Portal:Scotland/Selected article/2011
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Weeks in 2011
[edit]- Week 1
Professor James Blyth MA, LLD, FRSE (4 April 1838 – 15 May 1906), was a Scottish electrical engineer and academic at Anderson's College, now the University of Strathclyde, in Glasgow. He was a pioneer in the field of electricity generation through wind power and his wind turbine, which was used to light his holiday home in Maryhill, was the world's first-known structure by which electricity was generated from wind power. Blyth patented his design and later developed an improved model which served as an emergency power source at Montrose Lunatic Asylum, Infirmary & Dispensary for the next 30 years. Although Blyth received recognition for his contributions to science, electricity generation by wind power was considered uneconomical and no more wind turbines were built in the United Kingdom until 1951, some 64 years after Blyth built his first prototype. Blyth was born in Marykirk, Kincardineshire, on 4 April 1839. He attended the Marykirk parish school and later, the Montrose Academy before winning a scholarship to the General Assembly Normal School, Edinburgh in 1886. After graduating as a Bachelor of Arts from The University of Edinburgh in 1861 Blyth taught mathematics at Morrison's Academy in Crieff and helped set up classes at the newly established George Watson's College in Edinburgh.
- Week 2
Scapa Flow (Old Norse: Skalpaflói) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about 312 square kilometres (120 sq mi). It has a shallow sandy bottom not deeper than 60 metres (200 ft) and most of it about 30 metres (98 ft) deep, and is one of the great natural harbours/anchorages of the world, with sufficient space to hold a number of navies. Viking ships anchored in Scapa Flow more than 1000 years ago, but it is best known as the site of the United Kingdom's chief naval base during World War I and World War II. The base was closed in 1956.
The Viking expeditions to Orkney are recorded in detail in the 11th century Orkneyinga sagas and later texts such as the Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar. According to the latter, King Haakon IV of Norway anchored his fleet, including the flagship Kroussden that could carry nearly 300 men, at St Margaret's Hope on 5 August 1263 where he witnessed an eclipse of the sun prior to sailing south to the Battle of Largs. En route back to Norway Haakon anchored some of his fleet in Scapa Flow for the winter, but he died that December whilst staying at the Bishop's Palace in Kirkwall. In the 15th century towards the end of Norse rule in Orkney, the islands were run by the jarls from large manor farms some of which were sited at Burray, Burwick, Paplay, Hoy and Cairston (near Stromness) to guard the entrances to the Flow.
- Week 3
Falkirk (Scots: Fawkirk, Scottish Gaelic: An Eaglais Bhreac, lit. 'the Variegated [or 'Speckled'] Church') (presumably referring to a church building built of many-coloured stones), known in some parts as "The Town With No Name", is a town in central Scotland lying to the north west and north east of the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, respectively. According to a 2007 estimate, the population of the town is 34,071. However, the wider Falkirk area, which includes nearby towns such as Grangemouth, Larbert and Stenhousemuir, has a population of 97,180, making it the 5th largest urban area in Scotland, after Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee.
The town lies at the junction of the Forth and Clyde Canal and the Union Canal, a location which proved pivotal to the growth of Falkirk as a centre of heavy industry during the Industrial Revolution. In the 18th and 19th Centuries Falkirk was at the centre of a large iron and steel industry, underpinned by the Carron Company which developed close to the town. In the last 50 years or so heavy industry has declined, and the economy of the town has become increasingly services orientated. Today Falkirk functions as the principal retail and administrative centre for the wider Falkirk Council area. Attractions in and around Falkirk include the Falkirk Wheel, remnants of the Antonine wall and Callendar House.
- Week 4
David Livingstone (19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish Congregationalist pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and explorer in Africa. His meeting with H. M. Stanley gave rise to the popular quotation, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?". Livingstone was born on 19 March 1813 in the mill town of Blantyre, beside the bridge crossing into Bothwell, Lanarkshire, Richmond, into a Protestant family believed to be descended from the highland Livingstones, a clan that had been previously known as the Clan MacLea. He was employed from the age of ten in the cotton mill of H. Monteith. The mill offered their workers schooling of which David took advantage.
Perhaps one of the most popular national heroes of the late 19th century in Victorian Britain, Livingstone had a mythic status, which operated on a number of interconnected levels: that of Protestant missionary martyr, that of working-class "rags to riches" inspirational story, that of scientific investigator and explorer, that of imperial reformer, anti-slavery crusader, and advocate of commercial empire. His fame as an explorer helped drive forward the obsession with discovering the sources of the River Nile that formed the culmination of the classic period of European geographical discovery and colonial penetration of the African continent. At the same time his missionary travels, "disappearance" and death in Africa, and subsequent glorification as posthumous national hero in 1874 led to the founding of several major central African Christian missionary initiatives carried forward in the era of the European "Scramble for Africa".
- Week 5
The Encyclopædia Britannica (Latin for "British Encyclopaedia") is a general English-language encyclopaedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., a privately held company. Articles are aimed at educated adults, and written by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert contributors. It is regarded as the most scholarly of encyclopaedias. The Britannica is the oldest English-language encyclopaedia still in print. It was first published between 1768 and 1771 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and grew in popularity and size, its third edition (1797) and supplement (1801) reaching 20 volumes together. Its rising stature helped recruit eminent contributors, and the 9th edition (1875–1889) and the 11th edition (1911) are landmark encyclopaedias for scholarship and literary style. Beginning with the 11th edition, the Britannica shortened and simplified articles to broaden its North American market. In 1933, the Britannica became the first encyclopaedia to adopt "continuous revision", in which the encyclopaedia is continually reprinted and every article updated on a schedule.
The current 15th edition has a unique three-part structure: a 12-volume Micropædia of short articles (generally fewer than 750 words), a 17-volume Macropædia of long articles (two to 310 pages) and a single Propædia volume to give a hierarchical outline of knowledge. The Micropædia is meant for quick fact-checking and as a guide to the Macropædia; readers are advised to study the Propædia outline to understand a subject's context and to find more detailed articles. The size of the Britannica has remained roughly constant over 70 years, with about 40 million words on half a million topics. Although publication has been based in the United States since 1901, the Britannica has maintained British spelling.
- Week 6
Charles Rennie Mackintosh (7 June 1868 – 10 December 1928) was a Scottish architect, designer, watercolourist and sculptor. He was a designer in the Arts and Crafts movement and also the main exponent of Art Nouveau in the United Kingdom. He had a considerable influence on European design. While working in architecture, Charles Rennie Mackintosh developed his own style: a contrast between strong right angles and floral-inspired decorative motifs with subtle curves, e.g. the Mackintosh Rose motif, along with some references to traditional Scottish architecture. The project that helped make his international reputation was the Glasgow School of Art (1897–1909). During the early stages of the Glasgow School of Art Mackintosh also completed the Queen’s Cross Church project in Maryhill, Glasgow. This is considered to be one of Charles Rennie Mackintosh most mysterious projects. It is the only church by the Glasgow born artist to be built and is now the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society headquarters.
Like his contemporary Frank Lloyd Wright, Mackintosh's architectural designs often included extensive specifications for the detailing, decoration, and furnishing of his buildings. The majority if not all of this detailing and significant contributions to his architectural drawings were designed and detailed by his wife Margaret Macdonald whom Charles had met when they both attended the Glasgow School of Art. His work was shown at the Vienna Secession Exhibition in 1900. Mackintosh’s architectural career was a relatively short one, but of significant quality and impact. All his major commissions were between 1896 and 1906, where he designed private homes, commercial buildings, interior renovations and churches.
