Comparing 4 editions of Elgin’s Memorandum

THE FOUR EDITIONS OF THE ‘MEMORANDUM ON THE EARL OF ELGIN’S PURSUITS IN GREECE’ In 2002, my dormant and somewhat uninformed interest in the so called ‘Elgin Marbles’ was awakened by the writings of Professor Epaminondas Vranopoulos, who in turn was interested and angered by an anonymous Memorandum used to support Elgin’s bid to sell…

This Camphorwood Chest

This NOTE is pinned inside a Camphorwood Chest at my home in Dunfermline.   For some years now I had been meaning to write a note about the purchase of this camphorwood linen chest and pin it inside, but it was only when Russell Darnley, an Australian author, sent me an audio book of his…

The Speculative Society of Edinburgh Part 2

“The Spec” Harmless oddball students or sinister, quasi-masonic networkers? Oddball students?: Is the case made by several members who have stuck their heads above the parapet, but is perhaps most eloquently put by extraordinary member Humphrey Errington, producer of Lanark Blue Cheese, who laughed off the claims of an old boy network, Errington said it…

Sir Fixed it for Jim

How did Jim fix it so that his child abuse was never examined? As was the case with Thomas Hamilton after the Dunblane tragedy, many people seem to have known about Savile’s abuse, but why was nothing done about it at the time it was taking place? Did whistleblowers try to get the authorities to…

Was Israel created in Edinburgh – by candlelight?

Was Israel created in Edinburgh……by candlelight? As today is the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Balfour Declaration or Balfour Letter written by the then Conservative Foreign Secretary, Arthur Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, it seems appropriate that we take a look at the background to his Magnum opus. But first a look at…

If Burns lived today would he have voted for Brexit?

If Burns lived today would he have voted for Brexit?   Prior to the referendum on Scottish independence in 2014 many newspaper articles posed the question: “How would Robert Burns have voted?” So as we approach the anniversary of The Bard’s birth I thought it would be a good idea to pose the same question…