Tweet
For the latest news from Scotland see our ScotNews feed at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/
Electric Scotland News
Scottish News from this weeks newspapers
Note that this is a selection and more can be read in our ScotNews feed on our index page.
One pint warning issued to drivers
A sheriff has warned motorists that one drink can put them over the legal limit in Scotland after issuing driving bans. Just one pint will put you over the limit so if you are visiting Scotland you need to read this!!!
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-...tland-36149020
International piping festival set to return to Glasgow
Glasgow’s International Piping Festival, Piping Live, is returning to the city in August.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/in...sgow-1-4112289
Festival premieres golfing pioneer film Tommy's Honour
The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is to open with a world premiere of a film about Scottish golfing pioneer Old Tom Morris.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-...-fife-36151766
Nicola Sturgeon and the abuse of political language
By Kenneth Roy
Read more at:
http://www.scottishreview.net/KennethRoy47a.html
Scotland’s influence on Argentina, Russia and Jamaica
Scottish emigrants spread far beyond the English speaking world.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/heritage/peo...aica-1-4111597
St Andrews ranked top university in Scotland
The University of St Andrews has been ranked top in Scotland in an independent guide
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/educati...land-1-4109311
The Queen at 90
How Scotland has embraced Her Majesty
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/the-que...esty-1-4109048
Scotland's most remote crazy golf course
where every kid gets their own putter and ball to keep ... and it's FREE
Read more at:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/we...dZvkW2buvuZ.97
Prejudice around Gypsy/Travellers must come to an end
It was International Roma Day on 8 April and I was privileged to meet him and his sister, Roseanna, to mark it.
Read more at:
http://www.thenational.scot/comment/...o-an-end.16165
Dali helps scientists crack our brain code
Scientists at Glasgow University have established a world first by cracking the communication code of our brains.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-...-west-36105245
Electric Canadian
Simcoe County Pioneer and Historical Society
Pioneer Papers No. 1
WHEN making this selection from the various manuscripts in the possession of the Society, the Committee adopted for publication mostly those by authors who have passed away; and in the three cases thus adopted, portraits of the authors appear with the articles. For the rest, their aim was to make the subjects spread over as wide a territory as the materials at hand would permit them to do. The papers are taken from the proceedings of the Society, but it is not meant that this should be a rule or precedent to govern them in the issue of future publications.
You can read this at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...neerpapers.pdf
Electric Scotland
Fragments of Scottish History (1798)
An interesting read which you can get to at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/book...tsscottish.pdf
Aberdeen Fifty Years Ago (1860)
Including 21 engravings. You can download this at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/coun...rdeen_city.htm
Aberdeenshire Epitaphs and Inscriptions
By John A Henderson (1903) (pdf) which you can download at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/coun...rdeenshire.htm
Life at the Edge of the World
Second newsletter from Thurso, Scotland for April 2016 which you can read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...lton/index.htm
John Henderson's Rugby Archive (1960/61)
Added this to our Snippets from the Glasgow Herald archive at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...gby/196061.htm
Ranald McIntyre
I heard Ranald has been diagnosed with Brain cancer so added a wee tribute page about him. He has been a great friend to many of our regulars for many years.
You can get to this page where you can also add a comment if you wish at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/frie...ald/ranald.htm
An account of the Consecration of St Matthew's Church, Old Meldrum
By the Right Rev. The Bishop of Aberdeen,m on St Matthew''s Day, September 21, 1863 and this can be downloaded at:http://www.electricscotland.com/bible/oldmeldrum.pdf
Our Street
Memories of Buccleauch Place which is an excellent view of life many years ago.
Really interesting book this and folk that are concerned about head injuries should note the comments on this topic.
You can download this book at: http://www.electricscotland.com/article/ourstreet.pdf
The Bass Rock
It's history and romance by R. P. Phillimore (1911). Have added a link to this book at the foot of this page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rgh/chap28.htm
Robert Burns Lives!
Edited by Frank Shaw
Getting emails from Dr. Clark McGinn is like getting presents from Santa Claus at Christmas. You know the time is close and you think you know what his article will be about, but you have no idea what his treatment of the subject will be when you open your attachment.
