DATES IN
HISTORY
19
January 1649
King Charles I was put on trial before an unrepresentative English
Parliament. He had surrendered to the Scottish army in 1646 and was handed
over by the Scots to the English Parliament in 1647 following a settlement
of indemnity agreed at Ripon.
19 January
1799
Death of Peter Williamson, ‘Indian Peter’, tavern keeper, publisher,
printer, postmaster and inventor, at Edinburgh. He was kidnapped in his
native Aberdeen, aged 13, and sold into slavery in America. On returning to
Scotland he owned a coffee house in the Parliament Hall, Edinburgh, which
was frequented by Court of Session lawyers and immortalised by the poet
Robert Fergusson. He was buried in the Old Calton graveyard.
The
vacance is a heavy doom
On India Peter’s coffee-room,
For a’ his china pigs are toom;
Nor do we see
In wise the sucker biskets soom
As lights a flee.
‘The Rising of the Session’ – Robert Fergusson
20 January 664
Death of St Fechan, Irish saint, who is commemorated at St Vigeans, Arbroath
and Ecclefechan in Dumfriesshire.
20 January
1908
Suffragettes demonstrated at several Scottish police courts protesting that
women should not be tried using ‘man-made’ laws.
20 January
2006
The final report on the Solway Harvester disaster by the government’s Marine
Accident Investigation Branch highlighted a series of fundamental safety
short-comings which led to the sinking of the Kirkcudbright-registered
scallop dredger within minutes in storm-lashed seas off the Isle of Man in
January 2000. The seven fishermen who drowned were trapped inside the vessel
when it suddenly turned turtle and sank, had little or no chance of escape
the report revealed.
27 January
1997
Bahamas-based billionaire Joseph Lewis bought a 25 per cent, £40 million
stake in Glasgow Rangers FC.
25 January
2006
Dundee-born Respect MP George Galloway escaped bankruptcy when the Daily
Telegraph lost an appeal over a libel action. In December 2004 the
Westminster MP was awarded £150,000 damages in an action he brought
regarding a 2003 story that he had received money from Saddam Hussein’s
regime in Iraq.
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 1st 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"
|
The
300th anniversary of the vote in the Scottish Parliament,
The Three Estates, (16 January 1707) in favour of the incorporating
Union between Scotland and England passed almost without notice –
the proverbial damp squib!
There is, from a Scottish point of view, little to celebrate in a
vote brought about by bribery and the threat of force but one
by-product has been an increased interest in Scottish Independence
and a strong showing in the opinion polls by the Scottish National
Party. Thankfully throughout the 300 years of the so-called Union,
there have been Scots in every generation who have stood steadfast
for the regaining of Scottish Independence, including our National
Bard, Robert Burns. |
Anonymous (18th
Century)
The cassin
o the Wanchancie Covenant.
(Anti-Treaty
of Union (1707) Toast)
W Oliver Brown
(1903-1976)
“That part
of the country now called England – that part of the country now called
Scotland.” These phrases from Clause 9 of the Treaty [of union 1707]
show that its drafters actually intended to destroy even the memory of
such names as “England” and Scotland.” To describe yourself as a
“Unionist” and a “Scotsman” is therefore impossible, since the first
term implies the abolition of the second.
(Witdom 1953)
Robert Burns
(1769-1796)
We'll sing COILA'S plains an' fells,
Her moors red-brown wi' heather bells,
Her banks an' braes her dens an' dells,
Where glorious WALLACE
Aft bure the gree, as story tells,
Frae Suthron billies.
At WALLACE' name, what Scottish blood,
But boils up in a spring-tide flood!
Oft have our fearless fathers strode
By WALLACE' side,
Still pressing onward, red-wat-shod,
Or glorious dy'd!
(To William
Simpson 1785)
John
MacLean (1879-1923)
Scotland must again
have Independence, but not to be ruled by traitor kings and chiefs,
lawyers and politicians. The communism of the clans must be
re-established on a modern basis . . . The country must have one
clan, as it were - a united people working in co-operation and
co-operatively using the wealth that is created.
(All Hail! The Scottish
Communist Republic (pamphlet 1920)
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
ROBIN SHURE IN
HAIRST
Robert Burns
I gaed up to Dunse,
To warp a wab o’ plaiden;
At his daddie’s yett,
Wha met me but Robin!
Chorus:
Robin shure in hairst,
I shure wi’ him;
Fient a heuk had I,
Yet I stack by him.
Was na Robin bauld,
Though I was a cotter.
Played me sic a trick.
And me the El’ers dochter?
Robin promised me
A’ my winter vittle;
Fient haet he had but three
Goose-feathers and a whittle.
