2 June
1581
The Regent Morton was executed for complicity in the murder of Henry
Stewart, Lord Darnley, it is said by the ‘Maiden’, a guillotine he
himself had introduced to Scotland.
“The
man that brought me these news came from Edinburgh on Friday last at
two of the clock, and then the said Earl of Morton was standing on
the scaffold, and it is thought the accusations that were laid
against him were very slender, and that he died very stoutly.”
Letter from Sir John Fraser to Sir Francis Walsingham
2 June
1786
Death of Dugald Buchanan, Gaelic religious poet, translator of the
Gaelic New Testament, at Kinloch Rannoch. Much of his poetry was
influenced by English poets such as William Shakespeare and John Milton,
and includes ‘The Greatness of God’, ‘The Day of Judgement’, The
Suffering of Christ’, ‘The Skull’, and ‘Winter’.
3
June 2005
Scott
Harrison returned to form with a fine fourth-round victory over Michael
Brodie, England, to retain his WBO featherweight title in Manchester.
The Scot ended Brodie’s brave resistance in sudden fashion 46 seconds
into the fourth round with a brutal left to the body which left the
English challenger doubled up on the canvas and unable to beat the
count.
5 June
1592
Scottish Parliament passed act which established Presbyterian government
in the Scottish Church after the Reformation – “Act for abolishing of
the Acts contrair the trew religion”.
7 June
1761
Birth of John Rennie, civil engineer, builder of Waterloo, London and
Southwark Bridges, at Phantassie, East Lothian.
7 June
1901
The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland was formed by Andrew
Carnegie.
“I,
Andrew Carnegie, of New York, and of Skibo in the County of
Sutherland, deeming it to be my duty and one of my highest
privileges to administer the wealth which has come to me, as a
trustee on behalf of others, and entertaining the belief that one of
the best means of my discharging that trust is by providing funds
for improving and extending the opportunities for scientific study
and research in the Universities of Scotland, my native land, and by
rendering attendance at these Universities and the enjoyment of
their advantages more available to the deserving and qualified youth
of that country to whom the payment of fees might act as a barrier
to the enjoyment of these advantages, hereby undertake to deliver
bonds of the United States Steel Corporation of the aggregate value
of ten million dollars to be held by the Trustees…”
From the Deed of Trust
7
June 1929
Lossiemouth-born Ramsay MacDonald announced the composition of Britain’s
second Labour Government. It had no overall majority and was dependent
on Liberal goodwill for survival.
8 June
1772
Birth of Robert Stevenson, engineer and lighthouse builder, in Glasgow.
He designed or constructed at least 25 lighthouses in Scotland,
including his first, the Bell Rock Lighthouse in 1811. His three sons
Alan (1807-65), David (1815-86) and Thomas (1818-87) followed in his
footsteps. The author Robert Louis Stevenson (Thomas’ son) was his
grandson.
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 13th century to the present day.
New
quotes added every week. 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"
Matthew
Arnold (1822-1888)
I am
very glad to have seen the Caledonian Canal, but don’t want to see
it again.
(Letter to
his wife 1882)
Sir
Patrick Geddes (1854-1932)
We men
are hypnotized by money but have lost sight of economics – the real
functioning of life, in real and energetic health, creating real and
material wealth. Real wealth can only be created in a life-efficient
environment.
(Patrick
Geddes in India, published 1947)
Field Marshall The Right Honourable Sir Douglas Haig, 1st
Earl Haig, Viscount Dawick, Baron Haig of Bemersyde (1861-1928)
The
nation must be taught to bear losses. No amount of skill on the part
of the highest commanders, no training, however good, on the part of
the officers and men, no superiority of arms and ammunition, however
great, will enable victories to be without the sacrifice of men’s
lives. The nation must be prepared to see heavy casualty lists.
