It’s nice to be able to report something positive from the BBC for a change. No, the Corporation hasn’t finally admitted to its long term and systemic bias against Scottish independence and taken concrete measures to ensure that in the future its reporting on the Scottish constitutional question will be scrupulously fair and even-handed. Don’t be daft. I only said it was something positive for a change, not a bloody miracle.
The BBC together with MGAlba (the company running the BBC’s Gaelic medium TV channel BBC Alba), Bord na Gàidhlig, the Scottish Government, and the Gaelic language college based on Skye, Sabhal Mòr Ostaig have funded and developed a £4 million major new initiative to promote learning Gaelic. This involves the release of a wealth of new materials for online learning. These will be more extensive and in-depth than the highly popular and excellent Gaelic Duolingo course and will provide structured learning of the language in four levels, from absolute beginners to advanced learners.
Each level will comprise 13 lessons with two classes in each lesson accompanied by a series of 13 half-hour media programmes. The learning outcomes for each of these modules will be underpin all elements of SpeakGaelic in a consistent way. The curriculum for SpeakGaelic was developed by Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. The materials that have been developed and are being released today include resources for both teachers and learners of the language.
The first level, for beginners in the language has been launched today. The resources include a series of short video lessons, all of which will be made available free of charge on the BBC iplayer, and also on Youtube for learners outwith the UK or for those who object to paying the TV licence fee. There are also podcasts which will be available on BBCSounds, and much more. This is an exciting and professional initiative which should go a long way to ensuring that Gaelic will forever enjoy its rightfully prominent place in the Scottish cultural landscape.
These are high quality learning materials and will provide an invaluable resource which will make learning Gaelic more accessible for a wide range of people. To give you a wee taste, here is the very first lesson in the very first level for complete beginners.
You can find out more, and begin your path to Gaelic here: https://speakgaelic.scot/ You can register for online classes – it’s free.
Incidentally, my Gaelic maps of Scotland are still available, a perfect gift for any Gaelic learner or just for anyone who likes maps. The maps cost £15 each plus £7 P&P within the UK. You can order by sending a PayPal payment of £22 to weegingerbook@yahoo.com (Please remember to include the postal address where you want the map sent to).
I am now writing the daily newsletter for The National, published every day from Monday to Friday in the late afternoon. So if you’d like a daily dose of dug you can subscribe to The National, Scotland’s only pro-independence newspaper, here: Subscriptions from The National
This is your reminder that the purpose of this blog is to promote Scottish independence. If the comment you want to make will not assist with that goal then don’t post it. If you want to mouth off about how much you dislike the SNP leadership there are other forums where you can do that. You’re not welcome to do it here.
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Wee Ginger Dug 
Thanks for this information, Paul. I look forward to giving it a go. I picked up some Gaelic words and phrases via Duolingo but lapsed as I found it a bit frustrating that the structure of the grammar wasn’t explained. All the best for your continued recovery, by the way.
Good.
Math
Thanks Paul for highlighting and providing an easy link to the new free Gaelic tuition. Mile taing!
Tapadh leat a charaid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSQx0QIdA-M
this map will be of use to you Paul. the yellow lines are the major rivers, red lines roman roads, all red, roman finds, green lines drove roads, pink pins, pit place names
this is a better one. useful for your gaelic map Paul
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCdawloCPIQ
Great news. I have tried using Duolingo and I also like Gaelic with Jason who is an American enthusiast who produces entertaining short video sessions. But I am delighted to see something more structured on offer.
Thanks for letting us know. Your Gaelic maps are excellent. I bought one after a talk you did in rural Aberdeenshire. Well worth having as, although all of the place names are Gaelic, a lot of people don’t realise that. We are culturally deprived when we don’t understand the meaning of the place names that surround us, like Blue Mountains (Cairgorms).
Thanks for this, Paul. If I can access it here in Ontario I certainly will as my Gaelic is getting VERY rusty!
Off topic, I know, but I am too appalled and angry not to say something. The self-styled chief spokesman of the Alba Party, only 24 hours after sneering at our First Minister’s Scottish accent, is now telling the forum of the “National” newspaper that only people born in Scotland should be allowed to vote in the forthcoming independence referendum. An irony is that the Alba Party’s Chairperson, who was born in Chelsea, will be allowed to campaign for independence but not to vote for it according to this leading member of her new party.
One of Hitler’s first decrees on seizing power in 1933 was to deprive Jews and other races deemed to be non-German of the right to vote. Compare the inclusive nationalism of the SNP, welcoming people of all races and nationalities to Scotland, with the nasty, xenophobic, racist and fascist “nationalism” of the Alba Party. I say this with a great deal of sadness because, as someone born in England and living for many years in Scotland, I have admired Alex Salmond since I first met him in 1987. But unless he throws the fascists out of his party, he has lost all respect from decent Scots.
