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I said I'd bring you comments on the Growth Commission Report and so here is a blog post from the National which is a pro independence newspaper...
A case in point. Richard Murphy, ripping Wilson's report to shreds, so SNP members don't need to find out what an empty-headed waffler Wilson is the hard way.
COPY AND PASTE FROM Richard Murphy's blog post.
________
The Scottish Growth Commission gets its economics very badly wrong
Posted on May 25 2018
The 354 page report of the Scottish Growth Commission was published this morning. But you don't need to read it all. I admit I had an advance copy and as I read it last night I remained vaguely optimistic until I reached page 47. Then I knew the SNP has a disaster on its hands and that if it was to become independent on the basis of this report the last thing that the people of Scotland would enjoy would be growth.
That’s because on page 47 the report says:
"The Commission recommends that the currency of an independent Scotland should remain the pound sterling for a possibly extended transition period."
Admittedly it then adds:
"A future Scottish Government should put in place the arrangements and financial infrastructure that would support a move to an independent Scottish currency at such time as this was considered appropriate for the Scottish economy."
Which is a sop, because most depressing is this comment, which comes next:
"What happens with respect to currency the day before an independence vote would happen the day after and continue to happen until such time as the elected Scottish Government seeks to do something differently."
In other words, this Commission recommends that Scotland use the currency created by another country. That will mean five things.
The first is that Scotland will have no control over its money supply after independence.
Second it will have no control over its interest rate.
Third, if London decides to trash the rUK economy to support The City, or some other cause, Scotland will go down with it.
Fourth, all the negative impacts of Brexit will be imported directly into the Scottish economy.
Fifth, Scotland will effectively have to earn the currency of another state to service its debts.
All of these are devastating decisions by a Commission that is supposedly dedicated to independence. As that list shows, by choosing sterling as the Scottish currency Scotland would have no effective hope of achieving that status: it would remain enslaved by the pound and tied to the apron strings of London.
Depressingly, in support of their proposal the Commission says:
"We note that this was the approach taken by Ireland for an extended period, albeit in a different period of history."
I know plenty enough about Irish economic history to describe the consequence of this policy succinctly: it was a disaster that oppressed Ireland economically for decades.
I thought my mood could not go lower, but then it did. I read the recommended objectives for macroeconomic management of the Scottish economy in paragraph B12, which says Scotland should:
"* Target a deficit value of below 3 per cent within 5 to 10 years.
* National debt should not increase beyond 50% of GDP and should stabilise at that level.
* Borrow only for public investment in net terms over the course of the cycle.
* During the transition period real increases in public spending should be limited to sufficiently less than GDP growth over the business cycle to reduce the deficit to below 3% within 5 to 10 years. At trend growth and target inflation rates this would mean average annual cash spending increases of above inflation in contrast to the Scottish budget experience under the UK regime of recent years and that scheduled for the remainder of the current planning period."
In other words, the Scottish economy will, after independence, be run to keep the London money markets happy.
The ability of a country with its own currency to issue debt to finance growth will be foregone by Scotland not having its own currency. Forget full employment then. But worse, what the Commission is saying by adopting these objectives, which will cruise all others in the report, that Scotland should welcome austerity in its place. That’s what a deficit of 3% is guaranteed to deliver. This is literally importing George Osborne’s economics into Scotland.
Except its worse than that because spending will be cut to meet this target. This is what the fourth bullet point means. The new government of Scotland would, then, crush the economy for years to keep the money markets of London happy.
And Gordon Brown’s Fiscal rule, that clearly worked so well before the crash of 2008, is exactly what the third bullet point describes. When the Commission stops importing Tory economic incompetence it supports Labour’s failed policies instead.
Finally, and for good measure, the goal of keeping debt to 50% of GDP means investment in anything in the new Scotland will just be a pipe dream.
I could have gone on to plough through the rest of this report, but why bother? Any quantity of graphs, and any number of comparisons with states broadly similar in size to Scotland are utterly irrelevant if this Commission that is supposed to be about growth has decided to remove any chance that Scotland could use monetary policy to control its economy, and has crushed any chance of a fiscal stimulus by committing Scotland to decades of austerity with the sole purpose of keeping the old oppressor in London happy.
The Scottish Growth Commission has proved to be a fantastic policy agent for the financial elite. But for those who hoped for a bright independent future it offers nothing but despair.
This Commission’s suggestions are a disaster for Scotland, the SNP and the cause of independence. The Commission has proved itself the slave of pre-crash economics and a proponent of everything that is oppressive about neoliberalism. It’s really hard to imagine how it could have been much worse or more out of kilter with what I sense the people of Scotland want.
This is a sorry day for Scotland.
-----
SO if that's what is appearing in a pro independent newspaper then it tends to suggest that the SNP have shot themselves in the foot.
See also a critic of the report at:
http://chokkablog.blogspot.ca/2018/0...ssion-jam.html
The sustainable Growth Commission Report
May 2018 can be read at: https://tinyurl.com/y7lt95yr
Here is the video introduction to this newsletter...
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.
Note: There was a tremendous discussion on the Growth Commission Report and a lot more articles are featured in the ScotNews Feed on our index page so I have just chosen a couple of articles in here.
US tariffs on steel absurd, says Trade Secretary Liam Fox
Liam Fox questioned the US decision to 25% tax on steel and a 10% tax on aluminium from the EU, Mexico and Canada.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-44320257
UK Trade in Numbers
Department for International Trade is tirelessly looking overseas for new opportunities and has released a fantastic booklet showing a snapshot of UK trade.
Read more at:
https://tinyurl.com/y99quh62
The launch of the US Senate’s UK Trade Caucus demonstrates American hopes for Brexit Britain
Caucuses in the US Senate are like all-party parliamentary groups in the House of Commons
Read more at:
https://brexitcentral.com/launch-us-...rexit-britain/
Heritage of Scotland’s travelling community celebrated
The heritage of Scotland’s travelling community is being highlighted in a major project to raise awareness of the country’s oldest indigenous people and tackle prejudice against them.
Read more at:
https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/h...ated-1-4745057
SNP Growth Commission's GDP Growth Rate Claims
I've already blogged on the pre-release headline spin about a 4100 boost for every Scot, but now I have the full report to hand I can offer a more complete analysis.
