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Budgeting for the first time amid soaring inflation? Here are some tips
The FCAC said non-budgeters were twice as likely to be falling behind on their financial commitments as budgeters. Budgeters were also less likely to spend more than their monthly income or use credit for day-to-day expenses.
Not having a budget makes it difficult to take control of your finances, said Charity Oisamoje, a money expert and founder of The Finance Key.
"When you don't have a budget, you might actually feel overwhelmed by your finances," she said.
One of the reasons budgets or plans often fail is because people don't have goals in mind, said Money Coaches Canada financial planner Janet Gray.
It's harder to stick to your plan when you don't know what you're working towards, whether it's paying off debt or saving up for a down payment, she said.
Gray said instead of budget, she prefers the term "plan," as it has fewer negative connotations. After all, budgeting isn't only about restricting spending, but also about planning it, she said.
You can't set a spending plan until you know how much you're working with and what your costs are, said Gray. She suggests tracking your income and spending for a month to see how much you actually bring in and where it goes. With that information, and some goals in mind, you can then set targets and make your plan, she said.
Desjardins Group financial planner Angela Iermieri said these days, with so many automatic payments and subscription services, it's harder to track your spending.
Writing a budget helps you to visualize all these costs, she said, but you need to make sure you're not underestimating your spending.
"We have to be honest with ourselves when we set up a budget," said Iermieri.
There are a variety of budget plans out there, such as the 50-30-20 plan -- where half your money goes to necessities, 30 per cent to discretionary spending, and 20 per cent to debt and savings.
But Gray said what matters most is that your plan works for you. It should, of course, cover your necessities first, allow for a realistic but sustainable level of discretionary spending, and include saving and debt-paying -- though if you have high-interest debt like credit card debt you should focus on paying that down before saving, she said.
If you're overwhelmed by the idea of budgeting for the first time, Oisamoje said you should start simple. Use a ratio like 50-30-20, or another that fits your lifestyle better, and try to stick to it while tracking your income and expenses.
Eventually, she said you'll be ready to "graduate" to something more involved, like a spreadsheet or an app.
Oisamoje said including non-essential spending, or "fun" spending, is crucial for balance and mental health.
The discretionary spending is "the stuff that keeps you motivated to continue going on with that plan," Gray agreed.
Your plan also needs to account for seasonal differences, said Gray, such as extra spending around the holidays.
"A budget is not fixed forever. It can evolve," said Iermieri, adding that you should re-evaluate your budget and goals whenever your costs or income change.
Often people underestimate their expenses or fail to account for varying and unexpected costs, said Oisamoje. Those mistakes, plus overspending on non-essentials, are how the budget gets broken -- but it's not the end of the world if that happens one month.
"Just try to stick to it as best as you can. But don't be too hard on yourself."
Gray agreed, and cautioned not to use one misstep as a reason to forgo the budget altogether.
"It's not a sprint, it's a marathon."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 8, 2022.
Notes:
50%: Needs
Needs are those bills that you absolutely must pay and are the things necessary for survival. These include rent or mortgage payments, car payments, groceries, insurance, health care, minimum debt payment, and utilities. These are your "must-haves."
Half of your after-tax income should be all that you need to cover your needs and obligations. If you are spending more than that on your needs, you will have to either cut down on wants or try to downsize your lifestyle, perhaps to a smaller home or more modest car. Maybe carpooling or taking public transportation to work is a solution, or cooking at home more often.
30%: Wants
Wants are all the things you spend money on that are not absolutely essential. This includes dinner and movies out, that new handbag, tickets to sporting events, vacations, the latest electronic gadget, and ultra-high-speed Internet. Anything in the "wants" bucket is optional if you boil it down. You can work out at home instead of going to the gym, cook instead of eating out, or watch sports on TV instead of getting tickets to the game.
This category also includes those upgrade decisions you make, such as choosing a costlier steak instead of a less expensive hamburger, buying a Mercedes instead of a more economical Honda, or choosing between watching television using an antenna for free or spending money to watch cable TV. Basically, wants are all those little extras you spend money on that make life more enjoyable and entertaining.
20%: Savings
Finally, try to allocate 20% of your net income to savings and investments. This includes adding money to an emergency fund in a bank savings account, making IRA contributions to a mutual fund account, and investing in the stock market. You should have at least three months of emergency savings on hand in case you lose your job or an unforeseen event occurs. After that, focus on retirement and meeting other financial goals down the road.
Savings can also include debt repayment. While minimum payments are part of the "needs" category, any extra payments reduce the principal and future interest owed, so they are savings.
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.
Back to the Anglo-Saxons!
It's become de rigueur to compare our contemporary travails to the 1970s. But rather than looking back a mere 50 years, we should go back much further to the Middle Ages, when Britain's Anglo-Saxon rulers faced many of the challenges bedevilling the country today.
Read more at:
https://capx.co/forget-the-1970s-bri...-anglo-saxons/
Making census it all
What kind of country is Britain today? Thanks to the recently published census, we can have a stab at answering that question at least for England and Wales. For this week's podcast we go for a deep dive into those findings, what they say about Britain's demography and, in particular, the rapid decline of Christianity
Read more at:
https://capx.co/the-capx-podcast-census-sensibilities/
We would all, even the atheists, mourn a Britain that lost its faith
If religion vanished from these isles tomorrow, we would all be the worse for it. Yes, atheists, this includes you as well, even though you may be giddy that this week’s census findings suggest Britain is fast approaching such a cliff edge.
Read more at:
https://conservativehome.com/2022/12...lost-its-faith
Holyrood’s budget watchdog growls
An underspend of £2bn is the least of the problems raised with Scottish government accounts for last year. The auditor general has drawn attention to some big bills for things going wrong - not least £60m to settle a claim of wrongful prosecution
Reads more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-63831950
Conrad Black: The anti-woke heroes pushing back against Canada's self-destructive torpor
Maisonneuve and McMurtry should be promoted in their chosen fields of expertise to assist in the reconstruction of Canada as a country that respects itself and is admired in the world
Read more at:
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/ant...ructive-torpor
Stephen Flynn elected SNP's new Westminster leader following Ian Blackford's resignation
Nicola Sturgeon has suffered a blow to her authority after a key ally failed to become the new SNP leader at Westminster. Alison Thewliss lost to Aberdeen South MP Stephen Flynn in the race to succeed Ian Blackford. Mhairi Black was elected deputy leader.
Read more at:
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/p...s-new-28669039
Scotland loses UK climate change lead, advisers warn
A report from the Climate Change Committee (CCC) said progress on cutting greenhouse gas emissions has largely stalled in recent years.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-63872365
Word of the week: strike
Many will have been shocked to read that some nurses and ambulance staff are contemplating strike action in support over their pay and working conditions.
Read more at:
https://www.scottishreview.net//AnthonySeaton640a.html
Media
By Hamish Mackay in the Scottish Review
Read more at:
https://www.scottishreview.net//HamishMackay640a.html
Notebook - Where have all the letters gone?
By Gillean Somerville-Arjat in the Scottish Review
Read more at:
https://www.scottishreview.net//Gill...Arjat640a.html
A false sense of cyber security
By Bill Magee in the Scottish Review
Read more at:
https://www.scottishreview.net//BillMagee640a.html
The strike-mare before Christmas
Britain is facing the world's worst advent calendar, with an array of public and private sector workers striking almost every day in December. The common denominator is the simple fact that the state is a bad employer and if this discontent is the government's creation, then it is also its responsibility.
