1.
Scottish Gaelic
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Scottish Gaelic or Scots Gaelic, sometimes also referred to as Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish. The 2011 census of Scotland showed that a total of 57,375 people in Scotland could speak Gaelic at that time, the census results indicate a decline of 1,275 Gaelic speakers from 2001. A total of 87,056 people in 2011 reported having some facility with Gaelic compared to 93,282 people in 2001, only about half of speakers were fully literate in the language. Nevertheless, revival efforts exist and the number of speakers of the language under age 20 has increased, Scottish Gaelic is neither an official language of the European Union nor the United Kingdom. Outside Scotland, a group of dialects collectively known as Canadian Gaelic are spoken in parts of Atlantic Canada, mainly Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. In the 2011 census, there were 7,195 total speakers of Gaelic languages in Canada, with 1,365 in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island where the responses mainly refer to Scottish Gaelic. About 2,320 Canadians in 2011 also claimed Gaelic languages as their mother tongue, with over 300 in Nova Scotia, aside from Scottish Gaelic, the language may also be referred to simply as Gaelic. In Scotland, the word Gaelic in reference to Scottish Gaelic specifically is pronounced, outside Ireland and Great Britain, Gaelic may refer to the Irish language. Scottish Gaelic should not be confused with Scots, the Middle English-derived language varieties which had come to be spoken in most of the Lowlands of Scotland by the modern era. Prior to the 15th century, these dialects were known as Inglis by its own speakers, from the late 15th century, however, it became increasingly common for such speakers to refer to Scottish Gaelic as Erse and the Lowland vernacular as Scottis. Today, Scottish Gaelic is recognised as a language from Irish. Gaelic in Scotland was mostly confined to Dál Riata until the 8th century, when it began expanding into Pictish areas north of the Firth of Forth, by 900, Pictish appears to have become extinct, completely replaced by Gaelic. An exception might be made for the Northern Isles, however, however, though the Pictish language did not disappear suddenly, a process of Gaelicisation was clearly underway during the reigns of Caustantín and his successors. By a certain point, probably during the 11th century, all the inhabitants of Alba had become fully Gaelicised Scots, by the 10th century, Gaelic had become the dominant language throughout northern and western Scotland, the Gaelo-Pictic Kingdom of Alba. Its spread to southern Scotland, was even and totalizing. Place name analysis suggests dense usage of Gaelic in Galloway and adjoining areas to the north and west as well as in West Lothian, less dense usage is suggested for north Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, the Clyde Valley and eastern Dumfriesshire. In south-eastern Scotland, there is no evidence that Gaelic was ever widely spoken, the area shifted from Cumbric to Old English during its long incorporation into the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria
2.
Old Norse
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Old Norse was a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during about the 9th to 13th centuries. These dates, however, are not absolute, since written Old Norse is found well into the 15th century, Old Norse was divided into three dialects, Old West Norse, Old East Norse and Old Gutnish. Old West and East Norse formed a continuum, with no clear geographical boundary between them. For example, Old East Norse traits were found in eastern Norway, although Old Norwegian is classified as Old West Norse, most speakers spoke Old East Norse in what is present day Denmark and Sweden. Old Gutnish, the more obscure dialectal branch, is included in the Old East Norse dialect due to geographical associations. It developed its own features and shared in changes to both other branches. The 12th century Icelandic Gray Goose Laws state that Swedes, Norwegians, Icelanders and Danes spoke the same language, another term used, used especially commonly with reference to West Norse, was norrœnt mál. In some instances the term Old Norse refers specifically to Old West Norse, the Old East Norse dialect was spoken in Denmark, Sweden, settlements in Kievan Rus, eastern England, and Danish settlements in Normandy. The Old Gutnish dialect was spoken in Gotland and in settlements in the East. In the 11th century, Old Norse was the most widely spoken European language, in Kievan Rus, it survived the longest in Veliky Novgorod, probably lasting into the 13th century there. Norwegian is descended from Old West Norse, but over the centuries it has heavily influenced by East Norse. Old Norse also had an influence on English dialects and Lowland Scots and it also influenced the development of the Norman language, and through it and to a smaller extent, that of modern French. Various other languages, which are not closely related, have heavily influenced by Norse, particularly the Norman dialects, Scottish Gaelic. The current Finnish and Estonian words for Sweden are Ruotsi and Rootsi, of the modern languages, Icelandic is the closest to Old Norse. Written modern Icelandic derives from the Old Norse phonemic writing system, contemporary Icelandic-speakers can read Old Norse, which varies slightly in spelling as well as semantics and word order. However, pronunciation, particularly of the phonemes, has changed at least as much as in the other North Germanic languages. Faroese retains many similarities but is influenced by Danish, Norwegian, although Swedish, Danish and the Norwegian languages have diverged the most, they still retain asymmetric mutual intelligibility. Speakers of modern Swedish, Norwegian and Danish can mostly understand each other without studying their neighboring languages, the languages are also sufficiently similar in writing that they can mostly be understood across borders
3.
Ordnance Survey National Grid
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The Ordnance Survey National Grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references used in Great Britain, different from using Latitude and Longitude. It is often called British National Grid, the Ordnance Survey devised the national grid reference system, and it is heavily used in their survey data, and in maps based on those surveys. Grid references are commonly quoted in other publications and data sources. The Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system is used to provide references for worldwide locations. European-wide agencies also use UTM when mapping locations, or may use the Military Grid Reference System system, the grid is based on the OSGB36 datum, and was introduced after the retriangulation of 1936–1962. It replaced the previously used Cassini Grid which, up to the end of World War Two, had issued only to the military. The Airy ellipsoid is a regional best fit for Britain, more modern mapping tends to use the GRS80 ellipsoid used by the GPS, the British maps adopt a Transverse Mercator projection with an origin at 49° N, 2° W. Over the Airy ellipsoid a straight grid, the National Grid, is placed with a new false origin. This false origin is located south-west of the Isles of Scilly, the distortion created between the OS grid and the projection is countered by a scale factor in the longitude to create two lines of longitude with zero distortion rather than one. Grid north and true north are aligned on the 400 km easting of the grid which is 2° W. 2° 0′ 5″ W. OSGB36 was also used by Admiralty nautical charts until 2000 after which WGS84 has been used, a geodetic transformation between OSGB36 and other terrestrial reference systems can become quite tedious if attempted manually. The most common transformation is called the Helmert datum transformation, which results in a typical 7 m error from true, the definitive transformation from ETRS89 that is published by the OSGB is called the National Grid Transformation OSTN02. This models the detailed distortions in the 1936–1962 retriangulation, and achieves backwards compatibility in grid coordinates to sub-metre accuracy, the difference between the coordinates on different datums varies from place to place. The longitude and latitude positions on OSGB36 are the same as for WGS84 at a point in the Atlantic Ocean well to the west of Great Britain. In Cornwall, the WGS84 longitude lines are about 70 metres east of their OSGB36 equivalents, the smallest datum shift is on the west coast of Scotland and the greatest in Kent. But Great Britain has not shrunk by 100+ metres, a point near Lands End now computes to be 27.6 metres closer to a point near Duncansby Head than it did under OSGB36. For the first letter, the grid is divided into squares of size 500 km by 500 km, there are four of these which contain significant land area within Great Britain, S, T, N and H. The O square contains an area of North Yorkshire, almost all of which lies below mean high tide
4.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
5.
