We, the co-editors of sceptical.scot, Fay Young and David Gow, have reluctantly decided to cease regular publication of this online cultural and current affairs magazine after seven eventful years.Update, October 2022: Events, including the war in Ukraine, Johnson’s replacement by Truss, market mayhem and, not least, a political awakening from inert somnolence in Scotland … [Read more...] about Sceptical Scot shuts up shop
Scottish poetry
Wishing love: a song and poem for the new year
There is a great deal of discrepancy between the world as it really is and the world that we ought to have. New year is a time for remembering those aspirations both personally and collectively to help us shoot for the stars rather than sinking to our lowest and laziest common denominator of human behaviours! So……today I have a song and a poem around this. January is ruled over … [Read more...] about Wishing love: a song and poem for the new year
Kathleen Jamie: the poetry of natural resistance
When Kathleen Jamie was appointed Scotland’s Makar by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a special ceremony at the Scottish Poetry Library in August, Jamie read from her poem The Wishing Tree, which begins: I stand neither in the wilderness nor fairyland but in the fold of a green hill the tilt from one parish into another. The Makar’s appointment process involved a … [Read more...] about Kathleen Jamie: the poetry of natural resistance
Edinburgh Makars mak mischief in Poetry Garden
At the mercy of the elements, does Henry Dundasaloof in St Andrew Square still ponder having beenthe most powerful politician of his day? Stewart ConnPoliticians come and go. While that stone-hearted rogue Henry Dundas looks down on the Christmas crowds let’s start with a moment of poetic (and blissfully Brexit-free) mischief. Here’s the very much alive and kicking Darren … [Read more...] about Edinburgh Makars mak mischief in Poetry Garden