Nine Men: The Soldier, The Gardener (And Not to Forget the Innkeeper) fits perfectly into this category and brings us to the end of Clark’s series on the men who participated in the first Burns Supper a few years after the Bard’s untimely death.
I emailed Clark and asked him to send me a current picture of himself and noted that if he did not have one then I would happily take one of him and someone else together. He readily fired off a picture of a new friend he had recently made in Norway to deliver an Immortal Memory. He wrote he had made a new friend and a picture of them together was enclosed. He did not give me his new friend’s name, but the picture is one I’ll never forget and neither will you - it is outstanding!
Thank you, Clark, for this wonderful series of articles on the inaugural Burns Supper. Our readers have certainly enjoyed getting to know each man who participated. You have enlightened our lives with your scholarly work, and I am deeply appreciative of all you have done on this herculean task.
Read "Nine Men: The Soldier, The Gardener (And not to forget the Innkeeper)" by Dr Clark McGinn at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives236.htm
Burns for Kids
I found this on the Visit Scotland site and I thought this was a great resource for the wee ones. It also has word scramble puzzles, pictures to colour, and lots more.
This can be downloaded at: http://www.electricscotland.com/burn...e-for-kids.pdf
THE STORY
Holyrood 2016: When coming second really matters
By Professor John Curtice, Strathclyde University
As the final days of the Holyrood election campaign quickly pass, I explain why the interesting contest is not in who could win but who could come second - (and also third, fourth and fifth).
The SNP began the campaign as overwhelming favourites to win the Scottish Parliament election.
With just a week to go that remains the case. But if the opinion polls are to be believed, it is far from certain who will come second, while there is also a key battle for fourth place.
Since the Easter weekend, six polls of how people intend to vote in the election on 5 May have been conducted and published, each of them done by a different company.
Collectively these polls give us the best guide to the likely outcome. The average level of support for the principal parties across all these six polls is shown in our table.
The SNP are credited with 52% of the vote on the constituency ballot and 45% on the list.
On the constituency vote this represents a seven point increase on what the party secured in the last Scottish Parliament election in 2011, though on the list vote it is just a one point increase.
The SNP's performance in 2011 was regarded at the time as remarkable, not least because it proved sufficient to give the party an overall majority. Yet it seems that the party might do even better this time around.
Labour's poll support, in contrast, is well down as compared with what the party achieved in the ballot boxes five years ago. The party is credited with 20% of the constituency vote, down as much as 12 points. On the list it stands at 19%, down seven points.
Bad enough though these figures are, what will alarm Labour even more is that they the party only narrowly ahead of the Conservatives.
Nobody can be sure on second place
The polls suggest Ruth Davidson's party is standing at 17% on the constituency ballot, up four points on 2011, while it is perhaps doing even better on the list, with 18% (up six points).
That means the two parties are reckoned to be no more than one point apart on the list vote. Given the uncertainties that surround any opinion polling, this means that nobody can be sure who will come second on the list vote.
So far as winning seats is concerned, both Labour and the Conservatives are likely to be primarily, if not wholly, dependent on the "additional" seats that are allocated to the parties' on the basis of their share of the list vote.
So the closeness of the race for second place on the list vote means that it is also far from certain which party will have the larger presence in the next parliament.
The Liberal Democrats trailed badly in 2011, winning just 8% of the constituency vote, and 5% of the list ballot. The polls suggest the party finds itself in a similar predicament this time around; its average tally is just 6% on both votes.
Question marks over fourth and fifth places
But whereas five years ago the Liberal Democrats' performance was still good enough for the party to be the fourth largest party at Holyrood, this time that may not be the case.
The Greens, who for the most part are only putting up candidates on the list ballot, are at 9% on the list vote, up five points on their 2011 performance.
That means the party is three points ahead of the Liberal Democrats. If that were to be what emerges from the ballot boxes next week the Greens would almost undoubtedly secure more MSPs than the Liberal Democrats.
Still nobody who remembers the problems that bedevilled the polls in the general election a year ago will want to put too much faith in what they say now.
Meanwhile all the parties, however high or low their current standing, will be doing their best to win over voters in the week that is left - and so, they hope, prove the polls wrong.
