Old Weird Scotland @WeirdScotland Twitter profile

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Old Weird Scotland

1 year

If you got a giggle or a wow from #OldWeirdScotland and would like to chuck some coppers in the hat (and are in a position to), it will always mean a lot to me 😊 Cheers, Jack

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

1 year

If you're writing a book set in rural Scotland and all your characters go by their given names, I hate to break it to ya, but you're doing your readers a disservice. Here's some examples of real people all from one village around 1900-1930: 🧵 #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

In the 16th and 17th centuries, many parishes in Scotland owned a "common mortkist"--a reusable coffin to bury the poor. As the coffin was brought over the grave, a latch was opened, allowing the occupant to surreptitiously exit through a trap door bottom. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

Summer 1970: a rare form of typhoid is infecting people in Edinburgh. Dr Nancy Conn, a bacteriologist at Western General, finds the source and prevents a major outbreak with detective work and sanitary towels. A thread on one of Scotland's unsung #WomenInSTEM #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

Guising was creepier in #OldWeirdScotland South Uist guisers, 1932 (📷Margaret Fay Shaw)

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

1 year

Roarin Rab Nanny Purple Springhill Jake (Nanny's Brother) Moudy Wardrop (a molecatcher) Snadger Harvie Piggy Logan (a teacher) Toozy Jenny (a teacher) Crocodile Skin McGee Tack McGee Shoogly Jock McLean Flood Butler Beetlenose Butler The Wig The Moose (The Wig's brother)... 1/n

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

In April1650, Brechin woman Catharin Walker was accused of witchcraft, for, among other things, booting a man in the balls so hard he died. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

1 year

Carrot Donald and his nephew, Crack-o-Dawn Winks Smith Gudgen Grady o Netherplace Guttie Rae Baldy Ross Puck Downie Bum Stewart Cuggs and Stripes McMeechan Dr Cod McKinlay Steak 'n' Kidney Murray Willie "Boiler" Gill 2/n

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

1 year

Steamie Kirkwood Birdy Kirkwood Icky Boaby McKelvie Dykes McKelvie (Icky Boaby's Dad) Spinnle Johnson Luggy Barr Teapot Lid Caruso Byrne (a good singer) Cadger King-all-Farmers Laird Pollok (not a laird) Baggy Britain Spriggie Gordie

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

Many Scots, while owning Scotland's role in slavery, still take the stance that "normal" or "working class" Scots got no advantages from the fortunes made with enslaved labour, or any benefits were long in the past. (1/n) #OldWeirdScotland thread:

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

1 year

Stainy Willie aka Auld History Stains Bingy Close Scud Crawford Tory Malone (a Conservative voter) Snig Banny aka Big Sandy Whisky Rankin Snek Raeburn Sody McMeekin Browntails Porter Bumble Forbes Howdy Henny Grady Blue Goose Shand Sand Shoe Pete Sinclair Ghandi Sinclair 3/n

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

2 years

11th April 1650: Brechin woman, Catharin Walker is accused of witchcraft for, among other offenses, booting a man in the balls so hard he died. #OldWeirdScotland #OTD

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@WeirdScotland

2 years

Mary Queen of Scots issued coins late in her reign that featured a tortoise trying to climb a palm tree. I don't know if there's a satisfactory answer as to why, but it's cute all the same. 🌴🐢 #OldWeirdScotland 📷: @NtlMuseumsScot

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

🔍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Writing a novel set in Victorian Scotland? 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🔍 👶Need some baby name ideas?👶 Follow these simple rules for to get those quintessential genuine Scottish names. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

In November 1878, a polar bear brought back by Arctic whalers escaped into the streets of Dundee. After charging up Commercial St, it broke into a clothier's shop on the High St (it's now a gift shop). It was recaptured after it got distracted by a mirror. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

At exactly 10pm, #OTD 69 years ago, a postbox in Liberton was blown up by a gelignite bomb because it was marked "E II R" The new queen's regnal name, "Elizabeth the 2nd" was offensive to many Scots, as Scotland hadn't had an Elizabeth the 1st. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

1 year

Dunfermline man, Willie Cant and his aquatic tripod. Able to support 300lbs, Cant shot ducks from his "waterwalker" In 1822, Cant walked out from Leith Harbour to meet King George IV. He was promptly run over by the royal flotilla and the tripod was smashed. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

In 1940 Ballachulish man, Sandy MacDonald, escaped occupied France with two other Highlanders by speaking Gaelic and posing as Ukrainians. A year before the Soviets joined the war, the "Ukrainians" were free to go. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

Please enjoy the company logo of Mrs. Fettes's Tea Warehouse, Edinburgh (1761) ☕ #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

1 year

@vincent_cairns where I grew up too. Had absolutely no idea what anyone's real names were.

