Hogmanay celebrated by plebs in Edinburgh

      Our family have always hated the whole Hogmanay and New Year thing. That feeling of enforced jollity is designed to make any right minded person feel gloomy. To avoid having jolly fellow Edinburghers  attempting to visit us, we turn the lights out and hide and attempt to go to bed early. However the fireworks over Edinburgh Castle at midnight make that difficult.
     However now I understand it all. I must feel this way because I am not a Pleb - that wicked word used supposedly by the MP and Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell and which caused him to lose his job in what is now being called "Plebgate".  He called a policeman a Pleb and in Britain, on the brink of a class revolution, there is  supposedly no worse insult.
     According to a disapproving Scottish Presbyterian Church in 1693
" It is ordinary among some Plebians in the South of Scotland, to go about from door to door upon New Years Eve crying Hagmane"
      Goodness knows what Hagmane meant!

Whisky

    The Scottish Whisky industry contributes more to the British economy than the City of London, according to a new report. Yes - Good for Us  - Good for Scotland.
    Apparently  Whisky is Scotland's biggest export and there seems to be an ever increasing demand from emerging markets
     This is just as well because in Scotland and the rest of Britain it is now only an old man's drink and is not drunk much by other age groups.
      Going round one of Scotland's many distilleries is a fascinating thing to do with lots of wonderful smells- from the malting of the barley to the huge containers full of fermenting grain, to the beautiful copper stills.
      You are told that the essential factor for taste is the local water, hence each distillery producing its own malt whisky with it's own unique taste.
      The old men in Scotland love nothing better than to sit and drink and argue over which Malt is better than another.
      A blend is a mixture of different malts and considered by the old men to be a much inferior product. They are very happy to see that all exported.

 

Burke and Hare

       One of the best things about being a nerdy genealogist like me is - www.ancestry. You plug in your family tree and then they alert you to lots of stuff like possible 'hatches, matches and dispatches info, or sometimes, to other people researching the same ancestors. I have discovered relatives all  over the world this way.                  
       Just before Xmas I was contacted by someone else researching my Grindlay ancestors. To our shared excitement, she had found that one of them - a Dr Charles Grindlay, was thought to be one of the doctors involved with Burke and Hare, the notorious grave robbers, who were hanged in Edinburgh in 1829.
      On reading more about them, I have discovered that they started as grave robbers, but them moved on to become murderers, the bodies all being sold for dissection to respectable doctors at Edinburgh University Medical School, who presumably had no idea that these poor people had been  murdered.  
      The Professor Alexander Monro dipped his quill pen into Burkes blood and wrote "This is written with the blood of Wm Burke who was hanged at Edinburgh. This blood was taken from his head"
    Some of Burkes things and some parts of his body are still to be seen in various Edinburgh  museums. Wallets made from his skin were sold in Edinburgh after his death. All very gruesome.
    My ancestor Dr Charles Grindlay is recorded as being involved but it is not known in what way. No wonder it was obliterated from our family history

     

Revolution in France?

      The highly respected French actress Catherine Deneuve, accuses the French left of returning to the dark days of the revolution, with the rich being hounded just as they were 200 years ago.  Laurence Pariset, the head of the French Employer's Federation, warns that France is slipping into a mood of revolutionary hatred and of re-creating a climate of civil war.
      Is the same happening in Britain?
      I can only speak for Scotland and I would say that - Yes it is - except that here the picture is confused.
      In Scotland -  wealth and English-ness are confused, but the Scots hate both.
This is what is at the root of Scottish nationalism. The fight for an independent Scotland is actually a bloodless revolution against, what are perceived as, the wealthy English conservative landowners and bankers.
     The irony is, that most wealth in Scotland today is  in the hands of very Scottish Scots, who have come from lowly backgrounds, have worked hard and have made money. But Scots also dislike people who are successful.
     What also makes it tricky, is that many very Scottish people have English accents and are confused as being English by those without Scottish accents.
     These are the few who have the perceived advantage of having gone to a posh boarding school, where, if it exists, a Scottish accent is quickly lost.
      But the Scots also hate anyone they see as having any form advantage.
      So - who will die in this revolution, it it stops being bloodless?

