executive of Hearts Football Club refused to trim his 28ft high hedge which forces his neighbour to keep on electric lights in his house throughout the day. Many MSPs have had cases referred to them by constituents and so have some sympathy with the private member's bill.
Cut-price airline Go is to introduce a new service between Glasgow and Nottingham in the East Midlands of England. Go was recently taken over by easyJet and the enlarged airline is looking to increase the number of flights to Europe from Scotland. But critics say that the new route is further evidence of Glasgow being used to feed airports south of the border, where there are connections to all over Europe. Of course, if there were more potential passengers wanting to fly from Scotland in the first place, the airlines would be keener to introduce more direct flights.
Commuters and regular rail passengers generally heaved a sigh of relief this week when the union representing conductors and station staff accepted a Scotrail offer which will give their members a 3.5% pay increase in July and another 3.1% next February. There had been fears that they would have tried to emulate the increase awarded to drivers which, although higher, involved complex productivity improvements. Scotrail also announced that more or less normal services will be resumed on 3 June. However, re-introduction of the 15-minute service between Edinburgh and Glasgow will be delayed until officials are sure that most drivers have ended an unofficial overtime ban.
Chef Andrew Fairlie, whose restaurant is at Gleneagles Hotel, has won this year's Drambuie Scottish Chef of the Year Award - the Scottish culinary Oscars. He triumphed over rivals David Dempsey of Amaryllis in Glasgow, Martin Wishart of Restaurant Martin Wishart in Edinburgh, Peter Fleming of Cameron House in Loch Lomond and Tony Borthwick of the Plumed Horse in Crossmichael. Fairlie received the prestigious award at a Gala Dinner attended by 200 chefs from all over Scotland. The Hotel Chef of the Year category was won jointly by Simon Burns at Greywalls in Gullane and Charles Lockley at Boath House near Nairn.
Regular readers of this Newsletter may recall the special offers made here by the Scots Heritage magazine - a glossy, colourful, beautifully illustrated, quarterly magazine with features on Scottish culture from castles to food and history to articles about people of Scots descent around the world. The magazine is well worth its cover price but now the editor, Susan Cromarty, is offering all new subscribers the chance of winning a week at the Craigellachie Hotel on Speyside. Win dinner, bed and breakfast for two for a week - a prize worth over £900. The Craigellachie is an award winning four-star hotel with two rosette restaurant and internationally renowned "Whisky bar." It is located next to the River Spey, at the very heart of Speyside - Scotland's Malt Whisky Country. All new subscriptions to the Scots Heritage magazine received before July 31 are eligible. Details at 
BBC Scotland has launched a new section on their Web site which contains lots of film and radio clips from Scotland of yesteryear which are available for download. Items range from great sporting moments, the Empire Exhibition, entertainment (people going "Doon the Watter" in 1912 and the world famous Harry Lauder on radio), Clydeside shipbuilding and show locations around Scotland. There are films from the early part of the 20th century as well as more recent times (1950s). See 
After several years of lobbying by the City of Glasgow Council, the government has agrees to grant £3 million as a one-off payment to support the city's art collection. Glasgow has argued that while galleries and museums in Edinburgh are supported from central funds (because they are regarded as "national collections") those in Glasgow were funded from the city's own budget. But many of the items on display are just as significant as those in the capital. 30% of the one million items in Glasgow's collections are regarded as of international importance, but the Council receives no direct contribution towards the annual £17 million running costs - while Edinburgh receives more than £30 million. £1 million of the new grant will be allocated towards the £26 million refurbishment of Kelvingrove Museum and Art Galleries. 
The world famous Highland retreat of Skibo Castle and its Carnegie Club were featured this week on the American TV "Today" programme. The NBC show is viewed by an audience of 9 million in the US and is networked around the world to another 11 million viewers. This week, the daily show featured Rio de Janeiro, Morocco, Cambodia and Monaco as well as Skibo. The presenter of the travel item, Matt Lauer, is no stranger to the castle - he spent his honeymoon there three years ago.
Edinburgh Zoo has had a successful Gentoo penguin breeding season this year after covering the penguin enclosure with fishing wire to ward off marauding seagulls. Last year, eggs and chicks were snatched from their nests but these year the defences have allowed 15 chicks to hatch and survive.
