Who Are The Scottish Executive?

The government ministers who run Scotland are known as the Scottish Executive - but most people in Scotland don't know who they are. According to a survey by the Scotsman newspaper only 55% recognised and knew the name of the First Minister, Jack McConnell (pictured here). His deputy and leader of the Liberal Democrat Party in Scotland (Jim Wallace) was recognised by only 32% of those responding to the survey. After that, recognition drops dramatically, with only 10% knowing the identities of Malcolm Chisholm (health minister), Ross Finnie (environment) and Cathy Jamieson (justice minister). But only 1% knew Andy Kerr the finance minister while 4% recognised Frank McAveety, the minister for tourism.

Strategy Report Calls for More Fishing Fleet Cuts

A report by a strategy unit set up by the UK government into the future of the fishing industry has concluded that there is a long-tem future - but only if 30% of the UK white fish fleet is tied up for four years and at least another 13% scrapped. In recent years, about half of the UK white fish fleet has been scrapped - much of it in Scotland. The Scottish Fisherman's Federation claimed that part of the study was based on "erroneous statistics and naive assumptions" and "completely unrealistic". Any changes would not only require the backing of the UK government and the fishing industry, but also the European Union in Brussels.

Mini Baby Boom But Marriages Decline

Figures produced by the Registrar General for Scotland show that for the first time since 1997 the number of babies born in Scotland in 2003 were higher than in the year before. The modest rise of 2% to 52,408 was nearly 15,000 fewer than in 1991. There was also a slight rise in the number of marriages in 2003 (30,724) but only around 20,000 of these involved Scots couples - a third of all weddings are between non-Scottish residents attracted by romantic wedding locations like the Highlands and Gretna Green. In 1991, 51% of all families involved married parents but as cohabiting becomes more prevalent, that figure has fallen to 43% and researchers expect cohabiting rates to double by 2021. That has meant that 45.5% of all births are now to unmarried parents.

£35 Million to Attract International Air Routes

The British Airports Authority who own Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen airports, has announced that it is to spend £35 million over the next five years to lure airlines to start new international routes from Scotland. The Scottish Executive has also allocated £6.8 million to its Route Development Fund to encourage airlines to start new international services from Scotland. There are now around 50 overseas destinations served by direct flights from Scotland

Football Club Leading Casino Development

Rangers Football Club have joined up with a US billionaire developer who owns the Venetian Casino Resort in Las Vegas to create a hotel, casino, sports and conference facilities beside the club's ground at Ibrox, Glasgow. The £120 million project will convert a swathe of land in front of the club's main stand on Edmiston Drive, which would become pedestrianised under the plans.

Scotland's Tallest Building?

Currently, the tallest building Scotland is the 416ft high Glasgow Tower on the banks of the Clyde at the Glasgow Science Centre, while the tallest apartment blocks in Europe are the Red Road flats in Glasgow at 328ft. There are plans to create a waterfront skyscraper at Leith Docks which would be 436ft high, which would mean Glasgow losing the title of having the highest building in the country. But this week, detailed plans were submitted to Glasgow City Council for an office, luxury apartments, shops and a swimming pool in a building which would be 440ft high. Even at that height, it would be half as tall as the Eiffel Tower in Paris and one-third the size of the Empire State Building in New York. The 39-storey building, named Elphinstone Tower, would be created on the site of the former Strathclyde Regional Council headquarters, opposite the Kingston Bridge across the river Clyde. The developers claim that they have worked closely with city planners and are confident that they will obtain planning consent. The centre of Glasgow has many fine Victorian buildings and so far the city planners have largely controlled modern developments so that new buildings do not exceed the original building heights. This new tower, however, would be away from the main city centre. Even so, it has already been described as "tasteless" by some urban designers.

Major Oil Find in Moray Firth

One of the largest oil finds in recent years in the North Sea has been discovered in the outer Moray Firth. Oilexo, a small Canadian firm, says that the Brenda field, 120 miles off the Scottish coast, could contain more than 150 million barrels of oil but the final figure may be much larger. The average discovery in the North Sea over the last ten years has been of the order of 20 million barrels although the Buzzard Field, discovered 65 miles north-east of Aberdeen in 2001, has an estimated 1.2 billion barrels.

