Scotland

[Swanrad2]

How dare you sir?
The Scots have far more Norse & Gael blood in them than the English, who have too much French blood in them for my liking. (speaking as an Anglo Scots cross breed)

Racist

 

[EuanMcKenzie]

all the scaremongering is this thread is just that - my wife grew up in the Isle of man which is independent and I've never needed a passport to go their.

Scotland is already a country and is also a member of the UK. I see the UK as an early version of the EU. The union gives us financial stability. I am not in favour of what the SNP call independence because:

- Scotland is already a country
- The UK gives us stability
- Business likes stability
- Business will always border jump to where it suits them most
- Politicians don't run the world - businesses do

The rest is just politics

and this should be in the lounge -apologies to all

 

[afterpegassus]

"The UK gives us stability"

Not when it ignores the will of it's inhabitants by leading us into wars that we have no right to be in, stores WMD with a population that don't want them, systematically destroys our industrial base while milking the natural resources etc etc

"Business likes stability"

True-where it suits, so frequently a buisiness friendly dictator will be shoehorned into place, but not so true in places such as the Congo where instability is deliberately engineered so the raping of its raw materials can continue

" Politicians don't run the world - businesses do"

You're right -up to a point. And a point that springs to mind is Putin.

 

[FishyInverness]

all the scaremongering is this thread is just that - my wife grew up in the Isle of man which is independent and I've never needed a passport to go their.

Tenuous statement....I was also a Manx resident/citizen - and i've seen the Isle of Man and Channel islands held up as examples of independant countries who have free reign in the UK by the YES campaign (Which, I support incidentally) - but that's not strictly correct, all of these islands, whilst maintaining a seperate Government, are CROWN DEPENDANCIES, of which the clue is kind of in the name, they are not completely independant of the UK.

 

[Resolution]

Tenuous statement....I was also a Manx resident/citizen - and i've seen the Isle of Man and Channel islands held up as examples of independant countries who have free reign in the UK by the YES campaign (Which, I support incidentally) - but that's not strictly correct, all of these islands, whilst maintaining a seperate Government, are CROWN DEPENDANCIES, of which the clue is kind of in the name, they are not completely independant of the UK.

Fishy
Your post included one of those little quirks of current English usage, namely the expression "free reign", which we all understand to be to allow someone a measure of freedom. Originally the expression would have been spelled "free rein", as it comes from horse riding origins. Nothing to do with kings and queens. How delightful that you should use it in this context.

 

[zzyyxx]

all the scaremongering is this thread is just that - my wife grew up in the Isle of man which is independent and I've never needed a passport to go their.

As I understand it, you need a work permit to work there though. Strangely the inverse doesn't seem to apply.

 

[FishyInverness]

As I understand it, you need a work permit to work there though. Strangely the inverse doesn't seem to apply.

Yup, although it's almost purely administrative, never heard of anyone being refused one in the 7 years I lived there. There tends to be lots of sabre-rattling in the manx press from various corners about restricting the issue of work permits, but it never seemed to come to any practical effect.

Once you've lived there a certain time, 5 years I believe, you are classed as a Citizen (or is it resident, I forget now?) and the permit system no longer applies to you.

 

[EuanMcKenzie]

I can only express a view on how I see the world and everyone will do the same
Just trying to up the level of debate from the spurious and anecdotal to what actually matters

personally i'm for staying together but I can also see the other side. If you don't like big business and westminster politics you're probably pro independence but to me that isn't what its about. Everyone has their own reasons and we're not really having a sensible discussion about it at present very frustrating. I want a degree of honesty about Scotland's real economic situation, how they intend to honor pension commitments etc.

The referendum will give everyone their chance to express their view but afterwards we will all go sailing on the same water again irrelevant of the outcome so it won't change our lives that much unless in time, we can't afford to keep our boats any longer. That is my ultimate concern at the end of the day!

 

[LittleShip]

I can only express a view on how I see the world and everyone will do the same

Well said, and isn't it a pity that some won't.

Personally I find it very disturbing that some on here seem to have a hatred of anything from South of the boarder. What happens if it's a no vote?? Do we end up with the Scottish equivalent of the IRA.

As previously stated my heritage is from Scotland and nowhere in the past (with Scottish family and friends) have I ever been privy to the vitriol that seems to come through in some of these retorts/posts. William Wallace is dead and so are the tyrants of the past. The decision to stay or leave should be made on future financial economic and long term benefits for Scotland not on hype.