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

Good Morning! Mr A. Young and the cannabis plant he accidentally grew in his Arbroath garden in 1933. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

Honourable mentions too for: FANNA SHORTBREAD (b.1859) MURDER MACKENZIE (b. 1865) SHART CLARK (b.1887) NEPTUNE BLOOD (b.1825) BOGLEMARY ROBERTSON (b.1783)

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

1 year

@HottyCouture good chance their names were not Peter or Gavin or anything remotely close to it. 🙃

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

1 year

In 1950, the annual harvest of seaweed in Orkney and Shetland increased by 400% Why? ORCADIAN CHERRIES or "CHELLIES" were synthetic cocktail cherries made from seaweed and were produced from 1949 onwards--most going to American cocktail bars. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

2 years

Between 1887 and 1902, over 2000kg of mushrooms were grown under the streets of Edinburgh every month. In a disused railway tunnel, the Scottish Mushroom Co. tended 800 beds of inoculated manure The SMC effectively ended the reliance on French-grown mushrooms #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

In 1840s Fife, a deserted spouse could have their marriage annulled if they set a place at the dinner table and shouted out the door for the absent spouse to come eat. After a year plus one day, they were free to marry again. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

Fortunes in #OldWeirdScotland were made through black slavery. Many of the figures revered as "canny Scots", were directly involved in, or complicit in colonialism, oppression, exploitation and subjugation (e.g. Livingstone, Monboddo, Burns). 1/14

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

2 years

In the summer of 1960, British Railways operated an express night train-- the "Raspberry Special"-- so consumers in England could enjoy a Scottish raspberry at peak freshness. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

1 year

Tomorrow is #PieMonday . Tradition dictates that on the Monday before the 2nd Thursday in October, Musselburghers (and by extension, the world), must eat a hot mutton pie. Doesn't have to be mutton, but do your bit to revive a Scottish food-based festival day. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

1 year

Died #OTD Billie Ritchie (1879-1921) was a Glaswegian actor who built a career on impersonating Charlie Chaplin, though he always claimed that Chaplin stole his act and look. He died after being savaged by ostriches he was mistreating on set. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

Dr Agnes "Nancy" Kirkland Conn retired in 1979 and died in March 2013 aged 93. A Broughty Ferry lass, she went to Dundee High then did history and later medicine @univofstandrews . She also played hockey for Scotland. 14/14 #WomenInSTEM #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

Known as "Incorrigible Nancy", Agnes Malloy Brown (1848-1915) was one of Scotland's most-arrested women, racking up over 200 police court appearances in Bo'ness alone. See below for part of her rapsheet... #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

Inveraray Church doesn't have a steeple because someone stole it. Dismantled and stored as a precaution during WW2, the carefully numbered blocks were gone when it came time to rebuild. Only 2 blocks were ever found. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

10 months

Christmas advice for ladies, courtesy of the Dundee Courier. Be Gay this Christmas, 1934 #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

1 year

@BrianDr1960 Chust sit doon and I'll tell to you how Hurricane Jeck got to be called Hurricane Jeck

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

#OTD in 1875. After a workplace disagreement, #Dundee millworkers Elizabeth Melville and Gordonia Skinner met during their lunch break for a square-go in front of a large crowd. Elizabeth won by KO after 3 rounds then the two went back to work. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

In the 1820s, a Glasgow court used "the whirley-gig" to test an insanity plea. It was spun faster and faster until the prisoner vomited or fainted. If they appeared scared or cried out, they were "fit for trial", as the insane shouldn't be able to feel fear. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

In his 1646 history of the Church in Scotland, David Calderwood very matter-of-factly records that: On Monday 3rd June 1622, "A fyrie dragon, both greate and long" flew over Scotland and was "spouting fyre from her". Was no big deal. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

10 months

In his first hundred years of business in Scotland, Santa Claus delivered to children on Hogmanay (31st Dec), not Christmas Eve. By the 1960s, he had fully synchronised his visits and Scotland ran on the same timetable as the US and England. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

