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.
Current Affairs
|
Historical Affairs - Topical Items from Scotland's Past
|
Entertainment
|
Sport
|
|
Where else would you like to go in Scotland?
At the launch of the second annual report of the Scottish Parliament, Sir David Steel the Presiding Officer (equivalent of Speaker) warned that the legislature could become paralysed if the number of Members of the Scottish Parliament were reduced below the current level of 129. The reduction is built into the Act of Parliament which set up the new parliament - Scotland is currently over represented at the Parliament at Westminster on the basis of population. Sir David says that he believes that while the number in Westminster will be reduced, the number of MSPs will not be substantially altered. The "annual report" on the parliament's activities in the last year shows that 13 new bills were introduced, 14 bills were passed into law and the 17 Parliamentary Committees carried out 60 inquiries. For the first time, the annual report is available in Gaelic.
More than 200 Glasgow firemen gathered at the Firefighter statue in the centre of the city to pay tribute to the US firefighters who were killed in the Twin Towers catastrophe on 11 September. The memorial service was also attended by the Deputy First Minister, Jim Wallace and the Lord Provost of Glasgow. The statue outside Glasgow's Central station was erected earlier this year in memory of Glasgow and West of Scotland firemen who had lost their lives.
In a frank interview with the "Scotsman" newspaper marking his first full year in office, Henry McLeish the First Minister in the Scottish Executive admitted this week that he was a failure at school because he was too keen on playing football and did not spend enough time on his studies. Unlike many of his political colleagues in Edinburgh and London, who shone at school and went on to excel at university, Mr McLeish left school at 15 and signed for Leeds United Football Club. But he became homesick and returned to play for East Fife instead. While there, he began studying again and when his football career ended prematurely due to injury, he secured a place at Heriot-Watt University to study urban planning. Since then, he reckons he has become a "workaholic" and makes up for a lack of academic brilliance with sheer hard work. Mr Mcleish has also revealed that he has a passion for America - Oklahoma in particular, where he has visited 15 times in the last 13 years.
Fire engulfed the 100-year-old Bower Building in Glasgow University on Wednesday causing millions of pounds worth of damage and destroying an irreplaceable collection of 19th century books, including works by Charles Darwin. The building is used by biomedical and life sciences students and staff and some of their work was also lost, including records of at least 2,000 undergraduates. The fire broke out in the top floor of the building at 1.30pm and the 40 occupants evacuated the building as soon as the alarm was raised. Nearby buildings were also emptied as a precaution and at one point the entire University lost its electricity supply. The building had celebrated its 100th birthday in June.
Perhaps we should refer to them as "HBOS" - the new name for the Bank of Scotland after their merger with Halifax - but few people even in Scotland have got used to the new title. But perhaps the name won't matter when their corporate banking division sets out to fulfill their planned growth in continental Europe. They believe (like their rivals, the Royal Bank of Scotland) that there is lucrative business to be had there and they have just appointed four new corporate senior executives to help them win market share. Bank of Scotland already has offices in Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam and is to open new operations in Milan and Stockholm in the next few months. The bank has already written around £1 billion of corporate business on the continent. But although they compete aggressively with the Royal Bank, on the bigger deals they work together as they know each other's cultures well.
The volume of whisky exports from Scotland rose by 11.2% in the first six months of 2001, helped by a recovery in the Asian markets (up by over 30%) and increasing demand in continental Europe. However, the figures look better, in part, because of a low volume in the first half of 2000 as customers ran down stocks after the Millennium celebrations. The Scotch Whisky Association report that the equivalent of 461 million bottles of whisky were exported between January and June this year. The US is the biggest market for Scotch whisky and is a major purchaser of bottled-in-Scotland single malts.
Robin Pellew, the new chief executive of the National Trust for Scotland (which owns and manages around 100 properties across the country) said that the public perception of the organisation being only interested in large and well-maintained buildings (like Culzean Castle, illustrated here) laid it open to accusations of elitism. This, despite the good number of smaller properties, crofts and mountain ranges - and a record number of 245,410 members. The gap between income and expenditure has now reached over £2 million, a situation which has been aggravated by reduced visitor numbers this year. Costs have also risen because of the need to meet health and safety regulations at many of the Trust's properties. Mr Pellew also argues that the organisation must also make their properties even more attractive to the public as they are operating in a very competitive market place.
The interim body which is managing Scotland's first national park covering Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, has said that it is looking at the feasibility of commercial passenger boats on the loch using solar power in the future. The solar panels react to ultra-violet light, so the lack of sunshine in a sometimes cloudy and wet part of Scotland would not be a problem. Such a solution to noise and pollution is already being tried out on the Norfolk Broads in England. Water from Loch Lomond is used as drinking water for Glasgow and with 5,000 craft using the water there are distinct signs of pollution from all those engines. The illustration here is of one of the boats at Balloch which makes pleasure trips on Loch Lomond. The only ship allowed on Loch Katrine (which also supplies water to Scotland's largest city) is powered by a coal-fired steam engine. But water sports have become a popular leisure activity on Loch Lomond. 
The collapse of a neighbouring building in Glasgow's Candleriggs ten days ago has resulted in the loss of "Granny Black's" - one of the city's oldest pubs, established in the 1890s. It's Victorian decor was removed in the 1960s and in recent years it had become a haunt of office workers and residents in the trendy "Merchant City".
