- Fund for 'climate justice' launched
- Former RAF Machrihanish sold for £1
- Loach film takes Cannes Jury Prize
- Scorching day for marathon runners
- Five held over £600,000 drugs haul
- Anti-independence campaign 'soon'
- Half of female refugees 'raped'
- Call by MPs to scrap fuel duty rise
- Saltire Games ban 'ridiculous'
- Scottish drink-drive plans welcomed
Arts
Fuel poverty has prompted a revival of peat-cutting on Lewis video
IT IS early one morning in May, the Hebridean sky huge and blue, and Norman Macleod and Peter Urpeth, two old pals from Lewis, are walking out on to the moor, tools slung over their shoulders, ready for another day at the peats.
We are a mile or so inland from the village of Back, in the north-east of the island.
Breed honours Bobby
THE Capital’s most famous dog has been honoured after it was revealed its breed is under threat.
A’ bhannaomh agus Dòmhnall mac Fhionnlaigh
Bha eaglais bheag bhòidheach Chille Choirill am Bràighe Loch Abar làn Di-Sathairne sa chaidh air son tachartas a’ comharrachadh obair dithis Abrach ainmeil, Màiri NicPhilip a thàinig a bhith ’na ciad naomh Astrailianach agus am bàrd Dòmhnall mac Fhionnlaigh nan Dàn.
Far a bheil na rionnagan ’nam ‘mackerelstars’
THA Rody Gorman air làn chruinneachadh de bhàrdachd Ghàidhlig a thoirt a-mach (Beartan Briste, Clò Oilthigh Cheap Breatainn, ri fhaotainn o Chomhairle nan Leabhraichean, £9.99) sa bheil na h-eadar-theangachaidhean Beurla air gach duilleig mu choinneamh luchdaichte le diofar chiallan. Mar eisimpleir, tha dàn beag snog ann, ‘Sìneadh’:
Bàs Megrahi: ceistean
Tha bàs Abdelbasat Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, 60, Di-Dòmhnaich sa chaidh air ceist na coireachd air son là dubh Logarbaidh 21.12.88 a thogail ás ùr agus iomagain ann gu bheil an gnothach a’ tarraing aire nàireil do dh’Alba air adhbharan eadar-dhealaichte.
For sale, the house that hid a cross-dressing Bonnie Prince Charlie
A COUNTRY house which played a major role in one the best-known episodes from Scotland’s history – by hiding Bonnie Prince Charlie following his defeat at Culloden – has been placed on the market.
22 commentsLeith’s one-night arts festival expanding to 16 venues
Leith Late, the giant one-night arts festival opening in Leith in late June, expands to 16 venues this year. The offerings range from maverick artist Kevin Harman’s new work, to site-specific shows in bars, a fitness studio, and a portrait photography exhibition in a barber’s shop.
Juliet Dunlop: Why I live in hope of great adaptations
I love Sunset Song. I still have the dog-eared copy I read at school and, from time to time, I like to take it down from the shelf, dust it off and thumb through its pages.
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Tiffany Jenkins: Bringing readers to book
A top ten list of Scotland’s favourite tomes reveals most of us haven’t picked up a decent one since school, while current thinking in education is failing to produce new readers, argues Tiffany Jenkins
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Scottish word of the day: Gallus
GALLUS is, thankfully, a rather less obscure word than many that feature in this series.
1 commentScottish Word of the Day: Piece
MANY visitors to Scotland may overhear the locals referring to what sounds like ‘peace.’ What they’re actually talking about is their lunch, or a snack.
Andrew Dixon: Creative review has nothing to do with cuts
Tim Cornwell’s column yesterday missed some of the good news about our changing investment portfolio.
Tim Cornwell: Poor strategy a blot on creative landscape
THE honeymoon, if it had one, is over for Creative Scotland.
The new arts agency was ensnared in a funding row this week that looked and sounded remarkably similar to the good old Scottish Arts Council days. In fact, it’s worse.
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Rare Canna stone’s a blessing and a curse
AN ANCIENT “cursing stone” used by Christian pilgrims more than a thousand years ago to bring harm to their enemies has been discovered on Canna.
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Notes of interest: A history of printed money in Scotland
THE Royal Bank of Scotland has led the way in
the issue of banknotes and, finds Brian Ferguson,
that history is about to be celebrated as part of
the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations
The explosive history of Canongate’s cannonball Picture gallery
IT HAS a strong claim as one of Edinburgh’s most intriguing buildings, with a chequered history as a merchant’s home, a slum, a church house and a brothel.
