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For the latest news from Scotland see our ScotNews feed at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/
Electric Scotland News
Today we see the Council elections in England, Wales and Scotland so by Friday we should know the results. It's been widely predicted that the SNP will make major gains in Glasgow.
The General Election has also been officially launched after the Prime Minister met with the Queen. It's a six week election so thanks goodness a quick one.
Some nasty EU comments on Brexit this week with the EU now asking for 100 billion Euros in compensation and the Prime Minister saying they are trying to interfere in the UK elections.
I do note however that more calls are being made for having a decent discussion on Independence and how we might fill that so called 15 billion pound black hole in our finances and I am delighted to agree with this plea for better discussion on these issues.
As to issues on Electric Scotland. I am sorry to say that Steve has so far been unable to fix the phishing issue on our ElectricScotland.org web site and we are still getting emails in asking us to resolve them.
Today he has changed the security in the folders so we hope this might fix the issue and if we don't hear anything by the end of next week we think we might have fixed the problem.
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.
Clear barriers to Scottish single market plan
A letter from Brexit Secretary David Davis rejecting the proposals has been published for the first time.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-...itics-39744871
Video: the enduring mystery of the Lewis chessmen
Countless tides have rolled over the enchanting Lewis chessmen as they lay hidden under the sands of Uig Beach.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/video-t...smen-1-4430490
Our fish are as sovereign as Gibraltar
Simon is a member of the Executive Committee of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation. He has previously worked at Bank of America, Lehman Brothers and Industrial Bank of Japan.
Read more at:
http://brexitcentral.com/fish-sovereign-gibraltar/
EU Brexit guidelines: What's in the document, and what it really means
EU leaders have unanimously backed guidelines on the coming Brexit negotiations.
Read more at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017...-really-means/
Podcast: Going Global: How to forge a truly Global Britain
With the Legatum Institute’s Shanker Singham. Shanker is director of economic policy and prosperity studies at the Legatum Institute, and chairman of the Legatum Institute Special Trade Commission.
Read more at:
http://brexitcentral.com/podcast-goi...lobal-britain/
Pupil Equity Funding
The first major test of John Swinney’s presumption
Read more at:
http://www.thinkscotland.org/todays-...ead_full=13141
Go fishing for contradictions
THE UK FISHING INDUSTRY is challenging candidates in the General Election to pledge their support for the restoration of UK control of UK waters.
Read more at:
http://www.thinkscotland.org/thinkpo...ead_full=13140
Brexit brings us closer to making Churchill’s world vision a reality
Though we rightly revel in our Brexit victory, we must remember that leaving the European Union is a battle, not a war.
Read more at:
http://brexitcentral.com/brexit-brin...ision-reality/
UK manufacturing growth spikes to three-year high in April
The Markit/CIPS UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) jumped to 57.3 from 54.2 in March, exceeding all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists which had predicted a slight fall.
Read more at:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-bri...-idUKKBN17Y0SG
Leavers? Remainers? Forget it. Most of us are Brexiteers now.
Matthew Elliot is a Senior Fellow at the Legatum Institute, Editor-at-Large of Brexit Central, and is the former Chief Executive Officer of Vote Leave.
Read more at:
http://www.conservativehome.com/plat...teers-now.html
Sturgeon praises Prince Philip’s humour and devotion to duty
Nicola Sturgeon praised the Duke of Edinburgh’s healthy sense of humour as she paid tribute to him following the announcement of his retirement from Royal Duties.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/politic...duty-1-4436909
We applaud Theresa May for giving the EU’s infantile bullies a much-needed kicking
She had warned them she would be bloody difficult but they didn’t know the half of it
Read more at:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/347676...tiles-kicking/
Electric Canadian
Chronicles of Canada
Added Volume 29: The Day of Sir John MacDonald
I might add that I've found text copies of these volumes so have added a link to them on the page. I also found a page where you can get audio copies so have placed a link to these as well.
You can read this at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...cles/index.htm
The Women's Canadian Historical Society
Added Transactions 8: Sketch of Lady Edgar's Life, Late President, The Explosion of the Magazine at York, now Toronto, 27th April, 1813. The Colored Citizens of Toronto. By Mrs. Agnes Dunbar Chamberlin and Account for Lighthouse on Gibraltar Point, 1817.