Read more at:
https://capx.co/this-festive-strike-...-british-state
Big Government and me
REMEMBER in March 2020 when news reporters and supreme leaders took up a position in our living rooms? Now they won’t leave.
Read more at:
https://thinkscotland.org/2022/12/bi...rnment-and-me/
Freeports are finally afloat
The UK’s first Freeports opened this week, six years after they were proposed by one Rishi Sunak in a paper for the Centre for Policy Studies. For those who ask what a Conservative government that has delivered Brexit is for these zones, which will unleash enterprise where it most needed, provide a compelling answer.
Read more at:
https://capx.co/finally-freeports-ar...the-beginning/
Electric Canadian
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry 1914-1919
By Ralph Hodder-Williams, formerly Lieutenant, P.P.C.L.I. with a foreword by The Lady Patricia Ramsay, Colonel-In-Chief of the Regiment and an Introduction by Lieutenant-Colonel A. Hamilton Gault, Honorary Lieuteant-Colonel, P.P.C.L.I. in two volumes (1923)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/forc...t-Infantry.htm
This my Son
A Novel by John Freeman (1923) (pdf)
An interesting novel which you can read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...ovel00free.pdf
The Poetical Works of Wilfred Campbell
Edited with a Memoir by W. J. Sykes (1922) (pdf)
You can read about him at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...fw0000camp.pdf
Thoughts on a Sunday Morning - the 4th day of December 2022 - Peace
By the Rev. Nola Crewe
You can listen to this at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/foru...ber-2022-peace
Agricultural Bulletins 181 to 208
The Teeth and Their Care, Bee-keeping in Ontario, Notes on Cheddar Cheese-Making, Uses of Vegetables, Little Peach Disease, Children: Care and Training, The Codling Moth, Weeds of Ontario, Farm Poultry, Bee Diseases, Bee-keeping, Agricultural Co-operation, Tuberculosis of Fowls, Apple Orcharding, Insecticides and Fungicides, Tomatoes, Bee Diseases, Lime-Sulphur Wash, Onions, Fruit Juices, Peach Growing, Peach Diseases, Grape Growing in Niagara Peninsula, Cabbage and Cauliflower, Decay of the Teeth, Dairy School, Staff of Dairy, Part I. Cheese-making and Butter-making, Dairying on the Farm, Ice Cold Storage on the Farm, Farm Poultry and Egg Raising Conditions in Ontario. (pdf)
You can study this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...181208onta.pdf
Electric Scotland
Beth's Video Talks
Got in the video for 7th December 2022 - Once Removed
You ca watch this at: https://electricscotland.com/bnft
Adventures in Journalism
By Philip Gibbs (1923) (pdf)
An interesting account which you can read at:
https://electricscotland.com/lifesty...jour00gibb.pdf
The Century Bible
Thessalonians and Galatians (pdf)
Found this an interesting account which includes references to Celtic peoples and you can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/t...al0000unse.pdf
The Theology
Theologians of Scotland chiefly of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries being one of the Cunningham lectures by James Walker, D.D. (second Edition) (1888) (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/t...logi00walk.pdf
The Scottish Pulpit
Came across this series from the State Library of Pennsylvania and thought they'd be of interest to anyone interested in the Scottish Church as they come from 1845 in a series of 5 volumes. Have added volume 3 to the site and will add the others each week for the next 2 weeks.
You can read this volume at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/scottish-pulpit.htm
Boswell's Journal
Or a Tour of the Hebrides With Samuel Johnson, LL.D. now first published from the original manuscript (1936) (pdf)
Well worth a read and you can get to this at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...ll-journal.pdf
Chasing the Deer
Hunting Iconography, Literature and Tradition of the Scottish Highlands. A thesis presented by Andrew E. M. Wiseman MA. (Edin., 1992), M.Phil. (Glas., 1997) to the Department of Celtic and Scottish Studies in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh (2007) (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/lifesty...graphy_Lit.pdf
Miscellanies Literary & Historical
By Lord Rosebery in two volumes (1921)
To Lord Rosebery's friends, and to all lovers of good prose, it has long been a matter for regret that it was difficult to obtain anything like a complete set of his literary and historical addresses and occasional writings, or his consent to their republication. Most were out of print; some had been issued only in small private editions; some had never been rescued from the files of the daily press.
Their author has been so good as to yield to my importunity, and permit me to make a collection of these opuscula, he himself standing aside in benevolent neutrality. The responsibility for the selection and for the original importunity is therefore mine.
No speeches dealing with controversial politics have been included. A few notes have been added, and now and then a sentence has been omitted which had a purely local and topical application. Otherwise the chapters are reprinted as they were first spoken or written.
JOHN BUCHAN
“One of the rarest of all combinations,” says Lord Rosebery in an address now incorporated in these volumes, “is that of a bookish statesman who is at the same time a man of practical business and affairs.” His lordship is himself a remarkable instance of this rare combination. As a Minister, he was distinguished for his grasp of public affairs, but he was none the less a man of literary leanings, with a wide knowledge of books and their authors and a happy faculty of ready reference and apt illustration. An orator in the political arena, he was equally effective in other branches of public speaking, and in his day he was unmatched for the felicity and charm of his platform addresses on themes outside the range of politics. Many of those addresses and of Lord Rosebery’s occasional writings were informative in a high degree, all of them were interesting; and it is well to have them collected in these two volumes. The gathering of them together is the work of Mr. John Buchan, Lord Rosebery having at last consented, on the repeated importunity of Mr. Buchan, to the republication of his miscellanies, “he himself standing aside in benevolent neutrality”; and the collection will be widely welcomed by Lord Rosebery’s admirers and by many others as a fine memorial of a cultured statesman, a literary critic of distinction, and, last but not least, a patriotic and enthusiastic Scot.
The first volume is devoted to “Appreciations”. Lord Rosebery in his hey-day was in great demand as an “occasional orator”—one who could be relied upon to deliver an appropriate address on the unveiling of a statue or other memorial to one of our great departed, or on a centenary or other anniversary; and here we have tributes to men so different in character and in their careers as Cromwell, Burke, Dr. Johnson, Bums, Dr. Chalmers, Thackeray, Mr. Gladstone, and Lord Salisbury. With them may be associated Nelson, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Cecil Rhodes, tributes to whom figure in the second volume under the general classification of “Vignettes”. Appreciations of men so diversified as those just named, even by one so skilled in the art as Lord Rosebery, are necessarily unequal. Perhaps the least satisfying is that on Cromwell, which is too much occupied with the discussion of whether the Protector was or was not a hypocrite. The fullest and most satisfactory appreciation, to our mind, is that of Johnson, in the course of which we have this interesting personal revelation: “I, speaking from experience, can say that in sickness, when all other books have failed, when Dickens, Thackeray, Walter Scott, and other magicians have been useless to distract, Boswell’s book is the only one which could engage and detain the languid attention of an invalid . Frank criticism of some of the illustrissimi otherwise extolled is not wanting. For instance, Lord Roseberry confesses that Stevenson’s “The Master of Ballantrae,” powerful as it is, has never been a favourite of his, because the story is so utterly repulsive — “the conflict of a scoundrel against a maniac narrated by a coward”; and he dwells on certain defects and blemishes in Thackeray’s “Vanity Fair” and “Esmond,” in condemnation of which, however, nearly all critics now concur. His lordship, by the way, enunciates a canon of criticism, not quite sound perhaps, but which will comfort many people disturbed by the higher “ethics of criticism” propounded by some modern writers — “One likes what one likes, and one dislikes what one dislikes”. Grouped in the Appreciations we have also memoirs of Sir Robert Peel and Lord Randolph Churchill, which have been already published in book form. Here, perhaps, Lord Rosebery is at his best, due probably to the subjects belonging to the political sphere, in which Lord Rosebery occupied such a distinctive place, and also, in the case of Lord Randolph Churchill, to a personal knowledge founded on intimate friendship. The estimates of the two statesmen are just and discriminating, and they are combined with much sagacious reflection on sundry constitutional questions, such as the working of the Cabinet and the position and functions of the Prime Minister. Hardly anything has been better said of Lord Randolph’s incessant attacks on Mr. Gladstone than Lord Rosebery’s comparison of them to “an audacious light-weight sparring up to a recognised champion”.
