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CONTENTS
Electric Scotland News
Electric Canadian
Facts about Canada
Sheep and goat farming in Canada
Canadian Armed Forces
Sergeant Preston Of The Yukon
Battle of Vimy Ridge
Canada and the Great War
Inuit peoples
The Flag in the Wind
Electric Scotland
The Scottish Historical Review
Songs Of Scotland, Prior To Burns
The Annals of Scottish Natural History
Caledonia Monthly Magazine
Christina McKelvie's Column
Thomas Dykes
Life and Work of Joanna Baillie
Sketches of Tranent in the Olden Times
Enigma Machine
Songs from John Henderson
Battle of Culloden
Battle of Flodden
A Video History of Scotland
The Queen Mother
Videos of Scottish Castles
Robert Service
Scottish Fairy and Folk Tales (New Book)
Scottish Independence
and finally
Electric Scotland News
I am making full use of YouTube these days to bring you videos to compliment text content on the sites. I especially think that this might benefit younger visitors who are now more used to iPhones and tablets. That said I've enjoyed watching many of them myself.
One problem with these videos is that sometimes the publisher for some reason decides to withdraw the video or restrict it to just some countries and not others. Another thing I have noticed is that sometimes there is an issue with background music so while the video is still available they mute the sound which is not helpful. Sometimes you'll be told you can only view the video on YouTube as for some reason they've decided to withdraw permission for embedding the video on other web sites. So while there can be issues with these videos on the whole they are a great resource.
One example of using these videos is the BBC series on the History of Scotland. I've created a page to embed the videos onto the page in sequence. All these videos are an hour in length. I've started with a 2 part series about the pre-history of Scotland and then gone onto the 10 part history of Scotland starting with the Roman Empire and ending with Scotland getting its devolved government. You can watch these at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...eo_history.htm
-----
Seems to be Canada's turn for some disasters... we first had the great flood in the Calgary area of Alberta. Then we had a massive rain event in Toronto with over 100,000 losing electricity. Then we had the rail disaster in Quebec with looks like some 50 killed in the massive oil explosion from a run a way train.
We've certainly had many thunder storms here in Chatham this past week with lots of rain but thankfully no flooding or power cuts. Today, as I write this, it is sunny and warm.
-----
I noted this week Steve has added our site search engine to our Electric Scotland Community so this will make it easier to find information you are looking for both in our community and our main web sites.
-----
I noted some activity in Scotland this week on the topic of Golf. The Scottish Open in under way but also noted comment on "Increase in girls teeing off for golf". The number of young girls playing golf in Scotland is now well above par thanks to the ClubGolf initiative introducing children to the sport. You can get to their web site to learn more athttp://www.clubgolfscotland.com/. There was also another article about "Drive to promote Scottish golf", Scotland’s magnificent scenery and golf courses will be showcased around the globe, thanks to a new £400,000 campaign to promote Scotland as the Home of Golf. You can read more on these articles from our ScotNews feed on our index page.
While viewing the wee adverts they are showing on YouTube to promote Golf I also discovered a video about Golf in East Lothian and thought I'd add that to our the foot of our Scottish Golf Videos page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/sport/golf_videos.htm
-----
And of course this is the week of the giant Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in North Carolina. I understand COSCA is having a special conference on Friday including representatives from the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs so guess there will be more chiefs than usual attending the games. You can learn more about these games at http://www.gmhg.org/.
Electric Canadian
I added numbers 151 through to 175 to our Facts about Canada and also added a recipe for the famous Canadian Poutine to that page as well. You can read these and watch the video on Poutine at:http://www.electriccanadian.com/lifestyle/facts.htm
I also added a video about Sheep and goat farming in Canada which you can watch at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...ture/sheep.htm
Also added four videos about life in the Canadian Armed Forces which you can watch at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/forces/index.htm
And to this added a collection of videos on Sergeant Preston Of The Yukon a story about the Mounties. You can watch these at http://www.electriccanadian.com/forces/preston.htm
I also added a full documentary on the Battle of Vimy Ridge which is over an hour in length and you can watch this at:http://www.electriccanadian.com/forces/25th/index.htm
Also found a series of nine videos about Canada and the Great War which you can watch at:http://www.electriccanadian.com/forces/great_war.htm
In addition added three videos on the Inuit peoples which you can watch at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist.../esquimaux.htm
The Flag in the Wind
This weeks edition was compiled by Jim Lynch. In this issue he describes it as a bit of a hotch potch but none the less some interesting stories to read.
