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I got in a copy of an email to Peter in Norway from Dr James Wilkie and thought it would be interesting to copy it here for you to read...
Good evening, Peter.
I just got back to Vienna late this afternoon and am delighted to hear from you. Yes, the independence campaign is well under way and is the central issue in the media - in Scotland, that is, for in England it is not being taken all too seriously.
One can gain a false impression from the mainstream media that the No side has the edge on the Yes campaign, and all the foreign-owned mainstream media are against independence anyway. What they never report is the strength of the enthusiastic, locally-organised grassroots campaign, which is spreading like a flood all over Scotland, and which can quite conceivably swing a positive result. There is really no definite information at this stage on how the vote will go, but the indications can seen in the relative strength of the two campaigns. The No side have run an utterly depressing, totally negative campaign of fear against independence, they are short of personnel, short of money, and above all short of ideas. They are only going through the motions of opposing a social movement that they have never even started to understand.
So there is still a good chance that the Yes side can win the referendum, but the result may be very close. Thereafter the troubles begin. There is hardly anybody in Scotland who knows about diplomacy and international relations, which of course will take centre stage immediately a positive Yes vote is returned. This is far above the heads of the SNP, which is dependent on some very dubious sources of information and advice to fill the gap in their own lack of expertise. Foremost of these sources is the so-called European Movement (Euromove), the EU’s chief recruiting agency. The SNP has adopted a dogmatic attitude on EU membership for Scotland, and I have been unable so far to make much of an impression on it, even in personal talks with Alex Salmond.
Scotland is a Scandinavian country and we belong together with our fellow Scandinavians in EFTA, EEA and the Nordic Council. I have publicised that ceaselessly in articles and media comments, but Alex Salmond and his team are apparently not to be moved on the subject. The last thing they want is a referendum on the EU, so they are proposing to railroad Scotland into the EU come hell or high water, and with NO referendum on the issue. I and the rest of our group are determined to stop that by one means or another. The immediate objective is to get that Yes vote recorded on 18 September, but there is no way we are going to sit back and allow the SNP to present Scotland with a fait accompli over EU membership without as much as asking the people’s opinion.
So that is the present situation in a nutshell. The SNP leadership are well aware that I am the one and only Scot with actual experience at top government level of how a European state of Scotland’s size is run, and that David Thomson is probably the world’s leading expert on national fisheries management. Alex Salmond knows that, as he told me the last time I met him, yet neither of us has been asked to take any part in the Scottish Government’s deliberations, which are being “advised” by a whole list of individuals with very dubious relevant experience from inside and on the fringe of the EU.
The situation is disturbing, but we in our group, and even some SNP leaders, are determined to stage a real “stairheid rammy”, as they say in Glasgow, to prevent any such moves. We are determined to join Norway and the others in EFTA/EEA and the Nordic Council. We know there are powerful forces that are far wider than the EU who want Scotland kept under external control after independence, and EU membership is the way to ensure it. The SNP will even sacrifice what is left of the Scottish fishing industry in favour of its EU ideology, but they are not going to get off with it so easily.
For the rest, I am tied down in Vienna for the moment, for medical and other reasons, so will not manage to Scotland until late August. However, I should be on the spot for the referendum, and I will be available for consultation afterwards, irrespective of the outcome. Yes, never again 1707, but then as now, the real enemies are not the wicked English, but the wicked Scots. Whatever happens, Yes or No, the SNP is likely to ahed a large part of its membership after the vote. These are the people we will be looking at to form the nucleus of an alternative to the SNP, and with fresher ideas.
We live in interesting times, Peter. Maybe one of these days I will take the Hurtigruten to Tromsø and we can discuss it personally over an exquisite malt or the Norwegian equivalent.
Until that day, best regards and keep in touch.
Jim
Electric Canadian
Tourism Canada
1970 2nd most visited country
2012 20th most visited country
Canadian tourism declines despite world travel boom
Visits to Canada drop of 20% since 2000 could be hurting international trade
Tourism is one of the world’s fastest-growing businesses, yet the number of international travellers to Canada has declined 20 per cent since 2000, according to a report from Deloitte & Touche.
Canada’s tourism industry is struggling to compete as the global travel business undergoes unprecedented change, according to the "Passport to Growth" report.
While Canadian destinations such as the Rockies and Niagara Falls have not lost their allure, the tourism sector has gone unrecognized by both government and business in its potential to drive growth, says the report, compiled by Deloitte partners Ryan Brain, Tom Peter and Lorrie King, based on Statistics Canada numbers.
Although tourism employed 600,000 Canadians and represents about two per cent of national GDP, the industry is falling behind in attracting the globe’s emerging travellers.
Small share of global travel
Canada had 16 million international visitors in 2012, with the largest number from the U.S., Britain, France, Germany and Australia, according to the Canadian Tourism Association. A steep slide in U.S. visitors, in part because of the high Canadian dollar, has meant lower figures.
Canada sees only a small share of global international travel arrivals, which passed the one billion mark in 2012, having risen four per cent a year over the past 10 years.
Canada was one of the most popular international tourist destinations in 1970, second only to Italy. Now it’s No. 18, and behind countries like Ukraine and Saudi Arabia.
Among those travelling more are young people, who explore the world before settling into education and a career, and tourists over age 60, who have greater disposable income and more time to travel.
There has also been a 13 per cent a year jump in international departures from emerging economies such as China, Korea, Brazil and Mexico. Emerging economies are seeing the rise of middle-class people with enough income to travel.
New technology, new demographics
The Canadian industry needs to learn to tailor its products to these travellers to nab a share of tourism spending, which totalled $1.075 trillion US in 2012, the report said.
Deloitte also recommended boosting tourism as a means of boosting international trade, as travellers often become aware of business opportunities through meeting people face to face or acting on things they observe while on vacation.
“It’s clear that strengthening tourism would have a positive impact on Canadian companies and our overall economy,” says Deloitte partner Ryan Brain.
“What’s more, an increase in travellers to Canada could encourage Canadian companies to enter new markets internationally and experience greater competitive intensity, which we know results in periods of high productivity growth positively impacting the economy”
Deloitte analysis suggests a one per cent increase in tourists to Canada generates an $817-million increase in Canadian exports over the following two years.
High cost of air travel
The report recommends some government measures to improve tourism:
Introduce structural reforms to the air travel sector to reduce high base fares.
Reform the process for issuing visas to reduce wait times and uncertainty.
Tourism organizations also need to be more innovative in reaching out to the new demographic who are travelling, and providing a product that will appeal to them.
They should be investing in their businesses, to retain good staff, improve their technology and enhance competitiveness, the Deloitte report said.
Ambassador Heyman's Remarks at the National Gallery of Canada
Thought his remarks were quite interesting and the figures he quotes of trade also of interest.
