Scottish Snippets

17 March 2012

Number 623



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 style, there is now this regular update on the new and updated pages on the Rampant Scotland site including "Scottie's Photo Diary From Scotland".

HotTo receive a text version of this newsletter as a reminder to look at these Web pages when they are published, just send an e-mail to Scottie@RampantScotland.com with "Subscribe Newsletter" in the subject line.


Renfrewshire Pictorial Tourist Guide
These days, the county of Renfrewshire no longer exists as it was split into three smaller administrative areas in the reorganisation of local government in 1996 into Inverclyde, Renfrew (which included the town of Paisley) and East Renfrewshire. So the 100 photographs in this Web-based slide how (with thumbnails and larger versions of each picture) covers all three of these council areas. From the tourism point of view, Paisley, with its abbey (pictured here) and a number of fine buildings and statues and the coastal resort of Gourock on the estuary of the river Clyde have much to offer and there are also attractive country parks and estates to wander through. The index page with thumbnails is at Renfrewshire Pictorial Tourist Guide.

Gaelic Software



The 2001 UK Census showed that a total of 58,652 people in Scotland (1.2% of the population aged over three years old) had some Gaelic ability at that date. The census results indicated a decline of 7,300 Gaelic speakers from 1991. Despite this decline, revival efforts exist and the number of younger speakers of the language has increased. Part of these efforts have been directed at ensuring that there are Gaelic versions of a good number of computer software programs. These are not only useful for Gaelic speakers but also for those learning the language, especially younger folk. Here's a page in the Rampant Scotland "Did You Know" section providing links to Gaelic versions of Windows, Google, Wikipedia, Firefox, Thunderbird, Open Office, Skype and WordPress. All work and no play can make Seumas a dull boy so there are sites with games played using the Gaelic language including Scrabble. See: Did You Know - Gaelic Software

City of Perth
Often called the "Fair City of Perth" this royal burgh (a status granted by King William the Lionheart in 1210) is technically not a "city". After a local government reorganisation in 1975, when the definition of a city was re-examined, a list of approved cities omitted Perth. It was therefore considered to be a "former city" much to the indignation of those in Perth who started a campaign to have the city status restored (mainly for reasons of history and prestige). Perth missed out at the Millennium when Inverness won the "beauty contest" and again at the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002 when the honour went to Stirling. At last, as part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations this year, Perth is once again a city! So I've updated my page on Scottish cities - see Did You Know - Scottish Cities The page also explains why the original classification of a city based on having a cathedral no longer applies.

Next Newsletter
The next newsletter is scheduled for 31 March 2012.

Yours aye

Scottie

Previous editions of this Newsletter are available in an Archive. The Index to the other pages of the Rampant Scotland site is available here.



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Where else would you like to go in Scotland?

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