Blethering Skite

Scientists in Scotland have developed a new method to understand the heat and intensity of fires that burned out millions of years ago, which could unlock our understanding of wildfires during past and present periods of climate change.

"As charcoal can persist within rocks for hundreds of millions of years, this method can be applied to understand the behavior of any wildfire, from the present day all the way back to the first evidence of wildfire 420 million years ago."

It’s instructive to hear from The National that Farage will front the party’s election campaign in 2026. Of course he will.

This tells us two things: the first is one we knew already, that at the heart of the far-right populists is enormous ego; the second is that the idea that Reform UK might have a Scottish dimension or autonomy is ridiculous. Reform is Farage’s personal plaything, which he owns and controls wholly. It’s not even a political party in any real sense. But we knew that. The announcement is bound to be considered a political gift for the forces for independence, and a dark harbinger for the Scottish Conservatives, who are already seeing their vote being hacked into by Reform.

Elizabeth I ordered the beheading of Mary, Queen of Scots, a Catholic claimant to the English throne, on this day in 1587

On February 8, 1587, the executioner’s ax struck three times, beheading Mary, Queen of Scots. The monarch’s demise has captivated scholars for more than 400 years—and its cause has made Mary’s story even more compelling to historians and Hollywood filmmakers alike.

Mary ascended to Scotland’s throne when she was just 6 days old. Her father, James V, who likely died of cholera or dysentery after suffering a humiliating defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss in November 1542, left behind his newborn daughter as his only legitimate heir.

The child queen spent her early years in France, where she eventually married the heir to the throne, the future Francis II. During Francis’ brief reign, which spanned July 1559 to December 1560, Mary also served as queen consort of France.

Across the pond, Mary’s cousin Elizabeth I, who’d ascended to the English throne in November 1558, was watching her closely. The daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, the new English queen had a tenuous claim to the crown. Her mother’s fall from favor and subsequent execution in 1536 caused the public to question Elizabeth’s legitimacy as queen. Her Protestant faith also put her at odds with a large swath of the population.

UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves produced a “growth” plan last week which was disappointing to say the least for Scottish business.

There was nothing in it to address the major challenges the UK has laid on Scottish businesses such as the rise in National Insurance contributions she introduced, or the heavy weight of paperwork that has been loaded onto Scottish businesses by a Brexit that Scotland never voted for.

The plan focused on infrastructure spend in the south of England with barely a thought for Scotland.

The Westminster government is selling Scotland short. Here are five ways in which Reeves’ growth plan underlines the fact that Scotland would be better off independent.

Child poverty is on course to increase in the UK by the end of this parliament, with only Scotland bucking the trend, according to analysis by a respected poverty charity.

This is essentially because the Westminster government continues to discriminate against children born into larger families.

The two-child cap means that only the oldest two siblings get help if their parents fall into poverty - that is pushing many families into misery. In contrast, the Scottish government pays the Scottish Child Payment to every child in the family.

One of the world's smallest functioning lighthouse boasts an unexpected connection.

Including its islands, the country of Scotland has close to 12,000 miles of seashore, with 200 hundred lighthouses that act as beacons for all types of seafaring watercraft. These pharos come in an assortment of designs, as well as shapes and sizes. The North Queensferry Harbour Light Tower, situated below the northern expanse of the Forth Railway Bridge, measures just 23 feet in height, giving it the distinct honor of being the smallest lighthouse in the world.

It was designed in the early part of the 19th century by Robert Stevenson. Mr. Stevenson came from a long line of lighthouse architects, five generations to be exact. He also happened to be the grandfather of Robert Louis Stevenson, author of such nautical adventures as Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

St Andrews Castle in St Andrews, Fife, which stands on a site fortified since the 1100s. From around 1200 it was the main residence of the bishops and archbishops of St Andrews and it witnessed many grim events over the centuries.

The researchers compared vitamin D levels in the hair of volunteers who have been living in the Aberdeen area for at least two and a half years to those analyzed in a rare specimen of preserved hair from a burial previously excavated from St Nicholas Kirk, estimated to have lived in the city in the 16th or 17th century.