You can read this at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...uce_heyman.htm
Nova Scotia Historical Society, Reports and Collections
I added Volume XX 1921 which includes...
Hon. Simon Bradstreet Robie, a Biography, by Israel Longworth
The Privateers of Nova Scotia by George Mullane
Life of Sir John Wentworth, Governor of Nova Scotia by Sir Adams Archibald
Halifax Currency by Horace A . Flemming
The Honourable James McDonald by Sir Chas and J, Townshend
Sources of Canadian History, with special reference to Nova Scotia by J. Plimsoll Edwards
You can read this volume at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...ions/index.htm
The Flag in the Wind
This weeks issue was compiled by Jim Lynch where he has several articles but no Synopsis.
You can read this issue at http://www.scotsindependent.org
Electric Scotland
Alexander Murdoch (1841-1891)
A Scottish Engineer, Poet, Author, Journalist
Added a third book called "Scotch Readings: Humorous and Amusing" and we're breaking this down into individual chapters for you to read. We've added two more chapters, "Washin' Jean's Comic Marriage" and "Doon the Watter in the Aulden Times" which you can find at the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/poet...doch/index.htm
Thomas Dick Lauder
Hope you are enjoying this book. Started on Volume 2 and you can find these at the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...er_thomas1.htm where we've added another couple of chapters.
As this book was published in 1825 it is a great example of what interested Scots way back some 190 years ago.
The Book of Scottish Anecdote
Humorous, Social, Legendary and Historical edited by Alexander Hislop, eighth edition.
Added pages 552 to 601. You can read these at: http://www.electricscotland.com/history/anecdote
Alan Cunningham
This distinguished poet entered the world under those lowly circumstances, and was educated under those disadvantages, which have so signally characterized the history of the best of our Scottish bards.
We're now adding his "The Songs of Scotland" in 4 volumes which we're going to serialize. This week we added Characters on Lyric Poets
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/musi...gham/index.htm
The Northern Highlands in the Nineteenth Century
Some years ago I published the 2 volumes in this set. Well I have now found a third volume is now available and so have started to work on this.
Added the issue for 1846...
The year 1846 is memorable for the adoption of Peel’s policy for the abolition of the Corn Laws and the extension of free tradein the case of manufactures; also for the calamitous famine in Ireland and the failure of the potato crop in the Highlands, which had mostly escaped the previous year. The debates in Parliament on the new policy were protracted and angry. Mr Disraeli, who had previously been a severe critic of Peel, sprang forward as the real leader of the Protectionists, although Lord George Bentinck, also a man of force and capacity, was the nominal chief. There was no choice but to pass Peel’s measure, as he was supported by Whigs and Radicals, and by such Conservatives as saw no other alternative. His opponents, however, soon had their revenge. Ministers brought forward a Protection of Life Bill to strengthen their hands in Ireland, which was disturbed by outrage as well as by famine. This measure was obnoxious to the Liberal Opposition and to Irish members, and the Protectionists joined them. The Corn and Customs Bill passed the Lords on the 25th of June, and the same night Peel was defeated in the Commons on his Coercion Bill. The abolition of the corn duties was intended to be gradual, extending over three years. From the 1st of February 1849 the amount would fall to one shilling registration duty.
Before Peel’s fall, news had come of the great battles in which Sir Hugh Gough, Sir Henry Hardinge, and Sir Harry Smith defeated the Sikhs in India, driving them back across the Sutlej. About the same time intelligence came of the settlement of the Oregon dispute with the United States. Lord John Russell was called upon to form the new administration, and became Prime Minister in a Whig Government.
In our local annals there are numerous subjects of interest. Potato riots on a serious scale occurred in Inverness in February. The potato failure in the Highlands was a widespread calamity, the results of which came to be more fully realised in the following year. The railway mania was running its course with disastrous results. The formation of a railway between Inverness and Perth had to be postponed for seventeen years.
You can read this issue (No. 5) at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/highlands/
Henry Dryerre
Compositor, Poet, Journalist and Musician.
Now added the following stories...
James Allan
Factor Panton
You can read these at: http://www.electricscotland.com/poet...erre/index.htm
The Millers of Haddington, Dunbar and Dunfermline
A Record of Scottish Bookselling by W. J. Couper.
Now completed this book.
You can read this book as we get it up at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...lers/index.htm
Songs by John Henderson
John sent in a new song, Chickadees
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerel540.htm
Poets and Poetry of Scotland from the earliest to the present time
Comprising characteristic selections from the works of more noteworthy Scottish poets with biographical and critical notices. By James Grant Wilson (1876)
Now up to page 201.
You can read all about them at http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/poets/
Memoirs and Adventures of Sir William Kirkaldy of Grange
Knight, Commander of French Horse, Lord of the Secret Council, and Governor of the Castle of Edinburgh for Mary Queen of Scots (1849)
Here is how Chapter XVI starts...
The insult offered to her, as a woman and a queen, by the assassination of her secretary, Mary forgave with her usual clemency: on christmas-eve, as a deed of benevolence suitable to that solemn Catholic festival, she freely pardoned the cruel Morton and seventy-five of his ruffian accomplices.
I will hasten over the aversion and disgust which the debauched and imbecile conduct of Damley excited in the mind of Mary, though her delicacy shrank from a divorce, when such was proposed at the conference of Craigmillar: the birth of the young prince (James VI.)—the death of his unhappy father—the accusation, the trial, and acquittal of the daring and infamous Bothwell—his seizure of Mary, and the fatal marriage that has been the grand feature on which all the countless discussions respecting Mary’s innocence or guilt have hinged — I will not touch upon.
Bothwell received a bond, signed by eight bishops, nine earls, and seven barons, (a strange coalition, composed of men of all factions,) recognising him as guiltless of Damley’s murder, and a suitable match for Mary, should she think of marrying again. Thus armed, that gallant but unscrupulous peer, three days after the date of the bond, as the queen was coming from a last visit to her son at Stirling, with a thousand horse dispersed her slender train, and, taking her prisoner, together with Secretary Maitland and Sir James Melville, carried her off under the very cannon of the castle of Edinburgh, which was commanded and garrisoned by creatures of his own. Without a shot being fired upon him, without a sword being drawn in her defence, the helpless queen, with a thousand lances bristling around her, was borne to Both-well’s strong castle of Dunbar, where for ten days she was a prisoner—perhaps a prey to him—closely shut up, while her people looked on with apathetic astonishment.
From thence he boldly conveyed his victim under guard to the fortress of the metropolis, where his friend, the dishonourable Balfour, commanded. The banns of marriage were immediately published by order of Both-well, who obtained the dukedom of Orkney and other titles.