(Written, June 1916, prior to the Battle of the Somme. The first day of
the Somme, 1 July 1916, saw almost 60,000 British casualties)
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
THE LAMMAS TIDE
Traditional
It fell aboot the Lama’s tide when muirmen
whin their hay
The doughty Douglas bound him ride in tae England tae drive a
prey
He chose the Gordons and the Grahams the Lindsay’s light and gay
But the Jardines wad’ not wi’ him ride and they rue it to this
day
Now they burned all the dales o’ Tyne and
part o’ Bambershire
Three tall towers on Reedswire fells they left him all on fire
They marched up tae New Castle and laid it roond aboot Sayin’
“Wha’s the Lord o’ this castle and wha’s the Lady oot?”
Then up bespake proud Percy there and oh
but he spake high
“I am the Laird o’ this castle my wife’s the lady gay”
“If thou art the Laird o’ this castle sae weel it pleases me
For ere I cross the border fells then ane o’ us shall dee”
He took a lang spear in his hand shod wi’ a
metal free
For tae meet the Douglas there he rade right furiously
But oh how pale his lady looked frae off the castle wall
When down before the Scottish spear she saw proud Percy fall
Footnote:
Verses taken from the famous Border Ballad ‘The Battle of Otterbourne’
which took place on 14 August 1388. Following the taking of Harry
‘Hotspur’ Percy’s pennon at Newcastle, the invading Scottish army
defeated the English at Otterbourne but their leader Sir James Douglas,
2nd Earl of Douglas and Mar, was killed. He was buried at
Melrose Abbey where years later the English defiled his grave prior to
their defeat at Ancrum Moor.
Visit
www.musican.org for all 35 verses!
See the
SING A SANG AT LEAST in our
features section
SCOTTISH
FOOD, TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS
Although
the alcoholic drink most associated with Scotland is Whisky, there is a
long tradition of brewing in our country. In days langsyne it was safer
to drink ale rather the water! Home brewing, as with distilling, started
off as a homely necessity, with commercialism and government legislation
following. We can now once again make beer and wine at home but whisky
is still off-limits!
Scotland
at one time was home to some of the biggest names in brewing but
nowadays small, real ale producers rule the scene. The introduction of
keg beer in the 60s almost saw the death of real ale – Scotland, in
particular was a desert as far as ‘living’ beer was concerned. Now the
wheel has turned full circle and real ale is on tap all over Scotland.
The expansion of small breweries has also been dramatic over the past
few years – stretching from the Valhalla Brewery, Unst, in Shetland down
to the Peelwall Brewery, Ayton, in the Borders and from Fowler’s Ales,
Prestongrange, in the east to the Cuillin Brewery, Sligachan, Isle of
Skye, in the west, you will find a flourishing brewery in maist
airts.The great advantage of real ales is that there really is something
to suit all palates.
Much of
this has come about because of the activity of the Campaign for Real Ale
(CAMRA) who are the organisers of the 4th Scottish
Traditional Beer Festival in the Assembly Rooms, George Street,
Edinburgh, next week. Running from Thursday 8 June to Saturday 10 June
2007, the Festival will feature approximately 120 beers from more than
30 Scottish brewers, on sale all under the one roof. This would have
been impossible only a few years ago. Now Ken Davis, CAMRA’s Scottish
Director can proudly claim that “The festival is a unique event on the
calendar which offers more choice of superb real ales under one roof
than anywhere else in Scotland. The prestigious Champion Beer of
Scotland competition will be judged on Thursday and no doubt Cairngorm
Brewery in Inverness-shire will be looking for a hat trick before the
World Cup after winning in 2004 and 2005.” The festival is open to the
public on Thursday from 4-11pm, Friday and Saturday from noon-11pm,
Admission including souvenir glass and programme is £4, Friday and
Saturday after 6pm £5 ( Camra members £3 and £4).
Cairngorm
Brewery is a splendid example of the rise of real ale brewers in
Scotland. Founded in Aviemore in 2001 they have proved to be a great
success – eighteen different beers have been brewed to date, of which
seven are available throughout the year. In 2004 their smashing Trade
Winds 4.3% ABV won the Champion Beer of Scotland. It was runner-up in
2005 to its stable-mate Black Gold 4.4% ABV bore the gree again for the
Aviemore brewer. Visit
www.cairngormbrewery.com to find out more about and how to visit the
‘champion’ brewery
This
week’s recipe is beer-based in honour of the Scottish Champions and
their Highland home of Aviemore – Highland Ginger Cake. It is a
delicious cake worthy of any champion.