Read more at:
http://chokkablog.blogspot.ca/2018/0...owth-rate.html
Missing person investigations increase by almost 1,000 in a year
The number of missing person reports investigated by Police Scotland investigated increased to almost 23,000 last year
Read more at:
https://www.scotsman.com/news/missin...year-1-4745722
Exhibition celebrates Japanese whisky pioneer Rita Cowan
An exhibition celebrating the life of a Scot who became known as the mother of Japanese whisky has opened in East Dunbartonshire.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-...iness-44270932
Drones could boost British economy by £42bn
A major new report predicts that harnessing the untapped commercial potential of drones could bolster the country’s coffers to the tune of tens of billions of pounds.
Read more at:
https://www.scotsman.com/future-scot...42bn-1-4746194
The EU has already lost the UK it could lose Italy too
A series of EU-imposed technocrats have turned Italians against the European project
Read more at:
https://capx.co/the-eu-has-already-l...ose-italy-too/
NHS treatment time performance at record low
A quarter of eligible NHS patients are not being treated within a legally-binding timescale, the latest statistics have shown.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-...itics-44290082
The Boys on the ice
In 1868, seven young Scottish stowaways on a ship bound for Canada were subjected by the crew to acts of sadistic cruelty
.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/...oys_on_the_ice
The opportunities of Brexit are almost endless
Brexit provides the UK with once-in-a-generation opportunities to set free our trade, commerce and people.
Read more at:
https://brexitcentral.com/opportunit...lmost-endless/
How Britain can remain a soft power superpower after Brexit
Art is a universal language and, to my mind at least, British art and culture represents the best in class it’s hard to imagine the global artistic and cultural landscape without the contribution of Britain.
Read more at:
https://theconversation.com/how-brit...r-brexit-97405
Electric Canadian
Transactions of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers
I discovered a lot of volumes of these transaction which are very detailed and note that they are very popular downloads so assume civil engineers are enjoying the details given in these transactions.
I've added the 1940 volume and will add others each week. You can view these at
http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...rial/index.htm
Some of the topics discussed include Air Conditioning, Alaska Highway, Book Reviews, Developments in Alloys, Engineers for the Air Force, Industrial Development in Canada to Meet the War Emergency, Mineral Development North of 54°, Obituaries, Radio in Canada, Timber of Canada, War Potential of Canadian Industry, Water Supply Practice, etc.
Letters from High Latitudes
By Lord Dufferin (1906) (pdf)
Interesting account of visiting Iceland which you can read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/make...tudes_duff.pdf
Ireland
I have added three books about the Irish in Canada....
The Irish Canadian Rangers
Published in 1916 (pdf) and can be read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...ianrangers.pdf
Irishmen in Canada
Their Union not inconsistent with the development of Canadian National Feeling by J. George Hodgins, LL.D. (1875) (pdf) which can be read at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...eninCanada.pdf
Scenes and Incidents in Irish Life
By an Irishman (1884) (pdf) and you can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist.../irishlife.pdf
Index and Dictionary of Canadian History
Edited by Lawrence J. Burpee. F.R.G.S. Librarian of the Carnegie Library, Ottawa and Arthur G. Doughty, C.M.G., Litt.D., Dominion Archivist, Ottawa (1911) (pdf)
This Supplement is designed to supply a double need: it furnishes an analytical index to the entire series of twenty volumes; and it affords a great deal of additional information, bearing on the subject-matter of these volumes, but which from its very nature it was impossible to incorporate in the text. This additional information includes biographical sketches of the characters mentioned in each volume; similar sketches of prominent Canadians who for one reason or another do not appear in any of the twenty volumes; and brief descriptions of wars, battles, treaties, and political and other events having a vital bearing on the history of Canada. References have been added, wherever necessary, to the principal sources which the student may consult for further information. The whole has been thrown into one alphabetical arrangement, and it constitutes, to a large extent, a dictionary of Canadian history.
The twenty volumes are available on the site at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/makers/index.htm
You can read this at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/make...ofcanada21.pdf
Conrad Black
The forces of America's left were no match for Canadian intellect and English wit
http://www.conradmblack.com/1396/the...e-no-match-for
Electric Scotland
Commonwealth of Australia
Historical Records of Australia published in 1914 in 19 volumes. Intending to put up 1 volume a week until complete.
Added Volume 10 - January, 1819—December, 1822
You can get to this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...mmonwealth.htm
Scotch Readings
Humorous and Amusing by Alexander G. Murdoch (fifth edition) (1895) (pdf)
Of late years a somewhat new sort of literature has sprung up in our midst, which has taken considerable hold upon the estimation of the masses. The compositions here referred to may not, in the opinion of cultured litterateurs, be regarded as of a high order of merit, nor, indeed, of any great degree of interest. Nevertheless, there cannot be a doubt as to the feeling which is evinced by the people at large relative to the matter.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/humo...chreadings.pdf
Memoir of John Millar of Sheardale
With an Appendix by the Rev. Andrew Thomson, D.D. (1876) (pdf)
Glass and china merchant in Edinburgh.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/bibl...johnmillar.pdf
Diary, Meditations, and Letters of Mr. Joseph Williams
By Benjamin Hanbury (1826) (pdf)
Mr. Williams was one of the most extraordinary persons I was ever acquainted with. I compare him to a valuable ring, where grace, or the divine nature, is placed like a large, refulgent brilliant in the centre; while good temper, lively spirits, a constant cheerfulness, a tenacious memory, a ready utterance, and a pleasant wit, as so many gems, surround it; and all together made as complete a jewel as ever I knew.
The authors of the "History of Dissenters"; have given a sketch of the life of Mr. Williams, which they commence with these words:
"As the example of eminent ministers, which ecclesiastical history presents, is so frequently rendered inefficient to private Christians, by the notion that their superior religion was a professional excellence, which is not to be expected from those who are employed in secular affairs, the same propensity to excuse ourselves from resembling the eminent, may have induced some to remark, that the memoirs which we have given of persons not in the ministry, were taken from the higher ranks of life, when independent circumstances, and freedom from the distractions of business, render devotedness to the service of God and his church comparatively easy. It is therefore with peculiar pleasure that we now introduce to our readers a devout tradesman, whose religion, excellent for its own superiority to the ordinary standard, becomes still more valuable for the stimulus it furnishes to the great mass of mankind, who must ever, like him, be occupied with the labours of a secular calling."