His success and audacity were well calculated to rouse the indignation of such a man as Kirkaldy of Grange. He was well aware of the bond before mentioned; and on the 20th April (the very day it was granted and signed,) wrote to the Earl of Bedford, complaining in bitter terms of the servility of some of the Scottish nobles; and assuring him that, if Elizabeth would assist him and some of his friends, the murder in the Kirk-of-Field would soon be avenged. He enlarged on the danger of Bothwell’s plots against the young prince, and prophesied that lord’s speedy union to Mary.
On the 26th of the same month, two days after the queen’s seizure by Bothwell, Kirkaldy wrote the following indignant letter to Bedford:—
“This queen will never cease until such time as she hath wrecked all the honest men of this realm. She was minded to cause Bothwell seize her, to the end that she may the sooner end the marriage whilk she promised before she caused Bothwell murder her husband. There are many that would revenge the murder, but they fear your mistress. I am so suited, too, to enterprise the revenge, that I must either take it upon hand, or else I maun leave the country, whilk I am determined to do if I can obtain licence. But Bothwell is minded to cut me off, if he may, ere I obtain it, and is returned out of Stirling to Edinburgh. She proposes to take the prince out of the Earl of Mar’s hands, and put him in his hands that murdered his father, as I writ in my last. I pray your lordship let me know what your mistress will do; for if we seek France, we may find favour at their hands but I would rather persuade to lean to England. This meikle in haste.
“From my own house the 26th April 1567.”
From the foregoing it appears that he at that time fully believed the worst of Mary, which cannot be wondered at, when the great uncertainty of obtaining true intelligence of passing events in those days is remembered. In city and in country, the news consisted solely of flying rumours and reports, distorted and coloured to the utmost that religious malevolence, rebellious vindictiveness, and an innate love of slander could do.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...aldy/index.htm
Samuel Smiles
Newspaper Editor, Author and Social reformer has been added to our Significant Scots page.
This is another biography we're adding. I've added this week...
Chapter III - A Student of Medicine
Chapter IV - Reform - The Lauder Raid - The Cholera
I have also linked to a couple of his books should you wish to read them.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...les_samuel.htm
Book of the Old Edinburgh Club
We have acquired copies of 12 volumes of this club's publications and we're going to add one a week.
Now added volume 2 which includes...
Edinburgh at the time of the Occupation of Prince Charles By Walter Biggar Blaikie with illustrations.
The Flodden Wall of Edinburgh By W. Mom Bryce With illustrations and a plan.
The Covenanters Prison in the Inner Greyfriars yard, Edinburgh By W. Moir Bryce With illustrations.
The Cannon-Ball House By Bruce J. Home With illustrations.
The Scupltured Stones of Edinburgh: The West-end and Dalry Groups By John Geddie With illustrations.
An Eighteenth Century Survival: The Wagering Club, 1775 By Jas. B. Sutherland
At the Back of St. James's Square By James Steuart eith illustrations.
Edinburgh Street Trqaders amd their Cries By James H. Jamieson With illustrations.
Old Cellars and Relics discovered during the Excavations for the Newee Chapel at St. Giles' Cathdedral By Francis Caird Inglis With illustrations.
Statues of Justice and Mercy, fron the Old Parliament House By Thomas Ross, LL.D. With illustrations.
You can read these at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../edinburghclub
Robert Burns Lives!
Edited by Frank Shaw
A review of the book "The Cambridge Companion to Scottish Literature" Edited by Gerard Carruthers and Liam McIlvanney
What makes one go back for another look at a book that was reviewed almost a year ago in this same space? Call it a thought that kept floating gently through my mind. There is no getting around the fact that this is an extraordinary book filled with Scottish wonder and intrigue. It carries the reader in only one direction - onward and upward, higher and higher. It is more than just an enjoyable and comprehensible book, it tugs at one’s heart as well as one’s intellect to unite the two and be at peace with a most unique country - Scotland. It is a book about a nation and her people that has been explained by many but understood by few. This book is about the love and intelligence of her populace for a small piece of exceptional land no bigger than metro Atlanta but with a heart as big Scotland itself. It reveals an appreciation for the love shared then and now for their land and people. It is the story of a small county’s literary efforts which has lasted for centuries. The book reminds me of finding a wonderful beach to share as a family but when it comes time to go, no one wants to leave. Yes, you will lay this book down but you will return to it time and time again.
You can read more about this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives202.htm
Bannockburn 1314
A story by William G. A. Shaw of Easter Lair.
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...annockburn.htm
Life of a Scotch Naturalist, Thomas Edward
By Samuel Smiles (1877). A new book we're starting and a must read... amazing just how poor this person was but what he achieved was amazing.
Here is the Preface...
The history of the humblest human life is a tale of marvels. Dr. Johnson said that there was not a man in the street whose biography might not be made interesting, provided he could narrate something of his experiences of life, his trials, his difficulties, his successes, and his failures.
I use these words as an introduction to the following biography of my “man,in the street." Yet Thomas Edward is not an ordinary man. Eighteen years since, I mentioned him, in “Self-Help," as one of the most extraordinary instances of perseverance in the cause of science that had ever come under my notice. .
Nor was he a man of any exalted position in society. He was a shoe-maker then; he is a shoe-maker still. For nearly thirty years he has fought the battle of scientific poverty. He is one of those men who live for science, not by science. His shyness prevented him pushing himself forward; and when he had done his work, he was almost forgotten.
How he pursued his love of nature; how he satisfied his thirst for knowledge, in the midst of trials, difficulties, and troubles, not the least of which was that of domestic poverty, will be found related in the following book. Indeed, it may he said of him that he has endured as much hardship for the cause of science as soldiers do in a prolonged campaign. He spent most of his nights out-of-doors, amidst damp, and wet, and cold. Men thought him mad for enduring such risks. He himself says, “I have been a fool to nature all my life.”
He always lamented his want of books. He had to send his “findings” to other naturalists to be named, and he often lost them. But books could not be had without money; and money was as scarce with him as books. He was thus prevented from taking rank among higher-class naturalists. He could only work in detail; he could not generalize. He had to be satisfied with the consolation that Mr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys once gave him. “Working naturalists like yourself,” said he, “do quite as much good service in the cause of science as those who study books.” Edward, however, doubted this; for he considered works on natural science to be a great help to the working naturalist. They informed him of what others had done, and also of what remained to be done.
Those who would know something of what Edward has accomplished in only one department of his favorite subject should consult Messrs. Bate and Westwood’s “History of the British Sessile-eyed Crustacea,” where his services to the cause of science are fully and generously acknowledged. Of the numerous Crustacea mentioned in that work, Edward collected a hundred and seventy-seven in the Moray Firth, of which twenty were New Species.
In 1866, Edward was elected an Associate of the Linnsean Society, one of the highest honors that science could confer upon him. Since then, however, he has been able to do comparatively little for the advancement of his favorite study. He had been so battered about by falling from rocks in search of birds, and so rheumatized by the damp, wet, and cold to which he was exposed at night, for he was obliged to carry on his investigations after his day’s work was over, that he was unable to continue his investigations in natural history.
