literature

314d

<p>Thae laddies in the Celtic shirts,<br> a baker’s dozen<br>lumbering all the way to the summit cairn<br>the hot last Saturday of May<br> as larks trilled<br>and the loch-side braes released their midgies…</p><p>—Kathleen Jamie, “Ben Lomond”<br>published in THE BONNIEST COMPANIE (Picador, 2015)</p><p><a href="https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/kathleen-jamie/the-bonniest-companie/9781509801718" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.panmacmillan.com/authors/kathleen-jamie/the-bonniest-companie/9781509801718"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.panmacmillan.com/authors/k</span><span class="invisible">athleen-jamie/the-bonniest-companie/9781509801718</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a></p>

Ben Lomond
Kathleen Jamie

Thae laddies in the Celtic shirts,
a baker’s dozen
lumbering all the way to the summit cairn
the hot last Saturday of May
as larks trilled
and the loch-side braes released their midgies …

Well, up at the raven-haunted trig-point
(as the sun shone bright o’er the whole lower Clyde)
they unfurled a banner,
and triumphant-sombre, ranked themselves behind it
for the photies,
‘R.I.P.’ it read, then the name of a wee boy

they’ll never meet again. Ach,
would the wean were playing fit-ba
on some bonny banks somewhere …

There’s no accounting for it, is there?
I mean the low road, and the high.

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314d

<p>CHEKHOV’S PANDEMIC?</p><p>BY EMMA ADLER</p><p><a href="https://www.publicbooks.org/chekhovs-pandemic/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.publicbooks.org/chekhovs-pandemic/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.publicbooks.org/chekhovs-p</span><span class="invisible">andemic/</span></a></p><p>Schekhov at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/708" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/708"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/708</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Chekhov in 1889.

In the photograph, Chekhov appears as a young man in his late twenties. He is seated, facing slightly to the viewer's left but looking directly at the camera with a composed, thoughtful expression. His hair is neatly combed, and he has a short, trimmed beard and mustache that give him a scholarly appearance.

He is dressed formally in a dark suit with a high-collared white shirt, typical of late 19th-century Russian intellectuals.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Chekhov#/media/File:Anton_Chekhov_1889.jpg

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332d

<p>Nineteen Eighty-Four and Brave New World should be read in tandem to understand today’s troubled times</p><p>Is there any past work of fiction that can help us make sense of today’s troubling trends? </p><p>By Laura Hood</p><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/nineteen-eighty-four-and-brave-new-world-should-be-read-in-tandem-to-understand-todays-troubled-times-253872" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="theconversation.com/nineteen-eighty-four-and-brave-new-world-should-be-read-in-tandem-to-understand-todays-troubled-times-253872"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">theconversation.com/nineteen-e</span><span class="invisible">ighty-four-and-brave-new-world-should-be-read-in-tandem-to-understand-todays-troubled-times-253872</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Picture of George Orwell which appears in an old accreditation for the BNUJ.

Branch of the National Union of Journalists (BNUJ). - https://web.archive.org/web/20080608013945/http://www.netcharles.com/orwell/pics/orwell-unioncard.htm

The photo of George Orwell in the old BNUJ accreditation shows him with a serious, contemplative expression, wearing a suit and tie. His hair is neatly combed, and the image, likely monochrome, has a formal, passport-style quality.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Orwell#/media/File:George_Orwell_press_photo.jpg

Huxley in 1954

Aldous Huxley - A Case For ESP, PK and PSI. Life Magazine. 11 January, 1954.

Aldous Huxley the English writer, novelist, philosopher was also a psychical researcher. He published an article in 1954 supporting extrasensory perception (ESP) and psychokinesis (PK) experiments.

The 1954 photo of Aldous Huxley, published in Life Magazine alongside his article on ESP and PK, depicts the writer in a reflective, intellectual pose. Huxley, tall and slender with a high forehead and distinctive glasses, appears deep in thought—his gaze calm yet piercing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldous_Huxley#/media/File:Aldous_Huxley_psychical_researcher.png

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314d

<p>Are we reading Machiavelli wrong?</p><p>What we’re missing in Machiavelli’s The Prince, explained by an expert.</p><p>by Sean Illing</p><p><a href="https://www.vox.com/the-gray-area/414753/machiavelli-prince-authoritarian-critique-political-philosophy" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.vox.com/the-gray-area/414753/machiavelli-prince-authoritarian-critique-political-philosophy"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.vox.com/the-gray-area/4147</span><span class="invisible">53/machiavelli-prince-authoritarian-critique-political-philosophy</span></a></p><p>Machiavelli at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1232" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1232</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli by Santi di Tito.