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/bible/williams.pdf
The Shorter Catechism
With the Propositions separated and Proved for use of Schools and Families by John Millar (fifth edition) (pdf)
THE Fourth Edition of Mr Millar's Catechism having met with a rapid sale, a fifth and larger impression is now issued. THE design of the Assembly's Catechism in the present form, is to assist in promoting the knowledge and study of the Holy Scriptures in schools and families. To accomplish this, a variety of quotations have been selected, which serve to establish the propositions contained in the answers. And in order to induce the young “to search the Scriptures,” merely the introduction to each quotation is given. This causes application to be made to the Bible for the remainder, where in many cases it will be found necessary to peruse the whole paragraph; while the introduction serves to recal the quotations to the memory when they come to be repeated in school.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/bibl..._Catechism.pdf
The Ballads and Songs of Scotland
In view of their Influence on the Character of the People by J. Clark Murray LL.D. (1874) (pdf)
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/poet...ofScotland.pdf
Iceland
Or the Journal of a residence in that Island during the years 1814 and 1815 containing observations on he natural phenomena, History, Literature and Antiquituie of the Island; and the Religion, character, manners and customs of its inhabitants by Ebenezer Henderson (second edition) (1819) (pdf)
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/iceland/iceland.pdf
Memoir of the Rev. E. Henderson, D.D., PH.D.
Including his labours in Denmark, Iceland, Russia, etc. by Thulia S. Henderson (1859)
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/bibl...ehenderson.pdf
Memoir of George Thomson
Cameroons Mountains, West Africa by one of his nephews (1881) (pdf)
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rgethomson.pdf
The Transactions and Journal of Proceedings of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History & Antiquarian Society
Added Session for 1891-92 and I've added one story from it as our Story for this week.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...sactions08.pdf
The Story
I remember reading this story some years ago but this version is a lot more detailed.
Shortbread at the Lord's Supper. By Rev. John H. Thomson.
In November, 1888, I was assisting at the dispensation of the Lords’ Supper in the Free Church congregation, Portpatrick. When the time came to remove the cloth that covered the bread for the Communion service, I was startled to notice that it was not the bread of a quarter loaf such as I had hitherto seen at the dispensation of the Lord’s Supper, but shortbread, made up into round thin cakes of half-an-inch or less in thickness, cut into eight sections, what, in Scotland, we call “Petticoat Tails.” My curiosity was excited, and I have been led to make inquiries as to past practice in the South of Scotland. The result of my inquiries is that, according to the late Rev. Mr Urquhart, of Portpatrick, it had been in use in Portpatrick from time immemorial. In Stranraer, in the Free Church congregation, shortbread has only been given up within the last few years, and loaf bread adopted in its place. About fifty years ago, according to the late Mr George Henderson of Nunholm, it was in use in St. Mary’s, Dumfries. In the parish of Newabbey a lady, the daughter of a former minister of the parish, tells me that she well remembers seeing the shortbread come from Dumfries on the Saturday before the Communion Sabbath. On asking a well-known baker in Dumfries if he had ever seen shortbread used at the dispensation of the Lord’s Supper, his reply was that he had never seen anything else in the country in his younger days. It was only when he came as a young man to the town that he had seen anything else. So far as I have been able to inquire, the use of shortbread at the Lord’s Supper is quite unknown in Edinburgh. I never heard of its use in the forty congregations of the Reformed Presbyterian Church that united with the Free Church in 1876. But the Rev. Mr Andson tells me that he has heard of its use in Arbroath; an Irish friend tells me that he has seen it used in Londonderry. Dean Stanley, in his “Christian Institutions,” fourth edition, page 61, has a note in which he refers to the use of “shortbread” in the Lord’s Supper in Galloway. The note is appended to a discussion on the Avafer, whether or not its form is derived from the large, round, thin biscuit of the Passover, the Paschal Cake. The Dean has doubts about this derivation, because the Greek Church, so tenacious of ancient customs, does not use the wafer; and, secondly, because the round form is sufficiently accounted for by the fact that the bread used by the ancient world (as seen in the bakers’ shops at Pompeii, and also in the paintings of the catacombs) was in the shape of round, flat cakes. The note is a curious one, and illustrates how even a most intelligent Englishman may fail to understand matters in Scotland. The Dean says—“ A curious example of an adventitious sacredness attaching itself to a particular form of sacramental bread is to be found in the use of ‘shortbread’ instead of the ordinary leavened or unleavened bread amongst the ‘hill men’ of Scotland.” “I myself,” writes a well-informed minister of the Church of Scotland, “thirty years ago assisted at an open-air Communion in the parish of Dairy, in Galloway, where this had been the custom from time immemorial. The minister’s wife sent so many pounds of fresh butter to a distant baker, and received back preparatory to the Communion so many cakes of ‘shortbread,’ i.e., brittle bread, which was kept nearly as carefully as a Roman Catholic would keep his wafer.” The note is interesting, although the good people in Dairy would be surprised to hear themselves called “hill men,” and that they attached any particular sacredness to the form of the bread used in the Lord’s Supper.
Dr John Lee, in his “History of the Church of Scotland,” vol. i., p. .389, has an appendix in which he gives extracts from Session and Burgh Records relative to the dispensation of the Communion. In the Edinburgh Session Records under “ 1560, Sondaj 2nd of March, ye Communion ministrat to John Knox in the hie kirk of Edinburgh. To H. Meffen, for vi** breid to the Communion, 40s; SJ- gallons wyne, 3/ 8s. 8th June, Second Communion, iij* breid, 30s; 8 gallons wine, 4/ 16s. 8th September. Third Communion, 24 breid, 28s; 64 gallons wyne, 31 10s.v There are several similar entries down to 9th May, 1574. In them all the bread is entered simply as bread. Am I right in inferring that shortbread in the Lord’s Supper was unknown to John Knox, that it was simply household bread that he employed, and that the use of shortbread must have been confined to districts away from the Metropolis, where old practices would not be so easily dislodged 1 What is the origin of this practice once so largely characteristic of the South of Scotland I Can it be because of the ease with which shortbread, i.e., brittle bread, can be broken for distribution among the communicants at a time when oat cakes, hard and not easily broken by the hand or the teeth, would be the bread in daily nse among the mass of the people, or can it be that the shortbread is a form of the unleavened bread of the middle ages that has still lingered in the South of Scotland long after leavened bread had been adopted in the large cities'? Perhaps the members of the Society can contribute materials to a right answer to these questions.
Rev. R. W. Weir said he had been brought up on the East Coast, amongst people who often talked about old church customs; and he thought if they had ever themselves witnessed a dispensation of the Communion with shortbread, or had heard of others having done so, they would have certainly mentioned it some time or other in his hearing. Dr Sprott, in his book, said it was a custom that prevailed in Dumfriesshire and Galloway, and that the explanation of it was that shortbread was unleavened bread. He had heard of it frequently since he came to the district; and he knew that in Buittle it was still used. As to the theory of un-leavened bread, he thought it very doubtful. He supposed that in this district there would be two kinds of bread, the oat bread for general use, and the shortbread for company use, and that at the Communion they naturally took the best kind of bread they knew of. In the minutes of the Dumfries Kirk-Session he had seen no notice of a change in the matter of providing the bread ; the change, he supposed, would be made without any decree on the part of the Kirk-Session. Similar changes had taken place in regard to the wine. He found in old days that in Dumfries and elsewhere it had always been claret that was used at the Communion; but there came a time when claret ceased to be so popular in Scotland, and port took its place. Then port was introduced as the Communion wine.