- Week 7
Glenrothes, planned in the late 1940s as one of Scotland's first new towns, is the administrative capital of Fife containing both the Fife Council and Fife Constabulary headquarters. It established itself as a major industrial centre in Scotland's Silicon Glen between the 1970s to the 1990s with several major electronics and hi-tech companies establishing a base in the town. Manufacturing and engineering industries remain to this day important to the town's economy. Glenrothes is unique in Fife as the majority of the town's centre is contained indoors, within Fife's largest indoor shopping centre - The Kingdom Shopping Centre.
According to a 2008 population estimate, Glenrothes is Fife's third largest town with a population of 38,750. The Glenrothes conurbation, which includes the surrounding villages of Leslie, Markinch, Thornton and Coaltown of Balgonie has a population of 47,359. The town has parks and landscaping recognised at the National level as being outstanding with Glenrothes winning awards in the "Beautiful Scotland" and "Britain in Bloom" contests. It also has numerous outdoor sculptures and artworks, a result of the appointment of town artists in the early development of the town. Public facilities include a regional sports centre, civic centre with theatre, religious institutes and educational institutions including a college campus.
- Week 8
Chris Hoy, MBE (born 23 March 1976 in Edinburgh) is a British track cyclist representing Great Britain and Scotland. He is a multiple world champion and Olympic Games gold medal winner. With his three gold medals in Beijing 2008, Hoy became Scotland's most successful Olympian, the first Briton to win three gold medals in a single Olympic games since Henry Taylor, in 1908, and the most successful Olympic male cyclist of all time.
Hoy was inspired to cycle at age six by the 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Before track cycling, Hoy raced BMX between the ages of 7 and 14 and was ranked second in Britain, fifth in Europe and ninth in the world. He received sponsorship from Slazenger and Kwik-Fit and was competing in Europe and the US. Hoy also rowed for the Scottish junior team, coming second in the 1993 British championship with Grant Florence in the coxless pairs. He played rugby as part of his school's team. Hoy joined his first cycling club, Dunedin CC, in 1992 and began concentrating on track cycling in 1994, when he joined the City of Edinburgh Racing Club.
- Week 9
The Culture of Scotland in the High Middle Ages refers to the forms of cultural expression that come from Scotland in the High Medieval period which, for the purposes of this article, refers to the period between the death of Domnall II in 900, and the death of Alexander III in 1286. The unity of the period is suggested by the immense breaks which occur in Scottish history because of the Wars of Scottish Independence, the Stewart accession and transformations which occur in Scottish society in the fourteenth century and afterwards. The period differentiates itself because of the predominance of Gaelic culture, and, later in the medieval, Scoto-Norman French culture.
As a predominantly Gaelic society, most Scottish cultural practices throughout this period mirrored closely those of Ireland, or at least those of Ireland with some Pictish borrowings. After David I, the French-speaking kings introduced cultural practices popular in Anglo-Norman England, France and elsewhere. As in all pre-modern societies, storytelling was popular. In the words of D.D.R. Owen, a scholar who specialises in the literature of the era: "Professional storytellers would ply their trade from court to court. Some of them would have been native Scots, no doubt offering legends from the ancient Celtic past performed ... in Gaelic when appropriate, but in French for most of the new nobility." Almost all of these stories are lost, or come down only vaguely in Gaelic or Scots oral tradition.
- Week 10
Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun (1655 – September 1716) was a Scottish writer, politician, soldier and patriot. He was a Commissioner of the old Parliament of Scotland and is remembered as the leading opponent of the 1707 Act of Union between Scotland and England and an advocate of the Darién scheme, he also introduced agricultural improvements to Scotland. Andrew Fletcher was the son and heir of Sir Robert Fletcher (1625–1664), and was born at Saltoun in Haddingtonshire. Educated by Gilbert Burnet, the future Bishop of Salisbury, who was then minister at Saltoun, he completed his education in mainland Europe.
Fletcher was elected, as the Commissioner for Haddingtonshire, to the Scottish Parliament in 1678. At this time, Charles II's representative in Scotland was John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale. The Duke had taxation powers in Scotland, and maintained a standing army there in the name of the King. Fletcher bitterly opposed the Duke, whose actions only strengthened Fletcher's distrust of the royal government in Scotland, as well as all hereditary power. In 1681, Fletcher was re-elected to the Scottish Parliament as member for Haddingtonshire. The year before, Lauderdale had been replaced by the Duke of Albany. At this time, Fletcher was a member of the opposition Country Party in the Scottish Parliament, where he resolutely opposed any arbitrary actions on the part of the Church or state.
- Week 11
Caithness (Scottish Gaelic: Gallaibh) is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic local government area of Scotland. The name was used also for the earldom of Caithness and the Caithness constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (1708 to 1918). Boundaries are not identical in all contexts, but the Caithness area is now entirely within the Highland council area. In 2007 the Highland Council, which is now the local government authority, created the Caithness ward management area, which has boundaries similar to those of the historic local government area.
Caithness originally formed part of the shire or sheriffdom of Inverness, but gradually gained independence: in 1455 the Earl of Caithness gained a grant of the justiciary and sheriffdom of the area from the Sheriff of Inverness. In 1503 an act of the Parliament of Scotland confirmed the separate jurisdiction, with Dornoch and Wick named as burghs in which the sheriff of Caithness was to hold courts. The area of the sheriffdom was declared to be identical to that of the Diocese of Caithness. The Sheriff of Inverness still retained power over important legal cases, however until 1641. In that year parliament declared Wick the head burgh of the shire of Caithness and the Earl of Caithness became the heritable sheriff.
- Week 12
The Outer Hebrides (Scottish Gaelic: Na h-Eileanan Siar, IPA: [nə ˈhelanən ˈʃiəɾ]) also known as the Western Isles and the Long Island, is an island chain off the west coast of Scotland. They form part of the Hebrides, separated from the Scottish mainland and from the Inner Hebrides by the waters of the Minch, the Little Minch and the Sea of the Hebrides. Scottish Gaelic was formerly the dominant language and remains widely spoken, although in some areas English speakers form a majority. Most of the islands have a bedrock formed from ancient metamorphic rocks and the climate is mild and oceanic. The 15 inhabited islands have a total population of about 26,500 and there are more than 50 substantial uninhabited islands.
There are various important prehistoric structures, many of which pre-date the first written references to the islands by Roman and Greek authors. The Western Isles became part of the Suðreyjar kingdom of the Norse, who ruled for over 400 years until sovereignty was transferred to Scotland by the Treaty of Perth in 1266. Control of the islands was then held by clan chiefs, principal of whom were the MacLeods, MacDonalds, Mackenzies and MacNeils. The Highland Clearances of the 19th century had a devastating effect on many communities and it is only in recent years that population levels have ceased to decline. Much of the land is now under local control and commercial activity is based on tourism, crofting, fishing, and weaving.
- Week 13
Donald Campbell Dewar (21 August 1937 – 11 October 2000) was a Scottish Labour Party politician, and the first holder of the office of First Minister of Scotland, from the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 until his death. He was also a Member of Parliament (MP) of the United Kingdom and Secretary of State for Scotland for several years. Born at 194 Renfrew Street, Glasgow on 21 August 1937 to mature parents, Dewar was an only child. His father Alisdair was a distinguished consultant dermatologist but suffered from tuberculosis. His mother Mary (née Bennett) suffered from a benign brain tumour when Donald was very young.
