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For the latest news from Scotland see our ScotNews feed at:
https://electricscotland.com/scotnews.htm
Electric Scotland News
Scottish manuscript bought by National Library for Scotland. A 16th Century Highland Perthshire manuscript written in Latin, Scots and Gaelic has been bought for £25,000 by the National Library of Scotland. The Chronicle of Fortingall was compiled between 1554 and 1579 and includes poetry, short texts, and records of contemporary events.
Scottish News from this weeks newspapers
Note that this is a selection and more can be read in our ScotNews feed on our index page where we list news from the past 1-2 weeks. I am partly doing this to build an archive of modern news from and about Scotland and world news stories that can affect Scotland and as all the newsletters are archived and also indexed on Google and other search engines it becomes a good resource. I might also add that in a number of newspapers you will find many comments which can be just as interesting as the news story itself and of course you can also add your own comments if you wish which I do myself from time to time.
Local government in Scotland - Overview 2021
The Accounts Commission is the public spending watchdog for local government. We hold councils in Scotland to account and help them improve. We operate impartially and independently of councils and of the Scottish Government, and we meet and report in public.
Read more at:
https://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/up...t_overview.pdf
The SNP plan to decriminalise drugs is the worst of all worlds
Of the SNP's many, many policy failures, Scotland's record on drug deaths is surely among the worst The big idea to solve this scourge? A decriminalisation proposal that would do little to tackle drug harms, while offering drug dealers a licence to print money.
Read more at:
https://capx.co/the-snp-plan-to-decr...-of-all-worlds
Poll shows English don't care if Scotland quits but block extra money
ENGLISH voters have declared their disinterest in Scotland's independence hopes and do not want to give Nicola Sturgeon any more public money, a new poll has indicated.
Read more at:
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/14...-boris-johnson
In praise of the car
For many young people passing their driving test is an important rite of passage to adulthood. Acquiring your first vehicle is a major advance in your personal freedom.. Yet today government, Councils and better off greens from the security of their homes in major cities lecture the rest of us on the wickedness of the car.
Read more at:
https://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2021/0...ise-of-the-car
SNP shamed over child mental health waiting times scandal.
THE number of children waiting more than a year for mental health support in Scotland has almost tripled during the pandemic, shocking figures show.
Read more at:
https://www.express.co.uk/news/polit...ealth-services
Glasgow's future after Covid
By Gerry Hassan in the Scottish Review
Read more at:
https://www.scottishreview.net/GerryHassan573a.html
A world beneath as Borders farmer uncovers treasure trove of ancient artefacts and fascinating, forgotten stories under his doorstep
It seemed a road to nowhere but home for Alistair Moffat and his family but beneath their feet lay a highway into the past.
Read more at:
https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/alista...ient-artefacts
The rosbif-in-chief - why the French love Boris Johnson
The PM not only enjoys high name recognition in France, but he's popular across the political spectrum
Read more at:
https://capx.co/the-rosbif-in-chief-...boris-johnson/
Queen to meet US President Joe Biden next week
The Queen will meet US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden next week, Buckingham Palace has said.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-57345764
Why Canada is mourning the deaths of 215 children
The preliminary discovery last week of the remains of 215 Indigenous children - students of Canada's largest residential school - has prompted nationwide outrage and calls for further searches of unmarked graves. Here's what we know so far.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57325653
Electric Canadian
The Canadian Handbook
Volume III 1913-14
Interesting information in this volume such as, Origins of Names of Provinces, Some first things in Canada, Canada's Water Power and other articles which you can read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...anhandbook.pdf
Thoughts on a Sunday morning - the 30th day of May 2021
By the Rev. Nola Crewe
You can view this at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/foru...-30th-may-2021
The Canadian Martyrs
By E. J. Devine, S.J. (second edition) (1923) (pdf)
You can read this at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...ianmartyrs.pdf
Canadian Division of the Institute of Journalists
By the Institute of Journalists Canadian Division (1911) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...ournalists.pdf
Electric Scotland
Beth's Video Talks
Got in her talk for June 2nd 2021 - Beth's Nursery Rhymes No. 2
You can view this at: https://electricscotland.com/bnft/videos.htm
Jigsaw Puzzles
Added another two jigsaw puzzles at:
https://electricscotland.com/kids/jigsaws/index.htm
The History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland from the Restoration to the Revolution
By the Rev. Robert Wodrow of the Gospel at Eastwood with an original memoir of the author, extracts from his correspondence, a preliminary dissertation, and notes by the Rev. Robert Burns, D.D., F.A.S.E. (1828) in four volumes (new edition)
I added these volumes to our page about the author and so if you scroll down the page to the horizontal line you'll find them there at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...row_robert.htm
Heart Echoes
By the Late William Davidson Robertson, Bankfoot, Auchtergaven and Edited by his sister Isabella and John Paul, Dundee (1890) (pdf)
You can read this short book at:
https://electricscotland.com/poetry/...00robeiala.pdf
A Pilgrimage to My Motherland
An Account of a Journey among the Egbas and Yorubas of Central Africa in 1859-60 by Robert Campbell, One of the Commissioners of the Niger Valley Exploring Party; late in charge of the Scientific Department of the Institute for Colored Youth, Philadelphia; and Member of the International Statistical Congress, London (1861) (pdf)
You can read this at: https://electricscotland.com/history...rimagetomy.pdf
The Breed that Beats the Record
And wins in the race for supremacy as the most economical producer of the primest meat for the million. A demonstration - properties, prepotence, pre-eminence and prestige. Aberdeen Angus - the Polled Cattle with an introduction by Judge J. S. Goodwin, A. M., Belott, Kansas. (1886) (pdf) To the knowing ones it is enough to say in conclusion, that the Scotch cattle are as good and true as Scotch hospitality and more than that pen cannot write.
