The Rampant Scotland Newsletter - your weekly insight into what has been happening in Scotland, snipped from the Scottish media, for Scots in Scotland and abroad, bringing you news, events plus a Scottish magazine section. Printed with 100% recycled electrons.
Previous editions of this Newsletter are available in the Archive and the Index to the other pages of the Rampant Scotland site is available here.
Rampant Scotland Newsletter is also available by e-mail. Just send an e-mail to Scottie with "Subscribe Newsletter" as the subject line and a text version of these free Scottish snippets of news will arrive in your mailbox every weekend!
|
Historical Affairs - Topical Items from Scotland's Past
|
|
|
The "Magazine" section includes songs/poems of Scotland, Scottish humour and brief descriptions of Scottish Culture items added recently to the Rampant Scotland Website - with a link to the page where you can find the full feature, if you find the subject of interest to you.
This poem by Alexander Gray tells the frequently told story of the reluctant girl being gently persuaded by her boyfriend to go out for a walk and leave her chores behind. Persuasion Haste ye to the window, Jean,
'Tammas, I've a heap to dae;
Jeannie lass, come doon the stair;
'Tammas, you've nae mense ava;
Jeannie, let's gae up the hill;
'Tammas, wha' can eat brent bread?
Meaning of unusual words:
|
Where else would you like to go in Scotland?
As Prime Minister Tony Blair resolutely defended his policies on Iraq at a Labour Party Conference in the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow (pictured here), tens of thousands of demonstrators, waving placards calling for "Peace not War," marched from Glasgow Green to the SECC to tell him that he was wrong. In what was described as the largest public march in Scotland in living memory (Strathclyde police estimated 30,000, the organisers claimed 80,000) the head of the march had arrived at the SECC before the last of the marchers had left Glasgow Green, 1½ miles away. But by the time they got there, Tony Blair had made his speech to the conference and had departed. The Scottish National Party leader, John Swinney, was one of those at the head of the march, accompanied by other political and religious leaders and celebrities.
The original target date of July 2001 for the completion of the new Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood in Edinburgh was, perhaps, a touch optimistic. But this week the Parliament's finance committee were told that they might be in the new building by January 2004. But there is no timetable for the final testing of internal IT and broadcasting systems so even that date is not firm. LIkewise, the total cost of the building, including landscaping, of £338 million is not fixed. But at least it has not risen since last month's report.
The first official detailed figures from the 2001 Census were published this week by the registrar general for Scotland. They show that there is a growing number of people living here whose origins are outside of Scotland. 8% were born in England (an increase of 1% from 1991) and ethnic minorities (mainly Pakistani, Chinese and Indian) account for around 2% of the population. Only 42.5% of families were made up of married couples with the number of single people who have never married up by 4% to 31%. A question on religion was included for the first time - 42.4% said they were Church of Scotland while 27.5% said they had no religion. Efforts to persuade commuters to use public transport to get to work were shown to be failing, with 64% travelling by car - up from 56% ten years before. The number of households without a car fell from 43% in 1991 to 34% in 2001. But over half of Glasgow's residents said they had no car. As expected, the number of Gaelic speakers in Scotland fell, from 65,980 in 1991 to 58,552, 1.16% of the population. In 1891 there were 254,415 Gaels in the census that year. However, the rate of decline appeared to slow in the last ten years.
Figures just published show that in the first 11 months of 2002, Edinburgh's leading hotels (that's the Balmoral pictured here) were on target to record their best-ever occupancy rate. The 76% figure is even more impressive when the extra new hotels which have become available are taken into account. And room occupancy rates in 2002 for guest houses and smaller hotels were at their highest levels for six years. The Edinburgh Festival, which had a record-breaking year, was another indicator of a successful year for tourism in the capital.
The distinctive whorls of the teardrop Paisley Pattern are known around the world. The pattern is recorded in Paisley Museum and Art Gallery and although its origins are obscure, it was the specialist weaving skills in Paisley in the 1840s which first made the design available to a world-wider audience. Now, it appears that a Japanese company is trying to patent the term Paisley Museum and the distinctive patterns in Japan. Paisley and Renfrewshire Council have engaged a specialist in intellectual property disputes to defend their position. The potential hi-jacking of the design was brought to light by another Japanese company - which had been discussing paying royalties to Paisley for the use of the designs.