Mull
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Mull is the second largest island of the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland in the council area of Argyll and Bute. With an area of 875.35 square kilometres Mull is the fourth largest Scottish island and the fourth largest island surrounding Great Britain. In the 2011 census the usual resident population of Mull was 2,800 a slight rise on the 2001 figure of 2,667, much of the population lives in Tobermory, the only burgh on the island until 1973, and its capital. Tobermory is also home to Mulls only single malt Scotch whisky distillery, Tobermory distillery and it is widely believed that Mull was inhabited from shortly after the end of the last Ice Age, around 6000 BC. Bronze Age inhabitants built menhirs, brochs and a circle with examples of burial cairns, cists, standing stones, stone circles, pottery. Between 600 BC and AD400, Iron Age inhabitants were building protective forts, duns, in the 14th century Mull became part of the Lordship of the Isles. After the collapse of the Lordship in 1493 the island was taken over by the clan MacLean, and in 1681 by the clan Campbell. Legend has it that the wreck of a Spanish galleon, laden with gold, lies somewhere in the mud at the bottom of Tobermory Bay, although the true identity. By some accounts, the Florencia, a ship of the defeated Spanish Armada fleeing the English fleet in 1588, after a dispute over payment, the ship caught fire and the gunpowder magazine exploded, sinking the vessel. In her hold, reputedly, was £300,000 in gold bullion, other sources claim the vessel was the San Juan de Sicilia, which, records indicate, carried troops, not treasure. Whatever the true story, there have been searches for the wreck. No significant treasure has ever recovered in Tobermory Bay. In 1773 the island was visited by Samuel Johnson and James Boswell during their famous Tour of the Western Islands, during the Highland Clearances in the 18th and 19th centuries, the population fell from 10,000 to less than 3,000. Mull has historic buildings such as Duart Castle and Torosay Castle, moy Castle is a small slighted castle on the shore of Loch Buie. The whole island became a Restricted Area during World War II, the bay at Tobermory became a naval base commanded from HMS Western Isles. The base and the Restricted Area were under Commodore Sir Gilbert Stephenson, whose strict discipline, the base was used to train Escort Groups in anti-submarine warfare. 911 ships passed through the base between 1940 and 1945, there is one secondary school on the island, Tobermory High School, which includes a Gaelic medium education unit, and several primary schools. Salen Primary School has a Gaelic medium education unit, secondary pupils from Iona, Bunessan and Fionnphort in the south west attend Oban High School, staying in an Oban hostel from Monday to Thursday
6.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
7.
Countries of the United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom comprises four countries, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Within the United Kingdom, a sovereign state, Northern Ireland, Scotland. England, comprising the majority of the population and area of the United Kingdom, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are not themselves listed in the International Organization for Standardization list of countries. However the ISO list of the subdivisions of the UK, compiled by British Standards, Northern Ireland, in contrast, is described as a province in the same lists. Each has separate governing bodies for sports and compete separately in many international sporting competitions. Northern Ireland also forms joint All-Island sporting bodies with the Republic of Ireland for most sports, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are dependencies of the Crown and are not part of the UK. Similarly, the British overseas territories, remnants of the British Empire, are not part of the UK, southern Ireland left the United Kingdom under the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922. * Figures for GVA do not include oil and gas revenues generated beyond the UKs territorial waters, various terms have been used to describe England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Wales was described as the country, principality, and dominion of Wales, outside Wales, England was not given a specific name or term. The Laws in Wales Acts have subsequently been repealed, the Acts of Union 1707 refer to both England and Scotland as a part of a united kingdom of Great Britain The Acts of Union 1800 use part in the same way to refer to England and Scotland. The Northern Ireland Act 1998, which repealed the Government of Ireland Act 1920, the Interpretation Act 1978 provides statutory definitions of the terms England, Wales and the United Kingdom, but neither that Act nor any other current statute defines Scotland or Northern Ireland. Use of the first three terms in other legislation is interpreted following the definitions in the 1978 Act and this definition applies from 1 April 1974. United Kingdom means Great Britain and Northern Ireland and this definition applies from 12 April 1927. In 1996 these 8 new counties were redistributed into the current 22 unitary authorities, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are regions in their own right while England has been divided into nine regions. The official term rest of the UK is used in Scotland, for example in export statistics and this term is also used in the context of potential Scottish independence to mean the UK without Scotland. The alternative term Home Nations is sometimes used in sporting contexts, the second, or civic group, contained the items about feeling British, respecting laws and institutions, speaking English, and having British citizenship. Contrariwise, in Scotland and Wales there was a much stronger identification with each country than with Britain, studies and surveys have reported that the majority of the Scots and Welsh see themselves as both Scottish/Welsh and British though with some differences in emphasis. The propensity for nationalistic feeling varies greatly across the UK, and can rise and it reported that 37% of people identified as British, whilst 29% identified as Irish and 24% identified as Northern Irish
8.
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
9.
Subdivisions of Scotland
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For local government purposes, Scotland is divided into 32 areas designated as council areas, which are all governed by unitary authorities designated as councils. The council areas have been in existence since 1 April 1996, historically, Scotland has been divided into 34 counties or shires. Although these no longer have any function, they are still used to some extent in Scotland for cultural and geographical purposes. Traditionally burghs have been the key unit of the government of Scotland, being highly autonomous entities. Even after the Acts of Union 1707, burghs continued to be the principal subdivision, until 1889 administration was on a burgh and parish basis. The years following 1889 saw the introduction of a hierarchy of local government administration comprising counties, counties of cities, large burghs, source,2011 Census for Scotland Scotland has several other administrative divisions, some of which are handled by joint boards of the councils. The Police and Fire Reform Act 2012 resulted in the merger of police and fire services on 1 April 2013 to form the Police Service of Scotland. Policing was the responsibility of the Cities and Burghs of Scotland, Police and fire service areas date from the era of regions and districts and island council areas. There are several joint boards for electoral registration and the purposes of property valuation for assessing council tax, see also NHS Scotland Until 1 April 2014 the towns of Cambuslang and Rutherglen were in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board area despite being located in South Lanarkshire. They are now part of NHS Lanarkshire, the Scottish Government has created seven Regional Transport Partnerships, for establishing transport policy in the regions. They broadly follow council area groupings and these areas in most cases resemble those of the pre-1975 administrative counties with Glasgow being the only current city to form a registration county. Although they have had no administrative function since 1930, they still exist and are used for statistical purposes such as the census. Many former civil parish areas also continue to form current registration districts and it should be noted that many boundary changes have occurred over the years and that an area currently derived from an old parish might no longer contain a place previously within that parish. The base level of sub-division in Scotland is that of communities, the main role of the CCs is to channel local opinion to larger local-government bodies. Otherwise, they have limited powers. There are around 1,200 communities in Scotland, not all communities have councils, some have joint councils. Scottish communities are the nearest equivalent to parishes in England. List of articles about local government in the United Kingdom ISO 3166-2, GB, subdivision codes for the United Kingdom
10.
