I am only one of many, as Lesley Duncan suggests (The Herald, August 21), who on hearing of the death of our National Makar and reading the obituaries and appreciations for Edwin Morgan, was prompted to look back at the scribbled notes from lectures and tutorials on Browning, Yeats and Gerard Manley Hopkins, among others. We were indeed a fortunate generation which took arts courses in the 1970s at Gilmorehill (when Jimmy Reid was rector) and the likes of Edwin Morgan taught English literature. I recall too that Eddie, as a committed literary westender, heartily approved of the extra-quadrangular seminars which would spill over into The Aragon and Rubaiyat!
It is to be hoped his alma mater, in conjunction with Glasgow City Council, will ensure one of its most distinguished sons is commemorated in the vicinity of the university -- perhaps Byres Road -- and Alasdair Gray, his great Glaswegian literary and artistic counterpart, should be consulted on this project. Let us encourage too a drama on Morgan’s life from the pen of Liz Lochhead for performance by the National Theatre of Scotland.
On a personal note, I recall meeting Eddie at Hillhead underground (most appropriately) in 1988, and telling him how well my S1 English class in Tobermory High School had enjoyed studying his poems inspired by Glasgow’s underground train system, especially The Subway Giraffe. It encapsulates what so many have said: his poetry was truly universal, attracting appreciation from school pupils to university academics.
As has been observed by others, his passing makes the wonderful painting Poets’ Pub by Alexander Moffat all the more iconic for our national culture. Next year, our school will mark the centenary of the birth of Sorley Maclean, renowned Gaelic poet and former headmaster at Plockton High, and Morgan’s death is a timely reminder that a symposium to review the contribution of that leading group of “Scottish renaissance” poets in the second half of the 20th century would be in order as part of that programme of events.
Duncan J Ferguson, Ceannard/rector, Plockton High School, Plockton.
Eddie Morgan was an inspirational poet. English teachers in Scotland and elsewhere have given their students an extraordinary insight into the human condition through his work.
Poems such as Stobhill provoked readers or listeners to contemplate the difficulties of illness; others, like the one based on Scottish place names, were great fun. Think of a class laughing at such talent. His death is not a loss, no more than the deaths of other great Scottish or English poets.
Pick up a book, or go online. Have fun. And think.
Alasdair H Macinnes, Edinburgh.
Anent Edwin’s Morgan’s many talents and speedy responses, he agreed with me one day that golfing poetry must be the worst in the genre. I challenged him to produce the world’s worst golfing poem, which he did quickly. Excruciatingly bad, it has quite properly been excluded from his collected works.
David Hamilton, St Andrews.
Scots of all political persuasions, and none, can applaud Alex Salmond’s decision to make Jimmy Reid’s rectorial address available online to all secondary school pupils. David Purdie’s suggestion (Letters, August 20) of a statue in memory of Edwin Morgan is equally commendable, while a statue on Clydeside should be considered as a fitting and lasting tribute to Mr Reid.
On reading the obituary tributes for Bill Millin, the D-Day piper, I was surprised to see that while France and the Isle of Man had honoured Mr Millin I could see no mention of an appropriate recognition from his native Scotland. Mr Millin’s courage must also not be forgotten.
As we mourn three great men who brought honour and distinction to Scotland in their different ways, it is up to the Scottish nation to ensure their legacy and the examples they set lives on.
Ruth Marr, Stirling.
Rejection of Cononish gold mine plan is a monumental blunder
We attended the recent Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park board meeting in Tyndrum village hall, which considered the opening of a gold mine at Cononish. There was a large and vociferous turnout of local people.
Unlike most controversial planning meetings, where local people are up in arms with the planning authority for allowing a planning consent, this meeting differed in that local people wanted the mine. An impassioned speech by the community council chairman spelled out the benefits for local people and their consideration of the proposal. His speech received rousing cheers. He also noted support from other community councils in the park.