Over the last two years the fines paid by motorists caught speeding in radar traps in Glasgow and five other areas of the UK have been ploughed back into increasing the number of cameras - and the number which actually operate. Campaigners claim that the project has had a dramatic effect in reducing the number of road traffic accidents. On average, deaths and injuries declined by a third in the six areas. But in Strathclyde, the reduction was two-thirds. It is perhaps debatable whether all the reduction was due to speed cameras - despite the huge increase in vehicles on the roads, deaths and injuries have been declining for many years. The number killed in Glasgow is at a 70-year low. Alcohol is still a major factor, with over 50% of people involved in traffic accidents drinking alcohol prior to the incident. But the perceived success of the scheme means that many more speed cameras will be installed - paid for by motorists who get caught.
Currently around 8% of Scotland's household rubbish is recycled - mainly paper, glass and aluminium cans. But plans being drawn up by the Scottish Executive will include a target of getting that figure up to 50% by 2020. It will mean households having to separate waste into a number of different containers in order to reduce the amount being dumped into landfill sites. But the present target of achieving 25% by 2006 seems doomed to failure as local authorities struggle to provide recycling facilities. In the Highlands, only 2% of all waste is recycled - though it could perhaps be argued that the cost of transport makes recycling even more uneconomic there. 30% of all domestic waste is recycled in Germany, 31% in the USA, 45% in the Netherlands. But building a large number of recycling depots and having kerbside collection points is likely to be resisted by residents and could face lengthy planning inquiries. 
The internationally renowned Glasgow School of Art is to cut the number of staff because of a funding crisis. It is thought that the school is aiming to save £500,000 a year. It is already asking for voluntary redundancies and has not ruled out the necessity of compulsory redundancies. There are currently 345 staff at the GSA. Over the last four years, the percentage increase in funds from the government has been less than the level of the annual pay award to staff. There have also been rising employer's national insurance costs and pension contributions. Recent published figures show that there will be no significant increase in funding over the next three years. 
The Church of Scotland is so short of ministers that it has begun a training programme for church elders so that they can conduct services at the grave side or in crematoria, relieving the over-worked ordained clergy. The church says that the measure should not be seem as an "act of desperation" but as a way of making better use of lay people in the Kirk. There is currently a shortfall of 13% in the number of ministers. 20% of those in post are due to retire in the next five years and the level of recruitment nowhere near matching that. These figures do not take into account regional differences, however - rural communities have a greater shortage. In Caithness, in the far north of mainland Scotland, half the churches have long-term vacancies.
Arthur's Seat in Holyrood Park looms over the city of Edinburgh and is a popular place for walkers, especially the western route to the summit. But over the years the large number of hikers have been causing problems of erosion. Historic Scotland, who administer the beauty spot, have now laid a new path over 200 metres long which zig-zags up the side of the former volcanic plug. The path is being covered with seventy-five tonnes of natural basalt stone from a quarry in Haddington which was the nearest match for the volcanic stone found in the park. A helicopter is having to make 145 trips to drop the stone along the length of a trench hacked into the hillside.
A chilly week, with cold winds making it feel even colder. Daytime temperatures were around 7/8C (45/46F) at the start of the week but dipped as low as 3C (37F) in Edinburgh on Friday. But the clear skies which produced some frosty nights also meant that there was a fair amount of sunshine during the day although there was some heavy rain on Tuesday. The outlook is for the weather to continue dry, bright but cold.
John Muir, the conservationist born and brought up in Dunbar in East Lothian, is competing with grizzly bears, the Golden Gate Bridge and Hollywood for the honour of being on the back of 25-cent pieces issued in California. The Californian Historical Society, which voted Muir as the "greatest Californian" has been waging a campaign on his behalf to have him selected for the coin. The contest has been narrowed down to a final list of 20, including Muir whose writings led to the creation of the Sequoia and Yosemite national parks and the national park movement in general. 200 sites in the US are named after him.
Considering some of the strange buildings which are given the protection of "Listed" status (the gas-holder in Granton always springs to mind) it came as a surprise to many to find that the Odeon cinema in Glasgow, which had its art deco frontage restored only a few years ago, is not listed and could be demolished by any new buyer. Historic Scotland have been urged to recognise the oversight, although it is accepted that it is only the facade which remains - over the years the building behind has been adapted several times and is now a multi-plex cinema. It is thought that the Odeon may be forced to close because of a slump in audiences after the completion of the much larger UGC cinema only a few blocks away. The Odeon opened as the Paramount in 1934.
