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http://www.electricscotland.com/
Electric Scotland News
Dear friends of Scottish Studies,
Here are some events that will be taking place in the Toronto/Guelph area this November that you might find of interest:
November 20: The University of Guelph's Centre for Scottish Studies invites members of the public and university communities to join us in welcoming Dr John Savarese, Assistant Professor of English from the University of Waterloo. John will be speaking on "Ballad Collectors and Skull Collectors: Walter Scott, Robert Chambers, and the Science of Poetry." Monday, November 20, 2017, from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., MacKinnon Building Room 132. Details at http://www.scottishstudies.com/520-r...ble-171120.htm
November 28: The St Andrew's Society of Toronto and the Centre for Scottish Studies at the University of Guelph invites you to attend the 2017 St Andrew's Society of Toronto's Lecture: "Gaelic song collecting and collectors in the Outer Hebrides: A historical perspective and present day Opportunities" presented by renowned Gaelic scholar and musician Gillebrìde MacMillan from the University of Glasgow. Gillebrìde has recently achieved fame as Gwyllyn the Bard on the popular television series "Outlander," based on the novels by Diana Gabaldon. Tuesday, November 28, 2017, at 7:00 p.m. The Coop, Brennan Hall (North End) St Michael's College 81 St Mary Street, Toronto. Details at http://www.scottishstudies.com/520-s...ure-171128.htm
November 30: On Wednesday, November 30, at 3 p.m., publisher, author and former Scottish Studies Foundation director, Douglas Gibson, will be staging a new one-hour show at the University of Guelph, under the auspices of the Scottish Studies Department at the University, headed by Dr. James E. Fraser. This new, special show is entitled GREAT SCOTS: LEADING CANADIAN STORYTELLERS WITH SCOTTISH CONNECTIONS and will be presented in the Robert Whitelaw Room (room 246B) at the McLaughlin Library, at the heart of the Guelph campus. We very much hope that you can come, and enjoy the show, and say hello to Doug and his charming wife Jane. And bring along book-loving friends.
If you would like to attend any of these events please contact the Scottish Studies Office at the University of Guelph by phone at 519-824-4120 ext 53209 or email scottish@uoguelph.ca
All the best for now and thanks for your support,
David Hunter
President
Scottish Studies Foundation
www.scottishstudies.com
Lecture of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
Our lectures are professionally filmed so that more people can watch them anytime, anywhere. Visit the Society’s website (www.socantscot.org/resources/) and using the search tool on the right hand side of the page run a search by ticking ‘lectures / events’ and type in ‘lectures’ to be taken to a list of recorded lectures available, and then simply click to play. The Society’s filmed lectures can also be found on YouTube.
Armorial of Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount
A facsimile with commentary by Alex M Findlater FSA Scot. As well as a poet and playwright, Sir David Lyndsay was the Lyon King of Arms, i.e. the chief herald in Scotland. He had also been the Usher of the Prince, and when James IV died at Flodden, he remained as Usher to the infant King James V, whose character and interests were shaped partly by Lyndsay, who perforce took on the role of father figure. The Armorial was probably prepared as a livre d’or, to be carried to European courts by ambassadors, and by the King himself. Lyndsay’s heraldic legacy is very important, and the Armorial is one of the jewels of the National Library of Scotland. Indeed, being what is called a ‘safe manuscript’, it has to be locked up every night.
The book will be of some 800 or so pages in two volumes. There is an embryo Facebook page for the Armorial: 'The Armorial of Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount'. The cost will be in the region of £45 - £50 and anyone interested in either becoming a subscriber (name in the book) or wishing to buy it, should contact Alex directly by email (at alex@findlater.org.uk). Publication is expected in the spring of 2018.
Just because we want out of the EU doesn’t mean we want to reject our European friends.
The problem is that the EU is a declining trading block. All the growth is outside Europe. Forecasts on the World Bank site show that by 2050 China will be the largest trading nation followed by India and then the USA with Indonesia probably coming in fourth place. (The UK is reckoned to be in the top 10)
All of those countries trade with the EU under WTO terms.
We are fortunate to be in The Commonwealth which has a third of the world’s population and The Queen is the head of The Commonwealth. India, which is forecast to be the second largest trading nation, is also a member of The Commonwealth.
China and Italy are working hard at doing business with Africa which has huge potential if they can sort out their corruption and political issues. Seven of the top 10 African economies are in The Commonwealth.
We have great relations with Australia, Canada and New Zealand where we have tremendous scope to do great free trade deals with and they are all in the Commonwealth.