In the Appendix will be found a Selection of the Fauna of Banffshire, prepared by Edward. I have been able to find room for only the Mammals, Birds, Fishes, and Crustacea. I wish it had been possible to give the Star-fishes (Payed Echinodermata), Mollusks, Zoophytes, and other objects; but this would have filled up the book, and left no room for the Biography.
It was not my intention to have published the book in the ornate form in which it now appears. But my friend Mr. Beid, being greatly interested in the man and his story, and having volunteered to illustrate the work “for love,” I could not withstand his generous offer. Hence the very fine portrait of Edward, so exquisitely etched by Bajon; and the excellent wood-engravings of Whymper and Cooper, which illustrate the volume.
It is scarcely necessary to say that the materials of the book have been obtained from Edward himself, either by written communication or by “word of mouth.” Much of it is autobiography. Edward was alarmed at the idea of what he had communicated being “put into a book.” He thought it might do me an injury. “Not a copy,” he said, “would be bought in Banff.”
However this may be, the writing of the Biography has given me much pleasure. It has led me to seek health amidst the invigorating breezes of the North; and to travel round the rugged shores of Aberdeen and Banff, in search of the views of bays and headlands with which Mr. Beid has so beautifully embellished the book.
It may be objected—“Why write the life of a man who is still living?” To this it may be answered, that Edward has lived his life and done his work. With most of us, “Hic jacet” is all that remains to be added. If the book had not been written now, it is probable that it never would have been written. But it may be asked, “Is the life really worth writing?” To this question the public alone can give the answer.
London, November, 1876.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ward/index.htm
Ochiltree
Found a book about the history of this family and have added it to the Ochiltree page in the Scottish Nation.
You can get to this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../ochiltree.htm
Ancient Bee Symbolism History
An article by Gary Gianotti which he claims changes American history.
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ticles/bee.htm
The Book of Mackay
By Angus MacKay M.A. Found this pdf book from 1806 and you can read it at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/m/mackay.html
The Ancient Brehon Laws of Ireland
An article from the University of Pennsylvania Law Review.
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...les/brehon.htm
And Finally...
More from the Book of Scottish Anecdote...
FARMERS AND FARMERS
Lord Kames, Pringle of Lees, and a few other "gentlemen farmers," as they were called, were among tbe first to introduce improvements in agriculture in the eastern counties of Scotland; and their first efforts in this direction provoked the opposition and roused the contempt of the professional tillers of the ground. The system pursued by the more enlightened amateurs, however, gradually made way, and the oldfashioned farmers found themselves in a manner compelled to adopt the new system. One of the innovaters - Mr Dawson, himself a real practical farmer - being asked when his neighbours began to follow his example, replied pertinently-
"Whenever they began to notice that I was getting rich!"
ACCENT
An Ayrshire servant lass, who spoke the broadest of west country doric, accompanied her master's family to London for a season. On returning to her native village she was "clipping English" in a manner which astonished her frienns. On being asked how she, of all others, learned the English accent so quickly, she replied in her original pafois:
"Ou, it's easy enench; a' ye've got to dae is just to leave out the H's and the R's, and gie the words a bit chow in the middle."
HIGHLAND HUTS
Dr Johnson, in his Tour of the Hebrides, thus described the huts of the Highlanders:- "A hut is constructed with loose stones, ranged for the most part with some tendency to circularity. It must be placed where the wind cannot act upon it with violence, because it has no cement, and where the water will run easily away, because it has no floor but the naked ground. The wall, which is commonly about six feet high, declines from the perpendicular a little inward; such rafters as can be procured are then raised for a roof, and covered with heath, which makes a strong and warm thatch, kept from flying off by ropes of twisted heath, of which the ends, reaching from the centre of the thatch to the top of the wall, are held firm by the weight of a large stone. No light is admitted but at the entrance, and through a hole in the thatch, which gives vent to the smoke: this hole is not directly o'er the fire, lest the rain should extinguish it; and the smoke therefore naturally fills the place before it escapes."
A PLOUGHMAN'S BILL OF FARE
We here give an old account of an Aberdeen ploughman's bill of fare for a day, which is just equal to giving one for a twelvemonth, merry-making times, and the two festivals of Christmas and Fasten-een only excepted.
Breakfast. Pottage, made of boiling water, thickened with oatmeal, and eaten with milk or ale. Or brose, made of shorn cabbage or cole-worts, left over night. After either of which dishes they eat oat-cakes and milk; and where they have not milk, kale or small beer.
Dinner. Sowens, eaten with milk. Second course, oat-cakes, with milk or ale. Sowens are prepared in this manner. The mealy sid or hull of the ground oat is steeped in blood-warm water for about two days, when it is wrung out, and the liqnor put through a search; if it is too thick, they add a little fresh cold water to it, and then put it on the fire to boil, constantly stirring it till it thickens, and continuing the boiling till it becomes tough like a paste. In the stirring they mix a little salt, and dish it up for table.
Supper. First course, during the winter season, kale-brose about seven at night, while at the fireside the tale goes round among the men and maid servants. Second course, kale, eaten with oat-cakes about nine. During the summer season there is generally but one course, pottage and milk, or oat cakes and kale, or milk. Kale is thus prepared :-Red cabbage or cole-worts are cut down and shorn small, then boiled with salt and water, thickened with a little oatmeal, and so served up to table. Brose is oatmeal put into a bowl or wooden dish, where the boiling liquor of the cabbage or cole-worts are stirred with it, till the meal is all wet. This is the principal dish upon the festival of Fasten;een, which is emphatically called Beef-brose-day. In harvest they sometimes have a thick broth made of barley and turnips in place of sowens, and if near a seaport, frequently some kind of fish, which they eat with butter and mustard. We should have added to the number of their festivals, what they call the Clyakfeast, or, as it is called in the south and west, the Kim. This is celebrated a few days after the last of their corn is cut down, when it is an established rule that there must be meat both roasted and boiled.
HEATHER BEDS
A heather bed is formed of the longest, straightest, and linest single stalks of the young heath. When these stalks are in their highest bloom and fragrance they are pulled with as little root as possible, and laid down like hay in the swarth for some hours, till the dew or any accidental moisture be exhaled. Then the heath is laid as thick and close as it can stand, having all the tops uppermost, and inclining a little towards the head of the bed, which is generally against a wall: the foot and the sides are kept together by logs of wood, cut at the proper length. The appearance of this bed resembles a rich Turkish carpet, or a field of rich grain all leaning one way; and the odoriferous effluvia of the honey, with which the blooms of the heath abound, spread a grateful perfume inviting to repose.
And that's it for this week and I hope you all have a good weekend.
Alastair
I got in a copy of an email to Peter in Norway from Dr James Wilkie and thought it would be interesting to copy it here for you to read...