And that's it for this week and hope you all enjoy your weekend.
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com/
Electric Scotland News
Scottish News from this weeks newspapers
Note that this is a selection and more can be read in our ScotNews feed on our index page.
One pint warning issued to drivers
A sheriff has warned motorists that one drink can put them over the legal limit in Scotland after issuing driving bans. Just one pint will put you over the limit so if you are visiting Scotland you need to read this!!!
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-...tland-36149020
International piping festival set to return to Glasgow
Glasgow’s International Piping Festival, Piping Live, is returning to the city in August.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/in...sgow-1-4112289
Festival premieres golfing pioneer film Tommy's Honour
The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is to open with a world premiere of a film about Scottish golfing pioneer Old Tom Morris.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-...-fife-36151766
Nicola Sturgeon and the abuse of political language
By Kenneth Roy
Read more at:
http://www.scottishreview.net/KennethRoy47a.html
Scotland’s influence on Argentina, Russia and Jamaica
Scottish emigrants spread far beyond the English speaking world.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/heritage/peo...aica-1-4111597
St Andrews ranked top university in Scotland
The University of St Andrews has been ranked top in Scotland in an independent guide
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/educati...land-1-4109311
The Queen at 90
How Scotland has embraced Her Majesty
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/the-que...esty-1-4109048
Scotland's most remote crazy golf course
where every kid gets their own putter and ball to keep ... and it's FREE
Read more at:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/we...dZvkW2buvuZ.97
Prejudice around Gypsy/Travellers must come to an end
It was International Roma Day on 8 April and I was privileged to meet him and his sister, Roseanna, to mark it.
Read more at:
http://www.thenational.scot/comment/...o-an-end.16165
Dali helps scientists crack our brain code
Scientists at Glasgow University have established a world first by cracking the communication code of our brains.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-...-west-36105245
Electric Canadian
Simcoe County Pioneer and Historical Society
Pioneer Papers No. 1
WHEN making this selection from the various manuscripts in the possession of the Society, the Committee adopted for publication mostly those by authors who have passed away; and in the three cases thus adopted, portraits of the authors appear with the articles. For the rest, their aim was to make the subjects spread over as wide a territory as the materials at hand would permit them to do. The papers are taken from the proceedings of the Society, but it is not meant that this should be a rule or precedent to govern them in the issue of future publications.
You can read this at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...neerpapers.pdf
Electric Scotland
Fragments of Scottish History (1798)
An interesting read which you can get to at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/book...tsscottish.pdf
Aberdeen Fifty Years Ago (1860)
Including 21 engravings. You can download this at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/coun...rdeen_city.htm
Aberdeenshire Epitaphs and Inscriptions
By John A Henderson (1903) (pdf) which you can download at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/coun...rdeenshire.htm
Life at the Edge of the World
Second newsletter from Thurso, Scotland for April 2016 which you can read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...lton/index.htm
John Henderson's Rugby Archive (1960/61)
Added this to our Snippets from the Glasgow Herald archive at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...gby/196061.htm
Ranald McIntyre
I heard Ranald has been diagnosed with Brain cancer so added a wee tribute page about him. He has been a great friend to many of our regulars for many years.
You can get to this page where you can also add a comment if you wish at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/frie...ald/ranald.htm
An account of the Consecration of St Matthew's Church, Old Meldrum
By the Right Rev. The Bishop of Aberdeen,m on St Matthew''s Day, September 21, 1863 and this can be downloaded at:http://www.electricscotland.com/bible/oldmeldrum.pdf
Our Street
Memories of Buccleauch Place which is an excellent view of life many years ago.
Really interesting book this and folk that are concerned about head injuries should note the comments on this topic.
You can download this book at: http://www.electricscotland.com/article/ourstreet.pdf
The Bass Rock
It's history and romance by R. P. Phillimore (1911). Have added a link to this book at the foot of this page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rgh/chap28.htm
Robert Burns Lives!
Edited by Frank Shaw
Getting emails from Dr. Clark McGinn is like getting presents from Santa Claus at Christmas. You know the time is close and you think you know what his article will be about, but you have no idea what his treatment of the subject will be when you open your attachment.