Argyll and Bute
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Argyll and Bute is both one of 32 unitary authority council areas and a lieutenancy area in Scotland. The administrative centre for the area is in Lochgilphead. Argyll and Bute covers the second largest administrative area of any Scottish council, the council area adjoins those of Highland, Perth and Kinross, Stirling and West Dunbartonshire. Its border runs through Loch Lomond, the present council area was created in 1996, when it was carved out of the Strathclyde region, which was a two-tier local government region of 19 districts, created in 1975. Argyll and Bute merged the existing Argyll and Bute district and one ward of the Dumbarton district. The Dumbarton ward, called Helensburgh and Lomond, included the burgh of Helensburgh and consisted of an area to the west of Loch Lomond, north of the Firth of Clyde and mostly east of Loch Long. The council area can also be described by reference to divisions of the counties which were abolished in 1975, the council area includes most of the county of Argyll, part of the county of Bute and part of the county of Dunbartonshire. The later scenes of the 1963 James Bond film From Russia with Love were filmed around the lochs and hills of Argyll, the Colintraive in Cowal to Rhubodach on the Isle of Bute route, across the Kyles of Bute, is operated by Caledonian MacBrayne. The Portavadie in Cowal to Tarbert on the Kintyre Peninsula route, as a result of the investigation, a council employee was suspended for setting up fake social media accounts to monitor what was being said about the council. The councils own investigation later confirmed it had no evidence of any form of spying or covert surveillance having been carried out by any employee within the councils communication team. In June 2012, the council was criticised for banning a local primary student, Martha Payne. The blog, NeverSeconds, had been praised by the celebrity chef, on the day the story broke, the blog had raised over £40,000. After an initial statement from the defending the decision, the ban was subsequently overturned by council leader. In November 2012 a book written by David Payne, father of Neverseconds blogger Martha Payne, revealed the background to the attempt to censor. The book states about the council, My anger and frustration at Argyll, thinly veiled attacks on our parenting on national radio and an abusive phonecall stood out as examples of a public body sick to the very top. Complaints via the proper procedures and through elected councillors had no visible changes. Far from being contrite they seemed to take a pride in being untouchable, Argyll and Bute Council election,2012 Censorship in the United Kingdom List of places in Argyll and Bute Gaelic place names of Scotland Argyll and Bute Council Argyll and Bute at DMOZ
11.
Demography of Scotland
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The demography of Scotland includes all aspects of population, past and present, in the area that is now Scotland. Scotland has a population of 5,295,000, the population growth rate in 2011 was estimated as 0. 6% per annum according to the 2011 GROS Annual Review. Covering an area of 78,782 square kilometres, Scotland has a density of 67. 2/km2. Other concentrations of population include the northeast coast of Scotland, principally the regions around the cities of Aberdeen and Inverness, the Highlands of Scotland and the island group of Eilean Siar have the lowest population densities at 9/km2. Glasgow has the highest population density at 3, 289/km2, from 1 April 2011 the GROS merged with the National Archives of Scotland to become the National Records of Scotland. In conjunction with the rest of the United Kingdom, the National Records for Scotland is also responsible for conducting a census of population. The most recent one took place in March 2011 with the due to take place in 2021. In the United Kingdom a census was taken every 10 years from 1801 with the exception of 1941 due to the Second World War, Population data for years prior to that is provided from directories and gazetteers Notes a. There was no census in 1941 however there was a National Registrar of the Civilian Population in 1939 b, data for 1961 onwards rounded to nearest thousand c. The age distribution based on the 2011 census was as follows, the 2001 and 2011 censuses recorded the following ethnic groups, A question on national identity was asked in the 2011 census, what do you feel is your national identity. Respondents could identify themselves as having more than one national identity, the remainder chose other national identities. The council areas with at least 90% of the population stating some Scottish national identity were North Lanarkshire, Inverclyde, East Ayrshire, the lowest proportions of people stating some Scottish national identity were in Edinburgh and Aberdeen. The council areas with the highest proportions of people stating British as their national identity were Argyll and Bute and Shetland. Below is a table of national identity sorted by council area based on the results of the 2011 census, The statistics from the 2011 census, English is by far the most commonly spoken language in Scotland. Two regional languages of Scotland, Scottish Gaelic and Scots, are protected under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, abilities in these languages for those aged three and above were recorded in the UK census 2011 as follows. Several other languages are spoken amongst immigrants to Scotland, the most commonly spoken of these is Polish. In the 2011 census 54,186 respondents aged three and over said that Polish was their language, amounting to 1. 06% of the total population of Scotland aged three and over. Glaciers then scoured their way across most of Britain, and only after the ice retreated did Scotland again become habitable, mesolithic hunter-gatherer encampments formed the first known settlements, and archaeologists have dated a site near Biggar to around 8500 BC
12.
Inner Hebrides
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The Inner Hebrides is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which experience a mild oceanic climate, the Inner Hebrides comprise 35 inhabited islands as well as 44 uninhabited islands with an area greater than 30 hectares. The main commercial activities are tourism, crofting, fishing and whisky distilling, in modern times the Inner Hebrides have formed part of two separate local government jurisdictions, one to the north and the other to the south. Together, the islands have an area of about 4,130 km2, the population density is therefore about 4.6 per km2. There are various important prehistoric structures, many of which pre-date the first written references to the islands by Roman, control of the islands was then held by various clan chiefs, principally the MacLeans, MacLeods and MacDonalds. The Highland Clearances of the 19th century had an effect on many communities. Sea transport is crucial and a variety of services operate to mainland Scotland. The Gaelic language remains strong in areas, the landscapes have inspired a variety of artists. The islands form a disparate archipelago, the largest islands are, from south to north, Islay, Jura, Mull, Rùm and Skye. Skye is the largest and most populous of all with an area of 1,656 km2, the southern group are in Argyll, an area roughly corresponding with the heartlands of the ancient kingdom of Dál Riata and incorporated into the modern unitary council area of Argyll and Bute. The northern islands were part of the county of Inverness-shire and are now in the Highland Council area, the ten largest islands are as follows. The geology and geomorphology of the islands is varied, some, such as Skye and Mull, are mountainous, whilst others like Tiree are relatively low-lying. The highest mountains are the Cuillins of Skye, although peaks over 300 metres are common elsewhere, much of the coastline is machair, a fertile low-lying dune pastureland. Many of the islands are swept by strong tides, and the Corryvreckan tide race between Scarba and Jura is one of the largest whirlpools in the world. There are various smaller archipelagoes including the Ascrib Islands, Crowlin Islands, Slate Islands, Small Isles, Summer Isles, the inhabited islands of the Inner Hebrides had a population of 18,257 at the 2001 census, and this had grown to 18,948 in 2011. During the same period Scottish island populations as a whole grew by 4% to 103,702, there are a further 44 uninhabited Inner Hebrides with an area greater than 74 acres. Records for the last date of settlement for the islands are incomplete. However, the populations of the islands grew overall by more than 12% from 1981-2001
13.