In this classic Renaissance portrait by Santi di Tito, Niccolò Machiavelli is depicted in a half-length pose, turned slightly to his left but with his gaze directed outward, engaging the viewer with a calm and penetrating expression. His face is oval-shaped, with high cheekbones, a prominent nose, and tightly drawn lips.

He wears a dark, simple tunic with a high collar and red sleeves underneath

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_Niccol%C3%B2_Machiavelli_by_Santi_di_Tito.jpg

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313d

<p>Twentieth-Century Radical Scottish Gaelic Magazines and Contacts with Wales</p><p>A recording of Dr Petra Johana Poncarová’s talk, given on 22 May at the Centre for Advanced Welsh Celtic Studies</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiKkgWYyhW8" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiKkgWYyhW8"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiKkgW</span><span class="invisible">YyhW8</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/magazines/" rel="tag">#magazines</a> <a href="/tags/20thcentury/" rel="tag">#20thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/gaelic/" rel="tag">#Gaelic</a> <a href="/tags/gaidhlig/" rel="tag">#Gaidhlig</a> <a href="/tags/wales/" rel="tag">#Wales</a> <a href="/tags/welsh/" rel="tag">#Welsh</a> <a href="/tags/celticstudies/" rel="tag">#CelticStudies</a></p>

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330d

<p>So, they say Abercrombie's The Devils is absolutely worth it?</p><p><a href="https://joeabercrombie.com/books/the-devils/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="joeabercrombie.com/books/the-devils/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">joeabercrombie.com/books/the-d</span><span class="invisible">evils/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/amreading/" rel="tag">#amreading</a> <a href="/tags/reading/" rel="tag">#reading</a> <a href="/tags/kindle/" rel="tag">#kindle</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/bookwyrm/" rel="tag">#bookwyrm</a> <a href="/tags/booktoot/" rel="tag">#booktoot</a> <a href="/tags/book/" rel="tag">#book</a> <a href="/tags/knihy/" rel="tag">#knihy</a> <a href="/tags/fantasy/" rel="tag">#fantasy</a> @bookstodon @fantasy @knihy</p>

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313d

<p>Tenderness is mandatory.<br>Careless lurches may draw blood,<br>enthusiasms leave abrasions,<br>excessive ardour has been known<br>to snap off spinal plates…</p><p>—“The Mating of Dinosaurs”, by William Oliphant (1920–2004)<br>published in The Mating of Dinosaurs (Taranis Books, 1992)</p><p>Today, 1 June, is Dinosaur Day 🦖 </p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/dinosaurs/" rel="tag">#dinosaurs</a> <a href="/tags/dinosaurday/" rel="tag">#DinosaurDay</a></p>

The Mating of Dinosaurs
William Oliphant

Tenderness is mandatory.
Careless lurches may draw blood,
enthusiasms leave abrasions,
excessive ardour has been known
to snap off spinal plates.

There is the constant burden of
the force of gravity that pulls
against the need for viable eggs.

The wear and tear on genitalia,
like spoil of grind of glacier, is
lost in some future fossil count.

The adaptationists suggest
that gentleness emerges here,
and some will come to call it love.

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327d

<p>Only Surviving Roman Cookbook Reveals Origins of Europe’s Most Iconic Recipes</p><p>By Filio Kontrafouri</p><p><a href="https://greekreporter.com/2025/05/16/roman-cookbook-europe-iconic-recipes/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="greekreporter.com/2025/05/16/roman-cookbook-europe-iconic-recipes/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">greekreporter.com/2025/05/16/r</span><span class="invisible">oman-cookbook-europe-iconic-recipes/</span></a></p><p>Cookbooks at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=cookbook&submit_search=Search" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=cookbook&submit_search=Search"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/searc</span><span class="invisible">h/?query=cookbook&submit_search=Search</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Roman Feast by Roberto Bompiani, Getty Museum. Apicius’ cookbook still intrigues scholars and cooks with its glimpses of Roman life. Credit: Roberto Bompiani/Public Domain

The artwork portrays elegantly robed Roman men and women reclining on couches around a lavish table, engaging in conversation and indulgence. Servants and musicians attend to the guests, enhancing the sense of luxury and leisure.

