FarNorth Podcast Episodes

I've been spending some time on the roads outside our town, largely to give the dog some enrichment. In my last post, I mentioned that I'd been listening to the FarNorth Podcast, and my recent drives have given me the opportunity to listen to three such episodes: Politics with Gail Ross MSP, Highlands Food with Andy Waugh, and Scots Language with Alistair Heather. Each of these are worth a listen, and having been absent from Scotland for nearly eight years now, it's refreshing to hear about locales that aren't so far away from my old stomping grounds.

The interview with Gail Ross was interesting, and I'll admit that it left me a bit conflicted. Ms. Ross is a member of the Scottish National Party, and I've been rather vocal in my disapproval of the party writ large, its leaders, and its secessionist agenda. I don't think that Ms. Ross laid it on too thick - in fact, for an SNP MSP, she was probably more balanced than one might expect - but it still left me feeling as if the whole thing was a bit unbalanced. It's a hard balance to strike, because the question of whether or not to secede remains the omnipresent question in Scottish politics. Conversely, the "once in a lifetime" referendum of 2014 resulted in a resounding defeat, so the SNP's insistence on continuing to posture for it continues to rankle me.

More to come.

Back in the Saddle? Here's Hoping

As I mentioned over at Beyond the Joshua Tree, I'd like to resume blogging. Will I be able to? Well, that depends upon my ability to consolidate some projects, and to complete some others. One project that offers a partial explanation for my absence, and which is difficult or impossible to consolidate into other projects, is our two-year-old Weimaraner, Tango. He's been amazing, probably added years to my life, and greatly adjusted my outlook on the world; but he consumes a lot - a lot - of time and effort.

Rather than just blathering about myself, I wanted to take a few minutes to bring a couple of podcasts to your attention. One of these is the Far North podcast, which focuses on topics involving the Scottish Highlands and Islands region. You can find it here... Or, if you're an Apple Podcasts person, you can find it here. Or, if you want to go directly to the feed, you can find that right here. Oh, and if you're like me, and you'd rather have the actual mp3 links for downloading, that would be right here.

I also wanted to share this podcast from The Guardian, and you can download it directly here. I spent several years blathering on about the Scottish National Party and their ill-advised policy of seeking to secede from the United Kingdom. I found the inside story of turmoil between the current and prior First Ministers to be entirely fascinating, though not surprising.

More to come, fingers crossed!

Nationalizing Northlink? Not So Fast!

When I was yet in Scotland (and even thereafter), I wrote extensively about Scottish ferries, particularly those serving Orkney and Shetland. This week, Around Orkney featured an interview with a representative from the Rail, Maritime, and Transport (RMT) union, which is advocating for the nationalization of the Northern Isles ferry services that serve Orkney and Shetland. I have to be honest: the idea that anyone would actually suggest this sort of boggles my mind.

To the members of my American audience who may be reading this (and who may not be familiar with the term), "nationalization" means that the government takes over a private enterprise and runs it. So, for example, Social Security is a nationalized pension program. It denotes the running of a service or production effort as a function of the government.

The Scottish Government, which has been held by the Scottish National Party (SNP) for many years (see also: prior discussion of the SNP), has come under frequent criticism by Orkney and Shetland for treating the Northern Isles as an afterthought. This sentiment mirrors that in other areas of Scotland. To vastly oversimplify matters: the bulk of the SNP's voters reside in the "Central Belt" between Glasgow and Edinburgh, and those areas get budgetary priority from the SNP. As I've noted previously, the SNP has consolidated things like police control centers (about which I've posted before, and which continue). Rural Scots have regularly expressed their worries that this consolidation, which eliminates local knowledge and institutional memory, would result in diminished service. That contingency seems to be playing out through incidents such as the mistaken dispatch of an air ambulance to Shetland when it was supposed to have gone to Orkney. The trend continues in other sectors, such as Highlands and Islands Airports investigating the possibility of introducing "centralised surveillance" (which I think means consolidation).

The BBC also reported this week that despite the controversies about subsidies for the Northern Isles ferries connecting Orkney and Shetland with Scrabster and Aberdeen; and the inter-island ferries connecting the various Orcadian and Shetlandic islands; the Scottish ferry services have enjoyed a doubling of their overall subsidies in the last decade. So, it sounds as if more money is being thrown at ferries, but that money isn't getting to Orkney or Shetland.

Basically, when you add all of this up, nationalizing the Northern Isles ferry services sounds like a fantastic way to get a ferry service that takes passengers straight from the Firth of Clyde, up through the Minch, through the Pentland Firth, and on down past Aberdeen and into the Firth of Forth, and back again. But, what do I know?

Separated by a Common Language: Orcadian Dialect Edition, Part 5

In years past, I've posted not once, but twice, the words from the entire season(s) of BBC Radio Orkney's Orcadian dialect word game, Whassigo. I'm at it again, despite a shorter season during the 2016/'17 season (owing in part to some staffing disruptions at Castle Street during the Spring of 2017, the April 2017 episode seems to have been lost to history). I'm once again late in posting them, having originally intended to do so in April or May of this year; however, as I've been rather busy this year, and I got to it earlier than I did in 2016, so I'm not apologizing!

I'm not sure if this is a constant, but I've now been following the program long enough to have caught the quiz master, Orkney Islands Councillor Harvey Johnston... REUSING WORDS FROM PRIOR SEASONS! (Cue dramatic music.) This included the word "skiggan" (Norse for clear, transparent, bright, and clean) in both February 2015 and April 2016; "skreeo" (from the Old Norse for a shriveled, dessicated person or beast) in December 2016 and in October of 2017; and "rammelgoforth" (a rash and hurried person) in April 2015 and October 2017. Scandalous! A modest proposal: the august Mr. Johnston should consult the 1866 Etymological Glossary of the Shetland & Orkney Dialect to keep things fresh. And now, without further delay... The words!

