Page 39 - James Pirie News

Lochan and Misty Faded Away –

White-tailed Sea Eagles Disappear

Two 37 year olds, Lochan and Misty,  have disappeared,  from the island of Mull and they are feared to be casualties of age and new comers taking their territory. They are white-tailed sea eagles  and famous birds at that. The pair are credited with saving the species in the islands and they had reared 39 chicks, the first in 1986...

Scottish History Alive and Kicking –

From Re-enacting to the gathering of the Clans

The Edinburgh Tattoo has welcomed the gathering of the clans to Edinburgh Castle for the first time since 1745 when the followers of Bonnie Prince Charlie laid unsuccessful siege to the fortress. This is the precursor to the clan chiefs leading their clansmen and clanswomen onto the Esplanade in the 2017 Tattoo. But...

Scottish Scientists Lead the Way-

New Blood for Old

This is our 300th post on James's Musings and a nice one it is.

The list of Scottish medical pioneers is pretty extensive and covers the spectrum from penicillin to anaesthetics what with Fleming and Lister, who despite the handicap of being born in England lived all his top medical life in Scotland. Why we even had RD Laing, the eminent psychiatrist...

What Did the Romans Do for Us? –

Built a Wall to Keep Scots Out!

If you remember the scene on Monty Python’s Life of Brian then you’ll recognise the question, but seriously what did the Romans do for Scotland? Well rather like a certain Mr T in the USA they built a wall, in fact two walls. We know all about Hadrian’s Wall, but sometime we forget about the Antoine Wall. This 39 mile wall was built in...

By Bye Phone Boxes –

Scotland to Lose One in Five Public Phone Boxes

Good old BT is to take away a huge swathe of phone boxes in Scotland, it seems we don’t use them anymore and even I was scratching my head to think when was the last time I used a pay phone in the great outdoors and I was stumped. Well over the next three years BT is scrapping more than 900 of the booths. This hasn’t gone down well...

New Jim Clark Museum in Duns -

 For Scottish Driving Hero

You have to be of a certain age, or a dyed in the wool petrol head to remember Jim Clark, a farmer but probably Scotland’s most naturally gifted racing driver ever. He won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965.Some say he was the world’s greatest ever racing driver, even greater than the legendary Ayrton Senna, whose driving win percentage...

Scotland’s First Geopark Funding on the Rocks-

Millions of Years Old and Needing help

Scotland's first geopark which features mountains, costal landscapes and rock formations is located in the far north of the Scottish Highlands. Beginning at The Summer Isles in Wester Ross, near the busy ferry and fishing town of Ullapool. These rocks which are amongst the oldest in our isles  may lose its Unesco...

Forbidden City Benefits from Scottish Know How –

Smog and Tourists Destroying Famous Palace

If you ever see pictures of China’s capital Beijing you’ll know that the city is under a constant cloud of smog and air pollution  which with rising temperatures are destroying the historic emperor’s palace called the Forbidden City. But the terrific job done by Scotland’s conservation movement has led to...

Raise Your Glass to a History of Brewing -

When Edinburgh Was Biscuits, Books and Beer

It wasn’t very long away when the northern powerhouse of brewing was Edinburgh with 38 breweries scattered about the town. It was the beer capital of the world. There were as many brewery chimneys as there were kirk spires and the air was thick with hops in the nation’s seat. Drinking water was suspect for centuries...

Poisson d'Avril – Shock, Horror and Panic on the Streets

Alien Autopsy Carried Out inside Crop Circles

There is a day in the year when the media can’t be trusted and friends will prank you outrageously, yes its Halloween, just kidding its April 1.  It is only in the relatively recent past that hoaxes have become so widespread and prevalent. When in 1938 Orson Welles read H. G. Well’s War of the World’s...