Mr Andson had never seen in Arbroath, his native town, shortbread employed, but he had heard it spoken of as used in former times at the Communion. He was not sure about its being unleavened bread. He thought Mr Weir’s impression was the correct one, that it was the finest kind of bread.
Mr Thomson, in answer to a question by Mr Weir, said that he had never heard of shortbread having been used at the Communion among the Cameronians.
Shortbread at the Lord's Supper.
Dr Chinnock stated that he had made enquiries regarding the use of shortbread at the communion, which the Rev. J. H. Thomson, Hightae, had stated at last meeting prevailed in the north of Ireland, and he had received the following reply from Dr Robert Ross, of Londonderry :-
Shortbread is used by my congregation, and I believe by all the other Presbyterian congregations in this city, at the Lord’s Supper. This has been the custom from time immemorial. The reason why shortbread is used at the Lord’s Supper is not that the Jews used unleavened bread at the Passover, but it is in conformity to our Lord’s example in using unleavened bread when he instituted the sacrament of the Supper. It is certain that He used the bread they were eating when observing the Passover, and that was unleavened bread. The Presbyterians here would not sanction any departure from the rule of strict conformity to his example when that is clearly known; and “leaven” in Scripture usage is the symbol of “hypocrisy” or “malice,” in a word of “evil,” which permeates society as “leaven” does the substance with which it is mixed. Unleavened bread then is the symbol of purity, sincerity, charity, and is therefore used by the Presbyterian churches here at the Lord’s Supper. Our Lord’s parable of “leaven” hid in three measures of meal is an exception to the general rule of Scripture usage. In the parable it is the symbol of life—life multiplying with great rapidity and causing what we call fermentation. I have no doubt but that the custom is adhered to by the churches here on the ground of conformity to our Lord’s example, and of the spiritual import of “leaven” regarded as a symbol.
Mr Thomson stated that he had a letter from the Rev. Mr Weir, who regretted that he was not able to be present, and who enclosed a number of letters on the subject. He had also some other letters, of which he proposed to submit a synopsis to another meeting. Mr Weir had written to Dr Sprott of North Berwick, one of the chief authorities in the Established Church, but he was not able to give any information on the subject. The Rev. Jardine Wallace, Traquair, wrote:
Shortbread was used in St. Michael's Church, Dumfries, up to November 20, 1864, when my father, Dr Wallace, died. I remember the circumstance well, for I took the opportunity of saying to some of the elders of St. Michael’s, after my father’s death, that they should now make use of common loaf bread in the communion. My reason for doing so was chiefly that shortbread is very brittle and inconvenient to handle. The cakes were large and round, with a dividing line down the centre and also across, in order to assist the officiating clergy in breaking. But strangers who assisted my father at such times were often afraid to touch the bread in case of an accident.
Rev. Mr Fraser, of Colvend, had written an interesting letter. He said :
When I came here, now forty-seven years ago, shortbread was the bread used in all the surrounding parishes, and in the parishes in the Stewartry generally. It was certainly used in Colvend, Buittle, Urr, Ivirkgunzeon, Parton, Corsock, and Kirkbean and Newabbey. Mr M'Lelland, my oldest elder, tells me that about the year 1818 he was present in Dr Wardlaw’s Church, Glasgow, and that the bread used was shortbread. Dr Wardlaw, as you know, was a Congregationalist. This, I think, is an interesting fact, and shows that the custom was not confined to Galloway or to congregations of the Established Church. I had an interesting conversation with Mr John Paterson, baker, Dalbeattie, whose father used to supply shortbread to several of the surrounding parishes for the communion ; and his impression is that in his father’s time shortbread was universally used throughout the Stewartry. The ministers and elders of Galloway in the last century were of a stern and unbending character, and would probably oppose any change in the bread of the communion, hence, perhaps, the continuance of the custom so long in this quarter.
In a second letter Mr Fraser said :
Mr Dunlop, my assistant, himself an Irishman, tells me that he communicated some 10 or 12 years ago in Duncairn Church, Belfast, the minister of which at the time was the Rev. Dr Killen, and that the bread used was shortbread. I asked if Dr Killen was a Scotchman, thinking that he might have imported the use of shortbread from Scotland; but it appears he was Irish. But, then, the Presbyterians in Ulster are mainly of Scotch descent; they might have brought the use of shortbread with them at their immigration.
Rev. Mr Sturrock, Corsock, had written a letter, in which he stated that he wished to introduce a change, but was prevented by oue of his elders. Rev. R. Moreson, Kintail, Strome Ferry, wrote that there was no tradition there as to the use of any kind of bread at the communion except the ordinary wheaten loaf, which, in the recollection of the oldest inhabitant, used to be got all the way from Inverness. Mr Thomson stated that he had written to the Rev. Dr Groold, who had never heard of the use of shortbread until he mentioned it to him. ne (Mr Thomson) suggested that it was just possible that it was a relic from the Celtic Church. The great German or Frisian invasion ended somewhere about Lockerbie, and entirely heathenised the country that had been Christianised under Roman rule, and he supposed it remained heathen until the arrival of Mungo in the beginning of the seventh century. He came as a missionary from the Roman Church, and introduced Roman methods, but the Celtic Church retained the older methods. He was supposing that the Celtic Church would be confined to Galloway, or to Portpatrick or Loch Ryan; that in that district it remained strictly Celtic.
Rev. John Cairns remarked that Mungo would be as pure as any of the missionaries. Ninian came from Rome, but not Mungo.
Mr Thomson said he assumed that Galloway remained under the influence of the Celtic Church.
Dr Chinnock observed that the prevalence of the custom among the Presbyterians of Ulster would seem to show that when they immigrated it was universal in Scotland.
Mr Thomson mentioned, in conclusion, that the use of shortbread had been given up at Portpatrick since he carried away the cakes.
Mr Barbour, architect, said he had information that it was in use in Kells until twelve years ago and in Dalry until four years ago.
And that's it for this week and hope you have a great weekend.
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com/
Electric Scotland News
I said I'd bring you comments on the Growth Commission Report and so here is a blog post from the National which is a pro independence newspaper...
