Tag Archives: history

Excursion sur les Côtes de Normandie, en Bretagne et à l’Île de Jersey

Posted on 02/06/2025 by alasdairflett

On the flight out, I had a window seat and could peer down at the port of Southampton and the Isle of Wight—the end goal of my August 2023 trek along the English leg of the Camino de Santiago from … Continue reading →

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Substance as well as ethereality

Posted on 01/12/2024 by alasdairflett

York York historically claimed authority over Glasgow as an archbishopric, but the Pope dissented, naming the city a special daughter of the Church. No intercessor needed between us and Rome. It began on a frosty Thursday morning. On the train … Continue reading →

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The adders and slowworms of this morning’s breakfast table

Posted on 20/10/2024 by alasdairflett

Tuesday Escape is my aim but my nostrils root me in greater Glasgow when two friends embark at Dalmuir harbouring a sharp scent of cannabis in the folds of their clothes, unfurling as they rise or shuffle in their seats. … Continue reading →

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The deserts of Scotland

Posted on 24/06/2023 by alasdairflett

I’d always wanted to read Walter Scott. In fact, I’d attempted to before – embarking on a free Kindle version of Waverley which was abandoned for whatever reason; probably the dense prose style that strains the attention of a restless … Continue reading →

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Grey Granite: Grassic Gibbon revisited

Posted on 29/04/2023 by alasdairflett

I wrote this piece in early 2020 pre-lockdown and never published it at the time. Please enjoy this B-side from the Flett-cetera discography. Lewis Grassic Gibbon was the short-lived novelist most famous for his Scots Quair trilogy. Sunset Song, the … Continue reading →

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From St Magnus to St Mungo

Posted on 06/11/2020 by alasdairflett

You may have read a few blogs ago about my endeavour to create a repository of all human history as the ultimate pub quiz database, entitled “General Knowledge” and consisting of dozens of roughly seven-minute videos starting with early man … Continue reading →

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General Knowledge

Posted on 21/05/2020 by alasdairflett

It’s May. At the end of the month, we could be heading into phase one of lifting lockdown. Had it not been for Coronavirus, the tourist season would be ramping up in Orkney and I’d be fulltime Skara Brae. As … Continue reading →

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1979

Posted on 25/08/2019 by alasdairflett

I do not mean our political and civil liberties. They will endure. […] The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and … Continue reading →

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Runic ramblings

Posted on 17/07/2019 by alasdairflett

Runes are more than writing, just as writing is more than the transcription of the spoken word. When someone carves a rune, they are doing more than just saving the game up to that point; they are casting their line … Continue reading →

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10 YouTube Channels worth Subscribing To

Posted on 02/01/2016 by alasdairflett

We all use YouTube, quite a lot of us on a daily basis, but I’ve found that as a conversation piece it usually falls flat. Often one of the parties is struggling to grasp just exactly what made a certain … Continue reading →

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