Posts by Kenny Smith
The rise of giving whisky at Chinese New Year
The millennia-old Chinese tradition of cultural gift-giving is fascinating, as I have learned, being governed by a set of applied codes of etiquette and superstition. More recently, South East Asian gift-giving has become increasingly intertwined with the world of high-age and rare single malt whisky. Its popularity has seen a growing interest in the giving…
Read MoreSPECTRA’s world premiere of Six Frames by Illuminos
SPECTRA, Scotland’s festival of light, will present the world premiere of a brand-new installation from Illuminos: Six Frames next month. Drawing inspiration from six repeating stanzas of Sheena Blackhall’s poem Twa Brigs Bussie, the installation brings audiences along for the journey, recreating the very same route described in the poem, from Brig o Dee to…
Read MoreNew accredited training programme for gamekeepers
Two training days for gamekeepers are scheduled for Scotland this spring. In 2021 and in response to the increased importance of best practice and the British Game Assurance (BGA) Scheme, St David’s Game Bird Services devised a new, accredited, Gamekeeper Training Programme to help Gamekeepers, across the country, to maintain standards and become certified under…
Read MoreScotland in the cold light of day
Landscape photographer Dougie Cunningham captures the bleak beauty of Scotland’s winters. Bitter winters consisting of long nights and cold, short days might not be everyone’s favourite time of year, but landscape photographer Dougie assures us there is no better time to capture the beauty of Scotland than through the winter months. Having spent the majority…
Read MoreA garden on its very best bee-haviour
Jay Jay Gladwin’s personal touch makes all the difference as wildflowers and beneficial weeds boost the bee population in this Black Isle garden. When Jay Jay designs a garden she thinks about three things: structure, atmosphere and plants. ‘I ask a client the obvious questions about garden use and what they like but I also…
Read MoreThe secret lives of plants in our society
We don’t often consider the impact that plants have had on human history, but this book shows how they have been woven into society for centuries. From medicine, through nutrition to murder and construction, there’s a story to be told for all living and growing things. I particularly enjoyed the tale of how the Scottish…
Read MoreA return to form in saving Scotland’s pine martens
Sir John Lister-Kaye has played his part with the slow resurgence of one of Scotland’s natural predators. Increasingly, I hear complaints about there being too many buzzards or other raptors, or that numbers of badgers or pine martens are too high. The first pine marten I ever saw was during my childhood when my parents…
Read MoreSir Harry Lauder – a treasure or an embarrassment?
To many people he was a national icon but for others he was an embarrassment – and even today Sir Harry Lauder splits opinion. It seems apposite that the Sir Harry Lauder Road is the bypass road between Portobello and Edinburgh. On one hand, Portobello was his birthplace; on the other, the Scottish intelligencia have…
Read MoreWhen composer Mendelssohn came to Scotland
As was the wont of wealthy young gentlemen of the time, the composer Felix Mendelssohn went on a grand journey. This book has a subtitle of The Mendelssohns in Scotland and Italy, and tells how Felix’s journey brought him to Scotland, while his sister Fanny alighted in Italy. Using sketches, letters, paintings and captivating narrative…
Read MoreKeep Scotland Beautiful honour Britannia’s work
Environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful has honoured a leading Scottish tourist attraction for its environmental work. They presented the Royal Yacht Britannia and her sister-ship Fingal with a silver level National Award for Environmental Excellence – the business standard that enables organisations to benchmark their environmental achievements and improvements. The accolade recognises the steps which…
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