A case in point. Richard Murphy, ripping Wilson's report to shreds, so SNP members don't need to find out what an empty-headed waffler Wilson is the hard way.
COPY AND PASTE FROM Richard Murphy's blog post.
________
The Scottish Growth Commission gets its economics very badly wrong
Posted on May 25 2018
The 354 page report of the Scottish Growth Commission was published this morning. But you don't need to read it all. I admit I had an advance copy and as I read it last night I remained vaguely optimistic until I reached page 47. Then I knew the SNP has a disaster on its hands and that if it was to become independent on the basis of this report the last thing that the people of Scotland would enjoy would be growth.
That’s because on page 47 the report says:
"The Commission recommends that the currency of an independent Scotland should remain the pound sterling for a possibly extended transition period."
Admittedly it then adds:
"A future Scottish Government should put in place the arrangements and financial infrastructure that would support a move to an independent Scottish currency at such time as this was considered appropriate for the Scottish economy."
Which is a sop, because most depressing is this comment, which comes next:
"What happens with respect to currency the day before an independence vote would happen the day after and continue to happen until such time as the elected Scottish Government seeks to do something differently."
In other words, this Commission recommends that Scotland use the currency created by another country. That will mean five things.
The first is that Scotland will have no control over its money supply after independence.
Second it will have no control over its interest rate.
Third, if London decides to trash the rUK economy to support The City, or some other cause, Scotland will go down with it.
Fourth, all the negative impacts of Brexit will be imported directly into the Scottish economy.
Fifth, Scotland will effectively have to earn the currency of another state to service its debts.
All of these are devastating decisions by a Commission that is supposedly dedicated to independence. As that list shows, by choosing sterling as the Scottish currency Scotland would have no effective hope of achieving that status: it would remain enslaved by the pound and tied to the apron strings of London.
Depressingly, in support of their proposal the Commission says:
"We note that this was the approach taken by Ireland for an extended period, albeit in a different period of history."
I know plenty enough about Irish economic history to describe the consequence of this policy succinctly: it was a disaster that oppressed Ireland economically for decades.
I thought my mood could not go lower, but then it did. I read the recommended objectives for macroeconomic management of the Scottish economy in paragraph B12, which says Scotland should:
"* Target a deficit value of below 3 per cent within 5 to 10 years.
* National debt should not increase beyond 50% of GDP and should stabilise at that level.
* Borrow only for public investment in net terms over the course of the cycle.
* During the transition period real increases in public spending should be limited to sufficiently less than GDP growth over the business cycle to reduce the deficit to below 3% within 5 to 10 years. At trend growth and target inflation rates this would mean average annual cash spending increases of above inflation in contrast to the Scottish budget experience under the UK regime of recent years and that scheduled for the remainder of the current planning period."
In other words, the Scottish economy will, after independence, be run to keep the London money markets happy.
The ability of a country with its own currency to issue debt to finance growth will be foregone by Scotland not having its own currency. Forget full employment then. But worse, what the Commission is saying by adopting these objectives, which will cruise all others in the report, that Scotland should welcome austerity in its place. That’s what a deficit of 3% is guaranteed to deliver. This is literally importing George Osborne’s economics into Scotland.
Except its worse than that because spending will be cut to meet this target. This is what the fourth bullet point means. The new government of Scotland would, then, crush the economy for years to keep the money markets of London happy.
And Gordon Brown’s Fiscal rule, that clearly worked so well before the crash of 2008, is exactly what the third bullet point describes. When the Commission stops importing Tory economic incompetence it supports Labour’s failed policies instead.
Finally, and for good measure, the goal of keeping debt to 50% of GDP means investment in anything in the new Scotland will just be a pipe dream.
I could have gone on to plough through the rest of this report, but why bother? Any quantity of graphs, and any number of comparisons with states broadly similar in size to Scotland are utterly irrelevant if this Commission that is supposed to be about growth has decided to remove any chance that Scotland could use monetary policy to control its economy, and has crushed any chance of a fiscal stimulus by committing Scotland to decades of austerity with the sole purpose of keeping the old oppressor in London happy.
The Scottish Growth Commission has proved to be a fantastic policy agent for the financial elite. But for those who hoped for a bright independent future it offers nothing but despair.
This Commission’s suggestions are a disaster for Scotland, the SNP and the cause of independence. The Commission has proved itself the slave of pre-crash economics and a proponent of everything that is oppressive about neoliberalism. It’s really hard to imagine how it could have been much worse or more out of kilter with what I sense the people of Scotland want.
This is a sorry day for Scotland.
-----
SO if that's what is appearing in a pro independent newspaper then it tends to suggest that the SNP have shot themselves in the foot.
See also a critic of the report at:
http://chokkablog.blogspot.ca/2018/0...ssion-jam.html
The sustainable Growth Commission Report
May 2018 can be read at: https://tinyurl.com/y7lt95yr
Here is the video introduction to this newsletter...
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.
Note: There was a tremendous discussion on the Growth Commission Report and a lot more articles are featured in the ScotNews Feed on our index page so I have just chosen a couple of articles in here.
US tariffs on steel absurd, says Trade Secretary Liam Fox
Liam Fox questioned the US decision to 25% tax on steel and a 10% tax on aluminium from the EU, Mexico and Canada.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-44320257
UK Trade in Numbers
Department for International Trade is tirelessly looking overseas for new opportunities and has released a fantastic booklet showing a snapshot of UK trade.
Read more at:
https://tinyurl.com/y99quh62
The launch of the US Senate’s UK Trade Caucus demonstrates American hopes for Brexit Britain
Caucuses in the US Senate are like all-party parliamentary groups in the House of Commons
Read more at:
https://brexitcentral.com/launch-us-...rexit-britain/
Heritage of Scotland’s travelling community celebrated
The heritage of Scotland’s travelling community is being highlighted in a major project to raise awareness of the country’s oldest indigenous people and tackle prejudice against them.
Read more at:
https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/h...ated-1-4745057
SNP Growth Commission's GDP Growth Rate Claims
I've already blogged on the pre-release headline spin about a 4100 boost for every Scot, but now I have the full report to hand I can offer a more complete analysis.
Read more at:
http://chokkablog.blogspot.ca/2018/0...owth-rate.html
Missing person investigations increase by almost 1,000 in a year
The number of missing person reports investigated by Police Scotland investigated increased to almost 23,000 last year
Read more at:
https://www.scotsman.com/news/missin...year-1-4745722
Exhibition celebrates Japanese whisky pioneer Rita Cowan
An exhibition celebrating the life of a Scot who became known as the mother of Japanese whisky has opened in East Dunbartonshire.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-...iness-44270932
Drones could boost British economy by £42bn
A major new report predicts that harnessing the untapped commercial potential of drones could bolster the country’s coffers to the tune of tens of billions of pounds.
