Writings, Reviews, Cultural Criticism
This is the 3rd themed set of photos from Scotland, this time, of Edinburgh. Although Glasgow and Edinburgh aren’t far away from each other (from a Toronto perspective, it’s like driving on the 401 from Mississauga to Pickering), they nevertheless have quite distinctive personalities.
I suspect (but can’t be certain) that religion lurks in the background of the Scottish Referendum. Unlike Canada, Scotland has a state church which is called (surprise, surprise) the Church of Scotland.
As we approach the September 18th referendum in Scotland, I will be posting images from my 2nd favourite place in the world (my first is my home — Toronto). I don’t feel it’s my place to express an opinion one way or another.
Niels Bohr had nine items, one too many for the express line, so he had to wait in a regular line behind a woman with five snot-nosed kids and two buggies overflowing with groceries. Bohr wondered if something had happened to the space-time continuum to make his wait in line seem more interminable than it already was.
The last time I was in Edinburgh, I dropped in to the Scottish Poetry Library and picked up a copy of The Poem Goes To Prison, edited by Kate Hendry. This is an anthology of poems selected by prisoners for prisoners. It was curated by Kate Hendry while she was teaching at HMP Barlinnie, Scotland’s largest prison, located just outside Glasgow.
On July 31st, 1703, Daniel Foe (who came to call himself Daniel DeFoe) was arrested for seditious libel and sentenced to stand in the pillory for three days. Queen Anne had just ascended to the throne as Queen of England and was intent upon rooting out Nonconformists e.g. Roman Catholics (among the most despised in England), and people like DeFoe, the son of Presbyterian Dissenters, who, although Protestant, nevertheless refused to acknowledge the primacy of the Church of England.
A couple weeks ago, as part of Glasgow’s Doors Open Day, volunteers offered tours of the Necropolis. Located behind Glasgow Cathedral, the Necropolis is a crumbling celebration of Victorian Glasgow’s elite.
I’ve always assumed that Scots are just naturally hospitable. Then I read Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting and stumbled on a passage (you won’t find this scene in the film) that causes me to wonder if maybe I haven’t met the right Scots yet.
The situation that forms the narrative for this poem struck me as funny and inherently Canadian. I thought I’d be spontaneous and order something I’d never had before. But when the waitress delivered the dish, I realized I couldn’t eat it. The problem is dermatitis herpetiformis, a gluten allergy that leads to mindbending itchiness.
Arrived 8:30 a.m. and the first thing I saw after coming through customs was a pair of police officers dressed in Kevlar and carrying automatic weapons.
While in Edinburgh, I visited the Scottish Storytelling Centre and met with its director, Donald Smith, who gave me a tour and, fittingly, recounted something of the Centre’s story.
This is Elaine Davidson on June 05, 2008, the most pierced woman in the world with 5,920 piercings as of May, 2008. I wasn’t sure about the etiquette of approaching her for a photo.
While I was walking along the tow path of the Forth and Clyde canal that cuts across Scotland from west to east, I noted a church just off the path – the Cadder Parish Church. A church has stood there since at least 1150. With camera in hand I wandered through the cemetery and among…