1.
Public university
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A public university is a university that is predominantly funded by public means through a national or subnational government, as opposed to private universities. Whether a national university is considered public varies from one country to another, in Egypt, Al-Azhar University opened in 975 AD as the second oldest university in the world. In Nigeria Public Universities can be established by both the Federal Government and by State Governments, students are enrolled after completing the 8-4-4 system of education and attaining a mark of C+ or above. They are also eligible for a low interest loan from the Higher Education Loan Board and they are expected to pay back the loan after completing higher education. South Africa has 23 public tertiary institutions, either categorised as a traditional university or a comprehensive university. Almost entire national universities in Brunei are public universities and these are major universities in Brunei, University of Brunei Darussalam Brunei Technological University Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University There are 40 public universities in Bangladesh. The University Grant Commission is the body for all the public universities in Bangladesh. The universities do not deal directly with the government, but with the University Grants Commission, recently many private universities are established under the Private University Act of 1992. In mainland China, nearly all universities and research institutions are public and currently, the public universities are usually run by the provincial governments, there are also circumstances where the municipal governments administer the universities. Some public universities are national, which are administered by the central government. Private undergraduate colleges do exist, which are vocational colleges sponsored by private enterprises. The majority of universities are not entitled to award bachelors degrees. Public universities usually enjoy higher reputation domestically, eight institutions are funded by the University Grants Committee. The Academy for Performing Arts also receives funding from the government, the Open University of Hong Kong is also a public university, but it is largely self-financed. The Shue Yan University is the private institution with the status of a university. There are public and private institutes in Indonesia. The government provide public universities, institutes, high schools and academies in each province, the private educational institution usually provided by religious organizations, public organizations, and some big companies. In India, most universities and nearly all research institutions are public, There are some private undergraduate colleges, mostly engineering schools, but a majority of these are affiliated to public universities
2.
Royal charter
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A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organisations such as cities or universities, Charters should be distinguished from warrants and letters of appointment, as they have perpetual effect. Typically, a Royal Charter is produced as a high-quality work of calligraphy on vellum, the British monarchy has issued over 980 royal charters. Of these about 750 remain in existence, the earliest was to the town of Tain in 1066, making it the oldest Royal Burgh in Scotland, followed by the University of Cambridge in 1231. Charters continue to be issued by the British Crown, a recent example being that awarded to the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity, Charters have been used in Europe since medieval times to create cities. The date that such a charter is granted is considered to be when a city is founded, at one time, a royal charter was the sole means by which an incorporated body could be formed, but other means are generally used nowadays instead. In the period before 1958,32 higher education institutes had been created by royal charter and these were typically engineering or technical institutions rather than universities. Royal decrees can therefore no longer grant higher education status or university status. A Royal Charter is granted by Order in Council, either creating an incorporated body and this is an exercise of the Royal Prerogative, and, in Canada, there are hundreds of organisations under Royal Charters. Such organisations include charities, businesses, colleges, universities, today, it is mostly charities and professional institutions who receive Royal Charters. Application for a charter is a petition to the Queen-in-Council, however, meeting these benchmarks does not guarantee the issuance of a Royal Charter. Companies, corporations, and societies in Canada founded under or augmented by a Royal Charter include, Royal Charter was issued in August 1826 to purchase and develop lands. Purchased the Crown Reserve of 1,384,413 acres, cities under Royal Charter are not subject to municipal Acts of Parliament applied generally to other municipalities, and instead are governed by legislation applicable to each city individually. The Royal Charter codifies the laws applied to the particular city, the Universitys Pontifical Charter was granted by Pope Leo XIII in 1889. Several Canadian private schools were founded or reconstituted under Royal Charter, the Royal Gibraltar Post Office was granted Royal Charter in 2005. The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club obtained Royal Charter in 1959 and it is one of the three banknote-issuing banks in Hong Kong. The Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch Chartered originally in 1847, disbanded 1859, the Institution of Engineers was incorporated by royal charter in 1935. A number of Irish institutions retain the Royal prefix, even though Republic of Ireland severed all remaining connections between the state and the British monarch in 1949, the University of South Africa received a Royal Charter in 1877
3.
Financial endowment
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A financial endowment is a donation of money or property to a nonprofit organization for the ongoing support of that organization. An endowment may come with stipulations regarding its usage, the total value of an institutions investments is often referred to as the institutions endowment and is typically organized as a public charity, private foundation, or trust. Among the institutions that commonly manage endowments are academic institutions, cultural institutions, service organizations, the earliest endowed chairs were those established by the Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius in Athens in AD176. Aurelius created one endowed chair for each of the schools of philosophy, Platonism, Aristotelianism, Stoicism. Later, similar endowments were set up in other major cities of the Empire. Today, the University of Glasgow has fifteen Regius Professorships, private individuals soon adopted the practice of endowing professorships. Isaac Newton held the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at Cambridge beginning in 1669, unrestricted endowment can be used in any way the recipient chooses to carry out its mission. Term endowment funds stipulate that all or part of the principal may be expended only after the expiration of a period of time or occurrence of a specified event. Quasi endowment funds must retain the purpose and intent as specified by the donor or source of the original funds, Endowment revenue can be restricted by donors to serve many purposes. Endowed professorships or scholarships restricted to a subject are common. Ignoring the restriction is called invading the endowment, but change of circumstance or financial duress like bankruptcy can preclude carrying out the donors intent. A court can alter the use of restricted endowment under a doctrine called cy-près meaning to find an alternative as near as possible to the donors intent, the restricted/unrestricted distinction focuses on the use of the funds, see quasi-endowment below for a distinction about whether principal can be spent. Academic institutions, such as colleges and universities, will control a endowment fund that finances a portion of the operating or capital requirements of the institution. In addition to an endowment fund, each university may also control a number of restricted endowments that are intended to fund specific areas within the institution. The most common examples are endowed professorships, and endowed scholarships or fellowships, in the United States, the endowment is often integral to the financial health of educational institutions. Alumni or friends of institutions sometimes contribute capital to the endowment, the endowment funding culture is strong in the United States and Canada but less pronounced overseas, with the exceptions of Cambridge and Oxford universities. Endowment funds have also created to support secondary and elementary school districts in several states in the United States. An endowed professorship is a position permanently paid for with the revenue from an endowment fund set up for that purpose
4.
Pound sterling
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It is subdivided into 100 pence. A number of nations that do not use sterling also have called the pound. At various times, the sterling was commodity money or bank notes backed by silver or gold. The pound sterling is the worlds oldest currency still in use, the British Crown dependencies of Guernsey and Jersey produce their own local issues of sterling, the Guernsey pound and the Jersey pound. The pound sterling is also used in the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, the Bank of England is the central bank for the pound sterling, issuing its own coins and banknotes, and regulating issuance of banknotes by private banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Sterling is the fourth most-traded currency in the exchange market, after the United States dollar, the euro. Together with those three currencies it forms the basket of currencies which calculate the value of IMF special drawing rights, Sterling is also the third most-held reserve currency in global reserves. The full, official name, pound sterling, is used mainly in formal contexts, otherwise the term pound is normally used. The abbreviations ster. or stg. are sometimes used, the term British pound is commonly used in less formal contexts, although it is not an official name of the currency. The pound sterling is also referred to as cable amongst forex traders, the origins of this term are attributed to the fact that in the 1800s, the dollar/pound sterling exchange rate was transmitted via transatlantic cable. Forex brokers are sometimes referred to as cable dealers, as another established source notes, the compound expression was then derived, silver coins known as sterlings were issued in the Saxon kingdoms,240 of them being minted from a pound of silver. Hence, large payments came to be reckoned in pounds of sterlings, in 1260, Henry III granted them a charter of protection. And because the Leagues money was not frequently debased like that of England, English traders stipulated to be paid in pounds of the Easterlings, and land for their Kontor, the Steelyard of London, which by the 1340s was also called Easterlings Hall, or Esterlingeshalle. For further discussion of the etymology of sterling, see sterling silver, the currency sign for the pound sign is £, which is usually written with a single cross-bar, though a version with a double cross-bar is also sometimes seen. The ISO4217 currency code is GBP, occasionally, the abbreviation UKP is used but this is non-standard because the ISO3166 country code for the United Kingdom is GB. The Crown dependencies use their own codes, GGP, JEP, stocks are often traded in pence, so traders may refer to pence sterling, GBX, when listing stock prices. A common slang term for the pound sterling or pound is quid, since decimalisation in 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 pence. The symbol for the penny is p, hence an amount such as 50p properly pronounced fifty pence is more colloquially, quite often, pronounced fifty pee /fɪfti, pi and this also helped to distinguish between new and old pence amounts during the changeover to the decimal system
5.
