Currently on the BBC iPlayer: Ian Rankin investigates Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde”. Rankin traces the roots of this story, which stretch back to Stevenson's childhood. Grave-robbers, drugs & prostitution all play their part, as Rankin's journey takes him into the dark streets of the city that inspired the tale: Edinburgh.
#MythologyMonday: #Scottish „myths usually begin with selkie women dancing in the moonlight, their skins shed and lying on their feet. A mortal man comes across them, and enamoured by their beauty, manages to hide one of their skins. The unfortunate selkie can no longer return to the sea and is forced into a human marriage. Years later, one of her children finds the skin and returns it to the selkie, who tenderly hugs her child before returning to the sea.“
Source: Selkies - Folklore Scotland
During the Peninsular War a wounded soldier recuperates in a remote location. He falls in love with the daughter of the house, but her family hides a terrible secret…
So... If #Westminster (that's London, England for those watching in black and white) govt. politicians can veto Scottish Government decisions then THEY ARE NOT DEVOLVED powers.
'Devolved,' therefore, is just Reserved when they feel like it.
David Cameron vetoes #Rockall fishing agreement between Scotland & Ireland
Despite #Irish & Scottish governments spending 2 years agreeing to the deal – #fisheries are a devolved power – it has been shut down by the Foreign Office
Sources said the reason was entirely political - UK Govt didn't want to be seen agreeing a deal with an #EU nation
The veto is latest example of #Westminster overruling devolved #Scottish government decisions
“Widely respected – & regularly attacked (once physically) – in her lifetime, she is now largely neglected; an intriguing aside to feminism or to agnosticism. Dixie deserves better.”
Florence Dixie – novelist, poet, dramatist, war correspondent, campaigning journalist, suffragist, & more – was born #OTD, 25 May. Valentina Bold explores Dixie’s roving life
What Scotsman was caught up in a civil war before the age of twenty? Wrote a book that became the inspiration for an Oscar-winning film? Met a runaway teenager in Paris and married her against the wishes of his family? Lost his ranch to raiding Apaches?
Our book EMPIRES & REVOLUTIONS: Cunninghame Graham & His Contemporaries contains essays exploring ideas of revolution, emancipation, equality, & liberty in the works of RBCG & other Scottish writers of the period—in print & online via Project MUSE
Poor Things, Rich Adaptation? Alasdair Gray’s 1992 novel & Yorgos Lanthimos’s 2023 film
28 May, 6–7:30pm CEST (5–6:30 BST)
Free online
Dietmar Böhnke will assess what is arguably the highest-profile #adaptation of a #Scottish novel since TRAINSPOTTING (1996) – & will touch on Gray’s works & reputation more generally, including a #film script he wrote for #PoorThings in 1993…
Austerity, Brexit, Covid Lockdown Parties, PPE Scandal, Raw Sewage in UK Waterways & Coastal Areas, Economic Crash, Record Inflation, Record Interest Rates, Cost of Living Crisis, Pensions Decimated, Mortgage Rises, NHS in Crisis, Schools Crumbling, Housing Crisis...
I've no idea how this has come about, & it's a bit suspect that there's no direct quotes from #Labour about this.
I suppose it'd be preferable to have a locally born candidate standing, however it's quite commonplace in England that high profile MPs are parachuted into self seats.
Question: Should all #Scottish born MPs be banned from representing #English constituencies?
The #Manchester Bee may have been obvious to you, but I was never taught about it at school, & many people didn't know. Again, does that make me less qualified to represent my City?
If not, why would a lack of local knowledge minutiae stop a good representative from #England from representing a #Scottish constituency?
I was ready to vote for John Smith until his untimely passing. He or Gordon Brown being #Scottish had no bearing on my political allegiance.
That's my whole point. It didn't matter if he represented a #Scottish or #English constituency. He was Scottish & his place of birth had little bearing on people voting #Labour.
It's the character & effectiveness of the person that matters most, albeit I concede it helps if the candidate also has a local connection too.