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For the latest news from Scotland see our ScotNews feed at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/
Electric Scotland News
Join the Scottish Society of Indianapolis on Saturday, November 19 for the 33rd Annual St. Andrew's Dinner.
Social time begins at 5:30 p.m. with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres in the banquet room at George'sNeighborhood Grill. Celebrate the founding and history of the Scottish Society of Indianapolis! This is the annual meeting of the membership.
The evening includes:
Parade with bagpiper
Dinner
Clan Recognition
Board Election
Review of the Indianapolis Scottish Scottish Highland Games and Festival
President’s State of the Society Address
Presentation of the Tommy Thompson Award
Questions?
Contact Steven Johnson
Phone: (317) 375-1505
Email: AngelCourt@Yahoo.com
And of course this should be a reminder that there will be lots of St. Andrew's Day Dinners in November and likely one in your own area so perhaps contact them to see if you can attend?
Postcard Service
Still haven't been able to fix the problem with sending cards at a later date. I think Steve needs to take a refresher course in how to enable cron jobs or something.
Scottish News from this weeks newspapers
Note that this is a selection and more can be read in our ScotNews feed on our index page where we list news from the past 1-2 weeks. I am partly doing this to build an archive of modern news from and about Scotland as all the newsletters are archived and also indexed on Google and other search engines. I might also add that in newspapers such as the Guardian, Scotsman, Courier, etc. you will find many comments which can be just as interesting as the news story itself and of course you can also add your own comments if you wish.
Crazy Horses
Over the last few weeks the SNP's strategy for overcoming the awkward economic realities that stand between them and independence has become clear.
Read more at:
http://chokkablog.blogspot.ca/2016/10/crazy-horses.html
Scots 8-year-old takes Highland Dancing world by storm
An eight-year-old girl is being hailed a prodigy in the world of Highland Dancing after winning a remarkable 17 championships this year alone.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/regions/glas...torm-1-4264641
SNP maintains poll lead in the wake of election
The SNP has retained a commanding lead in the polls since the Scottish Parliament elections in May.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/snp-...tion-1-4265256
Exposing the delays at the heart of Scotland’s legal system
IF YOU want to see just how slow the judicial system can be, then head for Edinburgh Sheriff Court on a busy morning
Read more at:
https://www.sundaypost.com/news/just...-legal-system/
Call to help Dundee’s Waterfront progress
Mike Galloway describes it as a rare opportunity.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/business/com...ress-1-4266337
Prince William launches Stirling regimental museum appeal
Prince William has launched an appeal to secure the future of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Regimental Museum in Stirling.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-...tland-37756079
Paisley’s City of Culture bid is impressive stuff
THERE may be well over two months to go, but I already have a clutch of contenders for my cultural highlight of the year.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/br...tuff-1-4266341
Britain is the most business-friendly major economy
Britain is the most business-friendly major economy on the planet, the World Bank has said casting fresh doubt on predictions of economic collapse after Brexit.
Read more at:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-warnings.html
Nicola Sturgeon should embrace Brexit as Scotland’s best chance to re-engage with the global economy
It is becoming clear that Sturgeon’s weakening grip on power in the Scottish Parliament is the real reason behind her increasingly desperate noises about a further independence referendum
Read more at:
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/725...n-devolved-SNP
Sturgeon grilled by furious residents in her own Constituency
NICOLA Sturgeon was subjected to two hours’ of questioning today from her own constituents - who asked why their neighbourhood was covered in rubbish, being overrun by rats and dangerous for women.
Read more at:
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/723...664.1475374675
25 of the best free Scottish visitor attractions
SCOTLAND has a wealth of great visitor attractions and thankfully many of them are free, here are 25 of the best.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/ou...ions-1-4268352
Petition calls for Scotland to be thrown out of UK
An online petition calling for English voters to decide on whether Scotland should be kicked out of the Union has attracted more than 5,000 signatures.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/politic...f-uk-1-4269788
Some NHS boards may not break even
Some Scottish NHS boards may not be able to balance their books next year, Audit Scotland has warned.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-37773231
Fife Coastal Path attracts 3 million visitors
Fife Coastal Path has been hailed as a magnet for tourism after new figures revealed more than 3 million visitors walked the route last year.
Read more at:
https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news...lion-visitors/
How Scotland invented Halloween
WITH the spookiest day of the year fast approaching, we reveal how Scotland invented modern-day Halloween as we know it.
Read more at:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/scotlan...usands-9127927
Tourism app hails the Scots who created the world's most famous skyline
THE Empire State immigrants knew that if they could build it there, they could build it anywhere.
Read more at:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/scotlan...ourism-9103754
Scotland's secret chapel
AN 800 year old chapel previously hidden from the public has now been opened for visitors.
Read more at:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/scotlan...n-half-9098373
Electric Canada
Chronicles of Canada
I have added volume 2 this week... The Mariner of St Malo: A Chronicle of the Voyages of Jacques Cartier. Also added a couple of links to other collections where the text is not cut off at the margins and also where you can listen to these volumes in mp3 format.
See this at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...cles/index.htm
The Father of British Canada
A Chronicle of Carleton by William Wood which you can read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/makers/carleton.htm
The United Empire Loyalists
A Chronicle of the Great Migration by Wallace and at the end of this book have added a link to the "War Chief of the Six Nations" and you can get to this at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/pioneering/uel.htm
Electric Scotland
Colonel Daniel MacKinnon
Author of The Origin and Services of the Coldstream Guards of which I've also added a link to that 2 volume set.