Set within a richly adorned interior—with marble columns, classical décor, and detailed frescoes—the painting evokes the grandeur and sensuality of elite Roman dining.

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311d

<p>‘Am I not at least something?’ A surreal dive into Descartes’s Meditations</p><p><a href="https://aeon.co/videos/am-i-not-at-least-something-a-surreal-dive-into-descartess-meditations" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="aeon.co/videos/am-i-not-at-least-something-a-surreal-dive-into-descartess-meditations"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">aeon.co/videos/am-i-not-at-lea</span><span class="invisible">st-something-a-surreal-dive-into-descartess-meditations</span></a></p><p>Meditations on First Philosophy at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23306" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23306</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/philosophy/" rel="tag">#philosophy</a></p>

Original title page for the first Latin edition (1641) of the Meditationes de prima philosophiaby René Descartes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditations_on_First_Philosophy#/media/File:Meditationes_de_prima_philosophia_1641.jpg

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53d

<p>Iain M. Banks (1954–2013) was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 16 Feb: a 🎂 🧵<br>1/13</p><p>“Iain Banks… is a novelist who has his own ‘double’, an author for whom the idea of a split writing persona is emphatically not out of place”</p><p>—“Reading Double, Writing Double: The Fiction of Iain (M) Banks” – a 2010 article on Banks’s genre-busting career</p><p>@bookstodon </p><p><a href="https://www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2010/11/reading-double-writing-double-the-fiction-of-iain-m-banks/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2010/11/reading-double-writing-double-the-fiction-of-iain-m-banks/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2010/1</span><span class="invisible">1/reading-double-writing-double-the-fiction-of-iain-m-banks/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/fiction/" rel="tag">#fiction</a> <a href="/tags/sciencefiction/" rel="tag">#sciencefiction</a> <a href="/tags/iainbanks/" rel="tag">#IainBanks</a> <a href="/tags/iainmbanks/" rel="tag">#IainMBanks</a> <a href="/tags/theculture/" rel="tag">#TheCulture</a></p>

A head and shoulders photo of Iain Banks. He has brown, curly, untidy hair, and a reddish beard beginning to whiten on his chin. He is wearing glasses and a red, white, and blue checked shirt. He's looking up at the camera, which is above head height; we only see grass behind him. He appears to be carrying a toy rocket: its yellow nose-cone pokes up into the bottom of the photograph.

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311d

<p>Memory & Moggies: McIlvanney, Muriel & Making a Novel<br>10 June, free online</p><p>Prof Zoë Strachan explores the inspiration behind her latest novel, the historical fiction Catch The Moments as They Fly (2023) – including the work of William McIlvanney, & Muriel Spark’s advice that writers should acquire a cat…</p><p>@writingcommunity <br>@litstudies </p><p><a href="https://www.scotland.uni-mainz.de/reading-scotland/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.scotland.uni-mainz.de/reading-scotland/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.scotland.uni-mainz.de/read</span><span class="invisible">ing-scotland/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/writing/" rel="tag">#writing</a> <a href="/tags/historicalfiction/" rel="tag">#historicalfiction</a> <a href="/tags/novel/" rel="tag">#novel</a> <a href="/tags/iamwriting/" rel="tag">#IAmWriting</a> <a href="/tags/writingcommunity/" rel="tag">#WritingCommunity</a> <a href="/tags/scotland/" rel="tag">#Scotland</a> <a href="/tags/ayrshire/" rel="tag">#Ayrshire</a> <a href="/tags/memory/" rel="tag">#memory</a></p>

READING SCOTLAND
with Zoë Strachan

Memory and Moggies:
McIlvanney, Muriel and Making a Novel

Tuesday 10th June 2025
6:00 – 7:30pm (German time) on MS Teams

www.scotland.uni-mainz.de

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325d

<p>Explained: Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' explained in 10 sentences</p><p><a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/web-stories/explained-shakespeares-macbeth-explained-in-10-sentences/photostory/121212146.cms" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/web-stories/explained-shakespeares-macbeth-explained-in-10-sentences/photostory/121212146.cms"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">timesofindia.indiatimes.com/li</span><span class="invisible">fe-style/books/web-stories/explained-shakespeares-macbeth-explained-in-10-sentences/photostory/121212146.cms</span></a></p><p>By Aakanksh Sharma</p><p>Macbeth at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1533" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1533</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/drama/" rel="tag">#drama</a></p>

Macbeth and Banquo encounter the witches for the first time.