5 years

Tyberius Winchester was a "serial gyser" in Elgin. His rapsheet: May 1593- playing the pipes and drums with "rascalls" Jan 1594- bagpiping after dark, being riotous Dec 1596- dancing in kirkyard Jan 1604- riding through town with pillowcase on his head #OldWeirdScotland

lyn odonnell💙🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

@lynodonnell1

5 years

@WeirdScotland Elgin

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

10 months

After her car went off the road #OTD in 1950, Miss E.F. Smith and her toy poodle walked home from Brechin to Letham. She claimed to have experienced a time-slip of 1265 years and walked onto the Battle of Nechtanesmere and saw Picts and Saxons fight. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

Five "cursed" stones protect the grave of Seath Mór Sgorfhiaclach in the Doune of Rothiemurchus. Anyone molesting the stones is visitied by the Bodach na Duin After several cases of illness and death, an iron grate now keeps the stones from being touched. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

POSTSCRIPT. So I said Dr Conn is an unsung hero, but she does appear in @sarasheridan 's "Where are the Women?". There is an imagined exhibit at the Glasgow Science detailing her work. Unfortunately, this fictitious installation is the only thing I could find for her.

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

The source was a 76 year old woman who lived alone. She had never once been ill. She had never been abroad. She had lived in that house for 13 years. If not for Dr Conn and the faulty drains, she'd never have known she was an #asymptomaticcarrier of a rare Asiatic typhoid. 10/n

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

1 year

@szattwellauthor Rae, Ella (1987) The Changing Years. John McCormick & Co-- Glasgow. 76pp. 😊

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

Hip hip hooray it's the Burryman's day! In South Queensferry a man clad in burrs walks a 7 mile route around town while folk give him whisky (through a straw) for good luck. The tradition may be 900 years old. #OldWeirdScotland

Erin Farley

@aliasmacalias

4 years

Look how distanced! #Burryman2020

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

16th March 1569. Bessie Smith complains to St Andrews Kirk session that her husband, Andrew Lumsden, has "nocht adhered to hir in bed for twelf years". Church decrees that he must "adhere to her" within 48 hours. Her neighbours to report back and confirm. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

Nancy Conn's quick and methodical investigation stopped the outbreak of typhoid in Edinburgh. Folk stopped drinking from the Water of Leith and eventually the river got cleaned up. This photo is from the 1983 "Operation Riverbank" in Leith. 13/n

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

On New Year's Eve 1917, Scottish soldiers stationed in South Africa sent an encrypted message to the British Army's field headquarters. It was a Happy New Year message in #Gaelic . It took the codebreakers hours to solve. The high command were not amused... #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

Stovies! Scottish Twitter fiercely debates what stovies should be made with. Roast meat? Corned beef? Mince? Colonsay: "hold my beer..." #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

In 1585, Kirkcaldy parents who didn't pay their contribution to the burgh school had their child impounded. Only when the 20 shillings were paid could you get your kid back. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

During research, I often get distracted by the sensationalist front pages of Victorian newspapers. Often they are really quite dull stories, but I thought I'd start a thread of #VictorianClickbait and share them as I find them. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

RULE #3 : Any name can have "-ina" added to it for a "female sounding" name #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

RULE #4 : Found a name you like? Use it liberally. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

In 1597, Aberdeenshire woman Ellen Gray was accused of using sorcery, witchcraft, and charms on farm worker Thomas Reddoch "so that his wand nevir lay doune". Thomas apparently later died from his condition. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

1 year

HAPPY DUNDEE POLAR BEAR DAY! #OTD 145 years ago #OldWeirdScotland

Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

In November 1878, a polar bear brought back by Arctic whalers escaped into the streets of Dundee. After charging up Commercial St, it broke into a clothier's shop on the High St (it's now a gift shop). It was recaptured after it got distracted by a mirror. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

2 years

In 1996 United Distillers teamed up with A.G. Barr to produce an alcopop: Bell's Whisky and Irn-Bru. Notoriously disgusting, it was soon discontinued. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

The carrier was identified 2 weeks before the last admitted typhoid case thanks to Dr Conn working *flat out* for 2 months. The carrier got treatment and the sewers were fixed, though they both remained positive for several months. So how did she become a healthy carrier? 11/n

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

In 1348 a tax was levied to protect Dumbarton from wolves. Paid annually, the "Watchmeal of Kilpatrick" paid for the food for the wolf-hunter's dogs. In 1975, the funds were still available to Dumbarton Public Library to buy books. Talk about old money. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

1 year

Hip Hip Hooray, it's the Burryman's day! #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

9 months

Fig 1. The correlation between illegitimate births in Edwardian Scotland and the distribution of Iron Age hillforts. (Brownlee, 1926) Yep, me neither. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