Lord Rosebery has had an experience which is surely unique. He has been Lord Rector of all the four Scottish Universities and is now Chancellor of the University of Glasgow; he has, as he himself phrases it, “lived many rectorial lives”. His four Rectorial addresses and his address as Chancellor of Glasgow University occupy a very large part of the second volume of the “Miscellanies”. Although Lord Rosebery declares that “The most dismal moment that can occur in a man’s life is the moment when he is about to deliver a Rectorial address,” his own efforts go far to negative the presumptive corollary that they must form dismal reading. These addresses really constitute, in some respects, the most important and the most inspiring sections of Lord Rosebery’s literary output, dealing, as they do for the greater part, with various features of Scottish history and character, and containing fervid appeals to the youth of the country. The undergraduates of Aberdeen were the first to honour Lord Rosebery, electing him Lord Rector in 1878, when he was only thirty-one years of age. His address, delivered in 1880, dwelt on the importance of the University teaching of history, especially of Scottish history, and deplored the fact that in all our Scottish Universities there was then no provision for the teaching of Scottish history—a defect, however, which has been largely remedied since. The Edinburgh address (1882) dealt with “The Patriotism of a Scot,” and was an argument for the preservation of the distinctive national character; the truest patriotism of every Scot, he maintained, was to be capable and reliable. Much the same idea—the service rendered to one’s country in faithfully following one’s profession—underlay the Glasgow address (1900), although its subject, “Questions of Empire,” was of much wider range. The St. Andrews address (1911) was delivered on the occasion of the five hundredth anniversary of the foundation of that University, and was, almost of necessity, influenced and coloured by the anniversary note. It bears the allusive title of “The Struldbrug” (borrowed from “Gulliver’s Travels”) and depicts in a very graphic manner the course of Scottish history which the first Lord Rector in 1411 would have witnessed had he been a Struldbrug and had lived down through the centuries. Seldom, indeed, have the picturesque episodes in Scottish history and the transformations that have taken place in the condition of the people been so brilliantly summarised as in many passages in this admirable address, an address which will bear more than one reading. In his address as Chancellor of Glasgow University (1908), Lord Rosebery reverted to the theme of “The Formation of Scottish Character,” pleading strenuously for the cultivation of the Scottish characteristic of self-reliance, which he contended was the heart of Scottish independence and Scottish success. These various addresses are supplemented, in a sense, by one on “The Union of England and Scotland” delivered to the Edinburgh Philosophical Institute, and another on “The Service of the State ” delivered to the Associated Societies of Edinburgh University. All these addresses contain many eloquent passages, but, for a specimen, we content ourselves with a few sentences from the Aberdeen address, which are as pertinent to-day as when delivered forty years ago:—
Let me point out one more inducement to the study I advocate. You are in the city perhaps most calculated to give an interest to the study of those times, for surely no place ever suffered so much for its prominence. From the time that the Covenanting Commissioners refused to drink the cup of Bon Accord, and were followed by Montrose with an army which slaughtered the dogs which had been made the innocent instruments of satire, this unhappy city was compelled to undergo as many outward changes of compliance as the Vicar of Bray or Bobbing John of Mar. In those days the greatest seat of learning in Scotland, it was the fate of Aberdeen, as of Leipsic, to learn that a famous and hospitable University is no protection against siege or outrage. Your well-sacked city, surviving the successive onslaughts of Malignants and Covenanters and impartial Highlanders, remains a noble monument of the stirring and perilous past of our country.
Around you learning spreads her various wares; you have but to pick and choose. You are the generation that holds for the present the succession to the long roll of famous men who have adorned this University. They have handed to you the light; it is for you to transmit it. The vestal lamp of knowledge may flicker, but it never dies; even in the darkest hours of dormant civilisation, it found loving hands to cherish and to tend it. To you that lamp has been given by those who have watched over it in these ancient colleges. I hope and believe it will not wax duller in your hands, but rather that you will show forth its radiance in whatever part of the world you may be called upon to wield that influence which every educated man must exercise.
You can read these volumes at:
https://electricscotland.com/lifestyle/lordrosebery.htm
Story
The Herring Fishing
An article from the Aberdeen Journal, Notes & Queries, 1914
Like most other towns, Fraserburgh has experienced many industrial changes. The Greenland seal and whale fishing has vanished here, as elsewhere, and local shipbuilding practically camo to an end with the substitution of steamers for sailing vessels. A considerable industry at one time was the manufacture of oil from dogfish, but owing to the introduction of gas as an illuminant, that ceased. The herring fishing industry, however, despite all the vicissitudes through which it has passed, has proved the great “stand-by” of the town, the undoubted source of its prosperity. The first genuine start at methodical curing on a business-like basis was made in 1815, and since then the industry has enormously developed. An Act of Parliament had been passed in 1808, providing for the annual payment of a bounty of £3 per ton to owners or hirers of fishing boats fitted out according to specific regulations, and a bounty of 2s per barrel to fishcurers for every barrel of herrings cured in proper form. In 1815, an exportation bounty, which amounted to 2s 8d per barrel, was repealed, but the bounty on herrings cured was raised from 2s to 4s per barrel. This latter rate was continued up to 1826, but in the three succeeding years it was reduced a shilling every year, Being finally abolished in 1830. The bounties, however, had had the effect of giving a great impetus to the industry, which, as already mentioned, was regularly established in Fraserburgh in 1815, being from that time carried on under Government supervision.
The dimensions of the trade were at first comparatively small. The total cure of herrings in 1815 amounted to but 5562 barrels, the export abroad consisting of only 278 barrels. This consignment was despatched to the West Indies, to feed the slaves on the plantations. With the abolition of slavery in 1833 this particular trade came to an end. The liberated slaves would no longer look at “salt herrings," which had previously formed their staple diet; as Mr Cranna remarks—“The poor niggers probably did not hate the salt herring in itself so much as the memories it called up.” New markets had to be got, and these were obtained in Ireland and on the Continent. The Irish trade collapsed in 1847, the year of famine; whereas in 1842 Fraserburgh exported 9748 barrels of cured herrings to Ireland, the export in 1848 was only 379 barrels. As the Irish trade did not revive to any great extent, the attention of fishourers was directed to Germany, with highly successful results. The geographical position of Fraserburgh contributed not a little to the development of this Continental trade, and a very considerable expansion of it marked the next two decades. It experienced a severe blow on the outbreak of the Franco-German War in 1870, the chief German ports being blockaded by French warships. This blow was partially redressed by the herring-laden vessels being directed to a port in Denmark, from which the herrings were railed to Stettin and Hamburg, and so some of the great loss that at one time seemed inevitable was prevented. “The period from 1870 to 1879,” says Mr Cranna, “saw wonderful developments in tho herring trade, and great progress in general trade at Fraserburgh. The town, at this period, forged ahead at a remarkable pace, and at the close of the seventies the community was recognised as one of the most active and enterprising on the north-east coast of Scotland.” By this time, too, much larger boats were employed, fishing in offshore or distant grounds had been begun, the price of herrings had risen, and the payments made to the fishermen by the curers had greatly increased. The number of boats fishing at the port rose from 480 in 1870 to 844 in 1879, and the value of the exports of herrings rose from £113.000 to £195,000.
