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Wings Over Scotland


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Bureaucrats in the saddle 36

Posted on January 07, 2014 by

Chapter 5 of “The Claim Of Scotland”.

claim5

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Frustration in Parliament 68

Posted on January 06, 2014 by

Chapter 4 of “The Claim Of Scotland”.

claim4

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In all loyalty to the Crown 121

Posted on January 05, 2014 by

Continuing our daily serialisation of HJ Paton’s fascinating 1968 book “The Claim Of Scotland”, courtesy of splendidly alert and dedicated reader Wilma Watts.

claim3

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History and legend 114

Posted on January 04, 2014 by

The Claim Of Scotland chapter 2.

claim2

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To our English brother 166

Posted on January 03, 2014 by

We’re enormously grateful to the alert reader who uncovered this little gem. “The Claim Of Scotland” is a book published in 1968 and written by one Herbert James Paton, a philosopher and a senior civil servant at the Admiralty and Foreign Office, who sadly died the following year.

claimofscotland

If you click the image above, you’ll find a scanned PDF of the foreword, contents and first chapter, which at just 14 pages is a modest task of reading. Prepare yourself to marvel at how little times have changed since this pre-North Sea oil age, and to smile ruefully at a few of the sentences you’ll encounter.

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Respect agenda still strong 62

Posted on December 27, 2013 by

Since we’re talking about The Independent today, we thought those of you who don’t follow us on Twitter or Facebook might like to see their latest editorial cartoon.

indysalmond1

No, we’re not making that up.

The Wings Pantomime 2013: Cindyrella 88

Posted on December 23, 2013 by

theatre

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Setting the tone 58

Posted on December 22, 2013 by

Our more downmarket readers may have noticed this piece in today’s Scottish Sun:

doctoredno

But we were tickled to learn this morning, from a very well-placed inside source, that the advertising agency involved had also (genuinely) presented as part of their report a graphic demonstrating the current public perception of the No campaign.

You can see it below.

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Celebrity endorsement 90

Posted on December 09, 2013 by

We don’t normally set a lot of store by them, but this one’s a peach:

palin

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So blind that you cannot see 56

Posted on December 06, 2013 by

That was always a pretty silly lyric. But anyway.

We had to switch the telly off after about 10 minutes of the news this morning. The piety was too much to take. So intead we’re just going to quote two things from the avalanche of comment that’s appeared this morning on the death of Nelson Mandela.

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The case for Yes in six words 138

Posted on November 26, 2013 by

If you don’t have time to read 170,000:

foodxmas

“Xmas dinner at the food bank”. The best of both worlds, there. Sleep well.

Pay up and shut up 148

Posted on November 25, 2013 by

So today we got a response from the BBC to our Freedom Of Information request concerning this story. Those of you who’ve ever sent an FOI request to the state broadcaster before probably won’t need to read any further.

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    • Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: ““Want me to describe how” Of course. But you won’t. For all sorts of reasons. But mainly because you can’t.Jul 29, 22:58
    • Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “Ah, Confused, some casual racism of the real kind, not the “doctrinal” sort dreamed up by Alf. And some of…Jul 29, 22:51
    • Confused on The Nobodies: “what does that even mean? I pointed out the “blowback” / unintended consequences of – the west – “arming up…Jul 29, 22:50
    • Marie on The Nobodies: “Well Burnham and most of his cabinet (and most Westminster MPs) are members of L-F-O-I and many accept donations. Westminster…Jul 29, 22:34
    • Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “Another from Confused in which we glean some indication of what his main concern is. But enough of that. His…Jul 29, 22:27
    • Confused on The Nobodies: “your posts are like a one man “dirty protest”, and never troubled by any coherent point. Still, quantity, not quality.…Jul 29, 22:17
    • Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “Which side did em fight for? Can’t be too careful!Jul 29, 22:15
    • James on The Nobodies: “Cheers!Jul 29, 22:13
    • Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: ““on the wrong side of history and morality” Oh, yeah, sure. I’m not cheering on the people who want to…Jul 29, 22:12
    • Confused on The Nobodies: “Sudan? I pointed out a while ago that the worst nutters we have imported to roam our streets tend to…Jul 29, 22:12
    • Young Lochinvar on The Nobodies: “Happy anniversary tomorrow of the Battle of Boroughmuir (Edinburgh) 1335. Fought during the second wars of independence, another one the…Jul 29, 21:47
    • Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: ““sitting on it’s fat arse” Ah, Wally W, you’re another who should make the effort to post in Scots. That…Jul 29, 21:38
    • Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The Nobodies: “« In another place [Carl] Schmitt calls sovereignty “true state omnipotence.” He holds that sovereignty lies with the person who…Jul 29, 21:07
    • Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “You give way too much attention, Northy, to the voices in yer heid.Jul 29, 19:28
    • James on The Nobodies: “LOLZ…..says the Keyboard Warrior – sitting on it’s fat arse in East Kilbride posting Unionist Shite on here all day,…Jul 29, 19:26
    • Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “Ah, Wally, as ever you show us why the smart money is on you still wondering, as the emergency services…Jul 29, 19:24
    • Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “What’s that you say, Sooty? Burnham’s going after people on benefits? Well, well. Maybe he will live up to the…Jul 29, 19:09
    • James on The Nobodies: “Nah, everyone here knows you’re just a Unionist “Prick”…..Jul 29, 19:05
    • Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “This is Scotland, sam. Why should we believe you know what a woman is?Jul 29, 18:39
    • Hatey McHateface on The Nobodies: “We have serious claims from Professor Baird that I’m a racist and a fascist. We have serious claims from Professor…Jul 29, 18:37
    • Captain Caveman on The Nobodies: ““My point wasn’t about the emotional harm of mockery… it was about its structural uselessness.” Well I daresay, Northy, if…Jul 29, 18:22
    • Alf Baird on The Nobodies: ““It sounds good but it’s not right.” Spot on, James. The statement (“Scotland did fine as a colony from 1750…Jul 29, 16:03
    • Confused on The Nobodies: “Burnham’s been in the job 5 seconds and what has he been doing : – FUCK OFF SCOTLAND was near…Jul 29, 15:39
    • Northcode on The Nobodies: “You’re raising points about government size and historical interpretation, but none of them actually engage the argument you’re responding to.…Jul 29, 15:31
    • Northcode on The Nobodies: ““Mockery and insults are different.” Your distinction makes sense at the level of tone, but my point was about their…Jul 29, 14:53
    • Ross on The Nobodies: “BTW, There’s an easy fix for the ITV screen capture problem – in the browser settings, do a search for…Jul 29, 14:09
    • James on The Nobodies: ““Scotland did fine as a colony from 1750 to 1900, not asset stripped. It was only when big government arrived…Jul 29, 13:50
    • Ian Smith on The Nobodies: “The colonialism is not a serious claim, it is presenting obscure academic opinions as fact. While there are none so…Jul 29, 13:01
    • Ian Smith on The Nobodies: “Assuming no mainstream political party is going to radically improve anything for the country, there is still a good case…Jul 29, 12:55
    • diabloandco on The Nobodies: “If any silly sod replies to derogatory comment at 12.10 then hell mend ye! On a completely off topic subject…Jul 29, 12:45
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