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For the latest news from Scotland see our ScotNews feed at:
https://electricscotland.com/scotnews.htm
Electric Scotland News
My email program crashed and I lost a lot of emails that I was due to reply to and I also lost my contacts list.
I have managed to get it working again but it still has some issues. And so if you thought you might get a response from an email you sent me and didn't receive one that is likely the issue. You can resend me an email if you wish and I will do my best to respond.
The email address alastairi@electricscotland.com is the one with the issue. My other email address at electricscotland@gmail.com is working fine so use that one if you wish.
-------
I should also mention that I have ceased to use Facebook and Twitter. I do object that they both banned President Trump from their platforms while still allowing other users that should have been banned. No matter what you think of a country leader they should never be banned from having their say on events in my opinion. Of course I may return to Twitter if the new owner changes their policy.
-------
I note the cost of living is shooting up these days. Electricity and Gas, Petrol, Food and your mortgage are all taking a hit. I also note that small businesses are also being hit and having to pass on some of these costs to their customers. My Accountant even said they would need to increase their fees by 20%.
When it comes to heating and cooling perhaps we need to consider turning down the thermostat by a couple of degrees? There is also a tremendous waste of food with much being thrown out so there is certainly scope for wasting less which should compensate for the price increases. Not much you can do about your mortgage but being more frugal in other spending will help you mitigate some of the increases. Perhaps consider spending your holiday in your own country instead of going overseas?
In my case my UK pensions are frozen as Canada doesn't have an arrangement with the UK on pensions so I don't get the pension increases I would get if I lived in the UK or for that matter if I lived in the USA.
Due to the price of petrol and diesel delivery charges are also increasing. The chap that cuts my grass tells me he'll need to charge an extra $5.00 a visit. Of course the war between Russia and Ukraine is causing shortages of goods and so lots of issues these days.
I will say Canada is well placed as we have great capacity in agriculture and fish and also in minerals. Just a pity we didn't do better at getting our oil to the coasts so we could export it to other countries.
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.
Refurbished Roman museum gets royal approval
A museum near the site of a fort which was home to thousands of Roman soldiers in the Scottish Borders has been officially opened after a £1.4m upgrade.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cekj54l15p9o
Flying taxis hub opens in Coventry for demonstrations
A hub for future vehicles like air taxis and delivery drones is opening to the public for demonstrations. Over at least a month the Air-One mini-airport site in Coventry will host demonstrator flights and outline how to control aircraft.
Reads more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-...shire-61193195
First full-size driverless bus trials to begin in Scotland
The UK's first full-sized driverless buses will begin trials in Scotland this week with a view to having passengers on board later this summer. Road testing of the autonomous single-decker vehicles gets under way on a 14-mile route between Edinburgh and Fife.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland...-fife-61216302
STUC conference: What about the workers?
The Scottish Trades Union Congress has its 125th conference this week with a strong negotiating hand but weakness in membership and legal powers, highlighted by the sackings at P&O Ferries.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-61195542
Why Scotland's census blunder matters
Around 700,000 Scottish households - a quarter of the country - are facing £1,000 fines for failing to complete the census.
Read more at:
https://www.reddit.com/r/unitedkingd...under_matters/
The envy of the world?
Today’s report from the thinktank Civitas, authored by former CPS director Tim Knox, makes for a difficult read for anyone who still honestly thinks ours is the greatest health system the world has ever seen. Knox’s report is all the more striking for how little editorialising is involved. Rather, he has simply taken OECD health data across various criteria and seen how well the NHS does compared to similar countries’ health systems. The answer is, unfortunately, not very well at all.
Read more at:
https://capx.co/does-anyone-still-se...y-of-the-world
Islanders’ anger as Arran ferry ruled out for weeks and CalMac blame an ageing fleet
Islanders on one of Scotland’s biggest islands are braced for more weeks of uncertainty after the ferry serving Arran is ruled out until next month.