You can read this issue at http://www.scotsindependent.org
Electric Scotland
The Scottish Historical Review
We have now started on Volume 9 and added this week January 1912 issue. You can get to this at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...w/volume09.htm
In this issue there is a good article about "Old Schools and Universities in Scotland" written by Alexander Gray. In the second book there are some excellent book reviews one of which is about "The awakening of Scotland, a history from 1747 to 1797". The review starts...
OUR single adverse criticism on Mr. Mathieson's book may be stated in a sentence. It is so good that we want more of it. The scale on which he has written (about three hundred pages to fifty years) is liberal as modern books go, but the subject is so largely unknown, and the author's powers of exposition are so great, that a more detailed treatment would be welcome. It is, as he says, necessary in dealing with the political history of the last half of the eighteenth century to pursue its ramifications into British, or even into English, history; but this very necessity is an additional argument for extended treatment, for English historians have not bestowed their space upon the pursuit of ramifications into Scottish history, and there is still a large quantity of hitherto unused material.
You can download this book from the Internet archive at:
http://archive.org/download/awakenin...00mathrich.pdf
You can read the previous issues at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/review/
Songs Of Scotland, Prior To Burns
This book is by Robert Chambers who is famous for collecting old Scottish Songs.
Added this week are...
I Do Confess Thou'rt Smooth and Fair
Guid Night, And Joy Be Wi You A'
Old Long Syne
You can get to this book at the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ers_robert.htm
The Annals of Scottish Natural History
Have now added Volume 17 1908 issue.
You can get to this at http://www.electricscotland.com/natu...al_history.htm
Caledonia Monthly Magazine
Have added additional articles from this magazine...
White Peter or The Haunted Sheil
Rev. Dr. Whyte
And this now completes this publication.
You can get to these at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...pers/caledonia
Christina McKelvie's Column
Got in her column for 17th July in which she is telling us of the 50 odd US Senators meeting at the Scottish Parliament.
You can get to the column at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...vie/130711.htm
The other columns can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/mckelvie/
Thomas Dykes
(1850, Dundonald, Ayrshire - 1916, London, England) Journalist and Author
This week we added to his book "All Round Sport with Fish, Fur and Feather"...
The Cruise of the Peesweep
Love Below Zero
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...kes_thomas.htm
Life and Work of Joanna Baillie
A new book we're starting.
"If I had to present any one to a foreigner as a model of an English Gentlewoman," said William Wordsworth, "it would be Joanna Baillie. And this was the same Joanna Baillie whom Sir Walter Scott called 'the best dramatic writer Britain had produced since the days of Shakespeare and Massinger.’"
Have now completed this book which you can read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...llie/index.htm
Sketches of Tranent in the Olden Times
By J Sands (1881)
Have now also completed this book which you can read at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...nent/index.htm
Enigma Machine
This is where we are publishing this set of puzzles created by Doug Ross which can now be found in Doctor's Surgeries, Old Folks Homes, etc.
Added Enigma Machine 22 puzzle which you can get to at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life.../enigma022.htm
The other puzzles we've already published can be found at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...igma/index.htm
Songs from John Henderson
John has sent us in another song, "Teuch" and you can read this at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerel498.htm
His other songs can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerels.htm
Battle of Culloden
Added a video about the battle which you can view at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/culloden/
Battle of Flodden
Added a video in four parts about this battle and an archaeological dig which you can view at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/flodden.htm
A Video History of Scotland
I put together a history of Scotland by making use of YouTube to feature 12 BBC 1 hour videos. I provided the link to this under Electric Scotland News.
The Queen Mother
Added a 1 hour video of the Queen Mother to the Strathmore page of the Scottish Nation. Why the Strathmore page you might ask? Well she was a member of the family and hence of Scots descent.
You can view this video at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...strathmore.htm
Videos of Scottish Castles
These videos were produced by STV and are now available on YouTube. We have created a page for them so they can be viewed in sequence and on the page are lots of stories of Scottish castles for you to read. You can get to this at
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...tle_videos.htm
Robert Service
I have just been told that Robert Service did a two volume autobiography of his life and have now a link to volume 1 "Ploughman On The Moon" which I've added to the foot of his page. It's a great read. You can get to this book and read more about him at
http://www.electricscotland.com/poet...rt_service.htm
I might add that Robert Service while Scottish was adopted as Canada's most popular poet.