Postgraduate education
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In North America, this level is generally referred to as graduate school. The organization and structure of education varies in different countries. This article outlines the types of courses and of teaching and examination methods. There are two types of degrees studied for at the postgraduate level, academic and vocational degrees. The term degree in this means the moving from one stage or level to another. University studies took six years for a degree and up to twelve additional years for a masters degree or doctorate. The first six years taught the faculty of the arts, which was the study of the seven liberal arts, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music theory, grammar, logic, the main emphasis was on logic. Once a Bachelor of Arts degree had been obtained, the student could choose one of three faculties—law, medicine, or theology—in which to pursue masters or doctors degrees. Because theology was thought to be the highest of the subjects, the main significance of the higher, postgraduate degrees was that they licensed the holder to teach. In most countries, the hierarchy of postgraduate degrees is as follows, in Scottish Universities, the Master of Philosophy degree tends to be by research or higher masters degree and the Master of Letters degree tends to be the taught or lower masters degree. In many fields such as social work, or library science in North America. Professional degrees such as the Master of Architecture degree can last to three and a years to satisfy professional requirement to be an architect. Professional degrees such as the Master of Business Administration degree can last up to two years to satisfy the requirement to become a business leader. These are often divided into academic and professional doctorates. An academic doctorate can be awarded as a Doctor of Philosophy degree or as a Doctor of Science degree, a doctorate is the terminal degree in most fields. In the United States, there is distinction between a Doctor of Philosophy degree and a Doctor of Science degree. In the second half of the 19th century, however, US universities began to follow the European model by awarding doctorates, in the UK, an equivalent formation to doctorate is the NVQ5 or QCF8. Most universities award degrees, usually at the postgraduate level
6.
Edinburgh
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Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 local government council areas. Located in Lothian on the Firth of Forths southern shore, it is Scotlands second most populous city and the seventh most populous in the United Kingdom. The 2014 official population estimates are 464,990 for the city of Edinburgh,492,680 for the authority area. Recognised as the capital of Scotland since at least the 15th century, Edinburgh is home to the Scottish Parliament and it is the largest financial centre in the UK after London. Historically part of Midlothian, the city has long been a centre of education, particularly in the fields of medicine, Scots law, literature, the sciences and engineering. The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582 and now one of four in the city, was placed 17th in the QS World University Rankings in 2013 and 2014. The city is famous for the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe. The citys historical and cultural attractions have made it the United Kingdoms second most popular tourist destination after London, attracting over one million overseas visitors each year. Historic sites in Edinburgh include Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace, the churches of St. Giles, Greyfriars and the Canongate, Edinburghs Old Town and New Town together are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which has been managed by Edinburgh World Heritage since 1999. It appears to derive from the place name Eidyn mentioned in the Old Welsh epic poem Y Gododdin, the poem names Din Eidyn as a hill fort in the territory of the Gododdin. The Celtic element din was dropped and replaced by the Old English burh, the first documentary evidence of the medieval burgh is a royal charter, c. 1124–1127, by King David I granting a toft in burgo meo de Edenesburg to the Priory of Dunfermline. In modern Gaelic, the city is called Dùn Èideann, the earliest known human habitation in the Edinburgh area was at Cramond, where evidence was found of a Mesolithic camp site dated to c.8500 BC. Traces of later Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements have found on Castle Rock, Arthurs Seat, Craiglockhart Hill. When the Romans arrived in Lothian at the end of the 1st century AD, at some point before the 7th century AD, the Gododdin, who were presumably descendants of the Votadini, built the hill fort of Din Eidyn or Etin. Although its location has not been identified, it likely they would have chosen a commanding position like the Castle Rock, Arthurs Seat. In 638, the Gododdin stronghold was besieged by forces loyal to King Oswald of Northumbria and it thenceforth remained under their jurisdiction. The royal burgh was founded by King David I in the early 12th century on land belonging to the Crown, in 1638, King Charles Is attempt to introduce Anglican church forms in Scotland encountered stiff Presbyterian opposition culminating in the conflicts of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. In the 17th century, Edinburghs boundaries were defined by the citys defensive town walls
7.
Scotland
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses
8.
Scottish Borders
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The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothian and, to the south and east, the administrative centre of the area is Newtown St Boswells. Historically, the name Scottish Borders designated the border region of southern Scotland and. The Scottish Borders are in the part of the Southern Uplands. The region is hilly and largely rural, with the River Tweed flowing west to east through it, in the east of the region, the area that borders the River Tweed is flat and is known as The Merse. Thus, across the region are to be seen the ruins of castles, abbeys. In 1996 the region became a unitary authority area and the districts were wound up, the region was created with the name Borders. Following the election of an area council in 1995 the name was changed to Scottish Borders with effect from 1996. Since the 5th century, there has been evidence of two languages in the area, Brythonic and Old English, the latter of which developed into its modern forms of English. There are two British Parliamentary constituencies in the Borders, Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk covers most of the region and is represented by Calum Kerr of the SNP. The western Tweeddale area is included in the Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale constituency and is represented by Conservative David Mundell, at Scottish Parliament level, there are also two seats. The eastern constituency is Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, which is represented by Conservative John Lamont. The western constituency is Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale and is represented by SNP Christine Grahame, following the 2012 local elections, the council administration is now a coalition of Independents, Scottish National Party and Liberal Democrats. Prior to the election a coalition of Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Independents ruled, the Conservatives are the biggest party on the council with 10 seats, the Liberal Democrats have six. The SNP have nine seats and the Independents have seven, two councillors form the Borders Party. At the Census held on 27 March 2011, the population of the region was 114,000, the region had until September 2015 no working railway stations. Although the area was connected to the Victorian railway system. A bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament to extend the Waverley Line and this section of the route re-opened on 6 September 2015, under the Borders Railway branding
9.
Orkney
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Orkney /ˈɔːrkni/, also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of Great Britain. Orkney is 16 kilometres north of the coast of Caithness and comprises approximately 70 islands, the largest island Mainland is often referred to as the Mainland. It has an area of 523 square kilometres, making it the sixth-largest Scottish island, the largest settlement and administrative centre is Kirkwall. A form of the dates to the pre-Roman era and the islands have been inhabited for at least 8500 years, originally occupied by Mesolithic and Neolithic tribes. Orkney was invaded and forcibly annexed by Norway in 875 and settled by the Norse, the Scottish Parliament then re-annexed the earldom to the Scottish Crown in 1472, following the failed payment of a dowry for James IIIs bride Margaret of Denmark. Orkney contains some of the oldest and best-preserved Neolithic sites in Europe, Orkney is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, a constituency of the Scottish Parliament, a lieutenancy area, and a historic county. The local council is Orkney Islands Council, one of only three Councils in Scotland with a majority of elected members who are independents. In addition to the Mainland, most of the islands are in two groups, the North and South Isles, all of which have a geological base of Old Red Sandstone. The climate is mild and the soils are fertile, most of the land being farmed. Agriculture is the most important sector of the economy, the significant wind and marine energy resources are of growing importance, and the island generates more than its total yearly electricity demand using renewables. The local people are known as Orcadians and have a distinctive Orcadian dialect of Scots, there is an abundance of marine and avian wildlife. Pytheas of Massilia visited Britain – probably sometime between 322 and 285 BC – and described it as triangular in shape, with a northern tip called Orcas and this may have referred to Dunnet Head, from which Orkney is visible. Speakers of Old Irish referred to the islands as Insi Orc island of the pigs, the archipelago is known as Ynysoedd Erch in modern Welsh and Arcaibh in modern Scottish Gaelic, the -aibh representing a fossilized prepositional case ending. The Anglo-Saxon monk Bede refers to the islands as Orcades insulae in his seminal work Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Norwegian settlers arriving from the ninth century reinterpreted orc as the Old Norse orkn seal. The plural suffix -jar was later removed in English leaving the modern name Orkney, according to the Historia Norwegiæ, Orkney was named after an earl called Orkan. The Norse knew Mainland Orkney as Megenland Mainland or as Hrossey Horse Island, the island is sometimes referred to as Pomona, a name that stems from a sixteenth-century mistranslation by George Buchanan, which has rarely been used locally. A charred hazelnut shell, recovered in 2007 during excavations in Tankerness on the Mainland has been dated to 6820–6660 BC indicating the presence of Mesolithic nomadic tribes
10.