He needs them for his army of crusaders who’re rapidly diminishing to just a wee gang of…..well
I guess this is the guy I was arguing with earlier on (under my name rather than traditional moniker).
I struggle to believe he’s for real.
Hell I post a lot, but some of these, ahem, ‘real indy supporters’ on there 24/7/365 sound way too unionist to me.
Has my troll radar pinging away…
I am pretty fluent in Scots and gave Gaelic a go on duolingo, but the wife wants me to improve my French (and hell, why not get a third passport) and there just aren’t enough hours in the day!
Also, I love Gaelic music, but part of that maybe comes from not understanding. It’s the nice thing about music.
But it goes without saying I welcome anything the promotes / makes it easier for Scots to learn their native languages.
As I said in another posts, unionists be like ‘Scots isn’t a language!’ while at the same time they demand it be written into law that it is unquestionably one (N. Ireland language Act).
Of course in Ireland, Scots is a recognised and promoted language:
http://www.askaboutireland.ie/reading-room/history-heritage/heritage-towns/the-heritage-towns-of-don/raphoe/ulster-scots-the-language/
Alongside Gaelic.
To my shame, I have not tried to learn a language for over 20 years. Back in my early 20’s I spent a couple of seasons in Mallorca as a rep and soon learnt that being able to speak Spanish both earned you more tips and got you more female attention! As a testosterone-filled 20 something-year-old, these were probably the two most important things to me so I worked hard learning to speak Spanish to a reasonable standard.
Might have a look at this and see what my linguistic skills are like these days.
this is better but still a bit blurry, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfASpDNporU if your interested in placenames, history and archeology this will be of interest
Supplementing your post, cat:
The Scottish place-Name Society’s Autumn (online) Conference, 6 November 2021
https://spns.org.uk/autumn-conference-2021
Thx for the link WS. I didn’t know there was a Scottish Place Name Society. Another blog to surf 🙂
Well, Capella, I belong to the Welsh equivalent – and it does produce bilingual materials if you’re interested further ,,,
OT. An article in the National quoting “The Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) has said that this latest effort to extol the virtues of nuclear fusion as a “low carbon” source of energy is to keep the industry “alive” due to the UK being a “nuclear weapon state”.”
but also my MP Patricia Gibson (very SNP):
“I am delighted that Ardeer peninsula, in my North Ayrshire and Arran constituency has, rightly, made the shortlist for development of this futuristic green, clean fusion technology.
“Fusion can transform energy production and deliver thousands of high-tech jobs to an area steeped in the tradition of innovation, engineering and manufacturing.
“With its grid connections and excellent transport links, Ardeer is the perfect location for a development that could transform the lives of everyone in Scotland and beyond.” ”
Who’s right? Well, the CND are embarrassing themselves which is a shame, they usually at least get the facts almost right and have some very interesting papers, but in this case are way out, they might as well be talking about dishwater from another planet.
Fusion is neccessary in the medium term electricity generation to provide base load in say 30 years or so, and deuterium is plentiful – specially in seawater. It could be a by-product for instance, of a process for getting hydrogen via electrolysis at times of low demand with wind power, dual purpose with the hydrogen for fuel cells and the deuteriium (and tritium) for fusion for base load fusion. We actually need this to remove the need for traditional nuclear fission power plants, or lung destroying coal which was rejected unanimously by my alert council on the grounds of health.
Uranium is not used in fusion, so plutonium enriched or otherwise, is not a by-product, so is nothing to do with a “nuclear wepaon state”, nothing at all. CND need to get their facts right.
https://www.iter.org/sci/Fusion
Think we need to be careful not to get carried away. We don’t know yet if it is possible to produce a fusion reaction that produces net energy output and won’t know if that’s even possible until ITER plant is built and operational with results from that using a deuterium and tritium mix are not expected till 2035.
Even if it is possible to produce net electricity we are probably two or three generations away from a reactor model that can produce enough net power to be commercially effective.
Fusion power certainly has the potential to be a ‘clean’ power source, and that’s why it’s right to keep progress moving on it but not in the short to medium term. Even if things progress at a faster pace than is expected we are at least 50-100 years away from it being able to supersede any of the sources of energy used now.
ultimately we are trying to produce a reaction that is only found naturally in stars that where their vast gravity (caused by their size) allows fusion to happen. It may turn out that replicating that on earth to the extent that it becomes a viable energy source is pushing the laws of physics too far.
It’s a large proof of concept, with a target of output 10 times input. So far 60% was achieved by JET.
Which makes it all the more attractive to have in Scotland, as it will still be experimental, still have massive diagnostics and bring researchers from all over the world to Ardeer, the three towns and Ayrshire in general.