You can read this at: https://electricscotland.com/agricul...nguscattle.pdf
McGahey, Michael
Scottish Miners Leader and Communist Party Member added to our Significant Scots section which you can read at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...ay_michael.htm
Story
The Death of King Coal
IT was an annual celebration once enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people in working communities the length and breadth of Scotland. But yesterday the tiny Fife village of Kinglassie witnessed the sad end of a historic tradition as locals gathered for the country’s last miner’s gala.
Such fairs, with their beer tents, football matches, brass and pipe band competitions, traditional Coal Queens, athletic track events, boxing bouts and fiery socialist oratory, were once the highlight of a mining community’s year.
For most, gala day was a chance to show off prize leeks, compete for prize money in the arena and meet old pals while the die-hards of the National Union of Mineworkers clustered around visiting leaders.
The first Scottish gala was held in 1871, when miners in Kirkcaldy, Fife, celebrated the introduction of an eight-hour working day. Yesterday’s gathering in Kinglassie was a pale shadow of the days when tens of thousands of miners and their families would march to the gala fields in villages across Scotland — culminating each year in the mighty miners’ gala in Edinburgh, where the crowds could reach six figures.
Scottish NUM president Nicky Wilson was on hand to provide the oratory, which echoed the distant days of Mick McGahey and Arthur Scargill. But most of the crowd were more interested in the performances by the majorettes, Methil and District Pipe Band and the Dysart Colliery Brass Band - named after a long-closed pit.
Now the retired miners who organise the Fife Miners' Gala have decided this year’s event will be their last. Dan Imrie, once a leader of the militant Fife miners, said: ‘We are all getting on a bit now. Some of the old miners here today are in their eighties. It’s a sad day for the millers Ioved the parade — it was a great thing. ‘Now we’re just looking for a nice finishing up gala.’
Mr lmrie blamed bureaucracy for killing off community events around the country. He added: ‘It’s not as easy as it used to be —it’s the amount of money needed to organise it. ‘The council is overburdening us. This year the council made us fill in risk assessment and health and safety forms. We’re getting old and could have done without the hassle this year.’
Helen Eadie, the Dunfermline East MSP who opened the event, said: ‘It is very sad, because when an event like this dies, then a bit of us dies with it. It’s important for us, spiritually, emotionally and psychologically.
‘The real danger is that when the old miners pass on, the people who would understand. what it was like to work underground, and that very special connection between every man who did so, won’t be there.’
She added: ‘The galas were of enormous significance. They had a lot of emotional links to the past that are still reflected in the behaviour of the local community. ‘There is a very deep bond within the mining fraternity, no matter where you come from in the UK.’
IT was an annual celebration once enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people in working communities the length and breadth of Scotland. But yesterday the tiny Fife village of Kinglassie witnessed the sad end of a historic tradition as locals gathered for the country’s last miner’s gala.
Such fairs, with their beer tents, football matches, brass and pipe band competitions, traditional Coal Queens, athletic track events, boxing bouts and fiery socialist oratory, were once the highlight of a mining community’s year.
For most, gala day was a chance to show off prize leeks, compete for prize money in the arena and meet old pals while the die-hards of the National Union of Mineworkers clustered around visiting leaders.
The first Scottish gala was held in 1871, when miners in Kirkcaldy, Fife, celebrated the introduction of an eight-hour working day. Yesterday’s gathering in Kinglassie was a pale shadow of the days when tens of thousands of miners and their families would march to the gala fields in villages across Scotland — culminating each year in the mighty miners’ gala in Edinburgh, where the crowds could reach six figures.