Read more at:
https://www.scotsman.com/future-scot...42bn-1-4746194
The EU has already lost the UK it could lose Italy too
A series of EU-imposed technocrats have turned Italians against the European project
Read more at:
https://capx.co/the-eu-has-already-l...ose-italy-too/
NHS treatment time performance at record low
A quarter of eligible NHS patients are not being treated within a legally-binding timescale, the latest statistics have shown.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-...itics-44290082
The Boys on the ice
In 1868, seven young Scottish stowaways on a ship bound for Canada were subjected by the crew to acts of sadistic cruelty
.
Read more at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/...oys_on_the_ice
The opportunities of Brexit are almost endless
Brexit provides the UK with once-in-a-generation opportunities to set free our trade, commerce and people.
Read more at:
https://brexitcentral.com/opportunit...lmost-endless/
How Britain can remain a soft power superpower after Brexit
Art is a universal language and, to my mind at least, British art and culture represents the best in class it’s hard to imagine the global artistic and cultural landscape without the contribution of Britain.
Read more at:
https://theconversation.com/how-brit...r-brexit-97405
Electric Canadian
Transactions of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers
I discovered a lot of volumes of these transaction which are very detailed and note that they are very popular downloads so assume civil engineers are enjoying the details given in these transactions.
I've added the 1940 volume and will add others each week. You can view these at
http://www.electriccanadian.com/tran...rial/index.htm
Some of the topics discussed include Air Conditioning, Alaska Highway, Book Reviews, Developments in Alloys, Engineers for the Air Force, Industrial Development in Canada to Meet the War Emergency, Mineral Development North of 54°, Obituaries, Radio in Canada, Timber of Canada, War Potential of Canadian Industry, Water Supply Practice, etc.
Letters from High Latitudes
By Lord Dufferin (1906) (pdf)
Interesting account of visiting Iceland which you can read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/make...tudes_duff.pdf
Ireland
I have added three books about the Irish in Canada....
The Irish Canadian Rangers
Published in 1916 (pdf) and can be read at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...ianrangers.pdf
Irishmen in Canada
Their Union not inconsistent with the development of Canadian National Feeling by J. George Hodgins, LL.D. (1875) (pdf) which can be read at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist...eninCanada.pdf
Scenes and Incidents in Irish Life
By an Irishman (1884) (pdf) and you can read this at:
http://www.electriccanadian.com/hist.../irishlife.pdf
Index and Dictionary of Canadian History
Edited by Lawrence J. Burpee. F.R.G.S. Librarian of the Carnegie Library, Ottawa and Arthur G. Doughty, C.M.G., Litt.D., Dominion Archivist, Ottawa (1911) (pdf)
This Supplement is designed to supply a double need: it furnishes an analytical index to the entire series of twenty volumes; and it affords a great deal of additional information, bearing on the subject-matter of these volumes, but which from its very nature it was impossible to incorporate in the text. This additional information includes biographical sketches of the characters mentioned in each volume; similar sketches of prominent Canadians who for one reason or another do not appear in any of the twenty volumes; and brief descriptions of wars, battles, treaties, and political and other events having a vital bearing on the history of Canada. References have been added, wherever necessary, to the principal sources which the student may consult for further information. The whole has been thrown into one alphabetical arrangement, and it constitutes, to a large extent, a dictionary of Canadian history.
The twenty volumes are available on the site at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/makers/index.htm
You can read this at: http://www.electriccanadian.com/make...ofcanada21.pdf
Conrad Black
The forces of America's left were no match for Canadian intellect and English wit
http://www.conradmblack.com/1396/the...e-no-match-for
Electric Scotland
Commonwealth of Australia
Historical Records of Australia published in 1914 in 19 volumes. Intending to put up 1 volume a week until complete.
Added Volume 10 - January, 1819—December, 1822
You can get to this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...mmonwealth.htm
Scotch Readings
Humorous and Amusing by Alexander G. Murdoch (fifth edition) (1895) (pdf)
Of late years a somewhat new sort of literature has sprung up in our midst, which has taken considerable hold upon the estimation of the masses. The compositions here referred to may not, in the opinion of cultured litterateurs, be regarded as of a high order of merit, nor, indeed, of any great degree of interest. Nevertheless, there cannot be a doubt as to the feeling which is evinced by the people at large relative to the matter.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/humo...chreadings.pdf
Memoir of John Millar of Sheardale
With an Appendix by the Rev. Andrew Thomson, D.D. (1876) (pdf)
Glass and china merchant in Edinburgh.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/bibl...johnmillar.pdf
Diary, Meditations, and Letters of Mr. Joseph Williams
By Benjamin Hanbury (1826) (pdf)
Mr. Williams was one of the most extraordinary persons I was ever acquainted with. I compare him to a valuable ring, where grace, or the divine nature, is placed like a large, refulgent brilliant in the centre; while good temper, lively spirits, a constant cheerfulness, a tenacious memory, a ready utterance, and a pleasant wit, as so many gems, surround it; and all together made as complete a jewel as ever I knew.
The authors of the "History of Dissenters"; have given a sketch of the life of Mr. Williams, which they commence with these words:
"As the example of eminent ministers, which ecclesiastical history presents, is so frequently rendered inefficient to private Christians, by the notion that their superior religion was a professional excellence, which is not to be expected from those who are employed in secular affairs, the same propensity to excuse ourselves from resembling the eminent, may have induced some to remark, that the memoirs which we have given of persons not in the ministry, were taken from the higher ranks of life, when independent circumstances, and freedom from the distractions of business, render devotedness to the service of God and his church comparatively easy. It is therefore with peculiar pleasure that we now introduce to our readers a devout tradesman, whose religion, excellent for its own superiority to the ordinary standard, becomes still more valuable for the stimulus it furnishes to the great mass of mankind, who must ever, like him, be occupied with the labours of a secular calling."