Considering how screwed North Ayrshire has been over the years, second worst employment and poverty in Scotland, having lost in no particular order IBM, Nat-Semi, HP even at Erskine, Inverkip, British Steel, losing Hunterston, no deepwater container base not even any coal or ore, Hyster, Volvo, Compaq and of course ICI Noble itself and no oil boom for Ardrossan though there’s plenty oil out there, not forgetting Kincaids, Scott Lithgow, while money is poured into other more “fashionable” areas we need a break.
Hate pouring cold water on this but I suspect this is more Tory games, the token Jock in the PR if you will. Yes, fusion holds possibilities, it always has, but we’ve all seen too many Iron-Man movies.
Just WHY on earth would they invest inordinate sums of money in a Scotland they know have one foot out the door ??? Post independence it may be another matter, but are we struggling with electrical power production ? Hell NO. Is England, Hell YES.
Granted North Ayrshire have suffered inordinately since the 1980s, but projects such as this rarely benefit the local economy much in reality, even in the construction phase, a local concrete batch plants perhaps will benefit from increased turnover but the negotiated cost/m3 will barely scrape a profit, aside a few electrical sub-contracts it would benefit few, it’s the nature of such projects.
Ayrshire needs investment which provides long-term gainful employment to thousands over many years, not a cleaning contractor on minimum wage, a couple of security guards likewise, and the inevitable burger van for maybe 20 years.
PS – Bridge for sale, apply Mr Johnson, Tufton Street, London.
https://www.edfenergy.com/energy/power-stations/hunterston-b
“People: Approximately 520 full time EDF employees plus over 250 full time contract partners”
Just about all live locally, and over the 40 odd years I’ve lived here, specially in the A station days, I knew many of them, plus still do some (B these days) as there’s a new generation there from the people I drank with. Not to mention the official and unofficial visits I had to both stations, plus actually working in around a dozen power stations, in England, coal and nuclear.
To put it very simply, power generation is a box where cold water goes in and steam comes out, which then runs through turbines creating electricity via electromagnetism. Electricity is taken from the grid in large quantities while the “box” is not working or is starting up, and then when running, electricity is supplied to the grid. There is much control functionality, instrumentation, and diesel generators in case the grid goes down. Suppliies of any workplace requirements are bought and delivered and unpacked and sorted and tabulated and put away or supplied when neccessary. There are statistics gathered and records kept, experiments done even on a coal station, sampling and examination – not including NDT which is a more specialised area. There is maintenance including the grease monkey and oil changer.
In short, most of the employment by far for ANY power station regardless of type, is local, the people live locally, maybe move in to the locale, or are recruited, trained and even apprenticed locally.
Jobs, economy, local spending – and such jobs as are contracted out – like NDT – mean accomodation and local spending by the contractors.
Thank you for your explanation to an engineer/project manager over 50 years in the field, your idiot’s guide was much appreciated, but still struggling with the concept of steam. 😉
The automation involved in such a frontier science plant brings labour numbers down to well below a hundred, most all specialists contracted in on a rota (Fusion is a small Ford from Ardrossan to Stevenson and Infinity and beyond), what Ayrshire needs most is not more tenants or house-owners but jobs, THOUSANDS of them.
Again, aside a locally employed cat to chase mice, a contract cleaner from Ayr and a couple of guys squeezed into uniforms to be security guards, the area impact of the project would be zilch even if turned out not to be the Tory scam I believe it to be.
A temporary spike in rental and housing prices for the duration of the project, then a collapse when it ends, what is the long term benefit ?
It’s not a “People’s Front of Judea” thing but a cold reality of modern and even large projects, they come, they shit, they leave, you clear up the mess. Ayrshire deserves better.
Well Bob, perhaps you should offer your services to CCFE (I’ve been to Culham in the 70s), as they seem to think:
“STEP will create thousands of highly-skilled jobs during construction and operations and attract other high-tech industries to its host region, furthering the development of science and technology capabilities locally and nationally.”
Just think of all the money you can save them by telling them they’re talking GIGO!
https://ccfe.ukaea.uk/five-sites-shortlisted-for-uk-fusion-energy-plant/
Bob, we’re really not too wee, too poor – or too stupid! Specially in North Ayrshire of course though I was actually born in what they call South Ayrshire.
I don’t think anyone is saying that we are. But the final plan is not coming off the drawing board until 2024, which would be post-referendum. The simple fact is whatever is said now or over the next year or so, if Scotland is not part of the UK it’s not going to get a UK reactor.
“Through the next phase of assessment, we look forward to working with the shortlisted sites and local communities to gain a more in-depth understanding of the socio-economic, commercial and technical conditions associated with each site, before we make our final recommendations to the Secretary of State in 2022.”
It’s going to be a global hub, Marc, and on the plus side Ardeer is a spit away from the 2nd longest runway in the UK, and was connected to the national rail network, with the line still operational from Largs through Stevenston and Kilwinning. A new Ardeer station would be a dawdle.