He attended the Glasgow Academy before studying at the University of Glasgow, in 1957, where he gained both a MA degree in History in 1961, and a second-class LLB degree in 1964, as well as editing the Glasgow University Guardian. Here, he met his close friend, John Smith (who would later become leader of the Labour Party), Sir Menzies Campbell (who would later become leader of the Liberal Democrats) and Lord Irvine of Lairg (who would serve as Lord Chancellor in the same cabinet as Dewar) through the Dialectic Society. In his time at university he also served as Chair of the Glasgow University Labour Club and President of the Glasgow University Union. In 1962 he was selected as Labour candidate for Aberdeen South.
- Week 14
The Church of Scotland, (Scottish Gaelic: Eaglais na h-Alba) known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation. The Church traces its roots back to the beginnings of Christianity in Scotland, but its identity is principally shaped by the Reformation of 1560. Its current pledged membership is about 9% of the Scottish population—though according to the 2001 national census, 42% of the Scottish population claim some form of allegiance to it (see Religion in Scotland).
Although connected with early Christians in Scotland, its current identity was fundamentally shaped by the Scottish Reformation of 1560. At that point, the church in Scotland broke with Rome, in a process of Protestant reform led, among others, by John Knox. It reformed its doctrines and government, drawing on the principles of John Calvin which Knox had been exposed to while living in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1560, the Scottish Parliament abolished papal jurisdiction and approved Calvin's Confession of Faith, but did not accept many of the principles laid out in Knox's First Book of Discipline, which argued, amongst other things, that all of the assets of the old church should pass to the new.
- Week 15
Sir Alexander Matthew "Matt" Busby, CBE, KCSG (26 May 1909 – 20 January 1994) was a Scottish football player and manager, most noted for managing Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 1970–1971 season. He was the longest serving manager in the history of Manchester United until 19 December 2010, when Alex Ferguson surpassed his record.
Before going into management, Busby was a player for two of Manchester United's greatest rivals, Manchester City and Liverpool. During his time at City, Busby played in two FA Cup Finals, winning one of them. After his playing career was interrupted by the Second World War, Busby was offered the job of assistant coach at Liverpool, but they were unwilling to give him the control over the team that he wanted and he took the vacant manager's job at Manchester United instead. The biggest success of his career came on 29 May 1968 when the team won the European Cup. Busby was awarded the CBE in 1958 and was knighted following the European Cup victory in 1968, before being made a Knight Commander of St Gregory by the Pope in 1972.
- Week 16
Scottish literature is literature written in Scotland or by Scottish writers. It includes literature written in English, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Brythonic, French, Latin and any other language in which a piece of literature was ever written within the boundaries of modern Scotland.
The people of northern Britain spoke forms of Celtic languages. Much of the earliest Welsh literature was actually composed in or near the country we now call Scotland, as Brythonic speech (the ancestor of Welsh) was not then confined to Wales and Cornwall. While all modern scholarship indicates that the Picts spoke a Brythonic language (based on surviving placenames, personal names and historical evidence), none of their literature seems to have survived into the modern era.
Some of the earliest literature known to have been composed in Scotland includes:
- Brythonic (Old Welsh): The Gododdin (attributed to Aneirin), c. 6th century
- Gaelic: Elegy for St Columba by Dallan Forgaill, c. 597
- Latin: "Altus Prosator" ("The High Creator", attributed to St Columba), c. 597
- Week 17
The River Clyde (Scottish Gaelic: Abhainn Chluaidh, pronounced [ˈavɪɲ ˈxl̪ˠuəj]) is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire. The Clyde is formed by the confluence of two streams, the Daer Water (the headwaters of which are dammed to form the Daer Reservoir) and the Potrail Water. The Southern Upland Way crosses both streams before they meet at Watermeetings (grid reference NS953131) to form the River Clyde proper. At this point the Clyde is only 10 kilometres (6 miles) from Tweed's Well, the source of the River Tweed, and 13 kilometres (8 miles) from the Devil's Beef Tub, the source of the River Annan.
From there it snakes northeastward before turning to the west, its flood plain used for many major roads in the area, until it reaches the town of Lanark. On the banks of the Clyde, the industrialists David Dale and Robert Owen, built their mills and the model settlement of New Lanark. The mills harness the power of the Falls of Clyde, the most spectacular of which is Cora Linn. A hydroelectric power station still generates electricity here, although the mills are now a museum and World Heritage Site.
- Week 18
Kenneth Mathieson "Kenny" Dalglish (Scottish pronunciation: 'kɛni: dɛɫgli:ʃ') MBE (born 4 March 1951) is a former Scottish footballer and the current caretaker manager of Liverpool F.C. Dalglish was voted PFA Player of the Year for the 1982–83 season, and in 2009 he was named by FourFourTwo football magazine as the greatest striker in post-war British football. In a 20-year playing career, Dalglish played for two teams, Celtic and Liverpool, winning honours with both. Dalglish is the most capped Scottish player, with 102 appearances. He and Denis Law also share the record for most goals for Scotland, with 30 each.
Dalglish began his career with Celtic and became the team captain in 1975. Between 1971 and 1977 he won four Scottish First Division titles, four Scottish Cups and one Scottish League Cup. In 1977, Bob Paisley paid a British transfer record of £440,000 to bring Dalglish to Liverpool. His years at Liverpool marked one of the club's most prolifically successful periods: he won seven league titles, three European Cups and five domestic cups. For these achievements, he is nicknamed King Kenny, and he was placed first in Liverpool's list of "100 Players Who Shook the Kop". Dalglish became player-manager of Liverpool in 1985 and in a six-year tenure won three league titles and two F.A. Cups.
- Week 19
Caledonian MacBrayne (usually shortened to Cal Mac; Caledonian Mac a' Bhriuthainn in Scottish Gaelic) is the major operator of passenger and vehicle ferries between the mainland of Scotland and 22 of the major islands on Scotland's west coast. It is publicly owned and controlled by the Scottish Government.
MacBrayne's, initially known as David Hutcheson & Co., began in 1851 as a private steamship operator when G. and J. Burns, operators of the largest of the Clyde fleets, decided to concentrate on coastal and transatlantic services and handed control of their river and Highland steamers to a new company in which Hutcheson, their manager of these services, became senior partner. Their main route went from Glasgow down the Firth of Clyde through the Crinan Canal to Oban and Fort William, and on through the Caledonian Canal to Inverness.
With the retirement of the founders of David Hutcheson & Co in the 1870s, their partner (and nephew of Messrs. Burns) David MacBrayne gained full ownership, and changed the company's name accordingly. It remained in the hands of the MacBrayne family until 1928 when, unable to carry on, it was acquired jointly by the LMS Railway and Coast Lines. Its ships featured red funnels with a black top.
- Week 20
Irn-Bru is a carbonated soft drink produced in Westfield, Cumbernauld, Scotland. It is made by A.G. Barr of Glasgow since moving out of their original Parkhead factory in the mid-1990s and at a second manufacturing site in Mansfield, England. In addition to being sold throughout the United Kingdom, Barr's Irn-Bru is available throughout the world and can usually be purchased where there is a significant community of people from its native Scotland. Innovative and sometimes controversial marketing campaigns have kept it as one of the best-selling soft drinks in Scotland where it competes directly with global brands such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
It is thought that the name 'Irn-Bru' originated with the re-building of Glasgow Central Station in 1901. When workers from the William Beardmore and Company Steel Works in Glasgow were dying from the large amounts of beer drunk to quench their thirst from the heat of the steel works, an alternative was sought. A local soft drinks manufacturer, A.G. Barr, approached the steel works and a contract was created to provide the workers with this drink. This unnamed drink later went on to be known as 'Iron Brew' because of its connections to the steel (and iron) works.