Vikings
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The term is also commonly extended in modern English and other vernaculars to the inhabitants of Viking home communities during what has become known as the Viking Age. Facilitated by advanced seafaring skills, and characterised by the longship, Viking activities at times also extended into the Mediterranean littoral, North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. A romanticized picture of Vikings as noble savages began to emerge in the 18th century, current popular representations of the Vikings are typically based on cultural clichés and stereotypes, complicating modern appreciation of the Viking legacy. One etymology derives víking from the feminine vík, meaning creek, inlet, various theories have been offered that the word viking may be derived from the name of the historical Norwegian district of Viken, meaning a person from Viken. According to this theory, the word simply described persons from this area, however, there are a few major problems with this theory. People from the Viken area were not called Viking in Old Norse manuscripts, in addition, that explanation could only explain the masculine and ignore the feminine, which is a serious problem because the masculine is easily derived from the feminine but hardly vice versa. The form also occurs as a name on some Swedish rune stones. There is little indication of any negative connotation in the term before the end of the Viking Age and this is found in the Proto-Nordic verb *wikan, ‘to turn’, similar to Old Icelandic víkja ‘to move, to turn’, with well-attested nautical usages. In that case, the idea behind it seems to be that the rower moves aside for the rested rower on the thwart when he relieves him. A víkingr would then originally have been a participant on a sea journey characterized by the shifting of rowers, in that case, the word Viking was not originally connected to Scandinavian seafarers but assumed this meaning when the Scandinavians begun to dominate the seas. In Old English, the word wicing appears first in the Anglo-Saxon poem, Widsith, in Old English, and in the history of the archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen written by Adam of Bremen in about 1070, the term generally referred to Scandinavian pirates or raiders. As in the Old Norse usages, the term is not employed as a name for any people or culture in general, the word does not occur in any preserved Middle English texts. The Vikings were known as Ascomanni ashmen by the Germans for the ash wood of their boats, Lochlannach by the Gaels, the modern day name for Sweden in several neighbouring countries is possibly derived from rōþs-, Ruotsi in Finnish and Rootsi in Estonian. The Slavs and the Byzantines also called them Varangians, Scandinavian bodyguards of the Byzantine emperors were known as the Varangian Guard. The Franks normally called them Northmen or Danes, while for the English they were known as Danes or heathen. It is used in distinction from Anglo-Saxon, similar terms exist for other areas, such as Hiberno-Norse for Ireland and Scotland. The period from the earliest recorded raids in the 790s until the Norman conquest of England in 1066 is commonly known as the Viking Age of Scandinavian history, Vikings used the Norwegian Sea and Baltic Sea for sea routes to the south. The Normans were descended from Vikings who were given feudal overlordship of areas in northern France—the Duchy of Normandy—in the 10th century, in that respect, descendants of the Vikings continued to have an influence in northern Europe
14.
Basalt
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Basalt is a common extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of basaltic lava exposed at or very near the surface of a planet or moon. Flood basalt describes the formation in a series of basalt flows. By definition, basalt is an igneous rock with generally 45-55% silica and less than 10% feldspathoid by volume. Basalt commonly features a very fine-grained or glassy matrix interspersed with visible mineral grains, the average density is 3.0 gm/cm3. Basalt is defined by its content and texture, and physical descriptions without mineralogical context may be unreliable in some circumstances. Basalt is usually grey to black in colour, but rapidly weathers to brown or rust-red due to oxidation of its mafic minerals into hematite, although usually characterized as dark, basaltic rocks exhibit a wide range of shading due to regional geochemical processes. Due to weathering or high concentrations of plagioclase, some basalts can be quite light-coloured and these phenocrysts usually are of olivine or a calcium-rich plagioclase, which have the highest melting temperatures of the typical minerals that can crystallize from the melt. Basalt with a texture is called vesicular basalt, when the bulk of the rock is mostly solid. Gabbro is often marketed commercially as black granite and these ultramafic volcanic rocks, with silica contents below 45% are usually classified as komatiites. Agricola applied basalt to the black rock of the Schloßberg at Stolpen. Tholeiitic basalt is relatively rich in silica and poor in sodium, included in this category are most basalts of the ocean floor, most large oceanic islands, and continental flood basalts such as the Columbia River Plateau. Basalt rocks are in some cases classified after their content in High-Ti and Low-Ti varieties. High-Ti and Low-Ti basalts have been distinguished in the Paraná and Etendeka traps and it has greater than 17% alumina and is intermediate in composition between tholeiite and alkali basalt, the relatively alumina-rich composition is based on rocks without phenocrysts of plagioclase. Alkali basalt is relatively poor in silica and rich in sodium and it is silica-undersaturated and may contain feldspathoids, alkali feldspar and phlogopite. Boninite is a form of basalt that is erupted generally in back-arc basins. Ocean island basalt Lunar basalt On Earth, most basalt magmas have formed by melting of the mantle. Basalt commonly erupts on Io, the third largest moon of Jupiter, and has formed on the Moon, Mars, Venus. The crustal portions of oceanic tectonic plates are composed predominantly of basalt, produced from upwelling mantle below, the mineralogy of basalt is characterized by a preponderance of calcic plagioclase feldspar and pyroxene
15.