Personally, I've always thought that Scotland and the rest of the UK have benefited from being partners and I will find it a very sad day if the union we now have is torn apart for historical and or egotistical reasons.

Just how much better off do certain people think they will be if the separation happens. I do know one that will be, but the less said the better.

Rant over.

Tom.

 

[Jegs]

And you wonder why we want to get away from this type of English Nationalist clap trap, have a look at some of the guys below.

Road transport innovations[edit]
• Macadamised roads (the basis for, but not specifically, tarmac): John Loudon McAdam (1756–1836)[3]
• The pedal bicycle: Attributed to both Kirkpatrick Macmillan (1813–1878)[2] and Thomas McCall (1834–1904)
• The pneumatic tyre: Robert William Thomson and John Boyd Dunlop (1822–1873) [10]
• The overhead valve engine: David Dunbar Buick (1854–1929) [11]
Civil engineering innovations[edit]
• Tubular steel: Sir William Fairbairn (1789–1874)[12]
• The Falkirk wheel: Initial designs by Nicoll Russell Studios, Architects and engineers Binnie Black and Veatch (Opened 2002) [13]
• The patent slip for docking vessels: Thomas Morton (1781–1832) [14][15]
• The Drummond Light: Thomas Drummond (1797–1840) [16]
• Canal design: Thomas Telford (1757–1834) [17]
• Dock design improvements: John Rennie (1761–1821) [18]
• Crane design improvements: James Bremner (1784–1856) [19]
Aviation innovations[edit]
• Aircraft design: Frank Barnwell (1910) Establishing the fundamentals of aircraft design at the University of Glasgow.[20]
Power innovations[edit]
• Condensing steam engine improvements: James Watt (1736–1819)[1]
• Thermodynamic cycle: William John Macquorn Rankine (1820–1872)[21]
• Coal-gas lighting: William Murdoch (1754–1839) [22]
• The Stirling heat engine: Rev. Robert Stirling (1790–1878) [23]
• Carbon brushes for dynamos: George Forbes (1849–1936) [24]
• The Clerk cycle gas engine: Sir Dugald Clerk (1854–1932) [25]
• The wave-powered electricity generator: by South African Engineer Stephen Salter in 1977 [26]
• The Pelamis Wave Energy Converter ("red sea snake" wave energy device): Richard Yemm, 1998 [27]
Shipbuilding innovations[edit]
• Europe's first passenger steamboat: Henry Bell (1767–1830) [28]
• The first iron-hulled steamship: Sir William Fairbairn (1789–1874) [29]
• The first practical screw propeller: Robert Wilson (1803–1882)[citation needed]
• Marine engine innovations: James Howden (1832–1913)[30]
• John Elder & Charles Randolph (Marine Compound expansion engine)[30]
Military innovations[edit]
• Lieutenant-General Sir David Henderson two areas:
o Field intelligence. Argued for the establishment of the Intelligence Corps. Wrote Field Intelligence: Its Principles and Practice (1904) and Reconnaissance (1907) on the tactical intelligence of modern warfare during World War I.[31]
o Royal Air Force. Considered instrumental in the foundation of the British Royal Air Force.[32]
• United States Navy. Created largely by John Paul Jones, who was born in Kirkcudbrightshire.
• Special forces: Founded by Sir David Stirling and other Scottish Royal Marines, the SAS was created in World War Two in the North Africa campaign to go behind enemy lines to destroy and disrupt the enemy. Since then it as been regarded as the most famous and influential special forces that has inspired other countries to form their own special forces too.
Heavy industry innovations[edit]
• Coal mining extraction in the sea on an artificial island by Sir George Bruce of Carnock (1575). Regarded as one of the industrial wonders of the late medieval period.[33]
• Making cast steel from wrought iron: David Mushet (1772–1847) [34]
• Wrought iron sash bars for glass houses: John C. Loudon (1783–1865) [35]
• The hot blast oven: James Beaumont Neilson (1792–1865) [36]
• The steam hammer: James Nasmyth (1808–1890) [37]
• Wire rope: Robert Stirling Newall (1812–1889) [38]
• Steam engine improvements: William Mcnaught (1831–1881) [39]
• The Fairlie, a narrow gauge, double-bogie railway engine: Robert Francis Fairlie (1831–1885)[40]
• Cordite - Sir James Dewar, Sir Frederick Abel (1889) [41]
Agricultural innovations[edit]
