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.
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.
The bill for the new Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood in Edinburgh has now officially topped the £400 million mark - and nobody knows what the final figure will be. The latest price hike was largely due to the delays in completion of the building which resulted in services such as cranes and other items being required for longer. A more detailed breakdown of costs has now been published and it shows that fitting out the debating chamber has risen from just over £5 million in 1998 to a current estimate of nearly £12 million and those fancy windows on MSPs offices have gone up in price from £2.5 million to £5.9 million. A parliament spokesman claimed that a significant part of the increasing costs was due to increased blast-protection in the wake of the September 11 attacks, which also caused major delays to the timetable. But the current schedule is two years later than originally planned in 1998.
John Swinney, the leader of the Scottish National Party, won a comfortable majority after a leadership challenge was put to the vote at the party's annual conference in Inverness this week. Activist Bill Wilson was unrepentant for causing what many saw as a damaging conflict within the party with his campaign for leadership. He argued that the grass roots of the party were not being involved enough in making policy and that there was not enough emphasis on gaining Scottish independence. Swinney has adopted a gradualist approach to independence, prepared to fight to convince the electorate that the SNP should be trusted with governing the country before putting the independence issue to the people in a referendum. Swinney was backed by his predecessor, Alex Salmond, and gave a rousing speech to delegates on Friday. In the vote on the leadership he achieved 577 votes against 111 by Bill Wilson.
An analysis of the asking price and the actual selling price in thousands of properties sold through the Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre, has shown that buyers are bidding an average of over 25% above the price advertised in order to clinch the deal. There is a tradition in Edinburgh of sellers quoting a low price in order to attract more buyers and generate a competitive atmosphere but, even so, the figures are surprising, with some houses going for over 30% above the advertised price. The same trend is now being seen in other property hot-spots such as north Glasgow and Aberdeenshire. In an extreme case in Edinburgh, a flat in Edinburgh's High Street, advertised at offers over £53,000, was eventually sold for £108,500 - 105% over the asking price. Interest rates are currently low and an increase in population in Edinburgh, combined with lack of new building land, are all combining to push up prices in Scotland's capital. Slater Hogg and Howison, Scotland's biggest estate agency, reports that there is now an average of ten buyers for every property on the market.
The new Edinburgh Royal Infirmary is facing staff cuts and other economies as the management try to staunch rising debt levels. The National Health Service Trust has overspent by £6 million and will be cutting back on overtime and the use of agency staff covering for shortages. If action is not taken, the overspend by the Trust is forecast to reach £13 million by the end of its financial year, next April. The Trust claimed that the moves were "efficiency savings" rather than cuts, and that services would not suffer. But trade unions and patient watchdog organisations say they cannot see how further savings can be made without having an impact on services.
The biggest package of new routes in Scottish aviation history was announced this week. Budget airline flyglobespan.com announced new or improved flight schedules to nine European destinations, including Malaga, Tenerife, Alicante, Prague, Rome and Algarve. And all the new services have been secured without any assistance from the government's route development fund. The new schedules will begin on 1 April next year.
In the West of Scotland in particular, there are often complaints about the levels of rain which falls, even although it is all that water which makes everything so green and lush. But after two consecutive months of below average rainfall, Scottish Water is asking customers to take water saving measures. Last month, there was only an average of less than 50% of the normal amount of rain and in the first three weeks of September rainfall equivalent to only 23% of the normal monthly total has fallen. Although householders have not been banned from using hosepipes in their gardens (the last time that happened was in 1984), Scottish Water are asking gardeners to use watering cans, rather than sprinklers, and cars should be washed with a bucket rather than hoses.
The Scottish whisky industry exported the equivalent of 409 million bottles of whisky between January and June this year. Although the volume was down by around 4 million bottles compared with last year, an increase in higher-value malt whisky meant that the exports were up in value by 2.3% to £961 million. Not bad for a product made from barley and water. Sales to Spain grew by 42.6% but exports to Japan were down by 37.4%. While the USA is still the country importing the largest amount of whisky, collectively the countries of the European Union now account for 40% of all Scotch exports. 