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Bàs Màiri Beith, a thill ar leighisean thugainn
BHA Màiri Beith, a dh’eug ’na dachaigh ann am Mealanais (Cataibh) Di-Dòmhnaich, aois 73, ’na bean-naidheachd thàlantach á Sasainn a thàinig a dh’fhuireach dhan Ghaidhealtachd ’s a rinn ainm mór dhi fhéin mar sgrìobhadair air leighisean tradiseanta na Gàidhlig – gu sònraichte tron cholbh aice “Deanamh a’ Leighis” ann am Pàipear Beag an Eilein Sgitheanaich, agus tron leabhar aice, Healing Threads.
Beul na gaoithe
BHUAIL dealanach am pleun a bha a’ giùlan ceann-suidhe ùr na Frainge, François Hollande, gu Berlin a choinneachadh ris an t-Seannsalair Angela Merkel.
Battlelines drawn for the Fringe as Spiegeltent moves to George Street
THE Edinburgh Festival Fringe is set for a north-south competition for ticket sales this year, after the city council gave the go-ahead for a major new arena in the middle of George Street.
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Scottish quote of the day: Jimmy Reid, Glasgow University, 1972
Trade union activist and politician Jimmy Reid was the spokesman and one of the leaders of the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders work-in of 1971-72 in which workers refused to accept the liquidation of the company and continued to work without pay in protest.
Plans afoot to tell Aberdeen’s granite story Picture gallery
AMBITIOUS plans have been unveiled for a heritage centre that will allow visitors an unprecedented clifftop view into the biggest man-made hole in Europe.
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Grief for ‘down to earth’ Duke of Atholl who commanded a private army
JOHN MURRAY, the 11th Duke of Atholl and commander of Britain’s only private army, has died in a hospital in South Africa.
Falkirk’s historic town centre to get a facelift
ONE of Scotland’s most historic town centres is set to undergo a £2 million facelift.
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Aberdeen University becomes font for Scotland’s Catholic heritage
TWO priceless collections of manuscripts, books and letters from the archives of the Catholic Church are to be returned to the north-east of Scotland for the first time in more than half a century.
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Rescue deal to bring William Adam mansion back from brink Picture gallery
THE future of one of Scotland’s most important listed buildings has been secured under a rescue deal set to trigger a £12 million overhaul for the crumbling 18th-century mansion in the Lothians.
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Scottish Word of the Day: Rook
Not the common bird, but an old Scots word meaning plunder. Although one of the most common uses is to indicate that you have no money left, it is unclear whether this is a general term, or whether it implies (as plunder does) that it was lost or stolen.
Diamond jamboree as Bonnie Prince Charlie’s gem auctioned off Picture gallery
A YELLOW diamond brooch once owned by Bonnie Prince Charlie and a rare stone worth £3 million are among jewels going under the hammer at auction today.
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Harley-Davidson devotees rescue crumbling Scots home of legendary motorbike maker
A TINY but ’n’ ben is about to get a new – and noisy – lease of life. The cottage in Angus is the former family home of the American Scot who helped found the most iconic motorbike ever produced. Now devotees of the Harley-Davidson brand have used their own money to buy the cottage to turn it into a pilgrimage site for bikers around the world.
Hard living: A history of crofting
Crofting was the outcome of the Highland Clearances when tens of thousands of people were evicted and moved to small plots on difficult-to-cultivate land in return for an annual rent.
Croft tourism throws lifeline to struggling farms
THE chances are there will be dodgy weather, a surplus of midges and a lack of night life. But the historic network of crofts that date back more than a century are to be marketed as an “authentic” taste of Scotland.
Duke of Argyll joins Jacobite rebels to petition Queen for clemency
THE Queen is to be presented with a petition aimed at ending laws imposed by the British government on the vanquished Jacobite clans after the 1715 and 1745 risings.
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One-man Fringe show promises to lift the lid on tabloid tactics
IT HAS featured gripping testimony from media figures Rupert Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks as well as celebrity actors such as Hugh Grant and Sienna Miller. Now a taste of the Leveson Inquiry is coming to Scotland.
Leith Festival back from brink with full ten-day programme
LEITH Festival has beaten off funding fears to return, against the odds, with a full ten-day programme of events this summer.
Dòchas seach dìmeas, piseach seach crìonadh – far am buin mam fearann dha na daoine
BHO ghabh croitearan Asainte sealbh air Oighreachd Loch an Inbhir a Tuath ann an 1993, tha iomairt air a bhith dol air a’ Ghaidhealtachd agus sna h-Eileanan a tha air spionnadh as ùr a thoirt do chuid de na coimhearsnachdan as iomallaiche agus as bochda ann an Alba.