• Threshing machine improvements: James Meikle (c.1690-c.1780) & Andrew Meikle (1719–1811) [42]
• Hollow pipe drainage: Sir Hew Dalrymple, Lord Drummore (1700–1753) [43]
• The Scotch plough: James Anderson of Hermiston (1739–1808) [44]
• Deanstonisation soil-drainage system: James Smith (1789–1850) [45]
• The mechanical reaping machine: Rev. Patrick Bell (1799–1869) [46]
• The Fresno scraper: James Porteous (1848–1922) [47]
• The Tuley tree shelter: Graham Tuley in 1979 [48]
Communication innovations[edit]
• Print stereotyping: William Ged (1690–1749) [49]
• The British Broadcasting Corporation BBC: John Reith, 1st Baron Reith (1922) its founder, first general manager and Director-general of the British Broadcasting Corporation[50]
• Roller printing: Thomas Bell (patented 1783) [51]
• The adhesive postage stamp and the postmark: James Chalmers (1782–1853) [52]
• Universal Standard Time: Sir Sandford Fleming (1827–1915) [53]
• Light signalling between ships: Admiral Philip H. Colomb (1831–1899) [54]
• The telephone: Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922)[4]
• The teleprinter: Frederick G. Creed (1871–1957) [55]
• The first working television, and colour television; John Logie Baird (1888–1946)[5][6]
• Radar: Robert Watson-Watt (1892–1973)[8]
• The underlying principles of Radio - James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) [56]
• The automated teller machine and Personal Identification Number system - James Goodfellow (born 1937) [57]
• The Waverley pen nib innovations thereof: Duncan Cameron (1850) The popular "Waverley" was unique in design with a narrow waist and an upturned tip designed to made the ink flow more smoothly on the paper.[58]
Publishing firsts[edit]
• The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1768–81) [59]
• The first English textbook on surgery(1597) [60]
• The first modern pharmacopaedia, William Cullen (1776). The book became 'Europe’s principal text on the classification and treatment of disease'. His ideas survive in the terms nervous energy and neuroses (a word that Cullen coined).[61]
• The first postcards and picture postcards in the UK [62]
• The first eBook from a UK administration (March 2012). Scottish Government publishes 'Your Scotland, Your Referendum'.[63][citation needed]
• The educational foundation of Ophthalmology: Stewart Duke-Elder in his ground breaking work including ‘Textbook of Ophthalmology and fifteen volumes of System of Ophthalmology’[64]
Culture and the Arts[edit]
• Scottish National Portrait Gallery, designed by Sir Robert Rowand Anderson (1889): the world’s first purpose-built portrait gallery.[65]
Fictional Characters[edit]
• Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie, born in Kirriemuir, Angus
• Long John Silver and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson
• John Bull: by John Arbuthnot although seen as a national personification of the United Kingdom in general, and England in particular,[66] the character of John Bull was invented by Arbuthnot in 1712[67]
Scientific innovations[edit]
• Logarithms: John Napier (1550–1617)[68]
• Modern Economics founded by Adam Smith (1776) 'The father of modern economics' [69] with the publication of The Wealth of Nations.[70][71]
• Modern Sociology: Adam Ferguson (1767) ‘The Father of Modern Sociology’ with his work An Essay on the History of Civil Society[72]
• Hypnotism: James Braid (1795–1860) the Father of Hypnotherapy[73]
• Tropical medicine: Sir Patrick Manson known as the father of Tropical Medicine[74]
• Modern Geology: James Hutton ‘The Founder of Modern Geology’ [75][76][77]
• The theory of Uniformitarianism: James Hutton (1788): a fundamental principle of Geology the features of the geologic time takes millions of years.[78]
• The theory of electromagnetism: James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) [79]
• The discovery of the Composition of Saturn’s Rings James Clerk Maxwell (1859): determined the rings of Saturn were composed of numerous small particles, all independently orbiting the planet. At the time it was generally thought the rings were solid. The Maxwell Ringlet and Maxwell Gap were named in his honor.[80]