Good evening, Peter.
I just got back to Vienna late this afternoon and am delighted to hear from you. Yes, the independence campaign is well under way and is the central issue in the media - in Scotland, that is, for in England it is not being taken all too seriously.
One can gain a false impression from the mainstream media that the No side has the edge on the Yes campaign, and all the foreign-owned mainstream media are against independence anyway. What they never report is the strength of the enthusiastic, locally-organised grassroots campaign, which is spreading like a flood all over Scotland, and which can quite conceivably swing a positive result. There is really no definite information at this stage on how the vote will go, but the indications can seen in the relative strength of the two campaigns. The No side have run an utterly depressing, totally negative campaign of fear against independence, they are short of personnel, short of money, and above all short of ideas. They are only going through the motions of opposing a social movement that they have never even started to understand.
So there is still a good chance that the Yes side can win the referendum, but the result may be very close. Thereafter the troubles begin. There is hardly anybody in Scotland who knows about diplomacy and international relations, which of course will take centre stage immediately a positive Yes vote is returned. This is far above the heads of the SNP, which is dependent on some very dubious sources of information and advice to fill the gap in their own lack of expertise. Foremost of these sources is the so-called European Movement (Euromove), the EU’s chief recruiting agency. The SNP has adopted a dogmatic attitude on EU membership for Scotland, and I have been unable so far to make much of an impression on it, even in personal talks with Alex Salmond.
Scotland is a Scandinavian country and we belong together with our fellow Scandinavians in EFTA, EEA and the Nordic Council. I have publicised that ceaselessly in articles and media comments, but Alex Salmond and his team are apparently not to be moved on the subject. The last thing they want is a referendum on the EU, so they are proposing to railroad Scotland into the EU come hell or high water, and with NO referendum on the issue. I and the rest of our group are determined to stop that by one means or another. The immediate objective is to get that Yes vote recorded on 18 September, but there is no way we are going to sit back and allow the SNP to present Scotland with a fait accompli over EU membership without as much as asking the people’s opinion.
So that is the present situation in a nutshell. The SNP leadership are well aware that I am the one and only Scot with actual experience at top government level of how a European state of Scotland’s size is run, and that David Thomson is probably the world’s leading expert on national fisheries management. Alex Salmond knows that, as he told me the last time I met him, yet neither of us has been asked to take any part in the Scottish Government’s deliberations, which are being “advised” by a whole list of individuals with very dubious relevant experience from inside and on the fringe of the EU.
The situation is disturbing, but we in our group, and even some SNP leaders, are determined to stage a real “stairheid rammy”, as they say in Glasgow, to prevent any such moves. We are determined to join Norway and the others in EFTA/EEA and the Nordic Council. We know there are powerful forces that are far wider than the EU who want Scotland kept under external control after independence, and EU membership is the way to ensure it. The SNP will even sacrifice what is left of the Scottish fishing industry in favour of its EU ideology, but they are not going to get off with it so easily.
For the rest, I am tied down in Vienna for the moment, for medical and other reasons, so will not manage to Scotland until late August. However, I should be on the spot for the referendum, and I will be available for consultation afterwards, irrespective of the outcome. Yes, never again 1707, but then as now, the real enemies are not the wicked English, but the wicked Scots. Whatever happens, Yes or No, the SNP is likely to ahed a large part of its membership after the vote. These are the people we will be looking at to form the nucleus of an alternative to the SNP, and with fresher ideas.
We live in interesting times, Peter. Maybe one of these days I will take the Hurtigruten to Tromsø and we can discuss it personally over an exquisite malt or the Norwegian equivalent.
Until that day, best regards and keep in touch.
Jim
Electric Canadian
Tourism Canada
1970 2nd most visited country
2012 20th most visited country
Canadian tourism declines despite world travel boom
Visits to Canada drop of 20% since 2000 could be hurting international trade
Tourism is one of the world’s fastest-growing businesses, yet the number of international travellers to Canada has declined 20 per cent since 2000, according to a report from Deloitte & Touche.
Canada’s tourism industry is struggling to compete as the global travel business undergoes unprecedented change, according to the "Passport to Growth" report.
While Canadian destinations such as the Rockies and Niagara Falls have not lost their allure, the tourism sector has gone unrecognized by both government and business in its potential to drive growth, says the report, compiled by Deloitte partners Ryan Brain, Tom Peter and Lorrie King, based on Statistics Canada numbers.
Although tourism employed 600,000 Canadians and represents about two per cent of national GDP, the industry is falling behind in attracting the globe’s emerging travellers.
Small share of global travel
Canada had 16 million international visitors in 2012, with the largest number from the U.S., Britain, France, Germany and Australia, according to the Canadian Tourism Association. A steep slide in U.S. visitors, in part because of the high Canadian dollar, has meant lower figures.
Canada sees only a small share of global international travel arrivals, which passed the one billion mark in 2012, having risen four per cent a year over the past 10 years.
Canada was one of the most popular international tourist destinations in 1970, second only to Italy. Now it’s No. 18, and behind countries like Ukraine and Saudi Arabia.
Among those travelling more are young people, who explore the world before settling into education and a career, and tourists over age 60, who have greater disposable income and more time to travel.
There has also been a 13 per cent a year jump in international departures from emerging economies such as China, Korea, Brazil and Mexico. Emerging economies are seeing the rise of middle-class people with enough income to travel.
New technology, new demographics
The Canadian industry needs to learn to tailor its products to these travellers to nab a share of tourism spending, which totalled $1.075 trillion US in 2012, the report said.
Deloitte also recommended boosting tourism as a means of boosting international trade, as travellers often become aware of business opportunities through meeting people face to face or acting on things they observe while on vacation.
“It’s clear that strengthening tourism would have a positive impact on Canadian companies and our overall economy,” says Deloitte partner Ryan Brain.
“What’s more, an increase in travellers to Canada could encourage Canadian companies to enter new markets internationally and experience greater competitive intensity, which we know results in periods of high productivity growth positively impacting the economy”
Deloitte analysis suggests a one per cent increase in tourists to Canada generates an $817-million increase in Canadian exports over the following two years.
High cost of air travel
The report recommends some government measures to improve tourism:
Introduce structural reforms to the air travel sector to reduce high base fares.
Reform the process for issuing visas to reduce wait times and uncertainty.
Tourism organizations also need to be more innovative in reaching out to the new demographic who are travelling, and providing a product that will appeal to them.
They should be investing in their businesses, to retain good staff, improve their technology and enhance competitiveness, the Deloitte report said.
Ambassador Heyman's Remarks at the National Gallery of Canada
Thought his remarks were quite interesting and the figures he quotes of trade also of interest.
You can read this at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...uce_heyman.htm
Nova Scotia Historical Society, Reports and Collections
I added Volume XX 1921 which includes...