Scottish Fairy and Folk Tales
Selected and Edited with an Introduction by Sir George Douglas, Bart.
This book has a huge Introduction which is well worth a read. Here is how it starts...
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/fairy
Scottish Independence
Added four papers to our Scotland in the World section, Self-determination. The Succession of States, Scotland's Status as a Nation and Devolution and the Labour Myth. All papers by Dr, James Wilkie.
All excellent papers and well worth a read. In fact you should really read them to find out more about hwo Scotland fits into the global economy. You can get to these at: http://www.electricscotland.com/inde...land_world.htm
And finally...
Clipped Reply
I remember being at my local barber’s when a fellow customer started giving the tonsorial expert a long list of instructions as to what he wanted done.
The barber, after listening impatiently for a while, whipped the gown back off the customer and told him: “Listen, Jimmy, I’m a barber – no’ a magician.”
-----
High Hopes!
Did you hear about the teacher who always says to her Higher Maths class how clever they are, and how high her expectations are for them in future exams?
When a pupil asked why she said that, she told them that there was evidence that if you say these encouraging things to people often enough, it becomes a reality.
One of the class immediately exclaimed: “Miss, you’re a great teacher.”
-----
And that's it for now and hope you all have a great weekend.
Alastair
Electric Scotland News
Electric Canadian
Facts about Canada
Sheep and goat farming in Canada
Canadian Armed Forces
Sergeant Preston Of The Yukon
Battle of Vimy Ridge
Canada and the Great War
Inuit peoples
The Flag in the Wind
Electric Scotland
The Scottish Historical Review
Songs Of Scotland, Prior To Burns
The Annals of Scottish Natural History
Caledonia Monthly Magazine
Christina McKelvie's Column
Thomas Dykes
Life and Work of Joanna Baillie
Sketches of Tranent in the Olden Times
Enigma Machine
Songs from John Henderson
Battle of Culloden
Battle of Flodden
A Video History of Scotland
The Queen Mother
Videos of Scottish Castles
Robert Service
Scottish Fairy and Folk Tales (New Book)
Scottish Independence
and finally
Electric Scotland News
I am making full use of YouTube these days to bring you videos to compliment text content on the sites. I especially think that this might benefit younger visitors who are now more used to iPhones and tablets. That said I've enjoyed watching many of them myself.
One problem with these videos is that sometimes the publisher for some reason decides to withdraw the video or restrict it to just some countries and not others. Another thing I have noticed is that sometimes there is an issue with background music so while the video is still available they mute the sound which is not helpful. Sometimes you'll be told you can only view the video on YouTube as for some reason they've decided to withdraw permission for embedding the video on other web sites. So while there can be issues with these videos on the whole they are a great resource.
One example of using these videos is the BBC series on the History of Scotland. I've created a page to embed the videos onto the page in sequence. All these videos are an hour in length. I've started with a 2 part series about the pre-history of Scotland and then gone onto the 10 part history of Scotland starting with the Roman Empire and ending with Scotland getting its devolved government. You can watch these at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...eo_history.htm
-----
Seems to be Canada's turn for some disasters... we first had the great flood in the Calgary area of Alberta. Then we had a massive rain event in Toronto with over 100,000 losing electricity. Then we had the rail disaster in Quebec with looks like some 50 killed in the massive oil explosion from a run a way train.
We've certainly had many thunder storms here in Chatham this past week with lots of rain but thankfully no flooding or power cuts. Today, as I write this, it is sunny and warm.
-----
I noted this week Steve has added our site search engine to our Electric Scotland Community so this will make it easier to find information you are looking for both in our community and our main web sites.
-----
I noted some activity in Scotland this week on the topic of Golf. The Scottish Open in under way but also noted comment on "Increase in girls teeing off for golf". The number of young girls playing golf in Scotland is now well above par thanks to the ClubGolf initiative introducing children to the sport. You can get to their web site to learn more athttp://www.clubgolfscotland.com/. There was also another article about "Drive to promote Scottish golf", Scotland’s magnificent scenery and golf courses will be showcased around the globe, thanks to a new £400,000 campaign to promote Scotland as the Home of Golf. You can read more on these articles from our ScotNews feed on our index page.
