The Scottish Snippets Newsletter in its original format began in April 1997 and continued in an unbroken series for 591 issues. Although no longer produced in that format there is now a regular update on the new and updated pages on the Rampant Scotland site and also "Scottie's Diary" on an intermittent basis, To receive this, kust send an e-mail to Scottie with "Subscribe Newsletter" in the subject line.
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The architect at the centre of the project to create the new Parliament building at Holyrood has suggested that MSPs might not be able to move in until the end of 2004 - two years after the current target date. Benedetta Tagliabue, the widow of architect Enric Miralles, made the comments during a lecture in London. But Scottish Parliament officials strenuously denied that there was any delay and that the 2004 date was a "language mistake". The official position is that the building will be completed at the end of 2002, followed by a period of fitting out and entry by MSPs in April 2003.
Tony Blair, the UK Prime Minister, came to Scotland on Friday to meet farmers from Dumfries and Galloway and National Farmer's Union in Scotland leaders. 97 out of 99 confirmed cases of foot and mouth disease (called hoof and mouth in other parts of the world) in sheep and cattle in Scotland are in that area. The government had been heading in the direction of agreeing to a limited vaccination policy. But the Scottish farmers believe that the policy of creating a "firebreak" by killing animals within 3 kilometres of a confirmed case is producing results. They persuaded him to hold back on implementing vaccination in Scotland. The Prime Minister also appeared on American TV saying "There is no reason why the average tourist can't come here and have exactly the same holiday as they have always had." This is well illustrated by the "Walking Wild" Web site which has an impressive list of all the country walks which are open. See 
Two single-seat F15 fighter bombers disappeared from the radar screens while on a training mission in the Cairngorm mountains early this week. Search parties and mountain rescue teams were hampered by snowstorms and it took two days to recover the bodies of the two pilots from Ben Macdhui. The search parties started without knowing where in a 100 square miles the planes had come down. It is thought that the planes collided in a snowstorm while on a low level training flight. Both aircraft were based at RAF Lakenheath in Surrey.
Luxury flats in the former main Post Office building in Glasgow's George Square were snapped up when the sales office opened for the first time last weekend. Property worth more than £10 million was sold in just ten hours with customers making deposits on 48 of the 61 available flats. But five of the six luxury penthouse flats costing £500,000 were still available. Demand for the other flats (starting at one bedroom flats costing £125,000) meant that some buyers queued for 24 hours before the sales office opened.
The former main Post Office Building in Edinburgh closed a number of years ago and there have been rumours about it being converted to a luxury hotel (the five-star Balmoral is on the other corner of North Bridge) but these have not materialised. Now it is being suggested that it could be converted into offices to house Edinburgh City Council staff who are currently spread in various buildings across the city. This would provide local tax payers with a "one-stop-shop" for council services. But it would be expensive to convert and the council has other options - including the much reviled former Scottish Office Building at St James Square. It would be ironic if the city chose the cheaper option - saving an ugly building and abandoning an attractive one.
Proposals to grant a further £100,000 to the cash-strapped Lighthouse design centre in Glasgow were attacked by some city councillors this week when the plan was debated. A report on the finances of the project says that it cannot survive without additional subsidy from the public purse. But Scottish Socialist Party leader Tommy Sheridan described the finances of the Lighthouse as resembling a bottomless pit. But council leaders pointed out that the city owns the building and pulling the plug on the project would mean having an empty custom-made building on their hands. The council agreed last December to provide short term help of over £400,000 in addition to an annual revenue grant of £100,000. A revenue grant of this size will be required for at least another two years. The building, originally designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh as a newspaper publishing office, was converted at a cost of £13 million to an exhibition and conference centre as a part of Glasgow's City of Architecture festival in 1999
AG Barr, manufacturers of Irn-Bru, Tizer and Orangina brands has reported profits up from £12 million to £13.9 million for the year to 27 January. The first half of the year had been difficult but better weather in the last six months of 2000 had boosted sales. Sales in the UK were up 4% over the year.