Hon. Simon Bradstreet Robie, a Biography, by Israel Longworth
The Privateers of Nova Scotia by George Mullane
Life of Sir John Wentworth, Governor of Nova Scotia by Sir Adams Archibald
Halifax Currency by Horace A . Flemming
The Honourable James McDonald by Sir Chas and J, Townshend
Sources of Canadian History, with special reference to Nova Scotia by J. Plimsoll Edwards
You can read this volume at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...ions/index.htm
The Flag in the Wind
This weeks issue was compiled by Jim Lynch where he has several articles but no Synopsis.
You can read this issue at http://www.scotsindependent.org
Electric Scotland
Alexander Murdoch (1841-1891)
A Scottish Engineer, Poet, Author, Journalist
Added a third book called "Scotch Readings: Humorous and Amusing" and we're breaking this down into individual chapters for you to read. We've added two more chapters, "Washin' Jean's Comic Marriage" and "Doon the Watter in the Aulden Times" which you can find at the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/poet...doch/index.htm
Thomas Dick Lauder
Hope you are enjoying this book. Started on Volume 2 and you can find these at the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...er_thomas1.htm where we've added another couple of chapters.
As this book was published in 1825 it is a great example of what interested Scots way back some 190 years ago.
The Book of Scottish Anecdote
Humorous, Social, Legendary and Historical edited by Alexander Hislop, eighth edition.
Added pages 552 to 601. You can read these at: http://www.electricscotland.com/history/anecdote
Alan Cunningham
This distinguished poet entered the world under those lowly circumstances, and was educated under those disadvantages, which have so signally characterized the history of the best of our Scottish bards.
We're now adding his "The Songs of Scotland" in 4 volumes which we're going to serialize. This week we added Characters on Lyric Poets
You can read these at http://www.electricscotland.com/musi...gham/index.htm
The Northern Highlands in the Nineteenth Century
Some years ago I published the 2 volumes in this set. Well I have now found a third volume is now available and so have started to work on this.
Added the issue for 1846...
The year 1846 is memorable for the adoption of Peel’s policy for the abolition of the Corn Laws and the extension of free tradein the case of manufactures; also for the calamitous famine in Ireland and the failure of the potato crop in the Highlands, which had mostly escaped the previous year. The debates in Parliament on the new policy were protracted and angry. Mr Disraeli, who had previously been a severe critic of Peel, sprang forward as the real leader of the Protectionists, although Lord George Bentinck, also a man of force and capacity, was the nominal chief. There was no choice but to pass Peel’s measure, as he was supported by Whigs and Radicals, and by such Conservatives as saw no other alternative. His opponents, however, soon had their revenge. Ministers brought forward a Protection of Life Bill to strengthen their hands in Ireland, which was disturbed by outrage as well as by famine. This measure was obnoxious to the Liberal Opposition and to Irish members, and the Protectionists joined them. The Corn and Customs Bill passed the Lords on the 25th of June, and the same night Peel was defeated in the Commons on his Coercion Bill. The abolition of the corn duties was intended to be gradual, extending over three years. From the 1st of February 1849 the amount would fall to one shilling registration duty.
Before Peel’s fall, news had come of the great battles in which Sir Hugh Gough, Sir Henry Hardinge, and Sir Harry Smith defeated the Sikhs in India, driving them back across the Sutlej. About the same time intelligence came of the settlement of the Oregon dispute with the United States. Lord John Russell was called upon to form the new administration, and became Prime Minister in a Whig Government.
In our local annals there are numerous subjects of interest. Potato riots on a serious scale occurred in Inverness in February. The potato failure in the Highlands was a widespread calamity, the results of which came to be more fully realised in the following year. The railway mania was running its course with disastrous results. The formation of a railway between Inverness and Perth had to be postponed for seventeen years.
You can read this issue (No. 5) at http://www.electricscotland.com/history/highlands/
Henry Dryerre
Compositor, Poet, Journalist and Musician.
Now added the following stories...
James Allan
Factor Panton
You can read these at: http://www.electricscotland.com/poet...erre/index.htm
The Millers of Haddington, Dunbar and Dunfermline
A Record of Scottish Bookselling by W. J. Couper.
Now completed this book.
You can read this book as we get it up at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...lers/index.htm
Songs by John Henderson
John sent in a new song, Chickadees
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/doggerel540.htm
Poets and Poetry of Scotland from the earliest to the present time
Comprising characteristic selections from the works of more noteworthy Scottish poets with biographical and critical notices. By James Grant Wilson (1876)
Now up to page 201.
You can read all about them at http://www.electricscotland.com/poetry/poets/
Memoirs and Adventures of Sir William Kirkaldy of Grange
Knight, Commander of French Horse, Lord of the Secret Council, and Governor of the Castle of Edinburgh for Mary Queen of Scots (1849)
Here is how Chapter XVI starts...
The insult offered to her, as a woman and a queen, by the assassination of her secretary, Mary forgave with her usual clemency: on christmas-eve, as a deed of benevolence suitable to that solemn Catholic festival, she freely pardoned the cruel Morton and seventy-five of his ruffian accomplices.
I will hasten over the aversion and disgust which the debauched and imbecile conduct of Damley excited in the mind of Mary, though her delicacy shrank from a divorce, when such was proposed at the conference of Craigmillar: the birth of the young prince (James VI.)—the death of his unhappy father—the accusation, the trial, and acquittal of the daring and infamous Bothwell—his seizure of Mary, and the fatal marriage that has been the grand feature on which all the countless discussions respecting Mary’s innocence or guilt have hinged — I will not touch upon.
Bothwell received a bond, signed by eight bishops, nine earls, and seven barons, (a strange coalition, composed of men of all factions,) recognising him as guiltless of Damley’s murder, and a suitable match for Mary, should she think of marrying again. Thus armed, that gallant but unscrupulous peer, three days after the date of the bond, as the queen was coming from a last visit to her son at Stirling, with a thousand horse dispersed her slender train, and, taking her prisoner, together with Secretary Maitland and Sir James Melville, carried her off under the very cannon of the castle of Edinburgh, which was commanded and garrisoned by creatures of his own. Without a shot being fired upon him, without a sword being drawn in her defence, the helpless queen, with a thousand lances bristling around her, was borne to Both-well’s strong castle of Dunbar, where for ten days she was a prisoner—perhaps a prey to him—closely shut up, while her people looked on with apathetic astonishment.
From thence he boldly conveyed his victim under guard to the fortress of the metropolis, where his friend, the dishonourable Balfour, commanded. The banns of marriage were immediately published by order of Both-well, who obtained the dukedom of Orkney and other titles.
