MetaFilter posts tagged with scotland

Eddie probably wouldn't go but so what

grounded — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 19:09:35 -0800

Last month, extreme weather conditions in the Pacific brought us The Eddie. Right now in Scotland, a serious cold snap means there's an even rarer sporting event on the verge of occurring: The Grand Match. Not sure about the sport of curling? Let these enthusiasts from 1980s Winnipeg show you how fun it can be!

Aerial Imagery

Lezzles — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:17:57 -0800

Scotland's National Collection of Aerial Photography includes a plethora of pictures of Scotland, notably Edinburgh and Glasgow, seen from above, many dating back to WWII. But there are also photographs of wartime European cities and images of elsewhere from the Aerial Reconnaissance Archives.

Utopian Communes in the British Isles

Kattullus — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 06:45:59 -0800

Utopia Britannica is a collection of stories and a gazetter about utopian communes in the British Isles from the 14th Century up until the end of World War II. There are some incredible tales in here, such as 'Free Love' in 19th Century Somerset, St. Kilda, Death of an Island Republic, Percy Bysshe Shelley's attempted communes, Augustus John, the King of Bohemia and many more.

"Lockerbie: Megrahi Was Framed"

Joe Beese — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 13:53:40 -0800

"Lockerbie: Megrahi Was Framed" American officials, British officials, and Scottish officials know that Megrahi is innocent. They know that Iran financed the PFLP-GC, a Palestinian group, to carry out the bombing with the cooperation of Syria, in retaliation for the American naval ship, the Vincennes, shooting down an Iranian passenger plane in July of the same year, which took the lives of more people than did the 103 bombing. And it should be pointed out that the Vincennes captain, plus the officer in command of air warfare, and the crew were all awarded medals or ribbons afterward. No one in the US government or media found this objectionable or outrageous, or disgusting or repulsive. The United States has always insisted that the shooting down of the Iranian plane was an "accident". Why then give awards to those responsible? - William Blum (via)

Island on the edge of the world

Wrinkled Stumpskin — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:37:28 -0800

The evacuation of the abandoned island of St. Kilda has been commemorated after 79 years. Its evacuation has been of interest to other isolated communities and the island has inspired writing, a book, and even opera. You can get there if you really want. [previously]

Oracles in the community

Wrick — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 01:08:04 -0800

Painting +puzzle +compulsory 'Da Vinci' ref. Glasgow artist Frank McNab Previously has an interesting series of paintings on display in an exhibition at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow. Running until the end of October the paintings have the common theme of 'Libraries in the Community" and are a celebration of both the buildings themselves and their patrons. Check out the link not just for the obvious quality of the works on display but also to see if YOU can be the one to solve the riddle hidden within the paintings themselves.

Thousands of poems by women writers of the British Isles in the Romantic era

Kattullus — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:28:33 -0800

British Women Romantic Poets Project is a collection of poetry written by women from the British Isles between 1789 and 1832. Over a hundred female poets are represented. Women rarely feature in literary histories of the Romantic period but there is treasure if you search (some poems are, frankly, terrible). A few places to start are Charlotte Turner Smith's Elegiac Sonnets, and Other Poems, Christian Ross Milne's Simple Poems on Simple Subjects and Mary Robinson's sonnet cycle Sappho and Phaon. The oddest works to modern readers may be Elizabeth Hitchener's Enigmas, Historical and Geographical and Marianne Curties' Classical Pastime, which are collections of verse riddles (the answers are at the end of the text).

Scotland's heroin problems

peacay — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 07:19:32 -0800

What happened to the Trainspotting generation? Heroin and Scotland: the relationship continues.

Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware that jaups in luggies: But, if Ye wish her gratefu prayer, Gie her a Haggis!

zarq — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 10:07:42 -0800

Just nae call i' English! Food historian Catherine Brown has announced that Haggis, the traditional Scottish dish, was invented in England rather than Scotland. Scottish butchers have dismissed the daft claim. But just in case she turns out to be right, there's always... curry? The title of this post is from Robert Burns' Address to a Haggis. (His most famous work outside of Scotland is probably Auld Lang Syne.) January 25th is the traditional date for Burns' Night, celebrated in Scotland with (you guessed it,) a traditional haggis meal. This year marked the 250th anniversary of Burns' birth. Charles MacSween and Son, self-proclaimed "Guardians of Scotland's National Dish," make a wonderful haggis and black pudding. The former can be ordered online. (Just don't eat it too often.) Unfortunately, the FDA restricts importing haggis into the U.S. But, you can make your own!