The board rejected the planning application by 12 votes to 10. We think almost all the elected councillors on the board voted for the proposal, and it was almost entirely the quango appointments who voted against. There was overwhelming support for this proposal from the local community and elected members of the board. When it is further noted that the Scottish Environment Protection Agency had no objections to the proposal, alarm bells should ring regarding this decision.
Planning authorities do have to take unpopular decisions but in this case the board got it wrong. Notwithstanding the details listed for rejection (at best equivocal, in some cases) at the heart of the decision to reject was because “we could not balance the potential economic benefits against our primary aim to conserve and enhance our natural heritage”. So, as was stated repeatedly by those seeking rejection, if you can’t balance one against the other, you must favour conservation -- the Sandford Principle.
In fact, as was pointed out at the meeting, the primary aim of the National Park is “to conserve and enhance the natural and cultural heritage of the area”. Tyndrum and the surrounding hills have an extensive -- and very obvious -- cultural heritage of mining extending back nearly 300 years, which draws geologists and collectors from around the world. It has been and, with the recent gold prospectivity, remains a focus for international earth science and environmental research. It is a site of special scientific interest.
The potential gold mine has captured the imagination of the public, and sparked interest from the geological and environmental communities. This mine would represent a major resource for learning in these sciences, and be of interest to tourists. The local community, with the full support of the applicant, planned to set up a Gold Heritage centre in Tyndrum -- one the busiest tourist crossroads in Scotland -- bringing added benefits to the community. There is an obvious coincidence of this project with the second Sandford Principle -- “to promote opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities of the area by the public”. There is no doubt that allowing the mine (with the requisite conditions for responsible mining and reinstatement -- which were not insurmountable) would not have been contrary to the primary National Park aim. Quite the opposite: it would have greatly enhanced the cultural heritage of this unique mining area.
The fourth aim of the National Park is “to promote sustainable economic and social development of the area’s community”. We ask the wider community to consider this decision in light of the overwhelming support of the local population and business community. Do they really think that the board’s decision reflects the wider interests of people of Scotland? Being environmentally aware Scottish Earth scientists, teaching at Scotland’s major universities, we cannot agree. We concur with the opinion of the local people, that the rejection of this planning application represents a monumental missed opportunity.
Dr Adrian Boyce and Dr Craig Barrie, Glasgow.
Electricity debate would benefit from numbers that are accurate and relevant
I was delighted to see that progress is being made in developing electricity generation from tidal power (“Islay first island in world to be tidal powered”, The Herald, August 18). However, it would greatly improve the reporting of projects such as this by considering how the numbers are quoted.
The 1mW (one million watts) turbine is said in the article to be “enough to power 1,000 homes”. So each home requires 1kW (one thousand watts), which is about right for the average household. However, the “home” is at best an unhelpful unit, and at worst is downright misleading.
To see why this is so, take the total capacity necessary to provide a secure supply of electricity (ie to avoid power cuts). The total capacity must be greater than peak demand, with a reasonable margin for good measure. For the UK, this is about 60,000mW for a population of about 60 million. That translates to one kilowatt per person, not per household.
Why is this different to the numbers quoted in the article? What is missing from the “home” unit is all the electricity not used in the home: electricity needed in workplaces, and for the goods and services we all need to maintain our lifestyles. By quoting “homes”, this may lead the reader to believe the situation is better than it is.
The article goes on to state that 100 of the turbines will be installed in the Pentland Firth. These will consequently output 100mW, enough electricity for about 10,000 people going by the calculations above. For “Scotland to meet its potential to generate six times the electricity consumed by the domestic market”, that would mean an output of six times 4,000mW (a rough estimate of the electricity consumption in Scotland), or the equivalent of 24,000 tidal turbines! Put this way, that goal seems more distant than the article implies.
Decisions about energy supply and use are critical ones, and Scotland has a tremendous opportunity to generate substantial fractions of its electricity needs from wind, wave and tide. The debate about how to achieve the best solution would be greatly enhanced by ensuring that figures quoted are not just accurate, but are relevant, and provide the reader with the bigger picture. This is not just the use of numbers for political sophistry; if the numbers don’t add up, the lights will go out.