MACKINNON, COLONEL DANIEL.—This brave soldier, who acquired high military reputation in the Peninsular war and at Waterloo, was born in 1791, and was second son of William Mackinnon, chieftain of the ancient clan of that name in the Western Highlands of Scotland.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...non_daniel.htm
Sir William Forbes
Added his book "Memoirs of a Banking House" to his page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...es_william.htm
Scottish Records Society
Have added a link to a book called "Papers Illustrative of the Political Condition of the Highland of Scotland 1689 - 1696" in which you will find some very good information on the Battle of Glenco.
You can get to this book a the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ords/index.htm
The Parish of Glencairn
By the Rev. John Menteith (1876).
This is a book referenced as very hard to find in a later book entitled Glencairn. You can read this book at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/coun...s_galloway.htm
The Ruined Castles of Mid-Lothian
Their Position; their Families, their Ruins; and their History by John Dickson, FSA Scot (1894).
You can read this book at: http://www.electricscotland.com/book...midlothian.pdf
Chiefs of Grant
Now acquired the full 3 volume set so have added this to our Clan Grant page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/webc...tog/grant.html
Rulewater and its People
An Account of the Valley of the Rule and its Inhabitants by George Tancred of Weens in the Scottish Borders.
Parish histories, from their purely local [character, receive only a limited amount of attention from the general public. These histories not infrequently omit all detail in regard to individuals whose families for generations have followed their vocation as shepherds, farmers, or labourers, some of whom, or their descendants, have risen to distinction in other parts of the world. In Rulewaier and Us People I have endeavoured not to make this omission. The units in the population of our Border parishes are all much alike—landowners, ministers, farmers, shepherds, tradesmen, gamekeepers, and farm-servants. Some are here to-day and away to-morrow; others cling to their native parish. They may leave it for a time, but generally return—these all find a place in this history of the district. In whatever part of the world this book falls into the hands of a Rulewater man or one who is united to this district by the ties of ancestry or kindred, I trust its perusal may have the effect of intensifying his love, and of drawing him in closer bonds of fellowship with his brethren in the Watergate.
It is sometimes thought necessary, in attempting to write the early history of a place, to dive into remote antiquity and to record circumstances for which there is no sufficient authority. These records of a past age I leave to the scientific archaeologists, who are better able to give an opinion in such matters. I have restricted myself to a few parochial traditions handed down from father to son, which in themselves give some shadow of authentic history to the narrative.
In compiling the family history of Rulewater I have included the lands adjoining the valley and the families connected therewith. I hope those who have a claim to be mentioned but who have been left out will pardon the omission, as space would not allow me to notice even briefly many who were born and bred in the district.
I publish this book, not for the landowners of the valley, but for the descendants of those old residenters who in their day and generation have helped to keep together the clanship of the Borders. If this humble attempt of mine should in any way promote this object, I shall feel well repaid for the trouble I have taken.
I have had assistance from all parts of the county in the preparation of this work, for which I am* most thankful. The old resident families, past and present, have a strong claim to my gratitude for the willing help they have given me in regard to their pedigrees and family histories; and I am much indebted to the officials of His Majesty’s Register House for their courtesy to me on all occasions. I should like to mention specially the names of two old friends of mine now dead, from whom I received much valuable assistance—Walter Deans, mason, Kirk-style, and Thomas Rutherford, blacksmith, Bonchester Bridge, who were born and educated in this valley.
GEORGE TANCRED.
Weens, Rulewatkr,
Christmas 1907
Also added a link to another of his books at the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../rulewater.htm
Scottish Coinage
Added links to 5 publications on Scottish coinage to our Scottish Trades page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ish_trades.htm
Studies in Scottish Literature
Studies in Scottish Literature (or SSL) was founded in 1963 by G. Ross Roy (1924-2013), and he was its only editor for nearly fifty years (vols. 1-36). In 2012, Professor Roy donated rights to the journal to the University of South Carolina Libraries, so that it could continue under new editorship.
In its new series, Studies in Scottish Literature is still published from the University of South Carolina, open to contributions on all periods and genres of Scottish literature. It continues, too, to welcome articles that explore the interrelations between Scottish literature and other literatures, and between traditionally literary approaches and research undertaken from other disciplinary perspectives. After many years as an annual volume, the journal is moving to two issues a year for a trial period, beginning in spring 2016, allowing publication of more articles and we hope a shorter time-to-publication.
Editorial Contact Information is Patrick Scott, Editor, Studies in Scottish Literature, Irvin Department, University of South Carolina Libraries, Columbia, SC 29208, USA scottp@mailbox.sc.edu
PREFACE TO SSL 42:1
For near forty years, since volume 13 (1978), Studies in Scottish Literature has been published as a single annual volume. Before that, however, it had appeared as a quarterly, though sometimes with doublenumbers.
Four years ago, in 2012, when we took over editing the journal, we took production digital, but kept to the annual publication schedule. We think the time has now come to experiment once again with more frequent publication, and this issue, SSL 42: 1 (Spring 2016), is the first on the new trial pattern of issuing two shorter numbers a year.