A serious set-back was experienced in the next decade, however. The prosperity of the trade induced over-competition; too many boats were engaged, and, to secure crews, excessive bounties were paid to the fishermen. Herrings of a most immature and inferior kind wore thrown on the market, and this, combined with an excessive supply, produced a fall in prices.
THE FINANCIAL CRISIS OF 1881.
The year 1884 in particular was one of great financial disaster, and the next two years were hardly less disastrous, the expectation that the losses of the first year would be retrieved not being realised. Many of the curors were completely ruined, about a half of the individuals or firms engaged in the business in 1883 being forced out of it in the course of the next five years. The disaster had one good effect — it brought about a revolution in the industry and placed it on a much sounder basis. The old and risky, and largely speculative, method of on-aging boats’ crews for the fishing season at a fixed price per cran for herrings caught and delivered was abandoned, and the English mode of selling the herrings daily by auction to the highest bidder was substituted. Since then, the industry has been very successfully prosecuted, although, with the introduction of steam drifters in recent years, the herring trade, as Mr Cranna points out, “seems to have lost its equilibrium,” the enormous quantities of herrings landed from these boats having an adverse influence on. prices.
It may be noted in conclusion that on more than one occasion Fraserburgh has occupied the premier position in respect of the year’s catch of herrings. In 1907, for instance^ the total catch amounted to the enormous quantity of 320,520 crans, secured by a fleet of 500 boats. Altogether, Mr Cranna computes, from a close examination of the statistics, that from 1815 to 1912 the value of the herrings cured at Fraserburgh amounts to no less than £12,262,439, constituting “the foundation wealth upon which Fraserburgh has prospered and progressed for almost one hundred years.” With commendable foresight, the “Brochers” have kept their harbour accommodation abreast the requirements of this groat and important industry. Practically, an entirely new harbour has been constructed within the last thirty years, a large addition to which was opened the other day.
END
Maitland of Lethington
The “Spectator” (April 5). in a review of “Maitland of Lethington, the Minister of Mary Stuart: A Study of his Life and Times,” by E. Russell (1912) (pdf), says: —
Lethington’s career has none of the swift romance of Montrose’s. he was single-hearted enough in his aims, but not in his methods, and though he was tenacious and firm beyond any man of his age, he showed his quality in prosaic fields like councils and embassies and an interminable correspondente. Into his forty-five stormy years he crowded activities enough for ten men. The son of an East Lothian laird, he was so admirably educated that Queen Elizabeth, no bad judge, called him “the flower of the wits of Scotland.” At twenty-six he became a privy councillor and secretary of State to the Regent, Mary of Guise, and began the long negotiations with England which ended only with his death. He was a “persona grata” to Elizabeth’s advisers, who appreciated the sincerity of his friendship for their country; and it was largely due to his efforts that the English alliance was formed and the French influence of the Regent, counteracted. The death of Mary of Guise saw the end of the old Franco-Scottish pact and the beginning of Knox’s supremacy over Scottish minds. The Pope’s jurisdiction was formally destroyed by Act of Parliament, the old heresy laws were annulled, and the saying or hearing of Mass was prohibited. Lethington’s first attempt at the union with England was his proposal that Elizabeth should marry Arran, the prospective heir to the Scottish throne. Elizabeth refused, and the death of the French King left the Scots with a young Queen, a devout Catholic, whose personality threatened to upset all calculations. The main problem at the outset of Mary’s reign was that of the English succession, with which that of her marriage was closely bound up. Her first desire was to wed Don Carlos, of Spain, and Lethineton seems to have furthered the scheme in the hope of using it as a lever to compel the recognition by Elizabeth of the Queen of Scots as her successor. Then came the proposal for a match with Leicester, and finally Mary's counterstroke of the marriage with Darnley. After that, tragedy began to thicken about the luckless Queen. Lethington dropped out of her council, and he dropped out also of the confidence of Moray and Knox. Henceforth he was to play his own game in politics. He was undoubtedly an accomplice in the murder of Riccio, and he had foreknowledge of the grievous tragedy of Darnley’s death. Lethington stood by the Queen through the events which followed, for he was convinced that only through the Queen could the union he desired be accomplished.
In the remaining six years of his life he fought for the Queen till, as happens to obstinate men, he had almost forgotten his original reasons, and fought as if he were a blind legitimist. He intrigued unsuccessfully on her side at the inquiries at York and Westminster. To him, permanent deposition seemed a punishment beyond her deserts, besides being a hindrance to the union of Britain; and therein he differed from Moray and Knox and the nobles, who began to form the party of the young King. Moreover, he had a deep-seated love of power, as he saw that as he had played his cards he could only hope to exert his supreme influence through Mary’s restoration. He wished to safeguard the Reformation settlement, but he believed that the now chastened Queen would be no obstacle. The death of Moray—“the most just and magnanimous ruler that Scotland had had since the days of Bruce,” Mr Russell calls him —removed one difficulty; but Lethington had under-rated the strength of the King’s party, which now, through Knox’s influence, had obtained the support of the great body of the lairds and burgesses. He went into open opposition, and intrigued for French support against his Scottish opponents and Elizabeth, he would have defended his apparent inconsistency by maintaining that his ends were still the same as when he had opposed Mary of Guise Whereas he had formerly sought the union of the realm by friendship with Elizabeth, he was now compelled to seek it by coercing her, which was impossible without foreign aid.” He was prepared to bo reconciled at once with the English Queen if she would recognise the Scottish rights to the English succession.
In the end he and the rest of the Queen’s party were forced to make an armed stand in Edinburgh Castle. The tale of the long siege. till Morton with English aid forced a capitulation shows that Lethington possessed, at any rate an indomitable courage. Tormented with bodily ailments, he never wavered, though his party fell away daily, and Hamilton and Huntly and creatures like Sir James Balfour went over to the other side. With the gallant and Quixotic Kirkaldy of Grange he kept his flag flying to the last, striving by his old subleties to sow dissension among his opponents, and never losing hope till the enemy were through the gates. He and Kirkaldy in the end were deserted by everybody, even by France; they fought on in their hopeless fight out of sheer pride and stubbornness. Kirkaldy died on the scaffold, but it must have been a relief to the Scots nobles, as well as to Elizabeth and Burghley, that Lethington died a natural death before his trial. There is a kind of magnificence in his last desperate resolution which is lacking in the far wiser and more successful dexterity of his earlier career. He is one of the few cases of the “politique" who in the last resort could attain to the simpler heroism of the enthusiast.
END
Weekend is almost here and hope it's a good one for you.