The Last Man in Europe

Artw — Sat, 09 May 2009 17:56:37 -0800

1984: The masterpiece that killed George Orwell

Bike Parkour

By The Grace of God — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:42:52 -0800

Bike Parkour. Exactly what it says on the tin.

Demarco Digital Archive

jack_mo — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 02:04:05 -0800

The Demarco Digital Archive holds 10,000 images and documents gathered by Richard Demarco, gallerist, Beuys collaborator, founder of the Traverse theatre and a key figure on the Scottish arts scene since the '60s. Thanks to the archive's annoying interface, I can't see a way to link to specific images, but this piece in the Scotsman offers a few highlights.

simple minded dream 79-80-81-82-83-84

philip-random — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 11:33:07 -0800

They got overshadowed by Bono in their interviews, their videos hardly rocked the zeitgeist, their lead singer looked way too much like the weird kid who played little Hitler in the Boys From Brazil, but for a while in the late 1970s and the early 1980s (before the release of a certain annoying movie), it was sometimes claimed that Simple Minds were the best band in the entire history of the Universe, if not the world ... and the groove goes on.

The other kind of free trade

Abiezer — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 08:07:02 -0800

Smuggler's Britain tells "the fascinating story of smuggling in 18th and 19th century Britain, when high taxes led to an dramatic increase in illegal imports. As the 'free trade'" grew, smugglers openly landed contraband in full view of the customs authorities: columns of heavily-armed thugs protected the cargoes." Includes a gazetteer with Google maps links so you can scope out some lonely cove to land contraband of your own in the footsteps of your forefathers and introduces you to famous smugglers like Isaac Gulliver, who never killed a man in a long career. Though of course, it was an enterprise where things often would turn ugly.

Adverts Made In Scotland From Girders

fearfulsymmetry — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 04:54:19 -0800

Take Britain’s favourite poem and add it to Scotland’s other national drink and here’s the result (mildly NSFW). From the Leith Agency, also responsible for ‘Goth Holiday’ and ‘Snowman’. And here's some other classics from the past. (Previously)

A Guide To Recognizing Your Setts

Shotgun Shakespeare — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 12:56:23 -0800

For those of you who are celebrating Tartan Day on April 6, a little primer on tartans. Tartans began in Scotland as woven wool patterns used as district identifiers, created using locally popular patterns and, originally, different natural wool colors. The word tartan originally just meant the style of weaving -- take the yarn over two cross strands, then under two, then repeat. Eventually the meaning changed to what we now accept, the patterns of colors in the weave, also called the sett. As the ancient ways of making dyes became more sophisticated, more colorful patterns started to emerge. Soon, brightly colored dyes made many bright, vibrant weaves possible. In districts where one clan dominated, the tartan naturally began to be associated with the clan, and this eventually became the current system of specific patterns (or families of patterns) being specifically connected to individual clans and their related families, or septs. But those bright colors were a liability out on the Highlands hills, so eventually weavers developed hunting tartans in similar weave patterns but muted, natural colors. Modern, synthetic dyes have made even brighter, more intricate tartans possible. Clans now have entire tartan sets to choose from, including ancient, modern, dress, hunting, and many other possible combinations. Kilts (previously) and fly plaids for the lads are just the tip of the tartan iceberg. Lasses can wear dresses, trousers, sashes and all kinds of accessories. Most folks think of kilts when they think of tartan, however. If you’re long on cash (tartan fabric is expensive if you get the real stuff!) but short on time or sewing skills, here’s how to turn your tartan into a Braecon Feille or Great Highlands Kilt. Want to see if you’re entitled to wear a tartan? Check your last name against the accepted clans and septs. Once you get your tartan garment, accessorize with a sporran (although there are some that might attract unwanted attention), a Scottish knife like a dirk or the more common sgian dubh. There might even be drinking involved!

"To say that I am a patient man would be an understatement."

fearfulsymmetry — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 05:38:59 -0800

Seventeen years Steve Feltham sold up everything, bought an old mobile library van and parked up alongside Loch Ness to look for Nessie... He's still there.

Unlikely stories, likely

jbickers — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:40:58 -0800

Poet, playwright, novelist, mural painter, experimentalist, illustrator; a “fat, spectacled, balding, increasingly old Glasgow pedestrian”; and perhaps “the greatest Scottish novelist since Sir Walter Scott,” Alasdair Gray has a new book out. The “maker of imagined objects,” perhaps best known for "Lanark," also blogs his poetry/prose/plays, offers up a lovely archive of some hard-to-find volumes, and shows us the storyboards for the late lamented attempt at a Lanark film. If you’re curious, an excellent bio awaits, as does your new-found quest to locate his hard-to-find, out-of-print titles (requisite Wikipedia link for building your checklist). (Previously here and here.)