Last Saturday was a cool 9/10C (48/50F) in most parts of Scotland but from Sunday to Thursday the temperature hovered mainly around the 16/17C (61/63F) although Kinloss on the Moray Firth reached 19C (66F) on Sunday and Monday. Glasgow did not fare quite so well temperature-wise and there were frequent blustery showers. For the seven days from Saturday to Friday, Glasgow recorded only 10.8 hours of sunshine. Aberdeen, on the other hand, had 8 hours of sun on both Wednesday and Thursday. The outlook? Continuing changeable.
A petition lodged by veteran campaigner "Robbie the Pict" which argued that the Stone of Destiny should be relocated to Scone or, at the very least to a museum in Perth, gained the support of a cross-party committee of MSPs this week. The Stone of Destiny was removed from Scotland by King Edward I of England in 1296. It had been used at the coronation of Scottish kings for over 400 years and before that by the kings of Dalriada. The stone was kept under the coronation throne in London and successive English and British monarchs were crowned while the stone lay beneath them. In 1996, (the 700th anniversary of its theft) the stone was brought back to Scotland and has been displayed in Edinburgh Castle ever since. It will return to London, temporarily, for future coronations. But it is argued that the stone was stolen from Scone and should be returned there or to Perth Museum. In addition to being a more appropriate geographic location, it would then be seen by Scots without them having to pay the entrance fee to Edinburgh Castle. 
Another £4 million is to be invested in the future of the "Waverley", the world's last ocean-going paddle steamer. She will undergo a major refurbishment of parts of the hull, engines, lounge bar and upper deck. A new public address system will allow passengers to hear a running historical commentary as they sail down the Clyde. £3 million of the funding is being provided by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund; the rest has been raised by the charitable trust that operates the vessel. The Waverley was originally built in 1946 to carry 1,350 passengers on cruises to Loch Goil and Loch Long at speeds up to 18 knots (21 mph). She was sold to the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society in 1974 for one pound. These days, passenger numbers are restricted to 925. Even so, she carries 150,000 passengers a year 
A castle with a dungeon, which was used to rig an election, has been put on the market, eight miles from Forfar. Gardyne Castle was built in the 16th century for the Gardyne family but was confiscated by the Privy Council in the 17th century after a long-running and bloody feud with their neighbours, the Guthries. It was sold in 1682 to a James Lyell and remained in that family until 1963. In the days when the number of voters in a parliamentary constituency were restricted, James Lyell invited to dinner 20 men of the party he did not support. He took them to the dungeon below the castle, which had been converted to a wine cellar - and locked them in until after the election. When he let them out, they were not too upset - they had consumed a large number of bottles from the cellar. The castle comes with 35 acres of woodland, eight bedrooms, five reception rooms and its own chapel in one of the turrets.
The Tree Council has listed 50 trees to mark each year of the Queen's reign and the yew tree in the churchyard at Fortingall in Perthshire is one of them. The yew is estimated to be 5,000 years old and is the oldest living thing in Europe. Other trees listed by the Council include a 335-year-old Scots pine in Glen Affric in the Highlands and a larch tree planted 250 years ago in Dunkeld in Perthshire. A Douglas fir in Scone Palace (illustrated here) is also included - it was grown from a seed sent from North America by the celebrated Scottish botanist David Douglas in the early 1800s.