Dubai
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Dubai is the largest and most populous city in the United Arab Emirates. It is located on the southeast coast of the Persian Gulf and is the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Dubai are the only two emirates to have veto power over critical matters of national importance in the countrys legislature. The city of Dubai is located on the northern coastline. Dubai will host World Expo 2020, Dubai has emerged as a global city and business hub of the Middle East. It is also a transport hub for passengers and cargo. By the 1960s, Dubais economy was based on revenues from trade and, to an extent, oil exploration concessions. Oil revenue first started to flow in 1969, Dubais oil revenue helped accelerate the early development of the city, but its reserves are limited and production levels are low, today, less than 5% of the emirates revenue comes from oil. The emirates Western-style model of business drives its economy with the main revenues now coming from tourism, aviation, real estate, Dubai was recently named the best destination for Muslim travellers by Salam Standard. Dubai has recently attracted attention through many innovative large construction projects and sports events. The city has become iconic for its skyscrapers and high-rise buildings, in particular the worlds tallest building, Dubai has been criticised for human rights violations concerning the citys largely South Asian and Filipino workforce. As of 2012, Dubai was the 22nd most expensive city in the world, in 2014, Dubais hotel rooms were rated as the second most expensive in the world, after Geneva. Dubai was rated as one of the best places to live in the Middle East by U. S. global consulting firm Mercer, Many theories have been proposed as to the origin of the word Dubai. One theory suggests the word was used to describe the souq, another theory states that the name came from a word meaning money, as people from Dubai were commonly believed to be rich due to the thriving trading centre of the location. An Arabic proverb says Daba Dubai, meaning They came with a lot of money, according to Fedel Handhal, a scholar on the UAEs history and culture, the word Dubai may have come from the word daba, referring to the slow flow of Dubai Creek inland. The poet and scholar Ahmad Mohammad Obaid traces it to the same word, an inhabitant or native of the city is a Dubaian. Although stone tools have been found at archaeological sites, little is known about the UAEs early inhabitants as only a few settlements have been found. Many ancient towns in the area were trading centres between the Eastern and Western worlds, the remnants of an ancient mangrove swamp, dated at 7000 BC, were discovered during the construction of sewer lines near Dubai Internet City. The area was covered with sand about 5,000 years ago as the coast retreated inland, pre-Islamic ceramics have been found from the 3rd and 4th centuries
11.
Malaysia
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Malaysia is a federal constitutional monarchy located in Southeast Asia. Peninsular Malaysia shares a land and maritime border with Thailand and maritime borders with Singapore, Vietnam, East Malaysia shares land and maritime borders with Brunei and Indonesia and a maritime border with the Philippines and Vietnam. The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government, with a population of over 30 million, Malaysia is the 44th most populous country. The southernmost point of continental Eurasia, Tanjung Piai, is in Malaysia, located in the tropics, Malaysia is one of 17 megadiverse countries on earth, with large numbers of endemic species. Malaysia has its origins in the Malay kingdoms present in the area which, from the 18th century, the first British territories were known as the Straits Settlements, whose establishment was followed by the Malay kingdoms becoming British protectorates. The territories on Peninsular Malaysia were first unified as the Malayan Union in 1946, Malaya was restructured as the Federation of Malaya in 1948, and achieved independence on 31 August 1957. Malaya united with North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore on 16 September 1963 to become Malaysia, less than two years later in 1965, Singapore was expelled from the federation. The country is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural, which plays a role in politics. About half the population is ethnically Malay, with minorities of Malaysian Chinese, Malaysian Indians. The constitution declares Islam the state religion while allowing freedom of religion for non-Muslims, the government system is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system and the legal system is based on common law. The head of state is the king, known as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and he is an elected monarch chosen from the hereditary rulers of the nine Malay states every five years. The head of government is the prime minister, since its independence, Malaysia has had one of the best economic records in Asia, with its GDP growing at an average of 6. 5% per annum for almost 50 years. The economy has traditionally been fuelled by its resources, but is expanding in the sectors of science, tourism, commerce. Today, Malaysia has a newly industrialised market economy, ranked third largest in Southeast Asia, the name Malaysia is a combination of the word Malay and the Latin-Greek suffix -sia/-σία. The word melayu in Malay may derive from the Tamil words malai and ur meaning mountain and city, land, malayadvipa was the word used by ancient Indian traders when referring to the Malay Peninsula. Whether or not it originated from these roots, the word melayu or mlayu may have used in early Malay/Javanese to mean to steadily accelerate or run. This term was applied to describe the current of the river Melayu in Sumatra. The name was adopted by the Melayu Kingdom that existed in the seventh century on Sumatra
12.
Association of Commonwealth Universities
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The Association of Commonwealth Universities represents 535 universities from 37 Commonwealth countries. It is the worlds first and oldest international university network, established in 1913, a UK-registered charity, the ACU has over 500 member institutions in developed and developing countries across the Commonwealth. Drawing on the experience and expertise, the ACU seeks to address issues in international higher education through a range of projects, networks. The Association of Commonwealth Universities is governed by its member institutions through an elected Council, as the ACU is a UK-registered charity, Council members also act as its Trustees. The ACU Council comprises up to 23 members,20 elected Council members, in 1912, the University of London took the initiative to assemble 53 representatives of universities in London to hold a Congress of Universities of the Empire. They decided they needed a bureau of information and its affairs would be handled by a committee representing universities at home and abroad. In 1913 the office opened as the Universities Bureau of the British Empire, in 1948 the name was changed to Association of Universities of the British Commonwealth, and in 1963 it changed to its current name. Dr Anastasios Christodoulou was the Secretary General of the Association of Commonwealth Universities from 1980 to 1996, in 1986, Queen Elizabeth II became patron of the Association of Commonwealth Universities. Currently 37 countries from the Commonwealth are represented in the Association
13.
Mechanics' Institutes
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Mechanics Institutes are educational establishments, originally formed to provide adult education, particularly in technical subjects, to working men. Similar organisation are sometimes simply called Institutes, as such, they were often funded by local industrialists on the grounds that they would ultimately benefit from having more knowledgeable and skilled employees. The Mechanics Institutes were used as libraries for the working class. Its purpose was to address societal needs by incorporating fundamental scientific thinking, the school revolutionised access to education in science and technology for ordinary people. The second Institute in Scotland was incorporated in Glasgow in November 1823, under the auspices of the Andersonian University, Birkbeck had first instituted free lectures on arts, science and technical subjects in 1800. This mechanics class continued to meet after he moved to London in 1804, the first Mechanics Institute in England was opened at Liverpool in July 1823. The London Mechanics Institute followed in December 1823, and the Mechanics Institutes in Ipswich, by the mid-19th century, there were over 700 institutes in towns and cities across the UK and overseas, some of which became the early roots of other colleges and universities. See for example the University of Gloucestershire, which has the Cheltenham Mechanics Institute and it was as a result of delivering a lecture series at the Cheltenham Mechanics Institute that the famous radical George Holyoake was arrested and then convicted on a charge of blasphemy. From the 1850s, Mechanics Institutes quickly spread throughout Victoria wherever a hall, over 1200 Mechanics Institutes were built in Victoria but just over 500 remain today, and only six still operate their lending library services. The Industrial Revolution created a new class of reader in Britain by the end of the 18th century, mechanics, later popular non-fiction and fiction books were added to these collections. The first known library of type was the Birmingham Artisans Library. Some mechanics libraries only lasted a decade or two, many eventually became public libraries or were given to public libraries after the Public Libraries Act 1850 passed. Beyond a lending library, Mechanics Institutes also provided lecture courses, laboratories, the Glasgow Institute, founded in 1823, not only had all three, it was also provided free light on two evenings a week from the local Gas Light Company. The London Mechanics Institute installed gas illumination by 1825, revealing the demand, Ballarat Mechanics Institute, Ballarat Berwick Mechanics Institute, Berwick Briagolong Mechanics Institute, Briagolong Footscray Mechanics Institute Inc. Birkbeck, University of London Lurgan, County Armagh and it is chartered the following year and is eventually superseded in New Haven by The Young Mens Institute Library. 1795 The Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association of Boston, Massachusetts, was formed for the purposes of promoting the mechanic arts. 1820 General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York established, renamed and became the Mechanics Institute in 1858. 1821 The English High School is established in Boston, MA, as the first public high school,1824 The Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts opens in Philadelphia
14.