Empty house suddenly full

    My mother always said how strange it was, having to adjust from being just one person in the house to what seemed like an invasion of millions, when her offspring visited.
    Because - what you don't think about until it happens to you (which is now), is that grown up offspring return, but - they return with wives or husbands and children. They have gone forth and multiplied and then come back to visit - at Xmas.
   So your kitchen table which quite easily sat the family before, is now woefully too small. That is all easily dealt with, but - what is harder, is quite simply, having to adapt the quiet 2 person, pensioner, existence of fixed, boring routines, to a sudden whirlwind of people and chaos - Lots of people and lots of chaos.
   After the initial advance anxiety and then the initial shock to the system, it is wonderful and so happy.
But then just as suddenly they all go.
   That is the worst part, having to adapt again to the 2 person meals, the quiet and that feeling of emptiness and loss.

Just done the Xmas big shop

        I graced Tesco with my custom this year and went with dread, expecting huge crowds. However it was most civilised, with extra staff  (wearing headsets), to soothe any frazzled shoppers.
       I was a very frazzled shopper when, at the checkout, I discovered that the two free range chickens which were to be our family's Xmas meal, expired on the 24th of  December - before Xmas.
       A helper (with a headset) appeared like magic, whipped the offending birds away and led me to two tiny free range chickens, which did not expire till the 29th. Sadly  their size was against them.
       I was therefore forced to abandon my principles and go non free-range. However - on their packet, it says that my chickens enjoyed life in a barn with some natural light. That sounds a bit Christmasy to me - stables and mangers and all that

My NHS dentist visit

      I have just had my six month check at my NHS dentist. Yes they do still exist although an endangered species. I so dread going, but all that was necessary was smoothing an edge of an old filling that had broken off.
      As a child the family dentist was Mr Walls and we drove all the way to Nairn, such was his supposed expertise. Every visit he would grumble that he should just pull all my teeth out and be done with it. Well Mr Walls - my teeth are mostly all still there somewhere beneath all the fillings that you originally put in them.
      Perhaps the appalling state of my teeth was due to my mother confusing 2 important health messages.
1. An apple a day keeps the doctor away
2. Brushing teeth at bedtime.
     We religiously brushed our teeth after our bath and then got into bed with an apple to eat before going to sleep
      I was fired with enthusiasm by a recent article in the paper. -
      For perfect teeth and death to plaque and decay, all that is necessary is -
1. 30 minutes Listerine Original twice a day after tooth brushing and
2. Chewing gum with Xylitol (Peppersmith) twice a day after lunch and after supper.
     I asked the dentist about this yesterday. He looked very thoughtful and said
              "Yes - that regime is very good for most people-  but not you"
On being asked why he said
              "Because chewing gum requires strong teeth"
Oh my poor old crumbling pensioner teeth

Independant Scotland likened to Nazi Germany

Perhaps now we are seeing the real Scottish Nationalist Party - the SNP.
Yesterday  Mr Williamson who shared the platform with Alex Salmond on their campaign trail, let it be known that he wants to rid Scotland of people who he thinks don't fit his vision of an independant Scotland. He said
"It is time for a social audit of institutional Scotland, who are these people, who they speak for, what class, demographic, ethos"
This prompted others to a comparison with Germany in the 1930's
Perhaps England will see a flood of refugees from the North?
Perhaps England will decide to look at similar people in England and ask them to leave. The list would be long!
Oh - such madness

Scottish Independence - 2 opposing views

The opinions are coming out of the woodwork this week
       Sir Alex Ferguson - Football manager of Manchester United and therefore living in England at present, is upset that Scots like him are not being given a chance to fight for their country to remain as part of the UK, the county he is living in. He doesn't want to feel that (by living in England at the moment)  he is in a foreign country.
       Alasdair Gray - Scottish writer and artist and SNP member living in Scotland, is upset at what he sees as English colonists coming to Scotland to run things such as the Arts.
      Do we hear cries of foul from folks in Manchester complaining that Ferguson is a Scottish colonist?!

Advent Candle abuse

Advent candles arrived in our family when our children were young. They came apparently from Germany where children stick them in oranges and call them a christingle (which make me wonder why our Christmas is being taken over by all things German such as German markets, Gluhwein and bratwurst).
Although we are  now pensioners and our children are all away and it is just us at home, my husband still loves to have an advent candle. It goes on the kitchen table and we burn it, one day at a time, until Christmas
But perhaps because of our failing memories or because of our untidy house, we couldn't find our candle on December 1st. We had bought a job lot some years ago and we knew that there was at least one left, but it was not to be found anywhere.
Then - it appeared - in an unexpected place - 2 weeks later.
That meant - what joy-  it had to be burnt  down to the correct day.  
16 days worth of burning to be done in one go.
Are men all secret pyromaniacs I wonder? Do they all love playing with candles - trying to get it to burn evenly - turning it round to catch the draft , digging little channels to let the wax escape, etc
Burning the 16 days caused so much pleasure that 17 and almost 18 went by mistake.

