Useful Scots word: gomerel
By Betty Kirkpatrick Last time I wrote about glaikit, and I am staying in the world of folly. Gomerel is Scots for a stupid or foolish person, or someone who – in the opinion of the user of the word –...
View ArticleWeir’s Week: tongue-twisting tournaments and a rule of thumb
By Stewart Weir Saturday Gordon Smith is named as the new director of football at Rangers and a bunfight amongst Scotland’s newspapers breaks out as to who had the exclusive on the story. Smith is, of...
View ArticleMagnificent and frightening: Armed Forces Day in Edinburgh
By John Knox The skirl of the pipes is at once magnificent and frightening. It captured my mood exactly as I joined the crowd in the Royal Mile on Saturday for this year’s Armed Forces Day. Prince...
View ArticleThe Wolf of Badenoch: spoiled brat and merciless cad
By Elizabeth McQuillan Placing himself firmly in the Hall of Historical Infamy, the dastardly deeds of the irreverent and petulant Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan (1343–1405), earned him the title...
View ArticleMud, sweat and beards: a look back at Glastonbury 2011
There were, as usual, tens of thousands of sun, mud and music worshippers at Glastonbury – but increasingly the festival feels primarily like a broadcast-media event, so here is one armchair viewer’s...
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Useful Gaelic word: agus
agus – and Listen to the pronunciation guide The word is nice and simple, but the pronunciation can trip up learners. The g in the middle of the word is pronounced differently to either of the g...
View ArticleMr Waters, meet Lady Gaga – and seven other movie/music mash-ups
To the effect pedals and amps, air-conditioned tour buses and supermodel girlfriends, add another essential accessory for the modern rock band – a movie director. Arcade Fire, Win Butler’s rag-tag...
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Book review: The Love and Death of Caterina, by Andrew Nicoll
Andrew Nicoll has already successfully challenged several conventions: he is a former lumberjack who became a political journalist and he is a Sun reporter who writes sensitive short stories. But...
View ArticleWordwatch: glitch
By Betty Kirkpatrick Edinburgh is famous for its castle, its festival and now the outrageous spiralling costs of its embryo tram system. But not everyone would agree, it seems, that these costs are...
View ArticleCould MoD reorganisation lead to a Caledonian Salisbury Plain?
By Stuart Crawford Two aspects of Britain’s defence infrastructure have been worth a mention over the past couple of days. The first is the planned shake-up of the Ministry of Defence following Lord...
View ArticleAfter the Christie Commission, no excuses in public service reform
Martin Sime is director of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, and writes a monthly column for The Caledonian Mercury. For devolution’s first decade, it seemed as though Scotland had it...
View ArticleUseful Gaelic word: cothrom
cothrom – opportunity/balance/weight Listen to the pronunciation guide The th-sound is silent and the word is pronounced corrom. The word is worth knowing about because it has several meanings in the...
View ArticleGreyfriars Bobby – the American connection
By Betty Kirkpatrick The other day in Edinburgh I was asked for directions to George IV Bridge by a group of people whose sole purpose in visiting the city was to view the statue of Greyfriars Bobby....
View ArticleVideo: B2B roadshow in Edinburgh
For the first time, the B2B roadshow has been held in Edinburgh. It's a business networking event that moves throughout the UK helping companies come together and grow through networking and seminars....
View ArticleFriday Song: Private Sector
The Sensational Alex Salmond Band have, once again, produced a video to promote their new album. This week's topical offering, Private Sector, is written and performed by Tommy Mackay, recently named...
View ArticleHistoric RBS records shed new light on Scotland’s Darien disaster
No other episode in history has left such a devastating imprint on Scottish life as the Darien adventure – the ambitious 17th-century scheme to establish Scotland as an influential colonial power. Half...
View ArticleWeir’s Week: mafiosi, Andy Murray and the M74 extension
By Stewart Weir Saturday Like many a weekend, it started on a Friday night. And quite soon we were wondering if we were really all there. The usual combination of being confused, wondering if we’d had...
View ArticleLong-day runs and late-evening climbs: making use of midsummer
Whatever one’s pastime, the long-daylight time of year ought not to be wasted, as the evenings will be clamping back down before you know it. There are two general approaches: one is to use the 20-odd...
View ArticleOpinion: When false economies look too appealing
By Colin Borland The current industrial unrest in the civil service seems, if reported comments are a good barometer, to be polarising the public versus private sector debate. This is not particularly...
View ArticleUseful Scots word: howk (excavate)
By Betty Kirkpatrick They say that weather conditions have made this a particularly good year for midges, although obviously not for the people whom they feast on. It seems to be have been a...
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