DATES IN
HISTORY
29 June 1751
Birth of William Roxburgh, botanist and doctor, at Craigie in Ayrshire. From
1793 to 1813 he was Superintendent of the Culcutta Botanic Garden where he
greatly increased the collection and became known as the ‘Father of Indian
Botany.’
30
June 1685
Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, was executed in
Edinburgh. He had refused to sign the Test Act and was condemned to death
for treason in 1681 but escaped from Edinburgh castle to the Continent. He
was captured in 1685 after returning to Scotland at the head of an invasion
force designed to restore the Protestant religion.
“We parted
suddenly but I hope shall meete happily in heaven. I pray God to bless
you and if you seeke him he will be found of you".
From his last letter to his son.
30 June 2006
A five-week knife amnesty in Scotland resulted in 12,645 weapons being
handed into police stations.
2 July 1948
A Sea Fury plane, heading from Donibristle air base to Crail, burst into
flames when approaching East Wemyss. At the cost of his own life the pilot,
Lt Commander Wilfred Nevill Waller, steered the craft away from the village
and crash-landed to the north.
3 July 1582
James Crichton of Eliock, “the Admirable Crichton”, graduate of St Andrews
University, tutor of James VI, King of Scots, soldier and scholar, was
killed in a brawl in Mantua.
“The
Scotsman, James Crichton, is a youth who on the 19th of
August last completed his 20th year. He is master of ten
languages, Latin and Italian in perfection, and Greek so as to compose
epigrams in that tongue, Hebrew, Chaldaic, Spanish, French, Flemish,
English and Scots, and he also understands the German. He is most
skilled in philosophy, theology, mathematics, and astrology…He possesses
a most thorough knowledge of the Cabala. His memory is so astonishing
that he knows not what it is to forget. In his person he is extremely
beautiful: his address is that of a finished gentleman. A soldier at all
points, he has attained to great excellence in leaping and dancing and
to a remarkable skill in the use of every sort of arms. He is a
remarkable horseman and an admirable jouster.”
From a
handbill by Domenico and Giovanni Battista – Guerra, Venice 1580.
4
July 1892
Founder of the Scottish Labour Party James Keir Hardie became the first
Socialist to win a seat at Westminster when he took the Essex constituency
of West Ham from the sitting Conservative member in the General Election.
4 July 2006
Former Scottish Socialist Party leader Tommy Sheridan MSP commenced a
defamation action against ‘The News of the World’ at the Court of Session,
Edinburgh. A jury of six men and six women were sworn in to decide the
£200,000 action, in which Tommy Sheridan denied the newspaper’s claims
regarding his sex life.
5 July 1865
The Locomotive and Highway Act stipulated that the speed limit for road
vehicles in Britain should be 4 mph in the country and 2 mph in towns.
5 July 1948
The Westminster Labour Government introduced the National Health Service,
inspired by Aneurin Bevan. It supplied free medical treatment and free
prescriptions for glasses, teeth and wigs.
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
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"
|
A penultimate selection of quotations from Billy Kay’s byornar book
‘The Scottish World – A Journey into the Scottish Diaspora’
(Mainstream Publishing Company (Edinburgh) Ltd £16.99) published
last year. Although Billy Kay mainly looks at the beneficial effect
of the Scottish Diaspora all over the globe, he nevertheless points
out that there was a down-side such as participation in the slave
trade. |
Anonymous (French)
Fier comme
un Ecossais – Proud as a Scot.
(French Proverb)
Samuel
Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)
… of the
overseers of the slave plantations in the West Indies, three of four are
Scotsmen, and the fourth is generally observed to have suspicious cheek
bones: and on the American Continent the … Whippers-in or Neger-Bishops
are either Scotchmen or the Americanised Descendants of Scotchmen.
Samuel Rutherford Crockett (1859-1914)
Where
about the graves of the martyrs
the whaups are crying
My heart
remembers how.
(Dedication of ‘The Stickit Minister’ to Robert Louis Stevenson)
William (Billy) Kay
So the
Scots have made a contribution to national and individual freedom in the
world and I sure that all of this begins with the example of William
Wallace.
The
American Arthur Herman has written a marvellous book on the Scottish
Enlightenment titled How the Scots Invented the Modern World – I
wouldn’t go quite as far Professor Herman, but I would agree with his
countryman the novelist John Steinbeck, who in 1964 wrote a letter to
Jackie Kennedy: “You talked of Scotland as a lost cause and that is not
true. Scotland is an unwon cause.”
As long as
we have the inspirational memory of Wallace to guide us, the Cause of
Scotland will never be lost…
(Wallace Day Address, Aberdeen 21 August 2005)
Charles Francois Marie Rémusat, Comte de (1797-1875)
… cette
nation doit prendre rang parmi les plus eclairées de l’universe. La
polique, la religion, la litérature ont fait de l’Écosse quelque chose
d’incomparable.
… this
nation must rank among the most enlightened in the universe. Politics,
religion and literature have made of Scotland something beyond compare.