Alastair
https://electricscotland.com/scotnews.htm
Electric Scotland News
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Budgeting for the first time amid soaring inflation? Here are some tips
The FCAC said non-budgeters were twice as likely to be falling behind on their financial commitments as budgeters. Budgeters were also less likely to spend more than their monthly income or use credit for day-to-day expenses.
Not having a budget makes it difficult to take control of your finances, said Charity Oisamoje, a money expert and founder of The Finance Key.
"When you don't have a budget, you might actually feel overwhelmed by your finances," she said.
One of the reasons budgets or plans often fail is because people don't have goals in mind, said Money Coaches Canada financial planner Janet Gray.
It's harder to stick to your plan when you don't know what you're working towards, whether it's paying off debt or saving up for a down payment, she said.
Gray said instead of budget, she prefers the term "plan," as it has fewer negative connotations. After all, budgeting isn't only about restricting spending, but also about planning it, she said.
You can't set a spending plan until you know how much you're working with and what your costs are, said Gray. She suggests tracking your income and spending for a month to see how much you actually bring in and where it goes. With that information, and some goals in mind, you can then set targets and make your plan, she said.
Desjardins Group financial planner Angela Iermieri said these days, with so many automatic payments and subscription services, it's harder to track your spending.
Writing a budget helps you to visualize all these costs, she said, but you need to make sure you're not underestimating your spending.
"We have to be honest with ourselves when we set up a budget," said Iermieri.
There are a variety of budget plans out there, such as the 50-30-20 plan -- where half your money goes to necessities, 30 per cent to discretionary spending, and 20 per cent to debt and savings.
But Gray said what matters most is that your plan works for you. It should, of course, cover your necessities first, allow for a realistic but sustainable level of discretionary spending, and include saving and debt-paying -- though if you have high-interest debt like credit card debt you should focus on paying that down before saving, she said.
If you're overwhelmed by the idea of budgeting for the first time, Oisamoje said you should start simple. Use a ratio like 50-30-20, or another that fits your lifestyle better, and try to stick to it while tracking your income and expenses.
Eventually, she said you'll be ready to "graduate" to something more involved, like a spreadsheet or an app.
Oisamoje said including non-essential spending, or "fun" spending, is crucial for balance and mental health.
The discretionary spending is "the stuff that keeps you motivated to continue going on with that plan," Gray agreed.
Your plan also needs to account for seasonal differences, said Gray, such as extra spending around the holidays.
"A budget is not fixed forever. It can evolve," said Iermieri, adding that you should re-evaluate your budget and goals whenever your costs or income change.
Often people underestimate their expenses or fail to account for varying and unexpected costs, said Oisamoje. Those mistakes, plus overspending on non-essentials, are how the budget gets broken -- but it's not the end of the world if that happens one month.
"Just try to stick to it as best as you can. But don't be too hard on yourself."
Gray agreed, and cautioned not to use one misstep as a reason to forgo the budget altogether.
"It's not a sprint, it's a marathon."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 8, 2022.
Notes:
50%: Needs
Needs are those bills that you absolutely must pay and are the things necessary for survival. These include rent or mortgage payments, car payments, groceries, insurance, health care, minimum debt payment, and utilities. These are your "must-haves."
Half of your after-tax income should be all that you need to cover your needs and obligations. If you are spending more than that on your needs, you will have to either cut down on wants or try to downsize your lifestyle, perhaps to a smaller home or more modest car. Maybe carpooling or taking public transportation to work is a solution, or cooking at home more often.
30%: Wants
Wants are all the things you spend money on that are not absolutely essential. This includes dinner and movies out, that new handbag, tickets to sporting events, vacations, the latest electronic gadget, and ultra-high-speed Internet. Anything in the "wants" bucket is optional if you boil it down. You can work out at home instead of going to the gym, cook instead of eating out, or watch sports on TV instead of getting tickets to the game.
This category also includes those upgrade decisions you make, such as choosing a costlier steak instead of a less expensive hamburger, buying a Mercedes instead of a more economical Honda, or choosing between watching television using an antenna for free or spending money to watch cable TV. Basically, wants are all those little extras you spend money on that make life more enjoyable and entertaining.
20%: Savings
Finally, try to allocate 20% of your net income to savings and investments. This includes adding money to an emergency fund in a bank savings account, making IRA contributions to a mutual fund account, and investing in the stock market. You should have at least three months of emergency savings on hand in case you lose your job or an unforeseen event occurs. After that, focus on retirement and meeting other financial goals down the road.
Savings can also include debt repayment. While minimum payments are part of the "needs" category, any extra payments reduce the principal and future interest owed, so they are savings.
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.
Back to the Anglo-Saxons!
It's become de rigueur to compare our contemporary travails to the 1970s. But rather than looking back a mere 50 years, we should go back much further to the Middle Ages, when Britain's Anglo-Saxon rulers faced many of the challenges bedevilling the country today.
Read more at:
https://capx.co/forget-the-1970s-bri...-anglo-saxons/
Making census it all
What kind of country is Britain today? Thanks to the recently published census, we can have a stab at answering that question at least for England and Wales. For this week's podcast we go for a deep dive into those findings, what they say about Britain's demography and, in particular, the rapid decline of Christianity
Read more at:
https://capx.co/the-capx-podcast-census-sensibilities/
We would all, even the atheists, mourn a Britain that lost its faith
If religion vanished from these isles tomorrow, we would all be the worse for it. Yes, atheists, this includes you as well, even though you may be giddy that this week’s census findings suggest Britain is fast approaching such a cliff edge.
Read more at:
https://conservativehome.com/2022/12...lost-its-faith
Holyrood’s budget watchdog growls
An underspend of £2bn is the least of the problems raised with Scottish government accounts for last year. The auditor general has drawn attention to some big bills for things going wrong - not least £60m to settle a claim of wrongful prosecution
Reads more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-63831950
Conrad Black: The anti-woke heroes pushing back against Canada's self-destructive torpor
Maisonneuve and McMurtry should be promoted in their chosen fields of expertise to assist in the reconstruction of Canada as a country that respects itself and is admired in the world
Read more at:
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/ant...ructive-torpor
Stephen Flynn elected SNP's new Westminster leader following Ian Blackford's resignation
Nicola Sturgeon has suffered a blow to her authority after a key ally failed to become the new SNP leader at Westminster. Alison Thewliss lost to Aberdeen South MP Stephen Flynn in the race to succeed Ian Blackford. Mhairi Black was elected deputy leader.
Read more at:
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/p...s-new-28669039
Scotland loses UK climate change lead, advisers warn
A report from the Climate Change Committee (CCC) said progress on cutting greenhouse gas emissions has largely stalled in recent years.
Read more at:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-63872365
Word of the week: strike
Many will have been shocked to read that some nurses and ambulance staff are contemplating strike action in support over their pay and working conditions.
Read more at:
https://www.scottishreview.net//AnthonySeaton640a.html
Media
By Hamish Mackay in the Scottish Review
Read more at:
https://www.scottishreview.net//HamishMackay640a.html
Notebook - Where have all the letters gone?
By Gillean Somerville-Arjat in the Scottish Review
Read more at:
https://www.scottishreview.net//Gill...Arjat640a.html
A false sense of cyber security
By Bill Magee in the Scottish Review
Read more at:
https://www.scottishreview.net//BillMagee640a.html
The strike-mare before Christmas
Britain is facing the world's worst advent calendar, with an array of public and private sector workers striking almost every day in December. The common denominator is the simple fact that the state is a bad employer and if this discontent is the government's creation, then it is also its responsibility.
