"As the 300th anniversary of the Act of Union nears, an academic has fanned controversy by claiming the 'parcel of rogues' did not sell Scotland down the river." 'Betrayed? No, Scots wanted the Union' by Lorna Martin, The Observer, 24 September 2006.

Light Magic: The life and work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh (iToors.com).

"QUEEN guitarist Brian May has given thousands of pounds to save hedgehogs from slaughter in the Outer Hebrides, it emerged yesterday...

it is said to be enough to pay for the rescue of hundreds of hedgehogs from the Uists, where Scottish Natural Heritage has been culling the animals for the past four years.

The hedgehogs pose a threat to rare ground-nesting birds and their eggs.

So far more than 500 have been killed by lethal injection and more than 700 saved. There are believed to be about 3,000 left on the islands."


'Top rock guitarist helps save islands' hedgehogs' by Mike Merritt. The Scotsman, 7 August 2006.

'Chilling mystery of Kelvingrove's secret signed Hitler photo' by Anna Miller. The Scotsman, 15 July 2006.

Have just discovered the city daily photoblogs, including:
Paris Daily Photo Blog, Edinburgh Daily Photo Blog and, of course, London Daily Photo Blog.

Through this last, I have discovered Pigeon Blog and some March of the Penguins links, including the March of the Penguins game.

'Pressed for time' by Jim Gilchrist. The Scotsman, 12 May 2006.
"ON 4 APRIL, 1508, ... The Complaint of the Black Knight or The Mayng or Disport of Chaucer was the first book known to have been printed in Scotland.

The quincentenary of that first publication from a Scottish press is almost two years away, but on the 30th of this month, at the National Library of Scotland, a rolling programme of celebratory events for 2008 will be announced ..."

"The second Holyrood Poetry Link scheme aims to celebrate the vibrancy of contemporary Scottish poetry, whilst providing an opportunity for Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) to demonstrate their support for the arts.

Poets and MSPs met to explore issues of mutual interest and agree a theme or themes on which the poet would write." (Introduction to the project). The poems are on the Scottish Poetry Library website.

'The Philosopher's Garden' at the Gallery of Modern Art. consists of photos by Robin Gillanders of Ian Hamilton Finlay's garden, Little Sparta, and the garden at Ermenonville, the latter illustrating Rousseau's Reveries du promeneur solitaire.

"The taste for solitude and contemplation grew up in my heart along with the expansive and tender feelings whichare best able tonourish it. Noise and turmoil constrain and quench them, peace and quiet revive and intensify them.I need tranquility if I am to love." (Tenth Promenade)

It has finally been ruled that the Scottish Parliament - not Westminster - has the authority to decide on the Scottish National Anthem.

According to The Scotsman, this is the culmination of another successful campaign by pensioner George Reid - the man who pressed for a ruling on the official shade of blue for the Saltire (Pantone 300).

'Scots win right to choose own national anthem' by Hamish MacDonell. The Scotsman, 10 November 2004.

I am gutted to be living down South when Writing Scotland is on BBC TWO Scotland every Tuesday evening.

Bash the Haggis

"The Book of Deer is one of Scotland’s most important manuscripts. It is a small (54mm x 107mm) Gospel Book, now housed in Cambridge University Library. Before c. 1100 it was apparently in the possession of the early Columban monastery at Old Deer in north-east Aberdeenshire. This monastery has otherwise left no trace of its existence. A Cistercian Abbey was founded nearby in 1219. The Book of Deer came into the ownership of Cambridge University Library in 1715, when the library of the Bishop of Ely and Norwich was presented to the former by George I. Before that, the Book of Deer may have been in the possession of Dr Gale, High master of St Paul’s School (1672-97). The stages by which it moved from the North East of Scotland to the South of England are by no means clear. Even Cambridge University Library was unaware of its significance until it was ‘discovered’ in 1860 by the then librarian, Henry Bradshaw."

Liz Lochhead has been appointed as an associate playwright for Scotland's £75,000 Playwrights' Studio alongside David Grieg and Nicola McCartney. According to the Scotland on Sunday, Julie Ellen has commissioned them to run workshops, comment on scripts and act as mentors to writers coming through the studio system that is being established this year. The library and Internet archive has still to be put in place.

'Safe haven for writers at play'. Scotland on Sunday, 20 June 2004. (Requires free site registration).

'A nation of storytellers' by Jackie Kay. The Scotsman, Saturday 5 June 2004.(Requires free site registration).

The National Library of Scotland's summer exhibition covers the history of the news in Scotland over the last 400 years.