Théodore Chassériau - Musée d'Orsay

The painting vividly captures the eerie moment from Shakespeare's Macbeth when the two Scottish generals meet the three witches on a desolate heath.

Chassériau's Romantic style infuses the scene with dramatic tension and supernatural atmosphere. Macbeth and Banquo, dressed in rich, flowing garments and mounted on horseback, confront the witches, who are ghostly and otherworldly in appearance. The witches stand or hover in unnatural postures, with windswept robes and haunting expressions, emphasizing their mystical power and unsettling presence.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macbeth#/media/File:MacbethAndBanquo-Witches.jpg

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325d

<p>The Cosmic Library on Reflection and Refraction</p><p>The Final Episode of the Dostoevsky Season</p><p><a href="https://lithub.com/the-cosmic-library-on-reflection-and-refraction/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="lithub.com/the-cosmic-library-on-reflection-and-refraction/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">lithub.com/the-cosmic-library-</span><span class="invisible">on-reflection-and-refraction/</span></a></p><p>The Brothers Karamazov at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28054" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28054</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Dostoyevsky's notes for Chapter 5 of The Brothers Karamazov.

The manuscript is densely packed with cursive script, marginal annotations, and line edits, reflecting the author's intense thought process and narrative structuring. The paper bears visible creases and ink smudges, conveying a sense of urgency and meticulous labor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brothers_Karamazov#/media/File:Bkdraft.jpg

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311d

<p>“Of aal the fish there iss in the sea,” said Para Handy, “nothing bates the herrin’; it’s a providence they’re plentiful and them so cheap!”</p><p>Neil Munro (1863–1930) – journalist, novelist, short-story writer, & poet – was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 3 June. Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of Herring discusses Munro’s PARA HANDY stories, as well as giving the full text of the tale “The Herring – A Gossip”</p><p>1/4</p><p><a href="https://www.herripedia.com/para-handy/" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.herripedia.com/para-handy/</a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/humour/" rel="tag">#humour</a> <a href="/tags/shortstory/" rel="tag">#shortstory</a> <a href="/tags/herring/" rel="tag">#herring</a> <a href="/tags/19thcentury/" rel="tag">#19thcentury</a> <a href="/tags/20thcentury/" rel="tag">#20thcentury</a></p>

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324d

<p>A Question of Free Will: Inside the Final Days of Katherine Mansfield</p><p>Allison Buccola Complicates Some of Popular Culture's Common Narratives About Cults</p><p><a href="https://lithub.com/a-question-of-free-will-inside-the-final-days-of-katherine-mansfield/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&utm_id=01JVN4QNGF8T03QHGNH5NAWAJB&_kx=3MZUehzXM-41qlWAMPUiuNZadX2p0SByuNf_t0eMLB0.U5D8ER" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="lithub.com/a-question-of-free-will-inside-the-final-days-of-katherine-mansfield/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&utm_id=01JVN4QNGF8T03QHGNH5NAWAJB&_kx=3MZUehzXM-41qlWAMPUiuNZadX2p0SByuNf_t0eMLB0.U5D8ER"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">lithub.com/a-question-of-free-</span><span class="invisible">will-inside-the-final-days-of-katherine-mansfield/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&utm_id=01JVN4QNGF8T03QHGNH5NAWAJB&_kx=3MZUehzXM-41qlWAMPUiuNZadX2p0SByuNf_t0eMLB0.U5D8ER</span></a></p><p>Katherine Mansfield at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/631" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/631"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/631</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a></p>

Katherine Mansfield (14 October 1888 – 9 January 1923)

This is a black and white portrait photograph. In the image is a young woman with short, bobbed hair styled in a somewhat tousled fashion with bangs across her forehead. She has a serious, contemplative expression and is looking directly at the camera. She's wearing what appears to be a light-colored blouse or dress with a delicate collar detail.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Mansfield#/media/File:Katherine_Mansfield_(no_signature).jpg

