3 February
1401
The Earl of March and Henry ‘Hotspur’ Percy led 2,000 men into East
Lothian ‘burning and looting’; they were surprised in a night attack at
East Linton and driven back into England.
3 February
2005
The largest-ever petition presented to the Scottish Parliament with
162,000 signatories urged the parliament to use its influence to
withdraw from the European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).
4 February
211
Death of Roman Emperor Lucius Septimuis Severus (193-211) at York.
During his reign the Antonine Wall was briefly re-manned by Roman
Legionairres and his campaign in Scotland in 209 and 210 aimed to
ethnically cleanse the Caledonians.
4 February
1649
Charles II was proclaimed king in Edinburgh following his father’s
execution in London.
“We
proclaimed on Monday last the Prince King of Brittaine, France and
Ireland,,,The first necessare and prime one (as all here have without
exception conceive) doth put his Majestie and his people both in a
hopeful proceeding and his Majestie’s joyning with us in the Nationall
Covenant, subscribed by his grandfather King James, and the Soleme
League and Covenant, wherein all the well-affected of the three kingdoms
are entered, and must live and die in, upon all hazards; if his Majestie
may be moved to joyn with us in this one point, he will have all
Scotland readie to sacrifice their lives for his service.”
Letter of
Robert Baillie to William Spang, minister of the Scots Kirk at Veere in
the Netherlands, 7 February 1649.
6 February
1870
Birth of James Braid, golfer and course designer, 5 times Open Golf
Champion from 1901-1910, at Elie and Earlsferry.
8 February
1941
Labour MP Tom Johnston appointed as Secretary of State for Scotland in
the Westminster Wartime Coalition Government. The post was not part of
the War Office. He was acknowledged as one of the best-ever Scottish
Secretary’s of State.
9 February
1304
John Comyn, acting on behalf of the Community of the Realm in Scotland,
surrendered at Strathord, near Perth, to King Edward I of England.
See Dates in History in our
Features Section
SCOTTISH QUOTATIONS
I like to have quotations ready for every occasions - they
give one's ideas so pat and save one the trouble of finding
expression adequate to one's feeling.
Robert Burns
We continue our new Feature in this section
of the Flag - Scottish Quotations - statements in prose and verse
which reflect all aspects of Scottish life and outlook
from
the 14th century to the present day. The
quotations are not restricted to native Scots but include observations
from abroad which help us, in the words of our National Bard, Robert
Burns, "To see oursels as others see us!"
This week we complete the first six months of this feature – over 100
quotations from some 70 plus contributors.
Robert
Burns (1759-1796)
But Mousie,
thou art no thy-lane,
In praising foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men
Gang aft agley,
An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!
Still, thou art blest, compar’d wi’ me!
The present only toucheth thee:
But Och! I backward cast my e’e,
On prospects drear!
An’ forward, tho’ I canna see,
I guess an’ fear!
(To A
Mouse, November 1785)
Joseph
(Joe) Corrie (1894-1968)
We have
borne good sons to broken men,
Nurtured them on our hungry breat,
And given them to our masters when
Their day of life was at its best.
We have
dried their clammy clothes by the fire,
Solaced them, cheered them, tended them well,
Watched the wheels raising them from the mire,
Watched the wheels lowering them to hell.
(Miners’
Wives)
Sir
Alexander (Alex) Ferguson
Preparing
youngsters for failure is easy; it’s preparing them for success that’s
really difficult.
Sir
Alexander Gray (1882-1968)
This is my
country
The land that begat me,
These windy spaces
Are surely my own.
And those who here toil
In the sweat of their faces
Are flesh of my flesh
And bone of my bone.
(Scotland)
See
Scottish Quotations in our Features Section
SING
A SANG AT LEAST
(compiled by Peter D Wright)
"That I for poor auld
Scotland's sake
Some useful plan or book could make
Or sing a sang at least ........"
- Robert Burns
A
WAUKRIFE MINNIE
Robert Burns
'Where
are you gaun, my bonie lass?
Where are you gaun, my hinnie?'
She answer'd me right saucilie: -
'An errand for my minnie!'
'O, whare live ye, my bonie lass?
O, whare live ye, my hinnie?'
'By yon burnside, gin ye maun ken,
In a wee house wi' my minnie!'
But I foor up the glen at e'en
To see my bonie lassie,
And lang before the grey morn cam
She was na hauf sae saucy.
O, weary fa' the waukrife cock,
And the foumart lay his crawin!
He wauken'd the auld wife frae her sleep
A wee blink or the dawin.
An angry wife I wat she raise,
And o'er the bed she brought her,
And wi' a meikle hazel-rung
She made her a weel-pay'd dochter.
'O, fare-thee-weel, my bonie lass!
O, fare-thee-weel, my hinnie!
Thou art a gay and a bonie lass,
But thou has a waukrife minnie!'
Footnote:
Although Robert Burns never claimed this work as his own, but it was
probably worked on it by him. At the very least he saved it for
generations to come. He wrote of the song –
‘I picked
up this old song and tune from a country girl in Nithsdale: I never met
with it elsewhere in Scotland.’
See the
SING A SANG AT LEAST in our
features section
SCOTTISH
FOOD, TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS
Yesterday
(2 February 2006) was Candlemas, the first of the Scottish Quarter Days.
