The Circumflex

I am very down at the moment.  I suspect some of this depression is just my usual biochemical cycle of mediums and lows but there does seem to be a lot going on in society to bring me down. Blair this week seems to have been promoting the argument that identity cards are just a [...]

So what about Findlay of the White Plaid? The more detailed accounts of the Trumpan Massacre credit Findlay of the White Plaid (Fionnlaidh na Plaide Baine)  as the clansman who raised the alarm in Dunvegan on the first Sunday of May 1578, warning the MacLeod chief of the approaching flotilla of ClanRanald MacDonald raiders from [...]

The Ardmore Holiday Cottage is clean, comfortable and reasonably priced (as is fitting for a cottage situated at one of the farthest extremities of Europe).  I recommend it.  In addition to the attractions of its extremity (and it is not so remote as to be ‘difficult’) it is situated a few hundred yards from the [...]

I have been here on Skye for almost  week now – on ‘retreat’, an attempt to create some space and silence and re-engage with my writing ‘as if I meant it’ – and I do.   But what do I mean? As usual, in these episodes, the week commenced with the usual deck-clearing and list-making [...]