One of the casualties in the disastrous fire in the Old Town of Edinburgh last month was the Gilded Balloon Theatre. The building on Cowgate was the most high profile loss in the fire which caused tens of millions of pounds worth of damage. The Gilded Balloon was a popular venue for comedians in the Edinburgh Festival and the building - with all its records - was completely destroyed. But comics from across the UK have rallied in support and following a sell-out fund-raising benefit in London, a similar event is to be staged in Edinburgh next month at the Festival Theatre in the capital. The Gilded Balloon made a name for itself over the years as a place where new comedy acts were discovered and many of those who launched their careers there are behind the show.
The 400ft Glasgow Tower, which is the only one in the world where the entire structure rotates 360 degrees, has been open for fewer than 100 days since it was officially launched in October 2001as part of the Glasgow Science Centre. Initially, the problems were with the lifts taking sightseers to the observation platform which gives tremendous views over Glasgow. Then it was found that the bearings, which allow the tower to rotate, had broken. For the last eleven months, engineers have struggled to repair these bearings. Now, perhaps with some relief, the Science Centre has announced that a solution has been found - though they still don't know when it will reopen. Even without the Tower, however, the Glasgow Science Centre has increased visitor numbers by 21% over the last three months, compared with a year ago. The attraction expects to have their millionth visitor later this year.
A £250 million film studio development, on an 800-acre site near Aberuthven, five miles from the five-star Gleneagles Hotel, has been served with a court order issued on behalf of the hotel, preventing it from using the Gleneagles name. Previously known as the Gleneagles Film Studio Partnership, the promoters had thought that they had an understanding with the hotel to use the name, which is protected by trademark. The planned development in Perthshire includes housing and leisure facilities and although it would create around 1,000 jobs, residents in the area have lodged objections, saying that it would swamp this quiet part of the country.
British Waterways have announced that they are to create more new facilities along the Forth and Clyde Canal including new permanent visitor services at Kirkintilloch, Grangemouth and the Falkirk Wheel - the world's first rotating boat lift. It is hoped that the new facilities will encourage more people to use the canal network - there were 500 sea lock movements from April to December last year. The Forth and Clyde Canal was reopened last year after a £84.5 million project financed in the main from National Lottery Funds.
Although "only" a friendly international, there is no doubt that players try just as hard to win these games as in real competitions. But it was the Irish who tried harder and had more skill to defeat a dismal Scots side which managed only one shot on target at goal during the 90 minutes in this game at Hampden (pictured here). There are reports that the Scotland manager, Berti Vogts, now realises that he has a tougher job on his hands than he thought when he took the job. And well he might, after only three wins in 13 games. Sports commentators described the Scotland performance as a "shambles" after Ireland were two goals ahead after 17 minutes, both after defensive mistakes. And Ireland were playing without four of their best players. Perhaps the only consolation was that they managed to defend well enough after losing two goals so that they didn't concede any more. Perhaps for the match against Iceland next month, Scotland's German manager can wave a magic wand (he's tried everything else, such as 42 different players, including 22 new international players, in the last year).
Scotland kick of this year's Six Nation's Tournament on Sunday, 16 February with odds at the bookmakers of 66-1 against to win the championship and 100-1 against winning all their games and the magical "Grand Slam." Their first game (at Murrayfield in Edinburgh - pictured here) is against Ireland. The match is already a sell-out with 67,500 tickets sold. The tactics of lowering ticket prices has not only increased the numbers attending, but also the income earned by the Scottish Rugby Union. This match is the most lucrative ever staged by the SRU. A week later Scotland play France in Paris. This season, the match against England is on 22 March at Twickenham.
The curling stone which clinched the gold medal for the ladies' curling team at last year's Winter Olympics, is to be sent to Scotland after a search lasting nearly a year. The specific 42lb granite rock was watched by an estimated 6 million viewers in the UK, as team captain Rhona Martin sent it down the ice in the last - and winning - shot. The stone, made in Mauchline in Ayrshire from Ailsa Craig granite, later disappeared. But it was eventually tracked down, through its serial number, to a store at the Weber County Ice Sheet in Utah. It will be handed over later this month to Rhona Martin who will receive it on behalf of the Institute of Scottish Sport. It will then go on permanent display in the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in Edinburgh.
