The Tartan Army - Scotland 2026

Piglet · January 2

Happy New Year to all the Scottish Shippies, and I hope you've all recovered from any festivities in which you may have partaken!

I also hope the thread title hasn't put a jinx on the footie team ...

Gramps49 · January 2

Had the neighbors over yesterday. His last name is McIntyre. Born in Scotland, raised in Australia. He told us the McIntyres had land they rented in Northern Scotland. The rent in the early 1700s was one calf and a summer snowball. One year they could not produce the summer snowball and were dispossessed. That's climate change for you.

Wife and I both have Scottish lineage. Me through the Steward line.

MrsBeaky · January 2

Not sure if I've ever shared this on the Ship but a DNA test revealed that I'm almost as much Scottish as I am Irish. This makes me very happy 😊

Piglet · January 3

Which side do you support in the rugby or football though?

Gramps49 · January 3

Okay, I will go with Aberdeen Grammar in Rugby and Aberdeen FC in football.

MrsBeaky · January 3

Piglet wrote: »

Which side do you support in the rugby or football though?

Ireland in rugby and Scotland in football 🤪

BroJames · January 3

Piglet wrote: »

Which side do you support in the rugby or football though?

In so far as I follow either sport (and more rugby than football) then it’s Scotland in both.

North East Quine · January 3

Snow, snow, snow...

Our parish church wasn't going to have a service tomorrow as we were having a joint service with another church. The other church is snowbound today, so tomorrow's service will be online.

Piglet · January 3

No more than a light dusting of snow here but it's a bit baltic! ❄

Bishops Finger · January 3

I'm entitled to Irish citizenship, but that's partly because my ancestors (on my mother's side) moved from Scotland (Dumfriesshire) to Ireland (County Meath) many aeons ago...

Like @MrsBeaky . I'm pleased to acknowledge the Scottish as well as the Irish connection. Mr Farage, which country would you like me to go back to?

Firenze · January 3

Bishops Finger wrote: »

I'm entitled to Irish citizenship, but that's partly because my ancestors (on my mother's side) moved from Scotland (Dumfriesshire) to Ireland (County Meath) many aeons ago...
:

The Scots (originally Irish, but by now Scotch) were at this time inhabiting Ireland, having driven the Irish (Picts) out of Scotland; while the Picts (originally Scots) were now Irish (living in brackets)

Sandemaniac · January 3

Firenze wrote: »

Bishops Finger wrote: »

I'm entitled to Irish citizenship, but that's partly because my ancestors (on my mother's side) moved from Scotland (Dumfriesshire) to Ireland (County Meath) many aeons ago...
:

The Scots (originally Irish, but by now Scotch) were at this time inhabiting Ireland, having driven the Irish (Picts) out of Scotland; while the Picts (originally Scots) were now Irish (living in brackets)

Can't beat Sellar & Yeatman for a precis of a complicated situation!

Bishops Finger · January 3

O. I seem to have spent most of my life living in brackets...

Piglet · January 4

I think there was a Prime Minister (can't remember which one) in 1066 and All That who was booted out of office for: "failing to answer the Irish Question"*.

* there is no answer to this.

Cathscats · January 4

Deep snow here, even though we live 200 meters from the sea. I have persuaded Mr Cats that since the bus is not running, our tiny car will no be able to get him the 7 miles to his organ either. He then proposed to cycle and walk! I think I have reasoned him out of that as well…

Meanwhile my work is cancelled this weekend, though I had a phone call last night from one of the bosses, who seems to be trapped in the old Stately Home here I work!

Arethosemyfeet · January 4

Very little snow here, though a cold wind. I shall be driving very carefully to church in case there is ice.

Alan Cresswell · January 4

I'm off to a new church this morning, way over the other side of Glasgow in Kilsyth (oh the joys of itinerant preachers in the Methodist circuit, which now includes all of Scotland). The combination of new church, certainty of needing to de-ice the car and potential ice means I'm leaving earlier than probably absolutely necessary. With the merger of Scottish circuits I get to go to the even more exotic location of Stirling at the start of February. Hopefully there won't be snow for that weekend.

Piglet · January 4

No proper snow here; just a few wee Patches of Treachery™ from the few flakes that fell the other night and got frozen.

The Orkney Facebook pages have been awash with tales of snow-related woe: they seem to have what for them is Quite A Lot; buses and ferries aren't running; people have had to abandon their cars in snowdrifts; and the police are telling people to travel only if absolutely necessary.

Good luck to Alan and any others of you who have to be out and about - go carefully and stay safe!

North East Quine · January 4

We have 8 inches of snow here. It's just as well church was online today as the road to the church is blocked by a car which went into a snowdrift.

