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 includes songs/poems of Scotland, Scottish humour and brief descriptions of Scottish Culture items added recently to the Rampant Scotland Website - with a link to the page where you can find the full feature, if you find the subject of interest to you.
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Here is a poem by Charles Nicol with which we can all readily identify! Dear Auld Scotland
Scotland my native land so fair
To gaze upon the sparkling fountains
Where is the country you can name,
Such men as Wallace brave an' true,
Oh, Scotland fair. Land of the free,
An' tho' I yet may be from home,
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Where else would you like to go in Scotland?
New laws came into effect this week which ban age discrimination against both young and old people. It has been described as"one of the most far-reaching pieces of legislation to impact on the UK workforce - ever." Employers will no longer be allowed to advertise for a "young, dynamic graduate", or "a mature personal assistant". Anyone who believes that they have been discriminated against on grounds of age will have redress through an employment tribunal. Employers will also have to treat all workers equally in terms of promotion and training, irrespective of age. Even specifying a "minimum period of experience" could be open to challenge as it could be seen to discriminate against younger applicants. So perhaps we can expect 70-year-old women applying to be air hostesses and 20-somethings going after the chief executive's job? One result of the new legislation is that employers will no longer be able to force staff to retire at a specific age, unless it can be justified - say on fitness grounds for firefighters, for example. And, of course, employers can still select the person they consider to be the best applicant - hopefully.
It might be a coincidence? But in the first quarter of the financial year 2005-06, Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) claimed expenses of £1.8 million, paid for by the taxpayer, of course. The detailed figures then became available under the freedom of information act. The media delved into the data when it was published and an MSP resigned when it was found that he was claiming for driving in Scotland - when he had actually been in Germany. The Conservative leader David McLetchie was also hounded for taxi expenses he should not have included; he eventually resigned from the party leadership. In the next quarter, MSP expenses declined to £690,000 and now the latest period shows a further dive, to £227,000. While there may be seasonal variations, the slide is across all categories of claim, including travel costs, mobile phone bills, mileage, air fares, taxis, and travel claims. Car mileage claims fell from £159,451 in the first quarter to £22,186 in the recent quarter. In the recent data, one MSP, Margo MacDonald, the Lothians Independent, did not submit any expense claims. But another MSP, Roseanna Cunningham, a member of the Scottish National Party who represents Perth, was responsible for about one-third of the legislature's entire taxi bill in the quarter just published. She does not own a car and lives in area where public transport is not good.
The Lord Advocate, Lord Boyd of Duncansby, has been in that post as the most senior law officer in Scotland for nearly ten years, the longest serving Lord Advocate for over 100 years. But this week it was suddenly announced that he was resigning. He had apparently discussed the matter earlier with the First Minister, but when he departed it was the same day as the announcement. This somewhat surprised the media and political commentators, who tried to guess the "real" reason for his sudden departure. The Lord Advocate heads the prosecution service in Scotland and was involved in the prosecution in the Lockerbie bombing trial and he has been caught up in the controversy surrounding a recent controversial fingerprint case. The day after his resignation, the current Solicitor General, Elish Angiolini, was nominated as Scotland's new Lord Advocate, by First Minister Jack McConnell. The nomination was approved by the Members of the Scottish Parliament by an overwhelming majority. Ms Angiolini has been Solicitor General for the last five years and became the first woman to serve as Lord Advocate in 500 years. She is also the first solicitor to hold the post, rather than coming from the ranks of the law advocates who deal with all the more serious cases in the High Court. She will become a member of the Scottish Cabinet and the government's principal legal adviser.
The number of new cars being bought each month in Scotland has been below the level of last year since May. So there was some relief amongst traders when Scots splashed out £390 million on 38,821 new cars during September, a 4.4% increase in numbers last September. But the increase was due more to dealerships cutting margins than a return of consumer confidence. Since the start of the year, total sales have been down by around £47 million in Scotland. In England, sales in September were still down on the previous year, by 1.2% for the month. The top-selling vehicle in Scotland was the Renault Clio (pictured here) with 2076 sales.
Visitor numbers at the newly refurbished Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum have soared since it reopened in July. But this week there were long queues snaking round the outside of the building, as hundreds turned up to take part in the BBC Antiques Road Show TV programme. Experts were on hand to provide information and a valuation on a wide range of items. Although many of the antiques were not of any great value, a previously unknown sketch by the artist and architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh turned up. The format of the programme allows the show's host, Michael Aspel, to show off the building in which the experts are located. But it will be next spring before the glories of Kelvingrove are televised at prime time across the UK.
The Caledonian Hotel, one of Edinburgh's most prestigious hotels, has been put up for sale by its owners, the Hilton Hotels Corporation. The sale is part of a strategy to reduce the number of directly-owned hotels it has across the globe and Hilton would still keep the brand rights and management contract for the 103-year-old building. The 251-room hotel, overlooking Edinburgh Castle, was taken over by Hilton International in March 2000 and recently underwent a £6.6m refurbishment. It is considered to be one of Edinburgh's flagship hotels (along with the Balmoral, another former railway-owned hotel at the other end of Princes Street). It attracts celebrity guests, including city-born Sir Sean Connery and Prime Minister Tony Blair. 