Putrajaya
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Putrajaya, officially the Federal Territory of Putrajaya, is a planned city and the federal administrative centre of Malaysia. The seat of government was shifted in 1999 from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajaya, because of overcrowding, Kuala Lumpur remains Malaysias national capital, and is the seat of the King and the Parliament, and is the countrys commercial and financial centre. Putrajaya was the idea of former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad and it became Malaysias third Federal Territory, after Kuala Lumpur and Labuan, in 2001. Named after the first Malaysian Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, Putrajaya is also a part of MSC Malaysia, a special economic zone that covers Klang Valley. In Sanskrit, putra means prince or male child, and jaya means success or victory, the development of Putrajaya started in the early 1990s, today, major landmarks have been completed and the population is expected to grow in the near future. Putrajaya used to be Prang Besar, and was founded in 1918 as Air Hitam by the British. Its land area of 800 acres d expanded to 8,000 acres, the new city was proposed to be located between Kuala Lumpur and the new Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Two areas were proposed, Prang Besar and Janda Baik of Pahang, the Federal government negotiated with the state of Selangor on the prospect of another Federal Territory. In the mid-1990s the Federal government paid an amount of money to Selangor for approximately 11,320 acres of land in Prang Besar. As a result of land purchase, the state of Selangor now completely surrounds two Federal territories within its borders, namely Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. Planned as a city and intelligent city, 38% of the area is reserved for green spaces in which the natural landscape is enhanced. The plan incorporated a network of spaces and wide boulevards. Construction began in August 1995, it was Malaysias biggest project and one of Southeast Asias largest, the entire project was designed and constructed by Malaysian companies with only 10% of the materials imported. The Asian Financial Crisis of 1997/1998 somewhat slowed the development of Putrajaya,300 members of the Prime Ministers office staff moved there in 1999, and the remaining government servants moved in 2005. On 1 February 2001 Tun Dr. Mahathir declared Putrajaya as a Federal Territory in a ceremony by which Putrajaya township was handed over from the Selangor state authorities, in 2002 a rail link called KLIA Transit was opened, linking Putrajaya to KLIA in Sepang. However, construction of the Putrajaya Monorail, which was intended to be the citys metro system, was suspended owing to high costs, one of the monorail suspension bridges in Putrajaya remains unused. In April 2013 the Putrajaya government signed a letter of intent with the government of Sejong City in South Korea to mark co-operation between the two cities, as of 2012 almost all of Malaysias governmental ministries had relocated to Putrajaya. The only ministries remaining in Kuala Lumpur were the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Ministry of Defence, alamanda Shopping Centre, located near the governmental ministries in Precinct 1, was opened to serve people who work, play and live in Putrajaya
15.
Times Higher Education World University Rankings
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Times Higher Education World University Rankings is an annual publication of university rankings by Times Higher Education magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli Symonds to publish the joint THE–QS World University Rankings from 2004 to 2009 before it turned to Thomson Reuters for a new ranking system. It is considered as one of the most widely observed university measures together with Academic Ranking of World Universities and it is praised for having a new improved methodology but undermining non-English-instructing institutions and being commercialized are the major criticisms. Times Higher Education chose to partner with educational and careers advice company QS to supply the data, the publication developed a new rankings methodology in consultation with its readers, its editorial board and Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters will collect and analyse the data used to produce the rankings on behalf of Times Higher Education, the first ranking was published in September 2010. In fact, the surveys of reputation, which made up 40 percent of scores, and its clear that our research measures favored the sciences over the humanities. He went on to describe previous attempts at peer review as embarrassing in The Australian, The sample was too small. THE published its first rankings using its new methodology on 16 September 2010, the Globe and Mail in 2010 described the Times Higher Education World University Rankings to be arguably the most influential. The inaugural 2010-2011 methodology contained 13 separate indicators grouped under five categories, Teaching, research, citations, international mix, the number of indicators is up from the Times-QS rankings published between 2004 and 2009, which used six indicators. A draft of the methodology was released on 3 June 2010. The names of the categories and the weighting of each was modified in the final methodology, the overall ranking score was calculated by making Z-scores all datasets to standardize different data types on a common scale to better make comparisons among data. The reputational component of the came from an Academic Reputation Survey conducted by Thomson Reuters in spring 2010. The survey gathered 13,388 responses among scholars statistically representative of global higher educations geographical, the magazines category for industry income – innovation came from a sole indicator, institutions research income from industry scaled against the number of academic staff. The magazine stated that it used this data as proxy for high-quality knowledge transfer, the Times stated that articles published in 2009–2010 have not yet completely accumulated in the database. The magazine announced on 5 September 2011 that its 2011–2012 World University Rankings would be published on 6 October 2011, at the same time, the magazine revealed changes to the ranking formula that will be introduced with the new rankings. The methodology will continue to use 13 indicators across five categories and will keep its fundamental foundations. Teaching and research will each remain 30 percent of the overall score, however, a new international outlook – staff, students and research will be introduced and will make up 7.5 percent of the final score. One 2011–2012 indicator, the public research income, will be dropped
16.
Academic Ranking of World Universities
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Academic Ranking of World Universities, also known as Shanghai Ranking, is an annual publication of university rankings by Shanghai Ranking Consultancy. The publication currently includes worlds overall and subject league tables, alongside independent regional Greater China Ranking, ARWU is regarded as one of the three most influential and widely observed university measures, alongside QS World University Rankings and Times Higher Education World University Rankings. It is praised for its objective methodology but draws some condemnation for narrowly focusing on raw power, undermining humanities. ARWU is praised by media and institutions for its methodology. A survey on higher education published by The Economist in 2005 commented ARWU as the most widely used annual ranking of the research universities. In 2010, The Chronicle of Higher Education called ARWU the best-known, EU Research Headlines reported the ARWUs work on 31 December 2003, The universities were carefully evaluated using several indicators of research performance. Chancellor of University of Oxford, Chris Patten and former Vice-Chancellor of Australian National University, Ian Chubb, said and it looks like a pretty good stab at a fair comparison. And The SJTU rankings were reported quickly and widely around the offer an important comparative view of research performance. Philip G. Altbach named ARWUs consistency, clarity of purpose, whilst ARWU has originated in China, the ranking have been praised for being unbiased towards Asian institutions. Like all other rankings, ARWU has criticism and it is condemned for relying too much on award factors thus undermining the importance of quality of instruction and humanities. A2007 paper published in the journal Scientometrics found that the results from the Shanghai rankings could not be reproduced from raw data using the described by Liu. A2013 paper in the journal finally showed how the Shanghai ranking results could be reproduced. In a report from April 2009, J-C, billaut, D. Bouyssou and Ph. Vincke analyse how the ARWU works, using their insights as specialists of Multiple Criteria Decision Making. The ARWU researchers themselves, N. C Liu and Y Cheng, think that the quality of universities cannot be measured by mere numbers. They suggest that university and college rankings should be used with caution, ARWU has been criticised by the European Commission as well as some EU member states for favour Anglo-Saxon higher education institutions. It is also criticised in France for its use as a motivation for fusing universities into larger ones, indeed, number of publications or award winners will mechanically add as universities are grouped, independently of research quality. The weighting of all the other remains unchanged, thus the grand total of 70%. There are two categories in ARWUs disciplinary rankings, broad subject fields and specific subjects, the methodology is similar to that adopted in the overall table, including award factors, paper citation, and the number of highly cited scholars
17.