- Week 21
King James VII of Scotland (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Increasingly members of Britain's political and religious elite opposed him as too pro-French, too pro-Catholic, and too much of an absolute monarch.
When he produced a Catholic heir, the tension exploded and leading nobles called on William III of Orange (his son-in-law and nephew) to land an invasion army from the Netherlands. James fled England (and thus abdicated) in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. He was replaced by William of Orange who became king as William III, ruling jointly with his wife (James's daughter) Mary II. Thus William and Mary, both Protestants, became joint rulers in 1689. James made one serious attempt to recover his crowns, when he landed in Ireland in 1689 but, after the defeat of the Jacobite forces by the Williamite forces at the Battle of the Boyne in the summer of 1690, James returned to France. He lived out the rest of his life as a pretender at a court sponsored by his cousin and ally, King Louis XIV.
- Week 22
The Flag of Scotland, (Scottish Gaelic: Bratach nàiseanta na h-Alba, Scots: Banner o Scotland), also known as Saint Andrew's Cross or The Saltire, is the national flag of Scotland. As the national flag, the Saltire (rather than the Royal Standard of Scotland) is the correct flag for all individuals and corporate bodies to fly in order to demonstrate both their loyalty and Scottish nationality. It is also, where possible, flown from Scottish Government buildings every day from 8am until sunset, with certain exceptions.
According to legend, the Christian apostle and martyr Saint Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland, was crucified on an X-shaped cross at Patras, (Patrae), in Achaea. Use of the familiar iconography of his martyrdom, showing the apostle bound to an X-shaped cross, first appears in the Kingdom of Scotland in 1180 during the reign of William I. This image was again depicted on seals used during the late 13th century; including on one particular example used by the Guardians of Scotland, dated 1286. The earliest reference to the Saint Andrew's Cross as a flag is to be found in the Vienna Book of Hours, circa 1503, where a white saltire is depicted with a red background. In the case of Scotland, use of a blue background for the Saint Andrew's Cross is said to date from at least the 15th century, with the first certain illustration of a flag depicting such appearing in Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount's Register of Scottish Arms, circa 1542.
- Week 23
The Loch Ness Monster (Scottish Gaelic Niseag) is a cryptid that is reputed to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. The most frequent speculation is that the creature represents a line of long-surviving plesiosaurs. It is similar to other supposed lake monsters in Scotland and elsewhere, though its description varies from one account to the next. Popular interest and belief in the animal has varied since it was brought to the world's attention in 1933. Evidence of its existence is anecdotal, with minimal and much-disputed photographic material and sonar readings. The scientific community regards the Loch Ness Monster as a modern-day myth, and explains sightings as a mix of hoaxes and wishful thinking. Despite this, it remains one of the most famous examples of cryptozoology. The legendary monster has been affectionately referred to by the nickname Nessie (Scottish Gaelic: Niseag) since the 1950s.
The term "monster" was reportedly applied for the first time to the creature on 2 May 1933 by Alex Campbell, the water bailiff for Loch Ness and a part-time journalist, in a report in the Inverness Courier. On 4 August 1933, the Courier published as a full news item the claim of a London man, George Spicer, that a few weeks earlier while motoring around the Loch, he and his wife had seen "the nearest approach to a dragon or pre-historic animal that I have ever seen in my life", trundling across the road toward the Loch carrying "an animal" in its mouth.
- Week 24
Tantallon Castle is a mid-14th-century fortress, located 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) east of North Berwick, in East Lothian, Scotland. It sits atop a promontory opposite the Bass Rock, looking out onto the Firth of Forth. The last medieval curtain wall castle to be constructed in Scotland, Tantallon comprises a single wall blocking off the headland, with the other three sides naturally protected by sea cliffs. Tantallon was built in the mid 14th century by William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas. It was passed to his illegitimate son, later created Earl of Angus, and despite several sieges, it remained the property of his descendants for much of its history. It was besieged by King James IV in 1491, and again by his successor James V in 1528, when extensive damage was done. Tantallon saw action in the First Bishops' War in 1639, and again during Oliver Cromwell's invasion of Scotland in 1651, when it was once more severely damaged.
Tantallon is of a singular construction within Scotland, the defences comprising only a single large wall securing a coastal promontory. The south-east, north-east, and north-west approaches are naturally defended by steep sea cliffs, and were only ever protected by relatively small defensive walls. To the south-west, a massive curtain wall blocks off the end of the promontory, which forms the inner courtyard. The curtain wall is built of the local red sandstone, and has a tower at either end and a heavily fortified gatehouse in the centre, all of which provided residential accommodation.
- Week 25
John Maclean MA (24 August 1879 – 30 November 1923) was a Scottish schoolteacher and revolutionary socialist. He is primarily known as a Marxist educator and notable for his outspoken opposition to the First World War. Maclean is regarded as one of the leading figures of the Red Clydeside era. His imprisonment for agitation against the war earned him an international reputation and he was elected an honorary vice-president of the Congress of Soviets and appointed Bolshevik representative in Scotland.
Maclean first came to politics through the Pollokshaws Progressive Union and Robert Blatchford's Merrie England. He became convinced that the living standards of the working-classes could only be improved by social revolution and it was as a Marxist that he joined the Social Democratic Federation (SDF), and remained in the organisation as it formed the British Socialist Party. By the time of World War I his socialism was of a revolutionary nature, although he worked with others on the left who were more reformist in outlook, such as his friend James Maxton. He heavily opposed the war, as he felt it was a war of imperialism which divided workers from one another. In January 1918 Maclean was elected to the chair of the Third All-Russian Congress of Soviets and a month later appointed Bolshevik consul in Scotland. He established a Consulate at 12 Portland Street in Glasgow but was refused recognition by the British Government.
- Week 26
Glasgow Central (Scottish Gaelic: Glaschu Mheadhain) is the larger of the two present main-line railway terminals in Glasgow, the largest city in Scotland. The station was opened by the Caledonian Railway on 31 July 1879 and is currently managed by Network Rail. It is the northern terminus of the West Coast Main Line. The station serves all of the Greater Glasgow conurbation's southern suburbs and towns, and the Ayrshire and Clyde coasts, and is the terminus for all inter-city services between Glasgow and destinations in England. There is also a limited service to Edinburgh, however the city's second main line terminus - Glasgow Queen Street - remains the principal station for services to the capital. Glasgow Central is the busiest railway station in Scotland and the second busiest in Britain outside London, after Birmingham New Street. Over 38 million people use it annually, 80% of whom are passengers.
The original station, opened on 1 August 1879 on the north bank of the River Clyde, had eight platforms and was linked to Bridge Street station by a railway bridge over Argyle Street and a four-track railway bridge, built by Sir William Arrol, which crossed the Clyde to the south. The station was soon congested. In 1890, a temporary solution of widening the bridge over Argyle Street and inserting a ninth platform on Argyle Street bridge was completed. It was also initially intended to increase Bridge Street station to eight through lines and to increase Central station to 15 platforms.