See
Scottish Quotations in our Features Section
THE BLUE
TOON SONG BOOK
A selection of popular Scottish songs compiled by Anne Fowler and
published by Peterhead branch of the Scottish National Party in
September 2000.
THE BONNETS O' BONNIE DUNDEE
Sir Walter Scott
Tae the Lords o' Convention
'twas Claverhouse spoke,
E'er the King's crown go down
there are crowns to be broke,
So each cavalier who loves
honour and me,
Let him follow the bonnets o'
Bonnie Dundee.
Chorus :
Come fill up my cup, come fill
up my can,
Come saddle my horses and call
out my men;
Unhook the West Port and let us
gae free,
For it's up wi' the bonnets o'
Bonnie Dundee.
Dundee he is mounted and he
rides up the street,
The bells they ring backward and
the drums they are beat,
But the provost douce man says
'Just let it be,
For the toon is weel rid o' that
devil Dundee.'
There are hills beyond Pentland
and lands beyond Forth,
If there are lords in the south,
there are chiefs in the north,
There are brave duine-wassals
three thousand times three,
Cry 'Hey for the bonnets o'
Bonnie Dundee.'
So awa tae the hills, tae the
lee and the rocks,
Ere I own a ursurper I'll crouch
with the fox,
So tremble false whigs in the
midst o' yir glee,
For ye've no seen the last o' my
bonnets and me.
Flagnote: John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee, 'Bonnie Dundee', is either,
depending on your viewpoint, regarded as a romantic hero as
leader of the first Jacobite Rising in 1689 or a figure of hate
due to his treatment of the Covenanters. To the Covenanters he
was simply known, for good reason, as 'The Bluidy Clavers'.
Although he led the Highland Clans to victory at the Battle of
Killiecrankie on 27 July 1689 the Jacobite cause was lost when
he was fatally wounded.
See the
THE BLUE TOON SONG BOOK in our
Features section
SCOTTISH FOOD, TRADITIONS
AND CUSTOMS
In
‘Scottish Scene’ (1934) the greatest Scottish poet of the 20th
century Hugh MacDiarmid wrote – ‘Scotland is not wholly surrounded by
the sea – unfortunately’ to which the byous Irish playwright Brendan
Behan added in ‘The Sea Around Us’ –
“God help
the poor Scotsmen – they’ll never be free
But we’re entirely surrounded by water.’
But although
Scotland is NOT an island she does enjoy many miles of coast-line and a long
maritime history. In days langsyne travel by sea was quicker than on non-existant
roads! A reminder of our rich sea heritage will take place this weekend
(Saturday 30 June – Sunday 1 July 2007) in Portsoy as the north-east
fishing port hosts the 14th Scottish Traditional Boat Festival
2007.
But as one
visitor to a past festival remarked – “Its nae jist aboot boats!” – as a
full programme of events – cookery, music, sporting and the arts – take
place around the main feature of boats, large and small, which are already
registered for the Fesival. Visit
www.scottishtraditionalboatfestival.co.uk for full details of a packed
weekend although you are probably too late to enter the 10 Km race!
Local food
pays a part in the Festival, at the Food fayre in the Wally Green. The food
and drink industry in Grampian is an important part of the local economy and
accounts for one fifth of all food and drink in Scotland. The area boosts
the finest ingredients on its doorstep such as seafood, red meat, poultry,
game, berries, vegetables and oats. A wide selection of produce from ostrich
burgers to jams and chutneys will be available over the weekend.
Top
traditional entertainment will be provided by top folk group The Old Blind
Dogs, locally-born Isla St Clair and the virtuoso of the tin whistle Alex
Green.
This week’s
recipe reflects our sea heritage and long dependence on fishing – Crunchy
Cod should be as enjoyable as the Porstoy Festival weekend promises to be.
Crunchy Cod
Ingredients:
4 even-sized cod fillets;
Salt and pepper; 90 g (6 tbsps) butter, melted; 90 g (3 oz) dry breadcrumbs;
5 ml (1 tsp) dry mustard; 5 ml (1 tsp) minced onion; Dash Worcester sauce
and tabasco; 30 ml (2 tbsps) lemon juice; 15 ml (1 tbsp) finely chopped
parsley
Method:
Season the fish fillets with salt
and pepper and place them on a grill tray. Brush with butter and grill for
about 5 minutes. Combine remaining butter with breadcrumbs, mustard,
onion salt, Worcester sauce, tabasco, lemon juice and parsley. Spoon
the mixture carefully on top of each fish fillet, covering it completely.
Press down lightly to pack the crumbs into place. Grill for a further 5 - 7
minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and the fish flakes.
Serves 4
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)
dirl: clatter; pierce; reverberate; throb;
blow; vibration
Paint Scotland greetan owre her thrissle,
Her mutchkin stowp as toom's a whissle;
An' damn'd Excise-men in a bussle,
Seizan a Stell,
Triumphant crushan't like a mussel
Or laimpet shell.
Gordon
Wright’s Scottish Photo
Library