Read more at:
https://capx.co/this-festive-strike-...-british-state
Big Government and me
REMEMBER in March 2020 when news reporters and supreme leaders took up a position in our living rooms? Now they won’t leave.
Read more at:
https://thinkscotland.org/2022/12/bi...rnment-and-me/
Freeports are finally afloat
The UK’s first Freeports opened this week, six years after they were proposed by one Rishi Sunak in a paper for the Centre for Policy Studies. For those who ask what a Conservative government that has delivered Brexit is for these zones, which will unleash enterprise where it most needed, provide a compelling answer.
Read more at:
https://capx.co/finally-freeports-ar...the-beginning/
Electric Canadian
Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry 1914-1919
By Ralph Hodder-Williams, formerly Lieutenant, P.P.C.L.I. with a foreword by The Lady Patricia Ramsay, Colonel-In-Chief of the Regiment and an Introduction by Lieutenant-Colonel A. Hamilton Gault, Honorary Lieuteant-Colonel, P.P.C.L.I. in two volumes (1923)
You can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/forc...t-Infantry.htm
This my Son
A Novel by John Freeman (1923) (pdf)
An interesting novel which you can read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...ovel00free.pdf
The Poetical Works of Wilfred Campbell
Edited with a Memoir by W. J. Sykes (1922) (pdf)
You can read about him at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...fw0000camp.pdf
Thoughts on a Sunday Morning - the 4th day of December 2022 - Peace
By the Rev. Nola Crewe
You can listen to this at:
http://www.electricscotland.org/foru...ber-2022-peace
Agricultural Bulletins 181 to 208
The Teeth and Their Care, Bee-keeping in Ontario, Notes on Cheddar Cheese-Making, Uses of Vegetables, Little Peach Disease, Children: Care and Training, The Codling Moth, Weeds of Ontario, Farm Poultry, Bee Diseases, Bee-keeping, Agricultural Co-operation, Tuberculosis of Fowls, Apple Orcharding, Insecticides and Fungicides, Tomatoes, Bee Diseases, Lime-Sulphur Wash, Onions, Fruit Juices, Peach Growing, Peach Diseases, Grape Growing in Niagara Peninsula, Cabbage and Cauliflower, Decay of the Teeth, Dairy School, Staff of Dairy, Part I. Cheese-making and Butter-making, Dairying on the Farm, Ice Cold Storage on the Farm, Farm Poultry and Egg Raising Conditions in Ontario. (pdf)
You can study this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...181208onta.pdf
Electric Scotland
Beth's Video Talks
Got in the video for 7th December 2022 - Once Removed
You ca watch this at: https://electricscotland.com/bnft
Adventures in Journalism
By Philip Gibbs (1923) (pdf)
An interesting account which you can read at:
https://electricscotland.com/lifesty...jour00gibb.pdf
The Century Bible
Thessalonians and Galatians (pdf)
Found this an interesting account which includes references to Celtic peoples and you can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/t...al0000unse.pdf
The Theology
Theologians of Scotland chiefly of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries being one of the Cunningham lectures by James Walker, D.D. (second Edition) (1888) (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/t...logi00walk.pdf
The Scottish Pulpit
Came across this series from the State Library of Pennsylvania and thought they'd be of interest to anyone interested in the Scottish Church as they come from 1845 in a series of 5 volumes. Have added volume 3 to the site and will add the others each week for the next 2 weeks.
You can read this volume at:
https://electricscotland.com/bible/scottish-pulpit.htm
Boswell's Journal
Or a Tour of the Hebrides With Samuel Johnson, LL.D. now first published from the original manuscript (1936) (pdf)
Well worth a read and you can get to this at:
https://electricscotland.com/history...ll-journal.pdf
Chasing the Deer
Hunting Iconography, Literature and Tradition of the Scottish Highlands. A thesis presented by Andrew E. M. Wiseman MA. (Edin., 1992), M.Phil. (Glas., 1997) to the Department of Celtic and Scottish Studies in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh (2007) (pdf)
You can read this at:
https://electricscotland.com/lifesty...graphy_Lit.pdf
Miscellanies Literary & Historical
By Lord Rosebery in two volumes (1921)
To Lord Rosebery's friends, and to all lovers of good prose, it has long been a matter for regret that it was difficult to obtain anything like a complete set of his literary and historical addresses and occasional writings, or his consent to their republication. Most were out of print; some had been issued only in small private editions; some had never been rescued from the files of the daily press.
Their author has been so good as to yield to my importunity, and permit me to make a collection of these opuscula, he himself standing aside in benevolent neutrality. The responsibility for the selection and for the original importunity is therefore mine.
No speeches dealing with controversial politics have been included. A few notes have been added, and now and then a sentence has been omitted which had a purely local and topical application. Otherwise the chapters are reprinted as they were first spoken or written.
JOHN BUCHAN
“One of the rarest of all combinations,” says Lord Rosebery in an address now incorporated in these volumes, “is that of a bookish statesman who is at the same time a man of practical business and affairs.” His lordship is himself a remarkable instance of this rare combination. As a Minister, he was distinguished for his grasp of public affairs, but he was none the less a man of literary leanings, with a wide knowledge of books and their authors and a happy faculty of ready reference and apt illustration. An orator in the political arena, he was equally effective in other branches of public speaking, and in his day he was unmatched for the felicity and charm of his platform addresses on themes outside the range of politics. Many of those addresses and of Lord Rosebery’s occasional writings were informative in a high degree, all of them were interesting; and it is well to have them collected in these two volumes. The gathering of them together is the work of Mr. John Buchan, Lord Rosebery having at last consented, on the repeated importunity of Mr. Buchan, to the republication of his miscellanies, “he himself standing aside in benevolent neutrality”; and the collection will be widely welcomed by Lord Rosebery’s admirers and by many others as a fine memorial of a cultured statesman, a literary critic of distinction, and, last but not least, a patriotic and enthusiastic Scot.
The first volume is devoted to “Appreciations”. Lord Rosebery in his hey-day was in great demand as an “occasional orator”—one who could be relied upon to deliver an appropriate address on the unveiling of a statue or other memorial to one of our great departed, or on a centenary or other anniversary; and here we have tributes to men so different in character and in their careers as Cromwell, Burke, Dr. Johnson, Bums, Dr. Chalmers, Thackeray, Mr. Gladstone, and Lord Salisbury. With them may be associated Nelson, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Cecil Rhodes, tributes to whom figure in the second volume under the general classification of “Vignettes”. Appreciations of men so diversified as those just named, even by one so skilled in the art as Lord Rosebery, are necessarily unequal. Perhaps the least satisfying is that on Cromwell, which is too much occupied with the discussion of whether the Protector was or was not a hypocrite. The fullest and most satisfactory appreciation, to our mind, is that of Johnson, in the course of which we have this interesting personal revelation: “I, speaking from experience, can say that in sickness, when all other books have failed, when Dickens, Thackeray, Walter Scott, and other magicians have been useless to distract, Boswell’s book is the only one which could engage and detain the languid attention of an invalid . Frank criticism of some of the illustrissimi otherwise extolled is not wanting. For instance, Lord Roseberry confesses that Stevenson’s “The Master of Ballantrae,” powerful as it is, has never been a favourite of his, because the story is so utterly repulsive — “the conflict of a scoundrel against a maniac narrated by a coward”; and he dwells on certain defects and blemishes in Thackeray’s “Vanity Fair” and “Esmond,” in condemnation of which, however, nearly all critics now concur. His lordship, by the way, enunciates a canon of criticism, not quite sound perhaps, but which will comfort many people disturbed by the higher “ethics of criticism” propounded by some modern writers — “One likes what one likes, and one dislikes what one dislikes”. Grouped in the Appreciations we have also memoirs of Sir Robert Peel and Lord Randolph Churchill, which have been already published in book form. Here, perhaps, Lord Rosebery is at his best, due probably to the subjects belonging to the political sphere, in which Lord Rosebery occupied such a distinctive place, and also, in the case of Lord Randolph Churchill, to a personal knowledge founded on intimate friendship. The estimates of the two statesmen are just and discriminating, and they are combined with much sagacious reflection on sundry constitutional questions, such as the working of the Cabinet and the position and functions of the Prime Minister. Hardly anything has been better said of Lord Randolph’s incessant attacks on Mr. Gladstone than Lord Rosebery’s comparison of them to “an audacious light-weight sparring up to a recognised champion”.