Highland Ginger Cake
Ingredients: 8 oz (225 g) butter; 4 oz (100 g) caster sugar; ¼ lb
(225 g) black treacle; 2 eggs; ¼ pint (150 ml) sweet stout; 1 lb (450 g)
plain flour; 1 teaspoon ground ginger; 1 teaspoon mixed spices; 4 oz
(100 g) mixed fruit; 4 oz (100 g) mixed peel; 1 teaspoon baking soda
Method:
In a bowl cream the butter and sugar. Add the treacle and eggs and mix
in gradually the flour, ginger. spices, fruit and peel. Dissolve the
baking soda in the beer and stir it into the cake mixture. Place the
mixture in a well-greased baking tin and bake for 2 ½ hours in an oven
preheated to 160 °C, 325 °F, or Gas Mark 3.
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)
OH Thou, wha in the heavens dost dwell!
Wha, as it pleases best thysel',
Sends ane to heaven, and ten to hell,
A' for thy glory,
And no' for ony gude or ill
They've done afore thee!
DRUM
MAJOR
By J K Annand
Up at the Castle
Lots o people come
To hear the sodgers pipe
And beat upon the drum.
I'd like to be a piper,
I'd like to be a drummer,
But best o aa I'd like
To be the big heid-bummer.
He birls his siller
stick,
He throws it in the air,
And when he gies the sign
The pipers play nae mair.
See Scots Language in
our Features Section
for other poems, stories, songs, sayings, jokes and words in the Scots language
SCOT WIT
Enjoy a Scottish Joke every week and
listen to it as well
Name Please?
A foreign visitor, with an unpronounceable name,
wanted to try his hand at golf at St Andrews. Three times he asked the
starter to put him down to play the next morning at ten before he was told :
"Ye'll come the day efter the morn at
eleiven an ye'll answer ti the name o MacTavish."
Click here to listen to this joke
Read and listen to Jokes in our
Scot Wit section
How
Alastair does it all I just haven’t a clue, but he is a real whiz with
computers. I tend to regard him as my guru as far as the Flag is
concerned. 
In
Oslo, Norwegian Kurt Kjaer presides over ‘the world’s biggest pension pot. The
numbers are huge: the state fund boasts more than $230 billion in assets and
will reach $500 billion by the end of the decade, “dwarfing any other investment
on earth”. The source is not hard to find: Norway is the world’s third biggest
oil exporter and, unlike Britain which splurged most of its North Sea oil
windfall “on unemployment giro cheques”, every dollar is swept straight into the
fund.’
It’s
run by the excellent Jim and Margaret Cuthbert and is a collection of most of
their papers since 1997 on aspects of the Scottish economy. The URL is:
I was on holiday in
Portugal recently and picked up a copy of The Portugal News –
Portugal’s National Newspaper in English.
Spain
ruled Portugal from 1580 to 1640. At the end of that period, as one historian
put it, the great Portugal of the early 1500s was “little more than a backward
province” and the people “were outraged by crushing taxes to finance Spanish
wars”. Scots, too, have paid dearly – although they still don’t know it – to
finance recent Westminster’s wars and delusions of grandeur.
We have under a year to
go before the third elections for the Scottish parliament. That means that I
have only about ten or eleven articles to write before then.
Scotland's share of inward investment jobs in the UK from also decreased from 11 percent in 1995-6, and a high of 13 percent in 2001-2, to only 8 percent in 2004-5. 
Christine Grahame MSP has now called on Scottish Ministers to show some commitment to the flag of Scotland and ensure the correct version is flown, whether as part of the union flag or not.
It is hoped that Dr Ted Cowan will speak at the annual McCartney lecture which this year will be held at Stirling University before the march. Afterwards, keen marchers are urged to make their way to Stirling town centre in order for the procession to the battlefield to commence.
Gordon
Wright’s Scottish Photo
Library
