Here's tae us, wha's like us
Damn few and they're all deid. Like the past Scottish thread. People have been saying start one, so here is a thread for all things Scottish.
May I begin by saying what I dared not in the British thread, in the face of all the weather moans. Hasn't it been/isn't it being a lovely summer. A few weeks of heat in June and nice temperate weather with little rain, and most of that at night since! Fewer midges than usual. Good to be alive in Alba!
P.S. I will test the weather and the midges this Sunday when one of my churches hosts it's annual church and community picnic by the Lochside!
May I begin by saying what I dared not in the British thread, in the face of all the weather moans. Hasn't it been/isn't it being a lovely summer. A few weeks of heat in June and nice temperate weather with little rain, and most of that at night since! Fewer midges than usual. Good to be alive in Alba!
P.S. I will test the weather and the midges this Sunday when one of my churches hosts it's annual church and community picnic by the Lochside!
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My late Ma's family came originally from Dumfriesshire, before emigrating to Ulster in the 19thC, but Ma went back to her roots, living in a tiny village near Thornhill for 17 years before her death in 2005.
Despite my eligibility for Irish citizenship (Ma's father was a Dubliner, though not quite of James Joyce's type), I still relate to my Scottish ancestry, and would happily apply for a Scottish passport, (a) should such things ever exist, and (b) should I be eligible for same.
I did seriously think of moving to Scotland some years ago, when various doors closed for me here, but it seems unlikely now.
BTW, I like haggis (but not neaps), and, of course, proper Scotch WHISKY is the best in the world. I also like Irn Bru.....
IJ
There will a test paper, come the Day (as come it will for a’ that).
Oops.
Perhaps, living on a tidal river as I do, I may be forgiven? We have neaps round about now...
I'll get ma bonnet.
IJ
Am I envious? Too bleedin' right!
And, ah, Orkney. One of the happiest times of my life.
Hoy is absolutely stunning, and a lovely place to visit, but I can't say I blame you for not wanting to live there.
* sea-sickness
The scenery is (in many parts) stunning.
The WHISKY is stunning (perhaps literally, after one or two too many wee drams, if that's not an oxymoron).
The language is stunningly beautiful and poetic, if rather difficult for a Sassenach to pick up....
There are lots of stunningly lovely ISLANDS to explore.
The midges are a bu**er, but there you go - nowhere's perfect.
I could go on....
IJ
‘Forgive me, Lord, but is this not too much for one people?’
‘Ah, you haven’t seen the Neighbours’.
O, well said....
IJ
I think that I recommended it on the Old Ship: there is a novel, by Alastair MacLeod, No Great Mischief, which deals with the clearances, immigration to Cape Breton Island, and thence to northern Ontario. Cape Breton looks a great deal like the forested parts of Scotland (especially in a mist), and was one of the last redoubts of native Gaelic speakers. At least until the 1970s, there were still Catholic masses in Gaelic, and Gaelic still inflects the argot to an extent.
Piglet: I have to tell you, that I went to Orkney because in university I used the Orkneyinga Saga as a source material, having read it previously as a teenager. I've even crawled through the passage to the ossuary of Maes Howe! Hiked from Stromness to Skara Brae and back with my hostess's hyper-intelligent border collie (clever lad, that Bobbie). Got drunk at the St Olaf in Kirkwall. I once had a conversation with George Mackay Brown. The mere mention of Orkney brings back nothing but the happiest of memories.
Rather you than me going right into the chambers at Maeshowe though!
We were offered the opportunity to crawl into them when we had the obligatory school trip to Maeshowe and Skara Brae in Primary 4, and the thought scared me rigid. Not so much because of the contents, as the cramped nature of the spaces - even though I was considerably smaller than I am now, the idea of getting stuck was enough to send me scuttling back along the entrance passage pronto.
Are you referring to Scottish accented English, Scots or Gaelic?
By the time the next baby, my father, was born, they had left Corrour.
The house is no longer there. Trying to locate the site of the house is on my son's bucket list.
It's no sillier than having a Newfoundland dog as a nanny, like the children in Peter Pan.
(I'll get me coat. Although if it's any consolation the Welsh tell jokes about the alleged meaness of West Walians, particularly the Cardis from Cardiganshire.)
I love Scotland!
My teeth are hurting just thinking about it though ...
@Cathscats - that's a very good point. It's August - you won't need a coat for at least another six weeks.
We went on Saturday. It was heaving with people, and we had to queue for 15 mins to get into the main, free, exhibition. The other exhibition (£12 a ticket) wasn't an option because tickets had sold out. The large cafe was also stowed out, so we didn't have a coffee there. The whole place was so busy the North East Man was glad to get out afterwards. The queue was longer as we were leaving than it had been when we arrived.
Verdict? The exhibition was fantastic! My favourite item was the scenery prop for The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil but there was so much there it was hard to single anything out. I can't wait to go back after the initial rush has subsided, see the exhibits properly, have lunch in the first floor restaurant with its glorious view, then drift round the exhibition again, with coffee and a scone in the ground floor cafe to finish off.
Shetland is indeed a rather remote (but stunningly beautiful) part of the UK.
For some reason, my email log-in page is currently advertising lots of properties - various sizes and prices - in far-flung outposts of Empire.
A rather neat little bungalow (which would suit me just fine) has appeared, at what ISTM is a very reasonable price. It is, however, situated in Halkirk, Caithness - about as far from the present Episcopal Palace as it is possible to get in the UK, without crossing the sea!
I am tempted.....Halkirk Station closed in 1960, but it's only a mile or so from Georgemas Junction, which is very much open, so it's not entirely cut off....
Once, travelling by train down from Caithness to England, I was told that I had a Caithness accent, which, I understand, is not at all 'Scottish'. Is this likely? The chap so opining hailed from Edinburgh....
IJ
On the map thing, someone (I can't remember who) wrote a book about Orkney and Shetland called A Box of Islands; Orkney used to be put in a box off the Moray Firth as well.