Sir James Dyson is already doing great business in India and isn’t the least bothered about dealing with the EU on WTO terms. And let us not forget that he’s Britain’s largest land owner so he’s exposed to agricultural issues and yet he’s OK with dealing with the EU on WTO terms and a hard Brexit.
What we in Scotland need to do is to educate and encourage our business people on the opportunities outside the EU and in particular with The Commonwealth.
And let me remind you that Britain’s business with China is the largest it’s ever been. The USA wants a great trade deal with us.
So what’s wrong with this? Why can’t we be upbeat about the future outside the EU with a no deal arrangement?
The answer to this is that our MSP’s know very little about trading outside the UK and they are afraid of what they don’t understand. The SNP wanted to remain in the EU as they simply had no idea on how to deal with the world as an Independent country. They thus decided to rely on the EU to do all their International dealings for them.
As an Independent Scotland we would need to deal with the world as it is and will be. We keep saying we want to be Independent from the UK yet our largest trade is with England by far, then the USA and only then the EU. That tells me that the Scottish business community isn’t prepared to do business outside the UK and this is thus where we need to put our energy. We need to find a way to get Scottish businesses to start trading outside the UK and that to me is the key.
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.
Ahead of the curve
British trade with global giant China booms as rest of EU lags behind
Read more at:
http://www.express.co.uk/news/politi...EU-lags-behind
Scotsman Food and Drink Awards celebrates Scotland’s best
The cream of the crop of Scotland’s food and drink industry descended on Edinburgh this week for the inaugural Scotsman Food and Drink Awards.
Read more at:
http://foodanddrink.scotsman.com/foo...augural-event/
Scapegoat Scots general attacked Haig’s Somme strategy
Hidden away in Hunter-Weston’s papers in the vaults of the British Library, documents reveal that three months before the battle started, Hunter-Weston ripped into Haig’s plan, describing it as foolish generalship
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...tegy-1-4605443
Ross backs post-Brexit UK-US trade deal
One of Donald Trump's leading allies has said he is optimistic that the UK and US will sign a free trade deal after Brexit.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-41888823
No deal is what we want
The spectacle of a British prime minister scuttling back and forth to Brussels, cap in hand, displaying a desperate desire for a Brexit deal with the EU, is a shameful betrayal of the people’s decision in the 2016 referendum.
Read more at:
https://www.cpbml.org.uk/news/no-deal-what-we-want
Brexit: Get on, Get Out!
A leaflet from the Communist Party of Britain
Read more at:
https://www.cpbml.org.uk/sites/defau...0out_print.pdf
Labour Leave Podcast
There first Podcast
Listen to this at:
https://soundcloud.com/labourleave/l...st-episode-one
Sheepdog puppy led a flock of sheep into his owners' home
Imagine coming home to find a flock of sheep in your kitchen? That is what happened to farmer Rosalyn Edwards.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-41865526
Rare footage of Edinburgh in the 1930s
A rare piece of footage showcasing Edinburgh life in the 1930s has proved a big hit online.
View this at:
http://www.scotsman.com/regions/edin...930s-1-4607457
Where are most Scots employed in 2017?
Scotland was once a land of heavy industry and agriculture but workers in 2017 are more likely to employed by the NHS or local councils.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/business/mar...2017-1-4608081
Kenny Dalglish, the documentary
Early on in the documentary Kenny, the subject, wanders the streets of his old Glasgow neighbourhood and enthuses about community spirit
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/footba...tary-1-4604880
Time for Britain to forge a new, equal relationship with India
There is an urgent need for the UK to recognise the shift in the balance of power towards a new global India and transform the relationship into a strategic alliance.
Read more at:
https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/w...hip-with-india
Electric Canadian
On Canada's Frontier
Sketches of History, Sport, and Adventure and of the Indians, Missionaries, Fur Traders, and Newer Settlers of Western Canada by Julian Ralph (1892) which you can read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...asFrontier.htm
Note: I discovered that this link didn't work so have now corrected it..
Industrial Canada
Added volume 7 which you can read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...rial/index.htm
Musical Canada
Added volume 6 to our collection which you can read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...cal_canada.htm
Angus, Richard Bladworth
Banker, railway executive, and businessman has been added to our Makers of Canada which you can view at:http://www.electriccanadian.com/makers/angus_rb.htm
Father Lacombe
He spent more than sixty years of work among the Indians of Western Canada.