Lord Rosebery has had an experience which is surely unique. He has been Lord Rector of all the four Scottish Universities and is now Chancellor of the University of Glasgow; he has, as he himself phrases it, “lived many rectorial lives”. His four Rectorial addresses and his address as Chancellor of Glasgow University occupy a very large part of the second volume of the “Miscellanies”. Although Lord Rosebery declares that “The most dismal moment that can occur in a man’s life is the moment when he is about to deliver a Rectorial address,” his own efforts go far to negative the presumptive corollary that they must form dismal reading. These addresses really constitute, in some respects, the most important and the most inspiring sections of Lord Rosebery’s literary output, dealing, as they do for the greater part, with various features of Scottish history and character, and containing fervid appeals to the youth of the country. The undergraduates of Aberdeen were the first to honour Lord Rosebery, electing him Lord Rector in 1878, when he was only thirty-one years of age. His address, delivered in 1880, dwelt on the importance of the University teaching of history, especially of Scottish history, and deplored the fact that in all our Scottish Universities there was then no provision for the teaching of Scottish history—a defect, however, which has been largely remedied since. The Edinburgh address (1882) dealt with “The Patriotism of a Scot,” and was an argument for the preservation of the distinctive national character; the truest patriotism of every Scot, he maintained, was to be capable and reliable. Much the same idea—the service rendered to one’s country in faithfully following one’s profession—underlay the Glasgow address (1900), although its subject, “Questions of Empire,” was of much wider range. The St. Andrews address (1911) was delivered on the occasion of the five hundredth anniversary of the foundation of that University, and was, almost of necessity, influenced and coloured by the anniversary note. It bears the allusive title of “The Struldbrug” (borrowed from “Gulliver’s Travels”) and depicts in a very graphic manner the course of Scottish history which the first Lord Rector in 1411 would have witnessed had he been a Struldbrug and had lived down through the centuries. Seldom, indeed, have the picturesque episodes in Scottish history and the transformations that have taken place in the condition of the people been so brilliantly summarised as in many passages in this admirable address, an address which will bear more than one reading. In his address as Chancellor of Glasgow University (1908), Lord Rosebery reverted to the theme of “The Formation of Scottish Character,” pleading strenuously for the cultivation of the Scottish characteristic of self-reliance, which he contended was the heart of Scottish independence and Scottish success. These various addresses are supplemented, in a sense, by one on “The Union of England and Scotland” delivered to the Edinburgh Philosophical Institute, and another on “The Service of the State ” delivered to the Associated Societies of Edinburgh University. All these addresses contain many eloquent passages, but, for a specimen, we content ourselves with a few sentences from the Aberdeen address, which are as pertinent to-day as when delivered forty years ago:—
Let me point out one more inducement to the study I advocate. You are in the city perhaps most calculated to give an interest to the study of those times, for surely no place ever suffered so much for its prominence. From the time that the Covenanting Commissioners refused to drink the cup of Bon Accord, and were followed by Montrose with an army which slaughtered the dogs which had been made the innocent instruments of satire, this unhappy city was compelled to undergo as many outward changes of compliance as the Vicar of Bray or Bobbing John of Mar. In those days the greatest seat of learning in Scotland, it was the fate of Aberdeen, as of Leipsic, to learn that a famous and hospitable University is no protection against siege or outrage. Your well-sacked city, surviving the successive onslaughts of Malignants and Covenanters and impartial Highlanders, remains a noble monument of the stirring and perilous past of our country.
Around you learning spreads her various wares; you have but to pick and choose. You are the generation that holds for the present the succession to the long roll of famous men who have adorned this University. They have handed to you the light; it is for you to transmit it. The vestal lamp of knowledge may flicker, but it never dies; even in the darkest hours of dormant civilisation, it found loving hands to cherish and to tend it. To you that lamp has been given by those who have watched over it in these ancient colleges. I hope and believe it will not wax duller in your hands, but rather that you will show forth its radiance in whatever part of the world you may be called upon to wield that influence which every educated man must exercise.
You can read these volumes at:
https://electricscotland.com/lifestyle/lordrosebery.htm
Story
The Herring Fishing
An article from the Aberdeen Journal, Notes & Queries, 1914
Like most other towns, Fraserburgh has experienced many industrial changes. The Greenland seal and whale fishing has vanished here, as elsewhere, and local shipbuilding practically camo to an end with the substitution of steamers for sailing vessels. A considerable industry at one time was the manufacture of oil from dogfish, but owing to the introduction of gas as an illuminant, that ceased. The herring fishing industry, however, despite all the vicissitudes through which it has passed, has proved the great “stand-by” of the town, the undoubted source of its prosperity. The first genuine start at methodical curing on a business-like basis was made in 1815, and since then the industry has enormously developed. An Act of Parliament had been passed in 1808, providing for the annual payment of a bounty of £3 per ton to owners or hirers of fishing boats fitted out according to specific regulations, and a bounty of 2s per barrel to fishcurers for every barrel of herrings cured in proper form. In 1815, an exportation bounty, which amounted to 2s 8d per barrel, was repealed, but the bounty on herrings cured was raised from 2s to 4s per barrel. This latter rate was continued up to 1826, but in the three succeeding years it was reduced a shilling every year, Being finally abolished in 1830. The bounties, however, had had the effect of giving a great impetus to the industry, which, as already mentioned, was regularly established in Fraserburgh in 1815, being from that time carried on under Government supervision.
The dimensions of the trade were at first comparatively small. The total cure of herrings in 1815 amounted to but 5562 barrels, the export abroad consisting of only 278 barrels. This consignment was despatched to the West Indies, to feed the slaves on the plantations. With the abolition of slavery in 1833 this particular trade came to an end. The liberated slaves would no longer look at “salt herrings," which had previously formed their staple diet; as Mr Cranna remarks—“The poor niggers probably did not hate the salt herring in itself so much as the memories it called up.” New markets had to be got, and these were obtained in Ireland and on the Continent. The Irish trade collapsed in 1847, the year of famine; whereas in 1842 Fraserburgh exported 9748 barrels of cured herrings to Ireland, the export in 1848 was only 379 barrels. As the Irish trade did not revive to any great extent, the attention of fishourers was directed to Germany, with highly successful results. The geographical position of Fraserburgh contributed not a little to the development of this Continental trade, and a very considerable expansion of it marked the next two decades. It experienced a severe blow on the outbreak of the Franco-German War in 1870, the chief German ports being blockaded by French warships. This blow was partially redressed by the herring-laden vessels being directed to a port in Denmark, from which the herrings were railed to Stettin and Hamburg, and so some of the great loss that at one time seemed inevitable was prevented. “The period from 1870 to 1879,” says Mr Cranna, “saw wonderful developments in tho herring trade, and great progress in general trade at Fraserburgh. The town, at this period, forged ahead at a remarkable pace, and at the close of the seventies the community was recognised as one of the most active and enterprising on the north-east coast of Scotland.” By this time, too, much larger boats were employed, fishing in offshore or distant grounds had been begun, the price of herrings had risen, and the payments made to the fishermen by the curers had greatly increased. The number of boats fishing at the port rose from 480 in 1870 to 844 in 1879, and the value of the exports of herrings rose from £113.000 to £195,000.