Scotland's "other national drink" - the orange fizzy soft drink Irn-Bru - has bubbled back with record sales and profits. A G Barr's product is claimed to outsell American giant Coca-Cola to be Scotland's top-selling brand with a 25% share of the soft drinks market compared to Coca Cola's 24%. Needless to say, Coke disputes the figures. Sales in England have been growing and the Irn Bru Russian subsidiary is also booming. Irn-Bru have a reputation for controversial adverts - their current TV campaign shows a mid-wife encouraging a baby to emerge from its mother's womb by waving a can of Irn Bru - which then gets grabbed by a small hand. An ultra-sound picture then shows the baby contentedly drinking the Irn-Bru can - which then gets ejected. The advert resulted in a wave of complaints to the advertising regulatory authority.
Just as world oil prices drift upwards due to production cut-backs by OPEC countries, government duty on petrol is set to rise by 5p a gallon (1.28p a litre) from the start of October. The usual inflation-linked rise earlier this year was not implemented because the Iraq war was causing prices to fluctuate. But since the international situation is believed by the government to have improved, the rise is now being implemented. The price is now likely to reach the levels of a few years ago which resulted in road haulage companies blockading oil refineries to put pressure on the government to reduce duty. Because of the longer distances involved, and the lower turnover of many Scottish garages, petrol prices are even more of an issue in Scotland than in other parts of the UK.
The Deer Commission and Highland landowners will probably disagree, but a report published this week by the World Wildlife Fund and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds claims that rising numbers of wild deer are threatening to ruin Scotland's high-mountain environment. Numbers have been increasing since 1945 and red deer alone total 400,000. The report claims that they are having an increasing impact on the countryside and a rising toll of road accidents - up to 40,000 accidents a year. Milder winters and earlier springs have reduced mortality rates amongst deer and, human hunters apart, there are no natural predators. The study says the deer cause damage to woodlands and increasingly rural gardens are being invaded. The report calls for action and, if necessary, legislation to control the number of deer.
We really do have to grasp at straws when it comes to Scotland's current sporting achievements. So it is perhaps not surprising that Scottish news programmes were showing a national team reaching a final of a competition in Thailand. The Scottish Chivas Regal elephant polo team hammered the Nokia Thailand team 8-2 in the semi-final and met Germany Mercedes Benz in the King's Cup Elephant Polo competition - the "world cup" of the sport. The six-day competition is between teams of three elephants and players use mallets as in horse polo to hit a small ball on a pitch about one-third of the size of a horse polo field. The elephants also carry their trainers - the players are just there to hit the ball. Although you might think that elephants would be a bit slow, reports suggested that they can reach 60mph - though how they slow down again without leaving the pitch was not explained in the media reports. Of course, Scotland lost the final which ended 3-3 on the day. But Scotland are rated so good at the game they were handicapped and had to give Germany a two-goal start. So in the end, we lost 5-3. It was said that the Scottish team was foiled by the elephants standing on the ball and embedding it in the soft mud.
Temperatures took a dip this week with the thermometer plunging overnight to near freezing resulting in sleet showers in the Highlands - the mountains were snow-covered on Tuesday. Maximum daytime temperatures struggled to reach 11C (50F) in Inverness on Monday and Tuesday. Heavy downpours in Central Scotland on Monday resulted in over an inch of rain being recorded in both Edinburgh and Glasgow. Temperatures recovered slightly later in the week with Edinburgh and Glasgow reaching 16C (61F) on Thursday and Friday.
The Battle of Bannockburn, which took place near Stirling on June 23 and 24, 1314, was re-enacted last weekend by "warriors" wearing replica clothing and weaponry. While there were not quite the same numbers as took part in the original battle, the participants pitched replica 14th century tents and camped overnight, as in the 1314 conflict in which Robert the Bruce defeated King Edward II of England.