I read the complete book this week and highly recommend it to you and it can be read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/makers/Lancombe.htm
The Ladies from Hell - The Black Watch- Royal Highland Regiment of Canada History on YouTube
Scottish Studies of Canada Newsletters
You can view the archive of the Scots Canadian Newsletters which are now online at:
http://www.scottishstudies.com/archival-newsletters.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.
In response to falling test results, teachers' federation proposes ending testing
http://www.conradmblack.com/1348/in-...sults-teachers
Electric Scotland
Robert Burns Lives!
Got up a new article: The Kilmarnock Census: A Personal Perspective By Allan Young.
Many thanks to Patrick Scott and Allan Young for sharing with us the results of their search of the original work of Robert Burns entitled POEMS Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. Due to a slight physical set back, I have been unable to do much work on Robert Burns Lives! recently but hope to resume my work on the column in the near future, As usual, Patrick Scott stepped in to assist and the article below is the interesting account of the book he and Allan Young have put together. These two gentlemen have blessed the Burns community with a volume worth more than its weight in gold. My deepest thanks to both, and I say “thank you” on behalf of all of us who will buy and treasure the book for many years to come. (FRS: 11.1.17)
Patrick Scott writes: I first met Allan Young soon after he started on this project, when he came up to South Carolina to talk about it with Ross Roy. As I learned when sorting old files after Ross’s death in 2013, Ross himself had tried at least twice, in the early 1960s and again in the early 1990s, to pin down the number of copies of the Kilmarnock that had survived, but he had never been able to get definite information for more than forty or so copies in libraries, so he had had to settle for a very provisional estimate to allow for copies in private hands. Allan Young, a Scot now retired and living in Florida, had spent his career in the construction industry (he was a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors), and by the time he visited us he had already made an effective and systematic start on the project, putting the search on a much firmer basis. He and Ross got along well, and Ross was able to put him in contact with several other friends who owned Kilmarnock editions [including Susan and Frank Shaw]. Allan’s reports on what he had found in 2009 and in the Burns Chronicle made it clear that his research was breaking new ground. In the following years, several people had asked me whether Allan planned to do more with it. My original idea two years ago when he agreed that I could help him get the census published was that we would just format his previous findings as a small pamphlet. As we began that process, we realized that there was additional background information to be gathered, both from older printed sources and from newly-available on-line resources. I wrote a short article about this stage of the research for Robert Burns Lives! no. 230, which put us in contact with further owners. Allan has been wonderful to work with, as we compiled and edited and proofread this additional research, through email and long telephone calls. The result is a book of 234 pages, just a few short of the Kilmarnock edition itself (and after allowing for inflation the price is also almost exactly the same as the original subscribers paid for the Kilmarnock). I am very proud to be credited as a coauthor, but I still think of the book as “Allan Young’s census.” The essay that follows gives his personal account of how he got interested in the census project, together with some of the interesting findings in the book. (PS: 11.1.17)
You can read this article at: http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives258.htm
Works in Iron
Bridge and Roof Structure by Ewing Matheson (Second Edition) (1877) (pdf)
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/busi...orksiniron.pdf
The Viking World
Found I failed to link to a book from this page so fixed that and added another which you can read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/vikings/
Hylton Newsletter
Got in the Autumn 2017 newsletter which you can read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...lton/index.htm
Admiral David Robertson-Macdonald
11th of Kinlochmoidart
Found a Biographical Summary of this person which you can read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist..._macdonald.htm
History of Aberdeen Angus Cattle
By James MacDonald and James Sinclair (1910) (pdf)
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/agri...gushistory.pdf
Agnews of Lochnaw
A History of the Herediary Sheriffs of Galloway with contemporary anecdotes, traditions and genealogical notices of old families of the Sheriffdom 1330 TO 1747 by Sir Andrew Agnew, Bart., M.P. (1864)
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/webc...toc/agnew.html
Life of General Sir Charles Napier G. C. B.
By William Napier Bruce (1885)
In 1857 Six William Napier published his Life of Sir Charles Napier in four volumes. It was composed in the midst of great bodily and mental suffering, and in the expectation that death would interfere and prevent its completion. In spite of certain defects of taste and arrangement, due mainly to these circumstances, the book is remarkable, like all the author’s writings, for the force and grandeur of its language and for the spirit of passionate herp-worship which animates it throughout; but it was far too long to obtain the durable popularity which the reputation of the writer and the interest of the subject deserved.