Sea level
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Mean sea level is an average level of the surface of one or more of Earths oceans from which heights such as elevations may be measured. A common and relatively straightforward mean sea-level standard is the midpoint between a low and mean high tide at a particular location. Sea levels can be affected by factors and are known to have varied greatly over geological time scales. The careful measurement of variations in MSL can offer insights into ongoing climate change, the term above sea level generally refers to above mean sea level. Precise determination of a sea level is a difficult problem because of the many factors that affect sea level. Sea level varies quite a lot on several scales of time and this is because the sea is in constant motion, affected by the tides, wind, atmospheric pressure, local gravitational differences, temperature, salinity and so forth. The easiest way this may be calculated is by selecting a location and calculating the mean sea level at that point, for example, a period of 19 years of hourly level observations may be averaged and used to determine the mean sea level at some measurement point. One measures the values of MSL in respect to the land, hence a change in MSL can result from a real change in sea level, or from a change in the height of the land on which the tide gauge operates. In the UK, the Ordnance Datum is the sea level measured at Newlyn in Cornwall between 1915 and 1921. Prior to 1921, the datum was MSL at the Victoria Dock, in Hong Kong, mPD is a surveying term meaning metres above Principal Datum and refers to height of 1. 230m below the average sea level. In France, the Marégraphe in Marseilles measures continuously the sea level since 1883 and it is used for a part of continental Europe and main part of Africa as official sea level. Elsewhere in Europe vertical elevation references are made to the Amsterdam Peil elevation, satellite altimeters have been making precise measurements of sea level since the launch of TOPEX/Poseidon in 1992. A joint mission of NASA and CNES, TOPEX/Poseidon was followed by Jason-1 in 2001, height above mean sea level is the elevation or altitude of an object, relative to the average sea level datum. It is also used in aviation, where some heights are recorded and reported with respect to sea level, and in the atmospheric sciences. An alternative is to base height measurements on an ellipsoid of the entire Earth, in aviation, the ellipsoid known as World Geodetic System 84 is increasingly used to define heights, however, differences up to 100 metres exist between this ellipsoid height and mean tidal height. The alternative is to use a vertical datum such as NAVD88. When referring to geographic features such as mountains on a topographic map, the elevation of a mountain denotes the highest point or summit and is typically illustrated as a small circle on a topographic map with the AMSL height shown in metres, feet or both. In the rare case that a location is below sea level, for one such case, see Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
16.
Joseph Banks
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Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, GCB, PRS was a British naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the 1766 natural history expedition to Newfoundland and he took part in Captain James Cooks first great voyage, visiting Brazil, Tahiti, and, after 6 months in New Zealand, Australia, returning to immediate fame. He held the position of President of the Royal Society for over 41 years and he advised King George III on the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and by sending botanists around the world to collect plants, he made Kew the worlds leading botanical gardens. He is credited with introducing the eucalyptus, acacia, and the named after him, Banksia. Approximately 80 species of plants bear his name and he was the leading founder of the African Association and a member of the Society of Dilettanti which helped to establish the Royal Academy. Banks was born on Argyle Street in London to William Banks, a wealthy Lincolnshire country squire and member of the House of Commons and he had a younger sister, Sarah Sophia Banks, born in 1744. Banks was educated at Harrow School from the age of 9 and at Eton College from 1756, as a boy, Banks enjoyed exploring the Lincolnshire countryside and developed a keen interest in nature, history and botany. When he was 17, he was inoculated with smallpox, but he became ill, in late 1760, he was enrolled as a gentleman-commoner at the University of Oxford. At Oxford, he matriculated at Christ Church, where his studies were focused on natural history rather than the classical curriculum. Determined to receive instruction, he paid the Cambridge botanist Israel Lyons to deliver a series of lectures at Oxford in 1764. Banks left Oxford for Chelsea in December 1763 and he continued to attend the university until 1764, but left that year without taking a degree. He began to make friends among the men of his day and to correspond with Carl Linnaeus. As Bankss influence increased, he became an adviser to King George III and urged the monarch to support voyages of discovery to new lands and he became a Freemason sometime before 1769. He made his name by publishing the first Linnean descriptions of the plants and animals of Newfoundland and his diary, describing his expedition to Newfoundland, was rediscovered recently in the Royal Geographical Society of South Australia. Banks also documented 34 species of birds, including the great auk, on 7 May, he noted a large number of penguins swimming around the ship on the Grand Banks, and a specimen he collected in Chateau Bay, Labrador, was later identified as the great auk. Banks was appointed to a joint Royal Navy/Royal Society scientific expedition to the south Pacific Ocean on HMS Endeavour and this was the first of James Cooks voyages of discovery in that region. Banks funded seven others to him, the Swedish naturalist Daniel Solander. The voyage went to Brazil, where Banks made the first scientific description of a now common garden plant, bougainvillea, and to other parts of South America
17.
Fingal's Cave
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Fingals Cave is a sea cave on the uninhabited island of Staffa, in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, known for its natural acoustics. The National Trust for Scotland owns the cave as part of a National Nature Reserve and it became known as Fingals Cave after the eponymous hero of an epic poem by 18th-century Scots poet-historian James Macpherson. Fingals Cave is formed entirely from hexagonally jointed basalt columns within a Paleocene lava flow, similar in structure to the Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland and those of nearby Ulva. As cooling continued these cracks gradually extended toward the centre of the flow, similar hexagonal fracture patterns are found in desiccation cracks in mud where contraction is due to loss of water instead of cooling. The caves size and naturally arched roof, and the sounds produced by the echoes of waves. The caves Gaelic name, An Uaimh Bhinn, means the melodious cave, little is known of the early history of Staffa, although the Swiss town of Stäfa on Lake Zurich was named after the island by a monk from nearby Iona. Part of the Ulva estate of the Clan MacQuarrie from a date until 1777. It became known as Fingals Cave after the hero of an epic poem by 18th century Scots poet-historian James Macpherson. It formed part of his Ossian cycle of poems claimed to have based on old Scottish Gaelic poems. The legend of the Giants Causeway has Fionn or Finn building the causeway between Ireland and Scotland, the cave has a large arched entrance and is filled by the sea. Several sightseeing cruises organised from April to September by local companies pass the entrance to the cave, from the inside, the entrance seems to frame the island of Iona across the water. Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn visited in 1829 and wrote an overture, The Hebrides, Op.26, mendelssohns overture popularized the cave as a tourist destination. M. W. Turner, who painted Staffa, Fingals Cave in 1832, queen Victoria also made the trip. The playwright August Strindberg also set scenes from his play A Dream Play in a place called Fingals Grotto, Scots novelist Sir Walter Scott described Fingals Cave as one of the most extraordinary places I ever beheld. It exceeded, in my mind, every description I had heard of it, artist Matthew Barney used the cave along with the Giants Causeway for the opening and closing scenes of his art film, Cremaster 3. In 2008, the video artist Richard Ashrowan spent several days recording the interior of Fingals Cave for an exhibition at the Foksal Gallery in Poland, one of Pink Floyds early songs bears this locations name. This instrumental was written for the film Zabriskie Point but not used, lloyd House at Caltech has a mural representing Fingals Cave. The hallway that features this mural also houses a statue named Fingal
18.