- Week 27
The Scottish Terrier (also known as the Aberdeen Terrier), popularly called the Scottie, is a breed of dog. Initially one of the highland breeds of Terrier that were grouped under the name of Skye Terrier, it is one of five breeds of terrier that originated in Scotland, the other four being the modern Skye, Cairn, Dandie Dinmont, and West Highland White Terrier. They are an independent and rugged breed with a wiry outer coat and a soft dense undercoat. The Fourth Earl of Dumbarton nicknamed the breed "the diehard." The modern breed is said to be able to trace its lineage back to a single female, named Splinter II. Described as a territorial, feisty dog, they can make a good watchdog and tend to be very loyal to their family.
They are a small breed of Terrier with a distinctive shape and have had many roles in popular culture. They have been owned by a variety of celebrities, including the 32nd President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, whose Scottie "Fala" is included with FDR in a statue in Washington, DC, as well as the 43rd President of the United States George W. Bush. They are also well known for being a playing piece in the board game Monopoly.
- Week 28
The Finnieston Crane is a crane and landmark in Glasgow, Scotland. It is now disused but is retained as a symbol of the city's engineering heritage. The crane was commissioned in 1926 by the Clyde Navigation Trust, the operators of the port and dock facilities in Glasgow. It was completed in 1932 with the tower built by Cowans, Sheldon & Company of Carlisle and the cantilever by the Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company. It is situated at the Stobcross Quay on the north bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow, and cost a total of £52,351. It is officially known as the Stobcross Crane (or, to the navigation trust as Clyde Navigation Trustees crane #7), but its proximity to Finnieston Quay, and the fact that it was intended to replace the previous Finnieston Crane, has led to its being popularly known as the Finnieston Crane.
It is a giant-cantilever crane, measuring 50.24metres (165 ft) tall with a 77 metre (253 ft) cantilever jib . It has a lifting capacity of 175 tons. It can be ascended either by a steel staircase or an electric lift. The actual Finnieston Crane was located a bit further upriver on the site now occupied by the City Inn. It was a 130 ton steam crane built in the 1890s and a sister crane was built in the Princes Dock in front of Govan Town Hall.
- Week 29
Sir Henry Raeburn (4 March 1756 – 8 July 1823) was a Scottish portrait painter, the first significant Scottish portraitist since the Act of Union 1707 to remain based in Scotland. At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to a goldsmith, and various pieces of jewellery, mourning rings and the like, adorned with minute drawings on ivory by his hand, still exist. Soon he took to the production of carefully finished portrait miniatures; meeting with success and patronage, he extended his practice to oil painting, at which he was self-taught. The goldsmith watched the progress of his pupil with interest, and introduced him to David Martin, who had been the favourite assistant of Allan Ramsay the Latter, and was now the leading portrait painter in Edinburgh.
Raeburn was especially aided by the loan of portraits to copy. Soon he had gained sufficient skill to make him decide to devote himself exclusively to painting. In his early twenties, he was asked to paint the portrait of a young lady whom he had previously observed and admired when he was sketching from nature in the fields. Anne was the daughter of Peter Edgar of Bridgelands, and widow of Count Leslie. Fascinated by the handsome and intellectual young artist, she became his wife within a month, bringing him an ample fortune. The acquisition of wealth did not affect his enthusiasm or his industry, but spurred him on to acquire a thorough knowledge of his craft.
- Week 30
Scottish clans (from Gaelic clann, "progeny"), give a sense of identity and shared descent to people in Scotland and to their relations throughout the world, with a formal structure of Clan Chiefs recognised by the court of the Lord Lyon, King of Arms which acts as an authority concerning matters of heraldry and Coat of Arms. Most clans have their own tartan patterns, usually dating from the 19th century, and members of the clan may wear kilts, plaids, sashes, ties, scarves, or other items of clothing made of the appropriate tartan as a badge of membership and as a uniform where appropriate.
The modern image of clans, each with their "own" tartan and specific land, was promulgated by the Scottish author Sir Walter Scott and others. Historically, tartan designs were associated with Lowland and Highland districts whose weavers tended to produce cloth patterns favoured in those districts. By process of social evolution, it followed that the clans/families prominent in a particular district would wear the tartan of that district, and it was but a short step for that community to become identified by it. Clans generally identify with geographical areas originally controlled by the Chiefs, sometimes with an ancestral castle and clan gatherings form a regular part of the social scene. The most notable gathering of recent times was "The Gathering 2009" which included a "clan convention" in the Scottish parliament.
- Week 31
Ewan McGregor (born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. He has had success in mainstream, indie, and art house films. McGregor is perhaps best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting (1996), young Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy (1999–2005), and poet Christian in the musical film Moulin Rouge! (2001). He has also received critical acclaim for his starring roles in theatre productions of Guys and Dolls (2005–07) and Othello (2007–08). McGregor was ranked No. 36 on Empire magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list in 1997.
Born in the Royal Infirmary in Perth, Scotland, McGregor was brought up in the nearby small town of Crieff, where he attended the independent Morrison's Academy. His mother, Carol Diane (née Lawson), is a teacher and school administrator, and his father, James Charles Stuart "Jim" McGregor, is a physical education teacher. He has an older brother, Colin, who is a former Tornado GR4 pilot in the Royal Air Force. He is the nephew of actor Denis Lawson and the late actress Sheila Gish, and the step-cousin of the late actress Lou Gish.
- Week 32
The Flying Scotsman, an LNER Class A3 Pacific locomotive No. 4472 (originally No. 1472) was built in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) at Doncaster Works to a design of H.N. Gresley. It was employed on long-distance express trains on the LNER and its successors, British Railways Eastern and North-Eastern Regions, notably on the 10am London to Edinburgh Flying Scotsman train service after which it was named. In its career 4472 Flying Scotsman has covered more than 2,000,000 miles (3,200,000 km). The locomotive was completed in 1923, construction having been started under the auspices of the Great Northern Railway (GNR). It was built as an A1, initially carrying the GNR number 1472, because the LNER had not yet decided on a system-wide numbering scheme.
Flying Scotsman was something of a flagship locomotive for the LNER. It represented the company at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924 and 1925. Prior to this event, in February 1924 it acquired its name and the new number of 4472. From then on it was commonly used for promotional purposes. With suitably modified valve gear, this locomotive was one of five Gresley Pacifics selected to haul the prestigious non-stop Flying Scotsman train service from London to Edinburgh, hauling the inaugural train on 1 May 1928. For this the locomotives ran with a new version of the large eight-wheel tender which held 9 tons of coal. This and the usual facility for water replenishment from the water trough system enabled them to travel the 392 miles (631 km) from London to Edinburgh in eight hours non-stop.
- Week 33
The Politics of Scotland forms a distinctive part of the wider politics of the United Kingdom. Constitutionally, the United Kingdom is de jure a unitary state with one sovereign parliament and government. However, under a system of devolution (or home rule) adopted in the late 1990s three of the four countries of the United Kingdom --Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland-- voted for limited self-government, subject to the continuing sovereignty of the UK Parliament in Westminster. As such the Scottish Parliament is not de jure sovereign. However, it is thought unlikely that any UK parliament would try to unilaterally abolish the devolved parliament and government without consultation with the voter via a referendum. The head of state in Scotland is the British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II (since 1952).
Executive power in the United Kingdom is vested in the Queen-in-Council, while legislative power is vested in the Queen-in-Parliament (the Crown and the Parliament of the United Kingdom at Westminster in London). Under devolution, executive and legislative powers in certain areas have been constitutionally delegated to the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament, respectively. The United Kingdom Parliament retains active power over Scotland's taxes, social security system, the military, international relations, broadcasting, and some other areas explicitly specified in the Scotland Act 1998 as reserved matters. The Scottish Parliament has legislative authority for all other areas relating to Scotland, and has limited power to vary income tax (the so-called Tartan Tax).