There are few men in the world’s history about whom four volumes are read by a generation that has not known them. Least of all can such assiduous devotion be expected where, as in the present case, the man has been limited to a field confessedly too narrow for the full exercise of his powers. And yet, if Sir Charles Napier’s career does not possess any great historical interest, a brief record of his life and opinions may still be well worth the attention of his countrymen.
“Disce, puer, virtutem. ex me verumque laborem,
Fortunam ex aliis.”
The man to whose military genius Wellington appealed to save India—whose capacity for government excited the admiration of Sir Robert Peel—of whom Lord Hardinge, with all his experience, military and civil, said, “he had the rarest combination of great qualities of any of our contemporaries,”—should not be allowed without a protest to sink into oblivion, or be remembered merely as an eccentric and unmanageable officer.
His character was essentially of ^he heroic type. He exercised a fascination over the popular mind which was, perhaps, out of proportion to anything which Fortune allowed him to accomplish. He occupied a place apart, and would have seemed in some respects hardly to belong to the age in which he lived, had it not been that he inspired the people wherever he went with the belief that, whatever his differences with men in power, he was moved by the most intense devotion to themselves and to the cause of every one who was poor or oppressed.
Sir William Napier’s four volumes were constructed almost entirely out of his brother’s journals and letters, and in consequence his book contains the bulk of the materials for the present volume. But the general arrangement and treatment of the subject differ in many respects from Sir William Napier’s work; and he is not responsible for any opinions expressed in the course of the narrative, except such as are actually attributed to him. In addition to the copious writings of Sir Charles and Sir William Napier, the admirable articles in the Quarterly Review (January 1857 and October 1858), attributed to Mr. Elwin, and such incidental notices of Sir Charles Napier as have appeared in later works connected with India, I have had the advantage of conversations with General Sir M. MMurdo, who was Sir Charles Napier’s son-in-law, and served on his staff during nearly the whole of his Indian career, and with the late Sir Bartle Frere who ruled Scinde for seven years and had special oppor- tunities of estimating Sir Charles Napier’s work. In the account of the transactions which led up to the conquest of Scinde I have relied upon the letters and despatches of the various actors published in the Correspondence Relative to Scinde presented to Parliament in 1843 and 1844.
I've added links to this book and also the larger four volume publication and also The Conquest of Scinde Of Major-General Sir Charles James Napier which you can get to at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...er_charles.htm
The Story
I thought I'd bring you this video lecture as of course Adam Smith is a famous Scot.
The Genealogy of Adam Smith’s Liberalism
Daniel Klein provides his version of the emergence of the original liberalism, culminating in Adam Smith, and dubbed by Klein “Liberalism 1.0.”
Starting, like Hayek, with human nature from the ancestral band, Klein explains the genealogy of liberalism 1.0 in a broad narrative:
The ancestral band - Cohesionism
Traditional society – Cohesionism (encompassing integration of high things and low things)
Printing rocks their world
The Reformation
War of religion => religious toleration and freedom
Refocusing government, law on lower things, and refining morality to distinguish low from high (without forsaking high!)
Jurisprudence - Commutative justice (Grotius et al)
Sanctification, moral authorization of pursuit of honest income => Innovation! (a neglected facet of Weber’s book)
The conventionalist genius of David Hume – Jural dualism
Commutative justice has flipside: liberty
Stable polity in Britain—Liberalism presupposing stable polity
Adam Smith: Moral authorizations of honest income and of presumption of liberty=> The Great Enrichment (McCloskey)
With Adam Smith, “liberal” becomes the word.
Klein then goes on to sketch Karl Polanyi, the collapse of liberalism’s ascendancy, and the tragic, catastrophic shifts in outlooks, sentiments, and semantics 1880-1940—a tide in which we are still inundated.
Liberalism 1.0 is the spine of the modern open society and, presupposing stable polity, it leans against the governmentalization of social affairs."
Klein claims that left-leaners are untrue to Adam Smith, they are at odds with liberalism 1.0; one should not call them “liberal.”
Now watch: Semantic History of Liberalism at:
https://newmedia.ufm.edu/video/liber...hs-liberalism/
The Scottish Studies Foundation
As an alternative you might like to read the story of the Scottish Studies Foundation which was first published in the Sept/Oct 2011 issue of the History Scotland Magazine by David Hunter and John B. McMillan who chart the history of the The Scottish Studies Foundation which, since 1986 has protected Scottish Culture and donated large sums of money to fund the first Chair in Scottish Studies in North America which you can read at: http://www.scottishstudies.com/950-h...andarticle.htm
And that's it for this week and I hope you all have a great weekend.