Plus the 100 hectares needed and more, would not be a problem.
I think it’s up to Patricia Gibson and the SNP to sell the idea locally. As for Independence, does the UK really need to keep those SSBNs at Faslane for 5 years or so while they relocate them …
For sure, nothing wrong with selling the area as a good location for a fusion plant to the Scottish Government post indy.
But again there is zero chance of the UK government having its first fusion plant, not in the UK. Why would they spend billions for the benefits to the economy etc to go to another countries economy?
Any SSBN card is not going to be spent on an experimental reactor that won’t be online for almost 20 years. As a said earlier fusion has many potential benefits but it could equally just end up being a very expensive white elephant.
Given the cost, the fact Scotland doesn’t need it, and it could turn out to be a white elephant, for me it’s obviously better Scotland doesn’t go down the UK fusion plant route. Best get out now before we have to pay 8.4% of multiple billions to subsidise England’s inability to power itself cleanly.
Also, if fusion works, there is no doubt it will be developed commercially for sale by a variety of companies in time (England loves privatisation so we can imagine we can even by their reactors), so Scotland can just buy one if it wanted to.
Super. For arguments sake lets say that during the construction phase they complete a 1000 good apprenticeships.
When the construction phase is complete and the work force is scaled back. Where do they work ??? The local economy is all ready fully serviced. So you depopulate the immediate location and Scotland so that they can find living wage work. Such is the impact of large scale short term (a decade or so).
You need to look the whole picture not just the cat on the kitchen table.
Scotland obviously doesn’t need any new nuclear, even fusion.
The main thing Scotland needs is not energy production capacity (apart from increasingly as a export); it’s renewables capacity* and potential is enormous, but more energy storage. The new north sea interconnector with Norway is ideal for this, as they have the pumped storage and we have the wind. However, we should look to other forms, such as hydrogen production and storage in our depleted gas reservoirs for example.
Novel localised storage is interesting too, such as batteries in our homes or even gravity mechanical battery systems in tall buildings (literally a big weight wound up a shaft to the top off peak which can slowly descend to generate power on demand).
—-
*https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-56530424
[…] Source […]
Mmm, that was an interesting browse, haven’t done it for years. Ends up here for the night:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-29509021
followed of course by this: “Scottish Power blames £40m UK-grid connection charge for decision to close coal-fired Longannet power station” from scottishenergynews 2016.
But also ironically to this:
“May 11th: SSE Thermal and Equinor have today unveiled plans to jointly develop a new low-carbon power station at Peterhead, which could become one of the UK’s first power stations equipped with carbon capture technology.
Peterhead CCS Power Station would propel the UK’s ambitions for carbon capture in power generation, meeting 15% of the UK Government’s 10 million tonne target for carbon captured by 2030.”
Too small and thick as two short planks. Anyways, good luck to Ardeer – there’s plenty room for Demo, with its (I think) target of output 10 times input energy, on the way to more like 50 times later in the century. Many countries are involved in this, Scotland can’t be left behind. Plenty good shops and eating not far away, plus some of the best scenery in Scotland 🙂
Go for it.
(that Peterhead news 2021)
It’s time we all stopped paying the TV licence fee. All we are doing is paying for British state propaganda.Its also time that Scots speakers got their own channel due to having 2.5 million of the Scottish population .The language of Burns ,Tannahill and the enlightenment. More philosophers came out of Scotland than ancient Greece. Scottish music as well as our history is suppressed by the Anglophones. Everything is put in a union false narrative .
The BBC is ok with Gaelic as so few speak it that it doesn’t see it as a threat. It can provide Gaelic programming to give it ‘Scottish’ credentials without worrying about the natives going too native.
1.5 m can speak Scots with another 276k saying they can understand, but not speak / write.
https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/census-results/at-a-glance/languages/
This utterly dwarfs Gaelic speakers, yet where is the ‘BBC Scots’ section on the website and programming? And this is with Scots classed as a vulnerable language by UNESCO.
There’s no way on earth the BBC would do extensive programming in Scots because too many Scottish people speak / understand it, and that number needs to be reduced in its eyes, not encouraged.
Matt Hancock UN appointment “not taken forward”, UN spokesman tells UN news organisation Pass Blue.
Apparently one’s previous actions do have consequences.
When Health Secretary he blocked International efforts to allow low and middle income countries to produce Covid 19 Vaccine leading to millions of global south deaths………combined with recent report on many failings of UK Govt’s handling of pandemic in UK……not forgetting in midst of crisis where plebs were commanded to adhere to (flexible) Tory rules imposed by Matt and his colleagues in government….Matt was photographed/filmed engaging in ‘extracurricular’ activities with his ‘aide’ aka bit on the side…….on the job but not on THE job so to speak…..
