Mak Forrit

For a fyle nou there’s been a hert-warmin video circulatin social media, fit is focused on the story o a humble wifie fae Inverness. The video, made bi ‘The Dodo’, tells the tale o Fiona Presly fa cam across a wee bee ’ithout wings in her gairden ae day, an decidit tae rescue her an tae gie her a new lease o life. Sae mony fowk hiv been titcht bi …

Humans is animals like ony ither in that we eat, sleep, muive about an dae the auld hochmagandie. But, at the same time, we arnae the same as ither animals, pairtly acause we ar the anerly species that can unnerstaund whit I’m scrievin. We ar the anerly species that haes gane fae bein an endangert species in an East African glen tae bein the anerly species tae bide on theirsels …

Whither in Italy, Germany, France or England, muisic bi gate o court an kirk wis flourishin aw ower Europe i the Renaissance an Baroque periods. But what o Scotland? Wis it aw juist bagpipes, reels an fowk sangs? I pit on my speirer’s bunnet an haed a bit leuk . . . Atween c1430 an c1750 — a time that comprehends twa muisical eras scholars caws the Renaissance an Baroque …

‘Whaur we cam fae’ is a tryptych explorin the history an explodin the myths o the last twa thousand years o Scotland. Tae ken whaur we ar gaein ye maun ken whaur we’v been. The Pechts war warriors, fermers an airtists that ruled ower maist o Scotland throu the first millenia AD. They war the distinct fowk that emerged whan aa the hunners o wee clans in verra early Derk …

Nae ower lang syne, there wis an outcry on social media. Cancer Research UK haed juist released new advertisin, fit wis intendit tae mak a verra clear pynt. The ímage clearly read: “Obesity is a cause of cancer.” Ae quine wisna too impressed wi this idea, an cried on Twitter that it wis ‘fat-shamin’ an that the chairity should tak it doun. Than, aa o a sudden, a haundfu o …

I wis watchin a bonnie cock pheasant makkin his wey alang the road aside ma hous; in his ain guid time, o course, as their kind ar wint tae dae, an regairdless o the caurs fleein close by. His heid an tail war up, birse puffit out an shimmerin in the sun. Tae see sic gledsome beauty in aw its glory is aye a sicht for sair een. But I …

Tae dae a dangerous thing wi style is whit ah caw airt — Charles Bukowski As a scriever ye’r no meant tae read ablo-the-line o yer ain airticles, gang gallus intae yon dour Apache laund o Unicode emoticons an racist GIFs an illíterate comments bi fowk wha micht mean wan thing an micht mean anither but naither thing maks ony sense. Ye’r no meant tae dae it, ah say, but …

Onybody that kens anent the Scots leid kens that Scots is spoken in Scotland, whaur the leid first upbiggit. Fowk will like eneuch ken that Scots exists in anither pairt: the’r the Ulster Scots, the Scots spik o Northren Ireland. But whit isnae sae weel kent is the Scots uised in Australie. It’s kenable that the main leids o Australie for hunneryears wis the aborigine leids, Dyirbal an Warlpiri amang …

Seturday mornin, an I wis haein a daunder alang the road wi ma twa dugs. Gled as I wis tae be outside efter sic a miserable week o pourin rain, there wis still a muckle dub streetchin hauf wey ower ma path. There wis naebody else about for aw it wis a fine day. Leukin at the dub, an thinkin back tae masel as a bairn, I ken I wad …

Stories is a important pairt o the human ken. Awbody sees an hears stories aw ower the place ilka day, in ilka society: whither it’s in beuks, in lessons or juist in ilkaday crack, stories is pairt o aw wir lifes. Sae whit gars stories sae important for human society? Ae thing spells daes for us is that they forder wir uiss o imaigination by garrin us think an imaigine …