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CAMPAIGNING FOR SCOTLAND
(Owned, Edited and Printed in Scotland since November
1926)
"Promoting all that is best in Scottish
Nationalism and all that is best in Scotland."
Content of the Flag in the Wind Web Site is the copyright of the Scots
Independent Newspaper.
[
Issue 416 - 23rd May 2008] |
Compiled by Peter D Wright |
Lots of great information to
read and enjoy under our
Features Section:
Scots
Language | Scottish Food |
Dates in History |
Scot Wit and lots more
GREETINGS
from the Isle of Man – Peter and Marilyn Wright are following in the
footsteps of Robert I, King of Scots, and the route he took when he
recaptured the island in 1313 from English domination.
DATES IN
HISTORY
23 May 1907
The Hector MacDonald National Memorial at Dingwall was officially opened in
the presence of his widow Lady MacDonald and son Hector.
 23
May 2007
First Minister retained the services of Elish Angiolini as Lord Advocate,
although she would no longer be a member of the cabinet. In a break with
tradition the appointment of Frank Mulholland as Soliciter General meant
that both senior posts were filled by solicitors, breaking the historic grip
of the Faculty of Advocates in the posts.
24 May 1297
Alexander Macdougall was released from prison in Berwick by the English in
order that he persuade his son, Duncan, from continuing a revolt in the
north-west against English rule.
24 May 2007
Athif Sarwar, 28, son of millionaire businessman and Labour MP Mohammed
Sarwar, was found guilty at Glasgow High Court of a £850,000 money
laundering scam. Sentence was deferred to June.
24 May 2007
Queen Elizabeth held an audience for the first time with new First minister
of Scotland Alex Salmond and gave him his Royal Warrant of appointment at
the Palace of Holyrood in Edinburgh.
 26
May 1797
The Reay’s, largely composed of Mackays, defeated a large body of Irish
insurgents at Tara Hall. They drove them from a strong position with the
loss of some 400 Irish killed and wounded, the Reay’s had only 26 men killed
and wounded.
26 May 1995
Scotland opened their World Rugby Cup programme with a 89-0 victory over
Ivory Coast. Captain Gavin Hastings scored a world record 44 points.
26 May 2007
Steven Pressley became the first player to win the Scottish Cup with three
different clubs as Celtic defeated Dunfermline 1-0 at Hampden Park. He had
been in the successful Rangers team in 1993 and captain of Hearts in a
penalty shoot-out victory over Gretna in 2006. It was the last Scottish Cup
sponsored by brewers Tennent’s – after 18 years Tennent’s switched their
sponsorship to Scotland’s national team in a £8m sponsorship deal to 2010.
 27
May 1845
Birth of Catherine (Kate) Cranston, tea-room proprietor, at 39 George
Square, Glasgow. She employed the services of architect Charles Rennie
Mackintosh and his design for the glittering Willow Tea Rooms in Sauchiehall
Street, opened in 1903, confirmed her reputation in the trade.
27 May 2007
Scotland striker Garry O’Connor scored the only goal as Lokomotive Moscow
won the Russian Cup against city rivals FC Moscow at the colossal Luzhniki
Stadium.
27 May 2007
Bathgate racing driver Dario Franchitti won the Indianapolis 500, America’s
most famous race which was inaugurated in 1911. The 34-year-old who had
raced in the US for ten years was the second Scot to win the Indy 500.
Racing legend Jim Clark was in 1965 and became the only driver to win both
the Formula 1 Drivers World Championship and the Indy 500 in the same
season.
29 May 1660
After nearly nine years of exile, Charles II returned to London in triumph
and was restored to the throne.
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"
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As
the 2007/08 Scottish football season draws to close, a few
quotations which sum up the game – the importance of the fans, as
rightly pointed out by the great Scottish manager Jock Stein, and
how the referee’s decisions (and mistakes) can both upset managers
(Craig Levine) and fans (Lorraine Kelly). Dundee United certainly
have much to complain about refereeing decisions which have gone
against them in matches with Rangers this season, including the
Scottish League Cup Final which they lost on penalties on 16 March
2008.
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Lorraine
Kelly
I’ve
gone from being scunnert and angry to being weary of it. It just happens
far too often, I am a Dundee United fan and we were robbed. We have to
stop whinging and moaning about it and do something about our referees.
(Radio
Scotland – in the wake of Dundee United once more suffering from poor
refereeing against Rangers 10 May 2008)
Craig
Levine
If
there’s not a level playing field and we don’t get the blatant important
decisions, what’s the point in us turning up.
(After his
team, Dundee United, were the victims of poor refereeing against Rangers at
Ibrox 10 May 2008)
John (Jock)
Stein (1922-1985)
Without
the fans football is nothing.