• The Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution by James Clerk Maxwell (1860): the basis of the kinetic theory of gases, that speeds of molecules in a gas will change at different temperatures. The original theory first hypothesised by Maxwell and confirmed later in conjunction with Ludwig Boltzmann.[81]
• Popularising the decimal point: John Napier (1550–1617)[82]
• The first theory of the Higgs boson by Anglo-Scot[83] Peter Higgs particle-physics theorist at the University of Edinburgh (1964) [84]
• The Gregorian telescope: James Gregory (1638–1675) [85]
• The discovery of Proxima Centauri, the closest known star to the Sun, by Robert Innes (1861–1933) [86]
• One of the earliest measurements of distance to the Alpha Centauri star system, the closest such system outside of the Solar System, by Thomas Henderson (1798–1844) [87]
• The discovery of Centaurus A, a well–known starburst galaxy in the constellation of Centaurus, by James Dunlop (1793–1848) [88]
• The discovery of the Horsehead Nebula in the constellation of Orion, by Williamina Fleming (1857–1911) [89]
• The world's first oil refinery and a process of extracting paraffin from coal laying the foundations for the modern oil industry: James Young (1811–1883)[90]
• The identification of the minerals yttrialite, thorogummite, aguilarite and nivenite: by William Niven (1889) [91]
• The concept of latent heat: Joseph Black (1728–1799) [92]
• Discovering the properties of Carbon dioxide: Joseph Black (1728–1799)
• The concept of Heat capacity: Joseph Black (1728–1799)
• The pyroscope, atmometer and aethrioscope scientific instruments: Sir John Leslie (1766–1832) [93]
• Identifying the nucleus in living cells: Robert Brown (1773–1858) [94]
• Incandescent light bulb: James Bowman Lindsay (1799-1862)[95]
• Colloid chemistry: Thomas Graham (1805–1869) [96]
• The kelvin SI unit of temperature: William Thomson, Lord Kelvin (1824–1907) [97]
• Devising the diagramatic system of representing chemical bonds: Alexander Crum Brown (1838–1922) [98]
• Criminal fingerprinting: Henry Faulds (1843–1930) [99]
• The noble gases: Sir William Ramsay (1852–1916) [100]
• The cloud chamber recording of atoms: Charles Thomson Rees Wilson (1869–1959) [101][102]
• The discovery of the Wave of Translation, leading to the modern general theory of solitons by John Scott Russell (1808-1882) [103]
• Statistical graphics: William Playfair founder of the first statistical line charts, bar charts, and pie charts in (1786) and (1801) known as a scientific ‘milestone’ in statistical graphs and data visualization[104][105]
• The Arithmetic mean density of the Earth: Nevil Maskelyne conducted the Schiehallion experiment conducted at the Scottish mountain of Schiehallion, Perthshire 1774[106]
• The first isolation of methylated sugars, trimethyl and tetramethyl glucose: James Irvine[107][108]
• Discovery of the Japp–Klingemann reaction: to synthesize hydrazones from β-keto-acids (or β-keto-esters) and aryl diazonium salts 1887[109]
• Pioneering work on nutrition and poverty: John Boyd Orr (1880–1971) [110]
• Ferrocene synthetic substances: Peter Ludwig Pauson in 1955 [111]
• The first cloned mammal (Dolly the Sheep): Was conducted in The Roslin Institute research centre in 1996 [112]
• The seismometer innovations thereof: James David Forbes [113]
• Metaflex fabric innovations thereof: University of St. Andrews (2010) application of the first manufacturing fabrics that manipulate light in bending it around a subject. Before this such light manipulating atoms were fixed on flat hard surfaces. The team at St Andrews are the first to develop the concept to fabric.[114]
• Tractor beam innovations thereof: St. Andrews University (2013) the world's first to succeed in creating a functioning Tractor beam that pulls objects on a microscopic level[115][116]
• Macaulayite: Dr. Jeff Wilson of the Macaulay Institute, Aberdeen.[117]
• Dscovery of Catacol whitebeam by Scottish Natural Heritage and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (1990s): a rare tree endemic and unique to the Isle of Arran in south west Scotland. The trees were confirmed as a distinct species by DNA testing.[118]