His success and audacity were well calculated to rouse the indignation of such a man as Kirkaldy of Grange. He was well aware of the bond before mentioned; and on the 20th April (the very day it was granted and signed,) wrote to the Earl of Bedford, complaining in bitter terms of the servility of some of the Scottish nobles; and assuring him that, if Elizabeth would assist him and some of his friends, the murder in the Kirk-of-Field would soon be avenged. He enlarged on the danger of Bothwell’s plots against the young prince, and prophesied that lord’s speedy union to Mary.
On the 26th of the same month, two days after the queen’s seizure by Bothwell, Kirkaldy wrote the following indignant letter to Bedford:—
“This queen will never cease until such time as she hath wrecked all the honest men of this realm. She was minded to cause Bothwell seize her, to the end that she may the sooner end the marriage whilk she promised before she caused Bothwell murder her husband. There are many that would revenge the murder, but they fear your mistress. I am so suited, too, to enterprise the revenge, that I must either take it upon hand, or else I maun leave the country, whilk I am determined to do if I can obtain licence. But Bothwell is minded to cut me off, if he may, ere I obtain it, and is returned out of Stirling to Edinburgh. She proposes to take the prince out of the Earl of Mar’s hands, and put him in his hands that murdered his father, as I writ in my last. I pray your lordship let me know what your mistress will do; for if we seek France, we may find favour at their hands but I would rather persuade to lean to England. This meikle in haste.
“From my own house the 26th April 1567.”
From the foregoing it appears that he at that time fully believed the worst of Mary, which cannot be wondered at, when the great uncertainty of obtaining true intelligence of passing events in those days is remembered. In city and in country, the news consisted solely of flying rumours and reports, distorted and coloured to the utmost that religious malevolence, rebellious vindictiveness, and an innate love of slander could do.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...aldy/index.htm
Samuel Smiles
Newspaper Editor, Author and Social reformer has been added to our Significant Scots page.
This is another biography we're adding. I've added this week...
Chapter III - A Student of Medicine
Chapter IV - Reform - The Lauder Raid - The Cholera
I have also linked to a couple of his books should you wish to read them.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...les_samuel.htm
Book of the Old Edinburgh Club
We have acquired copies of 12 volumes of this club's publications and we're going to add one a week.
Now added volume 2 which includes...
Edinburgh at the time of the Occupation of Prince Charles By Walter Biggar Blaikie with illustrations.
The Flodden Wall of Edinburgh By W. Mom Bryce With illustrations and a plan.
The Covenanters Prison in the Inner Greyfriars yard, Edinburgh By W. Moir Bryce With illustrations.
The Cannon-Ball House By Bruce J. Home With illustrations.
The Scupltured Stones of Edinburgh: The West-end and Dalry Groups By John Geddie With illustrations.
An Eighteenth Century Survival: The Wagering Club, 1775 By Jas. B. Sutherland
At the Back of St. James's Square By James Steuart eith illustrations.
Edinburgh Street Trqaders amd their Cries By James H. Jamieson With illustrations.
Old Cellars and Relics discovered during the Excavations for the Newee Chapel at St. Giles' Cathdedral By Francis Caird Inglis With illustrations.
Statues of Justice and Mercy, fron the Old Parliament House By Thomas Ross, LL.D. With illustrations.
You can read these at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../edinburghclub
Robert Burns Lives!
Edited by Frank Shaw
A review of the book "The Cambridge Companion to Scottish Literature" Edited by Gerard Carruthers and Liam McIlvanney
What makes one go back for another look at a book that was reviewed almost a year ago in this same space? Call it a thought that kept floating gently through my mind. There is no getting around the fact that this is an extraordinary book filled with Scottish wonder and intrigue. It carries the reader in only one direction - onward and upward, higher and higher. It is more than just an enjoyable and comprehensible book, it tugs at one’s heart as well as one’s intellect to unite the two and be at peace with a most unique country - Scotland. It is a book about a nation and her people that has been explained by many but understood by few. This book is about the love and intelligence of her populace for a small piece of exceptional land no bigger than metro Atlanta but with a heart as big Scotland itself. It reveals an appreciation for the love shared then and now for their land and people. It is the story of a small county’s literary efforts which has lasted for centuries. The book reminds me of finding a wonderful beach to share as a family but when it comes time to go, no one wants to leave. Yes, you will lay this book down but you will return to it time and time again.
You can read more about this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives202.htm
Bannockburn 1314
A story by William G. A. Shaw of Easter Lair.
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...annockburn.htm
Life of a Scotch Naturalist, Thomas Edward
By Samuel Smiles (1877). A new book we're starting and a must read... amazing just how poor this person was but what he achieved was amazing.
Here is the Preface...
The history of the humblest human life is a tale of marvels. Dr. Johnson said that there was not a man in the street whose biography might not be made interesting, provided he could narrate something of his experiences of life, his trials, his difficulties, his successes, and his failures.
I use these words as an introduction to the following biography of my “man,in the street." Yet Thomas Edward is not an ordinary man. Eighteen years since, I mentioned him, in “Self-Help," as one of the most extraordinary instances of perseverance in the cause of science that had ever come under my notice. .
Nor was he a man of any exalted position in society. He was a shoe-maker then; he is a shoe-maker still. For nearly thirty years he has fought the battle of scientific poverty. He is one of those men who live for science, not by science. His shyness prevented him pushing himself forward; and when he had done his work, he was almost forgotten.
How he pursued his love of nature; how he satisfied his thirst for knowledge, in the midst of trials, difficulties, and troubles, not the least of which was that of domestic poverty, will be found related in the following book. Indeed, it may he said of him that he has endured as much hardship for the cause of science as soldiers do in a prolonged campaign. He spent most of his nights out-of-doors, amidst damp, and wet, and cold. Men thought him mad for enduring such risks. He himself says, “I have been a fool to nature all my life.”
He always lamented his want of books. He had to send his “findings” to other naturalists to be named, and he often lost them. But books could not be had without money; and money was as scarce with him as books. He was thus prevented from taking rank among higher-class naturalists. He could only work in detail; he could not generalize. He had to be satisfied with the consolation that Mr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys once gave him. “Working naturalists like yourself,” said he, “do quite as much good service in the cause of science as those who study books.” Edward, however, doubted this; for he considered works on natural science to be a great help to the working naturalist. They informed him of what others had done, and also of what remained to be done.
Those who would know something of what Edward has accomplished in only one department of his favorite subject should consult Messrs. Bate and Westwood’s “History of the British Sessile-eyed Crustacea,” where his services to the cause of science are fully and generously acknowledged. Of the numerous Crustacea mentioned in that work, Edward collected a hundred and seventy-seven in the Moray Firth, of which twenty were New Species.
In 1866, Edward was elected an Associate of the Linnsean Society, one of the highest honors that science could confer upon him. Since then, however, he has been able to do comparatively little for the advancement of his favorite study. He had been so battered about by falling from rocks in search of birds, and so rheumatized by the damp, wet, and cold to which he was exposed at night, for he was obliged to carry on his investigations after his day’s work was over, that he was unable to continue his investigations in natural history.