A serious set-back was experienced in the next decade, however. The prosperity of the trade induced over-competition; too many boats were engaged, and, to secure crews, excessive bounties were paid to the fishermen. Herrings of a most immature and inferior kind wore thrown on the market, and this, combined with an excessive supply, produced a fall in prices.
THE FINANCIAL CRISIS OF 1881.
The year 1884 in particular was one of great financial disaster, and the next two years were hardly less disastrous, the expectation that the losses of the first year would be retrieved not being realised. Many of the curors were completely ruined, about a half of the individuals or firms engaged in the business in 1883 being forced out of it in the course of the next five years. The disaster had one good effect — it brought about a revolution in the industry and placed it on a much sounder basis. The old and risky, and largely speculative, method of on-aging boats’ crews for the fishing season at a fixed price per cran for herrings caught and delivered was abandoned, and the English mode of selling the herrings daily by auction to the highest bidder was substituted. Since then, the industry has been very successfully prosecuted, although, with the introduction of steam drifters in recent years, the herring trade, as Mr Cranna points out, “seems to have lost its equilibrium,” the enormous quantities of herrings landed from these boats having an adverse influence on. prices.
It may be noted in conclusion that on more than one occasion Fraserburgh has occupied the premier position in respect of the year’s catch of herrings. In 1907, for instance^ the total catch amounted to the enormous quantity of 320,520 crans, secured by a fleet of 500 boats. Altogether, Mr Cranna computes, from a close examination of the statistics, that from 1815 to 1912 the value of the herrings cured at Fraserburgh amounts to no less than £12,262,439, constituting “the foundation wealth upon which Fraserburgh has prospered and progressed for almost one hundred years.” With commendable foresight, the “Brochers” have kept their harbour accommodation abreast the requirements of this groat and important industry. Practically, an entirely new harbour has been constructed within the last thirty years, a large addition to which was opened the other day.
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Maitland of Lethington
The “Spectator” (April 5). in a review of “Maitland of Lethington, the Minister of Mary Stuart: A Study of his Life and Times,” by E. Russell (1912) (pdf), says: —
Lethington’s career has none of the swift romance of Montrose’s. he was single-hearted enough in his aims, but not in his methods, and though he was tenacious and firm beyond any man of his age, he showed his quality in prosaic fields like councils and embassies and an interminable correspondente. Into his forty-five stormy years he crowded activities enough for ten men. The son of an East Lothian laird, he was so admirably educated that Queen Elizabeth, no bad judge, called him “the flower of the wits of Scotland.” At twenty-six he became a privy councillor and secretary of State to the Regent, Mary of Guise, and began the long negotiations with England which ended only with his death. He was a “persona grata” to Elizabeth’s advisers, who appreciated the sincerity of his friendship for their country; and it was largely due to his efforts that the English alliance was formed and the French influence of the Regent, counteracted. The death of Mary of Guise saw the end of the old Franco-Scottish pact and the beginning of Knox’s supremacy over Scottish minds. The Pope’s jurisdiction was formally destroyed by Act of Parliament, the old heresy laws were annulled, and the saying or hearing of Mass was prohibited. Lethington’s first attempt at the union with England was his proposal that Elizabeth should marry Arran, the prospective heir to the Scottish throne. Elizabeth refused, and the death of the French King left the Scots with a young Queen, a devout Catholic, whose personality threatened to upset all calculations. The main problem at the outset of Mary’s reign was that of the English succession, with which that of her marriage was closely bound up. Her first desire was to wed Don Carlos, of Spain, and Lethineton seems to have furthered the scheme in the hope of using it as a lever to compel the recognition by Elizabeth of the Queen of Scots as her successor. Then came the proposal for a match with Leicester, and finally Mary's counterstroke of the marriage with Darnley. After that, tragedy began to thicken about the luckless Queen. Lethington dropped out of her council, and he dropped out also of the confidence of Moray and Knox. Henceforth he was to play his own game in politics. He was undoubtedly an accomplice in the murder of Riccio, and he had foreknowledge of the grievous tragedy of Darnley’s death. Lethington stood by the Queen through the events which followed, for he was convinced that only through the Queen could the union he desired be accomplished.
In the remaining six years of his life he fought for the Queen till, as happens to obstinate men, he had almost forgotten his original reasons, and fought as if he were a blind legitimist. He intrigued unsuccessfully on her side at the inquiries at York and Westminster. To him, permanent deposition seemed a punishment beyond her deserts, besides being a hindrance to the union of Britain; and therein he differed from Moray and Knox and the nobles, who began to form the party of the young King. Moreover, he had a deep-seated love of power, as he saw that as he had played his cards he could only hope to exert his supreme influence through Mary’s restoration. He wished to safeguard the Reformation settlement, but he believed that the now chastened Queen would be no obstacle. The death of Moray—“the most just and magnanimous ruler that Scotland had had since the days of Bruce,” Mr Russell calls him —removed one difficulty; but Lethington had under-rated the strength of the King’s party, which now, through Knox’s influence, had obtained the support of the great body of the lairds and burgesses. He went into open opposition, and intrigued for French support against his Scottish opponents and Elizabeth, he would have defended his apparent inconsistency by maintaining that his ends were still the same as when he had opposed Mary of Guise Whereas he had formerly sought the union of the realm by friendship with Elizabeth, he was now compelled to seek it by coercing her, which was impossible without foreign aid.” He was prepared to bo reconciled at once with the English Queen if she would recognise the Scottish rights to the English succession.
In the end he and the rest of the Queen’s party were forced to make an armed stand in Edinburgh Castle. The tale of the long siege. till Morton with English aid forced a capitulation shows that Lethington possessed, at any rate an indomitable courage. Tormented with bodily ailments, he never wavered, though his party fell away daily, and Hamilton and Huntly and creatures like Sir James Balfour went over to the other side. With the gallant and Quixotic Kirkaldy of Grange he kept his flag flying to the last, striving by his old subleties to sow dissension among his opponents, and never losing hope till the enemy were through the gates. He and Kirkaldy in the end were deserted by everybody, even by France; they fought on in their hopeless fight out of sheer pride and stubbornness. Kirkaldy died on the scaffold, but it must have been a relief to the Scots nobles, as well as to Elizabeth and Burghley, that Lethington died a natural death before his trial. There is a kind of magnificence in his last desperate resolution which is lacking in the far wiser and more successful dexterity of his earlier career. He is one of the few cases of the “politique" who in the last resort could attain to the simpler heroism of the enthusiast.
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Weekend is almost here and hope it's a good one for you.
Alastair