Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #oldweirdscotland
Most recents (9)
Did VERA LYNN rip off a well-known Scots song and GET AWAY WITH IT?
Were there SIX PIPERS A-PERJURING in the courtroom?
Were there HIGHER STAKES beyond just a simple breach of copyright?
Read on for Lynn vs. Roberton Part Deux
#OldWeirdScotland
Were there SIX PIPERS A-PERJURING in the courtroom?
Were there HIGHER STAKES beyond just a simple breach of copyright?
Read on for Lynn vs. Roberton Part Deux
#OldWeirdScotland
If none of the shameless block caps clickbaiting above makes any sense to you, away and read part one. Otherwise let's dive into some post-match analysis of Lynn vs. Roberton.
Lynn et al. claimed that Travellin Home was written in isolation from Roberton's Westering Home as sung by Robert Wilson. The songwriters had not heard Wilson's record before starting work on Travellin. It wasn't the same song rewritten.
Before Beach Boys vs. Chuck Berry, Vanilla Ice vs. Queen/Bowie, Ed Sheeran vs. Marvin Gaye, or Ed Sheeran vs. all those other musicians, there was:
Vera Lynn vs. Roberton (yes that Vera Lynn)
Read on for bans from the BBC & bagpipes in the High Court (🧵)
#OldWeirdScotland
Vera Lynn vs. Roberton (yes that Vera Lynn)
Read on for bans from the BBC & bagpipes in the High Court (🧵)
#OldWeirdScotland
For the few unfamiliar with Vera Lynn, she was the sweetheart of the British Armed Forces during WW2. She sang songs of love and longing for old England and she now has mythological status for "getting Britain through The War". Had a 96yr musical career. National treasure tier.
Sir Hugh S. Roberton (1874-1952) is not a name most people recognise, but if you are into folk music, or went to school in Scotland in the last 50 years, you'll know his work.
"Step we gaily, on we go..."
"Step we gaily, on we go..."
Here goes with the next instalment of the Pillar Box War of 1953. If you missed it, part one is quote tweeted here.
Another #OldWeirdScotland mega-🧵
Another #OldWeirdScotland mega-🧵
We left off in March '53, where displaying "EIIR" was taboo on pain of having your windows smashed in, Scotland's only "EIIR" pillar box is no more, and there is only one "official" cipher left--in Bellshill...
In the same week Edinburgh's pillar box was unveiled, Bellshill's new Labour Exchange building opened on Hattonrigg Road. (I think it had a short life as I think it was where these shops are now)...
This weekend was the 69th anniversary of the pillar box bombing at the The Inch estate in Edinburgh. Possibly the most dramatic display of discontent around the Queen's royal cipher; but there's a *lot* more to the "Pillar Box War".
A (long) #OldWeirdScotland thread:
A (long) #OldWeirdScotland thread:
First some background: 70 years ago King George VI died and his daughter Elizabeth became queen regnant (the ruling monarch) of the United Kingdom. The Crown and Parliament decided that she would be crowned Queen Elizabeth the Second to distinguish her from Elizabeth Tudor...
British monarchs get their name or likeness on all sorts of stuff while in power; things like bridges, docks, parks, post boxes, money, stamps, stationary, souvenir tat etc., and one method of representation is the Royal Cipher...
🔍🏴Writing a novel set in Victorian Scotland? 🏴🔍
👶Need some baby name ideas?👶
Follow these simple rules for to get those quintessential genuine Scottish names.
#OldWeirdScotland
👶Need some baby name ideas?👶
Follow these simple rules for to get those quintessential genuine Scottish names.
#OldWeirdScotland
Many Scots, while owning Scotland's role in slavery, still take the stance that "normal" or "working class" Scots got no advantages from the fortunes made with enslaved labour, or any benefits were long in the past. (1/n)
#OldWeirdScotland thread:
#OldWeirdScotland thread:
The idea of only the upper classes benefitting is bogus. All Scots still benefit from money made through slavery. "Education for all" has long been a pride of Scotland but the "philanthropist Scot" that funded this wasn't often asked where the money came from (2/n) Some examples:
Inverness Royal Academy was opened in 1792 by gentlemen who thought the parish schools were doing a poor job educating local children. To open a new school that would teach English, Gaelic, classics, arithmetic, sciences, geography et al. was massively expensive (3/n).
Summer 1970: a rare form of typhoid is infecting people in Edinburgh. Dr Nancy Conn, a bacteriologist at Western General, finds the source and prevents a major outbreak with detective work and sanitary towels.
A thread on one of Scotland's unsung #WomenInSTEM
#OldWeirdScotland
A thread on one of Scotland's unsung #WomenInSTEM
#OldWeirdScotland
Typhoid was and is uncommon in Scotland. Apart from an outbreak in Aberdeen in the 60s, most cases are linked to overseas travel. The Edinburgh outbreak was different. It was mainly children who were being infected, from different parts of the city. 1/n
None of them had ever been abroad and none had any link to India, where this rare strain of the Salmonella typhi bacterium comes from. Dr Conn sat with the patients and interviewed them in detail. Many were senseless with fever. She interviewed their friends and families too. 2/n
An #OldWeirdScotland thread.
You've heard of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, but have you heard about the Seven Wonders of Scotland?
These come from the Gaelic tradition and were known as "seachd mìorbhuilean na h-Alba". (Seven Marvels of Scotland).
You've heard of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, but have you heard about the Seven Wonders of Scotland?
These come from the Gaelic tradition and were known as "seachd mìorbhuilean na h-Alba". (Seven Marvels of Scotland).
#1 Torbraichean Ghlinn Iuch.
The Wells of Linlithgow (Ghlinn Iuch) have long made the town famous. An old saying went "Glesca for bells, Lithgae for wells". The Cross Well was built in 1535 but was ruined by Cromwell and rebuilt in 1628.
The Wells of Linlithgow (Ghlinn Iuch) have long made the town famous. An old saying went "Glesca for bells, Lithgae for wells". The Cross Well was built in 1535 but was ruined by Cromwell and rebuilt in 1628.
Lead pipes brought water to it from 1659 and it was said to "excite the envy of the citizens of Edinburgh for the copiousness of its supply of water." The current well was carved in 1807 by Robert Gray, a one-armed mason who had a mallet for a prosthetic.
#OldWeirdScotland
#OldWeirdScotland
Fortunes in #OldWeirdScotland were made through black slavery. Many of the figures revered as "canny Scots", were directly involved in, or complicit in colonialism, oppression, exploitation and subjugation (e.g. Livingstone, Monboddo, Burns). 1/14
Here is a thread of a *few* times Scots stood up for black slaves and were united against racism in their communities, not so Scots can pat ourselves on the back, but as examples perhaps worth aspiring to. #OldWeirdScotland 2/14
In 1769, A slave named "Black Tom", brought to Methil by David Dalrymple, fled to E. Wemyss and was baptized David Spens. A farmer in Methilhill sheltered Spens but Dalrymple had him jailed in Dysart. 3/14