James Watt
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While working as an instrument maker at the University of Glasgow, Watt became interested in the technology of steam engines. He realised that contemporary engine designs wasted a great deal of energy by repeatedly cooling and reheating the cylinder, Watt introduced a design enhancement, the separate condenser, which avoided this waste of energy and radically improved the power, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of steam engines. Eventually he adapted his engine to produce rotary motion, greatly broadening its use beyond pumping water, Watt attempted to commercialise his invention, but experienced great financial difficulties until he entered a partnership with Matthew Boulton in 1775. The new firm of Boulton and Watt was eventually highly successful, in his retirement, Watt continued to develop new inventions though none was as significant as his steam engine work. He developed the concept of horsepower, and the SI unit of power, James Watt was born on 19 January 1736 in Greenock, Renfrewshire, a seaport on the Firth of Clyde. His father was a shipwright, ship owner and contractor, and served as the towns chief baillie, while his mother, Agnes Muirhead, both were Presbyterians and strong Covenanters. Watts grandfather, Thomas Watt, was a teacher and baillie to the Baron of Cartsburn. Despite being raised by parents, he later on became a deist. Watt did not attend regularly, initially he was mostly schooled at home by his mother but later he attended Greenock Grammar School. He exhibited great manual dexterity, engineering skills and an aptitude for mathematics, while Latin, when he was eighteen, his mother died and his fathers health began to fail. Watt travelled to London to study instrument-making for a year, then returned to Scotland and he made and repaired brass reflecting quadrants, parallel rulers, scales, parts for telescopes, and barometers, among other things. Because he had not served at least seven years as an apprentice, Watt was saved from this impasse by the arrival from Jamaica of astronomical instruments bequeathed by Alexander Macfarlane to the University of Glasgow, instruments that required expert attention. Watt restored them to working order and was remunerated and these instruments were eventually installed in the Macfarlane Observatory. Subsequently three professors offered him the opportunity to set up a workshop within the university. It was initiated in 1757 and two of the professors, the physicist and chemist Joseph Black as well as the famed Adam Smith, at first he worked on maintaining and repairing scientific instruments used in the university, helping with demonstrations, and expanding the production of quadrants. In 1759 he formed a partnership with John Craig, an architect and businessman, to manufacture and sell a line of products including musical instruments and this partnership lasted for the next six years, and employed up to sixteen workers. One employee, Alex Gardner, eventually took over the business, in 1764, Watt married his cousin Margaret Miller, with whom he had five children, two of whom lived to adulthood, James Jr. and Margaret. His wife died in childbirth in 1772, in 1777 he was married again, to Ann MacGregor, daughter of a Glasgow dye-maker, with whom he had two children, Gregory, who became a geologist and mineralogist, and Janet
18.
Royal College of Science and Technology
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Originally the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College, The Royal College of Science and Technology was formed in 1887. Because of the number of students attending the college, larger premises became necessary. Work to expand the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College building began in 1903, at that time, it was the largest single educational complex in Europe. After seeking permission from King George V in 1912 the College changed its name to the Royal Technical College, in 1956 there was another change of name for the College and it became the Royal College of Science and Technology. A new Students Union was built in 1959 on John Street, all four buildings form what is now known as the Island Site, and have undergone major renovations in recent years. In 1961 the Royal College entered into an agreement with Glasgow Corporation to jointly redevelop the adjacent Richmond Street site which had recently been cleared of its slum housing, curran was appointed its first Principal and Vice-Chancellor. This was the first new university in Scotland for 381 years, sir Samuel remained at the university until retirement in 1980 - the replacement building for the Andersonian Library opened that year was named in his honour. Following the recommendation of the Robbins Committee, the Scottish College of Commerce amalgamated with the College to form the University of Strathclyde in 1964, since then, the Royal College Building has served as the centrepiece building of the University of Strathclyde. An old Glasgow nickname for the Royal College, and its antecedents, the nickname is still used in a jocular/derogatory sense by students and alumni of the rival University of Glasgow, who refer to Strathclyders as Techies. The courses available are still the same with undergraduate and postgraduate degrees available, the undergraduate degrees available are split into two subjects, Biological and Biomedical Science and Pharmacy. Some of the degrees available in Biological and Biomedical Science are BSc Biological Sciences, BSc Biomedical Sciences, the postgraduate degree is a follow-on from the undergraduate degree. The department of Pure and Applied Chemistry is located in the Royal College Building on level 6, the department of Chemistry was not always in the royal college building because it was established before the University of Strathclyde. This department was established in the 19th Century and over the last 200 years it has become a department with a very highly rated reputation. The department of Pure and Applied Chemistry offers three types of degrees, Undergraduate, Postgraduate taught and Postgraduate research, the undergraduate degree lasts for four years and students have the choice of 10 areas to study in. To get into the undergraduate degrees you need to have the 48 credits for the BSc degree and 60 credits for the masters degree, the credit conversion table can be found at this page UCAS credit table. To apply to one of the undergraduate courses you have to do this through UCAS which is an application form. They are two postgraduate degrees available and these are MSc/PgDip in Forensic Science and MSc/PgDip in Forensic Informatics. Both of these degrees last one year and it is a progression from the undergraduate degree and they are few people who take the Postgraduate teaching degree after doing an undergraduate degree because they have graduated and found a job
19.
Glasgow
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Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland, and third largest in the United Kingdom. Historically part of Lanarkshire, it is now one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and it is situated on the River Clyde in the countrys West Central Lowlands. Inhabitants of the city are referred to as Glaswegians, Glasgow grew from a small rural settlement on the River Clyde to become the largest seaport in Britain. From the 18th century the city grew as one of Great Britains main hubs of transatlantic trade with North America. Glasgow was the Second City of the British Empire for much of the Victorian era and Edwardian period, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries Glasgow grew in population, reaching a peak of 1,128,473 in 1939. The entire region surrounding the conurbation covers about 2.3 million people, at the 2011 census, Glasgow had a population density of 8, 790/sq mi, the highest of any Scottish city. Glasgow hosted the 2014 Commonwealth Games and is well known in the sporting world for the football rivalry of the Old Firm between Celtic and Rangers. Glasgow is also known for Glasgow patter, a dialect that is noted for being difficult to understand by those from outside the city. Glasgow is the form of the ancient Cumbric name Glas Cau. Possibly referring to the area of Molendinar Burn where Glasgow Cathedral now stands, the later Gaelic name Baile Glas Chu, town of the grey dog, is purely a folk-etymology. The present site of Glasgow has been settled since prehistoric times, it is for settlement, being the furthest downstream fording point of the River Clyde, the origins of Glasgow as an established city derive ultimately from its medieval position as Scotlands second largest bishopric. Glasgow increased in importance during the 10th and 11th centuries as the site of this bishopric, reorganised by King David I of Scotland and John, there had been an earlier religious site established by Saint Mungo in the 6th century. The bishopric became one of the largest and wealthiest in the Kingdom of Scotland, bringing wealth, sometime between 1189 and 1195 this status was supplemented by an annual fair, which survives as the Glasgow Fair. Glasgow grew over the following centuries, the first bridge over the River Clyde at Glasgow was recorded from around 1285, giving its name to the Briggait area of the city, forming the main North-South route over the river via Glasgow Cross. The founding of the University of Glasgow in 1451 and elevation of the bishopric to become the Archdiocese of Glasgow in 1492 increased the towns religious and educational status and landed wealth. Its early trade was in agriculture, brewing and fishing, with cured salmon and herring being exported to Europe, Glasgow was subsequently raised to the status of Royal Burgh in 1611. The citys Tobacco Lords created a water port at Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde. By the late 18th century more than half of the British tobacco trade was concentrated on Glasgows River Clyde, at the time, Glasgow held a commercial importance as the city participated in the trade of sugar, tobacco and later cotton
20.
Robert Stevenson (civil engineer)
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Robert Stevenson FRSE, FGS, FRAS, FSA Scot, MWS, MInstCE was a Scottish civil engineer and famed designer and builder of lighthouses. One of his finest achievements was the construction of the Bell Rock Lighthouse, Stevenson was born in Glasgow, his father was Alan Stevenson, a partner in a West India trading house in the city. As a result, Stevenson was educated as an infant at a charity school and his mother intended Robert for the ministry and to this end sent him to the school of a famous linguist of the day, Mr. Macintyre. Stevenson served as Smiths assistant, and was so successful that, at age 19, study was interleaved with work - his next project was lighthouses on Orkney. He made use of months to attend lectures in philosophy, mathematics, chemistry and natural history, as well as moral philosophy, logic. He did not take a degree, however, having a poor knowledge of Latin, the most important work of Stevensons life is the Bell Rock Lighthouse, a scheme long in the gestation and then long and extremely hazardous in the construction. This structure was based upon the design of the earlier Eddystone Lighthouse by John Smeaton, samuel Smiles, the popular engineering author of the time, published an account taken from Rennie, which assisted in establishing his claim. History, and the Northern Lighthouse Board, give credit to Stevenson. Stevensons work on the Bell Rock and elsewhere provided a fund of anecdotes of the danger in which he placed himself, for this last innovation he was awarded a gold medal by King William I of the Netherlands. The period after Waterloo and the end of the wars was a time of much improvement of the fabric of the country. Projects included roads, bridges, harbours, canals and railways and he designed and oversaw the construction of the Hutcheson Bridge in Glasgow, and the Regent Bridge and approaches from the East to Edinburgh. He projected a number of canals and railways which were not built and he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1815. He devised and tested the hypothesis that freshwater and saltwater at river mouths exist as separate and he contributed to the Encyclopædia Britannica and the Edinburgh Encyclopædia, and published in a number of the scientific journals of the day. In 1799, Robert married Jean Smith, Thomas Smiths eldest daughter by his first wife, a number of their children died young including three who died of childhood diseases early in 1808 during the construction of Bell Rock. Three of Stevenson’s sons became engineers, David, Alan, roberts surviving children also include Joseph, who emigrated to Victoria, Australia in 1832, and Jane, who assisted in writing and illustrating an account of the Bell Rock Lighthouse construction. Robert Louis Stevenson was his grandson, via Thomas, and Katharine de Mattos was his granddaughter, Stevenson died on 12 July 1850 in Edinburgh. He is buried in the Stevenson family plot in New Calton Cemetery, Stevenson College, Edinburgh was founded in 1970, and was named after Robert Stevenson. For at least some of his life Robert Stevenson lived at 1 Baxters Place, Edinburgh, bella Bathurst wrote a biographical account of the professional accomplishments of Stevenson and his sons in The Lighthouse Stevensons
21.