Footnote: A
Burns song to commemorate his birthday. He wrote on 6 January 1789 to
Robert Ainslie – ‘I have brushed up the following old favourite song a
little, with a view to your worship.’ Brushed up with Jean Armour in mind?
She was a daughter of a Kirk Elder.
See the
SING A SANG AT LEAST in our
Features section
SCOTTISH FOOD, TRADITIONS
AND CUSTOMS
This week sees
the 248th anniversary of the birth of our National bard, Robert
Burns, on 25 January. Scots, the world over, will be celebrating in
traditional fashion in word and song the life and work of Scotland’s
best-known poet and greatest songwriter. Burns obviously had a high regard,
and rightly so, of his own ability and his words in 1791 to Mrs Graham of
Fintry have indeed come to pass –
‘I was
born a poor dog; and however I may occasionally pick up a better bone
than I used to do, I know I must live and die poor; but I will indulge
the flattering faith that my poetry will considerably outlive my
poverty.’
Every Burns
Suppers is the visual sign of the high regard in which Robert Burns is still
held but the most important part of the Burns’ story is that he continues to
live in the hearts and minds of his fellow Scots. That is the highest
tribute that we can pay to his genius and to the lead which he took in the
dark days following the incorporating Union of 1707 in reminding Scots that
they are first and foremost Scots.
No Burns
Supper would be complete without Haggis, Neeps an Tatties but our recipe
this week offers an alternative way to serve haggis. Haggis Stovies is a
regular favourite in the Wright household throughout the year and is often
enhanced with a helping of chappit neeps.
Haggis Stovies
Ingredients:
2lb potatoes, peeled and chipped; 1 onion, peeled and chopped; 1 haggis,
skin removed
Method:
Boil the tatties and onion. Crumble the haggis into an ovenproof dish and
either cook it in the microwave or bake it in the oven. Mash the tatties and
onion and add the cooked haggis. Season to taste and you can add some milk
to get a creamier consistency. Serve piping hot with oatcakes.
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)
antrin: chance ; rare ; occasional
ayont: beyond
forenicht: early evening
on-ding: downpour ; onset ( of rain )
watergaw: indistinct rainbow
yow-trummle: cold weather after sheep shearing
No able for: Having no appetite for ; in capable of
"Ae weet forenicht i the yow-trummle
I saw yon antrin thing,
A watergaw wi its chitterin licht
Ayont the on-ding;
An I thocht o the last wild look ye gied
Afore ye deed !
There was nae reek i the laverock's hoose
That nicht - an nane i mine;
But I hae thocht o that foolish licht
Ever sin syne;
An I think that mebbe at last I ken
What your look meant then."
"The Watergaw" - Hugh MacDiarmid
Click here to listen to this
in RealAudio read by Marilyn P Wright
On turning down with the
Plough, in April, 1786.
Wee, modest crimson-tipped flow'r,
Thou's met me in an evil hour;
For I maun crush amang the stoure
Thy slender stem:
To spare thee now is past my pow'r,
Thou bonie gem.
Alas! it's no thy neibor sweet,
The bonie lark, companion meet,
Bending thee 'mang the dewy weet,
Wi' spreckl'd breast!
When upward-springing, blythe, to greet
The purpling east.
Cauld blew the bitter-biting north
Upon thy early, humble birth;
Yet cheerfully thou glinted forth
Amid the storm,
Scarce rear'd above the parent-earth
Thy tender form.
The flaunting flow'rs our gardens yield,
High shelt'ring woods and wa's maun shield;
But thou, beneath the random bield
O' clod or stane,
Adorns the histie stibble field,
Unseen, alane.
There, in thy scanty mantle clad,
Thy snawie bosom sun-ward spread,
Thou lifts thy unassuming head
In humble guise;
But now the share uptears thy bed,
And low thou lies!
Such is the fate of artless maid,
Sweet flow'ret of the rural shade!
By love's simplicity betray'd,
And guileless trust;
Till she, like thee, all soil'd, is laid
Low i' the dust.
Such is the fate of simple bard,
On life's rough ocean luckless starr'd!
Unskilful he to note the card
Of prudent lore,
Till billows rage, and gales blow hard,
And whelm him o'er!
Such fate to suffering worth is giv'n,
Who long with wants and woes has striv'n,
By human pride or cunning driv'n
To mis'ry's brink;
Till wrench'd of ev'ry stay but Heav'n,
He, ruin'd, sink!
Ev'n thou who mourn'st the Daisy's fate,
That fate is thine-no distant date;
Stern Ruin's plough-share drives elate,
Full on thy bloom,
Till crush'd beneath the furrow's weight,
Shall be thy doom!
Gordon
Wright’s Scottish Photo
Library