While viewing the wee adverts they are showing on YouTube to promote Golf I also discovered a video about Golf in East Lothian and thought I'd add that to our the foot of our Scottish Golf Videos page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/sport/golf_videos.htm
-----
And of course this is the week of the giant Grandfather Mountain Highland Games in North Carolina. I understand COSCA is having a special conference on Friday including representatives from the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs so guess there will be more chiefs than usual attending the games. You can learn more about these games at http://www.gmhg.org/.
Electric Canadian
I added numbers 151 through to 175 to our Facts about Canada and also added a recipe for the famous Canadian Poutine to that page as well. You can read these and watch the video on Poutine at:http://www.electriccanadian.com/lifestyle/facts.htm
I also added a video about Sheep and goat farming in Canada which you can watch at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...ture/sheep.htm
Also added four videos about life in the Canadian Armed Forces which you can watch at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/forces/index.htm
And to this added a collection of videos on Sergeant Preston Of The Yukon a story about the Mounties. You can watch these at http://www.electriccanadian.com/forces/preston.htm
I also added a full documentary on the Battle of Vimy Ridge which is over an hour in length and you can watch this at:http://www.electriccanadian.com/forces/25th/index.htm
Also found a series of nine videos about Canada and the Great War which you can watch at:http://www.electriccanadian.com/forces/great_war.htm
In addition added three videos on the Inuit peoples which you can watch at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist.../esquimaux.htm
The Flag in the Wind
This weeks edition was compiled by Jim Lynch. In this issue he describes it as a bit of a hotch potch but none the less some interesting stories to read.
You can read this issue at http://www.scotsindependent.org
Electric Scotland
The Scottish Historical Review
We have now started on Volume 9 and added this week January 1912 issue. You can get to this at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...w/volume09.htm
In this issue there is a good article about "Old Schools and Universities in Scotland" written by Alexander Gray. In the second book there are some excellent book reviews one of which is about "The awakening of Scotland, a history from 1747 to 1797". The review starts...
OUR single adverse criticism on Mr. Mathieson's book may be stated in a sentence. It is so good that we want more of it. The scale on which he has written (about three hundred pages to fifty years) is liberal as modern books go, but the subject is so largely unknown, and the author's powers of exposition are so great, that a more detailed treatment would be welcome. It is, as he says, necessary in dealing with the political history of the last half of the eighteenth century to pursue its ramifications into British, or even into English, history; but this very necessity is an additional argument for extended treatment, for English historians have not bestowed their space upon the pursuit of ramifications into Scottish history, and there is still a large quantity of hitherto unused material.
You can download this book from the Internet archive at:
http://archive.org/download/awakenin...00mathrich.pdf
You can read the previous issues at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/review/
Songs Of Scotland, Prior To Burns
This book is by Robert Chambers who is famous for collecting old Scottish Songs.
Added this week are...
I Do Confess Thou'rt Smooth and Fair
Guid Night, And Joy Be Wi You A'
Old Long Syne
You can get to this book at the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ers_robert.htm
The Annals of Scottish Natural History
Have now added Volume 17 1908 issue.
You can get to this at http://www.electricscotland.com/natu...al_history.htm
Caledonia Monthly Magazine
Have added additional articles from this magazine...
White Peter or The Haunted Sheil
Rev. Dr. Whyte
And this now completes this publication.
You can get to these at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...pers/caledonia
Christina McKelvie's Column
Got in her column for 17th July in which she is telling us of the 50 odd US Senators meeting at the Scottish Parliament.
You can get to the column at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...vie/130711.htm
The other columns can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/mckelvie/
Thomas Dykes
(1850, Dundonald, Ayrshire - 1916, London, England) Journalist and Author
This week we added to his book "All Round Sport with Fish, Fur and Feather"...
The Cruise of the Peesweep
Love Below Zero
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...kes_thomas.htm
Life and Work of Joanna Baillie
A new book we're starting.
"If I had to present any one to a foreigner as a model of an English Gentlewoman," said William Wordsworth, "it would be Joanna Baillie. And this was the same Joanna Baillie whom Sir Walter Scott called 'the best dramatic writer Britain had produced since the days of Shakespeare and Massinger.’"
Have now completed this book which you can read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...llie/index.htm
Sketches of Tranent in the Olden Times
By J Sands (1881)
Have now also completed this book which you can read at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...nent/index.htm
Enigma Machine
This is where we are publishing this set of puzzles created by Doug Ross which can now be found in Doctor's Surgeries, Old Folks Homes, etc.