Walter Scott
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Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet, FRSE was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright and poet. Many of his works remain classics of both English-language literature and of Scottish literature, famous titles include Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, Old Mortality, The Lady of the Lake, Waverley, The Heart of Midlothian and The Bride of Lammermoor. A prominent member of the Tory establishment in Edinburgh, Scott was an member of the Highland Society. He survived a bout of polio in 1773 that left him lame. To cure his lameness he was sent in 1773 to live in the rural Scottish Borders at his grandparents farm at Sandyknowe, adjacent to the ruin of Smailholm Tower. Here he was taught to read by his aunt Jenny, and learned from her the speech patterns and many of the tales and legends that characterised much of his work. In January 1775 he returned to Edinburgh, and that went with his aunt Jenny to take spa treatment at Bath in England. In the winter of 1776 he went back to Sandyknowe, with another attempt at a cure at Prestonpans during the following summer. In 1778, Scott returned to Edinburgh for private education to him for school. In October 1779 he began at the Royal High School of Edinburgh and he was now well able to walk and explore the city and the surrounding countryside. His reading included chivalric romances, poems, history and travel books and he was given private tuition by James Mitchell in arithmetic and writing, and learned from him the history of the Church of Scotland with emphasis on the Covenanters. Scott began studying classics at the University of Edinburgh in November 1783, at the age of 12, in March 1786 he began an apprenticeship in his fathers office to become a Writer to the Signet. While at the university Scott had become a friend of Adam Ferguson, Scott met the blind poet Thomas Blacklock, who lent him books and introduced him to James Macphersons Ossian cycle of poems. During the winter of 1786–87 the 15-year-old Scott saw Robert Burns at one of these salons, for what was to be their only meeting. When Burns noticed a print illustrating the poem The Justice of the Peace and asked who had written the poem, only Scott knew that it was by John Langhorne, and was thanked by Burns. When it was decided that he would become a lawyer, he returned to the university to study law, first taking classes in Moral Philosophy, after completing his studies in law, he became a lawyer in Edinburgh. As a lawyers clerk he made his first visit to the Scottish Highlands directing an eviction and he was admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1792. He had an unsuccessful love suit with Williamina Belsches of Fettercairn, as a boy, youth and young man, Scott was fascinated by the oral traditions of the Scottish Borders
22.
Henry Cockburn, Lord Cockburn
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Henry Thomas Cockburn of Bonaly, Lord Cockburn was a Scottish lawyer, judge and literary figure. He served as Solicitor General for Scotland between 1830 and 1834 and he was educated at the Royal High School and the University of Edinburgh. His brother was John Cockburn FRSE was a merchant and founder of Cockburns of Leith. Cockburn contributed regularly to the Edinburgh Review and he was the model of a high-bred Scotch gentleman. He spoke with a Doric breadth of accent, Cockburn was one of the most popular men north of the Tweed. He was a member of the famous Speculative Society, to which Sir Walter Scott, Henry Brougham and his published work continued with his Journal, published in 1874. These constitute an autobiography of the writer interspersed with notices of manners, public events and he became a distinguished advocate, and ultimately a judge. He was one of the leaders of the Whig party in Scotland in its days of darkness prior to the Reform Act of 1832, on the accession of Earl Greys ministry in 1830 he became Solicitor General for Scotland. During his time here he drafted the First Scottish Reform Bill, in 1834 he was raised to the bench, and on taking his seat as a Judge in the Court of Session he adopted the title of Lord Cockburn as a Scottish Lord of Session. Cockburn married Elizabeth Macdowall, daughter of James Macdowall and second wife Margaret Jamieson, in Edinburgh, Midlothian, as was common in the period he had both a town house and country house. The country house was at Bonaly, on the south-west edge of Edinburgh and his town house was a hugely impressive house at 14 Charlotte Square, designed by Robert Adam and lying at the heart of the fashionable west end of the city. Cockburn died on 26 April 1854, at his mansion of Bonaly, a statue of Cockburn by local sculptor William Brodie stands in the north-east corner of Parliament Hall. The Cockburn Association, founded in 1875, was named in his honour, Cockburn was played by Russell Hunter in Cocky, a one-man play which was effectively a dramatisation of his memoirs, broadcast on BBC Scotland. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Cockburn. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Cousin. A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature, london, J. M. Dent & Sons. Wikisource Scotlands greatest Whig Romantic, Times Literary Supplement,18 January 2006 Archival material relating to Henry Cockburn, Lord Cockburn
23.
George Heriot
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George Heriot was a Scottish goldsmith and philanthropist. He moved to London along with the court in 1603, at the time of the Union of Crowns, and remained in London until he died in 1624. He had married twice, but had no recognised children surviving at the time of his death, Heriot was born in Gladsmuir, on 4 June 1563, the eldest son of George Heriot and Elizabeth Balderstone, and one of ten children. His father was a goldsmith from an old Haddingtonshire family. He was elected a burgess of the City of Edinburgh in January 1588, at the age of twenty-four, by October 1593, he had been elected Deacon of Goldsmiths. From early in the 1590s, Heriot had been selling items to Anne of Denmark, the Queen Consort, and on 17 July 1597, he was officially appointed the goldsmith to the Queen. The role of a goldsmith in the modern period extended beyond simply the making and trading of jewellery and precious metals, in effect. Over the following years, he would lend her significant amounts of money, annes love of jewellery was legendary, and by the late 1590s both she and the king were taking out significant loans to support their spending. This ensured Heriots position would remain lucrative, it had estimated that between 1593 and 1603 he may have done as much as £50,000 of business with the Queen. By 1603, he held the right to farm the customs, in 1603, the Union of the Crowns saw James VI inherit the English throne. The king promptly moved his court to London, and Heriot – along with much of the court – followed suit and his loyalty was rewarded, and in November he was appointed a jeweller to the king, on a salary of £150. This sinecure was an amount in comparison to his private business. His wife Christian having died, he returned to Edinburgh in 1609 to marry Alison Primrose, the daughter of James Primrose of Carington, the marriage was short-lived, as Alison died in 1612, and childless. Heriot had a house in the Strand and a country estate at Roehampton. Heriot died in London in February 1624, and was buried at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Heriot is believed to have had at least four children by his first wife, including two sons who may have been drowned at sea, although the exact details of their death are unknown. He had no legitimate children – his second marriage was childless –. There were additional bequests to his stepmother and his half-siblings, as well as his nieces and nephews. However, the residue of the estate, some £23,625, was left to the city of Edinburgh, to establish a hospital for the education of the puir
24.
