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.

Annie Lennox
1954 -

Scottish-born singer/song-writer Annie Lennox has shown herself to be a unique and popular artist during both her career with the Eurythmics and her solo career. Born on Christmas Day, 1954, in Aberdeen Scotland, she displayed musical aptitude from a very early age by playing simple tunes on a toy piano given to her by her father. Later on in her childhood she received formal training in the piano and later the flute, which would become her favourite instrument. Lennox then went on to receive further formal training when, at 17, she was accepted into Royal Academy of Music, after passing their day-long entrance audition.

During the 80's, Lennox enjoyed success in both Europe and North America as a part of the band Eurythmics. Along with the second half of the band, Dave Stewart, Eurythmics topped the charts with songs like "Sweet Dreams" and "Here Comes the Rain Again". Together released many songs and put out several albums during that decade, until the Eurythmics split in '89. At the time, there was a fair amount of speculation as to whether Lennox would be able to achieve comparable success in her solo career. Her answer to this speculation was to release "Why", her first solo song, in 1992. The song (along with her first album, Diva) rose to the top of the charts, effectively proving her solo abilities.

In fact, the eventual commercial success of Diva exceeded anything the Eurythmics had achieved, not to mention earning Lennox nominations (and several awards, including a Grammy) for just about every major music award. She helped to further secure her reputation as one of the best female singer/song-writers today with songs like "Walking on Broken Glass", defying the odds in the often "one-hit-wonder" world of popular music.

Source

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.

Epitaphs

Is Buaine Liadhna na Nollaig

Year lasts longer than Christmas

You can find more articles in the archive under Scottish Flotsam.