Read more at:
https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/the-only
Care home Covid ruling could prompt Scottish legal cases
Families who lost loved ones to Covid-19 in Scottish care homes are considering legal action following a ruling in England. UK government policies on discharging untested patients from hospital at the start of the Covid pandemic were ruled unlawful at the High Court in London
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-61247219
Scottish government ordered to publish indyref2 legal advice
The Scottish government has been ordered to publish details of legal advice it has received over a potential second independence referendum. The government had refused to make the advice public, arguing that it would breach legal professional privilege. It has now been given a deadline of 10 June to publish parts of the advice by the country's information commissioner.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland...itics-61242401
QC Helena Kennedy shocked by level of misogyny in Scotland
A QC who was tasked with looking at misogyny in Scotland said she was shocked by the evidence she heard. Baroness Helena Kennedy led a team of experts who last month called for a new law to tackle violence and abuse against women.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-61243420
UK kickstarts talks for new Brexit deal to accelerate trade with Switzerland
BRITAIN has today kickstarted work for a bumper new trade deal with Switzerland to bolster its £35billion relationship with the northern European country.
Read more at:
https://www.express.co.uk/news/polit...e-Trevelyan-EU
The wind racket
Wind farms may be all the rage, but they are not the green panacea that ESG consultants might have you believe. From intermittence to turbine failure and the simple fact that wind power firms struggle to turn a profit, the industry looks increasingly like a distorted racket.
Read more at:
https://capx.co/is-wind-power-really...n-energy-needs
Electric Canadian
Marble Island and the North West Coast of Hudson's Bay
By Robert Bell, B.A.Sc, M.D., LL.D., Assistant Director of the Geological Survey of Canada (pdf)
You can read this article at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...ble_Island.pdf
The Eskimo of Stupart Bay
By R. F. Stupart (pdf)
My paper this evening treats more especially of the Eskimo and their mode of life as observed by myself during a twelve months residence among them on the shores of Hudson's Straits.
You can read this paper at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...rt_eskimos.pdf
Thoughts on a Sunday Morning - the 24th day of April 2022 - Upskilling
By the Rev. Nola Crewe
You can view this at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/foru...022-upskilling
Handbook of Canada
Published by the Publication Committee of the Local Executive, Toronto 1897, of the British Association for the Advancement of Science Toronto Meeting 1897 (pdf)
You can view this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...nada00brit.pdf
Electric Scotland
Beth's Video Talks
April 27th 2022 - Oyez, Oyez
You can watch this at:
https://electricscotland.com/bnft/index.htm
Beth's Family Tree
Hi Everybody! Here's the Section 1 for May. It's got some interesting articles and a lovely photo of Queen Elizabeth and two of her "ponies." I looked up the breed of equine which was not anywhere else that I know of. I thought others besides me, would like to know, too. Someone really worked hard on their grooming for the photo with the Queen.
I did discover something that others might enjoy knowing. My movie taste is definitely not sophisticated. All of the SHREK movies are my very favorites and I still watch them as you're laughing so hard you miss things. After SHREK, it's Despicable Me, 1 - 3. I love the Minions. If I ever am fortunate enough to get 3 more Newfoundland dogs, I will name them Kevin, Bob, and Stuart after wonderful Minions! Anyway, I was unsuccessfully searching for something to go to sleep by and ran across Despicable Me, 1, which I have seen half a dozen times. "I always enjoy that, " I thought and clicked "start." Before it even got started, I suspected something...as it was different from anything I had ever seen. It turned out all I had ever seen before had been edited and edited and edited. I was entranced and did not go to sleep at all during that movie! It was free, too.
We decided the next night to try the other two Despicable Me movies. Number 2 was also free and also the complete movie! Number 3 was $3.99, but was, unsurprisingly, the complete movie. I don't know how long this lasts, but, if you are, like me, a lover of really funny movies with great stories, please check them out. We do have streaming TV. I don't think Tom will mind me telling you all that those are some of his favorite movies too.
Does anyone know where I can get maybe a dozen real minions?
Last night, we were searching and on a particular channel, we had watched everything there. Tom had watched all of the aviation things and I had watched all of the gardening shows...yep, every one of them. We hooted about that.
Does anyone know where I can get maybe a dozen real minions?