Seems Hancock was premature in his ‘acceptance’ of this (undeserved) role………Karma…..it will surely eventually catch up with t’others too…….perhaps in many ways it already has…….as in tis obvious Brexit is NOT done and many straws currently being clutched by the Brexit deceivers to keep the followers of the “cult that is Brexit “on board…….Brexit may not be done but Scotland will be if it does not leave this corrupt , incompetent and not fit for purpose UK(most definitely NOT) OK ………
#ScottishIndependence
Ha Ha……..nice one.
The media is very fond of the quaint Scottish shortbread tin dancing, minority Gaelic language speaking, beautiful beaches on Scottish Isles, drug addicts and drunks under bridges, and of course *football* violence when they can get some
None of this is mainstream Scotland it would be the equivalent of the English news covering Morris dancing cheese from Devon and Melton Mowbray pork pies because it would make England appear like a wee provincial hamlet instead of the ginormous muscular dynamic global powerhouse they want to portray to the world
That’s why they show Scotland in such small terms, keep the people believing their wee tiny scrubland in the north is nothing and nowhere, no other country in the world reports on their own country in this way, they try to show what’s bigger progressive forward and outward looking about themselves they certainly don’t promote themselves as wee provincial backwaters of somewhere else
The media via TV is dominated by English speaking accents on dramas, documentaries, debate shows, news programmes, reality shows, comedy shows etc……….same TV invented by who exactly ?
Trues story….a friend of mine said that there is so much English speaking accents on TV that when she hears a Scottish accent on TV….it sounds …..”strange”…..unbelievably ……I would say it is more ‘unusual’ as our presence is diminished (deliberately) on TV while we are being overwhelmed and conditioned to believe this is normal ……thus SOME Scots equate this as to why they see England as somehow superior and rightly dominant……money ploughed into one part of UK media while t’others given leftovers.
We need our voice heard from a Scottish perspective …….currently we are thrown patronising scraps via an Anglocentric media in tandem with this Tory government (say currently but actually always been the case)……where both are actively undermining Scotland to condition some Scots to believe they are inferior as they voice is rarely heard……..the Neil Oliver types are now well and truly exposed as servants of this type of brainwashing……..
We need real investment into televised media in Scotland…..minus the Proud Scot (NOT) But amateurs who currently populate SOME of the Scottish news programmes …….and relevant truthful documentaries presented by non biased agenda driven individuals, dramas with some of the excellent talented Scottish actors that are available…….in fact just want the same as other NORMAL independent countries……..
More than happy to watch some of the quality dramas, comedy shows and documentaries from England…..after we get Scottish independence……….
” some Scots to believe they are inferior as.. they voice… is rarely heard”
* their voice
OT I see there is a debate elsewhere of ALBA standing in local elections.
Surely if you wish to be considered a real party then you have to stand for election? Are they standing in May 2022 or will they wait until the next Scottish Parliamentary elections?
I suspect they are worried about withering on the vine of grievance ie why will no one vote for us?
From here:
https://ballotbox.scot/wick-by-election-2021
I count 5 by-elections since May’s Holyrood election, and Alba have not stood in any of them as far as I can see, although ISP stood in 2.
It does seem ridiculous for people to campaign for Alba, complaining that the SNP are ‘not doing enough for indy’, if Alba are not actually standing for election.
Let’s hope our Gaelic cousins never have to come across the likes of this one – though I won’t hold my breath.
https://nation.cymru/news/house-hunting-tiktok-star-criticised-after-calling-wales-a-st-hole-and-consonant-hating-cns/
Welsh Sion
Baiting Welsh people or just pandering to some of her like minded followers ?
House hunting in Wales……Not another one.
‘Banter’ she said…….yeh…….the same kind of ‘banter’ if ever used in Scotland (or Wales) against the English would be called out as ‘anti-English’……..by usual suspects…….but then there’s ‘banter’ and then there’s ‘banter’ apparently…..doesn’t occur to her that when called out on this perhaps she SHOULD just APOLOGISE rather than try to justify it…..” Banter not bullying” she said….personally ignorance not banter would be my take……and looking at some of the comments below this article I see my opinion is not unique.
UK 2021 where lassies like her can get loads a money online for doing …..NOTHING……other than convincing the gullible to follow them…….TikTok ‘influencer’…..a non job from a non entity…….indeed.
#Idiot
NMRN,
Thanks for your support. You will know that we have had to put up with this sort of thing for decades – as have others who have been/are under the cosh of the Anglos and those of the same mentality.
Bwanas and Memsahibs are never racists of course – they bring culture, organised religion and civilisation to the benighted, ignorant heathen masses. For which we should be eternally grateful, Amen. As we kiss the whip which is used to enforce our compliance and obedience.
Adapting (I think) a Scottish expression, “I’ll buy the person in question a one-way ticket to Falkirk”.
(Poor Falkirk!)
WS
I share your pain…..as do many others.