Vitamin D is essential for healthy skeletal growth and is increasingly recognized for its role in chronic disease development, inflammation and immunity. But in Scotland the sunshine is only strong enough to allow our bodies to produce our own vitamin D between April and September......

"In recent years there have been wide-spread health promotions around the benefits of supplementing with vitamin D during winter.

"Similarly, we could reasonably expect that a medieval population is likely to have spent a greater proportion outside and that those living in coastal areas like Aberdeen in the past may have consumed a greater proportion of their diet from local sources such as fish.

"But what this unique study has shown is that levels in many of our modern participants were similar to those of our archaeological sample, and that levels were consistently higher in summer and lower in winter in people who lived in the same city 400 years apart."

CLAIM:

The SNP are “to consider banning cats”. The Telegraph. Picked up by other media outlets, including the Daily Record which reported: "Cats could be banned in Scotland as SNP ministers set to review new report."

DOORSTEP ANSWER:

No, they’re not. In fact, the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission report which the newspaper article was based on does not even contain the word “ban”.

A ban on owning cats is not proposed in the recommendations from the report, which instead calls for Scottish Ministers to “introduce a coordinated campaign for responsible cat ownership and care”.

WHY THE HYSTERIA?

The claims that the SNP are set to consider banning cats first appeared in a Daily Mail article on Saturday. It was more widely picked up, with The Telegraph reporting: “SNP to consider banning cats.”

Most people, it would seem, did not read beyond the misleading headline.

https://www.thenational.scot/news/24905239.snp-really-considering-banning-cats-scotland/

OP: @[email protected]

ANAS Sarwar has ruled out working with Reform UK in the next Scottish parliament – but did not rule out accepting their votes in order to become first minister.

The Scottish Labour leader did however say that he would support any “good ideas” which came forward from Nigel Farage’s party – including joking that one such good idea would be to give him the top role.

https://www.thenational.scot/news/24908889.anas-sarwar-not-rule-taking-reform-votes-first-minister/

This cannonball embedded in the side of an Edinburgh house once served a surprisingly pedestrian purpose.

There is an axiom that goes something like this: "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story." This could be applied to a circular metal orb embedded into the wall of a restaurant next to Edinburgh Castle Esplanade. Many tour guides will point out the cannonball to visiting tourists, and inform them that it was fired from the fortress during one of its many sieges.

Because of the aforementioned battles, Edinburgh, like many other medieval townships, erected a series of stone barricades that served as defensive impediments. Though these walls provided protection, they prevented access to an open source of potable water. City engineers had to figure out a way to allow this vital resource to continue to flow, even during times of enemy engagement.

It was decided that a reservoir was needed and that water could be pumped in using a series of pipes. The chosen location of this water supply is currently occupied by the business of the Edinburgh Woolen Mill. The "cannonball" served as a marker for the gravitational height of Comiston Hill, much like a ballcock or float valve does in a toilet. When the water went below the "cannonball," it was a sign that more water was needed to replenish the supply.

Scotland’s oldest continuously inhabited house, the wonderfully unchanged Traquair House in the Scottish Borders. Parts of it date back at least as far as 1107, when King Alexander I of Scotland signed a royal charter at Traquair

Alloa, Scotland

The final resting place of three children, infected with the Black Death, who all died on the same day.

The Black Death, or more commonly referred to as the bubonic plague pandemic, is said to have originated in Central Asia sometime in the mid-14th century. It would make its way across to mainland Europe, and eventually the United Kingdom, carried by fleas on the backs of rats who stored away on ships. There would be further outbreaks of the Yersinia pestis bacteria in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries.

Scotland was not immune to this pestilence as a third of its population would fall victim to this deadly disease. The country was said to have been more immune to the plague due to its population centers not being as concentrated and the colder climes may have keep the outbreaks at a minimum. Unfortunately, this would not be the case for one family living in the bustling port of Culross.