You can read this at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...historical.htm
Conrad Black
I've always had a lot of time for Conrad Black and so as he writes from Canada on a number of issues of interest from around the world I'm intending to include links to his writings for you to view. This week we have
A premature sigh of relief from Europe
http://www.conradmblack.com/1287/a-p...ef-from-europe
Trump: Off to a good start
http://www.conradmblack.com/1288/tru...o-a-good-start
Electric Scotland
The Forfar Directory and Year Book
A most interesting publication with lots of wee stories and articles. I have now added the 1903 edition which you can read at:http://www.electricscotland.com/history/forfar/direct/
He: "Well, what have you there?
She: “Two of your old letters, my dear."
He: “Umph! What’s the first one—that 40-pager?”
She: “One you sent me when I had a slight cold before we were married. This half-page is the one you wrote last winter when 1 was very ill with influenza. That’s all, dear.”
Beth's Newfangled Family Tree
Got in Section 1 of the May 2017 issue.
Read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/bnft/index.htm
Scotland in Union
The facts you need March 2017. A positive view of Scotland in the UK.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/inde...andinUnion.pdf
Joseph Farquharson
A Scottish Painter that we've added to our Significant Scots section.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...son_joseph.htm
Scotland's Great Advantages by an Union with England
Shown in a letter from the Country to a Member of Parliament (pdf)
A wee bit challenging to read but worth the effort. You can read this at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/inde...y_an_Union.pdf
Historic Memorials & Reminiscences of Stockbridge
The Dean, and Water of Leith with Notices Anecdotal, Descriptive and Biographical by Cumberland Hill (1887) Second Edition.
I added a link to this book to our Leith page which you can view at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/History/leith/index.htm
The Life of David Roberts, R.A.
By James Ballantine
You can read about him at: http://www.electricscotland.com/art/school13.htm
SNP and IndyRef2
Put up a video about holding back on an IndyRef2 until 2022.
You can view this at: http://www.electricscotland.org/show...P-and-IndyRef2
The Revival as a Dimension of Scottish Church History
By The Rev. Ian A. Muirhead, M.A., B.D.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/bible/revival.pdf
Brexit and what we can do to help
Seeing attacks from the EU and Germany against Britain and Brexit makes me want to send a message to them that this is not acceptable.
You can view this at:
Robert Currie
Added this Respected leader in the philanthropic and cultural heritage community to our Significant Scots section which you can read at:http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rie_robert.htm
A Short History of the British Commonwealth
By Ramsay Muir in two volumes.
As of course Scotland is part of the British Commonwealth I thought it would be informative to include this publication on the site. I have always said that the Scots played a large part in the building of the Commonwealth and I think this publication will reveal this as you read through it.
The first volume take you through the island and the first Empire to 1763. The book of which this volume is the first half is an attempt to tell, within moderate compass, the story of the British Commonwealth, regarded as a single whole; but also as a part of the greater commonwealth of Western Civilisation. As I have conceived it, it is the story of a number of peoples gradually learning to live together in a free partnership inspired by their common enjoyment of the institutions of political liberty. The second volumes takes you through the modern Commonwealth from 1763 to 1919 and covers the revolt of the American colonies, and the misunderstandings which it created; the organisation, of the British power in India; the adoption of new principles in colonial policy; the origins, development and consequences of the Industrial Revolution; the creation of the machinery of democratic government; the rise of the labour movement; the rapid growth of Irish nationalism — these are themes (and the list is anything but exhaustive) in studying which the reader is bound to feel that he is probing to the roots of the political problems of to-day.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...mmonwealth.htm
The Story
Mother's Day is celebrated on various days around the world. So while the UK has already celebrated it and America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are due to celebrate it later this month I thought I'd bring you the story of how it came about.
Mother's Day
By Emily Allen
Mother's Day - or Mothering Sunday - is on Sunday, March 26 in the UK and May 14th and other dates elsewhere.
The day is always on the fourth Sunday of Lent, exactly three weeks before Easter Sunday and usually in the second half of March or early April.
The day is a celebration of mothers and the maternal bond and traditionally children give flowers, presents and cards to their mothers, and other maternal figures such as grandmothers, stepmothers and mothers-in-law.
The day has long been associated with mothers and family. For centuries it was custom for people to return home to their ‘mother’ church on Laetare Sunday – the middle of Lent. Those who did so were said to have gone ‘a-mothering’.
The day often turned into a family reunion and a chance for children working away from home – often young domestic servants - to spend time with their mothers. Many used to pick flowers from the verges along the way to leave in the church or hand to their mothers when they got home.
But it was American social activist Anna Jarvis (1864-1948) from Philadelphia who lobbied the government for an official day to honour mothers in the US, and is regarded as the "Mother of Mother's Day". She dedicated her life to the cause after swearing she would do so after her mother's death.