Read somewhere that ” a shared pain enhances people’s bonding and cooperative behaviour”
Seems apt……for Scots and Welsh people….and indeed all of those other nationalities who choose to live in , fully respect and understand our perspective while living in both of our countries.
Re this particular female I would buy her a one way ticket to …..well….anywhere bar Wales and Scotland…..perhaps in the cold bare wilderness somewhere in Russia…. where she may learn to be more humble, respectful and thus appreciate life does not revolve around her and her most unwise ( should never be spoken ) words….. choosing to use offensive remarks (cheap shots) to gain undeserved kudos……..or in this case ….Not…going by the underline comments…..Ha Ha…actions DO have consequences…who knew….well not that idiot for sure.
Words are cheap but then so are some people……file under very immature Idiot …..God’s sake what (or who’s ) next……
Well she didnae influence me…or t’others it seems….so she cannae be THAT good can she ?…. #TikTokTrySomethingElseHen…………
Have a good evening……bask in the warmth of her remarks having backfired on her big time..Ha Ha….and another Ha Ha…for good measure.
Thanks and I hope you have/had a good evening, too.
I only thought “Go To Falkirk” was some expression used by Scots to represent something more vulgar. Perhaps I’m wrong. (Shares the same initials, of course.)
In my neck of the woods they might in order to be polite say “get to Falkirk” same thing lol
I was close, Alex! I knew I’d seen something on other blogs I frequent with nationalist Scots!
If those are genuinely her opinions of the location. And not opinions she has misappropriated. Why was she house shopping there in she first placement.
Just for the headlines. Or to become a property developer or a landlord.
Does anyone else remember the misappropriated coal board advert. Come home to a real fire.
Buy a holiday home in Wales.
The Stuarts are coming back – their portraits that is. The West Highland Museum in Fort William is hoping to bring the portraits back for an exhibition of Bonnie Prince Charlie and his rellies.
I wonder why 🙂
https://archive.fo/AuuWI
Naidheachd mhath. ‘Duolingo’ Scots Gaelic is also good for imoproving vocabulary and keeping up daily practice.
That’s great news.
My vernacular is Scots but my written script is English.
I would love to be able write in Scots.
What sources are out there?
M boyd,
Just a little bit of googling brought this up.
https://www.scotslanguage.com/articles/node/id/583
Good luck.
And then there’s this – which may be aimed more at schoolchildren:
http://www.scotseducation.co.uk/
I note with disappointment that “Scots” does not figure as a language used professionally teacher/interpreter/translator/language specialist by any of my colleagues at the Chartered Institute of Linguists. There are 2 Scottish Gaelic users registered as teacher or translator and 3 Welsh professionals – only 1 of whom translates into Cymraeg/Welsh … yours truly!
Not sure, but is this not hate speech.
As I say: “For every situation, there is an idiot”.
(A particularly nasty specimen in this instance.)
Yip. Always a lesson — engage your brain before speaking or texting something you should realise is inappropriate.
Was puzzled who this muppet was so went looking, account closed, so aye…
Bob,
For what it’s worth, a Google search turns up only one response to this – with an address in Northumnberland.
Welsh Sion
As per our discussion yesterday……
Incredibly …..we have the …usual Twitter Troll suspects and Labour via Joanna Lamont, Jack McConnell….up in arms at a tweet made by Scottish Green’s Lorna Slater…..where she used the term ‘the English’ which they have chosen to take out of context and focus on these two words in her tweet….it was in relation to the consequences we are facing in some, via a majority, within a specific country in the UK voting Tory…..we all face consequences but point being made is that it is the English people who , via larger numbers/constituencies vote them into power…..Fact.
She has deleted the tweet…personally I think she should NOT have deleted it as it was NOT intended as a derogatory tweet against English people but was instead making a point that we are in the state we are in because of the actions of Tory UK Government….so why do English people vote for them constantly……..
What has been picked up was the fact that she said ‘THE’ English… though the word’ the’ was in lowercase…had she said English people it would STILL have been highlighted as offensive by them ……but it has been twisted and taken out of context from the point she was making….they did this in order to weaponise it as an anti English message….this is how desperate they are…….determined to promote the independence movement as a mere anti English message while blatantly ignoring the abuse from those who regularly demean and insult both Welsh and Scottish people and also their politicians…..i.e. non Unionist politicians.
However the Twitter Troll who Golfnut quoted above….with the far more shocking and abusive tweet is IGNORED by them…..how convenient and predictable…….and how obvious too…as to highlight abuse against the FM would diminish their (non) argument……….they also ignore the more extreme and offensive tweets from Unionist supporters because to highlight them would be to the detriment of their respective political party i.e. Labour…firmly on the side of THE Union led by THE TORIES again and again…… but apparently NOT THE MOST UNIONIST party in Scotland or England according to polls and via election results …Labour trailing in England behind the Tories and in Scotland NOT the official opposition at Holyrood and only one MP at WM……..it’s their poundshop Tory mentality that people do not like…..some people seem to prefer the real thing so vote Tory…….Labour always the bridesmaid never the bride……no one knows what they are for…..still…..other than a ineffective opposition and Unionist party…….
