Free Republic

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon accused the British government on Monday of “pathetic cowardice” by postponing a key vote on Brexit in the UK parliament.

A linguistic mystery has arisen surrounding symbol-inscribed stones in Scotland that predate the formation of the country itself.The stones are believed to have been carved by members of an ancient people known as the Picts, who thrived in what is now Scotland from the 4th to the 9th Centuries. These symbols, researchers say, are probably "words" rather than images. But their conclusions have raised criticism from some linguists. The research team, led by Professor Rob Lee from Exeter University in the UK, examined symbols on more than 200 carved stones. They used a mathematical method to quantify patterns contained within...

he first clear evidence of Bronze Age human activity on Staffa, the dramatic rocky island in Scotland's Inner Hebrides, has been discovered by archaeologists. A single shard of decorated prehistoric pottery was discovered in a small pit on the island in 2016, prompting a more detailed excavation which concluded last week. The team of archaeologists found a burnt grain of hulled barley at the same site, which according to radiocarbon dating originated somewhere between 1880 and 1700 BC. The scientists said the grain -- alongside more fragments of the same type of pottery -- demonstrated that people were "visiting and...

UNSW scientists have shown -- for the first time -- that a series of high-profile burial sites in the Pacific, Mediterranean and northern Scotland were likely related to catastrophic tsunamis... Honorary Professor James Goff from the PANGEA Research Centre at UNSW Sydney, who co-authored the paper, says the research provides new insights into past human-environment interactions and a new perspective on past catastrophic events... The researchers looked at coastal mass burial sites in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu as well as in Orkney and Shetland. The mass graves cover a long timeframe of human history -- they are from about...

(snip) --- Francesco Molinari has held off a cast of golfing giants including Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and defending champion Jordan Spieth to become the first Italian winner of the British Open in 158 years. Playing alongside the resurgent Woods in the final round, Molinari carded a nerveless two-under-par 69 to win the Claret Jug by two shots from McIlroy (70), English hope Justin Rose (69) and Americans Xander Schauffele (74) and Kevin Kisner (74). With a brilliant birdie at the last, 35-year-old Molinari's eight-under 72-hole total of 276 eclipsed Padraig Harrington's Carnoustie tournament record score from 2007 by a...

Police in Scotland have arrested the paragliding protester who was able to get surprisingly close to President Donald Trump on Friday night as the President visited his Turnberry golf resort. In a statement, Police Scotland said a 55-year-old man has been charged and will appear in Ayr Sheriff Court on Monday. After the President arrived at his Turnberry resort, the paraglider, a Greenpeace activist, flew by the President with a banner that read, "TRUMP, WELL BELOW PAR #RESIST," and then managed to escape. Greenpeace tweeted an image of the incident with the caption, "We've just delivered a message to @RealDonaldTrump...

THE resignation of David Davis as Brexit Secretary has confirmed the UK government’s descent into “utter chaos”, Nicola Sturgeon has said. The First Minister said Theresa May’s administration was now simply a “shambles”. Ms Sturgeon tweeted her verdict as SNP MPs were being asked to attend a Downing Street briefing on the Prime Minister’s Chequers deal by her of chief of staff Gavin Barwell. Mr Barwell has offered a briefing on Mrs May’s Brexit proposals to all opposition MPs, in a sign Number 10 knows it cannot rely on the support of Tory MPs alone to make them work. Leading...

Meghan Markle is descended from Scottish hero Robert the Bruce, it has emerged. The royal bride-to-be can trace her family back to the Scottish king who won independence from England at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. The link between royal families seven centuries apart is revealed in Andrew Morton's new book Hollywood Princess, according to The Sun. Mr Morton said: 'It is ­possible to trace a direct line through 25 generations to Robert I of Scotland, perhaps the most colourful of all Scottish kings.

Only about 400 of Scotland’s 4,000-year-old carved stone balls have been found. They are of fairly uniform size, with the diameters of most measuring around 2.75 inches. Fitting nicely within the cupped hand, they are made from a variety of stone -- from soft sandstones to hard granitics. The numbers of projections or knobs range from between three and 160, with six knobs being by far the most common. They display varying degrees of workmanship. A few, like the remarkable Towie Stone, display beautifully intricate carvings, while others are unadorned. All but five of the stones have been found in...

An ancient Shetland settlement at risk of crumbling into the sea has been rebuilt - despite fears that it will soon be eroded. The work on the burial site in Sandwick Bay, Unst, follows an excavation led by the Scottish Coastal Archaeology and the Problems of Erosion Trust (Scape). It teamed up with the Council for Scottish Archaeology's Adopt-a-Monument scheme for the rebuild project. The new structures will allow visitors to see the excavation findings. It is thought that the structures may only last a couple of years, due to coastal erosion. Local groups, working with archaeologists and ancient building...

Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of what they believe could be an Bronze Age bathing site, or a sauna. The metre-deep pit with a channel to a nearby stream was discovered at Stronechrubie, Assynt, in the north west Highlands. The find was made by the Fire and Water Project, which is run by archaeology and history group Historic Assynt. The project team had been trying to understand what a crescent shaped mound of stones had been created for. Excavations at the mound by archaeologists and volunteers unearthed the pit and channel from beneath a layer of clay. Archaeologists believe it...

It is the whisky-making Scottish island, world famous for its peaty single malts and warm hospitality. But the isle of Islay, in the Inner Hebrides, is now being recognised for an almost forgotten example of huge courage and humanity. A hundred years ago, Islay was on the frontline in the battle at sea during World War One. The island coped with mass casualties from two major troopship disasters just eight months apart. ... Between them, the sinkings of the SS Tuscania in February and HMS Otranto in October, claimed the lives of about 700 men in the last year of...

Warships from Britain, America, France and Germany have gathered over the wreck of a World War One troopship to pay respect to the 700 men who died in two disasters off Islay. More than 200 US soldiers died when the Tuscania was torpedoed by a German U-boat off Islay in February in 1918. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-43988158

Nicola Sturgeon has insisted that rejecting a deal with the UK government over post-Brexit powers was "in the national interest". The first minister was speaking as Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson accused her of putting the "nationalist interest" first...The first minister said that no "self-respecting member of this parliament should give those proposals the time of day and this government will not do that". And she added: "This deal is not in the national interest, that is why I won't sign up to it. "If that means we are the only party prepared to stand up for the rights and...

One SNP MP predicted another referendum “in the next two years”.what, then, to make of this week’s utterance from her normally gung-ho Westminster colleague Pete Wishart? The latter is neither a surgeon nor, it feels uncontroversial to say, particularly smart or savvy, but he somehow seems to have detected a change in the wind. In an article for iScot, one of those odd little pro-independence newsletters consumed only by diehards and MI5, he struck a cautious tone in relation to a new vote. “There is only one thing that determines my approach to a second independence referendum and that is...

Bishop John Keenan of Paisley criticised the video for encouraging anti-Catholic prejudiceThe Bishop of Paisley has criticised BBC Scotland after a video said Holy Communion “tastes like cardboard and smells like hate”. The video was posted on the Facebook page of BBC The Social, a project aimed at young adults and managed by BBC Scotland, under the title “This is how homophobia feels in 2018”. At one point it depicts a priest holding a Mini Cheddar in a parody of the Host, and giving it to a woman who makes the sign of the cross. The narrator says Jesus “saved...

Gigantic dinosaurs frolicked and splashed some 170 million years ago in the lagoons of what is now Scotland. That’s what a team of paleontologists has determined after discovering dozens of jumbo-sized footprints belonging to long-necked sauropods on the Isle of Skye. Mixed with the herbivores’ tracks were a few clawed impressions left behind by two-legged meat-eaters known as theropods. The footprints present a snapshot of life during an important period in dinosaur history that has yielded relatively few fossil remains. In the mid-Jurassic, sauropods necks grew longer and the first birds were figuring out flight.Identifying two types of footprints in...

Judging by the rhetoric coming out of Tehran, John Bolton’s appointment as America’s National Security Advisor is the worst thing that ever happened. The Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council labeled Bolton’s appointment “a matter of shame.”  The Chairman of the Iranian Parliament's Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy declared,  "The use of hardline elements against the Islamic Republic of Iran shows that the Americans seek to exert more pressure on Iran.”First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri opined, “They (US officials) are wrong to assume that the Iranian nation will give in to their threats against the Islamic Republic.”  ...

Each year, 150,000 people hike Scotland’s Ben Nevis – a former volcano and Britain’s highest mountain, at 4,400ft above sea level. Many opt to take the so-called tourist trail, the rocky path which winds and zigzags its way to the summit. Few realise that this path was initially carved out in 1883 for a very unique scientific expedition. Even fewer know that now, more than a century later, this site is providing UK scientists with insights into climate change. Today, we have advanced weather forecast models – which are capable of using the kind of data taken at Ben Nevis...

Archaeologists are to return to the potential site of a lost Pictish monastery where Scottish Gaelic was written down for the first time. Archaeologist Alison Cameron and her team could be on the brink of making a discovery of national importance at land close to Old Deer in Aberdeenshire... For 10 years, a search has been made for the monastery that dates from the sixth century but disappeared around 1,000 years ago. Some believe the Book of Deer, a richly decorated pocket-sized book of gospels was created here with Gaelic notes on local life later written in the margins by...