- Week 34
"Auld Lang Syne" (Scots pronunciation: [ˈɔːld lɑŋˈsəin]: note "s" rather than "z") is a Scots poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song (Roud # 6294). It is well known in many countries, especially (but far from exclusively) in the English-speaking world; its traditional use being to celebrate the start of the New Year at the stroke of midnight. By extension, it is also sung at funerals, graduations, and as a farewell or ending to other occasions. The international Boy Scout youth movement, in many countries, uses it as a close to jamborees and other functions.
The song's Scots title may be translated into English literally as "old long since", or more idiomatically, "long long ago", "days gone by" or "old times". Consequently "For auld lang syne", as it appears in the first line of the chorus, is loosely translated as "for (the sake of) old times". The phrase "Auld Lang Syne" is also used in similar poems by Robert Ayton (1570–1638), Allan Ramsay (1686–1757), and James Watson (1711) as well as older folk songs predating Burns. Matthew Fitt uses the phrase "In the days of auld lang syne" as the equivalent of "Once upon a time..." in his retelling of fairy tales in the Scots language.
- Week 35
Her Majesty's Naval Base (HMNB) Clyde is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Devonport and HMNB Portsmouth). It is the service's headquarters in Scotland and is best known as the home of the United Kingdom's strategic nuclear deterrent, in the form of nuclear submarines armed with Trident missiles. HMNB Clyde lies on the eastern shore of Gare Loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, to the north of the Firth of Clyde and 25 mi (40 km) west of the city of Glasgow. The submarine base encompasses a number of separate sites, the primary two being: Faslane, 25 miles from Glasgow; RNAD Coulport, beside Loch Long, 8 mi (13 km) west of Faslane.
Faslane is also a Defence Equipment and Support site, operated in dual site organisation with Great Harbour, Greenock, by Babcock Marine, and managed by Serco Denholm. Faslane Naval Base, situated on the Gare Loch, and the RN Armaments Depot Coulport on Loch Long, are the primary components of HM Naval Base Clyde. The Naval shore establishment at Faslane is HMS Neptune, Naval personnel appointed to the base who do not belong to a sea-going vessel make up Ship's Company. Both the Gareloch and Loch Long are sea lochs extending northwards from the Firth of Clyde. The base serves as home base to the United Kingdom's fleet of Vanguard-class nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed submarines, as well as conventionally-armed nuclear powered submarines, supported by the Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines.
- Week 36
Jim Baxter (29 September 1939 – 14 April 2001) was a left-footed Scottish internationalist midfielder who is regarded by some as the country's greatest ever football player. Born and educated in Fife, Baxter started his professional career at Raith Rovers before moving to Glasgow club Rangers for a Scottish record transfer fee in 1960. "Slim Jim" helped Rangers to win ten trophies between 1960 and 1965.
From 1961 to 1967 he was a leading member of a strong Scottish international team that lost to England only in 1965, shortly after he recovered from a leg fracture. He thought his best international performance was a 2–1 win against England in 1963, when he scored both goals after Scotland were reduced to 10 players by an injury. In the 1967 match against England, who had won the 1966 World Cup, he taunted the opposition by ball juggling while waiting for his team-mates to find good positions. In his prime Baxter was known for his ability to raise a team's morale, his good tactical vision, precise passing and ability to send opponents the wrong way – and for being a joker on the pitch. He also broke with Glasgow tradition and Rangers' policy by becoming friendly with several members of their major Glasgow rivals, Celtic.
- Week 37
The Kingdom of Scotland (Gaelic: Rìoghachd na h-Alba, Scots: Kinrick o Scotland) was a Sovereign state in North-West Europe that existed from 843 until 1707. It occupied the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shared a land border to the south with the Kingdom of England. In 1603, James VI of Scotland became King of England, joining Scotland with England in a personal union. In 1707, the two kingdoms were united to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, under the terms of the Acts of Union.
Since 1472, following the annexation of the Northern Isles from the Kingdom of Norway, and the final capture of the Royal Burgh of Berwick by the Kingdom of England in 1482, the territory of the Kingdom of Scotland has corresponded to that of modern-day Scotland. It was bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the southwest. Apart from the mainland, the Kingdom of Scotland consisted of over 790 islands. Edinburgh, the capital, was preceded by the towns of Scone, Dunfermline and Stirling as the country's capital. By the termination of independence in 1707 the population of the Kingdom of Scotland was approximately 1.1 million
- Week 38
HMS Hood (pennant number 51) was the last battlecruiser built for the Royal Navy. One of four Admiral-class battlecruisers ordered in mid-1916, her design—although drastically revised after the Battle of Jutland and improved while she was under construction—still had serious limitations. For this reason she was the only ship of her class to be completed. She was named after the 18th-century Admiral Samuel Hood. Construction of Hood began at the John Brown & Company shipyards in Clydebank, Scotland, on 1 September 1916. Following the loss of three British battlecruisers at the Battle of Jutland, 5,000 tons of extra armour and bracing were added to Hood's design.
Hood was involved in a number of flag-waving exercises between her commissioning in 1920 and the outbreak of war in 1939; these included training exercises in the Mediterranean Sea and a circumnavigation of the globe with the Special Service Squadron in 1923 and 1924. She was attached to the Mediterranean Fleet following the outbreak of the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. When the Spanish Civil War broke out, Hood was officially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet until she had to return to England in 1939 for an overhaul. At this point in her service, Hood's usefulness had deteriorated because of advances in naval gunnery. She was scheduled to undergo a major rebuild in 1941 to correct these issues, but the outbreak of World War II forced the ship into service without the upgrades.
- Week 39
The Paisley witches, also known as the Bargarran witches or the Renfrewshire witches, were tried in Paisley, Renfrewshire, central Scotland, in 1697. On 17 August 1696, Eleven-year-old Christian Shaw, daughter of John Shaw, the Laird of Bargarran, saw one of her family's servants, Catherine Campbell, steal a cup of milk to drink. Shaw reported the theft to her mother, whereupon Campbell cursed her, wishing that the Devil would take her soul. Four days later Shaw encountered Agnes Naismith, an old woman reputed to be a witch. The following day, 22 August, Shaw became violently ill with fits, similar to the symptoms reported a few years earlier in the American Salem witch trials of 1693.
Christian Shaw complained of being tormented by a number of local witches, including Catherine Campbell. Seven people – Margaret Lang, John Lindsay, James Lindsay, John Reid, Catherine Campbell, Margaret Fulton, and Agnes Naismith – were found guilty of having bewitched Shaw and were condemned to death. One subsequently committed suicide by hanging himself in his prison cell. The other six were hanged and then burnt on the Gallow Green in Paisley on 10 June 1697, the last mass execution for witchcraft in western Europe. Agnes Naismith cursed everyone present at the executions and their descendants, and for many years afterwards every tragedy in Paisley was blamed on her curse. Christian Shaw went on to become a successful businesswoman and manufacturer of thread.
- Week 40
Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, Alasdair Mór mac an Rígh, and called the Wolf of Badenoch (1343 – 20 June 1405), was the third surviving son of King Robert II of Scotland and youngest by his first wife, Elizabeth Mure of Rowallan. He was the first Earl of Buchan since John Comyn, from 1382 until his death. Alexander married the widowed Euphemia I, Countess of Ross, but they had no children although he did have a large family by his longtime mistress, Mairead inghean Eachann. Alexander was Justiciar of Scotia for a time, but not an effective one. He held large territories in the north of Scotland before eventually losing a large part of them. Alexander is remembered for his destruction of the royal burgh of Elgin and its cathedral. His nickname was earned due to his notorious cruelty and rapacity but there is no proof that it was used during his lifetime.