The Scottish First Minister's official residence is in Charlotte Square in Edinburgh. The building there was designed by the celebrated architect Robert Adam and is regarded as "the best contribution to one of the finest squares in Europe." So when a civil servant used his initiative and applied to Edinburgh City Council for planning permission to bolt a pair of 13 feet high flagpoles to the building, so that Scotland's national flag could fly in the breeze, the proposal was not well received. The flagpoles were denounced as "alien fixtures" and "failed to respect the original building and would diminish its special character". It was argued that "the fact that the building is the First Minister's official residence must be regarded as irrelevant". A spokesman later blamed an "enthusiastic civil servant" for making the application. It was claimed that if the First Minister had been consulted, he would have known that the request was fruitless. Although he has been unable to raise a Saltire flag above Bute House, the First Minister and the Scottish Executive claim that they have been working hard to promote Scotland's image. In the last year, 17,000 Saltire flags have been sent by the government to events in Scotland and overseas.
An energy company has withdrawn an application for a windfarm in Glen Tarken near Loch Earn in Perthshire after it had found that the area was used by golden eagles and red kites, which are both rare species. Scottish and Southern Energy decided to leave the site "for the birds", though it perhaps knew it would have a hard fight to gain planning permission in the face of such avian opposition.
Scotland is one of only two countries in the world (the other is Hong Kong) where banknotes are issued by commercial banks - normally only the state banking organisation issues such an important part of the fiscal structure of a country. Largely these notes are circulated in Scotland - though over the years they have become accepted (sometimes reluctantly) by traders in England and Wales, especially in locations such as the centre of cities and towns and motorway service stations. The attractive design of many of the Scottish banknotes has also meant that there is a growing number held by collectors, both in the UK and abroad. From time to time, the Scottish banks issue "commemorative" banknotes - last year the Royal Bank of Scotland issued a £5 note recording golfer Jack Nicklaus' long association with St Andrews. But it appears that even ordinary Scottish notes obtain a premium and recently a collector paid £47 for ten crisp, new £1 Royal Bank of Scotland notes. The dog-eared ones still in circulation won't attract such an additional price, of course, especially as there are still an estimated 16 million of them in circulation. Nowadays, £1 notes have been ousted by the far larger number of £1 coins now in every-day use. The two other Scottish note-issuing banks (Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale Bank) stopped issuing £1 notes more than 15 years ago.
The Meteorological Office has published the aggregate weather data for Scotland in September and it shows that it was the warmest ever recorded. Temperatures during the month were 2.8C above the 1961-1990 average, which is in the "exceptionally above-average category" and was the highest figure ever recorded for the month, 0.6C above the previous record in 1958. Rainfall wa about average across the country while the sunshine total of 114.3 hours was 116% of the 1961-90 average.
Heavy rain on Monday caused parts of Inverness to be badly affected by flooding. Much of the rest of the week was "changeable" with a number of showers and longer periods of rain, mixed with spells of sunshine. Temperatures were generally lower, often reaching a maximum of only 13/14C (55/57F) though Glasgow did reach 17C (63F) on Tuesday and Edinburgh 16C (61F) on Thursday.
This week's online photographs taken in Scotland to show the current season and its flora and fauna include historic Kinneil House in Bo'ness, the road and rail bridges over the river Forth, Grangemouth, The House of the Binns in West Lothian (see thumbnail), the Fountain in Linlithgow Palace, and cormorants resting and stretching their wings. See 
The organisers of the Glasgow Mackintosh Festival 2006 have decide that as so much interest has been generated by the event, opening of two of the attractions involved will be extended. A Charles Rennie Mackintosh exhibition in The Willow Tea Room’s legendary "Billiard Room" in Sauchiehall Street, open to the public for the first time in over 70 years as part of the Mackintosh Festival programme, was originally due to close at the end of this month. But now it will remain open to the public until Spring 2007. And the Glasgow School of Art will remain open on Sundays throughout October as a direct result of the successes of the Glasgow Mackintosh Festival 2006. The Glasgow School of Art will open its doors for Sunday guided tours of the Mackintosh Building throughout October as part of the Festival, instead of closing at the end of September.
While many of the more important historical ruins around Scotland have been documented and even taken into care by Historic Scotland, there are still many thousands of abandoned farmsteads, crofts, hamlets and clachans - and maybe even a few illicit whisky stills - dotted around the landscape which are not documented. Now researchers from the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) has obtained a £594,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and will embark on a project to document them all as fully as possible. The staff at RCAHMS have already scrutinised Ordinance Survey maps from the 18th and 19th century as well as today and have come up with 22,000 sites. They are now seeking volunteers to be recruited and trained to investigate what remains of the settlements, establish how old they are, and check what state they are in. Some may eventually become historic places of interest, with official interpretation boards. The work should also provide a new insight into Scotland's past, particularly settlements that were left to die as a result of the Clearances - both in the Highlands and the Lowlands.