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com/
Electric Scotland News
Dear friends of Scottish Studies,
Here are some events that will be taking place in the Toronto/Guelph area this November that you might find of interest:
November 20: The University of Guelph's Centre for Scottish Studies invites members of the public and university communities to join us in welcoming Dr John Savarese, Assistant Professor of English from the University of Waterloo. John will be speaking on "Ballad Collectors and Skull Collectors: Walter Scott, Robert Chambers, and the Science of Poetry." Monday, November 20, 2017, from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., MacKinnon Building Room 132. Details at http://www.scottishstudies.com/520-r...ble-171120.htm
November 28: The St Andrew's Society of Toronto and the Centre for Scottish Studies at the University of Guelph invites you to attend the 2017 St Andrew's Society of Toronto's Lecture: "Gaelic song collecting and collectors in the Outer Hebrides: A historical perspective and present day Opportunities" presented by renowned Gaelic scholar and musician Gillebrìde MacMillan from the University of Glasgow. Gillebrìde has recently achieved fame as Gwyllyn the Bard on the popular television series "Outlander," based on the novels by Diana Gabaldon. Tuesday, November 28, 2017, at 7:00 p.m. The Coop, Brennan Hall (North End) St Michael's College 81 St Mary Street, Toronto. Details at http://www.scottishstudies.com/520-s...ure-171128.htm
November 30: On Wednesday, November 30, at 3 p.m., publisher, author and former Scottish Studies Foundation director, Douglas Gibson, will be staging a new one-hour show at the University of Guelph, under the auspices of the Scottish Studies Department at the University, headed by Dr. James E. Fraser. This new, special show is entitled GREAT SCOTS: LEADING CANADIAN STORYTELLERS WITH SCOTTISH CONNECTIONS and will be presented in the Robert Whitelaw Room (room 246B) at the McLaughlin Library, at the heart of the Guelph campus. We very much hope that you can come, and enjoy the show, and say hello to Doug and his charming wife Jane. And bring along book-loving friends.
If you would like to attend any of these events please contact the Scottish Studies Office at the University of Guelph by phone at 519-824-4120 ext 53209 or email scottish@uoguelph.ca
All the best for now and thanks for your support,
David Hunter
President
Scottish Studies Foundation
www.scottishstudies.com
Lecture of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
Our lectures are professionally filmed so that more people can watch them anytime, anywhere. Visit the Society’s website (www.socantscot.org/resources/) and using the search tool on the right hand side of the page run a search by ticking ‘lectures / events’ and type in ‘lectures’ to be taken to a list of recorded lectures available, and then simply click to play. The Society’s filmed lectures can also be found on YouTube.
Armorial of Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount
A facsimile with commentary by Alex M Findlater FSA Scot. As well as a poet and playwright, Sir David Lyndsay was the Lyon King of Arms, i.e. the chief herald in Scotland. He had also been the Usher of the Prince, and when James IV died at Flodden, he remained as Usher to the infant King James V, whose character and interests were shaped partly by Lyndsay, who perforce took on the role of father figure. The Armorial was probably prepared as a livre d’or, to be carried to European courts by ambassadors, and by the King himself. Lyndsay’s heraldic legacy is very important, and the Armorial is one of the jewels of the National Library of Scotland. Indeed, being what is called a ‘safe manuscript’, it has to be locked up every night.
The book will be of some 800 or so pages in two volumes. There is an embryo Facebook page for the Armorial: 'The Armorial of Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount'. The cost will be in the region of £45 - £50 and anyone interested in either becoming a subscriber (name in the book) or wishing to buy it, should contact Alex directly by email (at alex@findlater.org.uk). Publication is expected in the spring of 2018.
Just because we want out of the EU doesn’t mean we want to reject our European friends.
The problem is that the EU is a declining trading block. All the growth is outside Europe. Forecasts on the World Bank site show that by 2050 China will be the largest trading nation followed by India and then the USA with Indonesia probably coming in fourth place. (The UK is reckoned to be in the top 10)
All of those countries trade with the EU under WTO terms.
We are fortunate to be in The Commonwealth which has a third of the world’s population and The Queen is the head of The Commonwealth. India, which is forecast to be the second largest trading nation, is also a member of The Commonwealth.
China and Italy are working hard at doing business with Africa which has huge potential if they can sort out their corruption and political issues. Seven of the top 10 African economies are in The Commonwealth.
We have great relations with Australia, Canada and New Zealand where we have tremendous scope to do great free trade deals with and they are all in the Commonwealth.