Queen Victoria
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Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she adopted the title of Empress of India. Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, both the Duke of Kent and King George III died in 1820, and Victoria was raised under close supervision by her German-born mother Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She inherited the throne aged 18, after her fathers three brothers had all died, leaving no surviving legitimate children. The United Kingdom was already a constitutional monarchy, in which the sovereign held relatively little direct political power. Privately, Victoria attempted to influence government policy and ministerial appointments, publicly, Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, tying them together, after Alberts death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, republicanism temporarily gained strength and her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of public celebration. Her reign of 63 years and seven months is known as the Victorian era and it was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. She was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover and her son and successor, Edward VII, belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the line of his father. Victorias father was Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, until 1817, Edwards niece, Princess Charlotte of Wales, was the only legitimate grandchild of George III. Her death in 1817 precipitated a crisis that brought pressure on the Duke of Kent. In 1818 he married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, a widowed German princess with two children—Carl and Feodora —by her first marriage to the Prince of Leiningen and her brother Leopold was Princess Charlottes widower. The Duke and Duchess of Kents only child, Victoria, was born at 4.15 a. m. on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace in London. Victoria was christened privately by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton, on 24 June 1819 in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace and she was baptised Alexandrina, after one of her godparents, Emperor Alexander I of Russia, and Victoria, after her mother. Additional names proposed by her parents—Georgina, Charlotte, and Augusta—were dropped on the instructions of the Dukes eldest brother, George, the Duke of Clarence and the Duke of Kent married on the same day in 1818, but both of Clarences daughters died as infants. Victorias father died in January 1820, when Victoria was less than a year old, a week later her grandfather died and was succeeded by his eldest son, George IV. The Duke of York died in 1827, when George IV died in 1830, he was succeeded by his next surviving brother, William IV, and Victoria became heir presumptive
19.
Felix Mendelssohn
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Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. A grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn was born into a prominent Jewish family and he was brought up without religion until the age of seven, when he was baptised as a Reformed Christian. Mendelssohn was recognised early as a prodigy, but his parents were cautious. Mendelssohn enjoyed early success in Germany, where he revived interest in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. The Leipzig Conservatoire, which he founded, became a bastion of this anti-radical outlook, Mendelssohn wrote symphonies, concerti, oratorios, piano music and chamber music. His Songs Without Words are his most famous solo piano compositions and he is now among the most popular composers of the Romantic era. Mendelssohns father was the banker Abraham Mendelssohn, the son of the German Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn and his mother was Lea Salomon, a member of the Itzig family and a sister of Jakob Salomon Bartholdy. Mendelssohn was the second of four children, his older sister Fanny also displayed exceptional, the family moved to Berlin in 1811, leaving Hamburg in disguise fearing French revenge for the Mendelssohn banks role in breaking Napoleons Continental System blockade. Abraham and Lea Mendelssohn sought to give their children – Fanny, Felix, Paul, Fanny became a well-known pianist and amateur composer, originally Abraham had thought that she, rather than Felix, would be the more musical. However, at time, it was not considered proper, by either Abraham or Felix, for a woman to have a career in music, so Fanny remained an active. Abraham was also disinclined to allow Felix to follow a career until it became clear that he seriously intended to dedicate himself to it. Mendelssohn grew up in an intellectual environment, Sarah Rothenburg wrote of the household that Europe came to their living room. Abraham Mendelssohn renounced the Jewish religion, he and his wife decided not to have Felix circumcised. Felix and his siblings were first brought up without religious education, Abraham and his wife Lea were themselves baptised in 1822, formally adopting the surname Mendelssohn Bartholdy for themselves and their children. The name Bartholdy was added at the suggestion of Leas brother, Jakob Salomon Bartholdy, in 1829, his sister Fanny wrote to him of Bartholdy this name that we all dislike. Like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart before him, Mendelssohn was regarded as a child prodigy and he began taking piano lessons from his mother when he was six, and at seven was tutored by Marie Bigot in Paris. After the family moved to Berlin, all four Mendelssohn children studied piano with Ludwig Berger, from at least May 1819 Felix studied counterpoint and composition with Carl Friedrich Zelter in Berlin. This was an important influence on his future career, Zelter had almost certainly been recommended as a teacher by his aunt Sarah Levy, who had been a pupil of W. F. Bach and a patron of C. P. E. Bach
20.
The Hebrides (overture)
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The concert overture The Hebrides, Op.26, also known as Fingals Cave, was composed by Mendelssohn in 1830. The second edition of this Overture was completed on June 1832, the piece was inspired by Mendelssohns visit to Fingals Cave on the island of Staffa, located in the Hebrides archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. The piece was dedicated to King Frederick William IV of Prussia, Mendelssohns first visit to England in 1829 resulted from invitations by Sir George Smart and the Philharmonic Society. Following his tour of England, Mendelssohn proceeded to Scotland, where he work on his Symphony No. He was engaged on a tour of Scotland with his travelling companion Karl Klingemann when he sent a postcard to his family with the phrase of the overture written on it. In a note to his sister, Fanny Mendelssohn he said, In order to make you understand how extraordinarily the Hebrides affected me, I send you the following, which came into my head there. The cave at that time was approximately 35 feet high and over 200 feet deep, the work was completed on 16 December 1830 and was originally entitled Die einsame Insel. However, Mendelssohn later revised the score, completing it by 20 June 1832, despite this, the title of Fingals Cave was also used, on the orchestral parts he labelled the music The Hebrides, but on the score Mendelssohn labelled the music Fingals Cave. The overture was premiered on 14 May 1832 in London, in a concert also featured Mendelssohns Overture to A Midsummer Nights Dream. The music, though labelled as an overture, is intended to stand as a complete work. Although programme music, it does not tell a story and is not about anything, instead. The overture consists of two themes, the opening notes of the overture state the theme Mendelssohn wrote while visiting the cave, and is played initially by the violas, cellos. This lyrical theme, suggestive of the power and stunning beauty of the cave, is intended to develop feelings of loneliness, the second theme, meanwhile, depicts movement at sea and rolling waves. The piece is scored for 2 flutes,2 oboes,2 clarinets,2 bassoons,2 horns,2 trumpets, timpani, performances of the overture typically last between 10½ and 11 minutes. The autograph manuscript of the work is held in the Bodleian Library, the overture can be heard in Luis Buñuels film LAge dOr. The full work provides the soundtrack for the 1941 experimental film Moods of the Sea by Slavko Vorkapić, an extract was used for the inscrutable and seemingly indestructible hopping mynah bird in the brief Warner Bros. 1940s cartoon series Inki and the Minah Bird, an A cappella arrangement can be heard in Crash, Twinsanity. Heard in the 1943 film The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp by Michael Powell, the opening 2 minutes of the piece features in the PlayStation video game Colony Wars, Vengeance during selected cutscenes Hebrides Overture, Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
21.
