Page 50 - James Pirie News

A New Hope –

Judo Star Rising

Brave Scots lassie Stephanie Inglis was only given a 1% chance of survival when her skirt caught on a bike taxi in Ha Long in Vietnam and she suffered severe head injuries as she was dragged from the machine. She had been teaching English to underprivileged children there for six months prior to the accident, but now Stephanie, who is from Daviot, near Inverness, and lives...

Great Scott! Sir Walter Rubbished His Own Books to Get Them Noticed

Towering Literary Figure Stooped to Skullduggery

The wondrous Sir Walter Scott, the looming eminence of 19^th century Scottish fiction and proud recipient of the Scott memorial which must have been the inspiration for Gerry Anderson’s Thunderbird 3 was also a bit of a naughty boy.  Isn’t that what they call marketing geniuses these...

Sheep Rustling on the Rise

Police Warn Farmers to be Alert

The police in Moffat issued a warning to all farmers as a huge flock of  some 450 sheep were rustled from a local farm.  The flock was valued in excess of £60,000 and will be a near mortal blow for the farm near Grey Mares in Dumfries & Galloway. Many of the ewes were in lamb at the time of the theft.

Thieves on the Lamb

The police warned...

To Mark a Royal Occasion -

Dundee Goes Cardboard

Queen Victoria who loved Scotland as much as our current monarch came to Dundee in 1844 and the locals were so proud of it that they had an arch erected to commemorate the visit.  It was a large triumphal arch, termed locally as both “The Royal Arch” and “Victoria Arch” and built by local donations. It was situated between King William IV Dock and...

Live Well Choose Quality Not Quantity -

Always Read the Label

I am confused.  We have been told that eggs and fat were bad for us, now we are told they are actually good for us. We were told that carbohydrates in wholemeal bread and pasta were good, now it seems with sky rocketing levels of diabetes and pre –diabetes carbs are bad for us. Crisps were evil and now spuds are more evil than a very evil...

Father’s Day -

Should you Ignore It? Or Are You a Grateful Child?

There is no rhyme nor reason to family feelings and the greatest tragedy in the English language is about children who have had enough of their father and wouldn’t mind him spending more time down in the proverbial garden shed. That of course is the play King Lear  which tells us that there is definitely no fool like an old fool, why...

The Great Scottish Pie War -

 Local Baker and Footba Club Go to War over Pie Name

Kilmarnock football club is struggling off and on the field and is now in dispute with their long term sponsor and supplier of match day pies – the momentous entity that is a Killie pie.

 For 13 years the club and baker have been harmonious about the Rugby Park, my mouth is watering writing about it, pie. But the local...

Butchers and Bakers Get Pie Eyed -

Pie in the Sky

The good bakers of Scotland and the great butchers are at something of loggerheads, and I don’t mean the village in Wales. The World Scotch Pie Championships have been beset by troubles that could get somewhat crusty. The row is between the Scottish Federation of Meat Traders Association and the industry representative body Scottish Bakers and it...

Trendy Gin Your Guide

The Drink of the Moment

Whisper it quietly in the mountains and glens, there is a new drink in town and it isn’t whisky. It is gin, the trendiest and most popular of spirits right now and of course it is almost as Scottish as whisky, as much of the UK’s production is here in Scotland.

Been Around

Gin is one of the earliest forms of distilled spirit, it is many centuries old and...

Historic Cottages Transport of Delight

Historic Botany Cottage Taken  to Inverleith

The Botanic Cottage which has been the place where nearly three centuries of Scottish botanists trained has been saved from demolition. The Botanic Cottage was built in 1766 on the former site of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in Leith Walk.

Stone by stone the historic cottage was taken apart and then rebuilt...