David Ireland, Milngavie.
Stub out greed culture by abolishing bonuses
Labour and the LibDems have just discovered -- shock, horror -- that senior executives at Scottish Enterprise are paid bonuses on top of their salaries (“Fury at pay and perks of Scottish Enterprise chiefs”, August 19).
Perhaps they should look back to the “golden” years of the Labour-LibDem coalition -- for example, 2005-06. The annual accounts for Scottish Enterprise show bonuses being paid that year, the previous year and in each year since.
I don’t remember these two parties making a song and dance then. So, the bonus culture is not a recent invention of the current Scottish Government.
Bonuses paid on the attainment of easy-to-reach targets have enabled directors and senior executives in the private sector to widen enormously the gap between their total remuneration packages, and those of their employees. The banking and financial services sector has led the way in recent years, and continues to do so, despite having almost bankrupted the country.
So let’s have a campaign to abolish bonuses across all sectors of the economy. Let’s get back to the situation where people are paid to do their job, and don’t need “incentivised” to do the job they are employed, and paid, to do.
Tom Wood, Giffnock.
For Sen Menendez read Joe McCarthy
So United States Senator Robert Menendez believes there is a “cloud of suspicion” hanging over the medical reports that led to the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi (“Scots back Salmond on US inquiry decision”, August 20). Just how far is Menendez going in his attempts to sully Scotland’s legal system, and his intereference in Scottish sovereignty?
And the US government wants Mr Megrahi returned to prison, because after a year in which he has no doubt been receiving the very best medical attention, he is still alive.
The American vengeance machine rolls on. This whole affair increasingly has echoes of the McCarthyism era in the United States in the 1950s, when free thinking liberals were put on trial for “un-American” activities.
The difference now is that it is not individuals being accused, but the Scottish nation and our government.
Now we learn that the Central Intelligence Agency had evidence that could have changed the course of the Camp Zeist trial, but was not presented. Why?
The stench of hypocrisy grows stronger by the day.
John Edwards, Linlithgow.
Rev Erskine has been mistreated by the Kirk
As a past parishioner and friend of the Rev Mike Erskine, I should like to endorse all Ronald Sandford said in his letter (August 21).
During his ministry in Craignish, prior to moving to Crail, he worked tirelessly for the Church and showed an understanding of, and compassion for, all members of this community, regardless of their beliefs. He is still greatly missed and regarded with great affection by many.
I fear that the Church of Scotland’s heavy-handed and outdated approach to this matter, and its apparent total disregard for the wishes of the majority of the people of Crail, could make many people question whether they would want to continue to support an organisation so lacking in understanding and compassion.
Jan Brown, Argyll
Scruff justice
You would think Billy Connolly could have afforded a haircut, a shirt and a tie before coming to Glasgow to receive the freedom of the city. His appearance showed a lack of respect for his hosts and his native city. Connolly may be a comic genius and a Freeman of the city, but he let himself down.
Iain A D Mann, Glasgow.
Brain damage in young is a double tragedy
That there were recorded 538 cases of alcohol-related brain damage (ARBD) in Scotland during 2007 is a tragic statistic. However, if the further estimated 500 infants born in Scotland that year with brain damage caused by their mother’s alcohol consumption during pregnancy are added, the contribution of alcohol to brain damage is doubly tragic.
Surely it is time for us all to start to reverse the tide of self-destructive addiction to alcohol and other drugs in our young people? Can we depend on our political representatives to help lead us into sensible and effective strategies?
Undamaged brains and minds of the young are our most important national resource.
Forrester Cockburn, Emeritus Professor of Child Health, University of Glasgow.
A clueless clue
Re the GK crossword of last Saturday, by what stretch of imagination can “Banff term for a man or fellow (4)” be classed as general knowledge? In a similar vein, Kyle might like to solve “Horsforth child’s name for a ball” (_u_ _ _ _) and then ask himself/ herself if he/she is perhaps a bit of one.
David M Waters, Kirkmuirhill.