National Trust for Scotland
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The National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, commonly known as the National Trust for Scotland is a Scottish conservation organisation. The Trust owns and manages around 130 properties and 180,000 acres of land, including castles, ancient small dwellings, historic sites, gardens, and remote rural areas. It is similar in function to the National Trust, which covers England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, the Trust was established in 1931 and had 450 employees, over 310,000 members, and 1.5 million recorded visitors. The Trusts Patron is Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay, the CEO is Simon Skinner, and it is a registered charity under Scottish law. Originally, the charity owned properties rather than wilderness areas, when the Trust took on the management of rural estates there was controversy concerning issues such as the siting of visitor centres and placing of signposts. However, the Trust has learned to adopt a more sensitive approach, the stabilization of the Trusts finances allowed it to make its first acquisition in seven years when it bought the Alloa Tower in Clackmannanshire in 2015. For the year ended 28 February 2015, the Trusts total income was £47 million, the largest sources of income were membership subscriptions, commercial activities and investment income. In the same year the Trusts total expenditure was £49 million, annual membership of the Trust allows free entry to properties and Discovery Tickets are available for shorter term visitors. Membership also provides free entry to National Trust properties in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, the Trust has independent sister organizations in the United States, and Canada. The organisations membership magazine, Scotland in Trust, is published three times a year, for the maintenance of its nature properties, the Trust depends on the contributions of volunteers, with local circles of Conservation Volunteers working on projects during weekends. The charity also organises working holidays called Thistle Camps on various properties, with activities undertaken including footpath maintenance, the Trust manages 129 heritage properties consisting of 1,500 individual buildings,270 of which are listed. Most grounds and open spaces are open throughout the year but buildings may only be visited from Easter to October. The Trust is Scotlands largest garden owner with just under 70 gardens that cover 238 hectares and these gardens include 35 major gardens with the remainder forming part of other properties. The Trust is the third largest land manager in Scotland, owning 76,000 hectares of Scottish countryside including 46 Munros, more than 400 islands and islets, Trust countryside properties include Glen Coe, Torridon and Mar Lodge Estate. The Trusts management of its coastal and countryside sites is guided by its Wild Land Policy which aims to preserve the land in its state and provide access. Trust sites are home to a variety of native wildlife. The Trust estimate that almost 25% of Scotlands seabirds nest on its island and coastal sites, the Trusts countryside properties are home to native mammal species including red deer, pine marten, wildcat and red squirrel. St Kilda and the sea stacks are home to over one million seabirds as well as three species unique to the islands, the Soay sheep, St Kilda field mouse and St Kilda wren
22.
Atlantic Ocean
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The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the worlds oceans with a total area of about 106,460,000 square kilometres. It covers approximately 20 percent of the Earths surface and about 29 percent of its surface area. It separates the Old World from the New World, the Atlantic Ocean occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin extending longitudinally between Eurasia and Africa to the east, and the Americas to the west. The Equatorial Counter Current subdivides it into the North Atlantic Ocean, in contrast, the term Atlantic originally referred specifically to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and the sea off the Strait of Gibraltar and the North African coast. The Greek word thalassa has been reused by scientists for the huge Panthalassa ocean that surrounded the supercontinent Pangaea hundreds of years ago. The term Aethiopian Ocean, derived from Ancient Ethiopia, was applied to the Southern Atlantic as late as the mid-19th century, many Irish or British people refer to the United States and Canada as across the pond, and vice versa. The Black Atlantic refers to the role of ocean in shaping black peoples history. Irish migration to the US is meant when the term The Green Atlantic is used, the term Red Atlantic has been used in reference to the Marxian concept of an Atlantic working class, as well as to the Atlantic experience of indigenous Americans. Correspondingly, the extent and number of oceans and seas varies, the Atlantic Ocean is bounded on the west by North and South America. It connects to the Arctic Ocean through the Denmark Strait, Greenland Sea, Norwegian Sea, to the east, the boundaries of the ocean proper are Europe, the Strait of Gibraltar and Africa. In the southeast, the Atlantic merges into the Indian Ocean, the 20° East meridian, running south from Cape Agulhas to Antarctica defines its border. In the 1953 definition it extends south to Antarctica, while in later maps it is bounded at the 60° parallel by the Southern Ocean, the Atlantic has irregular coasts indented by numerous bays, gulfs, and seas. Including these marginal seas the coast line of the Atlantic measures 111,866 km compared to 135,663 km for the Pacific. Including its marginal seas, the Atlantic covers an area of 106,460,000 km2 or 23. 5% of the ocean and has a volume of 310,410,900 km3 or 23. 3%. Excluding its marginal seas, the Atlantic covers 81,760,000 km2 and has a volume of 305,811,900 km3, the North Atlantic covers 41,490,000 km2 and the South Atlantic 40,270,000 km2. The average depth is 3,646 m and the maximum depth, the bathymetry of the Atlantic is dominated by a submarine mountain range called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It runs from 87°N or 300 km south of the North Pole to the subantarctic Bouvet Island at 42°S, the MAR divides the Atlantic longitudinally into two halves, in each of which a series of basins are delimited by secondary, transverse ridges. The MAR reaches above 2000 m along most of its length, the MAR is a barrier for bottom water, but at these two transform faults deep water currents can pass from one side to the other
23.
Outer Hebrides
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The Outer Hebrides, also known as the Western Isles, Innse Gall or the Long Isle or Long Island, is an island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. The islands are geographically coextensive with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. They form part of the Hebrides, separated from the Scottish mainland and from the Inner Hebrides by the waters of the Minch, the Little Minch, Scottish Gaelic is the predominant spoken language, although in a few areas English speakers form a majority. Most of the islands have a formed from ancient metamorphic rocks. The 15 inhabited islands have a population of 27,100. From Barra Head to the Butt of Lewis is roughly 210 kilometres, There are various important prehistoric structures, many of which pre-date the first written references to the islands by Roman and Greek authors. The Western Isles became part of the Norse kingdom of the Suðreyjar, control of the islands was then held by clan chiefs, principal of whom were the MacLeods, MacDonalds, Mackenzies and MacNeils. The Highland Clearances of the 19th century had an effect on many communities. Much of the land is now under control and commercial activity is based on tourism, crofting, fishing. Sea transport is crucial and a variety of services operate between the islands and to mainland Scotland. Modern navigation systems now minimise the dangers but in the past the stormy seas have claimed many ships, religion, music and sport are important aspects of local culture, and there are numerous designated conservation areas to protect the natural environment. The islands form an archipelago whose major islands are Lewis and Harris, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, and Barra. Lewis and Harris has an area of 217,898 hectares and is the largest island in Scotland and it incorporates Lewis in the north and Harris in the south, both of which are frequently referred to as individual islands, although they are connected by land. The island does not have a name in either English or Gaelic. The largest islands are deeply indented by arms of the sea such as Loch Ròg, Loch Seaforth, There are also more than 7,500 freshwater lochs in the Outer Hebrides, about 24% of the total for the whole of Scotland. North and South Uist and Lewis in particular have landscapes with a percentage of fresh water. Harris has fewer large bodies of water but has innumerable small lochans, Loch Langavat on Lewis is 11 kilometres long, and has several large islands in its midst, including Eilean Mòr. Although Loch Suaineabhal has only 25% of Loch Langavats surface area, of Loch Sgadabhagh on North Uist it has been said that there is probably no other loch in Britain which approaches Loch Scadavay in irregularity and complexity of outline
24.