Please don't forget to send me your genealogical queries and your Flowers of the Forest. Both are free. Let me know if your email address changes, please. I use the KISS method wherever I can, so just send everything to <bethscribble@aol.com> If you have articles or stories you'd like in BNFT, send those along too, please.
Please stay safe. Be careful. I looked up how many Covid cases there were yesterday and it was horribly high. So, be aware.
Aye,
beth
See this section at: https://electricscotland.com/bnft/index.htm
International Health Care Outcomes Index 2022
By Tim Knox (pdf)
A most interesting report and an overview of it can be read in our News section above but the full report can be read at:
https://electricscotland.com/indepen...Index-2022.pdf
A History of the Rencounter at Drumclog
And Battle at Bothwell Bridge in the Month of June, 1697, with an account of what is correct, and what is fictitious in the "Tales of my Landlord" respecting these engagements, and Reflections on Political Subjects by William Aiton, Sheriff-Substitute, Hamilton, (1821) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...e/drumclog.pdf
The Pennsylvania Canals
By James MacFarlane, Ph. D. (pdf)
You can read this short book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...aniacanals.pdf
Scottish University Maces
From the Aberdeen Journal, January 24. 1913
You can read this article at:
https://electricscotland.com/history/articles/maces.htm
Jenny Geddes and Laud’s Service Book
From the Aberdeen Journal, January 24. 1913
This article can be read at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...ervicebook.htm
The Reformation. A trouble of the kirk in the Mearns
From the Aberdeen Journal, January 17, 1913
This article can be read at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...es/trouble.htm
Iona Cathedral and Historic Slavery
By The Iona Cathedral Trustees (2021) (pdf)
An update of the history from the Trustees which can be read at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...c-slavery-.pdf
What has the SNP ever done for me?
Sent in by Stan Bruce.
Stan is an SNP supporter and sent this in to me and it can be read at:
https://electricscotland.com/lifestyle/snpdoneforme.htm
Remember Now Thy Creator
Scottish Girls’ Samplers, 1700–1872 by Naomi E A Tarrant (2014) (pdf)
Interesting article which you can read at:
https://electricscotland.com/lifesty...thycreator.htm
Story
British Newspaper salutes Canada
Salute to a brave and modest nation - Kevin Myers, 'The Sunday Telegraph' LONDON
Until the deaths of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan, probably almost no one outside their home country had been aware that Canadian troops are deployed in the region.
And as always, Canada will bury its dead, just as the rest of the world, as always will forget its sacrifice, just as it always forgets nearly everything Canada ever does. It seems that Canada's historic mission is to come to the selfless aid both of its friends and of complete strangers, and then, once the crisis is over, to be well and truly ignored.
Canada is the perpetual wallflower that stands on the edge of the hall, waiting for someone to come and ask her for a dance. A fire breaks out, she risks life and limb to rescue her fellow dance-goers, and suffers serious injuries. But when the hall is repaired and the dancing resumes, there is Canada, the wallflower still, while those she once helped glamorously cavort across the floor, blithely neglecting her yet again.
That is the price Canada pays for sharing the North American continent with the United States, and for being a selfless friend of Britain in two global conflicts.
For much of the 20th century, Canada was torn in two different directions: It seemed to be a part of the old world, yet had an address in the new one, and that divided identity ensured that it never fully got the gratitude it deserved.
Yet it's purely voluntary contribution to the cause of freedom in two world wars was perhaps the greatest of any democracy. Almost 10% of Canada's entire population of seven million people served in the armed forces during the First World War, and nearly 60,000 died. The great Allied victories of 1918 were spearheaded by Canadian troops, perhaps the most capable soldiers in the entire British order of battle.
Canada was repaid for its enormous sacrifice by downright neglect, it's unique contribution to victory being absorbed into the popular memory as somehow or other the work of the 'British.'
The Second World War provided a re-run. The Canadian navy began the war with a half dozen vessels, and ended up policing nearly half of the Atlantic against U-boat attack. More than 120 Canadian warships participated in the Normandy landings, during which 15,000 Canadian soldiers went ashore on D-Day alone.
Canada finished the war with the third-largest navy and the fourth largest air force in the world. The world thanked Canada with the same sublime indifference as it had the previous time.