Mainly dull and damp for most of the week with a cold wind at the start of the week. There was more snow in the mountains of the Highlands but the thermometer rose by the end of the week. Glasgow reached 9C (48F) on Friday and the outlook is for a spell of even milder weather early next week.
A commemorative service is to take place in Galashiels on the Scottish Borders on April 22 to celebrate the opening of Dryburgh Abbey 850 years ago. The service will be a combined one involving the local Roman Catholic and Episcopal churches in Galashiels. Dryburgh was founded in 1150 by Hugh de Moreville, one of the many Anglo-Normans who came north with King David I in the first half of the 12th century.
In the days of Robert the Bruce it was quite normal to remove the internal organs of a deceased noble or king before embalming the body for burial. In the case of Robert the Bruce himself, his body was buried in Dunfermline Abbey but his heart was taken in a casket on a Holy Crusade by James Douglas but was brought back to be buried in Melrose Abbey. The illustration is of the casket said to contain the heart of Robert the Bruce buried at the Abbey. Now an amateur historian, who has trawled through ancient documents for the last 30 years, claims that the king's internal organs were buried in St Serf's Chapel, an ancient church in Dumbarton. The king died nearby at Cardross on 7 July 1329 and the historian has uncovered financial records for Dumbarton Castle which detail a modest burial service for the king at St Serf's. His research has impressed Historic Scotland who have declared the remains of St Serf's to be a national monument and has issued a protection order.
The community museum in the Springburn area of Glasgow opened in 1986. It displayed the history of the railway industry in that part of Scotland which housed railway yards at Cowlairs, St Rollox, Hyde Park and Atlas Works. Locomotives were built there and exported to all parts of the world. The engineering works are long gone and now the Springburn Museum, housed in a room of the local library, has had to close its doors too as funds to keep the museum trust going have dried up. The museum had 10,000 visitors last year but needed £30,000 to remain open and Glasgow City Council declined to take on the cost. The illustration is of a display in the museum of a typical Springburn (or Glasgow) tenement (flat) with a "bed recess" in the main living room in which parents usually slept.
The open grassland in front of the National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh is to be landscaped this summer to form an s-shaped hill and water feature designed by an American architectural critic, Charles Jencks. The "earth sculpture" will be nine metres high and be larger than a football (soccer) pitch. This will be the first stage in the creation of a new cultural attraction displaying some of the sculptures in the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland. The aim is to create the biggest and finest sculpture park in Britain.
Alexander Stoddart, a Paisley-based neo-classical sculptor has been commissioned by the Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace to make two huge friezes for an extension to the gallery, four relief panels, two free-standing figures and a new bust of the Queen as she was at the time of her coronation in 1953. The commission, worth £350,000, is part of the plans to celebrate the Queen's golden jubilee in the spring of next year. Stoddart is regarded as controversial because of his outspoken views on contemporary sculpture. Stoddart made the statue of the philosopher David Hume which is displayed in the Royal Mile in Edinburgh (pictured here). A spokeswoman for the Royal Collection said that he had been selected because his work "reflects the sculptural tradition already in Buckingham Palace. He is currently working on a statue of John Witherspoon for Paisley University (with a twin for Princeton University).
Captain Colin Hendry was both hero and villain in this World Cup Qualifying match against bottom of the section San Marino at Hampden Park this week. Hendry, a defender, showed the forwards the way by scoring the first two goals. It was the first time that Hendry had scored twice in an international. Billy Dodds scored the third goal a minute later. 3-0 up at half time, Scotland piled on the pressure but the only further goal came from Colin Cameron in the 64th minute. Towards the end of the match came the incident which blotted Colin Hendry's record sheet. As San Marino substitute Nicola Albani continued to pull at his jersey from behind during a set piece attack, Hendry swing his elbow back and connected with his windpipe. Albani went down and had to be stretchered off. The referee did not see the incident but the football authorities will be reviewing the video tape evidence and Hendry - playing in his 51st international for Scotland - may yet be punished for lashing out.
