I imagine the first question anyone will ask is what is a column called "Scottish Flotsam". I guess we will have to begin with what is "flotsam". Among the definitions of the word are "things washed ashore" or "miscellaneous trifles". Well, we believe you can find some great treasure on the ocean shore. But -- you will never know what you will find or its value. So we decided that is what this column is - flotsam. We wanted a place to put things that didn't fit anywhere else and might be of interest. Each item could be a column itself and might be some day but for now it will be the flotsam, which washes our way.
Lets begin with a famous Scot.
Jane Haining (1897 - 1944) |
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Missionary and Martyr. Born in Dunscore (Dumfries and Galloway) and educated at Dumfries Academy. Haining worked as a threadmaker in Paisley, but after hearing of the plight of Jewish children in Budapest (Hungary) she joined a Church of Scotland mission to help. Following the Nazi invasion, and despite warnings from the Church to leave, she remained to care for the children, but was arrested and eventually murdered in the concentration camp at Auschwitz, thought to be the only Scot to meet this terrible fate. She is remembered in the stained-glass windows of Queen's Park Church in Glasgow, at the Church in Dunscore and by a stone in the 'Vigil for the Scottish Parliament' monument on Calton Hill in Edinburgh. |
It is time to stop combing the library but we can not quit without some quotes from Quotable Scots another great History bookshelf resident. Let's see what quotes we can find.
PLACES
Glasgow, that damned sprawling evil town
G.S. Fraser (1915-1980) , Meditation of a Patriot
'Heaven seems vera little improvement on Glesga,' a Glasgow man is
said to have murmured, after death, to a friend who had predeceased
him. 'Man, this is no Heaven,' the other replied.
Anonymous
I belong to Glasgow,
Dear old Glasgow town . ..
But when I get a couple o' drinks on a Saturday,
Glasgow belongs to me!
Will Fyffe (1885-1947), I Belong to Glasgow
It's Scotland's Friendliest Market-Place.
Watch Your Handbags, Ladies, Please.
Gerald Mangan (1951-), Heraclitus at Glasgow Cross
Now for a Gaelic Proverb for this month.
| Ri fuachd Callainn, 's math clò ollainn; Ri fuachd Fèill Brighde, fòghnaidh cisfheart. | For New Year cold, good is woollen cloth; For Candlemas cold, mixed stuff will do. |
You can find more articles in the archive under Scottish Flotsam.
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