Canadian participation in the war was acknowledged in film only if it was necessary to give an American actor a part in a campaign in which the United States had clearly not participated - a touching scrupulousness which, of course, Hollywood has since abandoned, as it has any notion of a separate Canadian identity.
So it is a general rule that actors and filmmakers arriving in Hollywood keep their nationality - unless, that is, they are Canadian. Thus Mary Pickford, Walter Huston, Donald Sutherland, Michael J. Fox, William Shatner, Norman Jewison, David Cronenberg, Alex Trebek, Art Linkletter, Mike Weir and Dan Aykroyd have in the popular perception become American, and Christopher Plummer, British.
It is as if, in the very act of becoming famous, a Canadian ceases to be Canadian, unless she is Margaret Atwood, who is as unshakably Canadian as a moose, or Celine Dion, for whom Canada has proved quite unable to find any takers.
Moreover, Canada is every bit as querulously alert to the achievements of its sons and daughters as the rest of the world is completely unaware of them. The Canadians proudly say of themselves - and are unheard by anyone else - that 1% of the world's population has provided 10% of the world's peacekeeping forces.
Canadian soldiers in the past half century have been the greatest peacekeepers on Earth - in 39 missions on UN mandates, and six on non-UN peacekeeping duties, from Vietnam to East Timor, from Sinai to Bosnia.
Yet the only foreign engagement that has entered the popular non-Canadian imagination was the sorry affair in Somalia, in which out-of-control paratroopers murdered two Somali infiltrators. Their regiment was then disbanded in disgrace - a uniquely Canadian act of self-abasement for which, naturally, the Canadians received no international credit.
So who today in the United States knows about the stoic and selfless friendship its northern neighbour has given it in Afghanistan?
Rather like Cyrano de Bergerac, Canada repeatedly does honourable things for honourable motives, but instead of being thanked for it, it remains something of a figure of fun. It is the Canadian way, for which Canadians should be proud, yet such honour comes at a high cost. This past year more grieving Canadian families knew that cost all too tragically well.
Lest we forget.
END
Weekend is almost here and hope it's a good one for you.
Alastair
https://electricscotland.com/scotnews.htm
Electric Scotland News
My email program crashed and I lost a lot of emails that I was due to reply to and I also lost my contacts list.
I have managed to get it working again but it still has some issues. And so if you thought you might get a response from an email you sent me and didn't receive one that is likely the issue. You can resend me an email if you wish and I will do my best to respond.
The email address alastairi@electricscotland.com is the one with the issue. My other email address at electricscotland@gmail.com is working fine so use that one if you wish.
-------
I should also mention that I have ceased to use Facebook and Twitter. I do object that they both banned President Trump from their platforms while still allowing other users that should have been banned. No matter what you think of a country leader they should never be banned from having their say on events in my opinion. Of course I may return to Twitter if the new owner changes their policy.
-------
I note the cost of living is shooting up these days. Electricity and Gas, Petrol, Food and your mortgage are all taking a hit. I also note that small businesses are also being hit and having to pass on some of these costs to their customers. My Accountant even said they would need to increase their fees by 20%.
When it comes to heating and cooling perhaps we need to consider turning down the thermostat by a couple of degrees? There is also a tremendous waste of food with much being thrown out so there is certainly scope for wasting less which should compensate for the price increases. Not much you can do about your mortgage but being more frugal in other spending will help you mitigate some of the increases. Perhaps consider spending your holiday in your own country instead of going overseas?
In my case my UK pensions are frozen as Canada doesn't have an arrangement with the UK on pensions so I don't get the pension increases I would get if I lived in the UK or for that matter if I lived in the USA.
Due to the price of petrol and diesel delivery charges are also increasing. The chap that cuts my grass tells me he'll need to charge an extra $5.00 a visit. Of course the war between Russia and Ukraine is causing shortages of goods and so lots of issues these days.
I will say Canada is well placed as we have great capacity in agriculture and fish and also in minerals. Just a pity we didn't do better at getting our oil to the coasts so we could export it to other countries.
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.