However, over the years Jarvis became increasingly concerned at the commercialisation of the day, saying "I wanted it to be a day of sentiment, not profit." She also didn't like the selling of flowers and the use of greetings cards which she described as "a poor excuse for the letter you are too lazy to write".
The day took off in Britain when vicar's daughter Constance Smith was inspired by a 1913 newspaper report of Jarvis' campaign and began a push for the day to be officially marked in England.
Smith, of Coddington, Nottinghamshire, founded the Mothering Sunday Movement and even wrote a booklet The Revival of Mothering Sunday in 1920. Interestingly, neither Smith nor Jarvis became mother’s themselves.
By 1938 Mothering Sunday had become a popular celebration with Boy Scouts, Girl Guides and various parishes across Britain marking the day and communities adopting the imported traditions of American and Canadian soldiers during the war.
By the 1950s it was being celebrated throughout Britain and businesses realised the commercial opportunities.
When you say 'Mother’s Day' you're actually referring to the American version, although the term is widely used in Britain too. In the US, Mother's Day falls on Sunday, May 14 this year.
The French celebrate Mother's Day on the last Sunday in May, where a family dinner is the norm, and traditionally the mother being honoured is presented with a cake that looks like a bouquet of flowers.
Mother’s Day in Spain is celebrated on December 8th. Spaniards pay tribute not only to their own mothers on this day, but also to the Virgin Mary. The day includes religious celebrations across the country.
Simnel cakes are associated with Mother’s Day. During Lent, people did not eat sweet foods, rich foods or meat. However, the fast was lifted slightly on Mothering Sunday and many people prepared a Simnel cake to eat with their family on this day.
A Simnel cake is a light fruit cake covered with a layer of marzipan and with a layer of marzipan baked into the middle of the cake. Traditionally, Simnel cakes are decorated with 11 or 12 balls of marzipan, representing the 11 disciples and, sometimes, Jesus Christ.
You can find a recipe for Simnel cake at:
http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/o...er-simnel-cake
One legend says that the cake was named after Lambert Simnel who worked in the kitchens of Henry VII of England sometime around the year 1500.
And that's it for this week and I hope you all have a good weekend.
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com/
Electric Scotland News
Today we see the Council elections in England, Wales and Scotland so by Friday we should know the results. It's been widely predicted that the SNP will make major gains in Glasgow.
The General Election has also been officially launched after the Prime Minister met with the Queen. It's a six week election so thanks goodness a quick one.
Some nasty EU comments on Brexit this week with the EU now asking for 100 billion Euros in compensation and the Prime Minister saying they are trying to interfere in the UK elections.
I do note however that more calls are being made for having a decent discussion on Independence and how we might fill that so called 15 billion pound black hole in our finances and I am delighted to agree with this plea for better discussion on these issues.
As to issues on Electric Scotland. I am sorry to say that Steve has so far been unable to fix the phishing issue on our ElectricScotland.org web site and we are still getting emails in asking us to resolve them.
Today he has changed the security in the folders so we hope this might fix the issue and if we don't hear anything by the end of next week we think we might have fixed the problem.
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.
Clear barriers to Scottish single market plan
A letter from Brexit Secretary David Davis rejecting the proposals has been published for the first time.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-...itics-39744871
Video: the enduring mystery of the Lewis chessmen
Countless tides have rolled over the enchanting Lewis chessmen as they lay hidden under the sands of Uig Beach.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/video-t...smen-1-4430490
Our fish are as sovereign as Gibraltar
Simon is a member of the Executive Committee of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation. He has previously worked at Bank of America, Lehman Brothers and Industrial Bank of Japan.
Read more at:
http://brexitcentral.com/fish-sovereign-gibraltar/
EU Brexit guidelines: What's in the document, and what it really means
EU leaders have unanimously backed guidelines on the coming Brexit negotiations.
Read more at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017...-really-means/
Podcast: Going Global: How to forge a truly Global Britain
With the Legatum Institute’s Shanker Singham. Shanker is director of economic policy and prosperity studies at the Legatum Institute, and chairman of the Legatum Institute Special Trade Commission.
Read more at:
http://brexitcentral.com/podcast-goi...lobal-britain/
Pupil Equity Funding
The first major test of John Swinney’s presumption
Read more at:
http://www.thinkscotland.org/todays-...ead_full=13141
Go fishing for contradictions
THE UK FISHING INDUSTRY is challenging candidates in the General Election to pledge their support for the restoration of UK control of UK waters.
