Page 36 - James Pirie News

A Snail’s Pace Race –

Mollusc Makes Good for Barra

When you are a small, but proud nation on the edge of Europe you have to take advantage of all the good stuff that nature throws at you and this gives you even more reason to be proud of where you live. This is the case of the Isle of Barra snail which may be small but has a renowned tang. Now I’m not much of a one for trying escargot as they are called...

Scotch Whisky Amazing Assertions –

Terrible Suggestions of Dilution

Now I have heard more than a rumour that Swedes are threatening the very essence of Scotland, our national drink. If you are like me and like a dram, or two, then you will be horrified by the news that two Swedish scientists have said to have proved that whisky takes better with water. Now I can’t blame them for them for being Swedish...

Beautiful Design Museum of the Silv’ry Tay! –

No Disaster for V&A Opening in Dundee

Soon the V&A Dundee will open its doors and welcome an estimated 350,000 visitors a year making the region a new hot favourite with tourists. Now one of the final construction super jobs is coming to an end. They are removing a huge coffer dam which was built to hold back the waters of the Tay and allow a new waterside...

Did the Earth Move for You?-

Scotland Shaken by Tremor

Did you know Scotland is one of the most geologically stable parts of the Earth and much of its rock is very old indeed. The country has some of the oldest rocks Europe if not the world and this all shows us to be very stable in the geologic context. This is not to say that we don’t have earthquakes at all. In fact there are some 250 tremors and...

Dull and Boring

Now It Is Bland Too

I always like the thought of ridiculous place names, as long as I don’t have to live in one myself. The hamlet of Dull in Perthshire made the headlines when it twinned itself with the town of Boring in Oregon, USA. People would drive for miles to take a selfie with the 10 ft sign for the hamlet of Dull and the town of Boring  both on it together. But now Dull isn’t...

Scotch Is Now an Investment –

Record Sums Paid for Water of Life

Now I just like a dram, and of course the finer the drop the better, but I didn’t think people could make a living out of trading the amber nectar. But bottles of rare whisky are going like hot cakes in the multitude of auction sites and on average now fetch £286 a bottle. This year has seen a trebling of the market in 2016. And naturally...

Eyes Right! -

Last Big Parade for Famous Gordon Highlanders Regiment

One of my favourite authors of all time was commissioned into the Gordon Highlanders and wrote about his experiences in the "McAuslan" series. He is of course George MacDonald Fraser who wrote the Flashman Papers and about Private John McAuslan, the dirtiest soldier in the world typifying the British army in the period immediately...

When the Boat Comes In –

Visitors Outnumber Residents by Six to One

Not long ago the sight of monster cruise ships off Kirkwall in Orkney, which is 10 miles off the mainland,  would have been a cause for wonder, why even in 2011 a mere 130,000 visited were debarked from monster cruise liners, but this year a massive 130,000 sail-by tourists will hit the streets of Orkney with 140 cruise liners sets...

Bridgy McBridgeface over the Nevis

 The Competition May Be Fraught

Nowadays public interaction is the new goal of politics, but it almost always goes wrong. Do you remember the Antarctic vessel that they asked the public to name and the winning choice was RRS Boaty McBoatface?  Those  clever chaps at the Natural Environment Research Council who run the boat asked for names to generate public interest...

Is the Capercaillie Going to Be the Scottish Dodo? –

‘Horse of theWoods’ Under Threat

In Gaelic the capercaillie  is  ‘the horse of woods’ and it is a creature on the decline. Pundits have blamed global warming and  too many people  blundering through its woodland habitats for the  decline of one of Scotland’s rarest birds. The large colourful bird was reintroduced to Scotland in 1837 after...