Scottish NUM president Nicky Wilson was on hand to provide the oratory, which echoed the distant days of Mick McGahey and Arthur Scargill. But most of the crowd were more interested in the performances by the majorettes, Methil and District Pipe Band and the Dysart Colliery Brass Band - named after a long-closed pit.
Now the retired miners who organise the Fife Miners' Gala have decided this year’s event will be their last. Dan Imrie, once a leader of the militant Fife miners, said: ‘We are all getting on a bit now. Some of the old miners here today are in their eighties. It’s a sad day for the millers Ioved the parade — it was a great thing. ‘Now we’re just looking for a nice finishing up gala.’
Mr lmrie blamed bureaucracy for killing off community events around the country. He added: ‘It’s not as easy as it used to be —it’s the amount of money needed to organise it. ‘The council is overburdening us. This year the council made us fill in risk assessment and health and safety forms. We’re getting old and could have done without the hassle this year.’
Helen Eadie, the Dunfermline East MSP who opened the event, said: ‘It is very sad, because when an event like this dies, then a bit of us dies with it. It’s important for us, spiritually, emotionally and psychologically.
‘The real danger is that when the old miners pass on, the people who would understand. what it was like to work underground, and that very special connection between every man who did so, won’t be there.’
She added: ‘The galas were of enormous significance. They had a lot of emotional links to the past that are still reflected in the behaviour of the local community. ‘There is a very deep bond within the mining fraternity, no matter where you come from in the UK.’
Former miners’ leader Willie Clark, now Britain’s sole Communist councillor, represents the old Fife mining communities of 8allingry and Lochore. He said: ‘Those involved in organising the gala have done a tremendous amount of work. It’s a credit to them that it has lasted so long. ‘It is sad that the galas have gone. They would bring together the spirit of the local area. ‘It was a focal point to get a bit of freedom of expression these men wouldn’t have had working in the industry.’
He added: ‘The national gala was also a tremendous day for Edinburgh folk. ‘Lots of people who weren’t related to the industry came to see the bands marching down the Royal Mile — it was a holiday atmosphere.’
END.
And that's it for this week and hope you all have a great weekend.
Alastair
https://electricscotland.com/scotnews.htm
Electric Scotland News
Scottish manuscript bought by National Library for Scotland. A 16th Century Highland Perthshire manuscript written in Latin, Scots and Gaelic has been bought for £25,000 by the National Library of Scotland. The Chronicle of Fortingall was compiled between 1554 and 1579 and includes poetry, short texts, and records of contemporary events.
Scottish News from this weeks newspapers
Note that this is a selection and more can be read in our ScotNews feed on our index page where we list news from the past 1-2 weeks. I am partly doing this to build an archive of modern news from and about Scotland and world news stories that can affect Scotland and as all the newsletters are archived and also indexed on Google and other search engines it becomes a good resource. I might also add that in a number of newspapers you will find many comments which can be just as interesting as the news story itself and of course you can also add your own comments if you wish which I do myself from time to time.
Local government in Scotland - Overview 2021
The Accounts Commission is the public spending watchdog for local government. We hold councils in Scotland to account and help them improve. We operate impartially and independently of councils and of the Scottish Government, and we meet and report in public.
Read more at:
https://www.audit-scotland.gov.uk/up...t_overview.pdf
The SNP plan to decriminalise drugs is the worst of all worlds
Of the SNP's many, many policy failures, Scotland's record on drug deaths is surely among the worst The big idea to solve this scourge? A decriminalisation proposal that would do little to tackle drug harms, while offering drug dealers a licence to print money.
Read more at:
https://capx.co/the-snp-plan-to-decr...-of-all-worlds
Poll shows English don't care if Scotland quits but block extra money
ENGLISH voters have declared their disinterest in Scotland's independence hopes and do not want to give Nicola Sturgeon any more public money, a new poll has indicated.
Read more at:
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/14...-boris-johnson
In praise of the car
For many young people passing their driving test is an important rite of passage to adulthood. Acquiring your first vehicle is a major advance in your personal freedom.. Yet today government, Councils and better off greens from the security of their homes in major cities lecture the rest of us on the wickedness of the car.
Read more at:
https://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2021/0...ise-of-the-car
SNP shamed over child mental health waiting times scandal.
THE number of children waiting more than a year for mental health support in Scotland has almost tripled during the pandemic, shocking figures show.