Refurbished Roman museum gets royal approval
A museum near the site of a fort which was home to thousands of Roman soldiers in the Scottish Borders has been officially opened after a £1.4m upgrade.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cekj54l15p9o
Flying taxis hub opens in Coventry for demonstrations
A hub for future vehicles like air taxis and delivery drones is opening to the public for demonstrations. Over at least a month the Air-One mini-airport site in Coventry will host demonstrator flights and outline how to control aircraft.
Reads more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-...shire-61193195
First full-size driverless bus trials to begin in Scotland
The UK's first full-sized driverless buses will begin trials in Scotland this week with a view to having passengers on board later this summer. Road testing of the autonomous single-decker vehicles gets under way on a 14-mile route between Edinburgh and Fife.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland...-fife-61216302
STUC conference: What about the workers?
The Scottish Trades Union Congress has its 125th conference this week with a strong negotiating hand but weakness in membership and legal powers, highlighted by the sackings at P&O Ferries.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-61195542
Why Scotland's census blunder matters
Around 700,000 Scottish households - a quarter of the country - are facing £1,000 fines for failing to complete the census.
Read more at:
https://www.reddit.com/r/unitedkingd...under_matters/
The envy of the world?
Today’s report from the thinktank Civitas, authored by former CPS director Tim Knox, makes for a difficult read for anyone who still honestly thinks ours is the greatest health system the world has ever seen. Knox’s report is all the more striking for how little editorialising is involved. Rather, he has simply taken OECD health data across various criteria and seen how well the NHS does compared to similar countries’ health systems. The answer is, unfortunately, not very well at all.
Read more at:
https://capx.co/does-anyone-still-se...y-of-the-world
Islanders’ anger as Arran ferry ruled out for weeks and CalMac blame an ageing fleet
Islanders on one of Scotland’s biggest islands are braced for more weeks of uncertainty after the ferry serving Arran is ruled out until next month.
Read more at:
https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/the-only
Care home Covid ruling could prompt Scottish legal cases
Families who lost loved ones to Covid-19 in Scottish care homes are considering legal action following a ruling in England. UK government policies on discharging untested patients from hospital at the start of the Covid pandemic were ruled unlawful at the High Court in London
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-61247219
Scottish government ordered to publish indyref2 legal advice
The Scottish government has been ordered to publish details of legal advice it has received over a potential second independence referendum. The government had refused to make the advice public, arguing that it would breach legal professional privilege. It has now been given a deadline of 10 June to publish parts of the advice by the country's information commissioner.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland...itics-61242401
QC Helena Kennedy shocked by level of misogyny in Scotland
A QC who was tasked with looking at misogyny in Scotland said she was shocked by the evidence she heard. Baroness Helena Kennedy led a team of experts who last month called for a new law to tackle violence and abuse against women.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-61243420
UK kickstarts talks for new Brexit deal to accelerate trade with Switzerland
BRITAIN has today kickstarted work for a bumper new trade deal with Switzerland to bolster its £35billion relationship with the northern European country.
Read more at:
https://www.express.co.uk/news/polit...e-Trevelyan-EU
The wind racket
Wind farms may be all the rage, but they are not the green panacea that ESG consultants might have you believe. From intermittence to turbine failure and the simple fact that wind power firms struggle to turn a profit, the industry looks increasingly like a distorted racket.
Read more at:
https://capx.co/is-wind-power-really...n-energy-needs
Electric Canadian
Marble Island and the North West Coast of Hudson's Bay
By Robert Bell, B.A.Sc, M.D., LL.D., Assistant Director of the Geological Survey of Canada (pdf)
You can read this article at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...ble_Island.pdf
The Eskimo of Stupart Bay
By R. F. Stupart (pdf)
My paper this evening treats more especially of the Eskimo and their mode of life as observed by myself during a twelve months residence among them on the shores of Hudson's Straits.
