poetry – Ella MacDonald

The “Daft-Days” of Hogmanay

Posted on December 31, 2018 by Ella R S MacDonald

Sixty years ago in 1958, Christmas Day became a public holiday in Scotland for the first time. Until the 16th century, when religious reformers banned it, Christmas was celebrated as enthusiastically in Scotland as elsewhere in Europe. But the Protestant Reformation changed all that. In 1581 new legislation outlawed carol singing and other Yule-tide customs…

The “learning how to schedule a post” post

Posted on November 12, 2018December 31, 2018 by Ella R S MacDonald

As a new blogger, I thought I was getting the hang of things by drafting a post about Hallowe’en in advance of the day and scheduling it to post on October 31. But my post didn’t appear on the appointed day so clearly I haven’t learned that lesson yet. It seems I got the scheduling…

Surprising literary references #3: Sir Walter Scott
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Edinburgh is a remarkable city, laying claim to a number of world firsts and records of one sort or another. It claims to be the first city in the [more]
An island in shadow
February 12, 2019
A maritime disaster a century ago still casts a shadow over the Isle of Lewis. On New Year’s Day 1919, HM Yacht Iolaire sank near the mouth of [more]
The “Daft-Days” of Hogmanay
December 31, 2018
Sixty years ago in 1958, Christmas Day became a public holiday in Scotland for the first time. Until the 16th century, when religious reformers [more]
Making a drama out of a staircase
December 12, 2018
Perhaps my title should more accurately be “Making a theatrical performance out of a staircase” because the image below is of the [more]
Disruptive technologies, art and the power of print
December 5, 2018
This year saw the 550th anniversary of the death of Johannes Gutenberg and to mark the occasion, the National Library of Scotland used Book Week as [more]
Surprising literary references #2: Robert Louis Stevenson
November 13, 2018
Today (November 13) is the 168th anniversary of author Robert Louis Stevenson’s birth so I was intrigued to find this unusual reference to him [more]

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