In the Appendix will be found a Selection of the Fauna of Banffshire, prepared by Edward. I have been able to find room for only the Mammals, Birds, Fishes, and Crustacea. I wish it had been possible to give the Star-fishes (Payed Echinodermata), Mollusks, Zoophytes, and other objects; but this would have filled up the book, and left no room for the Biography.
It was not my intention to have published the book in the ornate form in which it now appears. But my friend Mr. Beid, being greatly interested in the man and his story, and having volunteered to illustrate the work “for love,” I could not withstand his generous offer. Hence the very fine portrait of Edward, so exquisitely etched by Bajon; and the excellent wood-engravings of Whymper and Cooper, which illustrate the volume.
It is scarcely necessary to say that the materials of the book have been obtained from Edward himself, either by written communication or by “word of mouth.” Much of it is autobiography. Edward was alarmed at the idea of what he had communicated being “put into a book.” He thought it might do me an injury. “Not a copy,” he said, “would be bought in Banff.”
However this may be, the writing of the Biography has given me much pleasure. It has led me to seek health amidst the invigorating breezes of the North; and to travel round the rugged shores of Aberdeen and Banff, in search of the views of bays and headlands with which Mr. Beid has so beautifully embellished the book.
It may be objected—“Why write the life of a man who is still living?” To this it may be answered, that Edward has lived his life and done his work. With most of us, “Hic jacet” is all that remains to be added. If the book had not been written now, it is probable that it never would have been written. But it may be asked, “Is the life really worth writing?” To this question the public alone can give the answer.
London, November, 1876.
You can read this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ward/index.htm
Ochiltree
Found a book about the history of this family and have added it to the Ochiltree page in the Scottish Nation.
You can get to this book at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../ochiltree.htm
Ancient Bee Symbolism History
An article by Gary Gianotti which he claims changes American history.
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ticles/bee.htm
The Book of Mackay
By Angus MacKay M.A. Found this pdf book from 1806 and you can read it at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/m/mackay.html
The Ancient Brehon Laws of Ireland
An article from the University of Pennsylvania Law Review.
You can read this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...les/brehon.htm
And Finally...
More from the Book of Scottish Anecdote...
FARMERS AND FARMERS
Lord Kames, Pringle of Lees, and a few other "gentlemen farmers," as they were called, were among tbe first to introduce improvements in agriculture in the eastern counties of Scotland; and their first efforts in this direction provoked the opposition and roused the contempt of the professional tillers of the ground. The system pursued by the more enlightened amateurs, however, gradually made way, and the oldfashioned farmers found themselves in a manner compelled to adopt the new system. One of the innovaters - Mr Dawson, himself a real practical farmer - being asked when his neighbours began to follow his example, replied pertinently-
"Whenever they began to notice that I was getting rich!"
ACCENT
An Ayrshire servant lass, who spoke the broadest of west country doric, accompanied her master's family to London for a season. On returning to her native village she was "clipping English" in a manner which astonished her frienns. On being asked how she, of all others, learned the English accent so quickly, she replied in her original pafois:
"Ou, it's easy enench; a' ye've got to dae is just to leave out the H's and the R's, and gie the words a bit chow in the middle."
HIGHLAND HUTS
Dr Johnson, in his Tour of the Hebrides, thus described the huts of the Highlanders:- "A hut is constructed with loose stones, ranged for the most part with some tendency to circularity. It must be placed where the wind cannot act upon it with violence, because it has no cement, and where the water will run easily away, because it has no floor but the naked ground. The wall, which is commonly about six feet high, declines from the perpendicular a little inward; such rafters as can be procured are then raised for a roof, and covered with heath, which makes a strong and warm thatch, kept from flying off by ropes of twisted heath, of which the ends, reaching from the centre of the thatch to the top of the wall, are held firm by the weight of a large stone. No light is admitted but at the entrance, and through a hole in the thatch, which gives vent to the smoke: this hole is not directly o'er the fire, lest the rain should extinguish it; and the smoke therefore naturally fills the place before it escapes."
A PLOUGHMAN'S BILL OF FARE
We here give an old account of an Aberdeen ploughman's bill of fare for a day, which is just equal to giving one for a twelvemonth, merry-making times, and the two festivals of Christmas and Fasten-een only excepted.
Breakfast. Pottage, made of boiling water, thickened with oatmeal, and eaten with milk or ale. Or brose, made of shorn cabbage or cole-worts, left over night. After either of which dishes they eat oat-cakes and milk; and where they have not milk, kale or small beer.
Dinner. Sowens, eaten with milk. Second course, oat-cakes, with milk or ale. Sowens are prepared in this manner. The mealy sid or hull of the ground oat is steeped in blood-warm water for about two days, when it is wrung out, and the liqnor put through a search; if it is too thick, they add a little fresh cold water to it, and then put it on the fire to boil, constantly stirring it till it thickens, and continuing the boiling till it becomes tough like a paste. In the stirring they mix a little salt, and dish it up for table.
Supper. First course, during the winter season, kale-brose about seven at night, while at the fireside the tale goes round among the men and maid servants. Second course, kale, eaten with oat-cakes about nine. During the summer season there is generally but one course, pottage and milk, or oat cakes and kale, or milk. Kale is thus prepared :-Red cabbage or cole-worts are cut down and shorn small, then boiled with salt and water, thickened with a little oatmeal, and so served up to table. Brose is oatmeal put into a bowl or wooden dish, where the boiling liquor of the cabbage or cole-worts are stirred with it, till the meal is all wet. This is the principal dish upon the festival of Fasten;een, which is emphatically called Beef-brose-day. In harvest they sometimes have a thick broth made of barley and turnips in place of sowens, and if near a seaport, frequently some kind of fish, which they eat with butter and mustard. We should have added to the number of their festivals, what they call the Clyakfeast, or, as it is called in the south and west, the Kim. This is celebrated a few days after the last of their corn is cut down, when it is an established rule that there must be meat both roasted and boiled.
HEATHER BEDS
A heather bed is formed of the longest, straightest, and linest single stalks of the young heath. When these stalks are in their highest bloom and fragrance they are pulled with as little root as possible, and laid down like hay in the swarth for some hours, till the dew or any accidental moisture be exhaled. Then the heath is laid as thick and close as it can stand, having all the tops uppermost, and inclining a little towards the head of the bed, which is generally against a wall: the foot and the sides are kept together by logs of wood, cut at the proper length. The appearance of this bed resembles a rich Turkish carpet, or a field of rich grain all leaning one way; and the odoriferous effluvia of the honey, with which the blooms of the heath abound, spread a grateful perfume inviting to repose.
And that's it for this week and I hope you all have a good weekend.
Alastair