The primary reason for the change is to reduce the length of time between acceptance of an article and its publication; migration from print to digital is changing the tolerance of both authors and readers for the glacial pace of annual production. A second reason is that it will allow us more editorial flexibility, as, for instance, in allowing an occasional special-topic issue, or a cluster of articles on a single topic or period, without pushing back other contributions for a full year or more.
The third reason is that there is now an increasing number of active researchers in Scottish literary studies, and we want to be free to accept good work on its merits; we need a framework that will allow us, if it seems justified, to publish more articles. It may well be that, as both the possibilities and the norms for journal publication develop, we make further changes in future.
We are very pleased to use this new editorial flexibility to publish Murray Pittock’s W. Ormiston Roy Memorial Lecture, “Who wrote the Scots Musical Museum? Challenging Editorial Practice in the Presence of Authorial Absence.” The lecture discusses a number of fundamental issues of wide relevance to ideas of Scottish authorship and the editing of Scottish literary texts, and we are grateful to Professor Pittock for his agreement to its inclusion. W. Ormiston Roy (1874-1958), for whom the lecture-series is named, was Ross Roy’s grand-father, a noted Burns collector, and a major influence in Ross’s own love for Burns.
Over the twenty-five years since Ross and Lucie Roy established the Ormiston Roy visiting fellowships, they have brought many distinguished Scottish literary researchers to Columbia, and the more recent establishment of the Ormiston Roy lectureships has allowed us to host a number of senior visitors, including Ian Duncan, Edward J. Cowan, Robert Crawford, and Nigel Leask. This is, however, the first Ormiston Roy lecture to be published in the journal Ross Roy founded. The other full-length articles represent something of the range of scholars that Studies in Scottish Literature now serves—two by recent PhDs, two by established scholars; two by Scottish-born scholars, two by scholars coming to the field from elsewhere; two by women scholars, two by men. The issue is rounded out by the usual notes and documents, reviews, and short notices of books received. The opening symposium that has been a widely-appreciated feature of the past four volumes will return in future issues.
There is one down-side to publishing Studies in Scottish Literature in shorter separate issues: no single issue is likely represent the breadth of historical periods or scholarly approaches that the journal aims to include. The articles in this issue are bunched in the romantic and modern periods.
For the record: we continue to welcome scholarly articles on all periods of Scottish literature, from medieval to contemporary, and we welcome also comparative or interdisciplinary articles involving Scottish literature and literary studies.
Patrick Scott,
Tony Jarrells
See http://scholarcommons.sc.edu/ssl/vol41/iss1/ for further information.
Scotland and the Scots
Essays illustrative of Scottish Life, History and Character by Peter Ross (1899)
In the following pages I have gathered together several articles concerning Scotland and Scotsmen which are likely to be read with some interest on this side of the Atlantic. The first article is a reproduction, with considerable additions, of an essay written for the Canadian-American of Chicago, and some of the others have appeared, in whole or in part, in the Scottish-American of New York. While a representative Scot in the present day has shown to the world what triumphant democracy has accomplished, it may not be out of place for another Scot to indicate how much his countrymen have assisted in bringing about that triumph, and also to demonstrate that, whether under the Stars and Stripes in the United States, or beneath the Union Jack in the Dominion of Canada, Scotsmen have taken, and are taking, an active part in all the movements that are designed to maintain the religious and political freedom of the people and to promote their material and intellectual progress. In connection with the article on the Union of 1707 I have reprinted in full the text of the famous Treaty. This important document is more talked about than read at the present day, but, as it is the charter on which the modern liberties of Scotland are based, it is deserving of being closely studied and thoroughly understood by every one for whom the history of Scotland has any attraction. It has several times been suggested to me that the publication of these articles would prove acceptable to Scotsmen and their descendants, and in the hope that the suggestion is a wise one I send forth this little volume.
PETER ROSS.
You can download this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...tlandscots.htm
The Story
2 stories this week...
James Skinner: Canada has shown us we were right to leave the EU
James Skinner is a Briton based in Vancouver, Canada, where he is Executive Director of the Commonwealth Freedom of Movement Organisation. http://www.cfmo.org/
In what comes as no surprise for many politicians, economists and journalists, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the European Union and Canada has all but failed. On Friday, Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s trade minister, left the negotiating table in Belgium after talks to ratify CETA broke down with Wallonia’s Minister-President, Paul Magnette.
Wallonia is one of Belgium’s three regions, accounting for 55% of the territory of Belgium, and boasts one cow for every three people. And yet, this region (consisting of a mere 3.5 million people) has effectively vetoed a €5.8 billion per year trade deal with 508 million EU citizens, that would add $12 billion to the Canadian economy and increase bilateral trade by 20 per cent.
And why? Because CETA would eliminate 99% of customs duties between Canada and the EU, and Wallonia’s hugely subsidised farmers despise the thought of cheap Canadian competition. In fact, they despise it so much, farmers across the region staged a mass protest outside the regional parliament on 14th October, and consequentially, the parliament of Wallonia voted to block the trade agreement.
The European Commission is solely in charge of negotiating trade deals with Canada, but because Belgium’s constitution gives regional parliaments the opportunity to vote on trade agreements, Wallonia has effectively hammered the final nail in the CETA coffin by delivering its own veto.