Alan Cresswell · January 4

Safe travels locally for me. The road from Croy down towards Kilsyth was a bit slippery, but not dangerously so (though the car behind me didn't seem to consider my decision to drive a wee bit below the limit coming down the road to be justified given their decision to stick in my boot). Advantages of conditions is I get to see named gritters, this morning Lord Coldemort.

Bishops Finger · January 4

I thought at first that Coldemort was a typo, but quickly saw the joke...

Cathscats · January 4

Mr Cats ended up playing for the local CofS service as their usual organist was snowed in, and we can (and did) walk there. He went earlier than I did, and when I set out there was a lovely blizzard. When I arrived the nice man on the door insisted on giving me a good brush down! It has snowed on and off since then. Don’t know if I will be getting far tomorrow.

Piglet · January 4

I don't think I've ever seen the words "lovely" and "blizzard" in such close proximity before ... 🤔

We had a tiny flurry of snow this afternoon, and the entire company at Evensong was three of us.

It was actually rather nice.

Leorning Cniht · January 5

I hope you're all keeping safe, both from the snow, and from the sort of idiot that thinks that snow won't affect him, because he has four-wheel drive.

It's been several years since we've had what I'd call a "proper blizzard" in my part of the US, but I do enjoy the cameraderie that comes out when two feet or so of snow shuts everything down. No, you can't drive your car down the road, so you may as well get your shovel or snowblower and start clearing your driveway, and the sidewalk, and your elderly neighbor's driveway. It's one of the rare occasions when the whole community is out doing the same thing, because nobody can do anything else!

North East Quine · January 5

I headed out at 9am to clear my elderly neighbour's path to find that another neighbour had beaten me to it!

Arethosemyfeet · January 5

I had to drive Little Miss Feet to school as the buses weren't running, but the roads weren't too bad - snow very patchy and actually worst just in our township. Still driving very carefully, however.

Piglet · January 5

I understand Orkney got a bit more snow last night; the schools were closed today and the air services were limited to inter-island flights.

Still not much more than a dusting here, although the Council, bless their little cotton socks, had cleared a path on the pavement of the High Street, rendering my amble to work and back much less hazardous than it might have been.

Alas, one of my colleagues wasn't so lucky: she slipped on a Patch of Treachery not far from her house yesterday and broke her arm.

cgichard · January 5

Perhaps you should buy the Council some thick wool socks as a thankyou gift.

North East Quine · January 6

We are still under an amber alert with a good foot of snow covering everything. It is very pretty.

The Loon was supposed to head home yesterday but is staying an extra couple of days as there are no buses or trains running (trains should resume this afternoon).

Bishops Finger · January 6

Arkland is a long way from Scotland, but please, pretty please, don't send any of your Sn*w down here...

We have enough in the way of Frost to keep us indoors, effete Southrons that we are.

Arethosemyfeet · January 6

All melted here, and the brief period of calm has given way to more gales and squally showers. And mud. Got a vehicle stuck again.

Piglet · January 6

Bishops Finger wrote: »

Arkland is a long way from Scotland, but please, pretty please, don't send any of your Sn*w down here...

Most of ours has gone now; when I came out of work it was raining. As they say in Canada, you don't have to shovel* rain ...

* not that we've had enough to need shovelling, God be praised!

North East Quine · January 13

Scottish Shipmates - what is your experience of the smoke detector legislation? We had the cheap and cheerful battery smoke detectors for decades until the new regulations came in in 2022. We then spent a 3 figure sum buying a set of interconnected ten year battery alarms, to be "legal"

About a year later one of the alarms started bleeping, and of course the main feature of these is that the batteries are tamper-proof and can't be replaced. Since then a further two have given up the ghost and now the CO2 one next to the boiler is beeping. We still have the no-longer-legal-enough battery ones, alongside the last of the 2022 ones, so I feel safe enough. My only concern is that we're not "legal" and that might invalidate our insurance?

We have got a quote from a local firm which specialises in alarms to install a new set of the interconnected ten year battery ones - 750 quid! Which works out at 75 quid per year over the life of the system.

We live in a bog standard 4 bed detached built in 1973. Part of a housing estate in which all the houses are much of a muchness.

Is every family the length and breadth of Scotland forking out this sort of money, or am I missing something?

(Re use of "quid" - I got a new keyboard for Christmas which can light up in purple

but which doesn't seem to have a pound sign, just a $ .)

Caissa · January 13

I am a McCollom (spelled many different ways) on my mother's side, thus I claim my Scottish heritage.

Cathscats · January 13

Hi @North East Quine . I think you have been unlucky. We bought ours from EBay just before the legislation kicked in, husband and son sent a happy morning fitting them, and making them talk to each other, and there hasn’t been a beep out of them since. Certainly no electrician needed (and my men-folk have no experience that way, husband especially, who is not gadget minded). And yes, I think what you have now does make your insurance invalid, sadly.

