Douglas MacQueen's blog

There are fifteen inhabited islands in the Outer Hebrides also known as the Western Isles (Scottish Gaelic: Na h-Eileanan Siar), off the west coast of mainland Scotland. Most celebtared the New Year on January 1st, except for one. Berneray (Scottish Gaelic: Beàrnaraigh na Hearadh) in the Sound of Harris (Caolas na Hearadh), sticks to the tradition of Oidhche Challain, the Old New Year, which is celebrated on January 12th. This is in line with the former Highland tradition of following the Julian Calendar, which was subsequently replaced by the Gregorian calendar.

Woodland Trust Scotland is trying to raise £1.6m so that they can buy the 534m (1,752ft) tall Ben Shiedaig mountain in the north-west Highlands of Scotland, after it was put up for sale by a private landowner. Woodland Trust Scotland Director Carol Evans said: "This is a rare opportunity for us to bring a whole mountain under our care." If successful in their bid the Trust plans to manage its spectacular native woodland within a wider mix of wild habitats that climbs from the sea to the summit.

The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) have rescued a rare black seal pup from the beach in Eyemouth in south-east Scotland. Eyemouth is a small town and civil parish in Berwickshire, in the Scottish Borders (Scottish Gaelic: Crìochan na h-Alba).  The Scottish SPCA is an animal welfare charity, which responded to a call from a member of the public who discovered the pup on December 17 and they took her to their National Wildlife Centre in Fishcross.

Celtic Connections festival will be on from 17th to 3rd February, 2019. Celtic Connections, which started in 1994 in the Scottish city of Glasgow (Scottish Gaelic: Glaschu) been held every January since then. Featuring concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, the festival focuses on the roots of traditional Scottish music and also features international folk and world music artists. This years event will also feature Scotland’s links with the German composer Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770 – 1827). 

A sheme for  a 15-turbine wind farm, opposed by the Scottish Borders Council, has now been blocked. The size of the project meant a final decision lay with the Scottish government, which refused the project after a public inquiry. It has been rejected over concerns about its impact on the "natural beauty" of the area. It was concluded that the benefits of the scheme's contribution to renewable energy targets did not outweigh concerns about its visual and landscape impact.

Construction of a rock ramp is under way as part of a project intended to return fish to the upper reaches of a West Lothian river in Scotland. The ramp will be built at Howden Bridge as part of a project known as RiverLife in a bid to replenish fish stocks in the Rivers Almond and Avon. It will allow fish including salmon, sea trout, brown trout and lamprey to return to the spawning grounds in the upper reaches of the the rivers. Helping to form pools, runs and easy leaps to help fish negotiate difficult sections of the river.

On 21 December 1988 Pan Am Flight 103, a transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via London and New York, was destroyed when flying over Scotland by a bomb. Eleven people in the Scottish town of Lockerbie (Locarbaidh)  died along with 259 passengers and crew on board. A service has taken place in southern Scotland to remember the victims of the Lockerbie bombing 30 years on. Victims relatives joined members of the community, many of who assisted in the aftermath of the atrocity. Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the victims of the bombing would always be remembered:

Last Tuesday statistics were released that showed more people than ever before have reported seeing the Loch Ness Monster. Official figures revealed that 'Nessie'  was spotted by 13 people in 2018, up from 11 in 2017. This makes a total of 1106 sightings of the Loch Ness Monster since it was first spotted by St Columba over 1000 years ago. Columba was an Irish monk who in 563 AD founded the monestery on Iona (Scottish Gaelic: Ì Chaluim Chille), an island in the Inner Hebrides (Scottish Gaelic: Na h-Eileanan a-staigh) off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. 

A flag has been chosen to represent the county of Sutherland following a public vote. The winning design, which features a Saltire and a Nordic cross which is said to represent Sutherland's position as the historic mainland frontier between Scotland and the Vikings. The black is to acknowledge the peat of the Flow Country and dark skies, which together with the white recalls the central colours of the former Sutherland Council arms. There is golden sun on the flag, formed where the arms of the crosses meet.