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312d

<p>Get a head start by having a first name<br>that doesn’t really go with your second name.<br>Your parents were just trying to keep everyone happy…</p><p>—Palma McKeown, “How To Be Scots-Italian”<br>published in TALKING ABOUT LOBSTERS: New Writing Scotland 34 (ASL, 2016)<br>A poem for Festa della Repubblica 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇮🇹</p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/scotsitalian/" rel="tag">#ScotsItalian</a> <a href="/tags/italy/" rel="tag">#Italy</a> <a href="/tags/festadellarepubblica/" rel="tag">#FestaDellaRepubblica</a></p>

Get a head start by having a first name
that doesn’t really go with your second name.
Your parents were just trying to keep everyone happy.
Keep a bottle of Lacryma Christi for when
your Auntie Anna calls in unexpectedly.
Hide the jar of instant coffee in case
she comes into the kitchen & dust off
the old metal coffee pot that unscrews in the middle.
Put out that panettone you got at Christmas
then watch as she scoffs all the Tunnock’s Teacakes.
Learn to sidle down side streets or
melt into shop doorways when you see
old Mr D’Ambrosio coming because, despite
the fact he’s lived here for over sixty years,
you still can’t make out a word he’s saying.
Be prepared to serve sausage rolls & salami di Milano
at Hogmanay parties & give equal play time
to Jimmy Shand & Dean Martin.
You’re just trying to keep everyone happy.
Listen politely to your Auntie Carmen from Coatbridge
when she phones at three in the morning to ask
if everything’s okay because she’s had a dream
about you & the number 62
which signifies death & pestilence.
Try unsuccessfully to get back to sleep.
Feel torn when Italy is playing Scotland at football
until the crowd starts to sing ‘Flower of Scotland’
and a wee tear runs down your cheek.
Try not to get bitter that you never knew
your Italian granddad because during the war
he was taken away by two Scottish policemen
in the middle of the night, herded onto a ship
and was lost at sea when it was torpedoed.
Churchill was just trying to keep everyone happy.

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312d

nudity

Edited 312d ago

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312d

<p>Whether the weather be dreich or fair, my luve,<br>if guid times greet us, or we hae tae face the worst,<br>ahint and afore whit will happen tae us:<br>blind in the present, eyes open to the furore…</p><p>—Jackie Kay, “A Lang Promise”<br>published in BANTAM (Picador, 2017)</p><p>A poem for Pride Month 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️</p><p><a href="https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/jackie-kay/bantam/9781509887927" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.panmacmillan.com/authors/jackie-kay/bantam/9781509887927"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.panmacmillan.com/authors/j</span><span class="invisible">ackie-kay/bantam/9781509887927</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/scots/" rel="tag">#Scots</a> <a href="/tags/scotslanguage/" rel="tag">#Scotslanguage</a> <a href="/tags/love/" rel="tag">#love</a> <a href="/tags/lovepoem/" rel="tag">#lovepoem</a> <a href="/tags/pride/" rel="tag">#Pride</a> <a href="/tags/pridemonth/" rel="tag">#PrideMonth</a> <a href="/tags/jackiekay/" rel="tag">#JackieKay</a></p>

A Lang Promise
Jackie Kay

Whether the weather be dreich or fair, my luve,
if guid times greet us, or we hae tae face the worst,
ahint and afore whit will happen tae us:
blind in the present, eyes open to the furore,
unkempt or perjink, suddenly puir or poorly,
peely-wally or in fine fettle, beld or frosty,
calm as a ghoul or in a feery-farry,
in dork December or in springy spring weather,
doon by the Barrows, on the Champs-Elysees,
at midnicht, first licht, whether the mune
be roond or crescent, and yer o’ soond mind
or absent, I’ll tak your trusty haun
and lead you over the haw – hame, ma darlin.
I’ll carry ma lantern, and daur defend ye agin ony foe;
and whilst there is breath in me, I’ll blaw it intae ye.
Fir ye are ma true luve, the bonnie face I see;
nichts I fall intae slumber, it’s ye swimming up
in all yer guidness and blitheness, yer passion.
You’ll be mine, noo, an’ till the end o’ time,
ma bonnie lassie, I’ll tak the full guid o’ ye’
and gie it back, and gie it back tae ye:
a furst kiss, a lang promise, time’s gowden ring.