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/bible/williams.pdf
The Shorter Catechism
With the Propositions separated and Proved for use of Schools and Families by John Millar (fifth edition) (pdf)
THE Fourth Edition of Mr Millar's Catechism having met with a rapid sale, a fifth and larger impression is now issued. THE design of the Assembly's Catechism in the present form, is to assist in promoting the knowledge and study of the Holy Scriptures in schools and families. To accomplish this, a variety of quotations have been selected, which serve to establish the propositions contained in the answers. And in order to induce the young “to search the Scriptures,” merely the introduction to each quotation is given. This causes application to be made to the Bible for the remainder, where in many cases it will be found necessary to peruse the whole paragraph; while the introduction serves to recal the quotations to the memory when they come to be repeated in school.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/bibl..._Catechism.pdf
The Ballads and Songs of Scotland
In view of their Influence on the Character of the People by J. Clark Murray LL.D. (1874) (pdf)
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/poet...ofScotland.pdf
Iceland
Or the Journal of a residence in that Island during the years 1814 and 1815 containing observations on he natural phenomena, History, Literature and Antiquituie of the Island; and the Religion, character, manners and customs of its inhabitants by Ebenezer Henderson (second edition) (1819) (pdf)
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/iceland/iceland.pdf
Memoir of the Rev. E. Henderson, D.D., PH.D.
Including his labours in Denmark, Iceland, Russia, etc. by Thulia S. Henderson (1859)
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/bibl...ehenderson.pdf
Memoir of George Thomson
Cameroons Mountains, West Africa by one of his nephews (1881) (pdf)
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...rgethomson.pdf
The Transactions and Journal of Proceedings of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History & Antiquarian Society
Added Session for 1891-92 and I've added one story from it as our Story for this week.
You can read this at: http://www.electricscotland.com/hist...sactions08.pdf
The Story
I remember reading this story some years ago but this version is a lot more detailed.
Shortbread at the Lord's Supper. By Rev. John H. Thomson.
In November, 1888, I was assisting at the dispensation of the Lords’ Supper in the Free Church congregation, Portpatrick. When the time came to remove the cloth that covered the bread for the Communion service, I was startled to notice that it was not the bread of a quarter loaf such as I had hitherto seen at the dispensation of the Lord’s Supper, but shortbread, made up into round thin cakes of half-an-inch or less in thickness, cut into eight sections, what, in Scotland, we call “Petticoat Tails.” My curiosity was excited, and I have been led to make inquiries as to past practice in the South of Scotland. The result of my inquiries is that, according to the late Rev. Mr Urquhart, of Portpatrick, it had been in use in Portpatrick from time immemorial. In Stranraer, in the Free Church congregation, shortbread has only been given up within the last few years, and loaf bread adopted in its place. About fifty years ago, according to the late Mr George Henderson of Nunholm, it was in use in St. Mary’s, Dumfries. In the parish of Newabbey a lady, the daughter of a former minister of the parish, tells me that she well remembers seeing the shortbread come from Dumfries on the Saturday before the Communion Sabbath. On asking a well-known baker in Dumfries if he had ever seen shortbread used at the dispensation of the Lord’s Supper, his reply was that he had never seen anything else in the country in his younger days. It was only when he came as a young man to the town that he had seen anything else. So far as I have been able to inquire, the use of shortbread at the Lord’s Supper is quite unknown in Edinburgh. I never heard of its use in the forty congregations of the Reformed Presbyterian Church that united with the Free Church in 1876. But the Rev. Mr Andson tells me that he has heard of its use in Arbroath; an Irish friend tells me that he has seen it used in Londonderry. Dean Stanley, in his “Christian Institutions,” fourth edition, page 61, has a note in which he refers to the use of “shortbread” in the Lord’s Supper in Galloway. The note is appended to a discussion on the Avafer, whether or not its form is derived from the large, round, thin biscuit of the Passover, the Paschal Cake. The Dean has doubts about this derivation, because the Greek Church, so tenacious of ancient customs, does not use the wafer; and, secondly, because the round form is sufficiently accounted for by the fact that the bread used by the ancient world (as seen in the bakers’ shops at Pompeii, and also in the paintings of the catacombs) was in the shape of round, flat cakes. The note is a curious one, and illustrates how even a most intelligent Englishman may fail to understand matters in Scotland. The Dean says—“ A curious example of an adventitious sacredness attaching itself to a particular form of sacramental bread is to be found in the use of ‘shortbread’ instead of the ordinary leavened or unleavened bread amongst the ‘hill men’ of Scotland.” “I myself,” writes a well-informed minister of the Church of Scotland, “thirty years ago assisted at an open-air Communion in the parish of Dairy, in Galloway, where this had been the custom from time immemorial. The minister’s wife sent so many pounds of fresh butter to a distant baker, and received back preparatory to the Communion so many cakes of ‘shortbread,’ i.e., brittle bread, which was kept nearly as carefully as a Roman Catholic would keep his wafer.” The note is interesting, although the good people in Dairy would be surprised to hear themselves called “hill men,” and that they attached any particular sacredness to the form of the bread used in the Lord’s Supper.
Dr John Lee, in his “History of the Church of Scotland,” vol. i., p. .389, has an appendix in which he gives extracts from Session and Burgh Records relative to the dispensation of the Communion. In the Edinburgh Session Records under “ 1560, Sondaj 2nd of March, ye Communion ministrat to John Knox in the hie kirk of Edinburgh. To H. Meffen, for vi** breid to the Communion, 40s; SJ- gallons wyne, 3/ 8s. 8th June, Second Communion, iij* breid, 30s; 8 gallons wine, 4/ 16s. 8th September. Third Communion, 24 breid, 28s; 64 gallons wyne, 31 10s.v There are several similar entries down to 9th May, 1574. In them all the bread is entered simply as bread. Am I right in inferring that shortbread in the Lord’s Supper was unknown to John Knox, that it was simply household bread that he employed, and that the use of shortbread must have been confined to districts away from the Metropolis, where old practices would not be so easily dislodged 1 What is the origin of this practice once so largely characteristic of the South of Scotland I Can it be because of the ease with which shortbread, i.e., brittle bread, can be broken for distribution among the communicants at a time when oat cakes, hard and not easily broken by the hand or the teeth, would be the bread in daily nse among the mass of the people, or can it be that the shortbread is a form of the unleavened bread of the middle ages that has still lingered in the South of Scotland long after leavened bread had been adopted in the large cities'? Perhaps the members of the Society can contribute materials to a right answer to these questions.