The Scottish Writers' Museum in Edinburgh, which features the memorabilia of three giants of Scottish literature - Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson and Robert Burns - unveiled plaques this week to three 20th century Scottish writers who are not so well known. Poet and novelist Sydney Goodsir Smith (1915-1975), poet Douglas Young (1913-1973) and poet Tom Scott (1918-1995) are the latest additions to a national literary monument which was officially opened five years ago. The courtyard outside the Writer's Museum being made into a rival for Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey. Sydney Goodsir Smithy was born in New Zealand but settled in Edinburgh in 1927. 
The classical music radio station Classic FM, which has 6.6 million listeners in the UK, has signed a lucrative deal with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) which will result in the station playing its records around 20 times a week and advertising its concerts. 10% of Classic FMs listeners are in Scotland and the deal will give the RSNO the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of pounds of free advertising. Classic FM has signed similar deals with such prestigious music companies as the London Symphony Orchestra and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. 
Sir Ian Hunter, who succeeded Sir Rudolf Bing as the artistic director of the Edinburgh International Festival from 1950 to 1955, died on Sept. 5 at his home in West Sussex, England. He was 84. Hunter added a visual aspect to what had been a predominantly musical event by organizing exhibitions of major painters. In 1951 he arranged for the first postwar European visit of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Educated at Fettes College in Edinburgh, in addition to shaping the Edinburgh Festival, Hunter started the Bath International Music Festival in England in 1948, as well as festivals in London, Brighton, Windsor and Malvern and another festival in Hong Kong. He also organized the Commonwealth Arts Festival in 1965, an American Festival in 1985 and a Festival of German Arts in 1987. 
The Real Mary King's Close, which opened at Easter on Edinburgh's Royal Mile, has already exceeded its 12-month visitor target. 70,000 visitors have toured the underground site which had been created from the buildings which once formed historic Mary King's Close. This had been sealed up when the building which now forms the City Chambers (seat of local government) was constructed above it.
Following their match last Sunday, Rangers have regained the lead in the Scottish Premier, with Celtic two points adrift. Hearts are in third place, six points behind Celtic. At the foot of the SPL, Partick trail with only two points and Aberdeen are only two points above them.
Dutchman Mark de Vries opened the scoring for Hearts in just under half-an-hour in their UEFA Cup, first round, first leg match in Edinburgh and Andy Webster scored in the second half. A stout Hearts defence meant that opponents Zeljeznicar left Tynecastle empty handed. But the second leg, in the white-hot cauldron of the Kosevo Olympic Stadium in Sarajevo, means that Hearts still have another stern test in order to qualify for the next round. But clearly the Bosnians were disappointed with the result - later in the week the club's directors sacked their head coach.
Dundee were disappointed to finish their opening match in the first round of the UEFA Cup losing 2-1. They had matched the Italian Serie A team for much of the game, but gave away two goals as a result of defensive blunders. Perugia had held this year's European Champions to a draw in the Italian league on the previous weekend but Dundee deployed a three-man forward line which seemed to unsettle their opponents. Despite relentless pressure by Dundee, it was the visitors who opened the scoring five minutes into the second half. Dundee responded 15 minutes later with a header from Lee Wilkie from a corner kick. But six minutes from a creditable and deserved draw, an unmarked Fusani scored for the Italians.
With the Rugby World Cup about to commence in Australia, one of Scotland's best-loved musicians, Donnie Munro (ex- Runrig), has produced an anthem, 'Down Under', with the backing of the Scottish Rugby Union. The single is available from http://www.circular-records.com 10% of all profits will go to Scottish Youth Rugby to help encourage the future rugby players. The site also has a download of the song and a specially filmed video of Donnie with the team in the studio.
The Scottish National Golf School, which opened at Drumoig, not far from St Andrews in Fife four years ago, was put into receivership this week. It has failed to attract enough customers and has lost £1 million since February 1999. The building cost of £4.5 million came largely from mandatory contributions from almost 200,000 golf club members affiliated to the Scottish Golf Union. The school featured an indoor practice area, gymnasium, games hall, golf range, short game practice area and golf holes. The rural location between St Andrews and Dundee is now recognised as being a mistake.