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324d

<p>In a little rainy mist of white and grey<br>we sat under an old tree,<br>drank tea toasts to the powdery mountain…</p><p>—Edwin Morgan, “The Picnic”<br>published in COLLECTED POEMS (Carcanet, 1990)</p><p>Today, 21 May, is International Tea Day <br><a href="https://www.carcanet.co.uk/9781847779656/collected-poems/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.carcanet.co.uk/9781847779656/collected-poems/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.carcanet.co.uk/97818477796</span><span class="invisible">56/collected-poems/</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poem/" rel="tag">#poem</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/tea/" rel="tag">#tea</a> <a href="/tags/internationalteaday/" rel="tag">#InternationalTeaDay</a></p>

The Picnic
by Edwin Morgan

In a little rainy mist of white and grey
we sat under an old tree,
drank tea toasts to the powdery mountain,
undrunk got merry, played catch
with the empty flask, on the pine needles
came down to where it rolled stealthily away –
you lay
with one arm in the rain, laughing
shaking only your wet hair
loose against the grass, in that enchanted place
of tea, with curtains of a summer rain
dropped round us, for a rainy day.

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297d

<p><a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a> in 1816.</p><p>At the Villa Diodati, Lord Byron reads Fantasmagoriana to Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley, Claire Clairmont, and John Polidori, then challenges each to write a ghost story, culminating in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, John Polidori’s story “The Vampyre,” and Byron’s poem “Darkness.” </p><p>Fantasmagoriana:<br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasmagoriana" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasmagoriana"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasma</span><span class="invisible">goriana</span></a></p><p>The Vampyre:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6087" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6087</a></p><p>Frankenstein:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/84" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/84</a></p><p>Darkness:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20158" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20158</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a></p>

(Left to Right):
Mary Shelley: She wears a dark gown with a bare neckline, consistent with early 19th-century fashion.

Her image likely comes from Richard Rothwell’s 1840 posthumous portrait.

John Polidori: The author of The Vampyre (1819), often considered the first modern vampire story. He appears youthful, with curly dark hair and a romantic expression.

Claire Clairmont: The stepsister of Mary Shelley and mother of Lord Byron’s daughter, Allegra. She is depicted with reddish-brown curls and wearing a modest white dress.

Percy Bysshe Shelley: The radical Romantic poet known for Prometheus Unbound and Ode to the West Wind. He is shown with intense eyes and a loosely worn open shirt and dark coat.

Lord Byron: He is shown in a contemplative pose with his hand to his face, wearing a deep red coat—this mirrors Thomas Phillips’s famous portrait of Byron.

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310d

<p>Archie Hind (1928–2008), author of THE DEAR GREEN PLACE (1966), was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 3 June</p><p>“The only other 20th-century novel I know that places a writer’s struggle in an equally well-imagined city is Nabokov’s THE GIFT”<br>—Alasdair Gray</p><p><a href="https://www.scotswhayhae.com/post/with-hind-s-sight-a-review-of-archie-hind-s-the-dear-green-place" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.scotswhayhae.com/post/with-hind-s-sight-a-review-of-archie-hind-s-the-dear-green-place"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.scotswhayhae.com/post/with</span><span class="invisible">-hind-s-sight-a-review-of-archie-hind-s-the-dear-green-place</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/20thcentury/" rel="tag">#20thCentury</a> <a href="/tags/novel/" rel="tag">#novel</a> <a href="/tags/glasgow/" rel="tag">#Glasgow</a></p>

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310d

<p>Moby-Dick doesn’t deserve the ‘difficult’ label – this sea romance was once loved by office workers, sailors and children</p><p>Early readers knew Moby-Dick for what it was: an extreme and ambitious form of popular genre fiction.</p><p>By Edward Sugden</p><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/moby-dick-doesnt-deserve-the-difficult-label-this-sea-romance-was-once-loved-by-office-workers-sailors-and-children-252764?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20June%203%202025%20-%203399134654&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20June%203%202025%20-%203399134654+CID_883bf765c02875a3531f2b057c9fd507&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=Moby-Dick%20doesnt%20deserve%20the%20difficult%20label%20%20this%20sea%20romance%20was%20once%20loved%20by%20office%20workers%20sailors%20and%20children" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="theconversation.com/moby-dick-doesnt-deserve-the-difficult-label-this-sea-romance-was-once-loved-by-office-workers-sailors-and-children-252764?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20June%203%202025%20-%203399134654&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20June%203%202025%20-%203399134654+CID_883bf765c02875a3531f2b057c9fd507&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=Moby-Dick%20doesnt%20deserve%20the%20difficult%20label%20%20this%20sea%20romance%20was%20once%20loved%20by%20office%20workers%20sailors%20and%20children"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">theconversation.com/moby-dick-</span><span class="invisible">doesnt-deserve-the-difficult-label-this-sea-romance-was-once-loved-by-office-workers-sailors-and-children-252764?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20June%203%202025%20-%203399134654&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20June%203%202025%20-%203399134654+CID_883bf765c02875a3531f2b057c9fd507&utm_source=campaign_monitor_uk&utm_term=Moby-Dick%20doesnt%20deserve%20the%20difficult%20label%20%20this%20sea%20romance%20was%20once%20loved%20by%20office%20workers%20sailors%20and%20children</span></a></p><p>Moby Dick at PG:<br><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2701" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2701</a></p><p><a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/literarycriticism/" rel="tag">#literarycriticism</a></p>

