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CAMPAIGNING FOR SCOTLAND
(Owned, Edited and Printed in Scotland since November 1926)
Compiled by Jim Lynch
[15 December 2000]

NO STONE UNTURNED

The announcement that there was to be a TV drama "interrogation of a Highland Lass" about the removal of the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey on 25th December 1950, brought back two memories to me.

The first was a television interview with stonemason and formaer councillor, Bertie Gray, who minded the Stone when it was recovered in 1950. When asked by the interviewer if he had handed back the real Stone, he twinkled "Do I look like the kind of lad that would gie them back the richt Stane?"- or words to that effect.

The second was of a visit I paid to a Church of Scotland manse in Inveraray Terrace, Dundee, on a Saturday evening sometime in 1977 or 1978. At the time I was Chairman of the Edinburgh District Association of the Scottish National Party, and I was there to ask the Minister of St Columba’s Church, the Rev John Mackay Nimmo, if I could borrow the replica of the Stone of Destiny which he had in that church; this was for an exhibition we were mounting in Edinburgh

What John Mackay Nimmo thought of the stranger appearing on his doorstep unannounced asking for a loan of the Stone, I never found out, but he listened to me courteously before giving me the ministerial equivalent of "On your bike".

He told me the Stone he had was not a replica, but was the original, and he had been given it by Bertie Gray to keep safe and hand over to the Scottish Parliament.

So, what of the Stone at present in Edinburgh Castle? Michael Forsyth had it brought back from Westminster in a flourish intended to revive the Tory fortunes in Scotland, but was it the one which was there originally? We know that Bertie Gray repaired the Stone, and we also know that he made at least one replica.

The press keep saying that the Stone was stolen, and in this they are accurate, but it was not stolen by Ian Hamilton and Kay Mathieson et alia, but by Edward 1, King of England. There is also doubt if the Stone which sat in Westminster Abbey for 600 years was the Stone of Destiny; some reports have it that the Abbot of Scone palmed a fake off to Edward. How nice if this is ever proved.

The title of this piece "No Stone Unturned" was that of the book by Ian Hamilton on the recovery of the Stone. The first song to appear in our Rebel Ceilidh Song Book was "The Wee Magic Stane" The fascination is still there. 

AND THE U-TURNED STONE

We welcome the news that our Parliament building is going to be clad in grey granite from Kemnay in Aberdeenshire. We are surprised, as we anticipated that the granite would have come from China, or India, which both use child labour, and whose health and safety policies are non-existent, but they are cheap. It is estimated that a quarry labourer in India earns £7 per month, the average hourly cost of a Scottish worker, so you can understand why the granite, like life, would be cheap.

The Scottish Stone Liaison Group was formed in May this year to promote the use of indigenous stone, and it has been working hard to preserve the industry; as was said in an earlier "Flag in the Wind"( 11 Aug 2000) it did not seem to make sense to quarry granite and transport it halfway round the world when we have the same or a better stone here. While the granite seems to be acceptable, the other stone specified by the late Enrico Miralles, the architect, was Scottish slate; there are no slate quarries left in Scotland, and when repairs are required to any listed building other buildings have to be cannibalised for slate. St Magnus’s Cathedral in Orkney used Caithness slab, a material also used in Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, outside St Giles; this product is available, suitable for our climate, and could create Scottish jobs and perhaps lead to exports. 

Of course the Scottish Parliament building has not had a good press, including ourselves, as the cost has soared; attempts to censure Scotland’s chief civil servant have been mentioned, but the fault does not lie there. Lest we forget, the site, and the architect, and the design was decided by the Secretary of State for Scotland in the Westminster Cabinet prior to the Scottish Parliamen being elected; the late Donald Dewar was the person who set the whole thing in train. Anyway, now that the decision cannot be overturned, we should do it right, and build a Parliament to be proud of, and not a shoddy "Made in Hong Kong". 

FALKIRK WEST BY ELECTION

It looks as if the Falkirk By Election may well be won by the candidate "A Pathy"; on the doorsteps you get the comment "Why are you having a by election at this time?", but the answer that it is the fault of New Labour is met with incomprehension.

New Labour’s ploy of keeping Major (Rtd) Joyce away from questions is not working, but judging by reports, they wish it was; among the gems he has contributed so far is that the Falkirk West voters voted for Dennis Canavan in the Scottish Parliamentary Election because they thought they were voting for New Labour, and the London Labour Government want to scrap Trident. These points are news to Dennis Canavan and Tony Blair; we know that the Labour Party Conference came out against Trident (Again) but also that New Labour pays no attention to Conference decisions. Major (Rtd) Joyce must regard the people of Falkirk with contempt if he thinks they did not know what they were doing when they elected Dennis; we hope the people of Falkirk reciprocate on 21 Dec .