It is clear the agenda the likes of McConnell and usual Twitter Unionist Trolls are following…….to present anyone who supports independence as doing so solely because they are anti English because that then …they think….diminishes OUR argument…….in reality it just shows their desperation and lack of real arguments they have to uphold their Union…… and for us it reenergises us and reinforces our belief that independence is the right way for Scotland to go and they can use their false arguments to oppose us but we all know the strength and truth in our argument for self determination is for the right reasons not the false ones they choose to adopt….they are only making themselves look more desperate and despicable to voters……..long may they continue along the WRONG path as more eyes will be opened to their pathetic deception and desperation…..
Jack McConnell in his tweet chose to use ‘The’ English to promote his non point ….Lorna’s tweet said ‘the’ English……see how it’s done to try and misrepresent the point…..however NOT clever enough as deleted tweet was shown further down the thread of his point by a Tory councillor….which laughingly actually gave the context of the tweet…however did not show what she was responding to……the games they play…..#AnotherFailForTheUnion
#ScottishIndependence
Huh? Why do unionists / Brits think use of the words ‘The English’ is derogatory? Are they anti-English?
‘The Scots’ tend to vote SNP. ‘The Scots’ produce excellent whisky. ‘The Scots’ live in the windiest country in Europe. ‘The Scots’ never elect Tory governments….
‘The English’ football team reached the European championship finals. ‘The English’ are known for their love of tea.
Anyone offended here?
Anyway, feel free to talk about ‘The Scots’, it’s not racist or derogatory at all.
But someone needs to report Wiki to the unionist stasi:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_people
The English people are an ethnic group and nation native to England
OMG. Shocking. And wiki is claiming English folks are of a different ethnicity to us Scots! Blood and soil claxon!
Anyway, if folks are offended by such terms, there’s no way they can ‘survive alone’ as a country.
Someone get on to this guy too:
The English
by Jeremy Paxman (Author)
Racist!
Or how about Boris Johnson while Editor of ‘THE’ Spectator printing the derogaTORY poem ‘Friendly Fire’ that included these what ?…..endearments…..”THE Scotch what a verminous race”…..”tartan dwarves”…”the nation deserves not merely isolation but comprehensive extermination” ……what say they on that…or was that just ‘banter’………perhaps , under present circumstances they , who are offended by Lorna’s tweet, agree with these words in the poem…….if it wasn’t for those pesky Scots ( and some welsh people too) we could have a Union forever and ever……
Seems Scots and Welsh and other so called enemies of the State (status quo) are the only ones that need to mind their P & Q’s 24/7…..while t’others can just abuse and offend Scots, Welsh, Europeans etc and be expected to receive no backlash or publicity or accused of being seen as ANTI via their derogatory statements…….that’s THEIR Union for you….in name only ….in practice it serves but ONE nation ….that’s the one, via a majority, that elects the WM government……and voted for BREXIT…..i.e. the Brexit that is NOT done…….and never will be…..#NoPlanBrexit
#ScottishIndependence
SS – remember this?
Always raises a smile here!
I believe this was posted on youtube by a Scot – bravo that man/woman!
Quite forgot about that glorious exchange, for Paxman a case of Know thy enema.. 🤣
I don’t believe Dr ap Gwilym was subsequently interviewed by Paxman.
Paxo the turkey, well and truly stuffed!
👍
Ouch, paxman,and the bbc bias shown up.
Brilliant – Paxman “Oh God!” 😂
Who knew London was in England? 😉
That was brilliant, a man fully in command of his brief making an arse of a man clearly out of his depth and attem[ting to push an anti-Independence agenda. I hope he’s still with you as he’s a class act.
Still breathing as far as I’m aware, Alex:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurfyl_ap_Gwilym
Though less of this “you”. If you were a member of Plaid Cymru, too, you’d say “he’s still with us”.
(With a nod to Dafydd Iwan and “Yma o Hyd” to those Welsh lurkers following this blog … 😉 )
“She has deleted the tweet…personally I think she should NOT have deleted it”
Agreed.
I don’t really care if they think I’m anti-English because the truth of it is I’m more English than they are, the majority of my relatives are almost certainly English, I’ve never actually counted them to be honest. Wanting democracy for Scotland is nothing to do with hating someone else, it’s about getting the government a country voted for, not one which hasn’t won an election since I was in nappies.
The response from a unionist being confronted with the truth is akin to Dracula encountering a cross, there’s a lot of twisting and screaming involved.