John Knox banned Christmas

     There is now no escaping the fact that Christmas is coming - yet again. By the time you are a pensioner you have seen quite a lot of them and perhaps find it difficult to get quite as enthusiastic as before.
      However yesterday I walked to the centre of Edinburgh - to Princes Street and Princes Street Gardens below Edinburgh Castle. I have to admit - it was magical.
     Edinburgh now has a Christmas Festival there - a winter wonderland including a giant ferris wheel, an old fashioned  helter skelter and roundabout, a skating rink, a German market selling beautiful things and gluhwein and bratwurst  - all lit up and full of happy people of every nationality.
     How strange to think that no so very long ago Christmas was not celebrated here. John Knox banned it when he brought about the reformation of the church (about 1550)
     For Knox, Christmas was a piece of Popish superstition, an "abomination" to be shunned, like the pollution of idols and punished by the civil magistrate

    Even as recently as the 1950's my father's business in the Highlands provided no special holiday at Christmas for the workers. 

    The BIG holiday in Scotland has always been Hogmanay and New Year  - a heathen festival - celebrated with much drinking. 

    John Knox would be turning in his grave!

Fracking in Scotland

        I was wrong in my last post on fracking. Scotland does have shale gas reserves, although not as much as England. Due to the normal biased reporting of the BBC, nothing about Scotland's situation was previously mentioned. However large areas in Fife and the Scottish central belt  may also be suitable and companies are applying for licences. We also have CBM (coal bed methane) which may also be extracted.
       Apart from causing small earthquakes it would seem that the biggest concern over fracking is pollution of the water table and hence our drinking water. I would have thought that was quite a big concern and I do hope that the powers that be are quite certain it won't happen BEFORE they go ahead.

This picture shows Stirling castle in Scotland's Central Belt

It’s official – an independent Scotland will not be part of the EU

If we become independent we will not be part of the EU anymore. So says the official reply from the EU to the House of Lords question.  –

Scotland will be like any other new county wanting to join.

It must apply.

It must accept the Euro. 

Spain is already saying that it will veto our membership.

So – this raises interesting thoughts – WOW -

It means an external EU Border going along Hadrian’s Wall between England and Scotland.

Passports and strict controls

The EU would demand strict border control to prevent unwanted migrants and terrorists from entering the EU

Imagine some of the inanities

Only being allowed to cross with limited amounts of alcohol and cigarettes

Only being allowed to cross with new purchases of up to £390 without paying Vat or Duty

What about movement of animals?

What about someone who lives on one side of the border but who works on the other side of the border as must happen in Berwick on Tweed

Or an employer with employees on the other side

What if your nearest hospital or school is on the other side of the border

What if your nearest supermarket is on the other side
And
If I pop on a flight from Edinburgh to London I will have to go in the queue for Non EU citizens and the rest of the world
and 
If I get a train from Edinburgh to Kingcross - what will happen? Will it have to stop at the border while passport control and cutoms come round

Etc etc etc – Madness

Britain's treasures will no longer be ours if we get independance

       Last night we watched a wonderful program about Westminster Abbey. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01p694q/Westminster_Abbey_Episode_1/

Afterwards we agreed it made us proud to be British. Then, my husband said

 "This is what we will lose if Scotland becomes independent. We will lose our British heritage". 

      In our early working years we left Britain in disgust and went to Canada. Britain was in turmoil. There were strikes all the time, only so many hours of electricity a day, the 3 day week etc. Canada was wonderful in comparison

     But after 2 years and much agonising  we returned.. Again it was a television program that decided us. The program was from the UK and was called something like 'Britain's Treasures'. It showed quite beautifully - British history and culture and we realised that we missed all of  that and  we still wanted to be part of it. 

      So we came back to Britain, to Scotland, where are fathers have lived for as many generations as we can trace backwards. We are proud of Scotland with it's castles and scenery and it's National Museums and Galleries here in Edinburgh. 

     But we are also proud of Britain and all things British, such as Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament and The Tower of London and Buckingham Palace and the British  Museum and the National Gallery and all the other wonderful galleries in London etc etc etc.

