Drumlanrig: Milliband slums it|Farage anti-climax

Second-class Ed books his ticket with great unwashed | Plans made for Nigel’s visit fail to materialise | Technical forecast not great for Beeb’s Magnusson | On-the-ball caddie who kept gazing heavenward

Second-class Ed books his ticket with great unwashed

GOOD on Ed Miliband for slumming it in a second class rail compartment on his way south from Scotland at the end of last week. Unlike George Osborne who tends to pay for an upgrade – sometimes in controversial circumstances – Red Ed was prepared to sit with the great unwashed.

Stoically, Miliband put up with a rather loud neighbouring passenger, whose skin had seen more tattoos than the Edinburgh Castle Esplanade, getting tore into the booze trolley.

Meanwhile a gaggle of hen dos making the drunken pilgrimage to Newcastle wearing matching onesies emblazoned with crude slogans and nicknames (Kinky Kirsty is one that springs to mind) enjoyed themselves in the next door carriage.

Plans made for Nigel’s visit fail to materialise

JOURNALISTS covering Nigel Farage’s visit to Edinburgh were a little disappointed that the chaos associated with it did not quite match the farcical scenes of a year ago when the Ukip leader was locked into a pub before being sped out of Edinburgh in the back of a blacked-out police van.

“It was the best fun I’ve ever had with a note book,” reminisced one hack, who had hoped for better things from Nige this time round.

Technical forecast not great for Beeb’s Magnusson

POOR old Sally Magnusson. The BBC Scotland journalist always seems to be on duty when technical gremlins sabotage the news. Almost a year ago, Magnusson (left) threw her arms in the air and let out a cry of exasperation live on telly when glitches ruined the lunchtime news.

Late on Friday, she was struck by another technical curse when a news package on Nigel Farage’s Edinburgh visit and coverage of the probe into RAF servicemen at Lossiemouth failed to materialise. Magnusson gamely improvised before turning to the weather man. In a desperate attempt to pad out the programme, she got him to forecast the weekend weather, the forthcoming week’s weather and, finally, the weather for the whole of the summer.

On-the-ball caddie who kept gazing heavenward

KIRK ministers are known for casting their eyes heavenwards. For the incoming Moderator Rev John Chalmers his glances towards celestial heights have not always been in search of Divine inspiration. As a young man, he was a caddie for Billy Lockie, a well-known professional golfer on the early days of the European Tour.

In the 1970s, practice facilities were not what they are now with fancy golf ball picking-up machines. Instead, caddies were despatched to the far end of the practice ground and told to act as a target for their masters.

From there, Chalmers would gaze into the sky and pluck Lockie’s towering iron shots out of the air with a baseball glove.