In a last ditch attempt to rescue the deal, Freeland postponed plans to travel to the World Trade Organisation talks in Norway so she could help negotiate a solution. However, after hours of discussion with Magnette, Freeland left the negotiating table on the verge of tears, saying:
“Canada worked really hard, and me personally, I worked very hard, [but] it’s become evident for me, for Canada, that the European Union isn’t capable now to have an international treaty even with a country that has very European values like Canada… I’ve worked very, very hard, but I think it’s impossible. We have decided to return home… it is emotional for me.”
For now, CETA will remain in “negotiation limbo”; if the trade agreement does not receive unanimous support from all 28 EU member states, it cannot be ratified. The deal has taken over seven years to finalise, and Wallonia is the last holdout, but given the region’s severe objections to the agreement, the chances are that the signing ceremony planned for next week (with Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau) will be cancelled.
Prior to the referendum, I remember one of the great arguments used by Remain voters was that “the UK will be useless negotiating its own trade deals outside of the EU”. I now fail to see how this is even close to a reasonable argument, because the EU is clearly useless at negotiating its own trade deals, period.
I live in Canada, and am actively involved in Canadian politics, so believe me when I say that Canadians are the most accommodating people with whom to do business. If the world’s largest trading bloc can’t even finalise a trade deal after seven years with a nation which is eager to reduce tariffs, customs duties and bureaucracy, then take it from me, there is very little hope of success for the EU, now or in the future.
As an independent nation free from the EU, the UK can finalise its own trade deals across the world with countries that are already eager to do business, such as Australia, New Zealand and India. Canada has already expressed tremendous interest in beginning trade negotiations with the UK and, acting independently, we would not need to worry about small regions in the EU causing delays.
There would be no need to rely on 27 other member states agreeing to a deal that will provide significant economic benefits to businesses and its consumers, and most importantly, we would not have to wait multiple years for parliaments to debate and assess disputes from small populations on the continent who only serve their own self-interests.
Theresa May has made it clear that we can’t begin negotiations for our own trade deals until Article 50 is invoked next year (and said negotiations can of course take up to two years), but I guarantee you that we will achieve far more trading opportunities in those two years acting independently than we will chained to the bureaucracy of the EU.
CETA is a deal that has been plagued with issues from the beginning, solely because it directly involves the European Union. Canada may be leaving the negotiating table empty-handed this time, but our Commonwealth neighbours will surely have a swift and comprehensive trade deal with the UK in no time at all once we are an independent, sovereign nation once again.
From the Scottish Review this week we read an article from the Editor, Kenneth Roy...
The SNP’s awkward squad is a group tiny in number but fairly significant in weight. It includes the party’s sometime leader, Gordon Wilson, and the former cabinet secretary for health, Alex Neil. Freed from the burdens of office, Mr Neil crops up in the most unexpected quarters. Unless it was a bad dream, I swear I saw his photo byline over a piece in the Daily Torygraph recently.
Neither of these old stagers believes that an early second independence referendum is a sound idea; Mr Wilson suggested last weekend that there should be up to 20 years between ballots.
A stock response is given by the party’s comms team whenever such subversive thoughts are uttered. The official line is that every opinion poll since the Brexit vote has shown that support for independence is higher than it was in September 2014. Nicola Sturgeon said so herself when she launched her national ‘conversation’, a dialogue which seems to have been conducted in a strangelysotto vocefashion.
Is her claim accurate? In strict statistical terms, it just about holds up. But the truth lies elsewhere.
In the immediate aftermath of the EU referendum, there appeared to be a dramatic swing towards independence. A poll commissioned by the Sunday Post in late June produced such a spectacular outcome that the paper splashed the headline figure across its front page: 59% of the Scottish electorate were now in favour of breaking up the Union. The same weekend, a rival poll in the Sunday Times got the same result but less dramatically, putting the Yes vote at 52%. For a heady few days, it did feel that the divergence over Brexit might be a game changer.
But the nationalist euphoria was short-lived. A month later, You Gov reported ‘no real shift towards independence’ after a poll reversed the earlier results, giving No a six-point lead (53-47). The same poll found that, after Britain's exit from the EU, 55% would rather live in a Scotland which was still part of the UK while 37% would prefer to live in an independent Scotland within the EU.
In late August, a second poll from the same company showed that the No side had opened up an eight-point lead (54-46). Though the difference between this and the referendum result (55-45) was statistically insignificant, it did enable the first minister to maintain the fiction that there had been some meaningful change in voting intentions.
This poll yielded two disturbing new facts from an SNP perspective: only 37% supported a second referendum and a third of the electorate declared that Nicola Sturgeon was doing ‘fairly or very badly’, a rating which allowed Ruth Davidson to overtake the first minister as Scotland’s most popular party leader.
In a more recent survey – by TNS last month – there was a slight closing of the gap to 53-47, but the message of all the polls since Brexit, with the exception of the blip the weekend after the referendum, has been remarkably consistent: No are ahead by margins ranging from five to eight points. As the head of TNS in Scotland put it: ‘In the aftermath of the Brexit vote and Scotland’s contrasting position with much of the rest of Britain, the SNP would have hoped for more of an uplift for Scottish independence’.
The conclusion to be drawn from recent polling evidence is that Scotland has scarcely moved since its own referendum two years ago. The country remains deeply split – but, for the time being, not evenly so.
Nicola Sturgeon has acknowledged that she will need to see support for independence at 60%, sustained for at least a year, before she calls a second referendum. Behind all the rhetoric, the political reality is that she is a long way short of that self-imposed threshold.
And that's it for this week and hope you all enjoy your weekend and Halloween.
