Continue reading »]]> Always the first event of a new Society year, the members and friends who regularly attend our functions are normally eagerly awaiting the Chieftain’s Ceilidh.

And that is perfectly understandable, because the Chieftain’s Ceilidh usually ranges in scale from a heap of fun to an absolute riot!!

This year it will be held at the RAAFA Club, in Bull Creek, once again, on Saturday 19 May.

Get in quick to get your tickets . . . click on the link below to get all the information about the ceilidh and for the ticket application form.

Chieftains Ceilidh 2012

Continue reading »]]> Archaeologists in Scotland have found what could be the remains of Europe’s oldest stringed instrument.

A small wooden fragment thought to be from a 2300-year-old lyre was found at an excavation site in High Pasture Cave, on the Isle of Skye.

Music archaeologists Dr Graeme Lawson and Dr John Purser said that despite the artefact being burnt and broken, notches where strings would have been placed are easy to distinguish on the artefact,.

“This means the history of complex music in Britain may be 1000 years older than originally thought,” said Dr Lawson, of Cambridge Music Archaeological Research.

“And not only the history of music, but of song and poetry, because that’s what such instruments were very often used for.”

It’s the location of the discovery which has truly amazed the archaeologists.

“This object places the Hebrides in a musical relationship with the rest of the Barbarian world and other famous civilisations,” Dr Lawson added.

“The find confirms a love of music amongst the Western Celts.”

High Pasture Cave on Skye has been a focus of Bronze Age and Iron Age research since 1972, and evidence of craft, metalworking and debris from major feasting events have been found on the site, which extends back at least 5000 years.

Continue reading »]]> The number of Scotland’s threatened black grouse is on the rise, according to new figures.

A survey of breeding sites in Deeside, Speyside and Dumfries and Galloway have revealed  a 31%  increase in numbers in 2011 compared with the previous year.

The positive results could be down to a combination of major woodland initiatives, conservation efforts and a good breeding season in 2010.

Once widespread across the UK, black grouse numbers dropped from 25,000 displaying males in 1970 to just over 5000 in 2005.

The species is now red-listed as one of high conservation concern.

“The black grouse is one of Scotland’s most iconic species,” said Duncan Orr-Ewing, RSPB Scotland head of species and land management.

“It is fantastic to see a rise in the number of breeding males, but more work must be done to create increasing populations across all suitable areas of Scotland.

“Black grouse continue to face tough challenges with the loss of heather moorland in some places as well as the loss of ground vegetation within maturing conifer forests.”

Continue reading »]]> Residents of Scotland’s most northerly islands have the best quality of life in the country, according to a survey.

The Shetland Islands have ousted Aberdeenshire from the top spot in the Bank of Scotland Quality of Life Survey, which is based on residents’ health and life expectancy, employment and school performance.

The employment rate in the Shetlands is the highest in Scotland, close to 84%, and many residents enjoy high incomes with weekly average earnings of £65, above the Scottish average of £575.

Residents tend to be fit and well, with 93% reporting themselves to be in good or fairly good health, while the life expectancy is just over 77 years.

The level of school qualifications is above the national average and the islands have one of the lowest crime rates in the country.

Living there is also relatively affordable, with average house prices 4.2 times average gross annual local earnings – below the Scottish average of 4.7.

However one drawback to life in Shetland is that residents have on average three hours less sunshine per week compared to Scotland as a whole.

Shetland is closely followed in the overall survey by Aberdeenshire, which held the top position in the 2010 study, and scores well on employment rate (81%), with weekly average earnings of £642.

Residents live for 78.2 years on average and 93% of them enjoy good or fairly good health, but living there is relatively expensive, with an average house price to earnings ratio of 5.7 – one of the highest ratios in Scotland.

East Renfrewshire, Orkney Islands, Aberdeen City, East Lothian, East Dunbartonshire, Moray, the Borders and Perth and Kinross are also in the top 10.

The best paid people are in East Renfrewshire, where average weekly earnings are £729 per week, followed by Stirling (£723) and East Dunbartonshire (£675).

Life expectancy is highest in East Dunbartonshire (79.4 years), followed by Perth & Kinross (79.1 years) and East Renfrewshire (78.3 years).