It was traditionally the day that pupils used to give gifts to their
schoolmasters – originally peat for heat or candles for light but this
in time became siller or a cockerel.
Candlemas
was originally a festival for the return of Spring held by the Romans in
honour of Februa, the daughter of Mars. They carried torches through the
city on February the first (the same date which was celebrated by the
Celts as the first day of Spring). This festival was Christianized as
the Purification of the Virgin Mary and was held on February the second.
In medieval Scotland it was a day of pageants, processions and religious
plays in honour of Our lady, as we can see from the Burgh Records of
Aberdeen for 30 January 1505 –
‘ The
provest and baillies statut and ordanit that the said craftsmen and
thair successoris sal in order to the Offering in the Play pass twa and
twa togedir socialie; in the first the flesheris, barbouris, baxteris,
cordinaris, skineris. Couparis, wrichtis, hatmakeris and bonatmakaris
togider; walcaris, litstaris, wobstaris, tailyeouris, goldsmiths,
blaksmithis, and hammermen; and the craftsmen sal furnyss the Pageants.’
Also from
the North-East comes a rhyme to help us fix the date of Easter
(alternatively just contact Jim Lynch!) –
‘First
comes Cannlemas and syne the new meen,
The neist Tyesday efter that is Festern’s Een;
That meen out and the neist meen’s hicht,
And the neist Sunday efter that’s aye Pace richt.’
As this is
being compiled on a cranreuch caul day prior to Candlemas, it is too
early to know the outcome of the bittie Scottish weather lore which goes
–
‘If
Candlemas day be dry and fair,
The half o the winter’s to come and mair;
If Candlemas day be wet and foul,
The half o the winter’s gane at Yule.’
However as
the weather has more than a nip in the air, the recipe this week is
designed to heat us all up! Leek and Tattie Soup is just the ticket.
Leek and
Tattie Soup
Ingredients:
six potatoes, diced; 3 leeks, chopped; 1 ¼ pints (750 ml) chicken
stock; salt and pepper to taste; 1 ounce (25 g) butter; 2 ounces (50 g)
grated cheddar cheese
Method: Boil the potatoes and leeks for about 15 minutes until
the potatoes start to disintegrate. Season to taste with salt and
pepper. Work in the butter and serve with sprinkling of grated cheese.
See our
Scottish Food, Traditions and Customs in our Features section
A KIST O
FERLIES
A Keek at the Guid Scots
Tung
By Peter & Marilyn Wright
(Note: All words underlined in
this section are RealAudio links)
"Scotland, my auld, respected mither
!
Tho whiles ye moistify your leather,
Till whare ye sit on craps o
heather,
Ye tine your dam ;
Freedom and whisky gang thegither !
Tak aff your dram."
COMPLETE POEMS
NESSIE
by
J K Annand
Click here to listen to this
in Real Audio read by Caitlin Wallace (age 9)
Nessie the Loch Ness Monster
Wad seem to be gey blate,
And doesna like the scientist chiels
That come, and sit, and wait.
But gif ye want to see her
Pretend ye dinna care,
Keek oot the corner o your ee -
Ye'll see her soomin there.
She'll wiggle-humphie-waggle,
She'll goggle wi her een,
Syne disappear ablow the loch
Like she had never been.
Anent
previous Flag articles on the Westminster
cover-ups on Scotland's oil, BBC Radio 4 has
broadcast a documentary examining the
recently released government papers. Now you
don't need to take our word on what happened
- listen for yourself to the mindset of key
players at the time like Dennis Healey and
reflect on how we are being deceived to this
day by those whom we pay to work impartially
in our best interests.
SNP
candidate Douglas Chapman has capitalised on
this, turning in a highly impressive
performance in the Scottish Television
hustings. News later leaked out of Labour's
botched selection procedure, where they had
managed to announce who their candidate was
going to be before she had even been
selected by local members! Contempt for
democracy? The Scottish Labour Party?
Never...
There
seems to be a perception amongst the voters
that the SNP is 'up for' this one, alongside
a quiet determination to give Labour a
bloody nose. At the same time, people whom
you might expect to be Labour stalwarts are
curiously reluctant to say who, if anyone,
they intend to vote for.
Nonetheless, its hard to keep the Tartan
Army down and already, my pals from the
Scottish Widows (and former pupils)
battalion are looking forward to taking the
Eurostar to Paris and finding the cheapest
way to Rome and Tallinn.
Exhibit ‘B’ is that for the first time in
several years, a number of young Scottish
players are making headway in the English
premiership. They also don’t necessarily see
it as a step down to come back to Scotland
after having played down south – a situation
which can only improve if Hearts grab the
second Champions League place this season.
"These
figures highlight three important facts. The
first is the net outflow of capital which
could be invested at home; the second is the
relatively small amount of investment in
many of our new trading partners in the EU
and the third is the huge amount of
'investment' going to 'UK Offshore Islands'
and to Bermuda.
Mr
Swinney said:
“Labour’s
dinosaurs are so stuck in the past that they
haven’t even realised that their arguments
have been well and truly undermined by their
own Government Ministers.
There
have been conflicting reports as to how many
shares employees are entitled to buy in
comparison to the company’s chairman and
chief executive who will both see their
shares valued at more than £20million.
Mr MacNeil is seeking assurances that
workers at QinetiQ will get a fair deal to
feel an integral part of the company.
Gordon
Wright’s Scottish Photo
Library
