If you're writing a book set in rural Scotland and all your characters go by their given names, I hate to break it to ya, but you're doing your readers a disservice.

Here's some examples of real people all from one village around 1900-1930: 🧵

#OldWeirdScotland Roarin Rab
Nanny Purple
Springhill Jake (Nanny's Brother)
Moudy Wardrop (a molecatcher)
Snadger Harvie
Piggy Logan (a teacher)
Toozy Jenny (a teacher)
Crocodile Skin McGee
Tack McGee
Shoogly Jock McLean
Flood Butler
Beetlenose Butler
The Wig
The Moose (The Wig's brother)... 1/n

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

https://twitter.com/WeirdScotland/status/1647870958231863296

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.

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 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.

Halloween is an excellent Scottish holiday, with plenty of weird fun customs.

BUT today we need to talk about an oft-shared "tradition" that is absolutely nonsense and has zero truth behind it:

A deep dive into Scotland, Witchcraft, and Sausage Rolls (🧵)

#OldWeirdScotland THE CLAIM: It was illegal to eat pork or pastry on Halloween in Scotland for 200+ years and this was all to do with the persecution of witches.

By extension, sausage rolls have become traditional Halloween snacks. 1/n

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-🧵

https://twitter.com/WeirdScotland/status/1493279232797163520

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...

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:

https://twitter.com/WeirdScotland/status/1492561119382323206

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...

🔍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿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 RULE #1 Any last name can be a first name.
#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: 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:

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 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

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). #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.

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