I've mentioned this before, but... In the Moray Firth fishermen used to be carried out and back from the boats on the backs of their wives, to keep their feet dry. While common practice in the 1720s, it held on until the 1930s at Embo, Sutherland! #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

5 years

In October 1626, parties after baptisms had gotten so out of hand that Aberdeen made it illegal to "compell any nichtboures to drink any wyn, aill, or beir" that they didn't want to. Anyone caught pressuring someone to drink was fined £40 #OldWeirdScotland #DrinkAwareScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

In the winter of 1807, many Scottish ale-sellers switched to selling beer by the slice or by weight as the prolonged frost made pouring impossible. #OldWeirdScotland #CanAGetAFlakeWiThatPal ?

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

When her landlord tried to evict elderly Newburgh woman, Jean Ford (d. 1811), she went to his house and pretended to be a witch. Waiting until she could be seen, she waved her walking stick about and made odd noises. She lived rent free until her death. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

2 years

In #Wigton , the position of hangman was always held by a condemned criminal. When he became too old or frail for the role, he himself was led to the gallows by his replacement. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

Muriel Thompson (1875-1939) was a Scottish racing driver, suffragist, an WW1 ambulance driver. In 1919, she was known as "the best lady driver that ever lived". She was the undefeated champion of "reverse-start high-speed blindfold racing". #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

1 year

In June 1937, two lads, Roddy MacCuish and Donny MacLennan, appeared in Oban Sheriff Court charged with travelling on a bicycle "not constructed or adapted for carriage of more than one person" It was the first case of "giein a backie" to appear in the court. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

10 months

Today, I'm working on writing up the story of Nancy Conn, Typhoid Detective. Let's all revisit her epidemiological success (and inventive use of period products) together. #OldWeirdScotland #womeninstem

Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

Summer 1970: a rare form of typhoid is infecting people in Edinburgh. Dr Nancy Conn, a bacteriologist at Western General, finds the source and prevents a major outbreak with detective work and sanitary towels. A thread on one of Scotland's unsung #WomenInSTEM #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

Dr Conn interviewed her but, in short, nobody knows. She lived alone for most of her life, except with her father, who was a horse vet in the second Boer War and did travel afterwards. Maybe he was also an #asymptomatic carrier of Salmonella typhi K1 and she got it from him? 12/n

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

RULE #1 Any last name can be a first name. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

2 years

In 18th century #Banff , if a sick or disabled person had no family and was deemed a burden, the town wheelbarrowed them out to the countryside and left them. They got to keep the barrow to beg from. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

In May 1818, a fully-grown ox chased a Leith man down the street, in his front door, up a spiral staircase for four storeys, and destroyed his mother's bedroom. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

In September 1903, 19 year old Orcadian, Lizzie B. Murison, became the first woman to drive from Land's End to John o' Groats. It took her 57hrs of driving over 7 days to cover the 900ish miles. Her first driving lesson was the day before she set off. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

5 years

After her car went off the road in Jan 1940, Miss E.F. Smith (55yo) and her dog walked home from Brechin to Letham. She claimed to have experienced a time-slip of 1265 years and walked onto the site of the Battle of Nechtanesmere and saw Picts and Saxons fight. #OldWeirdScotland

s 🇵🇸

@battledykes

5 years

@WeirdScotland Letham, Angus

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

2 years

Halloween is an excellent Scottish holiday, with plenty of weird fun customs. BUT today we need to talk about an oft-shared "tradition" that is absolutely nonsense and has zero truth behind it: A deep dive into Scotland, Witchcraft, and Sausage Rolls (🧵) #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

1 year

On a holiday weekend in April 1945, Dundee transport workers went on strike and caused citywide chaos. Volunteers and mechanics drove trams/buses for a skeleton service. Fares went uncollected. Why? A woman (!) had been temporarily promoted to inspector #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

MY SOURCES: Dr Conn's 1972 Journal of Hygiene paper on the outbreak: Her obituary (and picture) in the British Medical Journal: and here @cocteautriplets IDed the unlabeled map as Colinton for me.