October 2016

"snoddy" - a thick cake of oatmeal (from Old Norse for a lump of dough)

"misleared" - to be misguided

"planker" - laying out land after the end of the runrig system

"streelka" - a notion

"russey imp" - a cord made from a mare's tail hair

"cowtheist" - Scots word for being friendly

November 2016

"cooter" - the end of a plough that digs into the ground

"frugsy" - untidy or messy

"fimro" - a peedie crab that runs about, related to a Norse word meaning "quick"

"tusky" - Old Norse word for stormy, foul weather

"sarro" - excrement, otherwise unpalatable food

"grunyasie" - ugly, from a Norse word meaning the snout of a pig

"December" 2016

"skreeo" - a shriveled, dessicated person or beast, from the Old Norse

"parago" - wool of a mixture of different colors; a known term among Westray and Sanday knitting circles

"rillagory" - speaking carelessly or gossiping

"oonwandin" - something no one expects, such as the Spanish Inquisition

"charve" - to be headstrong, bold, or audacious, recently commonly used in Rousay, from the Old Norse word "jarfer" (sp?)

"peese" - a line to please or pester

February 2017

"kammo" - a knock on the head

"ongelid" - a strong gale, from Norse "ang" (against)

"kulkie" - the horizon

"simmy" - to wander about aimlessly, wasting time; to "simmy about"

"camsho" - a rude, ill-tempered person

"baileyment" - a state of prosperity or vigor

March 2017

"swarf" - to overturn or capsize

"tivish" - to handle someone in a rough manner

"swarral" - a large, inanimate object ("But not a coo, unless it's dead.")

"klimse" - being so dehydrated you can hardly speak, from a Norse word meaning "to be rendered speechless"

"muller" - a pebbly beach

YouTube Train Videos: Thurso to Inverness

A few months ago, I accidentally discovered that there are people who will ride the trains in Scotland, point a camcorder out the window, and then post the entire thing on YouTube... Sometimes years later. The first one I discovered is included below, and was recorded in April of 2002 - that's actually almost three years before YouTube was even founded.


One of my favorite memories of all time took place on the 10th of September, 2004. I'd just completed my first visit to Orkney, and was en route to Glasgow to fetch a resupply package that I'd sent myself at the office of a professional contact. I sat on the left side of the train, looking rearward, and spent part of the journey reading Nineteen Eighty-Four. I saw a stag out the window. (Not the one in the linked post, obviously.) In 2013, I wanted to take the train back down from Thurso to Inverness, but owing to time constraints (generally speaking, the imperative to get to Aberdeen in a timely manner), I always ended up taking the bus from Scrabster to Inverness, then charging from the bus depot to the train station to make my rail connection with mere seconds to spare. I went the other direction twice: once when I commenced Operation Bold Brigand, and again after graduation. In the latter case, inclement weather prevented the MV Hamnavoe from making its scheduled trip from Scrabster to Stromness, so I enjoyed the opportunity to get a great night of sleep and a lovely Scottish breakfast at the Weigh Inn - thanks entirely to the kind coordination of the train's refreshment cart sales lass and her taxi driver boyfriend.

Ahhhhhhh... Memories...

Shetland Croft for Sale

My old buddy Tom Thumb has suggested that I retire with my lovely bride to Fethaland, a (presently) uninhabited Shetland isle. We traded a couple of jokes on the topic. A good chuckle was had by all.

I could be convinced to visit Shetland again. Under virtually any realistic circumstances, actually living there would be a pretty tough sell.

Debacle in Shetland: More Chaos Down South

I've been doing a pretty solid job at posting on this blog, so let's keep it rolling!

In 2013, I posted about chaos at the south end of Shetland. This morning, the BBC reports that pilot error was to blame for a January incident at Sumburgh Airport in which a test pilot overshot the runway. The BBC neglects to mention whether the intersection of the runway with the road played any role in the incident.

The Shetland Ponies may comment on this... If I can get my PowerPoint file opened up at some point soon. I'm getting behind. Oof!

Brexit and Scottish Fishing

A few years ago, the BBC's Coast program did a segment on fishing in Northeast Scotland. The presenter interviewed several Scottish fishermen about the impact of European Union fishing regulations upon their livelihood. Yesterday, NPR ran a segment on Brexit's impact on French fishing, eighty percent of which takes place in British waters. Some casual Googling yielded three interesting articles.

Scottish fishermen given Brexit assurance

Scottish government says UK is right to leave fishing deal

Brexit: Gove confirms foreign access to UK fishing grounds

I'll be honest: watching from afar, I'm torn on Brexit. I listen to Around Orkney most mornings, and there's been no shortage of news reports about how difficult Scottish farmers have it under the European Union. The fishing example is another big example of this: Scottish fishermen have seen their livelihood threatened by EU fishing restrictions, but we're supposed to be concerned about the livelihood of French fishermen and their French customers who may no longer be able to take eighty percent of their daily haul out of British waters. And the European Union might impose harsh tariffs on British industry as a result. A few weeks ago, I also saw an article about the European Union banning loud and/or inefficient vacuum cleaners. Recognizing that there are very real practical concerns about how Brexit will impact both United Kingdom subjects and Europeans, it seems like these concerns stem in large part from proverbial "too big to fail" root causes.

I dunno. I realize this post really isn't very coherent, but that's how confusing this Brexit business is. For all the wailing and gnashing of teeth, it seems like stuff like this fishing issue would have made it difficult for some folks not to vote "yes" on this thing. Then again, the unknowns make it pretty easy to sympathize with those who thought that the nebulous drawbacks outweighed the potential benefits of a "yes" vote.