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com/
Electric Scotland News
Join the Scottish Society of Indianapolis on Saturday, November 19 for the 33rd Annual St. Andrew's Dinner.
Social time begins at 5:30 p.m. with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres in the banquet room at George'sNeighborhood Grill. Celebrate the founding and history of the Scottish Society of Indianapolis! This is the annual meeting of the membership.
The evening includes:
Parade with bagpiper
Dinner
Clan Recognition
Board Election
Review of the Indianapolis Scottish Scottish Highland Games and Festival
President’s State of the Society Address
Presentation of the Tommy Thompson Award
Questions?
Contact Steven Johnson
Phone: (317) 375-1505
Email: AngelCourt@Yahoo.com
And of course this should be a reminder that there will be lots of St. Andrew's Day Dinners in November and likely one in your own area so perhaps contact them to see if you can attend?
Postcard Service
Still haven't been able to fix the problem with sending cards at a later date. I think Steve needs to take a refresher course in how to enable cron jobs or something.
Scottish News from this weeks newspapers
Note that this is a selection and more can be read in our ScotNews feed on our index page where we list news from the past 1-2 weeks. I am partly doing this to build an archive of modern news from and about Scotland as all the newsletters are archived and also indexed on Google and other search engines. I might also add that in newspapers such as the Guardian, Scotsman, Courier, etc. you will find many comments which can be just as interesting as the news story itself and of course you can also add your own comments if you wish.
Crazy Horses
Over the last few weeks the SNP's strategy for overcoming the awkward economic realities that stand between them and independence has become clear.
Read more at:
http://chokkablog.blogspot.ca/2016/10/crazy-horses.html
Scots 8-year-old takes Highland Dancing world by storm
An eight-year-old girl is being hailed a prodigy in the world of Highland Dancing after winning a remarkable 17 championships this year alone.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/regions/glas...torm-1-4264641
SNP maintains poll lead in the wake of election
The SNP has retained a commanding lead in the polls since the Scottish Parliament elections in May.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/snp-...tion-1-4265256
Exposing the delays at the heart of Scotland’s legal system
IF YOU want to see just how slow the judicial system can be, then head for Edinburgh Sheriff Court on a busy morning
Read more at:
https://www.sundaypost.com/news/just...-legal-system/
Call to help Dundee’s Waterfront progress
Mike Galloway describes it as a rare opportunity.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/business/com...ress-1-4266337
Prince William launches Stirling regimental museum appeal
Prince William has launched an appeal to secure the future of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Regimental Museum in Stirling.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-...tland-37756079
Paisley’s City of Culture bid is impressive stuff
THERE may be well over two months to go, but I already have a clutch of contenders for my cultural highlight of the year.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/br...tuff-1-4266341
Britain is the most business-friendly major economy
Britain is the most business-friendly major economy on the planet, the World Bank has said casting fresh doubt on predictions of economic collapse after Brexit.
Read more at:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-warnings.html
Nicola Sturgeon should embrace Brexit as Scotland’s best chance to re-engage with the global economy
It is becoming clear that Sturgeon’s weakening grip on power in the Scottish Parliament is the real reason behind her increasingly desperate noises about a further independence referendum
Read more at:
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/725...n-devolved-SNP
Sturgeon grilled by furious residents in her own Constituency
NICOLA Sturgeon was subjected to two hours’ of questioning today from her own constituents - who asked why their neighbourhood was covered in rubbish, being overrun by rats and dangerous for women.
Read more at:
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/723...664.1475374675
25 of the best free Scottish visitor attractions
SCOTLAND has a wealth of great visitor attractions and thankfully many of them are free, here are 25 of the best.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/ou...ions-1-4268352
Petition calls for Scotland to be thrown out of UK
An online petition calling for English voters to decide on whether Scotland should be kicked out of the Union has attracted more than 5,000 signatures.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/politic...f-uk-1-4269788
Some NHS boards may not break even
Some Scottish NHS boards may not be able to balance their books next year, Audit Scotland has warned.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-37773231
Fife Coastal Path attracts 3 million visitors
Fife Coastal Path has been hailed as a magnet for tourism after new figures revealed more than 3 million visitors walked the route last year.
Read more at:
https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news...lion-visitors/
How Scotland invented Halloween
WITH the spookiest day of the year fast approaching, we reveal how Scotland invented modern-day Halloween as we know it.
Read more at:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/scotlan...usands-9127927
Tourism app hails the Scots who created the world's most famous skyline
THE Empire State immigrants knew that if they could build it there, they could build it anywhere.
Read more at:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/scotlan...ourism-9103754
Scotland's secret chapel
AN 800 year old chapel previously hidden from the public has now been opened for visitors.
Read more at:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/scotlan...n-half-9098373
Electric Canada
Chronicles of Canada
I have added volume 2 this week... The Mariner of St Malo: A Chronicle of the Voyages of Jacques Cartier. Also added a couple of links to other collections where the text is not cut off at the margins and also where you can listen to these volumes in mp3 format.
See this at http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...cles/index.htm
The Father of British Canada
A Chronicle of Carleton by William Wood which you can read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/makers/carleton.htm
The United Empire Loyalists
A Chronicle of the Great Migration by Wallace and at the end of this book have added a link to the "War Chief of the Six Nations" and you can get to this at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/pioneering/uel.htm
Electric Scotland
Colonel Daniel MacKinnon
Author of The Origin and Services of the Coldstream Guards of which I've also added a link to that 2 volume set.