You can read this paper at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...rt_eskimos.pdf
Thoughts on a Sunday Morning - the 24th day of April 2022 - Upskilling
By the Rev. Nola Crewe
You can view this at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/foru...022-upskilling
Handbook of Canada
Published by the Publication Committee of the Local Executive, Toronto 1897, of the British Association for the Advancement of Science Toronto Meeting 1897 (pdf)
You can view this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...nada00brit.pdf
Electric Scotland
Beth's Video Talks
April 27th 2022 - Oyez, Oyez
You can watch this at:
https://electricscotland.com/bnft/index.htm
Beth's Family Tree
Hi Everybody! Here's the Section 1 for May. It's got some interesting articles and a lovely photo of Queen Elizabeth and two of her "ponies." I looked up the breed of equine which was not anywhere else that I know of. I thought others besides me, would like to know, too. Someone really worked hard on their grooming for the photo with the Queen.
I did discover something that others might enjoy knowing. My movie taste is definitely not sophisticated. All of the SHREK movies are my very favorites and I still watch them as you're laughing so hard you miss things. After SHREK, it's Despicable Me, 1 - 3. I love the Minions. If I ever am fortunate enough to get 3 more Newfoundland dogs, I will name them Kevin, Bob, and Stuart after wonderful Minions! Anyway, I was unsuccessfully searching for something to go to sleep by and ran across Despicable Me, 1, which I have seen half a dozen times. "I always enjoy that, " I thought and clicked "start." Before it even got started, I suspected something...as it was different from anything I had ever seen. It turned out all I had ever seen before had been edited and edited and edited. I was entranced and did not go to sleep at all during that movie! It was free, too.
We decided the next night to try the other two Despicable Me movies. Number 2 was also free and also the complete movie! Number 3 was $3.99, but was, unsurprisingly, the complete movie. I don't know how long this lasts, but, if you are, like me, a lover of really funny movies with great stories, please check them out. We do have streaming TV. I don't think Tom will mind me telling you all that those are some of his favorite movies too.
Does anyone know where I can get maybe a dozen real minions?
Last night, we were searching and on a particular channel, we had watched everything there. Tom had watched all of the aviation things and I had watched all of the gardening shows...yep, every one of them. We hooted about that.
Does anyone know where I can get maybe a dozen real minions?
Please don't forget to send me your genealogical queries and your Flowers of the Forest. Both are free. Let me know if your email address changes, please. I use the KISS method wherever I can, so just send everything to <bethscribble@aol.com> If you have articles or stories you'd like in BNFT, send those along too, please.
Please stay safe. Be careful. I looked up how many Covid cases there were yesterday and it was horribly high. So, be aware.
Aye,
beth
See this section at: https://electricscotland.com/bnft/index.htm
International Health Care Outcomes Index 2022
By Tim Knox (pdf)
A most interesting report and an overview of it can be read in our News section above but the full report can be read at:
https://electricscotland.com/indepen...Index-2022.pdf
A History of the Rencounter at Drumclog
And Battle at Bothwell Bridge in the Month of June, 1697, with an account of what is correct, and what is fictitious in the "Tales of my Landlord" respecting these engagements, and Reflections on Political Subjects by William Aiton, Sheriff-Substitute, Hamilton, (1821) (pdf)
You can read this book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...e/drumclog.pdf
The Pennsylvania Canals
By James MacFarlane, Ph. D. (pdf)
You can read this short book at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...aniacanals.pdf
Scottish University Maces
From the Aberdeen Journal, January 24. 1913
You can read this article at:
https://electricscotland.com/history/articles/maces.htm
Jenny Geddes and Laud’s Service Book
From the Aberdeen Journal, January 24. 1913
This article can be read at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...ervicebook.htm
The Reformation. A trouble of the kirk in the Mearns
From the Aberdeen Journal, January 17, 1913
This article can be read at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...es/trouble.htm
Iona Cathedral and Historic Slavery
By The Iona Cathedral Trustees (2021) (pdf)
An update of the history from the Trustees which can be read at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...c-slavery-.pdf
What has the SNP ever done for me?
Sent in by Stan Bruce.
Stan is an SNP supporter and sent this in to me and it can be read at:
https://electricscotland.com/lifestyle/snpdoneforme.htm
Remember Now Thy Creator
Scottish Girls’ Samplers, 1700–1872 by Naomi E A Tarrant (2014) (pdf)
Interesting article which you can read at:
https://electricscotland.com/lifesty...thycreator.htm
Story
British Newspaper salutes Canada
Salute to a brave and modest nation - Kevin Myers, 'The Sunday Telegraph' LONDON
Until the deaths of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan, probably almost no one outside their home country had been aware that Canadian troops are deployed in the region.