Sir James Dyson is already doing great business in India and isn’t the least bothered about dealing with the EU on WTO terms. And let us not forget that he’s Britain’s largest land owner so he’s exposed to agricultural issues and yet he’s OK with dealing with the EU on WTO terms and a hard Brexit.
What we in Scotland need to do is to educate and encourage our business people on the opportunities outside the EU and in particular with The Commonwealth.
And let me remind you that Britain’s business with China is the largest it’s ever been. The USA wants a great trade deal with us.
So what’s wrong with this? Why can’t we be upbeat about the future outside the EU with a no deal arrangement?
The answer to this is that our MSP’s know very little about trading outside the UK and they are afraid of what they don’t understand. The SNP wanted to remain in the EU as they simply had no idea on how to deal with the world as an Independent country. They thus decided to rely on the EU to do all their International dealings for them.
As an Independent Scotland we would need to deal with the world as it is and will be. We keep saying we want to be Independent from the UK yet our largest trade is with England by far, then the USA and only then the EU. That tells me that the Scottish business community isn’t prepared to do business outside the UK and this is thus where we need to put our energy. We need to find a way to get Scottish businesses to start trading outside the UK and that to me is the key.
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.
Ahead of the curve
British trade with global giant China booms as rest of EU lags behind
Read more at:
http://www.express.co.uk/news/politi...EU-lags-behind
Scotsman Food and Drink Awards celebrates Scotland’s best
The cream of the crop of Scotland’s food and drink industry descended on Edinburgh this week for the inaugural Scotsman Food and Drink Awards.
Read more at:
http://foodanddrink.scotsman.com/foo...augural-event/
Scapegoat Scots general attacked Haig’s Somme strategy
Hidden away in Hunter-Weston’s papers in the vaults of the British Library, documents reveal that three months before the battle started, Hunter-Weston ripped into Haig’s plan, describing it as foolish generalship
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...tegy-1-4605443
Ross backs post-Brexit UK-US trade deal
One of Donald Trump's leading allies has said he is optimistic that the UK and US will sign a free trade deal after Brexit.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-41888823
No deal is what we want
The spectacle of a British prime minister scuttling back and forth to Brussels, cap in hand, displaying a desperate desire for a Brexit deal with the EU, is a shameful betrayal of the people’s decision in the 2016 referendum.
Read more at:
https://www.cpbml.org.uk/news/no-deal-what-we-want
Brexit: Get on, Get Out!
A leaflet from the Communist Party of Britain
Read more at:
https://www.cpbml.org.uk/sites/defau...0out_print.pdf
Labour Leave Podcast
There first Podcast
Listen to this at:
https://soundcloud.com/labourleave/l...st-episode-one
Sheepdog puppy led a flock of sheep into his owners' home
Imagine coming home to find a flock of sheep in your kitchen? That is what happened to farmer Rosalyn Edwards.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-devon-41865526
Rare footage of Edinburgh in the 1930s
A rare piece of footage showcasing Edinburgh life in the 1930s has proved a big hit online.
View this at:
http://www.scotsman.com/regions/edin...930s-1-4607457
Where are most Scots employed in 2017?
Scotland was once a land of heavy industry and agriculture but workers in 2017 are more likely to employed by the NHS or local councils.
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/business/mar...2017-1-4608081
Kenny Dalglish, the documentary
Early on in the documentary Kenny, the subject, wanders the streets of his old Glasgow neighbourhood and enthuses about community spirit
Read more at:
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/footba...tary-1-4604880
Time for Britain to forge a new, equal relationship with India
There is an urgent need for the UK to recognise the shift in the balance of power towards a new global India and transform the relationship into a strategic alliance.
Read more at:
https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/w...hip-with-india
Electric Canadian
On Canada's Frontier
Sketches of History, Sport, and Adventure and of the Indians, Missionaries, Fur Traders, and Newer Settlers of Western Canada by Julian Ralph (1892) which you can read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...asFrontier.htm
Note: I discovered that this link didn't work so have now corrected it..
Industrial Canada
Added volume 7 which you can read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...rial/index.htm
Musical Canada
Added volume 6 to our collection which you can read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/life...cal_canada.htm
Angus, Richard Bladworth
Banker, railway executive, and businessman has been added to our Makers of Canada which you can view at:http://www.electriccanadian.com/makers/angus_rb.htm
Father Lacombe
He spent more than sixty years of work among the Indians of Western Canada.