In 1979, when Iceland unilaterally extended its territorial waters to 200 miles, UK fishermen, many from Scottish ports, fought a battle to be allowed to continue fishing in their traditional fishing grounds in the area. When eventually the UK government admitted defeat in what became known as the "Cod Wars", a compensation fund was set up for fishermen who lost their jobs. But red tape and the need to prove "continuous service" on boats involved resulted in many claims being rejected or caught up in the administrative process. Recently, the Aberdeen Press & Journal newspaper took up the cause, not only leading a vociferous campaign but producing from their archives photos of many boats which were involved in order to assist in the required "proof". Now the government has climbed down and introduced less stringent rules and allocated another £10 million for the compensation fund. It is thought that up to 150 Aberdeen fishermen and another 1,150 in England will now have their claims met - 20 years after the event.
The vehicle licensing authority set up an auction in Glasgow this week of number plates which they thought might be of interest in Scotland. Glasgow citizens who wanted to promote the "dear green plates" were encouraged to bid for GLA56OW while residents of the neighbouring town of Paisley (currently striving to be appointed a city) could compete for P415LEY while Rangers fans might find parking 18ROX at Ibrox stadium would draw a few admiring glances. Other football fans have not been overlooked with H34RTS available. Also for sale were NES51E and MON573R which may be snapped up by someone living around Loch Ness to make sure that Nessie gets spotted on the roads as well as the loch. The sale of special number plates has raised £570 million for the government since the scheme was introduced in 1989. I wonder how much I would need to buy SCO77Y (Scotty)?
The weather station at Glasgow reported that in the first six days of this week the sun only broke through the clouds once (for a total of 1.7 hours) and that there was some rain every day this week. In total there was about 1.5 inches of rain fell on Glasgow in the week but that was at least a lot better than south-east England where in some parts over three inches of rain fell in less than a day, causing a number of rivers to burst their banks. Thick fog enveloped the north-east of Scotland at the start of the week. A local weather forecaster described it as "grey, dreich, damp and miserable". Some flights to Aberdeen's airport at Dyce were cancelled as a result and roads were affected by fog and rain. By Friday, however, the sun had reappeared and although there were still some light showers around.
Robert the Bruce sent the English home to think again at the battle of Bannockburn in 1314. But this week the "Auld Enemy" were in Bannockburn again but this time to assist in saving the site of Scotland's most famous victory. The Battlefields Trust is an English organisation which helps to preserve the ancient battlegrounds south of the border. But they held their annual conference at the King Robert Hotel in Bannockburn to highlight the need to preserve the site of the battle which cost 10,000 English lives. While the National Trust has a visitor centre at Bannockburn and there is an impressive statue of Robert the Bruce on his charger there, some historians are convinced that it is located in the wrong place - and that the real site of the battle is under threat from developers. During the conference, the idea of setting up a Scottish version of the Battlefields Trust will be debated.
Historic Scotland are organising a special exhibition next year to commemorate the peace treaty which was signed between Scotland and England - in 1502. Not that the "Treaty of Perpetual Peace" as it was called stopped one of the bloodiest battles between the two countries in 1513 at Flodden. To mark the signing of the treaty an exhibition entitled "The Thistle and the Rose - a story of marriage, peace and war" is being held in Stirling Castle. It will feature the original treaty documents, and the preparations for the marriage in 1503 of King James IV to Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England. It was that marriage which ultimately led to the Union of the Crowns of Scotland and England in 1603.
An independent audit report by the Scottish Museums Council has found that the museums in Glasgow have over a million artefacts and works of art of which nearly a third are of international importance and a further 54% are of national or regional significance. The report will help Glasgow City Council in their efforts to gain more government funding - currently 94% of the income needed to run the museums come from local tax payers. The situation in Edinburgh is markedly different where central government funding is the norm.
The staff at the Crannog Centre on Loch Tay had a unique problem this week when they were presented with an "Investors in People" award - how do you fix a bronze plaque on walls made of wicker-work? The Crannog Centre was created in 1997 to promote the study and preservation of ancient loch dwellings. A replica of one of the crannogs (houses built off-shore, on stilts) has been built on the south bank of Loch Tay. It has attracted 80,000 visitors since it opened. The Investors in People Award is presented to companies and organisations which demonstrate their commitment to staff training and development.
The first ever West Sound Radio Burns Supper was in January 1986 and was meant to be a one-off event marking the bicentenary of the Kilmarnock edition of poems. But it proved to be much more popular than had anticipated and it had to be held in the Glasgow Thistle and not in Ayrshire as originally intended. 1000 men and women attended and since then they have attracted that number to the event each year. It is claimed that it is the biggest formal Burns Supper in the world. Next year's event is being held in Glasgow's Thistle Hotel, on Saturday 19th January, 2002.
When he won the Open Championship at Carnoustie in 1999, a great future was forecast for Scottish golfer Paul Lawrie. But, in the intervening 27 months, he has failed to win a tournament. But that changed dramatically on Monday when he won £550,000 at the Dunhill Links Championship at the Old Course in St Andrews with a 60-foot put on the last green. Things had looked good for Lawrie earlier in the tournament when in the third round he had the lowest score of his career so far - a nine-under-par 63. He had needed a par at the last green to go into a sudden-death play-off with Ernie Els and struck the ball firmly towards the hole to get close - and instead sank the putt. His prize money of over half a million pounds was £200,000 more than his Open Championship win.