For the last few years, an amazing "Son et Lumière" event has taken place in late October in forest locations in Perthshire. The Enchanted Forest, hosted by the National Trust for Scotland, is a night-time journey through the woods that has attracted thousands of people to see an entire woodland transformed with state-of-the-art light and sound installations using different colours and tones inspired by the natural world. The attraction now runs for two weeks at Faskally woods, near Pitlochry. From October 20 to November 5, visitors can meander along pathways with trees covered in fairy-lights, giant geysers bursting into fountains, and the illusion of a deep red floating bridge. Now a taste of the Perthshire show has come to Edinburgh this week, with Forestry Commission Scotland’s HQ transformed by coloured lights projecting up into the trees and on to the large office block, transforming it into a stunning showcase of the event later this month in Faskally. For more information on the Enchanted Forest, see the 
Nobody knows who will be appearing at the next Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival at Beauly, north of Inverness, in August next year. But tickets for the weekend arts festival which takes place on 10/11 August are already being snapped up. Capacity at this family-friendly event is only 11,000, with most of the audience camping on site for the two-day show. The festival has been nominated for three awards in the UK Festival Awards 2006 - Best Small Festival, Best Family Festival and the Shelter Award for Social Responsibility. For more information, see 
The Angus birthplace of the creator of Peter Pan celebrated this week the launch of the only official sequel to the tale of the boy who never grew up. J M Barrie was born in a cottage in Kirriemuir and donated the royalties of his highly successful book to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London - which specialises in the treatment of sick children. The hospital organised a competition to find an author who could write a sequel to the famous story and Geraldine McCaughrean has now written "Peter Pan in Scarlet" which was published this week. Royalties from the book will go again to the hospital. But Kirriemuir is hoping that the renewed interest will have a beneficial spin-off for the town - especially as it is planning events to mark the 150th anniversary of the playwright’s birth in 2010.
With no SPL games this Saturday and after both Celtic and Hearts won last Sunday, there is little change in the league positions. Celtic are top with 22 points, with Hearts 3 points behind and Rangers third, 4 points behind Hearts. Motherwell are at the foot of the table, but only one point below Dundee United.
In the First Division, Gretna, Livingston and St Johnstone are equal on points at the top of the table. At the foot of the First Division, Queen of the South are two points behind Airdrie United.
In the BT Scottish Premiership, Currie's defeat by a resurgent Glasgow Hawks meant that Watsonians slipped into the top place as they have had less points scored against them. Aberdeen's win still leaves them at the foot of the table, but now only two points behind Hawick.
In shinty, Fort William became champions of the Marine Harvest Shinty Premier League with 23 points; Newtonmore are second with 22 points. Lochcarron are at the foot of the table with 3 points - they still have two games to play, but cannot overtake Oban Camanachd.
Before this Euro 2008 qualifying Group match against France, there were the usual positive noises from the players. But manager Walter Smith had admitted that he would be happy with a draw - "while still encouraging the players to go for a win." France enjoyed the bulk of posession, especially in the first half, but unlike many occasions in the past, Scotland proved to be well organised and kept the French at bay. French captain Patrick Vierra did manage to get the ball in the net, but was ruled off-side. And an over-head kick from David Trezeguet, which found the net, was also disallowed for the same reason. Scotland improved as the game wore on and it was Gary Caldwell, who had been playing a great game in defence, who stabbed the ball into the French net from a corner from Paul Hartley in the 67th minute. The Scots hung on to the slender lead and the Hampden stadium erupted when the final whistle blew. The win puts Scotland at the top of Group B with 9 points from three games. It's a long time since they were in that comfortable position.
The Tennent's brewing company will have sponsored the Scottish Cup competition for 18 years after the final at Hampden next year. But they announced earlier this year that they are to withdraw from sponsorship of that competition. But they are still going to be supporting football, but by sponsoring the Scotland national football team. The deal will run until after the World Cup finals in South Africa in 2010 and will provide support for both the men and women's squads. A sponsor for the 2008 Scottish Cup competition is yet to be announced.
Two years ago, Rangers were knocked out of the Uefa Cup by French side Auxerre after a 2-0 defeat at home. Now the Ibrox club has been drawn in the same group as Auxerre in this year's Uefa Cup. Other clubs in the same group are Partizan Belgrade, Livorno (Italy) and Maccabi Haifa (Israel). Rangers will play Auxerre in France on 23 November and will also face Livorno away (on October 19); Partizan Belgrade and Maccabi Haifa are both home games at Ibrox (November 2 and December 14 respectively). Apart from Auxerre, Rangers must believe that they can win through this group stage, but home games against such lesser lights of European football will not be particularly lucrative for the club.
The Association of Tartan Army Clubs (who support the national football team) has sent a petition to the sport's governing bodies Fifa and Uefa asking them to change the rules so that there is more notice of the venues for international fixtures. That would allow supporters to get better deals for both flights and accommodation. Currently, 60 days notice of a venue has to be given and sometimes countries take the rules to the limit - the Italian FA did not confirm Milan as the venue for the game against Scotland until exactly the 60 days before the match. The Tartan Army suggests that fans should get 150 days notice - no doubt hoping that a compromise between the two might come through?