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.

Pentland Rising (1666).
Reaction against the religious arrangements contained within the Restoration Settlement (1661) was an essential ingredient of the hostility to the government displayed by the Covenanters in the 1660s. In south-west Scotland the statutes imposing fines for non-attendance at church and prohibiting attendance at conventicles could only be enforced by drafting military units into the area. This policy, involving the quartering of troops on the local population, was highly unpopular. In November 1666 Sir JamesTurner (c. 1615-1686), the commander of these forces, was taken prisoner by a group of Covenanters and his seizure was the signal for an armed uprising. The insubstantial rebel army eventually reached Colinton near Edinburgh only to be decisively overwhelmed on 28 November at Rullion Green in the Pentlands by Sir Thomas Dalyell (c.1599-1685) and his government forces. About thirty rebels who refused to take the oath of allegiance were executed and some others were transported to Barbados. The main significance of the rising, which was essentially a badly-armed and poorly led peasant rebellion, was the arrival in Scotland of Lauderdale (1616-82) as Scottish commissioner. Under his influence a more conciliatory approach towards the Covenanters was adopted.
COWAN, I., The Scottish Covenanters, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1976.
TERRY, C. S., The Pentland Rising and Rebellion Green, Maclehose, 1905

Westminster Assembly
At the same time in 1643 as the negotiations for the Solemn League and Covenant were being conducted, an invitation was sent in June by the English Parliamentarians inviting a Scottish delegation to participate in a conference at Westminster for the reform of the Anglican Church. In August the General Assembly accepted the offer and appointed five ministers and three elders as delegates. Accordingly, the clergy were represented by Robert Baillie (1602-62), Robert Douglas (1594-1674), George Gillespie (1613-48), Alexander Henderson (1583-1646) and Samuel Rutherford (c. 1606-61) and the elders by the Earl of Cassillis (c.1595-1668), Lord Maitland (1616-82) and Archibald Johnston of Wariston (1611-63). While the Scottish commissioners were unhappy not only with their role as observers but also with the religious divisions prevalent among the English members, their attendance had considerable significance. Thus, the subsequent Westminster Confession, approved by the General Assembly in February 1645 became thereafter the religious foundation of the Church of Scotland. Its Confession of Faith, with its roots firmly embedded in Calvinist doctrine, its catechisms, its Form of Church Government and its Directory of Public Worship have remained essential features of the Scottish Presbyterian Church until the present day.
DICKINSON, W. C. and DONALDSON, G., A Source Book of Scottish History III, Nelson, 1961.
MAKEY, W., The Church of the Covenant, John Donald, 1979.

Now lets look at some specific dates:

1934 - January 1
'Nessie" given new status as Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald announced he was to visit the loch in hope of seeing the monster.

1364 - January 4
Consideration was being given in Scotland to translating an existing truce with England into a permament peace.

1597 - January 10
Perth baker William Williamson was accused of baking and selling 'great loaves' at Christmas which was said by the Presbyterians to be cherishing superstition in the hearts of the ignorant.

1890 - January 21
Strength of new Forth Rail Bridge tested by 2,000-ton train

1754 - January 24
Lord Grange, the Jacobite who banished his wife to St. Kilda, telling friends she was dead and even staging a mock funeral, died.

Source - Scotching the Myths by Jim Hewiston can be found in the History Book Section of Scottish Radiance.

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.

The lowest and vilest alleys of London do not present a more dreadlful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1891

It does no harm to throw the occasional man overboard, but it does not do much good if you are steering full speed ahead over the rocks
Sir Ian Gilmour, former Cabinet minister, on being sacked by Margaret Thatcher. Time 1981

Chan eil treun ris nach cuirear. - The brave will be tried.

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