Douglas MacQueen's blog

TS Queen Mary is a Clyde steamer launched in 1933 at the William Denny shipyard, Dumbarton, for Williamson-Buchanan Steamers. In its heyday TS Queen Mary carried 13,000 passengers each week and was affectionately known as "The Glasgow Boat."  The steamer was eventually retired in 1977 and spent a number of years as a floating restaurant on the River Thames in London. In 2009 it was towed to Tilbury, on the Lower Thames, where it remained unused. After a funding campaign Friends of TS Queen Mary's bought the steamer in 2015 and in 2016 it was returned back home to Scotland.

At 10 am on 29th September, 1895 the cargo steamer SS Walachia departed from Queen’s Dock, Glasgow. On board was Captain Walton, a crew of twenty one and one passenger. It had a cargo that included whisky, gin, beer, acids, glassware, earthenware and other items. There journey was slow due to foggy conditions. Disaster struck when out of the fog loomed the 1406 ton Norwegian steamer Flos and there was a collision. Twenty five minutes after the original collision the Wallachia sank and fortunately all the crew and passenger survived.

The Ness of Brodgar is the thin strip of land, in the West Mainland of Orkney, that separates the lochs of Harray and Stenness. To the southeast are the Standing Stones of Stenness dating from between 3000BC and 2500BC, and to the north-west is the Ring of Brodgar, a Neolithic henge and stone circle thought to date between 2500 BC and 2000 BC. Then in 2002 a geophysical survey revealed a huge prehistoric complex, indicating many buildings beneath the Ness. Excavations at the site began in 2003 and have continued since that time.

Applecross (Scottish Gaelic: A' Chomraich) is a peninsula north-west of Kyle of Lochalsh in the council area of Highland, Scotland. In July 2015, during renovation work on a property in Applecross skeletal remains were found under a kitchen floor. At first there was a suspicion that it was an 18th Century murder scene. An archaeologist, Cathy Dagg and a colleague were joined by Applecross Archeological Society to carry out the excavation of the site. As work continued more bones were uncovered and it became clear that it was a multiple burial site.

Little Ross is a small 29-acre island off the coast of the Solway Firth (Scottish Gaelic: Tràchd Romhra) in southwest Scotland (Alba). The island is south of the town of Kirkcudbright, Galloway (Scottish Gaelic: Cille Chùithbeirt, Gall-Ghàidhealaibh). Some years ago Little Ross was sold and recently it has been reported that planning proposals have been submitted to bring derelict cottages back into use as holiday lets.

There was an interesting article recently in the Scottish local newspaper the East Lothian Courier. It was about the recent unveiling of an an information panel on the site where the Abbey of St Mary once existed. It is close to the River Tyne, between the town of Haddington (Scottish Gaelic: Baile Adainn) and the village of East Linton in East Lothian, Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Lodainn an Ear, Alba).

A carved Pictish stone has been discovered in a graveyard at Ulbster, Caithness. It is believed to show early examples of Pictish art possibly dating to between the 5th and 7th centuries. It was found by a woman researching her family history and has been removed to be cleaned and studied. The Picts created intricately decorated standing stones, which can be found throughout Scotland, and also constructed impressive hill forts to defend themselves against rival tribes and invaders.  

Writer and Historian Prof Jim Hunter has called the establishment of Scotland's First Gaelic university. He argues that Sabhal Mòr Ostaig (SMO) - the National Centre for Gaelic Language and Culture - should be given its own degree-awarding powers. The college on Skye is part of the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) network.

Former Scotland Office minister Iain Stewart has called for better support in UK government legislation for Gaelic broadcasting. He said the service in Scotland should enjoy the same public sector broadcast status as the Welsh language. At this time public broadcasting is a matter reserved to Westminster (British government). 

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon spoke out as she launched a new paper making the case for Scottish independence. The UK is facing a “shift to the right” in politics whoever becomes the next Prime Minister, Nicola Sturgeon said, and insisted independence was now “essential”.

Speaking at her official residence, Bute House in Edinburgh, Ms Sturgeon insisted: “Offering Scotland the choice of independence, particularly in the context we are in today, is essential.”