by
Frank Hatton

Living in a democratic society, we have the right to elect the government we choose to rule our country, albeit, it is a majority decision, and may not please every individual in the land, it is never the less a darn sight better than many other countries around the world. However, that being said, there are times when one feels a sense of frustration when that chosen government makes a decision which is seen as flawed, unfair, short sighted, and whatever other epithet one wishes to use, and after going through the due process of law in appealing against the governmental decision, there is not a lot more that can be done,... other than starting a revolution. Hence, it was particularly satisfying to hear on our TV news broadcast, that an individual is challenging our governments ruling on the payment of a winter bonus of £100 to the old age pensioners of this country. The problem being, that the payment will be made to a woman who has reached the age of 60 years, while a man has to be 65 years old, to get this entitlement. The guy who is making this challenge to the government has gone straight to the highest court in Europe which resides in Brussels, Belgium. Now the good bit about this is, that the Brussels court over rules all other legal authorities, and if it rules in favour of the individual, then the government must comply. Personally, I feel it is very gratifying to have a body to appeal to which can force the government to change it’s attitude. Nice that democracies are,.... the rulers can sometimes get a little too big for their breeches.

OK, now for the benefit of all you good folk who come to this website because you are interested in things of a Scottish nature, and me being very much aware that I seldom mention anything at all to do with Scotland in this monthly article, may I now make amends by telling you something about that most Scottish of items, namely, the kilt.

Before 1560, most Highland Scots wore skins and mantles,(hooded shawls). First mention of the plaid was in 1570, when it was described as being reserved for people of rank. However, long, long before that, we can look back to the ancient Egyptian culture, who wore a simple wrap around type cloth. There was also a Roman kilted IVth Legion which was supposedly lost on an expedition into the wilds of ‘the land of the Picts’. So, we can assume from this that the kilt was not in fact invented, but simply adapted from similar types of garment. Traditional dress in late medieval Scotland became a long woollen cloth wrapped around the waist, with the end thrown over the shoulder. In England, during the early 1700’s, Lancashire weavers began designing a pleated ‘kilt’ (from the Norse word for a vertical fold) based on the old Saxon smock. Meanwhile, tartan woven designs made their way into Britain from the Low Countries. Highland dress became standardised as the tartan kilt, with plaid over the shoulder, plus the sporran and skean-dhu (dagger), although at this stage, different designs weren’t used to differentiate clans. After the Battle of Culloden in 1746, Highland dress was banned for nearly 40 years. When tartans reappeared, their different designs were used to identify the various Scottish regiments, and George IV began to wear tartan as a mark of his Scottish ancestry.

Now that I have you all agog with amazement with this wealth of information, it seems natural to continue with a few more facts and figures that you may be unaware of.

You have probably heard, or read of the expression, “Every time I open my mouth, I put my foot in it”.-----Herewith, some quotes on things folk wish they hadn’t said.

1943- “I think there is a world market for about five computers.” IBM chairman, Thomas Watson.

1859- “Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground and try to find oil? You’re crazy.” Drilling company executives to industry pioneer Edwin Drake.

1899 “Everything that can be invented, has been invented.” US Patent Office commissioner Charles Duell

1903- “The horse is here to stay but, the automobile is only a novelty, a fad.” President of Michigan Savings Bank advising Henry Ford’s lawyer not to invest in the Ford Motor Company.

1870- “What use could this company make of an electric toy?” Western Union president William Orton , snubbing the chance to buy Graham Bell’s patent for the telephone.

1937- “Gone With The Wind is going to be the biggest flop in Hollywood history.” Gary Cooper after turning down the role of Rhett Butler.

Doesn’t it just go to prove how fallible lots of folk are when it comes to making judgements on other people.

Whilst on the subject of judgements, can we now take a look at the various advances being made in the field of medical science. We in this country are currently finding our newspapers filled with articles on the recent transplantation of a woman’s ovaries, which is being hailed as the ‘reversal of the menopause’. As I understand the situation, it means that age will no longer be the deciding factor on the female reproduction capability, and the mind boggles at the thought of dear old ladies in their eighties and nineties demanding that their 100 year old husbands come to bed to try for a new generation of the family. Seriously though, while I am all in favour of the advances in medicine which enable surgeons to sew a severed hand, or arm back on, and connect up all the nerve endings, my apprehension grows at the claims that by playing around with DNA and the genetic structure, it may be possible to produce a breed of physically perfect, good looking, brilliant minded supermen/women, who would live to a couple of hundred years of age. This coupled with the advances made in cloning, could result in everyone being so alike as to border on boring to live with.

Finally, to close on a laugh, can I offer a couple of gems in our Sunday newspaper.

First, we have a firing squad with three individuals to execute,.... the fist guy is called forth, and placed against the wall. The officer calls out, “ready, aim,...” and as he pauses, the victim yells out “EARTHQUAKE”, and in the confusion , he escapes. The next man is then placed against the wall, and the order, “ready, aim,...” and this guy yells out, “TORNADO”, and again, in the confusion, he also escapes. The third chap is then placed against the wall, and the officer callsout, “ready, aim,.. and the man at the wall yells out “FIRE”. Last one is again an execution, but this time by the guillotine. At the time, the law stated that if there were three unsuccessful attempts to operate the guillotine, the victim went free. On first attempt, the blade did not move at all, and the man was taken back to his cell, while the mechanism was examined. On the second try, the blade travelled halfway down, and jammed. Again, the man was taken back to his cell, and adjustments were made for the third attempt. On the next try, the guy’s head was being laid on the block, when he suddenly looked up at the blade, and said, “Hold it just a moment,...... I think I can see where the problem is.”.

'til next time,
Frank Hatton

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You can find more articles in the archive under From Over the Pond