Rev. R. W. Weir said he had been brought up on the East Coast, amongst people who often talked about old church customs; and he thought if they had ever themselves witnessed a dispensation of the Communion with shortbread, or had heard of others having done so, they would have certainly mentioned it some time or other in his hearing. Dr Sprott, in his book, said it was a custom that prevailed in Dumfriesshire and Galloway, and that the explanation of it was that shortbread was unleavened bread. He had heard of it frequently since he came to the district; and he knew that in Buittle it was still used. As to the theory of un-leavened bread, he thought it very doubtful. He supposed that in this district there would be two kinds of bread, the oat bread for general use, and the shortbread for company use, and that at the Communion they naturally took the best kind of bread they knew of. In the minutes of the Dumfries Kirk-Session he had seen no notice of a change in the matter of providing the bread ; the change, he supposed, would be made without any decree on the part of the Kirk-Session. Similar changes had taken place in regard to the wine. He found in old days that in Dumfries and elsewhere it had always been claret that was used at the Communion; but there came a time when claret ceased to be so popular in Scotland, and port took its place. Then port was introduced as the Communion wine.
Mr Andson had never seen in Arbroath, his native town, shortbread employed, but he had heard it spoken of as used in former times at the Communion. He was not sure about its being unleavened bread. He thought Mr Weir’s impression was the correct one, that it was the finest kind of bread.
Mr Thomson, in answer to a question by Mr Weir, said that he had never heard of shortbread having been used at the Communion among the Cameronians.
Shortbread at the Lord's Supper.
Dr Chinnock stated that he had made enquiries regarding the use of shortbread at the communion, which the Rev. J. H. Thomson, Hightae, had stated at last meeting prevailed in the north of Ireland, and he had received the following reply from Dr Robert Ross, of Londonderry :-
Shortbread is used by my congregation, and I believe by all the other Presbyterian congregations in this city, at the Lord’s Supper. This has been the custom from time immemorial. The reason why shortbread is used at the Lord’s Supper is not that the Jews used unleavened bread at the Passover, but it is in conformity to our Lord’s example in using unleavened bread when he instituted the sacrament of the Supper. It is certain that He used the bread they were eating when observing the Passover, and that was unleavened bread. The Presbyterians here would not sanction any departure from the rule of strict conformity to his example when that is clearly known; and “leaven” in Scripture usage is the symbol of “hypocrisy” or “malice,” in a word of “evil,” which permeates society as “leaven” does the substance with which it is mixed. Unleavened bread then is the symbol of purity, sincerity, charity, and is therefore used by the Presbyterian churches here at the Lord’s Supper. Our Lord’s parable of “leaven” hid in three measures of meal is an exception to the general rule of Scripture usage. In the parable it is the symbol of life—life multiplying with great rapidity and causing what we call fermentation. I have no doubt but that the custom is adhered to by the churches here on the ground of conformity to our Lord’s example, and of the spiritual import of “leaven” regarded as a symbol.
Mr Thomson stated that he had a letter from the Rev. Mr Weir, who regretted that he was not able to be present, and who enclosed a number of letters on the subject. He had also some other letters, of which he proposed to submit a synopsis to another meeting. Mr Weir had written to Dr Sprott of North Berwick, one of the chief authorities in the Established Church, but he was not able to give any information on the subject. The Rev. Jardine Wallace, Traquair, wrote:
Shortbread was used in St. Michael's Church, Dumfries, up to November 20, 1864, when my father, Dr Wallace, died. I remember the circumstance well, for I took the opportunity of saying to some of the elders of St. Michael’s, after my father’s death, that they should now make use of common loaf bread in the communion. My reason for doing so was chiefly that shortbread is very brittle and inconvenient to handle. The cakes were large and round, with a dividing line down the centre and also across, in order to assist the officiating clergy in breaking. But strangers who assisted my father at such times were often afraid to touch the bread in case of an accident.
Rev. Mr Fraser, of Colvend, had written an interesting letter. He said :
When I came here, now forty-seven years ago, shortbread was the bread used in all the surrounding parishes, and in the parishes in the Stewartry generally. It was certainly used in Colvend, Buittle, Urr, Ivirkgunzeon, Parton, Corsock, and Kirkbean and Newabbey. Mr M'Lelland, my oldest elder, tells me that about the year 1818 he was present in Dr Wardlaw’s Church, Glasgow, and that the bread used was shortbread. Dr Wardlaw, as you know, was a Congregationalist. This, I think, is an interesting fact, and shows that the custom was not confined to Galloway or to congregations of the Established Church. I had an interesting conversation with Mr John Paterson, baker, Dalbeattie, whose father used to supply shortbread to several of the surrounding parishes for the communion ; and his impression is that in his father’s time shortbread was universally used throughout the Stewartry. The ministers and elders of Galloway in the last century were of a stern and unbending character, and would probably oppose any change in the bread of the communion, hence, perhaps, the continuance of the custom so long in this quarter.
In a second letter Mr Fraser said :
Mr Dunlop, my assistant, himself an Irishman, tells me that he communicated some 10 or 12 years ago in Duncairn Church, Belfast, the minister of which at the time was the Rev. Dr Killen, and that the bread used was shortbread. I asked if Dr Killen was a Scotchman, thinking that he might have imported the use of shortbread from Scotland; but it appears he was Irish. But, then, the Presbyterians in Ulster are mainly of Scotch descent; they might have brought the use of shortbread with them at their immigration.
Rev. Mr Sturrock, Corsock, had written a letter, in which he stated that he wished to introduce a change, but was prevented by oue of his elders. Rev. R. Moreson, Kintail, Strome Ferry, wrote that there was no tradition there as to the use of any kind of bread at the communion except the ordinary wheaten loaf, which, in the recollection of the oldest inhabitant, used to be got all the way from Inverness. Mr Thomson stated that he had written to the Rev. Dr Groold, who had never heard of the use of shortbread until he mentioned it to him. ne (Mr Thomson) suggested that it was just possible that it was a relic from the Celtic Church. The great German or Frisian invasion ended somewhere about Lockerbie, and entirely heathenised the country that had been Christianised under Roman rule, and he supposed it remained heathen until the arrival of Mungo in the beginning of the seventh century. He came as a missionary from the Roman Church, and introduced Roman methods, but the Celtic Church retained the older methods. He was supposing that the Celtic Church would be confined to Galloway, or to Portpatrick or Loch Ryan; that in that district it remained strictly Celtic.
Rev. John Cairns remarked that Mungo would be as pure as any of the missionaries. Ninian came from Rome, but not Mungo.
Mr Thomson said he assumed that Galloway remained under the influence of the Celtic Church.
Dr Chinnock observed that the prevalence of the custom among the Presbyterians of Ulster would seem to show that when they immigrated it was universal in Scotland.
Mr Thomson mentioned, in conclusion, that the use of shortbread had been given up at Portpatrick since he carried away the cakes.
Mr Barbour, architect, said he had information that it was in use in Kells until twelve years ago and in Dalry until four years ago.
And that's it for this week and hope you have a great weekend.
Alastair
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