Known in charters as Alexander Senescalli (Latin for Steward), is first noted when, on 14 August 1370, he issued letters patent from Ruthven Castle undertaking to grant protection to the Bishop of Moray and all of his lands, men and property in Badenoch. His father, Robert the Steward, had acquired the lands of Badenoch probably from Euphemia, Countess of Moray who had become his second wife. Robert had a petulant relationship with his uncle, King David II of Scotland. In 1368 he and his sons were required by David's parliament to take an oath that they would keep their undisciplined followers in check—later that year, Robert and Alexander were imprisoned in Lochleven Castle. possibly as a result of these oaths having been broken
- Week 41
Alex Ferguson, CBE, popularly known as Sir Alex or Fergie (born 31 December 1941 in Govan, Glasgow), is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986. His tenure has seen the club go through an era of success and dominance both in England and in Europe, giving Ferguson a reputation as one of the most admired and respected managers in the history of the game. Ferguson previously managed East Stirlingshire and St Mirren, before a highly successful period as manager of Aberdeen. Briefly manager of the Scotland national team — in a temporary capacity owing to the death of Jock Stein — he was appointed manager of Manchester United in November 1986.
With 24 years as manager of Manchester United, he is the longest serving manager in their history after overtaking Sir Matt Busby's record on 19 December 2010. His tenure is also the longest of all the current League managers. During this time, Ferguson has won many awards and holds many records including winning Manager of the Year most times in British football history. In 2008, he became the third British manager to win the European Cup on more than one occasion. He was knighted in 1999 for his services to the game and also holds the Freedom of the City of Aberdeen.
- Week 42
The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is the busiest mixed-traffic railway route in Britain, being the country's most important rail backbone in terms of population served. Fast, long-distance inter-city passenger services are provided between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the Central Belt of Scotland. Since an upgrade in recent years, much of the line has trains running at 125 mph (201 km/h), thereby meeting the European Union's definition of an upgraded high-speed line. The WCML is the most important intercity rail passenger route in the United Kingdom, connecting London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow and many smaller towns and cities. In addition, several sections of the WCML form part of the suburban railway systems in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow, with many more smaller commuter stations, as well as providing a number of links to more rural towns.
In 2008 the WCML handled 75 million passenger journeys. The WCML is also one of the busiest freight routes in Europe, carrying 43% of all UK rail freight traffic. The line is the principal rail freight corridor linking the European mainland (via the Channel Tunnel) through London and south-east England to the West Midlands, north-west England and Scotland. The line has been declared a strategic European route and designated a priority Trans-European Networks (TENS) route.
- Week 43
![Smailholm Tower] from the north-west](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/Smailholm_Tower.jpg/180px-Smailholm_Tower.jpg)
Smailholm Tower is a peel tower at Smailholm, around five miles (8 km) west of Kelso in the Scottish Borders. Its dramatic situation, atop a crag of Lady Hill, commands wide views over the surrounding countryside. The tower is located at grid reference NT637346, just west of Sandyknowe farm, and is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument in the care of Historic Scotland. In June 2007 it was awarded the maximum "five-star" status as a tourist attraction from VisitScotland, a rating bestowed on only eight other sites in Scotland. Smailholm Tower was originally built in the 15th century or early 16th century by the Pringle family. This family, originally spelt Hoppringle, who were followers of the Earl of Douglas, held the lands of Smailholm from the early 15th century, and managed part of Ettrick Forest for their feudal superior.
Smailholm Tower was designed, in common with all Scottish peel towers, to provide its occupants with protection from sporadic English raids. The tower was attacked by English soldiers in 1543, 1544 and again in 1546, when the garrison of Wark Castle sacked the tower and carried off prisoners and cattle. The castle was successfully defended against the English in 1640, by Sir Andrew Ker of Greenhead. Smailholm was obtained by the Scotts of Harden around this time. The Scotts – ancestors of Sir Walter – rebuilt parts of the tower and barmkin. In the 18th century the tower decayed, following the family's move into nearby Sandyknowe. The last owner, the Earl of Ellesmere, handed the property into state care in 1950. It was restored in the 1980s, and now operates as a museum.
- Week 44
The 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack was a terrorism attack which occurred on Saturday 30 June 2007, at 15:11 BST, when a dark green Jeep Cherokee loaded with propane canisters was driven into the glass doors of the Glasgow International Airport terminal and set ablaze. It was the first terrorist attack to take place in Scotland since the Lockerbie bombing in 1988, and the first terrorist attack ever to target Scotland. The attack occurred three days after the appointment of Glasgow-born Scottish MP Gordon Brown as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, but Downing Street dismissed suggestions of a connection, although a close link was quickly established to the foiled attack on London the previous day.
Security bollards outside the entrance stopped the car from entering the terminal, although the doors were damaged. The car's driver was severely burnt in the ensuing fire and five members of the public were also injured, although none were seriously harmed. Some injuries were sustained by those assisting the police in detaining the occupants. Both of the car occupants were apprehended at the scene, and all those injured were taken to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in nearby Paisley. Within three days, Scotland Yard had confirmed that eight people had been taken into custody in connection with this incident and that in London.
- Week 45
The Vestiarium Scoticum (full title, Vestiarium Scoticum: from the Manuscript formerly in the Library of the Scots College at Douay. With an Introduction and Notes, by John Sobieski Stuart) was first published by William Tait of Edinburgh in a limited edition in 1842. John Telfer Dunbar, in his seminal work History of Highland Dress referred to it as "probably the most controversial costume book ever written." The book itself purported to be a reproduction, with colour illustrations, of an ancient manuscript on the clan tartans of Scottish families. Shortly after its publication, it was denounced as a forgery and the "Stuart" brothers who brought it forth, and who claimed to be the grandsons of Bonnie Prince Charlie himself, were likewise denounced as imposters. It is indeed generally accepted today that neither the brothers themselves nor the Vestiarium are what they were purported to be.
Nevertheless, the role of the book in the history of Scottish tartans is immense, with many of the designs and patterns contained therein passing into the realm of "official" clan tartans. The 1842 edition of the Vestiarium had its beginnings in the late 1820s when the Sobieski Stuart brothers, then resident in Moray, Scotland, produced a copy of a document containing tartan patterns and showed it to their host, Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, Bt. This manuscript, however, was not the one which the brothers claimed to be the basis for the later publication of the Vestiarium.
- Week 46
Robert_Stevenson FRSE MInstCE FSAS MWS FGS FRAS FSA (Scot) (8 June 1772 – 12 July 1850) was a Scottish civil engineer and famed designer and builder of lighthouses. One of his finest achievements was the construction of the Bell Rock Lighthouse. Stevenson was born in Glasgow; his father was Alan Stevenson, a partner in a West India trading house in the city. He died of an epidemic fever on the island of St. Christopher when Stevenson was an infant; at much the same time, Stevenson's uncle died of the same disease, leaving Alan's widow, Jane Lillie, in straitened financial circumstances. As a result, Stevenson was educated as an infant at a charity school.