On the property front, the lowest house price to earnings ratio is in North Ayrshire (3.6) while Edinburgh and the Highlands have the highest ratio of 5.9 times local annual average earnings.

Primary school class sizes are smallest in the Western Isles (14 pupils), followed by Shetland Islands and the Orkneys (both 17).

For people looking for good weather the east coast seems the best choice.

Dundee City has the lowest average annual rainfall (775 mm) while residents of Aberdeen City enjoy, on average, the most sunshine hours per week at 28.4 hours.

The average life expectancy for women in Scotland is 80.4 years, and 75.8 years for men, according to an October report by the Registrar General for Scotland.

Continue reading »]]> A large number of members attended the Annual General Meeting of the Society, held on Sunday, 19 February.

As well as the financial and Chieftain’s reports (click on the link below to see the Chieftain’s Report), the main business of the day was the election of office bearers and general Committee members.

The office-bearers are Brian McMurdo (Chieftain), who has been Honorary Secretary for the past three years; Doris LaValette, the new Vice-Chieftain; Diana Paxman, who retains the Honorary Treasurer role and Darian Ferguson, who takes over as Honorary Secretary.

Among the general members, three are new to the Committee . . . Eoin Kennedy, Michael Haynes and Jeff LaValette . . . and Reggie McNeill, Cameron Dickson and Cheryl Hill were re-elected from the previous Committee.

Former Chieftain, Ken Suttie, also joins the Committee as Immediate Past Chieftain.

Chieftain’s Report 2011

Continue reading »]]> Edinburgh is home to 13 of Scotland’s 20 most expensive streets.

The priciest homes are in Dick Place, in the Grange area of the city, where the average property costs £1.5m.

Aberdeen is another centre for costly homes, with Scotland’s second and third most expensive streets.

They are Rubislaw Den South and Rubislaw Den North, where homes cost an average £1.19m, while two other streets from the city are in 19th and 20th place.

The Glasgow area has two streets in the top 20, though both are under the £1m mark, according to Bank of Scotland research.

Some of the other costliest addresses in Edinburgh are Ann Street, with an average property price of £1.18m, Kinellan Road at £992,000 and Spylaw Bank Road at £984,000.

Glasgow’s most expensive streets are Burnside Road at £974,000 and Bowmore Crescent at £908,000.

Outside Scotland’s three major cities, the most expensive homes are on Queens Crescent in Auchterarder, Perthshire, where the average property on the street costs £1.18m, putting it in fifth place.

The house price data in the report is compiled by the Registers of Scotland based on all postcodes in Scotland.

Continue reading »]]> 450g minced pork

225g minced beef

500ml fine breadcrumbs

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon Jamaica pepper

140ml water

Mix all ingredients really well by hand then place mixture in a 900g loaf tin.  Set in the fridge for an hour or two.

Cut into1.25cm think slices.  Fry until cooked through and browned on both sides.

Continue reading »]]> Scotland’s North Sea oil and gas industry can deliver a £376 billion bonanza over the next 40 years and secure Aberdeen as “one of the global energy capitals” of the future, according to a report published recently.

The PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) study, titled Northern Lights: a strategic vision of Aberdeen as a world-class energy capital, said the oil boom was there for the taking, if government and industry leaders can “grasp the many opportunities”.

But it warned that Scotland’s oil capital was at a crossroads and action was needed to ensure this “remarkable golden prize” did not slip away.

The busy port of Aberdeen

The report called for fresh funding and investment, fiscal certainty and targeted incentives.

The study also said greater public and private-sector collaboration was needed, as well as a more co-ordinated approach by industry and education to turn the city into a “global talent magnet”.

The report comes just weeks after BP announced a multi-billion-pound offshore investment in the North Sea and proclaimed that reserves will last until at least 2050.

There is anything between 12 and 24 billion barrels of oil still under UK waters, the report finds, with the fields of the west of Shetland worth up to £376bn alone over the next 40 years.

However, the report also highlighted that renewables were an area of opportunity and urged the industry to move fast to be part of the developing field.

Industry leaders are now calling for investment in the skills needed and a stable tax regime offshore, while the Scottish Government said the North Sea will be a key provider of jobs and revenue for years to come.