Mujer Libre

Abiezer — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:46:09 -0800

The Scots voice of the Spanish revolution [Embedded DivX video 1hr15m; also downloadable] Ethel MacDonald was a young working class Scots woman who hitch-hiked to Barcelona to do her part in the war. There she became the English-language voice of the anarchist movement as a radio station announcer. Newspapers at home dubbed her the "Scottish Scarlet Pimpernel" for her role in helping comrades escape the crackdown that followed the May Days. Her remarkable story is told in this recent drama-documentary.

Gaelic Psalm Singing

brautigan — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 06:08:36 -0800

THE church elder’s reaction was one of utter disbelief. Shaking his head emphatically, he couldn’t take in what the distinguished professor from Yale University was telling him. "No," insisted Jim McRae, an elder of the small congregation of Clearwater in Florida. "This way of worshipping comes from our slave past. It grew out of the slave experience, when we came from Africa." But Willie Ruff, an Afro-American professor of music at Yale, was adamant - he had traced the origins of gospel music to Scotland. The distinctive psalm singing had not been brought to America’s Deep South by African slaves but by Scottish émigrés who worked as their masters and overseers, according to his painstaking research. Ruff, 71, a renowned jazz musician who played with Duke Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie, is convinced the Florida congregation’s method of praise - called ‘presenting the line’, in which the psalms are called out and the congregation sings a response - came from the Hebrides. While this leaves Hebridean Scots uncomfortable with their predecessor's past, it is an interesting, if unproven, connection between the two musical traditions. In Presbyterian Free Church's across Lewis you can here some of the finest examples of spiritual Free Heterophony in the world, where the psalms are sung a cappella (without musical accompaniment), and led by a precentor (literally ‘one who sings beforehand’). In Gaelic psalm singing, the precentor leads the praise by commencing the tune, which he sings along with the congregation for two lines of a four-line stanza. On the third line, the precentor sings the line solo, which is then repeated by the congregation; this occurs for each line until the end of the item of praise. The result is a unique musical event, full of the traditions of Celtic religious culture, and deeply moving in its praise of God. While a very different entity from the often joyous expressiveness of Baptist Gospel (The Hebrides have decades or miserable weather and even more miserable bible preachers to thank for that) it is surely as spiritual. Some examples for you to listen to: Psalm 133 [mp3] Psalm 16 5-7 [mp3] Psalm 16 6-9 [mp3] [Originally posted as a response to this Askme]

Happy Birthday Big Yin!

brautigan — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 06:52:16 -0800

Billy At 65: I owe it all to Glasgow. But Glasgow and Scots in general owe Billy Connolly for all the laughs at our own expense...Tourism, Economy, Music, Religion, Sport, Social life, Education, Language, Cuisine, History, Transport and Sex. (Rampant YouTubery: All links potentially offensive and NSFW) For full appreciation and understanding of the Scottish vernacular you may need to refer to the this eg repeated use of the word Jobby.

Over the sea to Skye...

triv — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 04:49:09 -0800

Andy Strangeway decided to spend a night on each of the 162 Scottish islands. This is his story.

Frank McNab, Glasgow artist

Wrick — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 05:07:05 -0800

Empty Cathedrals. Tenement closes. Glasgow artist Frank McNab documents the communal entrances sans nostalgia or sentimentality. Gets it just so damn right! His 'Thoughts' and 'Projects' need a little more work however.

A grave situation

dersins — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 08:49:52 -0800

ukgraves.info has thousands of photographs of cemeteries and gravestones all over the UK, from City of London to the Kirk of Lammermuir, and random points in between.

BBC Podcasts to learn about bakery fresh British popular music

Kattullus — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 19:47:16 -0800

BBC Introducing is an excellent way to keep tabs on what's fresh in the British popular music scene without having to live in a rainsoaked armpit. There are four podcasts for you to download, the flagship Best of Unsigned Podcast, Homegrown Mix with Ras Kwame, Scotland Introducing and BBC Radio Northampton's Weekender. All feature bands that are either unsigned or just recently signed and the music ranges from hip hop to punk rock to what sounds awfully like the soundtrack for a NES game with half-hearted chanting over it. This is an excellent resource whether you're casual searcher for new songs or the kind of anorak who knows which British indie band was first to use an 808.