And as always, Canada will bury its dead, just as the rest of the world, as always will forget its sacrifice, just as it always forgets nearly everything Canada ever does. It seems that Canada's historic mission is to come to the selfless aid both of its friends and of complete strangers, and then, once the crisis is over, to be well and truly ignored.
Canada is the perpetual wallflower that stands on the edge of the hall, waiting for someone to come and ask her for a dance. A fire breaks out, she risks life and limb to rescue her fellow dance-goers, and suffers serious injuries. But when the hall is repaired and the dancing resumes, there is Canada, the wallflower still, while those she once helped glamorously cavort across the floor, blithely neglecting her yet again.
That is the price Canada pays for sharing the North American continent with the United States, and for being a selfless friend of Britain in two global conflicts.
For much of the 20th century, Canada was torn in two different directions: It seemed to be a part of the old world, yet had an address in the new one, and that divided identity ensured that it never fully got the gratitude it deserved.
Yet it's purely voluntary contribution to the cause of freedom in two world wars was perhaps the greatest of any democracy. Almost 10% of Canada's entire population of seven million people served in the armed forces during the First World War, and nearly 60,000 died. The great Allied victories of 1918 were spearheaded by Canadian troops, perhaps the most capable soldiers in the entire British order of battle.
Canada was repaid for its enormous sacrifice by downright neglect, it's unique contribution to victory being absorbed into the popular memory as somehow or other the work of the 'British.'
The Second World War provided a re-run. The Canadian navy began the war with a half dozen vessels, and ended up policing nearly half of the Atlantic against U-boat attack. More than 120 Canadian warships participated in the Normandy landings, during which 15,000 Canadian soldiers went ashore on D-Day alone.
Canada finished the war with the third-largest navy and the fourth largest air force in the world. The world thanked Canada with the same sublime indifference as it had the previous time.
Canadian participation in the war was acknowledged in film only if it was necessary to give an American actor a part in a campaign in which the United States had clearly not participated - a touching scrupulousness which, of course, Hollywood has since abandoned, as it has any notion of a separate Canadian identity.
So it is a general rule that actors and filmmakers arriving in Hollywood keep their nationality - unless, that is, they are Canadian. Thus Mary Pickford, Walter Huston, Donald Sutherland, Michael J. Fox, William Shatner, Norman Jewison, David Cronenberg, Alex Trebek, Art Linkletter, Mike Weir and Dan Aykroyd have in the popular perception become American, and Christopher Plummer, British.
It is as if, in the very act of becoming famous, a Canadian ceases to be Canadian, unless she is Margaret Atwood, who is as unshakably Canadian as a moose, or Celine Dion, for whom Canada has proved quite unable to find any takers.
Moreover, Canada is every bit as querulously alert to the achievements of its sons and daughters as the rest of the world is completely unaware of them. The Canadians proudly say of themselves - and are unheard by anyone else - that 1% of the world's population has provided 10% of the world's peacekeeping forces.
Canadian soldiers in the past half century have been the greatest peacekeepers on Earth - in 39 missions on UN mandates, and six on non-UN peacekeeping duties, from Vietnam to East Timor, from Sinai to Bosnia.
Yet the only foreign engagement that has entered the popular non-Canadian imagination was the sorry affair in Somalia, in which out-of-control paratroopers murdered two Somali infiltrators. Their regiment was then disbanded in disgrace - a uniquely Canadian act of self-abasement for which, naturally, the Canadians received no international credit.
So who today in the United States knows about the stoic and selfless friendship its northern neighbour has given it in Afghanistan?
Rather like Cyrano de Bergerac, Canada repeatedly does honourable things for honourable motives, but instead of being thanked for it, it remains something of a figure of fun. It is the Canadian way, for which Canadians should be proud, yet such honour comes at a high cost. This past year more grieving Canadian families knew that cost all too tragically well.
Lest we forget.
END
Weekend is almost here and hope it's a good one for you.
Alastair