I read the complete book this week and highly recommend it to you and it can be read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/makers/Lancombe.htm
The Ladies from Hell - The Black Watch- Royal Highland Regiment of Canada History on YouTube
Scottish Studies of Canada Newsletters
You can view the archive of the Scots Canadian Newsletters which are now online at:
http://www.scottishstudies.com/archival-newsletters.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.
In response to falling test results, teachers' federation proposes ending testing
http://www.conradmblack.com/1348/in-...sults-teachers
Electric Scotland
Robert Burns Lives!
Got up a new article: The Kilmarnock Census: A Personal Perspective By Allan Young.
Many thanks to Patrick Scott and Allan Young for sharing with us the results of their search of the original work of Robert Burns entitled POEMS Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. Due to a slight physical set back, I have been unable to do much work on Robert Burns Lives! recently but hope to resume my work on the column in the near future, As usual, Patrick Scott stepped in to assist and the article below is the interesting account of the book he and Allan Young have put together. These two gentlemen have blessed the Burns community with a volume worth more than its weight in gold. My deepest thanks to both, and I say “thank you” on behalf of all of us who will buy and treasure the book for many years to come. (FRS: 11.1.17)
Patrick Scott writes: I first met Allan Young soon after he started on this project, when he came up to South Carolina to talk about it with Ross Roy. As I learned when sorting old files after Ross’s death in 2013, Ross himself had tried at least twice, in the early 1960s and again in the early 1990s, to pin down the number of copies of the Kilmarnock that had survived, but he had never been able to get definite information for more than forty or so copies in libraries, so he had had to settle for a very provisional estimate to allow for copies in private hands. Allan Young, a Scot now retired and living in Florida, had spent his career in the construction industry (he was a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors), and by the time he visited us he had already made an effective and systematic start on the project, putting the search on a much firmer basis. He and Ross got along well, and Ross was able to put him in contact with several other friends who owned Kilmarnock editions [including Susan and Frank Shaw]. Allan’s reports on what he had found in 2009 and in the Burns Chronicle made it clear that his research was breaking new ground. In the following years, several people had asked me whether Allan planned to do more with it. My original idea two years ago when he agreed that I could help him get the census published was that we would just format his previous findings as a small pamphlet. As we began that process, we realized that there was additional background information to be gathered, both from older printed sources and from newly-available on-line resources. I wrote a short article about this stage of the research for Robert Burns Lives! no. 230, which put us in contact with further owners. Allan has been wonderful to work with, as we compiled and edited and proofread this additional research, through email and long telephone calls. The result is a book of 234 pages, just a few short of the Kilmarnock edition itself (and after allowing for inflation the price is also almost exactly the same as the original subscribers paid for the Kilmarnock). I am very proud to be credited as a coauthor, but I still think of the book as “Allan Young’s census.” The essay that follows gives his personal account of how he got interested in the census project, together with some of the interesting findings in the book. (PS: 11.1.17)
You can read this article at: http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...s_lives258.htm
Works in Iron
Bridge and Roof Structure by Ewing Matheson (Second Edition) (1877) (pdf)
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/busi...orksiniron.pdf
The Viking World
Found I failed to link to a book from this page so fixed that and added another which you can read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/vikings/
Hylton Newsletter
Got in the Autumn 2017 newsletter which you can read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/fami...lton/index.htm
Admiral David Robertson-Macdonald
11th of Kinlochmoidart
Found a Biographical Summary of this person which you can read at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist..._macdonald.htm
History of Aberdeen Angus Cattle
By James MacDonald and James Sinclair (1910) (pdf)
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/agri...gushistory.pdf
Agnews of Lochnaw
A History of the Herediary Sheriffs of Galloway with contemporary anecdotes, traditions and genealogical notices of old families of the Sheriffdom 1330 TO 1747 by Sir Andrew Agnew, Bart., M.P. (1864)
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/webc...toc/agnew.html
Life of General Sir Charles Napier G. C. B.
By William Napier Bruce (1885)
In 1857 Six William Napier published his Life of Sir Charles Napier in four volumes. It was composed in the midst of great bodily and mental suffering, and in the expectation that death would interfere and prevent its completion. In spite of certain defects of taste and arrangement, due mainly to these circumstances, the book is remarkable, like all the author’s writings, for the force and grandeur of its language and for the spirit of passionate herp-worship which animates it throughout; but it was far too long to obtain the durable popularity which the reputation of the writer and the interest of the subject deserved.