See Scottish Quotations in
our Features Section
SONGS
OF ROBERT BURNS
A collection of some of the best known songs by Scotland's greatest
songwriter and National Bard, Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)
MY LOVE SHE’S BUT A LASSIE YET
My
love she’s but a lassie yet,
My love she’s but a lassie yet,
We’ll let her stand a year or twa,
She’ll no be half sae saucy yet
I rue the day I sought her, O,
I rue the say I sought her, O,
Wha gets her needs na say she’s
woo’d
But he may say he’s bought her, O!
Come, draw a drap o’ the best o’t
yet;
Come, draw a drap o’ the best o’t
yet;
Gae seek for pleasure where ye will,
But here I never miss’d it yet.
We’re a’ dry wi’ drinking o’t,
We’re a’ dry wi’ drinking o’t,
The minister kiss’d the fiddler’s
wife,
An’ could na preach for thinkin’ o’t.
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Flagnote:
Another title and snatch of an older song which was rescued thanks to
the skill of Robert Burns and turned into a song still very popular over
200 years on.
See the SONGS OF ROBERT
BURNS 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
LOCK THE DOOR LARISTON
James Hogg
Lock the door, Lariston, lion of
Liddlesdale,
Lock the door, Lariston, Lowther
comes on,
The Armstrongs are flying,
Their widows are crying,
The Castletown's burning, and
Oliver's gone;
Lock the door, Lariston - high on
the weather gleam
See how the Saxon plumes bob on the
sky,
Yeoman and carbinier,
Billman and halberdier;
Fierce is the foray, and far is the
cry.
Bewcastle brandishes high his broad
scimitar,
Ridley is riding his fleet-footed
grey,
Hedley and Howard there,
Wandale and Windermere -
Lock the door, Lariston, hold them
at bay.
Why doest thou smile, noble Elliot
of Lariston?
Why do the joy-candles gleam in
thine eye?
Thou bold Border ranger,
Beware of thy danger -
Thy foes are relentless, determined,
and nigh.
Jock Elliot raised up his steel
bonnet and lookit,
His hand grasped the sword with a
nervous embrace;
'Ah, welcome, brave foeman,
On earth there are no men
More gallant to meet in the foray or
chase!
'Little know you of the hearts I
have hidden here,
Little know you of the
moss-troopers' might
Lindhope and Sorby, true,
Sundhope and Milburn too,
Gentle in manner, but lions in
fight!
'I've Mangerton, Gornberry, Raeburn,
and Netherby.
Old Sim of Whitram, and all his
array:
Come all Northumberland,
Teesdale and Cumberland,
Here at the Breaken Tower end shall
the fray.'
Scowl'd the broad sun o'er the links
of green Liddlesdale,
Red as beacon-light tipp'd he the
wold;
Many a bold martial eye
Mirror'd that morning sky,
Never more oped on his orbit of
gold!
Shrill was the bugle's note,
dreadful the warrior shout,
Lances and halberds in splinters
were borne;
Halberd and hauberk then,
Braved the claymore in vain,
Buckler and armlet in shivers were
shorn.
See how they wane, the proud files
of the Windermere,
Howard - Ah! woe to thy hopes of the
day!
Hear the wild welkin rend,
While the Scots' shouts ascend,
'Elliot of Lariston, Elliot for
aye!'
Footnote : James Hogg, 'The Ettrick Sheperd'
(1770-1835), presented himself as the successor to the mantle of Robert
Burns, and indeed claimed the 25th of January as his own birth-date but
he was actually born in November. This song was published in a volume of
his lyrics published in the 1830s and introduced by Hogg as 'having no
merit whatsoever, excepting a jingle of names, which Sir Walter's
(Scott) good taste rendered popular.'
SCOTTISH FOOD, TRADITIONS
AND CUSTOMS
This week
our visitor attraction takes us to the Burgh of Ceres, 2 ½ miles by road
from Cupar, in the Kingdom of Fife. The Fife Folk Museum, this year is the
40th anniversary of it’s funding, celebrates the domestic and
working lives of the people of Fife. The diverse collections are housed in
attractive listed buildings in the heart of the historic burgh. Artifacts
include agricultural machinery, an extensive collection of weights and
measures housed in the original 17th century Weigh House,
beautiful textiles, including shawls and patchwork bedspreads costume and
accessories, domestic pottery, paintings, furniture and craftmen’s tools,
which tells us about daily life in rural Fife. All the items in this
fascinating museum have been donated, and the museum was created by the
dedication and generosity of local people. The Fife Folk Museum opens from
April to September and the entry charge is very reasonable – Adults £2.50;
Concessions £2.00 and Accompanied Bairns are granted FREE entry. Visit
www.fifefolkmuseum.org for more details.