It’s not that I hate the English, it’s just I would prefer them as neighbours not masters. I think that was a quote from Richard Mullen. It’s a brilliant rebuttal for almost all accusations of anti English sentiment and should be wheeled out at every opportunity.
That ‘ the house jocks and the journo hacks ‘, both accolades well earned by the likes of McConnell and the media in Scotland, should highlight and condemn simple, to the point and accurate commentary while ignoring the sheer hatred and venom directed at the people of Scotland, attempting to undermine our confidence, deny us a voice and ultimately keep us chained to their corrupt and venal union.
At some point we are going to have to deal with this anti English shite head on.
The people of England, for they are no less a mongrel nation than our own, need to wake up and see themselves as others see them.
Sorry Peter Mullen.
British Nationalists priming the atmosphere for the next independence referendum. It will be impossible to conduct a debate without mentioning Scotland and England. Screaming “anti-English racism” whenever that happens will chill discussion, as is clear by Lorna Slater feeling obliged to delete her tweet.
Context is everything.
Aye, everyone’s anti-English, including Canadians!
Switched on GMS this morning (I know) to hear Douglas Alexander pontificating at length about COP26. I wondered why Douglas Alexander, former Labour politician ousted by Mhairi Black in 2015, was the featured guest. Is there nobody from the current administration qualified to talk on this important topic?
It turns out that Douglas ;Alexander, visiting professor at Kings College London, is making a BBC radio documentary about COP26. Here are his credentials – it’s a long list – apologies in advance:
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/douglas-alexander
I suppose it could have been worse, could have been Margaret Curran – oh she was on last week.
Alexander was on the bbc radio too. BBC scotchland are labour/unionist proxies.
Did he not have to resign from one of his job for he boys roles?
Both he and his sis Wendy were annointed by Donald dewar as their dad was his best friend and a CoS minister in Renfrewshire. Same church as dame Tory Goldie. Good Christians all, pro nuclear weapons on the Clyde.
They make me puke.
He’s an Atlanticist which means he will do whatever American corporate leaders tell him.
Politico article “Brown’s Wee Boy” from 2005 has good background. The only thing he knows about climate change is that John Kerry will dish out the instructions to the Brits.
https://www.politico.eu/article/browns-wee-boy/
Daily Express reports that Nicola Sturgeon is secretly continuing her planning for a second Independence referendum despite all the problems in the UK
How very dare she
“She who dares, wins.” In other news, Scots who know a thing or two report that the Daily Express is overtly planning to undermine democracy in Scotland once again and to thwart the will of a people who are not responsible for all the problems in the UK.
“secretly” 🤣
Is it not amazing that they are still playing this “England the victim of furners” card despite it having brought about all their current woes and ills over Brexit ?
The same applies over NI where the vast majority are in favour of the NIP and the majority in England are oblivious to it due to media and political chicanery.
It has been astonishing to me to observe from afar the extent to which latent xenophobia has been exploited in the UQ by media and political manipulators, but sooner or later they are going to run out of those “others” to blame and have to face reality.
It took them close on 40 years to create the EU hostility and 30 for the Scottish “subsidy-junkie” version, it will take them a lot longer to climb down off that pedestal they created, when we leave it is for a less flat world.
Exactly Bob well said……
Meanwhile Lordy Lordy McConnell has …..Big Really Huge Important fish to fry……openly and “secretly”…….finger on the pulse…..UK imploding……but typical Labour….don’t look over here look over there at the trivia and faux outrage I am generating…….woe is us Scots indeed ….us poor Scots not being led by those Titans of Political discourse……..said no one of rational mind….
Fortunately there are a growing number of peeps who are waking up and smelling the McCoffee…
#ScottishIndependence
Good piece by Fintan O’Toole – if not invoking indy and an united Ireland:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/17/facing-chaos-and-needing-a-scapegoat-the-tories-seek-endless-fight-with-europe
Facing chaos and needing a scapegoat, the Tories seek an endless fight with Europe
Fintan O’Toole
“who do you blame when you’ve killed the scapegoat?”
Precisely.
Such negativity about Scotland, who’d have thunk it from independentistas?
Luckily for the businesses and employees at and around Culham, they ignored any negativity in the 60s:
https://culham.org.uk/directory/
look especially at the space related industries, considering the proximity of Ardeer to Prestwick, a likely candidate for a spaceport. Plus of course the large GSK Irvine plant (visited that via SE – standard way of working for continuous improvement very impressive).
And of course there’s the Cambridge science park (I’ve been there too):
https://www.cambridgesciencepark.co.uk/
wouldn’t want anything like that in Scotland, oh no, better people continually leave Scotland to get aspirational jobs and incomes elsewhere – and spend them elsewhere.
Luckily, as I found when working n Germany, most people think we have a “Can do” attitude in Scotland – similar to the Yanks. And luckily most of us really do, or we’d genuinely be what the unionists call “An economic basket case”.