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.
To 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.
Clan Map of Scotland
There are various versions on the Web showing the areas of Scotland that were historically associated with the various clans and families of Scotland. One of these was included in the former "Scottish Radiance" site which is in the process of being integrated into Rampant Scotland and I have set it up as a page within the "Did You Know Section". See Clan Map of Scotland.
Clan Scott Scotland
Clan societies are not as prevalent in Scotland as they are in say North America or Australia. But there are exceptions and recently a Clan Scott Scotland society has been reformed with the aim of uniting fellow kinsmen of the surname Scott and associated names, their spouses and descendants. As a Scott myself, I was delighted to join the organisation. The society will increase awareness of our heritage and our history. This will be achieved by communications and meetings, the promotion of literature and research, visits to places of significance to the clan plus gatherings both national and international and the promotion of awareness among the junior members of the clan. There are plans to participate in the Scott Clan Gathering event that will be held at Bowhill and Abbotsford from 25th to 27th June 2014 and the society will have one of a limited number of Clan tents at Scotland's Bannockburn Homecoming celebrations next June 27-30th. Regular newsletters will be published - the first one covers in detail the origins of the Scott surname (I learned at last the background to my own branch of Scott in Fife). There is a Web site of course which already has a lot of information and will be expanded with more photos, histories and many other features. If you are a Scott, whether in the UK or abroad, you can join Clan Scott Scotland via the Web site for only £10. See Clan Scott Scotland.
Scottish Lighthouses
The section on Scottish Lighthouses covers an additional six wild, remote locations in - Ardnamurchan Point, Beacon of Ornsay, Copinsay (pictured on the right), Dunnet Head, Loch Indaal (Port Charlotte), Noss Head and the delightfully named Muckle Flugga. The index shows these latest additions as "new". See Scottish Lighthouses.
Whisky Connoisseur
Arthur Bell's informative articles on all aspects of whisky continue with "How to Taste" which covers that great dilemma "Should I add water to the whisky?" Arthur's solution is to first taste it without water and then try it with some water and get the best of both worlds! He also covers many of the technical terms used by whisky experts to describe different aspects of whisky. See the index at Whisky Connoisseur.
Scots History to 1400 - Roman 'Conquest', Occupation and Withdrawal
Although the Roman occupation of the south-eastern part of Caledonia beyond the Forth lasted only five years, it had a lasting effect on all of Scotland which is felt to this day as Scots law was based on that of Rome. See the Index page at Scots History to 1400.
Guest Authors
As a leading e-magazine on the Web in the 1990s and into the 2000s, the former "Scottish Radiance" site excelled in attracting guest writers to publish articles in the site. There's an initial collection of these now on Rampant Scotland. In due course these will be extended to include "Lighthouse Letters" by the Scottish Radiance editor, Sharma Krauskopf, recounting her experiences buying and living in a lighthouse in a remote part of the Shetland Isles. In the meantime, the new section is launching with four varied articles - Memories of Northton - and My Grandfather by Christine Cleal (who recalls her childhood in the Western Isles and her fear of the local cows); Looking Back by Rose-Marie Kaye - (who realises Scotland and England are different); Comrie in the Distance Fair (Poetry from the people of Comrie, Perthshire) and The Marquis of Montrose (Peter R McNaughton tells the story of this brilliant general). See Guest Authors.
Scottish Place Names in Ottawa, Canada
As a result of feedback and further research, Ian Kendall has updated the notes on the Scottish place names that can be found in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (picture on the right of Elgin Street, Ottawa is via Wikimedia). Of the names of the 495 communities and neighbourhoods that have been identified to date in the Ottawa-Gatineau urban area, 108 (21.8%) can be found as place names in Scotland or are based on Scottish or Ulster Scots family names. Of course, some of the names are used in other parts of the British Isles as well, but at least 62 (12.5%) of them are unique to Scotland or are readily identifiable with places in Scotland that are based on the same names. The percentage of neighbourhood names that are definitely Scottish or Ulster Scots is likely to be a little higher than 12.5% but, as this article demonstrates, it is difficult to determine, in the absence of definitive research into local family history, whether some of the names are ultimately of Scottish, Irish or English origin. For all the details, see Scottish Place Names in Ottawa.
Scotland's Global Empire
There is no doubt that Scotland, with only a population (in recent times) of just over five million, has "punched above its weight" on the world stage in a wide number of fields. There have been a number of books on "Famous Scots" who have made a contribution to our world and "Scotland's Global Empire"sets out to describe the achievements of over 1,000 of them. The author, Jock Gallagher, does include references to some of the well documented giants in their field but concentrates on those who have been less well publicised in the past. Such as the 9 Scots who have won Nobel prizes, or the 70 Scots who won a Victoria Cross (the highest British military award for valour) in the First World War alone. Then there are the advances made by Scots in science, technology, engineering, medicine, politics education and sport in the UK and in foreign lands. No wonder, with notable lack of modesty, we sometimes ask "Wha's like us?" And of course "Indelible Scottish fingerprints - and footprints" - can be found all over North America as well as in what eventually became the Commonwealth of Nations. Jock Gallagher was a journalist and writes in a racy style while packing the 450 pages full of memorable facts and figures. There are no illustrations and surprisingly, there is not an index - but there is an index of the names of those featured available via the publishers as a PDF file. I also obtained a Kindle version where, among other things, the "search" function allows readers to find any specific reference. See Scotland's Global Empire at Whittles Publishing and all good booksellers, including Amazon.
Christmas Decorations, Edinburgh and Glasgow
I had hoped to have a video and slideshow of the Christmas decorations in Glasgow and Edinburgh but wasn't able to get the opportunity to get in to these city centres until this week. So they will be in the next newsletter after I have had time to process them.
Next Newsletter
The next newsletter is scheduled for 11 January. As noted above, I've got the video clips and photos for Youtube videos of this year's Christmas decorations in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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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