Brakes on Increasing Taxi Numbers

The Office of Fair Trading recently recommended that local government councils should lose their current powers to set limits on the number of taxi cabs operating in a town or city and leave numbers to market forces. The OFT believe this would help the chronic shortage at peak times and a number of cities in England have scrapped such controls - with beneficial results as far as consumers are concerned. But the Scottish Executive is understood to be reluctant to follow suit as they don't believe it would result in more taxis on the street. The OFT, however, estimated that scrapping controls would put an extra 1,500 taxis on the roads and reduce the number of people waiting at ranks as a result. Aberdeen currently has 4.2 taxis per 1,000 population while Glasgow has only 2.2 vehicles per 1,000 people. Stirling has only 0.6 cabs per 1,000. Edinburgh has the highest charges in Scotland - a five mile cab ride there costs £9 while Inverness, (with 5.1 vehicles per 1,000 population and has no control on numbers) charges only £6.60 for the same distance. In Glasgow, private car hire (which must be pre-booked by phone) is widely used and they outnumber the licenced black cabs by two to one.

Protection for Scottish Reef

The European Union has granted special protection to an area of cold water reefs in the Atlantic known as the Darwin Reefs. They lie 1,000 metres below the surface and were first identified in 1998. Now EU ministers have applied a ban on deepwater bottom trawling in the area following a campaign by World Wildlife Fund Scotland, backed by the Scottish Executive. The area is 185km off Cape Wrath on the north-west coast of Scotland and is made up of hundreds of coral reefs up to 5m high and 100m wide. The deepwater habitat is rich in wildlife such as sponges, starfish and deepwater fish.

Brightening Glasgow's Image

For some years now, more and more landmark buildings in Glasgow have been illuminated by coloured lights and the programme has been extended to bridges and the river Clyde. Last year, as part of a new Festival of Light, the streets around the Gallery of Modern Art were covered over with a canopy of small, sparkling lights. Now there are discussions about staging a full-scale Festival of Light by the end of next year, with even more landmarks and buildings illuminated. The City Council is looking at lighting up the Kingston Bridge, Crookston Castle and the John Knox monument in the Necropolis among a number of locations being considered. The city has become a member of the Lighting Urban Community International Association and that organisations's annual general meeting is to be held in the city next year.

Dictionary of the Scots Language

We need never be stuck for the meaning of a Scots word now that there is an electronic version of the two major historical dictionaries of the Scots language: the 12 volumes of the Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (DOST) and the ten volumes of the Scottish National Dictionary (SND). These are the most comprehensive dictionaries available for, respectively, Older Scots and modern Scots. The Web site was launched on the anniversary of the crowning of Robert the Bruce but it took Dundee University three years to create. The site's search engine is fast - and free - and includes snippets of speeches made at the closing of the Scottish Parliament in 1707 and the words of the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320. See www.dsl.ac.uk/dsl/.

Top Award for Speyside Hotel

Craigellachie Hotel in Banffshire, the very heart of Speyside, is an award-winning four star hotel with a two rosette restaurant and world renowned Quaich Bar with over 530 different Scotch Single Malt Whiskies. It has won a host of awards including "Best Whisky Bar in the World" in the Scotch Whisky industry survey for Scottish Field. Now it has won the "Hotel of the Year" in the "Whisky Magazine Icons of Whisky 2004" awards. The hotel's peaceful surroundings were recently used by a delegation from Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan embarking on two days of peace talks to resolve a 10 year conflict over the territory of NagornoKarabakh. It is not known whether the delegates sampled some of those 530 whiskies! Craigellachie recently featured in Scottish Television’s travel show "Scottish Passport" Dominik Diamond stayed in the hotel whilst on a "whisky tasting" short break in Speyside. See www.craigellachie.com/ for more information.

30 Years of Speeding Fines Illegal

For the last 30 years there have been signs on a stretch of the Maybury Road near the Barnton junction in Edinburgh stating that the speed limit is 40mph. Over the years, many drivers have been prosecuted, fined and their licences endorsed after being caught exceeding the 40mph limit. But it has now emerged that the necessary traffic order was never obtained and that the legal speed limit has been 60mph for all that time. The mistake came to light when officials were looking to extend the 40mph limit on a longer stretch of the road. Theoretically, anyone fined over the 30 years could apply to get their money back. But lawyers' fees to process the claim would probably cost more than the fine.

Whiskey Spells Disaster for Scottish Nationalists

Everyone in Scotland knows that Scotland's national drink is spelt "whisky" and that it is only in places like Ireland and America that the spirit is called "whiskey". But in an embarrassing spelling mistake, a press release by the Scottish National Party talks about the party leader John Swinney meeting the "Scotch Whiskey Association" to discuss the future of the "whiskey industry." The incorrect spelling of the word is used no less than seven times. The SNP press office blamed a computer spell-checker for providing the American version of the word. But although many PC users have to use American-English spell-checkers, they rapidly learn how to add important words like whisky to the software.

