FOLK are very practical in some parts of Scotland.

A reader perusing the Raith Rovers v Partick Thistle football programme the other week read an interview with the previous winner of the 50/50 draw – a mainstay of small clubs' fundraising. The winner from Kirkcaldy was asked what he would do with his £479 win.

"I'll put it towards my fine," he replied.

Man up, Toyah

AN 80s music revival night at Glasgow Green in July will include Rick Astley, Paul Young, Toyah Willcox and T'Pau. A reader recalls a similar event some years ago when red-haired Toyah bounded on stage in glittery thigh-length boots and shouted: "Glasgow! I've come for your men!"

A woman in the audience shouted back: "Take them."

Greece is the word

OUR tales of economics prompt a reader to ask: "If Scotland did get independence, would it be fiscally sensible to continue to call Edinburgh the Athens of the North?"

Vote emoticon

AND our mention of 16-year-olds possibly voting in the independence referendum leads to David Kelso suggesting that simply ticking a box will no longer be enough. "These young voters," says David, "will want to write beside the various options "OMG!" or "LOL".

Scots wha-hey

BEST-SELLING Scots author Laura Marney, appearing at the Aye Write! festival in Glasgow on Sunday, once appeared at the Edinburgh Castle pub in San Francisco where the manager advised: "Scaddish it up, they'll love it." Recounts Laura: "The clientele was mostly third-generation San Franciscans who, through some tenuous lineage on their great-granny's side, identified as being Scottish.

"To test this theory, instead of saying 'out the window' I tried 'oot the windae'. This was met with a chorus of approval.

" I decided to go Full Glesca, describing a character as 'staunin' her grun', which won rapturous applause. I realised that the more Scottish I became, the less they understood, the more they enjoyed, and so I finished with 'I'll skite ma haun aff your bahookie' and the crowd went wild."

Name-droppers

OUR mention of a Radio Clyde contest reminds David Macleod: "Do you remember in the days when you had to send your answers in by post, and Radio Clyde asked which pop superstar had the real name Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie? The answer had to be sent to 'Radio Clyde, Lulu Competition, P.O Box ...'"

A bridge too far?

NAMING the new bridge: reader John Coyle suggests: "As there are currently two bridges over the Firth of Forth to Fife, I think the new bridge should be called Third Forth Firth Fife Bridge."