Added Enigma Machine 22 puzzle which you can get to at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life.../enigma022.htm
The other puzzles we've already published can be found at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...igma/index.htm
Songs from John Henderson
John has sent us in another song, "Teuch" and you can read this at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerel498.htm
His other songs can be read at http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerels.htm
Battle of Culloden
Added a video about the battle which you can view at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/culloden/
Battle of Flodden
Added a video in four parts about this battle and an archaeological dig which you can view at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/flodden.htm
A Video History of Scotland
I put together a history of Scotland by making use of YouTube to feature 12 BBC 1 hour videos. I provided the link to this under Electric Scotland News.
The Queen Mother
Added a 1 hour video of the Queen Mother to the Strathmore page of the Scottish Nation. Why the Strathmore page you might ask? Well she was a member of the family and hence of Scots descent.
You can view this video at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...strathmore.htm
Videos of Scottish Castles
These videos were produced by STV and are now available on YouTube. We have created a page for them so they can be viewed in sequence and on the page are lots of stories of Scottish castles for you to read. You can get to this at
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...tle_videos.htm
Robert Service
I have just been told that Robert Service did a two volume autobiography of his life and have now a link to volume 1 "Ploughman On The Moon" which I've added to the foot of his page. It's a great read. You can get to this book and read more about him at
http://www.electricscotland.com/poet...rt_service.htm
I might add that Robert Service while Scottish was adopted as Canada's most popular poet.
Scottish Fairy and Folk Tales
Selected and Edited with an Introduction by Sir George Douglas, Bart.
This book has a huge Introduction which is well worth a read. Here is how it starts...
It is only within comparatively recent years that the homely stories in the mouths of the country-people have been constituted a brunch of learning, and have had applied to them, as such, the methods and the terminology of science. No doubt a very noteworthy gain to knowledge has resulted from this treatment,—a curious department of research has been opened up, and light has been cast upon various outside things of greater importance than the subject of study itself. But, side by side with this gain to knowledge, is there not, involved in the method of treatment indicated, a loss to the stories themselves?
Classified, tabulated, scientifically named, they are no longer the wild free product of Nature that we knew and loved:—they are become, so to speak, a collection of butterflies in a case, an album of pressed wild flowers. No doubt they are still very interesting, and highly instructive; but their poetry, their brightness, the fragrance which clung about them in their native air, their native soil, is in large measure gone! Well then,—with all due recognition of the value of the labours of the scientific folklorist, the comparative mythologist, whose work I would not for one moment be understood to undervalue,—is there not room, even at the present day, to study these stories from another point of view, and that the simplest and most obvious one—the point of view, I mean, of the story-teller pure and simple?
One would hope that the time had not yet come when the old tales, considered on their own merits, have entirely ceased to charm; and it is an undeniable fact that there are still persons among us who would regard it as a real and personal loss could they be made to believe that the ideal hero of their childhood, as he falls heroically, in a bloody battle, wounded to the death, is in reality a myth, or an allegory to embody the setting of the sun; and who would even feel themselves aggrieved could they, be brought to realise that the bugbear of their baby years—their own particular bugbear—is common also to the aborigines of Polynesia. So great is the power of early association. Well then, my proposal is to consider the Tales of the Scottish Peasantry simply from the literary, critical, or story-teller’s point of view,— from the point of view, that is, of persons who actually tell them, to whom they are actually told.
You can read the rest of this Introduction and get to the first chapter at:http://www.electricscotland.com/history/fairy
Scottish Independence
Added four papers to our Scotland in the World section, Self-determination. The Succession of States, Scotland's Status as a Nation and Devolution and the Labour Myth. All papers by Dr, James Wilkie.
All excellent papers and well worth a read. In fact you should really read them to find out more about hwo Scotland fits into the global economy. You can get to these at: http://www.electricscotland.com/inde...land_world.htm
And finally...
Clipped Reply
I remember being at my local barber’s when a fellow customer started giving the tonsorial expert a long list of instructions as to what he wanted done.
The barber, after listening impatiently for a while, whipped the gown back off the customer and told him: “Listen, Jimmy, I’m a barber – no’ a magician.”
-----
High Hopes!
Did you hear about the teacher who always says to her Higher Maths class how clever they are, and how high her expectations are for them in future exams?
When a pupil asked why she said that, she told them that there was evidence that if you say these encouraging things to people often enough, it becomes a reality.
One of the class immediately exclaimed: “Miss, you’re a great teacher.”
-----
And that's it for now and hope you all have a great weekend.
Alastair