The SNP attempted to have the programme "Ask the Prime Minister" either delayed or only shown in England and Wales, on the grounds that it was effectively an hour long Party Political Broadcast for New Labour, and putting it out during a By Election was a breach of the Representation of the People’s Act. This was ignored by ITV, although Mr Blair took questions on matters which are devolved, but he only had English questions. I mounted my own protest, knocking on doors during the broadcast, but nobody was upset at me interrupting the Prime Minister. Giving credit where credit is due, I thought Mr Blair did quite well on the show, another reason why it should not have been shown. How, you might ask, did I see it if I was knocking on doors? My wife videoed it and I had to watch it when I got home; is there no escape!

THE SURVIVAL OF SAM - SQA

So we had a motion of censure on Sam Galbraith, head honcho for Education, Education, Education, up to last month. As we anticipated, the three line whip went into effect, and his New Labour and Lib Dem accomplices defeated the motion. The run up was interesting; we had Henry McLeish, the First Minister saying on Holyrood Live TV programme"The important thing is not to be involved in the political opportunism we are going to see in Parliament this week about seeking people’s resignations". That tells us two things; in the first place, "Do not try to hold ministers accountable, or criticisethem, as there is a divine right of New Labour", and in the second place, Mr McLeish had already sacked Mr Galbraith from the Education post because he could and should have intervened. The new Education Minister, Mr McConnell, has taken more action in the last few weeks than Mr Galbraith took in all his time; the Scottish Parliament is echoing to the sound of slamming stable doors, as the horses gallop all over Scotland.

Mr McLeish was also on record this week saying "This was a unique situation and I want to say it will never happen again because of the actions we have taken". The new SQA Chairman, Professor John Ward refused to back Mr McLeish’s statement, and has stated that the crisis hit system is already behind schedule for next year’s exams; his comment on Mr McLeish was a diplomatic "In so far as how he based that particular comment you would have to ask him". The echoes this time are of the Colonel Bogey March.

One newspaper columnist, commenting on the Galbraith issue, expressed some concern that the lethargic Minister is now responsible for Douneray.

THE US VOTE OF CONFIDENCE

So George Bush has finally succeeded in becoming the President of the United States of America, becoming only the third President in that country’s history not to have secured a majority of the popular vote. The American elections are very publicly fought with masses of TV time, bill posters, debates and razzamattaz, quite unlike Anniesland (Where?). Despite this, most Americans do not vote, and regard politicians with deep suspicion, or judge them by their actions not their words. 

The Presidency was decided on the votes in the State of Florida; the Secretary of State for Florida is Republican Katherine Harris. Her administration eliminated some 8000 votes in Florida on the basis that the people concerned had committed felonies in other states; half of those concerned Afro Americans, and the list was false, but tough, it’s too late. The list was supplied by a firm called ChoicePoint, whose boardroom is filled with Republican funders! They have admitted the "error"; this list used to be public knowledge and was controlled by the law. Now it has been privatised, and when people try to get back up information they are told it is "Commercial secrets".

Among those delighted at Mr Bush’s "Victory" are Andrew Neil, publisher of the Scotsman, and Baroness Thatcher; General Pinochet’s telegram will be along later. 

FOOT IN THE MOUTH NOTES

Tory peers in the House of Lords campaigned strongly against reform of the House.

Out of 186 votes cast between November 1999 and the end of the last session, the following Tory peers cast their votes thus:

Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber - 1
Lord Archer - 4
Lord Lawson (Nigel ex Chancellor) - 14
Lord Wakeham (Head of Press Complaints Commission) - 26
Baroness Thatcher - 25 

A spokesman for the Baroness said "She travels overseas extensively (Europe?) but she tries to get to the House whenever she can. I think she works hard enough for Britain."

The Baroness is now a millionaire on the money she earns from lecture tours; she works for herself. 

Mark Souster, a former BBC Rugby Special presenter is complaining that he did not have his contract renewed because he was English; he is bringing a case against them under the Race Relations Act.

He is relatively fortunate; Harry Stanley, a Scotsman living in London, was shot dead by highly trained police marksmen because someone thought he was Irish; no charges are being made against the policemen, as under English law their action is permissible.

The Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, speaking on "Ask the Prime Minister", was scathing in his remarks about the mess left by the Tories on the National Debt, Education, NHS, and the railways, to name but a few. It had shades of Harold Wilson’s "After 13 years of Tory rule...".

Replying to Tory criticism of the Queen’s Speech, Mr Blair looked at Hague and Widdicombe, and said "What is the alternative? What does the Right Honourable Gentleman offer? Why was it he made a policy free speech, apart from a load of nonsense from the shadow Home Secretary, most of which we are doing anyway". We are sure he did not mean the double entendre.

When the Westminster quietly transferred 6000 square miles of Scottish fishing waters to England, there was no objection from John Home Robertson, who was the Fisheries Minister in the Scottish Parliament (A post now vacant, but when a press release is required they wheel out Rhona Brankin).

An English laird, Brian Weightman, has built a barrier on the Tweed, on the Scottish side, which has diverted the salmon to the English side of the river; there is a great outcry from Scottish anglers and the cudgels have been taken up by the local Councillor, one Catherine Home Robertson, and it looks as if the barrier, called a croy, will be demolished by the local council. Obviously we should have had her in Parliament and not her husband.