Scottish quote of the day: William Wallace’s statement at his trial on 23 August, 1305
Thanks to the popular film Braveheart, it’s difficult to know what William Wallace truly said, and what Hollywood decided he said.
Island on the edge: The challenges facing Foula
David Pollock finds a memoir of life on the remote outpost of Foula highlights the present challenges to its survival
Historic Scotland rescues Perth City Hall from demolition
AN ICONIC Scottish concert venue threatened with demolition has been saved after an intervention by Historic Scotland.
4 commentsFiona McCade: Let’s talk about some meaningful dialogue
IF I could choose a super power, I know what I’d go for. No, not immense strength or invisibility – those are for beginners. My super power would be the ability to communicate with any life form.
Scottish word of the day: Biddie
As is the case with several Scots words, there are numerous descriptions (both pleasant and unsavoury) for women.
Enter our Historic Scotland photo competition
You could win £500 worth of photography vouchers, one year of Historic Scotland Membership and a unique experience on location with a Scotsman photographer.
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Scottish events of the Week
Need some inspiration for how to spend your free time this week? Here we look at five events worthy of your consideration.
Rare glimpse of Raj – hidden in Edinburgh shoe box
A SHOE box full of images capturing life in India at least a century ago has been discovered in one of Scotland’s national collections.
Sacrifice: Remembering the Scots in the Russian Arctic Convoys
This week Wester Ross is holding exhibitions and events to commemorate the Scots who undertook one of the most hazardous duties of the Second World War, writes Alistair Munro
Ag ionnsachadh na h-aibisidh (agus mar a làimhsicheas tu tràlair)
Tha cuimhne agam o chionn iomadach bliadhna gun deach prògram pìlot a chlàradh air sreath ùr Gàidhlig far an cuirear eòlaichean cànain an aghaidh a chèile gus dearbhadh cò as eòlaiche air caran agus cleasan na Gàidhlig.
An sean ’s an ùr ann an cridhe na h-Eòrpa
Diombuan. Nach ann mar sin a tha aire nam meadhanan mòra. Ach a-mhàin air Latha Bealltainn am-bliadhna, ghluais na sùilean aca air falbh on iomairt “Occupy” o chionn fhada, fhada. Ach ged a chaidh làrach an ar-a-mach ann an New York a ghluasad ’s a bhriseadh ás a-chèile leis a’ phoileas, tha an tè ann am Frankfurt am Main, anns a’ Ghearmailt, fhathast a’ dol a-cheart cho làidir ’s a bha i mu shia mìosan air ais.
Boinne ann am beul na gaoithe
Dh’aithris Amnesty Eadar-Nàiseanta gu bheil feachdan Riaghaltas Shiria a’ marbhadh àireamhan mòra dhaoine agus a’ losgadh an cuirp ann am Baile Idlib.
Chariots of Fire’s Olympic secret revealed
THE extraordinary role of a French resistance fighter in bringing the award-winning film Chariots of Fire to the big screen has been revealed by the film’s producer, Lord Puttnam.
Eric Liddell: The man who put God before gold
THIRTY years after Lord Puttnam brought the story of Eric Liddell so memorably to life in Chariots of Fire, the Oscar-winning film-maker pays tribute to the Scottish athlete who put his faith before Olympic glory and in doing so became one of the greatest Olympians of them all
3 commentsScottish Fact of the Day: Scottish Saints
MOST people will be aware of St Andrew, commonly referred to as the patron saint of Scotland, but there are around 23 prominent Scottish saints - and no, St Johnstone isn’t one of them!
Scottish Fact of the Day: Loch Lomond
YOU may know it due to the song ‘The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond’, but the eponymous loch is in fact the largest expanse of fresh water in the whole of Britain.
- Scottish independence: I don’t want ‘separatism’ says Sir Tom Farmer
- Rangers administration: End game nears for fallen icon
- Vatican poised to make more arrests in papal leaks scandal
- USA 5 - 1 Scotland: Donovan grabs hattrick as Scots routed in Florida
- Rangers administration: Duff & Phelps ‘hopeful’ that Taxman will agree to CVA
- Scottish independence: I don’t want ‘separatism’ says Sir Tom Farmer
- Scottish independence: Labour voters ‘will deliver independence’
- Rangers administration: End game nears for fallen icon
- Leaders: Blurred vision on independence
- Rangers administration: Duff & Phelps ‘hopeful’ that Taxman will agree to CVA
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Weather for Edinburgh
Monday 28 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 10 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