If visiting
Ceres don’t miss The Bannockburn Monument, overlooking the Bow Butts, which
pays tribute to the men of Ceres who fought at Bannockburn in 1314. The
monument was erected in 1914 to mark the 600th anniversary of the
historic Scottish victory when Robert I, King of Scots, defeated the much
larger army of King Edward II of England. On their return to Ceres the men
held a Games to celebrate the magnificent victory, and that celebration has
continued every year, in June, ever since. It now takes the form of the
Ceres Highland Games and has the usual mix of piping, dancing, wrestling,
cycling, running, and heavy events, with one great bonus – entrance is FREE
for all spectators. Log on to
www.ceresgames.co.uk for further information.
The
exhibits in the Fife Folk Museum come from a when people didn’t nip into
supermarkets for a ready-made meal but cooked for themselves. Last-Minute
Carrot Pudding is an easily made and far better than anything that you can
buy over the counter!
Last-Minute
Carrot Pudding
Ingredients:
100 g (4 oz) plain flour; ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda; 1 tsp of mixed spice;
100 g (4 oz) each of suet, raisins, currants, breadcrumbs, and demerara
sugar; 100 g (4 oz) each of potatoes and carrots, grated; 25 g (1 oz) glace
cherries, chopped; 1 large egg
Method:
Mix flour, bicarbonate of soda and spice together. Add all other ingredients
except egg. Mix well. Add egg – the mix will bind together, but if it’s a
little too stiff add a little milk as well. Pour into a large greased
pudding basin, leaving space at the top as the mix will expand during
cooking. Cover with a double layer of greaseproof paper and tie with string.
Steam for three hours. Serve with custard or cream.
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)
Still thou art blest compar'd wi' me!
The present only toucheth thee;
But Oh! I backward cast my e'e,
On
prospects drear!
An' forward, tho' I canna see,
I guess an' fear!
COMPLETE POEM
The Tryst
by
William Soutar
Click here to listen to this
in RealAudio read by Marilyn P Wright
 William
Soutar (1898-1943)
Born
in Perth, Soutar served in the Navy during the First World War, before
taking a degree in English at Edinburgh University in 1923.
He suffered from a progressive spinal disease which kept him at
home thereafter, and from 1930 he was confined to bed.
He kept diaries, journals and dream books throughout his long
illness, selections from which have been published as ‘Diaries of a
Dying Man’. He was a
socialist, a pacifist and a Scottish Nationalist.
Convinced that cultural revival could only come by making the
Scots language accessible to children, he wrote ‘Bairnrhymes’,
riddles and ‘Whigmaleeries’ with that audience in mind, as well as
songs and poems much influenced by the ballad tradition.
A close friend of Hugh MacDairmid, Soutar played an important
part in the Scottish Literary Revival.
O
luely, luely cam she in
And
luely she lay doun:
I
kent her be her caller lips
And
her breists sae sma’ and roun’.
A’
thru the nicht we spak nae word
Nor
sinder’d bane frae bane:
A’
thru the nicht I heard her hert
Gang
soundin’ wi’ my ain.
It
was about the waukrife hour
Whan
cocks begin to craw
That
she smool’d saftly thru the mirk
Afore
the day wud daw.
Sae
luely, luely, cam she in
Sae
luely was she gaen
And
wi’ her a’ my simmer days
Like
they had never been.
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
The Kelty Bus
Willie and Jimmy, two
Dunfermline supporters from Kelty, had celebrated a rare Pars victory so
well that they missed the last bus home. Staggering out of a public
house they started their weary walk home until they passed the
Dunfermline Bus Garage and Willie had a bright idea. He suggested to
Jimmy, who had expertise in such matters, that he should 'borrow' a bus
and drive them home.
Jimmy at once entered the
Bus Garage and after twenty minutes emerged at the wheel of a
single-decker.
"Whit tuik ye sae lang?"
enquired Willie.
"Weill" answered Jimmy "
A haed ti shift a wheen buses - the Kelty ane wis richt at the back o
the Gairage."
Click here to listen to this joke Read and listen to Jokes in our
Scot Wit section
Gordon & Carmen Wright
Second-hand, Fine & Rare
Scottish Books.
Regular
catalogues issued by email.
To subscribe, email us at:
Gordon.Wright11@btopenworld.com
 Gordon
Wright’s Scottish Photo
Library
Spanning forty-five years
and featuring a wide variety
of illustrations in colour
and black and white covering
all aspects of Scottish life
from Orkney to the Border
country. Thousands of
personality portraits.
Images for reproduction.
Prints for collectors.
Gordon.Wright11@btopenworld.com
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