Find out about elephant's toothpaste, what makes drinks fizzy and how to help save 'Starlight'. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has launched "Adopt a Dolphin" at the Glasgow Science Centre this week. The aim is to help protect dolphins and other marine life from the man-made dangers they face. Bottlenose dolphins - a once common sight around the coast of Scotland - have diminished over the last 50 years and are now under constant threat. Linking to the IMAX large-screen film on Dolphins, adoption forms involving a £2 a month contribution, are being made available at the Science Centre to help WWF continue its vital work in marine projects around the world, including research and monitoring work with 'Starlight' and other dolphins of the Hebrides. 'Starlight', a female bottlenose dolphin, is resident off the Hebridean coast - one of the few places these dolphins can still be seen regularly around Britain. For more information contact 
Britain's biggest performing arts festival for young people takes centre stage in Edinburgh next week. The Children's International Theatre Festival brings together theatre companies from around the world for a feast of theatrical excitement and entertainment from May 27 to June 5. It features companies from Scotland, The Netherlands, England, Denmark, Northern Ireland and Switzerland. With 33 family daytime and evening performances, the festival caters for children aged from three to 103. For example, Wee Stories Theatre for Children has the spellbinding tale of Wee Witches and a unique version of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. Suitable for 'older children' is TAG Theatre Company's performance of Dr Korczak's Example, a moving tale set in a Jewish Orphanage in Warsaw in 1942. The Children's International Festival is on at various theatres in Edinburgh from May 27-June 5. For more information visit 
This festival, running from May 23-26, mixes the best of traditional music and song from around the world with the talents of Orcadians. An annual event since 1983, this year there is an entertaining programme of first-class music, concerts, ceilidhs, workshops, talks, a Fiddlers' Rally and information sessions. Highlights include performances from BBC Scottish legend Archie Fisher (dubbed the Frank Sinatra of folk music), well-known Scottish acoustic guitarist Tony McManus, top young fiddlers cMc (also known as Clare and Marianne), premier Irish band North Cregg and an international combination of musicians known as Dáimh bringing together an exciting combination of young musicians from Ireland, Cape Breton, California and the Highlands of Scotland. For more information see 
Two well-known Scottish talents - making malt and making music - will be celebrated on the Isle of Islay from May 24 to June 3 in Fèis Ile - Islay Festival of Malt & Music 2002. The festival has run annually on Islay for more than 15 years, and for the third year it combines with the Islay Whisky Festival. Concerts and ceilidhs feature popular local musicians, distillery tours and whisky tastings are on throughout the Festival, culminating in a carnival-type event, The Feis Count Down, on Port Ellen Green. The festival also features dances, fetes, craft fairs, concerts, church services, a piping recital and puppet shows. For those wanting outdoor events, fishing, golf and bowling competitions are on the programmes for all ages as well as walks through the Islay Estate and surrounding countryside, a street parade complete with floats and a car treasure hunt. For more information visit 
Scotland's football team continued their losing streak with their fourth defeat in a row last Monday when they crashed to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of South Africa in a match in Hong Kong. Scotland had a string of scoring opportunities but, although they came close, failed to score. Some crumbs of comfort were taken from the fact that the number of goals conceded was not as great as earlier matches. Sports commentators had to go back to the 1970s to find a similar record of four consecutive losses. But bookies estimated that thousands of Scottish fans made up for the disappointment by making some money by betting on Scotland losing against South Africa at favourable odds. As the newspapers focused on Bertie Vogts achieving the worst start of any Scottish manager for decades, odds were being calculated on whether the new manager would be fired before he had won a single game. Then came the match against a Hong Kong Select XI...
It is not often that government elections get coverage in the sports sections of newspapers. But this week, the victory of Bertie Ahern in the Irish general elections gave the joint Scots and Irish bid to host the Euro 2008 football finals a boost. Opposition parties in Ireland had voiced opposition to spending large sums of money building a new stadium in Ireland - describing the proposed Stadium Ireland as "Bertie's Bowl." While Mr Ahern is likely to invite the Progressive Democrats to join him in government - and their leader has opposed the national stadium - the election results have strengthened Fianna Fail, Mr Ahern's party, which only just failed to win a majority.
The 100 years of Aberdeen Football Club are being marked by a centenary shirt which will be worn during "afc100" events. The shirt has the usual red colour predominating, but incorporates all five crests used by the Dons over the last 100 years.
After a losing streak of three games, the Scottish Claymores had their second successive victory last Sunday in NFL Europe American Football with a convincing 17-7 defeat of Rhein Fire. The win revived flagging hopes of a place in the World Bowl finals - Claymores have now won three, lost three this season. Both defence and attack did well and 12,000 noisy fans who turned out to watch, went home satisfied. Claymores are now in joint third position in the championship. The top two teams at the end of the season play off against one another in the World Bowl.