October 2025
-
Originally published in The Shetland Times. The strange saga of Virdablutt: The lost origins of Up Helly A’? A winter of Up Helly As, in all its manifestations, is almost upon us. Perhaps it is time for me to reveal some of my researches into the strange community of Virdablutt, and the evidence, such as…
-
I don’t want a Hermes tie or a Paul Smith suit I just want a decent pair of Wellington boots So that through the deepest mud I can easily trudge Ones that sit secure on my feet, so they never budge If your boot comes off in a boggy patch of ground And with sock…
-
The rotting of whisky Out for an (excellent, but teetotal) meal the other week I looked speculatively at the hotel’s vast collection of single malt whiskies, many bottles nearly empty or half-empty. As many had been last time I visited two years ago. And I thought about how whisky is like petrol. There are different…
-
The rumours began last year, on internet forums for farmers and Toyota Hilux pick-up truck enthusiasts. I don’t know if there’s a Darknet site for users of ‘technicals’, NSTVs (Non-Standard Technical Vehicles or in Russian Teknikos); That would be Hiluxes (or other imitative truck brands) adapted to carry heavy ordnance such as machine guns, rocket,…
-
Hmm…activities or substances that would be frowned upon, if not ruled completely lawless in Glasgow… …whence I have just travelled, if not travailed, arriving in the isles just as Storm Amy cancels all ferries and sends the supermarkets into bare-shelf meltdown. Not a sun-dried tomato to be had. Never mind. I have scoured Tesco for…