Believe in Scotland’s ‘Creating Scotland’ campaign aims to align the independence cause with the culture, values, hopes and dreams of our nation;

A nation isn't the lines on a map marking its domain, it isn’t its economy or its politics or the stereotypes others perceive within it. A nation is the shared culture and values that run deep with the population, deeper than politics or even polling can dig. It's the stories we tell about ourselves and the songs we sing about our past mixed with the dreams the people have for their future. Activating that cultural core strength and resilience has been key to every successful independence movement the world over.

Consider the negativity of British nationalism, the exceptionalism and exclusiveness of Brexit Britain, an outdated concept of a nationality based on a construct called the UK not a real nation but a concept based on propaganda aimed at making British people superior. Now consider the inclusiveness, the internationalism, the positivity, shared values and the culture of the Scottish independence movement a civic-nationalism.

MPs at Westminster have voted to support handing compensation to Waspi women following a debate in the Commons.

The SNP forced a vote on a bill presented by group leader Stephen Flynn on Tuesday which would require the Labour Government to compensate 1950s-born women who lost out amid changes to the state pension age.

Last March, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) recommended compensation of £1000 to £2950 per person after historic failures in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) meant pension age changes were not properly communicated.

Scottish Labour MP Brian Leishman – who urged his colleagues to back the bill – will form part of the team taking the bill forward.

The division list showed 10 Labour MPs offer their support to the proposed law to establish a compensation scheme. Leishman was listed as the only Labour MP from Scotland to offer his backing to the bill.

The overwhelming majority of Labour MPs chose not to back the bill and instead abstained.

https://www.thenational.scot/news/24891340.mps-vote-compensation-waspi-women/

Scottish musician Patrick Doyle is an acclaimed composer of over 60 feature film scores with many attendant accolades, honours and awards. I first met him in 2001 while making a now long-vanished series on movie music called Silverscreen Beats for BBC Radio.

I visited him at his office on the Shepperton lot in Surrey. There, I watched, enchanted, as he flitted between desk and piano bringing his creativity to life with his incredible musicality and riotous humour illustrating scores like Carlito’s Way (1993), Sense and Sensibility (1995) and Gosford Park (2001).

So years later, when the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) presented Doyle with an honorary doctorate, I wasted no time in asking him to visit and talk to our students. The film of that event is finally available online and is a treat for all fans of film music.

I could pick 20 favourite Patrick Doyle soundtracks for this “best of” list. In the end, I selected these four and asked him to pick a fifth.

We need to begin a new national conversation about how we plan to create a better Scotland - one that mirrors the positive and progressive atmosphere of 2014 but takes it to the next level.

Sign our petition today because a Citizens’ Convention means everyone will be heard on this new road to an independent Scotland.We believe that Scotland must have that new national conversation in a far more inclusive and productive way via the Citizens’ Convention and ahead of a potential de facto independence referendum.

The Scottish Government doesn’t need a referendum (nor Westminster’s permission) to engage the people of Scotland and it can do so in a way that creates a cultural shift, as well as an increase in ambition for, and confidence in, our nation.

Storm Éowyn has unleashed strong and damaging winds over the British Isles, and particularly over Ireland and Scotland.

Air pressure at the centre of the storm plummeted 50 millibars in the 24 hours leading up to midnight on January 24. That’s more than twice what is required in the definition of “explosive cyclogenesis”, in other words, the development of a cyclonic (anticlockwise rotating) storm that is both rapid and severe – like a bomb going off. As a result, Éowyn can be termed a “bomb cyclone”.

It is not unusual for winter storms in this part of the world to reach bomb cyclone status. However, only very few in recent years have shown a rate of deepening pressure that is comparable to that of Storm Éowyn.

FIRST Minister John Swinney will lay out plans for a “substantial increase” in NHS capacity in a keynote speech on Monday.

The SNP leader will tell an audience of representatives from across the health and social care sector that the Scottish Government will ensure an additional 150,000 appointments and procedures per year in a bid to drive down waiting times.