     Now Alex Salmond and his SNP are trying to take that all away from us

     

Compassion in Nursing

Nursing care is in the news again with modern day nurses being accused of lacking compassion.
       I had an operation about 5 years ago. I noticed several empty wards and was told it was because of a lack of nursing staff. After my operation, I was in a special high dependency ward, which had a high nurse to patient staff ratio and received the most wonderful nursing care.
       As I improved, I was moved to the general surgical ward, with a much lower nurse to patient staff ratio and the nursing care was not so good. The poor nurses were just too busy. With no time to eat, drink, go to the loo or rest - of course their compassion was low.  
     To my horror, I read  shortly afterwards, that there was to be a reduction in nurses at that hospital.
     Now again, a few years later, I read that the staffing levels are to be reduced further
This is madness. To be compassionate, nurses need time and energy. The government must stop cutting medical staffing levels.

Fracking

So the latest news is -

        Fracking is going to produce much more gas than previously thought - IN England. 

So - if Scotland becomes independent - we will have what is left of the North Sea Oil - which is not very much and going fast. 

However, England will have loads of fracked gas - which Scotland will have to buy - with money raised by already hugely increased Scottish taxes.

Of course by then we will have a ruined landscape covered in turbines producing  some power  - but only when the wind blows - and we will have no tourists wanting to come and admire our ruined scenery.

Scottish businesses are against independance

It's official - the first proper poll (Ipsos Mori) of Scottish businesses, shows overwhelming hostility to the prospect of separation.
56% believe that independence will harm the business prospects of their company
72% believe that independence would have a negative impact on the business environment in Scotland

If the northeast passage is viable will Ullapool become a big port ?

A gas tanker has powered it's way across the top of the world and has entered Japanese waters - a hugely symbolic moment - a new shipping route between Europe and the East - Wow.
So - Norway is going to sell it's gas to Japan. What else can happen? A shipping route may open up passing Ullapool on Scotland's West Coast and turning it from the beautiful sleepy little fishing port it is at the moment, into a thriving and ugly commercial centre.
Which would be best I wonder?

Mysterious paper sculptures made from books

We went to a small but fascinating exhibition of mysterious paper sculptures made from books, in The Scottish Poets Library, in Edinburgh. Book lovers have been entranced by a gradual revelation of a series of these, by an anonymous artist, left in various Edinburgh institutions. The exhibition finishes on Saturday 8th December
"Does a book on being read remain a book"

Dovecot Studios of weavers in old swimming pool

       After lunch in town with old friends, we decided to visit The Dovecot Studios, pronounced 'doocot' in the Scottish way. This is an extraordinary and wonderful home to tapestry weavers based in what was an old Victorian swimming pool. For a while it was housed in an old dovecot in Corstophine hence it's name.
       You can watch the weavers working at their looms. Each stitch is done individually and often in a different colour  and sometimes in a different stitch type. Some of the tapestries are huge.
It must require huge patience.  Founded in 1912 by the Marquis of Bute, there is at present a beautiful exhibition of hand made carpets.

A wee train outing

We were asked out to Sunday lunch. How nice that such traditions still happen. However as we are without our car, since it had its argument with the deer (see earlier blog), and being far too far to walk we decided to catch the train. This was not to be one of those terrifying intercity trains which goes past so fast that you feel you might be sucked into it. It was a sedate little inter-village train. The first one of the day arrived into Edinburgh at 12.30 crammed with excited people coming to do their Christmas shopping. We got on and had a very comfortable easy journey. We had a delightful lunch and then did the journey in reverse catching the 5.30 train back in to Edinburgh - where it immediately filled with all those same Christmas shoppers and a  million bags full of shopping. What a civilised way to travel and inexpensive. Our host advised us to produce our Edinburgh pensioner's bus-pass, so as to procure a reduction in the fare. But this no longer happens and the fare is really very reasonable. Long live the train

The SNP are not more Scottish than other Scots

      I don't often get too cross about political stuff  -

BUT sometimes the SNP (Scottish Nationalist Party) do annoy me. 

Just because they want to vote for an independent Scotland, they are implying that it makes them more Scottish than  those that don't. How dare they? 

      Every Scottish person has an equal right to be passionate about all the wonderful things that are Scotland, - such as our amazing scenery, our music and dancing, our clothes and tartan, our patron - Saint Andrew, our history, our architecture etc. 

     Saying that you want independence does not mean that you value these things more than someone who does not. That is just plain crazy