Nine Men: The Soldier, The Gardener (And Not to Forget the Innkeeper) fits perfectly into this category and brings us to the end of Clark’s series on the men who participated in the first Burns Supper a few years after the Bard’s untimely death.
I emailed Clark and asked him to send me a current picture of himself and noted that if he did not have one then I would happily take one of him and someone else together. He readily fired off a picture of a new friend he had recently made in Norway to deliver an Immortal Memory. He wrote he had made a new friend and a picture of them together was enclosed. He did not give me his new friend’s name, but the picture is one I’ll never forget and neither will you - it is outstanding!
Thank you, Clark, for this wonderful series of articles on the inaugural Burns Supper. Our readers have certainly enjoyed getting to know each man who participated. You have enlightened our lives with your scholarly work, and I am deeply appreciative of all you have done on this herculean task.
Read "Nine Men: The Soldier, The Gardener (And not to forget the Innkeeper)" by Dr Clark McGinn at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives236.htm
Burns for Kids
I found this on the Visit Scotland site and I thought this was a great resource for the wee ones. It also has word scramble puzzles, pictures to colour, and lots more.
This can be downloaded at: http://www.electricscotland.com/burn...e-for-kids.pdf
THE STORY
Holyrood 2016: When coming second really matters
By Professor John Curtice, Strathclyde University
As the final days of the Holyrood election campaign quickly pass, I explain why the interesting contest is not in who could win but who could come second - (and also third, fourth and fifth).
The SNP began the campaign as overwhelming favourites to win the Scottish Parliament election.
With just a week to go that remains the case. But if the opinion polls are to be believed, it is far from certain who will come second, while there is also a key battle for fourth place.
Since the Easter weekend, six polls of how people intend to vote in the election on 5 May have been conducted and published, each of them done by a different company.
Collectively these polls give us the best guide to the likely outcome. The average level of support for the principal parties across all these six polls is shown in our table.
On the constituency vote this represents a seven point increase on what the party secured in the last Scottish Parliament election in 2011, though on the list vote it is just a one point increase.
The SNP's performance in 2011 was regarded at the time as remarkable, not least because it proved sufficient to give the party an overall majority. Yet it seems that the party might do even better this time around.
Labour's poll support, in contrast, is well down as compared with what the party achieved in the ballot boxes five years ago. The party is credited with 20% of the constituency vote, down as much as 12 points. On the list it stands at 19%, down seven points.
Bad enough though these figures are, what will alarm Labour even more is that they the party only narrowly ahead of the Conservatives.
Nobody can be sure on second place
The polls suggest Ruth Davidson's party is standing at 17% on the constituency ballot, up four points on 2011, while it is perhaps doing even better on the list, with 18% (up six points).
That means the two parties are reckoned to be no more than one point apart on the list vote. Given the uncertainties that surround any opinion polling, this means that nobody can be sure who will come second on the list vote.
So far as winning seats is concerned, both Labour and the Conservatives are likely to be primarily, if not wholly, dependent on the "additional" seats that are allocated to the parties' on the basis of their share of the list vote.
So the closeness of the race for second place on the list vote means that it is also far from certain which party will have the larger presence in the next parliament.
The Liberal Democrats trailed badly in 2011, winning just 8% of the constituency vote, and 5% of the list ballot. The polls suggest the party finds itself in a similar predicament this time around; its average tally is just 6% on both votes.
Question marks over fourth and fifth places
But whereas five years ago the Liberal Democrats' performance was still good enough for the party to be the fourth largest party at Holyrood, this time that may not be the case.
The Greens, who for the most part are only putting up candidates on the list ballot, are at 9% on the list vote, up five points on their 2011 performance.
That means the party is three points ahead of the Liberal Democrats. If that were to be what emerges from the ballot boxes next week the Greens would almost undoubtedly secure more MSPs than the Liberal Democrats.
Still nobody who remembers the problems that bedevilled the polls in the general election a year ago will want to put too much faith in what they say now.
Meanwhile all the parties, however high or low their current standing, will be doing their best to win over voters in the week that is left - and so, they hope, prove the polls wrong.
And that's it for this week and hope you all enjoy your weekend.
Alastair
Comment