MACKINNON, COLONEL DANIEL.—This brave soldier, who acquired high military reputation in the Peninsular war and at Waterloo, was born in 1791, and was second son of William Mackinnon, chieftain of the ancient clan of that name in the Western Highlands of Scotland.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...non_daniel.htm
Sir William Forbes
Added his book "Memoirs of a Banking House" to his page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...es_william.htm
Scottish Records Society
Have added a link to a book called "Papers Illustrative of the Political Condition of the Highland of Scotland 1689 - 1696" in which you will find some very good information on the Battle of Glenco.
You can get to this book a the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ords/index.htm
The Parish of Glencairn
By the Rev. John Menteith (1876).
This is a book referenced as very hard to find in a later book entitled Glencairn. You can read this book at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/coun...s_galloway.htm
The Ruined Castles of Mid-Lothian
Their Position; their Families, their Ruins; and their History by John Dickson, FSA Scot (1894).
You can read this book at: http://www.electricscotland.com/book...midlothian.pdf
Chiefs of Grant
Now acquired the full 3 volume set so have added this to our Clan Grant page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/webc...tog/grant.html
Rulewater and its People
An Account of the Valley of the Rule and its Inhabitants by George Tancred of Weens in the Scottish Borders.
Parish histories, from their purely local [character, receive only a limited amount of attention from the general public. These histories not infrequently omit all detail in regard to individuals whose families for generations have followed their vocation as shepherds, farmers, or labourers, some of whom, or their descendants, have risen to distinction in other parts of the world. In Rulewaier and Us People I have endeavoured not to make this omission. The units in the population of our Border parishes are all much alike—landowners, ministers, farmers, shepherds, tradesmen, gamekeepers, and farm-servants. Some are here to-day and away to-morrow; others cling to their native parish. They may leave it for a time, but generally return—these all find a place in this history of the district. In whatever part of the world this book falls into the hands of a Rulewater man or one who is united to this district by the ties of ancestry or kindred, I trust its perusal may have the effect of intensifying his love, and of drawing him in closer bonds of fellowship with his brethren in the Watergate.
It is sometimes thought necessary, in attempting to write the early history of a place, to dive into remote antiquity and to record circumstances for which there is no sufficient authority. These records of a past age I leave to the scientific archaeologists, who are better able to give an opinion in such matters. I have restricted myself to a few parochial traditions handed down from father to son, which in themselves give some shadow of authentic history to the narrative.
In compiling the family history of Rulewater I have included the lands adjoining the valley and the families connected therewith. I hope those who have a claim to be mentioned but who have been left out will pardon the omission, as space would not allow me to notice even briefly many who were born and bred in the district.
I publish this book, not for the landowners of the valley, but for the descendants of those old residenters who in their day and generation have helped to keep together the clanship of the Borders. If this humble attempt of mine should in any way promote this object, I shall feel well repaid for the trouble I have taken.
I have had assistance from all parts of the county in the preparation of this work, for which I am* most thankful. The old resident families, past and present, have a strong claim to my gratitude for the willing help they have given me in regard to their pedigrees and family histories; and I am much indebted to the officials of His Majesty’s Register House for their courtesy to me on all occasions. I should like to mention specially the names of two old friends of mine now dead, from whom I received much valuable assistance—Walter Deans, mason, Kirk-style, and Thomas Rutherford, blacksmith, Bonchester Bridge, who were born and educated in this valley.
GEORGE TANCRED.
Weens, Rulewatkr,
Christmas 1907
Also added a link to another of his books at the foot of the page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist.../rulewater.htm
Scottish Coinage
Added links to 5 publications on Scottish coinage to our Scottish Trades page at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...ish_trades.htm
Studies in Scottish Literature
Studies in Scottish Literature (or SSL) was founded in 1963 by G. Ross Roy (1924-2013), and he was its only editor for nearly fifty years (vols. 1-36). In 2012, Professor Roy donated rights to the journal to the University of South Carolina Libraries, so that it could continue under new editorship.
In its new series, Studies in Scottish Literature is still published from the University of South Carolina, open to contributions on all periods and genres of Scottish literature. It continues, too, to welcome articles that explore the interrelations between Scottish literature and other literatures, and between traditionally literary approaches and research undertaken from other disciplinary perspectives. After many years as an annual volume, the journal is moving to two issues a year for a trial period, beginning in spring 2016, allowing publication of more articles and we hope a shorter time-to-publication.
Editorial Contact Information is Patrick Scott, Editor, Studies in Scottish Literature, Irvin Department, University of South Carolina Libraries, Columbia, SC 29208, USA scottp@mailbox.sc.edu
PREFACE TO SSL 42:1
For near forty years, since volume 13 (1978), Studies in Scottish Literature has been published as a single annual volume. Before that, however, it had appeared as a quarterly, though sometimes with doublenumbers.
Four years ago, in 2012, when we took over editing the journal, we took production digital, but kept to the annual publication schedule. We think the time has now come to experiment once again with more frequent publication, and this issue, SSL 42: 1 (Spring 2016), is the first on the new trial pattern of issuing two shorter numbers a year.