There are few men in the world’s history about whom four volumes are read by a generation that has not known them. Least of all can such assiduous devotion be expected where, as in the present case, the man has been limited to a field confessedly too narrow for the full exercise of his powers. And yet, if Sir Charles Napier’s career does not possess any great historical interest, a brief record of his life and opinions may still be well worth the attention of his countrymen.
“Disce, puer, virtutem. ex me verumque laborem,
Fortunam ex aliis.”
The man to whose military genius Wellington appealed to save India—whose capacity for government excited the admiration of Sir Robert Peel—of whom Lord Hardinge, with all his experience, military and civil, said, “he had the rarest combination of great qualities of any of our contemporaries,”—should not be allowed without a protest to sink into oblivion, or be remembered merely as an eccentric and unmanageable officer.
His character was essentially of ^he heroic type. He exercised a fascination over the popular mind which was, perhaps, out of proportion to anything which Fortune allowed him to accomplish. He occupied a place apart, and would have seemed in some respects hardly to belong to the age in which he lived, had it not been that he inspired the people wherever he went with the belief that, whatever his differences with men in power, he was moved by the most intense devotion to themselves and to the cause of every one who was poor or oppressed.
Sir William Napier’s four volumes were constructed almost entirely out of his brother’s journals and letters, and in consequence his book contains the bulk of the materials for the present volume. But the general arrangement and treatment of the subject differ in many respects from Sir William Napier’s work; and he is not responsible for any opinions expressed in the course of the narrative, except such as are actually attributed to him. In addition to the copious writings of Sir Charles and Sir William Napier, the admirable articles in the Quarterly Review (January 1857 and October 1858), attributed to Mr. Elwin, and such incidental notices of Sir Charles Napier as have appeared in later works connected with India, I have had the advantage of conversations with General Sir M. MMurdo, who was Sir Charles Napier’s son-in-law, and served on his staff during nearly the whole of his Indian career, and with the late Sir Bartle Frere who ruled Scinde for seven years and had special oppor- tunities of estimating Sir Charles Napier’s work. In the account of the transactions which led up to the conquest of Scinde I have relied upon the letters and despatches of the various actors published in the Correspondence Relative to Scinde presented to Parliament in 1843 and 1844.
I've added links to this book and also the larger four volume publication and also The Conquest of Scinde Of Major-General Sir Charles James Napier which you can get to at:
http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...er_charles.htm
The Story
I thought I'd bring you this video lecture as of course Adam Smith is a famous Scot.
The Genealogy of Adam Smith’s Liberalism
Daniel Klein provides his version of the emergence of the original liberalism, culminating in Adam Smith, and dubbed by Klein “Liberalism 1.0.”
Starting, like Hayek, with human nature from the ancestral band, Klein explains the genealogy of liberalism 1.0 in a broad narrative:
The ancestral band - Cohesionism
Traditional society – Cohesionism (encompassing integration of high things and low things)
Printing rocks their world
The Reformation
War of religion => religious toleration and freedom
Refocusing government, law on lower things, and refining morality to distinguish low from high (without forsaking high!)
Jurisprudence - Commutative justice (Grotius et al)
Sanctification, moral authorization of pursuit of honest income => Innovation! (a neglected facet of Weber’s book)
The conventionalist genius of David Hume – Jural dualism
Commutative justice has flipside: liberty
Stable polity in Britain—Liberalism presupposing stable polity
Adam Smith: Moral authorizations of honest income and of presumption of liberty=> The Great Enrichment (McCloskey)
With Adam Smith, “liberal” becomes the word.
Klein then goes on to sketch Karl Polanyi, the collapse of liberalism’s ascendancy, and the tragic, catastrophic shifts in outlooks, sentiments, and semantics 1880-1940—a tide in which we are still inundated.
Liberalism 1.0 is the spine of the modern open society and, presupposing stable polity, it leans against the governmentalization of social affairs."
Klein claims that left-leaners are untrue to Adam Smith, they are at odds with liberalism 1.0; one should not call them “liberal.”
Now watch: Semantic History of Liberalism at:
https://newmedia.ufm.edu/video/liber...hs-liberalism/
The Scottish Studies Foundation
As an alternative you might like to read the story of the Scottish Studies Foundation which was first published in the Sept/Oct 2011 issue of the History Scotland Magazine by David Hunter and John B. McMillan who chart the history of the The Scottish Studies Foundation which, since 1986 has protected Scottish Culture and donated large sums of money to fund the first Chair in Scottish Studies in North America which you can read at: http://www.scottishstudies.com/950-h...andarticle.htm
And that's it for this week and I hope you all have a great weekend.
Alastair
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