Ospreys Return

A milestone in conservation was reached this week when the first osprey of this year's breeding season returned to the Loch of Lowes in Perthshire - the 50th year that ospreys have nested in Scotland after becoming extinct here in 1916. The large bird of prey has been spending the winter in Africa. Although ospreys usually mate for life, they do not over-winter together, only meeting up again to raise the next batch of chicks. It is estimated that there are now 160 pairs in Scotland. It's spectacular dives to catch fish from lochs has made the osprey a popular tourist attraction at a number of locations.

International Gathering of Clan Hunter, Muirhead, Morehead

A joint clan gathering of Hunter, Muirhead, Morehead and associated families is being organised for August 6th to 8th this year at Hunterston Castle, West Kilbride, Ayrshire Scotland. The event will include a visit to Glasgow Cathedral (where Andrew Muirhead was bishop until his death in 1473. His house, known as the Provand's Lordship, is the oldest in Glasgow and his coat of arms can be seen on the southern wall of the house. For further information on this gathering please see www.hunterclanusa.org or www.clanmuirhead.com.

Weakest Link

Simon Taylor, a professional rugby star who plays for Scotland, appeared in a special edition of the TV quiz show "The Weakest Link" last weekend and won £25,000 for his chosen charities. But there was some embarrassment about one question he failed to answer. Asked whether entrecote steak was a cut of lamb or beef, he said lamb - despite being the centre-pin of an advertising campaign for Quality Meat Scotland which promotes the beef industry. Taylor is seen in the adverts sporting a Scotch beef tattoo and is described as beefcake by his female fans.

Cold War Breaks Out

The residents of Uummannaq in Greenland may be drowning their sorrows but they will not be drinking the Scottish liqueur Drambuie to do it. For the last few years the drinks company has sponsored the World Ice Golf Championship on the whites (not greens) of the ice floes near the community, bringing a significant boost to economy. But now Drambuie has decided to hold the event on the island of Spitzbergen, 600 miles north of Norway. They say that Greenland is too remote and that Uummannaq couldn't guarantee enough ice.

Great Drain Robbery

Police in Grampian are hunting for thieves who have perpetrated the Great Drain Robbery after removing 130 cast-iron drain covers in the Aberdeen area in the last month, valued at around £12,000. Drivers were warned to watch out for uncovered holes in the road which could cause a serious accident. Scrap metal merchants were warned to be on the look-out for anyone trying to sell them iron discs.

Weather in February

The Scottish Meteorological Office has published the aggregate weather data for February and it shows that although temperatures were mainly above the long term average for the month, there were alternating spells of mild weather from south-weterly winds and chilly periods caused by winds coming straight down from the Arctic. Most areas were relatively dry, though parts of the north-west had above average precipitation. Southern Scotland had above the normal amount of sunshine in February, particularly on the days when the weather was at its coldest.The highest temperature in February was recorded at Lossiemouth (16.7C/62F on the 3rd) and the coldest nighttime temperature was -10.8C/12.5F at Loch Glascarnoch on 29 February.

Weather in Scotland This Week

Temperatures hovered around 7/9C (45/48F) although Glasgow managed to reach 11C (52F) on Thursday and Friday. There was a fair amount of sunshine, interspersed with showers and longer periods of rain. The amount of useful daylight will increase this weekend as the clocks move forward by one hour for British Summer Time.

This week's illustrations of current flowers in Scotland show above the daffodils lining the Fife Coastal Path between Aberdour and Dalgety Bay. This was an almost unbroken stretch of two miles of daffodils on both sides of the pathway. The picture was taken on Friday - as can be seen, there was plenty of sunshine in that part of Fife that afternoon.

If the daffodils in Fife seemed to go on forever, the daffodils in a public park in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, certainly took the prize for a solid display of a host of golden daffodils. That picture, and the one below of camellias which formed a hedge in front of Kelburn Castle in Ayrshire, were taken on Wednesday.

Bid for World Heritage Site Status for Antonine Wall

European heritage experts have met in Scotland to mark the start of a bid to win World Heritage Site status for the Antonine Wall, the most northerly boundary of the Roman Empire. If this bid is successful, the Antonine Wall will join the World Heritage Site designation for Hadrian’s Wall. Successful bids from Austria, Germany and Slovakia will see their sections of the frontier added to the designation, emphasising a shared history. The Antonine Wall stretches from Bo’ness on the River Forth to Old Kirkpatrick on the Clyde and is 37 miles in length. The ‘wall’ consists of a turf rampart on a stone base, fronted by a wide and deep ditch. Forts, linked by a road, were built at roughly two-mile intervals. It was only occupied for a generation, being abandoned soon after 160 A.D. About two-thirds of the Wall survives today though it has to be said that the turf mounds are not particularly impressive. Scotland currently has four World Heritage Sites - the Heart of Neolithic Orkney, St Kilda Archipelago, Edinburgh Old and New Towns and New Lanark.