The primary reason for the change is to reduce the length of time between acceptance of an article and its publication; migration from print to digital is changing the tolerance of both authors and readers for the glacial pace of annual production. A second reason is that it will allow us more editorial flexibility, as, for instance, in allowing an occasional special-topic issue, or a cluster of articles on a single topic or period, without pushing back other contributions for a full year or more.
The third reason is that there is now an increasing number of active researchers in Scottish literary studies, and we want to be free to accept good work on its merits; we need a framework that will allow us, if it seems justified, to publish more articles. It may well be that, as both the possibilities and the norms for journal publication develop, we make further changes in future.
We are very pleased to use this new editorial flexibility to publish Murray Pittock’s W. Ormiston Roy Memorial Lecture, “Who wrote the Scots Musical Museum? Challenging Editorial Practice in the Presence of Authorial Absence.” The lecture discusses a number of fundamental issues of wide relevance to ideas of Scottish authorship and the editing of Scottish literary texts, and we are grateful to Professor Pittock for his agreement to its inclusion. W. Ormiston Roy (1874-1958), for whom the lecture-series is named, was Ross Roy’s grand-father, a noted Burns collector, and a major influence in Ross’s own love for Burns.
Over the twenty-five years since Ross and Lucie Roy established the Ormiston Roy visiting fellowships, they have brought many distinguished Scottish literary researchers to Columbia, and the more recent establishment of the Ormiston Roy lectureships has allowed us to host a number of senior visitors, including Ian Duncan, Edward J. Cowan, Robert Crawford, and Nigel Leask. This is, however, the first Ormiston Roy lecture to be published in the journal Ross Roy founded. The other full-length articles represent something of the range of scholars that Studies in Scottish Literature now serves—two by recent PhDs, two by established scholars; two by Scottish-born scholars, two by scholars coming to the field from elsewhere; two by women scholars, two by men. The issue is rounded out by the usual notes and documents, reviews, and short notices of books received. The opening symposium that has been a widely-appreciated feature of the past four volumes will return in future issues.
There is one down-side to publishing Studies in Scottish Literature in shorter separate issues: no single issue is likely represent the breadth of historical periods or scholarly approaches that the journal aims to include. The articles in this issue are bunched in the romantic and modern periods.
For the record: we continue to welcome scholarly articles on all periods of Scottish literature, from medieval to contemporary, and we welcome also comparative or interdisciplinary articles involving Scottish literature and literary studies.
Patrick Scott,
Tony Jarrells
See http://scholarcommons.sc.edu/ssl/vol41/iss1/ for further information.
Scotland and the Scots
Essays illustrative of Scottish Life, History and Character by Peter Ross (1899)
In the following pages I have gathered together several articles concerning Scotland and Scotsmen which are likely to be read with some interest on this side of the Atlantic. The first article is a reproduction, with considerable additions, of an essay written for the Canadian-American of Chicago, and some of the others have appeared, in whole or in part, in the Scottish-American of New York. While a representative Scot in the present day has shown to the world what triumphant democracy has accomplished, it may not be out of place for another Scot to indicate how much his countrymen have assisted in bringing about that triumph, and also to demonstrate that, whether under the Stars and Stripes in the United States, or beneath the Union Jack in the Dominion of Canada, Scotsmen have taken, and are taking, an active part in all the movements that are designed to maintain the religious and political freedom of the people and to promote their material and intellectual progress. In connection with the article on the Union of 1707 I have reprinted in full the text of the famous Treaty. This important document is more talked about than read at the present day, but, as it is the charter on which the modern liberties of Scotland are based, it is deserving of being closely studied and thoroughly understood by every one for whom the history of Scotland has any attraction. It has several times been suggested to me that the publication of these articles would prove acceptable to Scotsmen and their descendants, and in the hope that the suggestion is a wise one I send forth this little volume.
PETER ROSS.
You can download this at http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...tlandscots.htm
The Story
2 stories this week...
James Skinner: Canada has shown us we were right to leave the EU
James Skinner is a Briton based in Vancouver, Canada, where he is Executive Director of the Commonwealth Freedom of Movement Organisation. http://www.cfmo.org/
In what comes as no surprise for many politicians, economists and journalists, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the European Union and Canada has all but failed. On Friday, Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s trade minister, left the negotiating table in Belgium after talks to ratify CETA broke down with Wallonia’s Minister-President, Paul Magnette.
Wallonia is one of Belgium’s three regions, accounting for 55% of the territory of Belgium, and boasts one cow for every three people. And yet, this region (consisting of a mere 3.5 million people) has effectively vetoed a €5.8 billion per year trade deal with 508 million EU citizens, that would add $12 billion to the Canadian economy and increase bilateral trade by 20 per cent.
And why? Because CETA would eliminate 99% of customs duties between Canada and the EU, and Wallonia’s hugely subsidised farmers despise the thought of cheap Canadian competition. In fact, they despise it so much, farmers across the region staged a mass protest outside the regional parliament on 14th October, and consequentially, the parliament of Wallonia voted to block the trade agreement.
The European Commission is solely in charge of negotiating trade deals with Canada, but because Belgium’s constitution gives regional parliaments the opportunity to vote on trade agreements, Wallonia has effectively hammered the final nail in the CETA coffin by delivering its own veto.
In a last ditch attempt to rescue the deal, Freeland postponed plans to travel to the World Trade Organisation talks in Norway so she could help negotiate a solution. However, after hours of discussion with Magnette, Freeland left the negotiating table on the verge of tears, saying:
“Canada worked really hard, and me personally, I worked very hard, [but] it’s become evident for me, for Canada, that the European Union isn’t capable now to have an international treaty even with a country that has very European values like Canada… I’ve worked very, very hard, but I think it’s impossible. We have decided to return home… it is emotional for me.”
