Category Archives: Great Scots

Scot Who Invented Wind Power

Posted on December 22, 2022 by Grouse Beater

James Blyth’s windmill. The Scottish engineer saw the future. JAMES BLYTH The Scot who invented wind power It was 135 years ago that a Scottish engineer, James Blyth, invented the first wind-powered electrical generator. In July 1887 he built a … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Scots | 7 Comments

Benedetti’s Festival Plans

Posted on October 21, 2022 by Grouse Beater

The press are making a hullabaloo out of Benedetti being the ‘first female’ director of the Edinburgh Festival, which to my mind is demeaning. More critical is the fact that she is the first Scot, the governors of the world’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Great Scots | 5 Comments

Malvena Wells

Posted on November 14, 2021 by Grouse Beater

An occasional series on eminent Scots unjustly ignored or forgotten Way before the Black Lives Matter campaign (BLM) had the white man and woman kneel to other white folks, rarely black people, in deference to equal rights for black people, … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Scots | 2 Comments

BBC Scotland Fails Again

Posted on May 27, 2021 by Grouse Beater

Eighteen wins, fifteen by knockouts, and no losses. No matter what your personal feelings are of the age-old sport of two guys (or women) bashing each other about the head and body, the historic win by Scotland’s Josh Taylor, undisputed … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Scots, Scottish Politics | 8 Comments

To Sir With Love

Posted on March 6, 2021 by Grouse Beater

I was going to say this to Grouse Beater privately, but circumstances being what they are, I feel I should do it publically. If you know me, you know I think the world of my mammy. She was, after all, … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Scots, Scottish Independence Referendum, Uncategorized | 6 Comments

I Am A Man

Posted on February 27, 2021 by Grouse Beater

I Am A Man I am a man. I am a man who is fighting for his rights. I fight for the rights of every man in my homeland. And every woman and every child, and those who want none, … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Scots | 39 Comments

Dr William Gordon Stables

Posted on February 13, 2021 by Grouse Beater

An ocasional series on eminent Scots forgotten or largely ignored This is the tale of a travelling man who invented the caravan to make his life on the road more comfortable, a Scot, a man who without knowing it, was … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Scots, Transportation | 14 Comments

Dr James Niven

Posted on January 16, 2021 by Grouse Beater

An occasional series on eminent Scots unjustly forgotten or ignored We are suffering one of humankind’s many pandemics, killing over two million souls, as I write, and as with those killed in past times, the majority the poorest in our … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Scots | 9 Comments

Chippy Harry McNish

Posted on June 13, 2020 by Grouse Beater

An occasional series on eminent Scots ignored or forgotten As true as I can tell it, this is the story of a Scotsman and an Englishman. The Scot was called Harry McNish. The Englishman was called Ernest Shackleton. As the … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Scots | 32 Comments

What is Coronavirus?

Posted on April 6, 2020 by Grouse Beater

We – the world’s nations in the west and Asia – were warned in 2019 a new incurable ‘flu’ was on its way and we should prepare for it. We did not. What is the virus and is it Armageddon, … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Great Scots | 5 Comments