Alan Cresswell · January 13

I bought five detectors from B&Q, and installed them myself (it was just a couple of holes in the ceiling to screw the base plate in, the option of double sided tape didn't seem as secure), living room, hallway and two bedrooms having standard detectors (IIRC sold in packs of two) with the kitchen having one with heat detection as well. I don't recall exactly what they cost, but not £750 (probably more like £250). A few years, and apart from the one in the living room randomly going off a few months ago (and, then setting the rest off with neighbours calling out the fire brigade as I was at work and didn't know about it until getting home several hours later) I've had no problems with them.

North East Quine · January 13

I'm confident that if we bought a second set we could fit them ourselves. There was no issue with the first set talking to each other. But I don't want to spend the guts of 200 quid on a second set, and then have to do it all again three years later. So I thought if we used a business this time, we could call them back in to deal with any premature battery failure.

But 750 pounds!

Leorning Cniht · January 13

In my US suburb, we have very similar requirements for smoke / carbon monoxide detectors. I'd like to reprogram the one outside the kitchen so that rather than chirpily announcing "Fire!", it would announce the rather more accurate "Cooking!".

Stercus Tauri · January 14

North East Quine wrote: »

(Re use of "quid" - I got a new keyboard for Christmas which can light up in purple but which doesn't seem to have a pound sign, just a $ .)

Aside... I necessarily use North American keyboards here and have got used to typing Alt 156 to get £.

Alan Cresswell · January 14

Or, you can type GBP after the number ... but that does look a bit like you're changing money for your travels (or, in my case, it's work and you're writing a formal quote for non-UK customers etc).

Arethosemyfeet · January 14

You can, of course, use a UK keyboard layout in software even with a US physically labelled keyboard. You just have to remember the " and @ are swapped (for the most part, there are a few other differences) and your £ sign will be available at shift+3 as usual. I usually have the reverse issue when booting from a Linux live USB and it defaults to a US keyboard.

Bishops Finger · January 14

I'm afraid the apparent non-availability of the £ sign in Scotland is a hint that Trump has already annexed the country...

RecoveringCynic · January 14

Arethosemyfeet wrote: »

You can, of course, use a UK keyboard layout in software even with a US physically labelled keyboard. You just have to remember the " and @ are swapped (for the most part, there are a few other differences) and your £ sign will be available at shift+3 as usual. I usually have the reverse issue when booting from a Linux live USB and it defaults to a US keyboard.

I have a French layout on my laptop keyboard from when I studied it at uni and sometimes it defaults to that on startup, and then I wonder why my password isn't working...

Bishops Finger · January 14

Hmm. Maybe. I still think @North East Quine 's home county of Aberdeenshire (if that's correct) is now part of Trumpland the Enormous.

North East Quine · January 14

Yes, @Bishops Finger I live in The Shire.

Bishops Finger · January 14

North East Quine wrote: »

Yes, @Bishops Finger I live in The Shire.

AIUI, Trump already owns a fair part of the place, no?

Seriously, there was an opinion piece in the Guardian a few days ago which speculated (perhaps whimsically) that, after Greenland, Scotland might be next in line...oil, naval bases, golf courses, etc., etc....

Sandemaniac · January 14

Bishops Finger wrote: »

North East Quine wrote: »

Yes, @Bishops Finger I live in The Shire.

AIUI, Trump already owns a fair part of the place, no?

Seriously, there was an opinion piece in the Guardian a few days ago which speculated (perhaps whimsically) that, after Greenland, Scotland might be next in line...oil, naval bases, golf courses, etc., etc....

Trump & Irn Bru are a natural pairing...

Bishops Finger · January 14

Both are Orange, IIRC, and equally unpalatable...

Alan Cresswell · January 14

We were hoping that the large number of wind turbines here would keep Trump away, and generate a lot of cheap electricity for us (all we need is to get Parliament to change the bizarre wholesale pricing mechanism so that we actually pay less for the cheap electricity we produce).

Stercus Tauri · January 14

You lot have triggered the vomit reflex... Back in University days, the country roads around where the pig now has his golf course were favourites for cycling, and rather later, taking our children to the beautiful, peaceful Balmedie beach was a treat for everyone. I don't know if moral pollution is defined, but if ever it is, then trump will be a definitive example.

Piglet · January 15

Stercus Tauri wrote: »

... around where the pig now has his golf course ...

I take exception to you referring to the Orange Oaf as a pig - pigs are noble and appealing creatures ...

Ship of Fools

The Tartan Army - Scotland 2026

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