Read more at:
http://www.thinkscotland.org/thinkpo...ead_full=13140
Brexit brings us closer to making Churchill’s world vision a reality
Though we rightly revel in our Brexit victory, we must remember that leaving the European Union is a battle, not a war.
Read more at:
http://brexitcentral.com/brexit-brin...ision-reality/
UK manufacturing growth spikes to three-year high in April
The Markit/CIPS UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) jumped to 57.3 from 54.2 in March, exceeding all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists which had predicted a slight fall.
Read more at:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-bri...-idUKKBN17Y0SG
Leavers? Remainers? Forget it. Most of us are Brexiteers now.
Matthew Elliot is a Senior Fellow at the Legatum Institute, Editor-at-Large of Brexit Central, and is the former Chief Executive Officer of Vote Leave.
Read more at:
http://www.conservativehome.com/plat...teers-now.html
Sturgeon praises Prince Philip’s humour and devotion to duty
Nicola Sturgeon praised the Duke of Edinburgh’s healthy sense of humour as she paid tribute to him following the announcement of his retirement from Royal Duties.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/politic...duty-1-4436909
We applaud Theresa May for giving the EU’s infantile bullies a much-needed kicking
She had warned them she would be bloody difficult but they didn’t know the half of it
Read more at:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/347676...tiles-kicking/
Electric Canadian
Chronicles of Canada
Added Volume 29: The Day of Sir John MacDonald
I might add that I've found text copies of these volumes so have added a link to them on the page. I also found a page where you can get audio copies so have placed a link to these as well.
You can read this at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...cles/index.htm
The Women's Canadian Historical Society
Added Transactions 8: Sketch of Lady Edgar's Life, Late President, The Explosion of the Magazine at York, now Toronto, 27th April, 1813. The Colored Citizens of Toronto. By Mrs. Agnes Dunbar Chamberlin and Account for Lighthouse on Gibraltar Point, 1817.
You can read this at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...historical.htm
Conrad Black
I've always had a lot of time for Conrad Black and so as he writes from Canada on a number of issues of interest from around the world I'm intending to include links to his writings for you to view. This week we have
A premature sigh of relief from Europe
http://www.conradmblack.com/1287/a-p...ef-from-europe
Trump: Off to a good start
http://www.conradmblack.com/1288/tru...o-a-good-start
Electric Scotland
The Forfar Directory and Year Book
A most interesting publication with lots of wee stories and articles. I have now added the 1903 edition which you can read at:http://www.electricscotland.com/history/forfar/direct/
He: "Well, what have you there?
She: “Two of your old letters, my dear."
He: “Umph! What’s the first one—that 40-pager?”
She: “One you sent me when I had a slight cold before we were married. This half-page is the one you wrote last winter when 1 was very ill with influenza. That’s all, dear.”
Beth's Newfangled Family Tree
Got in Section 1 of the May 2017 issue.
Read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/bnft/index.htm
Scotland in Union
The facts you need March 2017. A positive view of Scotland in the UK.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/inde...andinUnion.pdf
Joseph Farquharson
A Scottish Painter that we've added to our Significant Scots section.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...son_joseph.htm
Scotland's Great Advantages by an Union with England
Shown in a letter from the Country to a Member of Parliament (pdf)
A wee bit challenging to read but worth the effort. You can read this at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/inde...y_an_Union.pdf
Historic Memorials & Reminiscences of Stockbridge
The Dean, and Water of Leith with Notices Anecdotal, Descriptive and Biographical by Cumberland Hill (1887) Second Edition.
I added a link to this book to our Leith page which you can view at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/History/leith/index.htm
The Life of David Roberts, R.A.
By James Ballantine
You can read about him at: http://www.electricscotland.com/art/school13.htm
SNP and IndyRef2
Put up a video about holding back on an IndyRef2 until 2022.
You can view this at: http://www.electricscotland.org/show...P-and-IndyRef2
The Revival as a Dimension of Scottish Church History
By The Rev. Ian A. Muirhead, M.A., B.D.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/bible/revival.pdf
Brexit and what we can do to help
Seeing attacks from the EU and Germany against Britain and Brexit makes me want to send a message to them that this is not acceptable.
You can view this at:
Robert Currie
Added this Respected leader in the philanthropic and cultural heritage community to our Significant Scots section which you can read at:http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rie_robert.htm
A Short History of the British Commonwealth
By Ramsay Muir in two volumes.
