Monthly Archives: January 2017
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Posted: January 31, 2017Categories: James Pirie News
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Posted: January 31, 2017Categories: James Pirie NewsRead more »
“Greek Thomson” House Gets a Facelift –
Holmwood Restored
Most of us have heard of legendary US architect Frank Lloyd Wright, even if only through the Simon and Garfunkel song, but how many of us have heard of our own man Alexander “Greek” Thomson, a pioneer in sustainable building, who is said to have greatly influenced Lloyd Wright. Thomson built his masterpiece back in 1857 for a rich paper...
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Posted: January 31, 2017Categories: James Pirie NewsRead more »
Not Curling but Hurling-
Haggis Flinging World Championship
The prize is a year’s supply of haggis and the challenge is to throw the “great chieftain o the puddin'-race” more than 217 feet which is the current world record for haggis hurling. The world championship of this noble sport was held at the home of the Scottish Bard Robert Burns. This year the contestants huffed and puffed, but none could...
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Posted: January 31, 2017Categories: James Pirie NewsRead more »
Acclaimed Artist Shows Blue Sky Thinking –
Hidden Painting Now Revealed
A Joan Eardley oil painting Glasgow Tenements, Blue Sky, 1954 had a valuable secret hidden for fifty years on its reverse side. It was an unfinished picture of a small flame haired boy that the artist had started and lost interest in. Instead she painted the tenement where the child lived and had that framed.
Two for One
The...
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Posted: January 31, 2017Categories: James Pirie NewsRead more »
New Mac for Old -
Mackintosh Building Rising from the Ashes
When the beautiful Glasgow School of Art’s Mackintosh building went up in smoke in 2014 many feared for this the most outstanding icon of the Scottish genius. Many were dismayed by ultra modern plans to rebuild the library in the spirit of Macintosh, but not the style and so it was with relief that the powers that be decided to restore to...
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Posted: January 31, 2017Categories: James Pirie NewsRead more »
The Scottish Marco Polo
Inspiration for “The Man Who Would Be King”
I first came across Alexander Gardner in a novel by the great Scottish writer George MacDonald Fraser, who I once had the fortune to meet. Gardner was a larger than life figure dressed head to toe in the tartan of the79 Highland Regiment, including a tartan turban with an egret’s feather on top.
An Unlikely Hero
Gardiner was a scarred...
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Posted: January 25, 2017Categories: James Pirie NewsRead more »
From us at James Pirie
Happy Burns Night to all my Scottish and Scott-ish friends! #bellletstalk -
Posted: January 25, 2017Categories: James Pirie NewsRead more »
The Norwegians Are Coming –
Airline Creating Jobs
After a Dane snapping up much of the Highlands to protect the environment a Scandinavian airline called Norwegian has announced the creation of more than 100 jobs at Edinburgh airport.
Trans-Atlantic on a Budget
Norwegian is the third largest low-cost carrier in Europe and the second-largest airline in Scandinavia and it flies out of Gatwick to several...
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Posted: January 18, 2017Categories: James Pirie NewsRead more »
The Missing Link –
Ancient Egyptian Smellies Box Whole Again
The world of Scottish museums seems to move slowly, but it does get there in the end. A beautiful Ancient Egyptian perfume box which was donated to National Museum of Scotland some 160 years ago didn’t have it all its bits. The box and some pieces of it were separated at some distant time in the past, but now they have been re-united. ...
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Posted: January 18, 2017Categories: James Pirie NewsRead more »
Be My Valentine –
Or At Least My Friend
Scotland’s only elephant is lonely and with February 14th looming with all that St Valentine’s Day entails we should not only remember our loved one, but those who are without that special companion. On such is Mondula, who is usually known as Mondy, and who is without a companion. Mondy is an elephant ‘of a certain age’ and she’s lonely. Her last companion...