His mother intended Robert for the ministry and to this end sent him to the school of a famous linguist of the day, Mr. Macintyre. However, in Stevenson's fifteenth year, Jane Lillie married Thomas Smith a tinsmith, lampmaker and ingenious mechanic who had in 1786 been appointed engineer to the newly formed Northern Lighthouse Board. Stevenson served as Smith's assistant, and was sufficiently successful that at age 19 he was entrusted with the supervision of the erection of a lighthouse on the island of Little Cumbrae in the River Clyde. He devoted himself with determination to follow the profession of a civil engineer, and applied himself to the practice of surveying and architectural drawing and attended lectures in mathematics and physical sciences at the Andersonian Institute at Glasgow.
- Week 47
Arthur's Seat is the main peak of the group of hills which form most of Holyrood Park, a wild piece of high landscape in the centre of the city of Edinburgh, about a mile to the east of Edinburgh Castle. The hill rises above the city to a height of 251 m (823 ft), provides excellent panoramic views of the city, is relatively easy to climb, and is popular for hillwalking. Though it can be climbed from almost any direction, the easiest and simplest ascent is from the East, where a grassy slope rises above Dunsapie Loch. Rock climbing is deceptively dangerous, and is restricted.
Many claim that its name is derived from the myriad legends pertaining to King Arthur, such as the reference in Y Gododdin. Some support for this theory may be provided by the fact that several other hilltop and mountaintop features in Britain bear the same or similar names, such as the peak of Ben Arthur (The Cobbler) in the western highlands, sometimes known as Arthur's Seat, and Arthur's Chair on the ridge called Stone Arthur in the Cumbrian lake district. There is no traditional Scottish Gaelic name for Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh but William Maitland proposed that the name was a corruption of Àrd-na-Said, implying the "Height of Arrows", which over the years became Arthur's Seat (perhaps via "Archer's Seat"). Alternatively, John Milne's proposed etymology of Àrd-thir Suidhe meaning "place on high ground" uncomfortably requires the transposition of the name elements.
- Week 48
The Hebrides were settled early on in the settlement of the British Isles, perhaps as early as the Mesolithic era, around 8500-8250 BC, after the climatic conditions improved enough to sustain human settlement. There are examples of structures possibly dating from up to 3000 BC, the finest example being the standing stones at Callanish, but some archaeologists date the site as Bronze Age. Little is known of the people who settled in the Hebrides but they were likely of the same Celtic stock that had settled in the rest of Scotland. Settlements at Northton, Harris, have both Beaker & Neolithic dwelling houses, the oldest in the Western Isles, attesting to the settlement.
The earliest written mention of the Outer Hebrides was by the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus in 55 BC. He wrote that there was an island called Hyperborea (which means "Far to the North") where a round temple stood from which the moon appeared only a little distance above the earth every 19 years, an apparent reference to the stone circle at Callanish. Pomponius Mela, a Roman-Spanish writer of the first century, refers to a group of seven islands which he gave the name Haemodae. Other ancient writers such as Pliny the Elder, the Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy, and Solinus (3rd Century AD) all seem to mention the Hebrides, attesting to some contact of the peoples there to the Roman world. Little is known of the history of the peoples of the Hebrides before the 6th century as they, like the rest of Scotland, were in the depths of what centuries later became known as the Dark Ages. The first written records of the islands comes with the arrival of St. Columba in the 6th century AD. It was this Irish-Scottish saint who first brought Christianity to the islands in the 6th century, founding several churches.
- Week 49
The Acts of Union were two Parliamentary Acts - the Union with Scotland Act passed in 1706 by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act passed in 1707 by the Parliament of Scotland - which put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on 22 July 1706, following negotiation between commissioners representing the parliaments of the two countries. The Acts joined the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland (previously separate states, with separate legislatures but with the same monarch) into a single, united kingdom named "Great Britain".
The two countries had shared a monarch since the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when King James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne from his double first cousin twice removed, Queen Elizabeth I. Although described as a Union of Crowns, until 1707 there were in fact two separate Crowns resting on the same head (as opposed to the implied creation of a single Crown and a single Kingdom, exemplified by the later Kingdom of Great Britain). There had been three attempts in 1606, 1667, and 1689 to unite the two countries by Acts of Parliament, but it was not until the early 18th century that both political establishments came to support the idea, albeit for different reasons.
- Week 50
Dumbarton Castle (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Breatainn, pronounced [t̪unˈpɾʲɛʰt̪ɪɲ]) has the longest recorded history of any stronghold in Great Britain. It overlooks the Scottish town of Dumbarton, and sits on a plug of volcanic basalt known as Dumbarton Rock which is 240 feet (73 m) high.
At least as far back as the Iron Age, this has been the site of a strategically important settlement. Its early residents were known to have traded with the Romans. The presence of a settlement is first recorded in a letter Saint Patrick wrote to King Ceretic of Alt Clut (or Clyde Rock) in the late 5th century. From the fifth century until the ninth, the castle was the centre of the independent British Kingdom of Strathclyde. The King of the Britons of Dumbarton in about AD 570 was Riderch Hael, who features in Norse legends. During his reign Merlin was said to have stayed at Alt Clut. In 756 the first (and second) losses of Dumbarton Rock were recorded. A joint force of Picts and Northumbrians captured Alcluith after a siege, only to lose it again a few days later. By 870 Dumbarton Rock was home to a tightly packed British settlement, which served as a fortress and as the capital of Alt Clut.
- Week 51
John 'Jock' Stein CBE (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish association football player and manager. He became the first manager of a British side to win the European Cup, with Celtic in 1967. Stein also guided Celtic to nine successive Scottish League championships between 1966 and 1974. During his managerial career he won the European Cup once, ten Scottish League Championships, nine Scottish Cups, and six Scottish League Cups. All but one of these honours (the 1961 Scottish Cup with Dunfermline) were won with Celtic. After a brief stint with Leeds United, Stein managed the Scottish national side from 1978 until his death in 1985. Stein was voted the greatest Scottish football manager in a 2003 poll by the Sunday Herald newspaper.
Since his death, Stein has been inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame and the Scottish Football Hall of Fame. He has been voted the greatest ever Scottish manager, and in 2002 he was voted the greatest ever Celtic manager by the club's fans. When Celtic Park was rebuilt in the 1990s, the traditional Celtic fans' end of the stadium was named the Jock Stein Stand. A bust of Stein was presented to Celtic by a supporters' group and now sits in the foyer of the stadium.
- Week 52
Hogmanay (pronounced [ˌhɔɡməˈneː]) is the Scots word for the last day of the year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year (Gregorian calendar) in the Scottish manner. It is, however, normally only the start of a celebration which lasts through the night until the morning of New Year's Day (1 January) or, in some cases, 2 January which is a Scottish Bank Holiday.
The etymology of the word is obscure. It may have been introduced to Middle Scots through the Auld Alliance. In 1604 the custom was mentioned in the Elgin Records as hagmonay. The most satisfactory explanation is a derivation from the Northern French dialect word hoguinané, or variants such as hoginane, hoginono and hoguinettes, those being derived from 16th century Old French aguillanneuf meaning either a gift given at New Year, a children's cry for such a gift, or New Year's Eve itself. This explanation is supported by a children's tradition, observed up to the 1960s in some parts of Scotland at least, of visiting houses in their locality on New Year's Eve and requesting and receiving small treats such as sweets or fruit. The second element would appear to be l'an neuf i.e. the New Year. Compare those to Norman hoguinané and the obsolete customs in Jersey of crying ma hodgîngnole, and in Guernsey of asking for an oguinane, for a New Year gift.