For now, CETA will remain in “negotiation limbo”; if the trade agreement does not receive unanimous support from all 28 EU member states, it cannot be ratified. The deal has taken over seven years to finalise, and Wallonia is the last holdout, but given the region’s severe objections to the agreement, the chances are that the signing ceremony planned for next week (with Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau) will be cancelled.
Prior to the referendum, I remember one of the great arguments used by Remain voters was that “the UK will be useless negotiating its own trade deals outside of the EU”. I now fail to see how this is even close to a reasonable argument, because the EU is clearly useless at negotiating its own trade deals, period.
I live in Canada, and am actively involved in Canadian politics, so believe me when I say that Canadians are the most accommodating people with whom to do business. If the world’s largest trading bloc can’t even finalise a trade deal after seven years with a nation which is eager to reduce tariffs, customs duties and bureaucracy, then take it from me, there is very little hope of success for the EU, now or in the future.
As an independent nation free from the EU, the UK can finalise its own trade deals across the world with countries that are already eager to do business, such as Australia, New Zealand and India. Canada has already expressed tremendous interest in beginning trade negotiations with the UK and, acting independently, we would not need to worry about small regions in the EU causing delays.
There would be no need to rely on 27 other member states agreeing to a deal that will provide significant economic benefits to businesses and its consumers, and most importantly, we would not have to wait multiple years for parliaments to debate and assess disputes from small populations on the continent who only serve their own self-interests.
Theresa May has made it clear that we can’t begin negotiations for our own trade deals until Article 50 is invoked next year (and said negotiations can of course take up to two years), but I guarantee you that we will achieve far more trading opportunities in those two years acting independently than we will chained to the bureaucracy of the EU.
CETA is a deal that has been plagued with issues from the beginning, solely because it directly involves the European Union. Canada may be leaving the negotiating table empty-handed this time, but our Commonwealth neighbours will surely have a swift and comprehensive trade deal with the UK in no time at all once we are an independent, sovereign nation once again.
From the Scottish Review this week we read an article from the Editor, Kenneth Roy...
The SNP’s awkward squad is a group tiny in number but fairly significant in weight. It includes the party’s sometime leader, Gordon Wilson, and the former cabinet secretary for health, Alex Neil. Freed from the burdens of office, Mr Neil crops up in the most unexpected quarters. Unless it was a bad dream, I swear I saw his photo byline over a piece in the Daily Torygraph recently.
Neither of these old stagers believes that an early second independence referendum is a sound idea; Mr Wilson suggested last weekend that there should be up to 20 years between ballots.
A stock response is given by the party’s comms team whenever such subversive thoughts are uttered. The official line is that every opinion poll since the Brexit vote has shown that support for independence is higher than it was in September 2014. Nicola Sturgeon said so herself when she launched her national ‘conversation’, a dialogue which seems to have been conducted in a strangelysotto vocefashion.
Is her claim accurate? In strict statistical terms, it just about holds up. But the truth lies elsewhere.
In the immediate aftermath of the EU referendum, there appeared to be a dramatic swing towards independence. A poll commissioned by the Sunday Post in late June produced such a spectacular outcome that the paper splashed the headline figure across its front page: 59% of the Scottish electorate were now in favour of breaking up the Union. The same weekend, a rival poll in the Sunday Times got the same result but less dramatically, putting the Yes vote at 52%. For a heady few days, it did feel that the divergence over Brexit might be a game changer.
But the nationalist euphoria was short-lived. A month later, You Gov reported ‘no real shift towards independence’ after a poll reversed the earlier results, giving No a six-point lead (53-47). The same poll found that, after Britain's exit from the EU, 55% would rather live in a Scotland which was still part of the UK while 37% would prefer to live in an independent Scotland within the EU.
In late August, a second poll from the same company showed that the No side had opened up an eight-point lead (54-46). Though the difference between this and the referendum result (55-45) was statistically insignificant, it did enable the first minister to maintain the fiction that there had been some meaningful change in voting intentions.
This poll yielded two disturbing new facts from an SNP perspective: only 37% supported a second referendum and a third of the electorate declared that Nicola Sturgeon was doing ‘fairly or very badly’, a rating which allowed Ruth Davidson to overtake the first minister as Scotland’s most popular party leader.
In a more recent survey – by TNS last month – there was a slight closing of the gap to 53-47, but the message of all the polls since Brexit, with the exception of the blip the weekend after the referendum, has been remarkably consistent: No are ahead by margins ranging from five to eight points. As the head of TNS in Scotland put it: ‘In the aftermath of the Brexit vote and Scotland’s contrasting position with much of the rest of Britain, the SNP would have hoped for more of an uplift for Scottish independence’.
The conclusion to be drawn from recent polling evidence is that Scotland has scarcely moved since its own referendum two years ago. The country remains deeply split – but, for the time being, not evenly so.
Nicola Sturgeon has acknowledged that she will need to see support for independence at 60%, sustained for at least a year, before she calls a second referendum. Behind all the rhetoric, the political reality is that she is a long way short of that self-imposed threshold.
And that's it for this week and hope you all enjoy your weekend and Halloween.
Alastair
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