The Watt Club
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The Watt Club is the alumni association of Heriot-Watt University and the oldest association of its kind in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1854, today the Club has over 82,000 members worldwide, the Watt Club was founded on 12 May 1854 following the unveiling of a statue of James Watt outside the Watt Institution and School of Arts. At a late-night event to celebrate the occasion, Edinburgh Jeweller John E, a club was subsequently formed with Vernon as its first President, and proceeded to hold its first dinner in celebration of Watts birthday on 20 January 1855. Such dinners remained popular for years, with the status of members increasing as the organisations notoriety grew. Membership of the Watt Club began to decline in the 1880s, however and it remained defunct until 1935, when a request from the Science Museum to borrow one of its old medals from Heriot-Watt College led to renewed interest in the organisation. The Club was subsequently reconstituted on 28 November of that year, after Heriot-Watt became a university in 1966, the Watt Club allowed graduates to become members free of charge. Following this the roles of the Club and the Graduates Association of the University became increasingly similar, as a result, the Club became the official alumni association of the University, a position it has held ever since. Students of Heriot-Watt automatically become members of the Watt Club upon graduation from the University. Members are entitled to vote in the Clubs elections, attend its annual meetings, in particular, they have access to the organisations local branches around the world and ambassadors on four continents. The Club also appoints a vice-president to act in the role when the president is unable to do so. and has a Council of up to 20 members which seeks to further the organisations aims and objectives. It is awarded yearly to the final year student with the highest mark in each degree discipline. The Watt Club Postgraduate Medal is awarded to the strongest postgraduate students in each of Heriot-Watts schools, the Watt Club Prize is awarded to any undergraduate or postgraduate student in recognition of exceptional effort, achievement and initiative
25.
Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service
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The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is the independent public prosecution service for Scotland, and is a Ministerial Department of the Scottish Government. The department is headed by Her Majestys Lord Advocate, who under the Scottish legal system is responsible for prosecution, in Scotland, virtually all prosecution of criminal offences is undertaken by the Crown. The day-to-day running of the Service is done by the Crown Agent & Chief Executive, the Service employs both civil servants who carry out administrative and other duties and solicitors and advocates who represent the Crown in Court. The history of the Lord Advocate, and the department of the Crown Office, is somewhat obscure. There are references on record to a kings procurator-fiscal in 1434 and 1457, the history of the procurator fiscal is similarly difficult to set down with exactness, though the role has developed significantly over time. The first document reference appears in the Records of the Parliament of Scotland for 22 August 1584, the fiscal was an officer appointed by, and accountable to, the Sheriff, who by the 18th Century was responsible for most prosecutions in local areas. By the nineteenth century advocates depute were first appointed, to assist him in conducting cases in the High Court of Justiciary, the Book of Regulations is still used today in providing the framework for local prosecution in Scotland. This prosecutorial role can not be removed from her by the Scottish Parliament, the Lord Advocate is the senior of the two Scottish Law Officers, and is the chief legal adviser to the Scottish Government as well as representing its ministers in civil proceedings. He is also responsible under the Scotland Act 1998 for ensuring that each Act of the Scottish Parliament is within the competence of that Parliament, the Solicitor General can act as the deputy for the Lord Advocate. The position of Lord Advocate has been the subject of controversy, most notably sparked by Scottish High Court judges, the Crown Agent is the principal legal adviser to the Lord Advocate on prosecution matters. He also acts as Chief Executive for the Department and he acts as solicitor in all legal proceedings in which the Lord Advocate appears as representing his or her own department. At trials in the High Court in Edinburgh, he attends as instructing solicitor, at the High Court of Justiciary prosecutions are brought by the Crown Office, who are represented in Court by Advocates Depute. Advocates-Depute are either advocates or solicitor-advocates to whom rights of audience in the High Court have been given by that Court, Procurators fiscal make preliminary investigations into criminal cases, take written statements from witnesses and are responsible for the investigation and prosecution of crime. This includes the power to direct the police in their investigation, once someone has been charged with an offence and remanded in custody, the Crown must bring the case to trial within 110 days or the accused will be admitted to bail. Otherwise, in cases the trial must commence within 12 months of the date of first appearance in court. Procurators fiscal work in the local sheriffdom and most of the Fiscal offices in Scotland are either in or near the Sheriff Court, the Procurator Fiscal is also responsible for the investigation of all sudden, suspicious and unexplained deaths in Scotland. This includes the decision to call a Fatal Accident Inquiry and he or she is also responsible for the independent investigation of criminal police complaints made in that sherrifdom. The law in Scotland does not say that a crime must be prosecuted, until 1987, however, their discretion only extended to the degree to which they should prosecute, if at all, there were no alternatives to prosecution
26.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
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World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
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Radar
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Radar is an object-detection system that uses radio waves to determine the range, angle, or velocity of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, Radio waves from the transmitter reflect off the object and return to the receiver, giving information about the objects location and speed. Radar was developed secretly for military use by several nations in the period before, the term RADAR was coined in 1940 by the United States Navy as an acronym for RAdio Detection And Ranging or RAdio Direction And Ranging. The term radar has since entered English and other languages as a common noun, high tech radar systems are associated with digital signal processing, machine learning and are capable of extracting useful information from very high noise levels. Other systems similar to make use of other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. One example is lidar, which uses ultraviolet, visible, or near infrared light from lasers rather than radio waves, as early as 1886, German physicist Heinrich Hertz showed that radio waves could be reflected from solid objects. In 1895, Alexander Popov, an instructor at the Imperial Russian Navy school in Kronstadt. The next year, he added a spark-gap transmitter, in 1897, while testing this equipment for communicating between two ships in the Baltic Sea, he took note of an interference beat caused by the passage of a third vessel. In his report, Popov wrote that this phenomenon might be used for detecting objects, the German inventor Christian Hülsmeyer was the first to use radio waves to detect the presence of distant metallic objects. In 1904, he demonstrated the feasibility of detecting a ship in dense fog and he obtained a patent for his detection device in April 1904 and later a patent for a related amendment for estimating the distance to the ship. He also got a British patent on September 23,1904 for a radar system. It operated on a 50 cm wavelength and the radar signal was created via a spark-gap. In 1915, Robert Watson-Watt used radio technology to advance warning to airmen. Watson-Watt became an expert on the use of direction finding as part of his lightning experiments. As part of ongoing experiments, he asked the new boy, Arnold Frederic Wilkins, Wilkins made an extensive study of available units before selecting a receiver model from the General Post Office. Its instruction manual noted that there was fading when aircraft flew by, in 1922, A. Hoyt Taylor and Leo C. Taylor submitted a report, suggesting that this might be used to detect the presence of ships in low visibility, eight years later, Lawrence A. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa followed prewar Great Britain, and Hungary had similar developments during the war. Hugon, began developing a radio apparatus, a part of which was installed on the liner Normandie in 1935
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Currie
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Currie is a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated 7 miles south west of the city centre. A former village within the County of Midlothian, it lies to the south west of the city, administratively, Currie falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Edinburgh Council. It gives its name to a civil parish, in 2001 the population of Currie was 8,550 and it contained 3,454 houses. There is no accepted derivation of the name Currie but it is possibly from the Scottish Gaelic word curagh/curragh, a wet or boggy plain, or from the Brythonic word curi, a dell or hollow. The neighbouring suburb of Balerno derives its name from Scottish Gaelic, whilst the nearby Pentland Hills derive their name from Brythonic, the earliest record of a settlement in the Currie area is a Bronze Age razor found at Kinleith Mill and the stone cists at Duncans Belt and Blinkbonny. There are a few mentions of this area in mediaeval and early modern documents, one of the first is when Robert of Kildeleith became Chancellor of Scotland in 1249. Kildeleith means Chapel by the Leith, and survives today as Kinleith, Robert the Bruce gave Riccarton as a wedding present in 1315 and in 1392 the land passed to the family of Bishop Wardlaw. In 1612 the land went to Ludovic Craig, a Senator of the College of Justice, in 1818 it passed to the female line and became the property of the Gibson-Craigs. There has been a Christian community in the area for more than 1,000 years, in 1018, the archdeacons of Lothian set up their headquarters in the area. A settlement began to shape around Currie Kirk and the main Lanark Road. The period 1921-1951 brought great changes with the building of council houses in Currie. Wider scale development began in the late 1950s and early 1960s with the construction of a housing estate to the east of Curriehill Road. House builders began to promote Currie as a pleasant commuting suburb of Edinburgh, Currie High School was constructed on its present site in 1966 and extensively refurbished and renewed in 1997. There was a short loop railway running over what is now the Water of Leith Walkway, the physical topography has ensured that the original historic core to the south of Lanark Road West including the Water of Leith has remained undeveloped. In March 1972 the historic centre of Currie was declared a Conservation Area, in 1694, the heritors appointed a Mr Thomson to teach scholars in the Church until Thomas Craig of Riccarton found a place for the building of a school and house for the schoolmaster. The foundations of the school were laid in 1699, the school and school house cost 500 merks and the salary of the Schoolmaster, a Mr Thomson, was 20 pounds Scots per year. The move has now completed and the main campus of Heriot-Watt University occupies and manages a wooded area with enough space for future expansion. Currie has two football teams Currie Football Club and Currie Star FC