As of course Scotland is part of the British Commonwealth I thought it would be informative to include this publication on the site. I have always said that the Scots played a large part in the building of the Commonwealth and I think this publication will reveal this as you read through it.
The first volume take you through the island and the first Empire to 1763. The book of which this volume is the first half is an attempt to tell, within moderate compass, the story of the British Commonwealth, regarded as a single whole; but also as a part of the greater commonwealth of Western Civilisation. As I have conceived it, it is the story of a number of peoples gradually learning to live together in a free partnership inspired by their common enjoyment of the institutions of political liberty. The second volumes takes you through the modern Commonwealth from 1763 to 1919 and covers the revolt of the American colonies, and the misunderstandings which it created; the organisation, of the British power in India; the adoption of new principles in colonial policy; the origins, development and consequences of the Industrial Revolution; the creation of the machinery of democratic government; the rise of the labour movement; the rapid growth of Irish nationalism — these are themes (and the list is anything but exhaustive) in studying which the reader is bound to feel that he is probing to the roots of the political problems of to-day.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...mmonwealth.htm
The Story
Mother's Day is celebrated on various days around the world. So while the UK has already celebrated it and America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are due to celebrate it later this month I thought I'd bring you the story of how it came about.
Mother's Day
By Emily Allen
Mother's Day - or Mothering Sunday - is on Sunday, March 26 in the UK and May 14th and other dates elsewhere.
The day is always on the fourth Sunday of Lent, exactly three weeks before Easter Sunday and usually in the second half of March or early April.
The day is a celebration of mothers and the maternal bond and traditionally children give flowers, presents and cards to their mothers, and other maternal figures such as grandmothers, stepmothers and mothers-in-law.
The day has long been associated with mothers and family. For centuries it was custom for people to return home to their ‘mother’ church on Laetare Sunday – the middle of Lent. Those who did so were said to have gone ‘a-mothering’.
The day often turned into a family reunion and a chance for children working away from home – often young domestic servants - to spend time with their mothers. Many used to pick flowers from the verges along the way to leave in the church or hand to their mothers when they got home.
But it was American social activist Anna Jarvis (1864-1948) from Philadelphia who lobbied the government for an official day to honour mothers in the US, and is regarded as the "Mother of Mother's Day". She dedicated her life to the cause after swearing she would do so after her mother's death.
However, over the years Jarvis became increasingly concerned at the commercialisation of the day, saying "I wanted it to be a day of sentiment, not profit." She also didn't like the selling of flowers and the use of greetings cards which she described as "a poor excuse for the letter you are too lazy to write".
The day took off in Britain when vicar's daughter Constance Smith was inspired by a 1913 newspaper report of Jarvis' campaign and began a push for the day to be officially marked in England.
Smith, of Coddington, Nottinghamshire, founded the Mothering Sunday Movement and even wrote a booklet The Revival of Mothering Sunday in 1920. Interestingly, neither Smith nor Jarvis became mother’s themselves.
By 1938 Mothering Sunday had become a popular celebration with Boy Scouts, Girl Guides and various parishes across Britain marking the day and communities adopting the imported traditions of American and Canadian soldiers during the war.
By the 1950s it was being celebrated throughout Britain and businesses realised the commercial opportunities.
When you say 'Mother’s Day' you're actually referring to the American version, although the term is widely used in Britain too. In the US, Mother's Day falls on Sunday, May 14 this year.
The French celebrate Mother's Day on the last Sunday in May, where a family dinner is the norm, and traditionally the mother being honoured is presented with a cake that looks like a bouquet of flowers.
Mother’s Day in Spain is celebrated on December 8th. Spaniards pay tribute not only to their own mothers on this day, but also to the Virgin Mary. The day includes religious celebrations across the country.
Simnel cakes are associated with Mother’s Day. During Lent, people did not eat sweet foods, rich foods or meat. However, the fast was lifted slightly on Mothering Sunday and many people prepared a Simnel cake to eat with their family on this day.
A Simnel cake is a light fruit cake covered with a layer of marzipan and with a layer of marzipan baked into the middle of the cake. Traditionally, Simnel cakes are decorated with 11 or 12 balls of marzipan, representing the 11 disciples and, sometimes, Jesus Christ.
You can find a recipe for Simnel cake at:
http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/o...er-simnel-cake
One legend says that the cake was named after Lambert Simnel who worked in the kitchens of Henry VII of England sometime around the year 1500.
And that's it for this week and I hope you all have a good weekend.
Alastair
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