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

10 months

Ever heard the Scottish version of "The 12 Days of Christmas"? A thread with the Scottish and English versions of the carol compared. The 12 Days of Christmas vs... THE 13 DAYS O YULE Who gifted it better? #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

2 years

Good Morning to all you commuters! Opened in 1831, Glasgow's first train station was Townhead. Four trains a day left the station, all year, rain or shine. The carriages were open-air, without a roof... #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

South Uist guisers, 1932 📷(Margaret Fay Shaw)

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

The idea of only the upper classes benefitting is bogus. All Scots still benefit from money made through slavery. "Education for all" has long been a pride of Scotland but the "philanthropist Scot" that funded this wasn't often asked where the money came from (2/n) Some examples:

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

2 years

In 1631, the Burgh of Peebles made it illegal to let your chicken eat your neighbours thatched roof. In 1656, the Burgh ordained that all chickens must wear wooden clogs to prevent them flying up onto rooves. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

2 years

90 years ago in Arbroath! #OldWeirdScotland

Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

Good Morning! Mr A. Young and the cannabis plant he accidentally grew in his Arbroath garden in 1933. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

1 year

Are ye wantin any guisers? #OldWeirdScotland

Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

Guising was creepier in #OldWeirdScotland South Uist guisers, 1932 (📷Margaret Fay Shaw)

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

2 years

22nd September 1497. James IV orders every Edinburgher with "the grandgore" (syphilis) to go to Leith. Boats then took them to the island of Inchkeith, where they were to live the rest of their lives in banishment. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

2 years

As we near the first #Coronation of a British monarch in 70 years, here's a reminder of how Scotland reacted to the last one. The Pillar Box War of 1953. #OldWeirdScotland

Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

2 years

For many in Scotland, this weekend marks the #PlatinumJubilee of Queen Elizabeth the *First*. Read about the Pillar Box War and how Scotland reacted to the new monarch in 1952/53 PART ONE: #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

This weekend was the 69th anniversary of the pillar box bombing at the The Inch estate in Edinburgh. Possibly the most dramatic display of discontent around the Queen's royal cipher; but there's a *lot* more to the "Pillar Box War". A (long) #OldWeirdScotland thread:

Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

At exactly 10pm, #OTD 69 years ago, a postbox in Liberton was blown up by a gelignite bomb because it was marked "E II R" The new queen's regnal name, "Elizabeth the 2nd" was offensive to many Scots, as Scotland hadn't had an Elizabeth the 1st. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

1 year

#OTD in 1626. Aberdeen outlaws peer pressure #OldWeirdScotland

Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

5 years

In October 1626, parties after baptisms had gotten so out of hand that Aberdeen made it illegal to "compell any nichtboures to drink any wyn, aill, or beir" that they didn't want to. Anyone caught pressuring someone to drink was fined £40 #OldWeirdScotland #DrinkAwareScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

Pictured is actually a later Austrian example of the same idea (a Sparsarg "economy coffin")

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

1 year

The Crap Maps of Scotland: an occasional series. 🧵 #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

Dr Conn set out to test the river water across the whole area the children had played. The standard protocol for collecting bacteria, known as Moore swabs, kept failing, got muddy and disintegrated in the fast, dirty river. Dr Conn made her own sturdy replacement samplers. 4/n

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

Good Morning! #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

2 years

Sixty years ago in #Greenock 😬 #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

The sanitary towels, after being sunk in the river, were taken back to the lab and cultured. Some had collected the bacterium. Just upstream from the first one that came back positive, Dr Conn found a surface water drain outlet. Problem is, typhoid shouldn't be in rain water. 5/n

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

Only one thing seemed to link them-- they had all played, fished, or picnicked at the Water of Leith--some had drunk the water. Dr Conn mapped out where the patients had been, but it covered a sizable stretch of a fairly polluted river. 3/n

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

Typhoid was and is uncommon in Scotland. Apart from an outbreak in Aberdeen in the 60s, most cases are linked to overseas travel. The Edinburgh outbreak was different. It was mainly children who were being infected, from different parts of the city. 1/n

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

It was one of several incidents in 1953 that became known as the Pillar Box War, where any displays ofEIIR were torn down or defaced. Eventually the Post Office decided to never use the Queen's cipher in Scotland; a plain crown was used instead. h/t @Monkeytail2002

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

4 years

Tom Jenkins was Britain's first black schoolteacher. His community rallied around him and gave him the support he needed when the system in power denied him it. 9/14 #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

3 years

At Eshaness, Shetland: DONALD ROBERTSON. died 1843 His death much regretted which was caused by the stupidity of Laurence Tulloch in Clothister who sold him nitre instead of Epsom salts by which he was killed in the space of 5 hours after taking a dose of it. #OldWeirdScotland

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Old Weird Scotland

@WeirdScotland

2 years

Dear men, what is preventing you from looking like this? #OldWeirdScotland

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