Read more at:
https://www.express.co.uk/news/polit...ealth-services
Glasgow's future after Covid
By Gerry Hassan in the Scottish Review
Read more at:
https://www.scottishreview.net/GerryHassan573a.html
A world beneath as Borders farmer uncovers treasure trove of ancient artefacts and fascinating, forgotten stories under his doorstep
It seemed a road to nowhere but home for Alistair Moffat and his family but beneath their feet lay a highway into the past.
Read more at:
https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/alista...ient-artefacts
The rosbif-in-chief - why the French love Boris Johnson
The PM not only enjoys high name recognition in France, but he's popular across the political spectrum
Read more at:
https://capx.co/the-rosbif-in-chief-...boris-johnson/
Queen to meet US President Joe Biden next week
The Queen will meet US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden next week, Buckingham Palace has said.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-57345764
Why Canada is mourning the deaths of 215 children
The preliminary discovery last week of the remains of 215 Indigenous children - students of Canada's largest residential school - has prompted nationwide outrage and calls for further searches of unmarked graves. Here's what we know so far.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57325653
Electric Canadian
The Canadian Handbook
Volume III 1913-14
Interesting information in this volume such as, Origins of Names of Provinces, Some first things in Canada, Canada's Water Power and other articles which you can read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...anhandbook.pdf
Thoughts on a Sunday morning - the 30th day of May 2021
By the Rev. Nola Crewe
You can view this at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/foru...-30th-may-2021
The Canadian Martyrs
By E. J. Devine, S.J. (second edition) (1923) (pdf)
You can read this at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...ianmartyrs.pdf
Canadian Division of the Institute of Journalists
By the Institute of Journalists Canadian Division (1911) (pdf)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...ournalists.pdf
Electric Scotland
Beth's Video Talks
Got in her talk for June 2nd 2021 - Beth's Nursery Rhymes No. 2
You can view this at: https://electricscotland.com/bnft/videos.htm
Jigsaw Puzzles
Added another two jigsaw puzzles at:
https://electricscotland.com/kids/jigsaws/index.htm
The History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland from the Restoration to the Revolution
By the Rev. Robert Wodrow of the Gospel at Eastwood with an original memoir of the author, extracts from his correspondence, a preliminary dissertation, and notes by the Rev. Robert Burns, D.D., F.A.S.E. (1828) in four volumes (new edition)
I added these volumes to our page about the author and so if you scroll down the page to the horizontal line you'll find them there at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...row_robert.htm
Heart Echoes
By the Late William Davidson Robertson, Bankfoot, Auchtergaven and Edited by his sister Isabella and John Paul, Dundee (1890) (pdf)
You can read this short book at:
https://electricscotland.com/poetry/...00robeiala.pdf
A Pilgrimage to My Motherland
An Account of a Journey among the Egbas and Yorubas of Central Africa in 1859-60 by Robert Campbell, One of the Commissioners of the Niger Valley Exploring Party; late in charge of the Scientific Department of the Institute for Colored Youth, Philadelphia; and Member of the International Statistical Congress, London (1861) (pdf)
You can read this at: https://electricscotland.com/history...rimagetomy.pdf
The Breed that Beats the Record
And wins in the race for supremacy as the most economical producer of the primest meat for the million. A demonstration - properties, prepotence, pre-eminence and prestige. Aberdeen Angus - the Polled Cattle with an introduction by Judge J. S. Goodwin, A. M., Belott, Kansas. (1886) (pdf) To the knowing ones it is enough to say in conclusion, that the Scotch cattle are as good and true as Scotch hospitality and more than that pen cannot write.
You can read this at: https://electricscotland.com/agricul...nguscattle.pdf
McGahey, Michael
Scottish Miners Leader and Communist Party Member added to our Significant Scots section which you can read at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...ay_michael.htm
Story
The Death of King Coal
IT was an annual celebration once enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people in working communities the length and breadth of Scotland. But yesterday the tiny Fife village of Kinglassie witnessed the sad end of a historic tradition as locals gathered for the country’s last miner’s gala.
Such fairs, with their beer tents, football matches, brass and pipe band competitions, traditional Coal Queens, athletic track events, boxing bouts and fiery socialist oratory, were once the highlight of a mining community’s year.
For most, gala day was a chance to show off prize leeks, compete for prize money in the arena and meet old pals while the die-hards of the National Union of Mineworkers clustered around visiting leaders.
The first Scottish gala was held in 1871, when miners in Kirkcaldy, Fife, celebrated the introduction of an eight-hour working day. Yesterday’s gathering in Kinglassie was a pale shadow of the days when tens of thousands of miners and their families would march to the gala fields in villages across Scotland — culminating each year in the mighty miners’ gala in Edinburgh, where the crowds could reach six figures.