The Roots of Rock and Roll

Some years ago, an American researcher traced the family tree of Elvis Presley back to a Paisley blacksmith, Andrew Presley, who emigrated from Paisley in 1745 to settle in North Carolina. The Paisley Buddies were delighted to know that the king of rock and roll had his roots in their town. But now a Scottish-based researcher has challenged the fact of Elvis came from Paisley and claims that instead that the Andrew Presley who is his great-great-great-great-great-grndfather was a Buchan loon from Lonmay, six miles south of Fraserburgh in Aberdeenshire, who emigrated in 1745. There were a number of Presleys in Scotland at that time but most were from Aberdeenshire. Elvis visited Scotland only once during his life - a stopover at Prestwick airport in 1960.

Concorde Travelling by Sea to Museum

Concorde G-BOAA which last flew in August 2000, is being dismantled at Heathrow airport for its last journey - by road and then sea up the east coast on its way to its new home at the Museum of Flight at East Fortune, 20 miles east of Edinburgh. The arrival of Concorde is expected to double the number of visitors at the Museum of Flight

Next Week in History

• March 28 1318 - King Robert the Bruce captured Berwick on Tweed.
• March 29 1783 - The Royal Society of Edinburgh incorporated by charter.
• March 29 1915 - Jazz trombonist George Chisholm born.
• March 29 1960 - Cheapside docks fire, Glasgow, 19 firemen killed.
• March 30 1406 - King James I captured by English near Flamborough Head on his way to France.
• March 31 1652 - Scottish Regalia (crown, sceptre and sword) saved from invading army of Oliver Cromwell by James Granger, minister at Kinneff, Aberdeenshire, after they had been smuggled from Dunnottar Castle which was under siege.
• March 31 1938 - David Steel, (Lord Steel of Aikwood), politician and former leader of the Liberal party, born.
• March 31 1950 - The actor Robbie Coltrane was born.
• April 1 - "Hunt the Gowk" - Scottish equivalent of April Fool's Day (gowk is a cuckoo).
• April 1 1295 - Robert Bruce, "The Great Competitor" and grandfather of King Robert the Bruce, died.
• April 1 1571 - Dumbarton Castle, under siege since January 1570, captured by Captain Thomas Crawford scaling the walls.
• April 2 1593 - Marischal College, second University in Aberdeen, founded.
• April 3 1401 - Murder of Duke of Rothesay, heir of Robert III.

Hawick Reivers Festival

This exciting and unique festival celebrates a well-known and romanticised period of history when the borderlands of Scotland and England were the home of cattle thieves and outlaws, men who lived by fire and steel, men known as the Border Reivers. This festival brings that 16th century period to life with re-enactments and historical events and also evokes the spirit of those times through music and the arts and a spectacular procession and fireshow. From 26 - 28 March there will be concerts and ceilidhs each night, with free street events, a 16th century market, torchlight procession and a fireshow. There will be costumed craftspeople, musicians and street entertainers transforming Hawick into a bustling 16th century town. Craft stalls, demonstrations, hog roast, falconers, armourers, toys and games plus re-enactments by members of the Steel Bonnets, Gaddgedlar and the Borders Historical Re-enactment Society.

Last Picture Show at Odeon

Glasgow's Odeon cinema is to be converted to shops, restaurants and bars after audience numbers declined following the opening of Scotland's largest multi-screen complex only a few blocks away. The art deco Odeon is the only building in Scotland designed by Frank Verity and Samuel Beverley, the renowned in-house architects for Paramount. Historic Scotland have listed the frontage of the cinema and the developers say they will restore it to its 1930s glory.

Robbie's Birthday Party at Skibo

Pop star Robbie Williams arrived with his entourage at Inverness airport last weekend on his way to a "surprise" 30th birthday party at the exclusive Skibo Castle resort. He is having 50 guests at a party which is due to last for five days. Skibo was the venue for Madonna's wedding to movie director Guy Ritchie in December 2000 and caters for private functions for wealthy guests.