And of course Lord Kelvin and James Clark Maxwell.

Using the English language of course.

John G

 

[EuanMcKenzie]

I grew up in Hong Kong which was created by a Scot

It has no impact whatsoever on my views on Scottish Independence

I'm married to an English woman, and have two Children with one born in each country. Which nation are they from?

This is about where we are now and where we are going and not about what has happened in the past.

Either way I don't think it will have any impact on where I sail my boat so I am going to stand down from this one

 

[Resolution]

Well said, and isn't it a pity that some won't.

Personally I find it very disturbing that some on here seem to have a hatred of anything from South of the boarder. What happens if it's a no vote?? Do we end up with the Scottish equivalent of the IRA.

As previously stated my heritage is from Scotland and nowhere in the past (with Scottish family and friends) have I ever been privy to the vitriol that seems to come through in some of these retorts/posts. William Wallace is dead and so are the tyrants of the past. The decision to stay or leave should be made on future financial economic and long term benefits for Scotland not on hype.

Personally, I've always thought that Scotland and the rest of the UK have benefited from being partners and I will find it a very sad day if the union we now have is torn apart for historical and or egotistical reasons.

Just how much better off do certain people think they will be if the separation happens. I do know one that will be, but the less said the better.

Rant over.

Tom.

Neatly put.

 

[Dave-Shafa]

scotland is ****.

scotland claims to be a tourist friendly country.
On the Inverness - Edinburgh train, one of the main tourist routes
there were two sandwiches, neither vegetarian. They ran out of hot water for coffee/tea.

scotland is a bad joke - country Ha ha ....

 

[Daydream believer]

William Wallace is dead

Tom.

That's a pity!!
Wasn't he the bloke who sailed a centaur out of Aberdeen?
Has his widow sold it yet? A mate of mine wants one if it is still going.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Using the English language of course.

And a fine mixture of Anglo-Saxon and French it is.

 

[afterpegassus]

"
"Personally I find it very disturbing that some on here seem to have a hatred of anything from South of the boarder. What happens if it's a no vote?? Do we end up with the Scottish equivalent of the IRA."

This is the sort of myopic unbalanced observation that is really irritating. If you care to read through the posts there is at least as much vitriol directed northwards as there is in the other direction.
Personally I am hoping for a government that pays some heed to the wishes of its voters, something that, in my voting lifetime, has never happened with a Westminster government - even when the cabinet had a Scottish majority

 

[Sneaky Pete]

I'd take gold with you - there doesn't seem to be a plausible plan for a currency!

Ireland gained independence in 1922 and then a Republic in 1948 I was using pounds there up until a few years ago so what is the problem. We will still be using pounds all be it Scottish ones. I have heard there is legislation going through parliament allowing free movement around UK and Ireland including the republic on one visa for anyone wishing to visit these countries? Are there any problems with the Manx pound or the Jersey pound I do not hear anyone questioning this.
What will be nice to see after the yes vote is how south of the border deals with the two tier system that you have. The state of London and then the rest of England, Wales and NI. Cameron is on camera stating that Scotland will do well after the break up and standard and poor’s have said there is no reason why Scotland cannot have a three A rating, that is one more A than Osborn has.

 

[Sneaky Pete]

Wee burney lookalike.

Well, I will be voting NO so that following the defeat of the SNP YES vote, the SNP will loose most of their seats in the next election and Scotland will return lots of Labour politicians which should put an end to this present bunch of "Old Etonians" in Westminster and hopefully annoy most of TORY England. Scotland will have the last laugh

The Scottish vote has never influenced which party rules Westminster since McMillan. Why would anyone want a wee Burney lookalike ( Johann Lamont ) to be their Scottish Labour leader. Countries need to be in control of their own destiny not controlled from a far of land called London.

 

[LittleShip]

"
"Personally I find it very disturbing that some on here seem to have a hatred of anything from South of the boarder. What happens if it's a no vote?? Do we end up with the Scottish equivalent of the IRA."

This is the sort of myopic unbalanced observation that is really irritating.

Myopic, I think you should read the rest of my post carefully, as carefully as a wrote it. I stated that I had never in the past come across the vitriol that comes across in some of these posts. I have many Scottish friends and family members and until independence was mentioned I had never come across this attitude.

Are there any problems with the Manx pound or the Jersey pound

Yes, you can spend the Uk pound in both of them but you can't spend theirs in the Uk, well not the notes.

Tom.

 

[NormanS]

scotland is ****.

scotland claims to be a tourist friendly country.
On the Inverness - Edinburgh train, one of the main tourist routes
there were two sandwiches, neither vegetarian. They ran out of hot water for coffee/tea.

scotland is a bad joke - country Ha ha ....

It seems a bit selective to condemn a whole country, because you couldn't buy a sandwitch on a train, but hey, if you hate the place so much, why live there? Nobody is forcing you to stay.