Scottish NUM president Nicky Wilson was on hand to provide the oratory, which echoed the distant days of Mick McGahey and Arthur Scargill. But most of the crowd were more interested in the performances by the majorettes, Methil and District Pipe Band and the Dysart Colliery Brass Band - named after a long-closed pit.
Now the retired miners who organise the Fife Miners' Gala have decided this year’s event will be their last. Dan Imrie, once a leader of the militant Fife miners, said: ‘We are all getting on a bit now. Some of the old miners here today are in their eighties. It’s a sad day for the millers Ioved the parade — it was a great thing. ‘Now we’re just looking for a nice finishing up gala.’
Mr lmrie blamed bureaucracy for killing off community events around the country. He added: ‘It’s not as easy as it used to be —it’s the amount of money needed to organise it. ‘The council is overburdening us. This year the council made us fill in risk assessment and health and safety forms. We’re getting old and could have done without the hassle this year.’
Helen Eadie, the Dunfermline East MSP who opened the event, said: ‘It is very sad, because when an event like this dies, then a bit of us dies with it. It’s important for us, spiritually, emotionally and psychologically.
‘The real danger is that when the old miners pass on, the people who would understand. what it was like to work underground, and that very special connection between every man who did so, won’t be there.’
She added: ‘The galas were of enormous significance. They had a lot of emotional links to the past that are still reflected in the behaviour of the local community. ‘There is a very deep bond within the mining fraternity, no matter where you come from in the UK.’
IT was an annual celebration once enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people in working communities the length and breadth of Scotland. But yesterday the tiny Fife village of Kinglassie witnessed the sad end of a historic tradition as locals gathered for the country’s last miner’s gala.
Such fairs, with their beer tents, football matches, brass and pipe band competitions, traditional Coal Queens, athletic track events, boxing bouts and fiery socialist oratory, were once the highlight of a mining community’s year.
For most, gala day was a chance to show off prize leeks, compete for prize money in the arena and meet old pals while the die-hards of the National Union of Mineworkers clustered around visiting leaders.
The first Scottish gala was held in 1871, when miners in Kirkcaldy, Fife, celebrated the introduction of an eight-hour working day. Yesterday’s gathering in Kinglassie was a pale shadow of the days when tens of thousands of miners and their families would march to the gala fields in villages across Scotland — culminating each year in the mighty miners’ gala in Edinburgh, where the crowds could reach six figures.
Scottish NUM president Nicky Wilson was on hand to provide the oratory, which echoed the distant days of Mick McGahey and Arthur Scargill. But most of the crowd were more interested in the performances by the majorettes, Methil and District Pipe Band and the Dysart Colliery Brass Band - named after a long-closed pit.
Now the retired miners who organise the Fife Miners' Gala have decided this year’s event will be their last. Dan Imrie, once a leader of the militant Fife miners, said: ‘We are all getting on a bit now. Some of the old miners here today are in their eighties. It’s a sad day for the millers Ioved the parade — it was a great thing. ‘Now we’re just looking for a nice finishing up gala.’
Mr lmrie blamed bureaucracy for killing off community events around the country. He added: ‘It’s not as easy as it used to be —it’s the amount of money needed to organise it. ‘The council is overburdening us. This year the council made us fill in risk assessment and health and safety forms. We’re getting old and could have done without the hassle this year.’
Helen Eadie, the Dunfermline East MSP who opened the event, said: ‘It is very sad, because when an event like this dies, then a bit of us dies with it. It’s important for us, spiritually, emotionally and psychologically.
‘The real danger is that when the old miners pass on, the people who would understand. what it was like to work underground, and that very special connection between every man who did so, won’t be there.’
She added: ‘The galas were of enormous significance. They had a lot of emotional links to the past that are still reflected in the behaviour of the local community. ‘There is a very deep bond within the mining fraternity, no matter where you come from in the UK.’
Former miners’ leader Willie Clark, now Britain’s sole Communist councillor, represents the old Fife mining communities of 8allingry and Lochore. He said: ‘Those involved in organising the gala have done a tremendous amount of work. It’s a credit to them that it has lasted so long. ‘It is sad that the galas have gone. They would bring together the spirit of the local area. ‘It was a focal point to get a bit of freedom of expression these men wouldn’t have had working in the industry.’
He added: ‘The national gala was also a tremendous day for Edinburgh folk. ‘Lots of people who weren’t related to the industry came to see the bands marching down the Royal Mile — it was a holiday atmosphere.’
END.
And that's it for this week and hope you all have a great weekend.
Alastair