Illustration of the final chase of Moby-Dick in a 1902 edition.

The scene is dramatic and chaotic, set against a stormy sea. At the center is Captain Ahab, standing defiantly on the deck of the whaleboat or leaning forward with harpoon raised, his face twisted with obsession and fury.

The great white whale, Moby-Dick, dominates the composition—immense, ghostly pale, and terrifying, thrashing violently as it breaches the ocean surface.

Ahab’s ship, the Pequod, is shown in the distance or beginning to sink, impaled or struck by the whale’s massive bulk.

I. W. Taber - Moby Dick - edition: Charles Scribner's Sons, New York

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moby-Dick#/media/File:Moby_Dick_final_chase.jpg

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307d

<p>Aonghas Dubh – Ceòl às na Briathran<br>The poet & writer Aonghas MacNeacail (1942–2022) was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 7 June. This programme, originally aired on the BBC, is drawn from “Skerries, Trawlings, Tides” – a literary event celebrating Aonghas’s 80th birthday</p><p>1/2</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAb0LdDuaSk" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAb0LdDuaSk"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAb0Ld</span><span class="invisible">DuaSk</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/poetry/" rel="tag">#poetry</a> <a href="/tags/gaelic/" rel="tag">#Gaelic</a> <a href="/tags/gaidhlig/" rel="tag">#Gaidhlig</a></p>

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307d

<p>“[Milne’s] cryogenics story, ‘Ten Thousand Years in Ice’, in which a survivor from an ancient advanced civilisation is revived in the present, unintentionally became one of science fiction’s great literary hoaxes”</p><p>Robert Duncan Milne (1844–1899) was born <a href="/tags/otd/" rel="tag">#OTD</a>, 7 June, in Cupar, Fife. He emigrated to the USA & became America’s first full-time writer of science fiction </p><p>1/5</p><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/remembering-the-lost-father-of-american-science-fiction-and-his-scottish-roots-78968" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="theconversation.com/remembering-the-lost-father-of-american-science-fiction-and-his-scottish-roots-78968"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">theconversation.com/rememberin</span><span class="invisible">g-the-lost-father-of-american-science-fiction-and-his-scottish-roots-78968</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/scottish/" rel="tag">#Scottish</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/sciencefiction/" rel="tag">#sciencefiction</a> <a href="/tags/scifi/" rel="tag">#scifi</a> <a href="/tags/victorian/" rel="tag">#Victorian</a> <a href="/tags/19thcentury/" rel="tag">#19thcentury</a></p>

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54d

<p>The Cross-Dressing Marquess Who Made Arthur Conan Doyle Turn Detective</p><p>"Henry Paget, the fifth Marquess of Anglesey, who loved expensive costumes and jewelry, turned to Arthur Conan Doyle when his jewels mysteriously disappeared"</p><p><a href="https://www.thecollector.com/henry-paget-arthur-conan-doyle/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.thecollector.com/henry-paget-arthur-conan-doyle/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.thecollector.com/henry-pag</span><span class="invisible">et-arthur-conan-doyle/</span></a></p><p>Books by Doyle at PG:</p><p><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/69" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/69"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/autho</span><span class="invisible">r/69</span></a></p><p><a href="/tags/history/" rel="tag">#history</a> <a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/literature/" rel="tag">#literature</a> <a href="/tags/lgbtqia/" rel="tag">#lgbtqia</a></p>

"Photo portrait of Henry Paget, 5th Marquess of Anglesey by John Wickens" - picryl.com

He is dressed in a theatrical costume. It is a long stripped robe with an elaborate headdress. He is holding a stick with ribbons tied around it.

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