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Riccarton, Edinburgh
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Riccarton is an area in Edinburghs Green Belt, in Scotland. It is mainly undeveloped, with farmland and few houses. C. as well as the Hibernian F. C. Under 20 team with training facilities, there have been a number of wrangles over development of the area in recent years. The area is bordered by Currie, Juniper Green and Curriehill to the south, The Calders to the east, and Hermiston to the north
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Galashiels
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Galashiels is a Scottish burgh in Selkirkshire on the Gala Water river. The name is shortened to Gala. Galashiels is a commercial centre for the Borders region. To the west of the town there is an ancient earthwork known as the Picts Work Ditch or Catrail and it extends many miles south and its height and width varies. There is no agreement about the purpose of the earthwork, the Romans destroyed the broch in AD140, soon after it was completed. The towns coat of arms shows two foxes reaching up to eat plums from a tree, and the motto is Sour Plums pronounced in Scots as soor plooms. On a hillside to the north of the town, Buckholm Tower is a prominent structure which dates back to 1582 and replaced another tower built on the same site but destroyed around 1570. In 1599 Galashiels received its burgh Charter, an event celebrated every summer since the 1930s by the Braw Lads Gathering with riders on horseback parading through the town, in 2015, the Scottish Borders Council officially announced that Galashiels was the capital of the Scottish Borders. Galashiels population grew fast through the trade with several mills. However due to its position and distance from the sea it has colder winters and slightly warmer summers than coastal places such as Edinburgh, Dunbar. Snow is also more common in winter, and covers the ground for an average of 38 days a year in an average winter. The latter is sung by some of the each year at the Braw Lads Gathering. Sir Walter Scott built his home, Abbotsford, just across the River Tweed from Galashiels, the Sir Walter Scott Way, a long-distance path from Moffat to Cockburnspath passes through Galashiels. There is some largely good-hearted rivalry between some of the Galashiels townsfolk and those of other towns, particularly Hawick, the next largest town in the Scottish Borders. Galashiels was also home to the author of the famous Scottish song, Robert Coltart was a weaver in the town, but also made confectionery in nearby Melrose. The song was created as an advertisement, and hence was renamed as Sugar Candy when played by the BBC, the song is possibly better known by the first line of its chorus - Ally, bally, ally bally bee. The 1985 Marillion hit single Kayleigh was partially inspired by events that took place in Galashiels as the lead singer Fish spent some time in the town in his earlier years. In 2012 the Scottish Borders Council undertook work to revamp the Market Square with lyrics of the song inscribed into the paving slabs, Fish officially reopened the square on completion later that year
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Scottish Fashion Awards
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The Scottish Fashion Awards is an annual awards ceremony honouring Scottish designers, photographers, models and fashion industry leaders. Founded in 2006, the event is organised by Tessa Hartmann and their mission is. to provide an outstanding platform for Scottish creatives, from designers and photographers, to models, fashion communicators and industry leaders. The inaugural event was held at Stirling Castle with GMTV presenter Jenni Falconer acting as emcee, entertainment was provided by Sandi Thom and electric fiddle player Laura McPhee. The judges included Kate Phelan, fashion director of British Vogue, the judging panel included GANT creative director Brian Rennie, Vogue. com editor Dolly Jones and Janette Harkess, deputy editor of The Herald. The judges included Brian Duffy, Nathalie Colin, designer Amanda Wakeley, Professor Wendy Dagworthy, Brigitte Stepputis, Robert Johnston and VOGUE. COMs editor Dolly Jones. International Designer of the Year - Mulberry Fashion Innovator - Brian Rennie, the event was held in London on 1 September with Laura Whitmore returning as host. globally recognised tartan carpet. The Daily Mail reported that the event. celebrated the best in Scotlands fashion, and in 2014, Vogue stated that the awards highlight Scotlands. substantial contribution to the fashion industry
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Heriot-Watt University Dubai
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Heriot-Watt University Dubai is a branch campus of Heriot-Watt University based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Established in 2005, it was the first campus of a university to open in Dubai International Academic City. Heriot-Watt University Dubai Campus opened initially in 2005 at the Dubai International Academic City University Complex and it originally started with 120 students, with plans to increase the number to 1,500 students within a 5-year time frame. However, the pace of its expansion outstripped this projection, construction of Heriot-Watt Universitys purpose-built campus in Dubai International Academic City began in 2010. This state of the art campus officially opened on 3 November 2011, as one of Dubais most successful international higher education providers, the student population has now grown to 3,700, with students from more than 90 different countries studying at the campus. Heriot-Watt University Dubai Campus is located on the Academic City Road in Dubai International Academic City, at the Dubai Campus, students work in a supportive and positive learning environment that will ensure they can make the best of their time at the University. A range of services are offered, with friendly and approachable staff who are able to provide students with the advice, support. Guaranteed tuition fee packages, interest free installment plans and opportunities for scholarships are available to support students in the financing of their degrees. Student activities and events are organized by the Student Council in collaboration with the student body at Heriot Watt University, the Student Council is headed by the Student President who is elected on an annual basis by Heriot-Watt University Dubai Campus Students. The Student Council makes the decisions regarding student activities. These include the annual Watt Fest, Ethnic Days, Scottish Highland Games, charity drives, all of the programmes are taught by Heriot-Watts own faculty, the majority of whom are permanently located in Dubai, supplemented by visiting experts in key fields. With strong links to industry and business, the university takes pride in developing and educating future leaders, managers and innovators, many of the universitys 77,000 alumni are working in key positions. Graduates also have the benefit of Watt Club membership and this offers social events and networking opportunities. One unusual feature of many of the programmes is the option of inter-campus transfers to Heriot-Watt Universitys other campuses. Students starting courses in Scotland or Malaysia can also transfer to Dubai and this is possible because Heriot-Watt University degree programmes are exactly the same at each campus. Heriot-Watt University List of universities in the United Arab Emirates Education in Dubai Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University, Dubai study
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Stromness
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Stromness local /ˈstrɒmnəs/ is the second most populated town in Orkney, Scotland. It is in the south-west of Mainland Orkney and it is also a parish, with the town of Stromness as its capital. The name Stromness comes from the Norse Straumsnes, straum refers to the strong tides that rip past the Point of Ness through Hoy Sound to the south of the town. Stromness thus means headland protruding into the tidal stream, in Viking times the anchorage where Stromness now stands was called Hamnavoe, meaning peaceful or safe harbour. A long-established seaport, it has a population of approximately 2,190 residents, the old town is clustered along the characterful and winding main street, flanked with houses and shops built from local stone, with narrow lanes and alleys branching off it. There is a link from Stromness to Scrabster on the north coast of mainland Scotland. Ships of the Hudsons Bay Company were regular visitors, as were whaling fleets, large numbers of Orkneymen, many of whom came from the Stromness area, served as traders, explorers and seamen for both. Captain Cooks ships, Discovery and Resolution, called at the town in 1780 on their voyage from the South Seas where Cook had been killed. Stromness Museum reflects these aspects of the towns history. An unusual aspect of the character is the large number of buildings decorated with displays of whale bones outside them. ”The parish of Stromness includes the islands of Hoy and Graemsay. The main part is bounded on the west by the Atlantic, on the south, Stromness plays host to the Pier Arts Centre, an outstanding collection of twentieth century British art gifted to the people of Orkney by Margaret Gardiner. The Stromness branch of the Orkney library is situated in a building gifted to the service in 1905 by Marjory Skea. Writer George Mackay Brown was born and lived most of his life in the town and his poem Hamnavoe is set in the town and is in part a memorial to his father John, a local postman. The Revue was first performed by the composer at the Stromness Hotel on 21 June 1980 as part of the St Magnus Festival, Stromness is also the title of a 2009 novel by Herbert Wetterauer. Stromness presents to the Atlantic a range of cliffs from 100–500 ft high, the rocks possess great geological interest, and were made well known by the publication of the evangelical geologist Hugh Miller, The Footprints of the Creator or The Asterolepsis of Stromness. The section on the parish and its geology incorporates text from the following book, Wilson. Johnstone Stromness Museum Ballantines Midnight Cup at Stromness Golf Club, stv feature,19 June 2007
