I am currently working, in a voluntary capacity,
with a number of partners to put Dumfries and Galloway on the 'Geological
Map'. Historically in the region there has been no formal Geodiversity
Action Plan (LGAP) but I am now identifying sites and working with
the council to include a LGAP in the Local Biodiversity Action Plan
(LBAP). The Partners are:
- Scottish Natural Heritage
- Solway Heritage
- Forestry Commission
- Dumfries and Galloway Council
- Council and Private Museums
- British Geological Society (BGS Edinburgh)
- UKRIGS Group (Regionally Important Geological Sites –
Edinburgh)
- Local Heritage Societies
- Schools
My role as Project Leader is to co-ordinate activities in Dumfries
and Galloway region to move the project forward. It is a very exciting
time now as we are setting up office facilities, identifying and
recording sites, planning projects, developing new partners and
volunteers.
What WE NEED are people who are interested in geology who would
like to share their knowledge and skills to assist in delivering
the Local Geodiversity Action Plan. This involves a great variety
of activities e.g. selecting key sites for protection; making audits
of sites and features; selecting key sites for protection; photographing
sites and recording information; developing new partners and interested
enthusiasts.
The targets of the LCAP will be met within the next four to seven
years so if you are interested in joining us now, to be part of
this exciting time in Dumfries and Galloway's geological future
please contact me at moffatdmt @ hotmail.com *. Telephone nos. 0184
833 0814 or 0782 162 1366.
There will be a meeting in September for those of you who are interested,
to come along, meet some of our partners and find out more.
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Thomas Graham, was born at Ecclefechan in 1818. Graduating from the
Royal College of Surgeons in 1838 he entered the Royal Navy in 1841
and was appointed Surgeon in June 1850. He saw extensive service overseas
and served upon the ships H.M.S.Warspite, H.M.S. Madagascar and H.M.S.
Apollo. He died at Whampoa, China, in July 1850.
Throughout his active navel service he corresponded widely and maintained
a series of diaries. For further information on the man and his background
follow this link. http://www.cenart.net/thomasgraham/index.htm
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Mention of Transactions
in the Press.
The Sunday Times
of 3rd December 2006, Ecosse section, contained, as part
of an ongoing series on Scottish words, the following.-
Word of the Week
Spirtle
You would not think there could be much controversy about a kitchen
implement, but the humble spirtle, spurtil(l), spartle, spirl, spurl
or spruttle has several varieties and uses. My mother's spirtle, a
wooden stick worn to a third of its original size with stirring of
porridge and soup, was never put to such violent use as that recorded
in papers submitted in cases before the Court of Session: Cramond
v Allan (1756), where we read: "She saw her father strike her
mother ... with the spurtle."
A spirtle is described in the Scottish National Dictionary as a wooden
or metal implement with a flat blade used in baking for turning oatcakes
and scones.
This is supported by the Transactions of the
Dumfries[shire] and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society
(1891): "'Yere cake's burnin' ...' 'Make us a spurtle tae turn
it wi', then.'"
A theekin spirtle is a flat-bladed instrument sometimes forked, for
pushing thatching straw into position on a roof and, in linen production,
a spirtle is a flat stick or bat for beating flax.
A spirtle-grup or spirtle-shot is a sharp pain in the side for which
Manuscript Notes on NE Scotland Folk-Lore (c.1890) provides a folk
remedy: "A child should receive the kidneys of a hare the first
kind of flesh to eat. This prevents the child taking 'the spurtle
shot', the sharp pain that strikes in the side when running or walking
fast."
The reference is taken from page 77 of Volume 7 of the Second Series
of our Transactions - Session 1890-91 and published in 1891.
It is in the second part of an article on the Folk Lore of Glencairn
by our member John Corrie, F.S.A.Scot., of Burnbank, Moniaive. When
treating of elves or fairies he recounts.-
'We append a narrative communicated by a
Moniaive lady, in which gratitude for a favour and resentment
at an insult are curiously blended:- Two men were ploughing
down in Closeburn parish when they both felt a strong smell
of burning cake; one of them said in an off-hand kind o' way,
"Yere cake's burnin'." "Make us a spurtle tae
turn it wi' then," said a voice apparently close at hand.
The man good naturedly did as directed, and laid the article
down on the ground. On returning to the spot he found the
spurtle taken away, and bread and cheese left in its place.
He partook of both, and likewise gave some to his horses,
but his companion would neither taste it himself nor allow
his horses to taste. An affront of this kind could not be
overlooked, and he had not gone many steps until he dropped
down dead in the furrow.'
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For those interested in further aspects of the Scots language the
Dictionary of the Scots Language is now available online at http://www.dsl.ac.uk
and comprises electronic editions of the two major historical dictionaries
of the Scots language: The 12-volume Dictionary of the Older Scottish
Tongue and the 10-volume Scottish National Dictionary.
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