Swinney will also announce plans to increase investment in primary care in order to make it easier for people to see a GP and the roll-out of a Scottish health and social care app labelled a “digital front door” to the NHS.

https://www.thenational.scot/news/24886442.john-swinney-announces-substantial-increase-nhs-scotland-capacity/

OP :@[email protected]

“Donald Trump “will start shitting on Scotland” if John Swinney and the SNP Government attract his attention, a former close aide of the US president has said.

“… former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci issued a firm warning about dealing with Trump – saying he “honestly doesn’t give a shit” about Scotland despite his roots in the country.

“Scaramucci warned that it would be best to remain off the US president’s radar.”

https://www.thenational.scot/news/24885884.donald-trump-will-sh-scotland-former-aide-warns/

Robert Burns lived from 25 January 1759 to 21 July 1796. He is regarded as Scotland's national poet: an icon who has loomed large in Scottish culture and consciousness ever since his early death at the age of 37. Arguably his best known work is the song Auld Lang Syne: a long established feature of New Year celebrations in every corner of the world settled by the Scottish diaspora (which means, in effect, every corner of the world). The wider picture in Scotland at the time is set out in our Historical Timeline.

Robert Burns is known by a surprising variety of names and titles. Sometimes simply referred to as Burns or The Bard he is also known as Rabbie Burns; Robbie Burns; Scotland's favourite son; the Ploughman Poet; or the Bard of Ayrshire.

Burns was born in a cottage in Alloway in Ayrshire. He was the son of William Burnes, who was employed as a gardener by the Provost of Ayr but also tried his hand at farming. Burns started his education at John Murdoch's school in Alloway before going to school in Ayr, though family financial problems meant Burns had to leave school to work as a farm labourer. In practice much of his schooling seems to have come from his father.

The idea that this is over isn’t credible. This tells us a story about Britain as a profoundly undemocratic corrupt entity, paranoid over decades and willing to sacrifice civil liberties to defend its own secrets and power. That state now has powers of surveillance and repression unimagined by the writers and poets of the 1950s and 60s and powered by technologies of surveillance that are dystopian in nature. What has been released is just a fragment of the evidence about what has been done.

Prepare in Advance

• Having a well-stocked emergency kit at home will help until things get back to normal;

• Keep mobile phones, laptops or tablets fully charged - so you will have use of battery power for a short time if there is a power cut;

• A non-mains powered landline telephone will help you stay in touch during any disruption to your power supply;

• Get friends and family thinking ahead and learning the steps that can be taken to be prepared;

• If you have relatives or neighbours who might need help during a power cut, check up on them and provide them assistance if you can;

• Read the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s advice on staying safe during a power cut.

Storm Eowyn could be one for the history books as it is set to be one of the worst to hit the country since Cyclone Friedhelm - otherwise known as Hurricane Bawbag to us Glaswegians.

STV meteorologist Sean Batty has warned the freak storm could be one for the history books as it is set to be one of the worst to hit the country since Cyclone Friedhelm.

It trended on Twitter, secured its own Wikipedia page and you could even get your hands on clothes emblazoned with its name.

History books will remember it as Friedhelm, but for most of us (and if you’re from Glasgow, there’s no excuse for calling it anything else) it was Hurricane Bawbag.

Perhaps the high point in the history of Arbroath Abbey occurred in April 1320. Bernard, Abbot of Arbroath, who was also Chancellor of Scotland under Robert the Bruce, oversaw the drafting of the "Declaration of Arbroath", thought by many to be the most important and influential document in Scottish history. This was a letter written to Pope John XXII on behalf of Robert, and signed by most of the great and good of early 14th Century Scotland. It asked the Pope to put pressure on Edward II of England to recognise Robert as the legitimate King of Scotland; and it also asked him to remove the excommunication that had been placed on Robert after he had murdered the Red Comyn in a Dumfries church in 1306.

The Declaration is famous for one phrase in particular: "For, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom – for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself." Much more historically significant was the implication elsewhere in the declaration that in future the King of Scotland could only rule with the approval of the people of Scotland. It was the first time anyone, anywhere, had thought about royalty in this way.