Those of us who followed the libel case between Mohammed al Fayed and Neil Hamilton, ex Tory MP, well remember wishing they would both lose the case.

Mohammed al Fayed won, but Mr Hamilton’s solicitors are now appealing because papers used by Mr Fayed were stolen from Mr Hamilton’s solicitors bins, and sold to Mr Fayed for £10000. What a load of rubbish.

The Westminster Ministers’ have now chosen their Christmas cards, and have probably sent them, allowing for rail delays. Mr Jack Straw has chosen a white dove on a purple background.

Asylum seekers think he has chosen the wrong bird; it should have been a vulture.

Railtrack has had to pay a company called Rigblast £4 million following termination of a 4 year contract to overhaul the Forth Bridge; the painting work fell behind schedule last year and work was suspended. Rigblast took Railtrack to an adjudication tribunal, and they have now received £20 million for the work.

The first time Railtrack tried to contract the painting work, the contractor concerned had to withdraw; he had quoted on the basis of cutting wages, but employed the British Rail painters who already worked on the Bridge. He seemed unaware of TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings) which preserved wages and conditions of the aforesaid painters; imagine Railtrack getting it wrong twice.

DATES IN HISTORY

18 December 1661
The "Elizabeth" of Burntisland lost off the English coast with the Scottish records aboard, being returned from London to which they had been taken by Oliver Cromwell.

18 December 1745
Skirmish at Clifton where retreating Jacobite forces under Lord George Murray, defeated General Bland's Hanoverian troops. The last battle to be fought on English soil.

21 December 1988
The Lockerbie Air Disaster resulted in the death of all 243 passengers and 16 crew when a bomb exploded en route from London Heathrow, England to New York. The disaster also claimed the lives of 11 Lockerbie residents.

THE REBELS CEILIDH SONG BOOK

SCHIR PATRICK SPENS

The King sits in Dunfermline toun 
Drinkin’ the bluid red wine,
An’ he has ca’ed for the best Skipper 
In Fife and a’ the land.

Then oot it spak an Auld carl
Stood by the Kings ain knee;
Said Patrick Spens is the best sailor 
That ever sailed the sea.

The King has screived a lang letter 
An’ signed it wis ain hand
An’ sent it tae young Patrick Spens 
Was walkin’ on Leith Strand.

Tae Narrows’, tae Norrowa’,
Tae Norrowa’ oer the faem,
The King’s dochter o’ Norrowa’,
Tis ye maun bring her hame.

They hadna been In Norrowa’,
A week but barely three.
Whan a’ the Lairds a’ Norrowa’
Did up an’ spak sae free.

These ootland Scots waste oor King’s gowd 
An’ swallow car Queen’s fee !
Weary faa the tongue that spak
Sic a muckle lee !

Tak tent, tak tent, ma gweed men a’, 
An’ mind ye be wool forn,
For come ir wind or come it hail,
Oor gweed ship sails the morn.

They haudna sailed a league, a league, 
A league but barely three,
Whan the lift grew dark, an’ the wind blew loud, 
An’ gurly grew the sea.

The anchors brak an’ the Tap-mast lap. 
It wis sic a deadly storm,
An’ the waves cam o’er the broken ship 
Till a’ her sides were torn.

O laith, laith were oor gweed Scots Lords 
To wat their coal black shoon,
But lang oer a’ the Play wis dune, 
They wat their hats aboon.

O lang. lang will the ladies sit, 
Wi’ their fans intil their hands
Before they see Schir Patrick Spens 
Come sailing to the land.

Half ower, half cwer to Aberdour, 
Where the sea’s sat wide and deep.
It’s there lies young Sir Patrick Spens 
Wi’ the Scots Lairds at his feet.

See the Songbook in our features section

A KIST O FERLIES
A Keek at the Guid Scots Tung
By Peter D Wright
(Note: All words underlined in this section are RealAudio links)

• brose: porridge made with meal, water, salt and butter
• piece: a snack
• tapsalteerie: topsy-turvey ; chaotic
• weill: well
• yaval broth: broth of second day's vintage as used in the following story by Scottish writer David Toulmin. 
  
  'A hungry tink was knocking on doors begging a piece. He claimed he hadn't eaten for two days, but no body responded. At last a friendly looking woman answered a door. He explained his dilemna and offered her his blessing if she would provide him with food. "Div ye like yaval broth?" the woman asked. "Oh ay, I like yaval broth" he said, "I'm that hungry." "Ah weill" the woman replied,"Come back the morn !" and slammed the door in his face.

See Scots Language in our Features Section

THE MONTHLY PRIZE CROSSWORD

Each month the Scots Independent Newspaper offers a prize crossword and we're now offering this online in the Flag in the Wind as well.   Should you complete the crossword by the deadline you can fax it over to the SI and the first correct one opened on the closing date will win a £10.00 book token.

SI Prize Crossword No. 12
[Clicking on the picture will bring up a life size version which you can copy to your desktop or print out]