Sunday and Mid-Week Football Results

Aberdeen 1 Livingston 2
Hibernian 0 Celtic 4
Rangers 4 Dunfermline 1
Raith Rovers 3 Queen of the South 1
Hibernian 3 Motherwell 3
Livingston 2 Dundee United 3
Barcelona 0 Celtic 0 (UEFA Cup fourth round - Celtic win 1-0 on aggregate)

Bank of Scotland Premier League Results - 27 March 2004

Dundee United 1 Motherwell 0
Heart of Midlothian 3 Dundee 1
Kilmarnock 3 Aberdeen 1
Livingston 0 Dunfermline 0
Partick Thistle 1 Hibernian 1
Rangers v Celtic will be played on Sunday.

Scottish First Division Results - 27 March 2004

Brechin City 0 St Johnstone 2
Clyde 2 St Mirren 2
Falkirk 1 Raith Rovers 0
Inverness 1 Ross County 0
Queen of the South 0 Ayr United 0

BT Scotland Rugby Division 1 Results - 27 March 2004

Hawick 60 Currie 0

League Tables - 27 March 2004

Rangers and Celtic meet on Sunday although with the Ibrox side 16 points behind their rivals, the result will not cause any upsets in the SPL table. Hearts are in third place, 15 points behind Rangers. Despite picking up a point against Hibernian, Partick Thistle are still rooted to the foot of the SPL, 13 points behind Aberdeen.

Clyde's lead at the top of the First Division was cut to 4 points after their draw against St Mirren. Inverness are in second place while St Johnstone, another 3 points further back, are in third place. Ayr United's point against Queen of the South allowed them to draw level with Brechin City at the foot of the First Division.

Celtic Reign in Spain

Scotland's national football team is at such a low ebb it is sometimes difficult to realise that Celtic are a top team in Europe. But when they defeated the elite Spanish side Barcelona by a slim 1-0 in the first leg of their fourth-round UEFA Cup tie in Glasgow, many doubted whether they would be able to maintain that lead in the cauldron of the Nou Camp Stadium in Spain. Celtic's regular goal-keeper had been banned from playing in the match following an incident as the players left at half time in the match at Parkhead, resulting in Celtic having to depend on a young rookie goalkeeper, David Marshall. Barcelona attacked fiercely and the young goalie had to make a string of dramatic saves throughout the match. Barcelona enjoyed the bulk of possession and the Spanish players, led by strikers Carles Puyol and Ronaldinho made countless attacks on the Celtic goal but they were constantly thwarted by Celtic defenders and their goalkeeper. With an estimated 20,000 Celtic fans in Barcelona, they did not lack support from the terracing. After a nail-biting finish, Celtic emerged with a 0-0 result on the night and move on to the UEFA Cup Quarter Finals and now face Spanish side Villareal. Goalkeeper Marshall was given a well-deserved standing ovation by the rest of the team - led by manager Martin O'Neill - as he returned to the dressing room after a TV interview at the end of the game.

Scotland Score a Blank

For the first time in over a quarter of a century, the Scotland rugby team last Sunday failed to score a single point playing at home at Murrayfield, as they crashed 31-0 to France. Rugby commentators bemoaned the way in which the Scotland team were making basic errors even though the team did keep trying right to the end.

Ireland Give Scotland Wooden Spoon

Rugby commentators suggested that the Scotland rugby team's performance in the first half of their match against Ireland in Dublin was their best of the Six Nations tournament this season. Even so, Scotland found themselves 16-9 down at half time as Ireland scored two tries. In the second half, Scotland levelled the scores with a try from Allister Hogg. But Ireland's unrelenting pressure produced three tries in the final 24 minutes to give Ireland victory by 37-16. The win gave Ireland their first Triple Crown in 19 years. France later beat England to win the "Grand Slam" of defeating all the other sides in the Six Nations Rugby Tournament. Scotland, on the other hand suffered their fifth defeat - they have conceded 146 points and scored just 53.

Mountain Bike World Cup 2004 at Fort William

Once again, the Highland town of Fort William is to host the third round of the UCI (International Cycle Union) Mountain Bike World Cup, the most prestigious and the most extreme competition in the world's mountain biking calendar. On Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 June 2004, over 400 world class riders from more than 35 countries, together with more than 15,000 spectators, will descend on the idyllic highland setting to take part in the second triple UCI Mountain Bike World Cup to be held in the UK. The picturesque slopes of Aonach Mor and the Nevis Range will once again become the host venue for three of the most grueling, high-speed events in extreme freesports - Downhill, 4 Cross and Cross Country. The organisers are bidding for the World Championships in 2007 and the Forestry Commission Scotland, who constructed the tracks, have improved them still further after last year's successful event. The Nevis Range Downhill is one of the longest and arguably the most demanding course on the World Cup circuit.