Abt. 1780 the painter, Alexander Nasmyth designed a tin missile that could be filled with tree seeds and shot out of a cannon. The Duke of Atholl used it to reseed Craig-Y-Barns, a rockface at Dunkeld. The missile exploded, spreading seeds where men couldn’t.
In 1498, Spanish royal envoy Pedro de Ayala toured Scotland and reported back on the people and the land. This letter snippet is apropros nowadays, perhaps?
Scotland’s nickname across medieval Europe (esp. in Spain) was “Piscinata Scotia” i.e. “fishy Scotland”. By 1498, this “old proverb” was a common metaphor for abundance and plenty.
Letter from Don Pedro de Ayala to Ferdinand and Isabela of Spain. 24th July 1498.
Suggested menu from the OldWeirdScotland.
Courtesy of Elisabeth Cleland of the Luckenbooths, Edinburgh, 1755.
On Jan 11th 1838, after students at the University of Edinburgh were attacked by locals, a multi-day snowball riot broke out on the quadrangle. Heavily armed, the local police and the 79th Highlanders beat and arrested students. 35 students were apprehended by the police and five students were put on trial. All were acquitted.