Isostasy
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Isostasy is the state of gravitational equilibrium between Earths crust and mantle such that the crust floats at an elevation that depends on its thickness and density. This concept is invoked to explain how different topographic heights can exist at Earths surface, when a certain area of Earths crust reaches the state of isostasy, it is said to be in isostatic equilibrium. Isostasy does not upset equilibrium but instead restores it and it is generally accepted that Earth is a dynamic system that responds to loads in many different ways. However, isostasy provides an important view of the processes that are happening in areas that are experiencing vertical movement. In the simplest example, isostasy is the principle of buoyancy wherein an object immersed in a fluid is buoyed with a equal to the weight of the displaced fluid. The general term isostasy was coined in the year 1889 by the American geologist Clarence Dutton, the Vening Meinesz, or flexural isostasy model – where the lithosphere acts as an elastic plate and its inherent rigidity distributes local topographic loads over a broad region by bending. Airy and Pratt isostasy are statements of buoyancy, whereas flexural isostasy is a statement of buoyancy when deflecting a sheet of finite elastic strength. The basis of the model is Pascals law, and particularly its consequence that, within a fluid in static equilibrium, in other words, h1⋅ρ1 = h2⋅ρ2 = h3⋅ρ3 =. This hypothesis was suggested to explain how large topographic loads such as seamounts could be compensated by regional rather than local displacement of the lithosphere. When large amounts of sediment are deposited on a particular region, similarly, when large amounts of material are eroded away from a region, the land may rise to compensate. Therefore, as a range is eroded, the range rebounds upwards to be eroded further. An analogy may be made with an iceberg—it always floats with a proportion of its mass below the surface of the water. If more ice is added to the top of the iceberg, if a layer of ice is somehow sliced off the top of the iceberg, the remaining iceberg will rise. Similarly, Earths lithosphere floats in the asthenosphere, when continents collide, the continental crust may thicken at their edges in the collision. If this happens, much of the thickened crust may move downwards rather than up as with the iceberg analogy, the idea of continental collisions building mountains up is therefore rather a simplification. Instead, the crust thickens and the part of the thickened crust may become a mountain range. However, some continental collisions are far more complex than this, the formation of ice sheets can cause Earths surface to sink. Conversely, isostatic rebound is observed in areas once covered by ice sheets that have now melted, such as around the Baltic Sea
25.
Iona
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Iona is a small island in the Inner Hebrides off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It was a centre of Gaelic monasticism for four centuries and is renowned for its tranquility. It is a popular tourist destination and a place for retreats and its modern Gaelic name means Iona of Columba. The Hebrides have been occupied by the speakers of languages since the Iron Age. Nonetheless few, if any, can have accumulated so many different names over the centuries as the now known in English as Iona. The earliest forms of the name enabled place-name scholar William J. Watson to show that the name meant something like yew-place. The element Ivo-, denoting yew, occurs in Ogham inscriptions and in Gaulish names and it is possible that the name is related to the mythological figure, Fer hÍ mac Eogabail, foster-son of Manannan, the forename meaning man of the yew. The possible confusion results from ì, despite its original etymology, eilean Idhe means the isle of Iona, also known as Ì nam ban bòidheach. The modern English name comes of yet another variant, Ioua, iouas change to Iona, attested from c.1274, results from a transcription mistake resulting from the similarity of n and u in Insular Minuscule. Iona lies about 2 kilometres from the coast of Mull and it is about 2 kilometres wide and 6 kilometres long with a resident population of 125. The geology of the island consists mainly of Precambrian Lewisian gneiss with Torridonian sedimentary rocks on the eastern side, like other places swept by ocean breezes, there are few trees, most of them are near the parish church. Ionas highest point is Dùn Ì,101 metres, an Iron Age hill fort dating from 100 BC – AD200. Ionas geographical features include the Bay at the Back of the Ocean and Càrn Cùl ri Éirinn, the main settlement, located at St. Ronans Bay on the eastern side of the island, is called Baile Mòr and is also known locally as The Village. The primary school, post office, the two hotels, the Bishops House and the ruins of the Nunnery are here. The Abbey and MacLeod Centre are a short walk to the north, port Bàn beach on the west side of the island is home to the Iona Beach Party. The steamer Cathcart Park carrying a cargo of salt from Runcorn to Wick ran aground on Soa on 15 April 1912, in the early Historic Period Iona lay within the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata. The island was the site of an important monastery during the Early Middle Ages. Columba and twelve companions went into exile on Iona and founded a monastery there, many satellite institutions were founded, and Iona became the centre of one of the most important monastic systems in Great Britain and Ireland
26.
Treshnish Isles
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The Treshnish Isles is an archipelago of small islands and skerries, lying west of Mull, in Scotland. They are part of the Inner Hebrides, trips to the Treshnish Isles run from Tobermory and Ardnamurchan in the summer months. The archipelago stretches for roughly 7 kilometres from the island of Bac Beag in the south towards Cairn na Burgh Beag to the north east, other larger islands in the group are Cairn na Burgh Mòr, Fladda and Bac Mòr. There are numerous smaller skerries, particularly north of Lunga, all the islands are of volcanic origin. There are several possible duns on the islands of Iron Age origin, the Trust are guardians of the islands to protect them and the wildlife and to monitor and study the ecology and archaeology. Treisinis is a Gaelic name of unknown meaning that includes the Old Norse root ness, Bac Mòr is also known as The Dutchmans Cap in English due to its shape. Bac Beag is from the Gaelic Am Baca Beag, with Bac meaning bank or dune, Bac Mòr is also known as Baca Rois in Gaelic, which means dune of the Ross and is a reference to the shape of the island when framed against the Ross of Mull. Lunga is probably from the Old Norse lungr-øy, meaning longship island, Sgeir an Eirionnaich and Sgeir a Chaisteil are Gaelic names meaning Irishmans skerry and castle skerry respectively. Cairn na Burgh Mòr means cairn of the fort and Cairn na Burgh Beg is thus cairn of the small fort. The name Fladda originates from the Old Norse for flat island, the Treshnish Isles are part of the Loch Na Keal National Scenic Area, one of 40 in Scotland. They are also designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, a Special Protection Area due to their importance for breeding seabirds and they are also known for their Atlantic grey seals and ruined castles. Mac an Tailleir, Iain Ainmean-àite le buidheachas/Placenames, Treshnish Isles Management Plan 2001-11 The Hebridean Trust
27.
Volcano
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A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. Earths volcanoes occur because its crust is broken into 17 major, therefore, on Earth, volcanoes are generally found where tectonic plates are diverging or converging. This type of volcanism falls under the umbrella of plate hypothesis volcanism, Volcanism away from plate boundaries has also been explained as mantle plumes. These so-called hotspots, for example Hawaii, are postulated to arise from upwelling diapirs with magma from the boundary,3,000 km deep in the Earth. Volcanoes are usually not created where two plates slide past one another. Erupting volcanoes can pose hazards, not only in the immediate vicinity of the eruption. Historically, so-called volcanic winters have caused catastrophic famines, the word volcano is derived from the name of Vulcano, a volcanic island in the Aeolian Islands of Italy whose name in turn comes from Vulcan, the god of fire in Roman mythology. The study of volcanoes is called volcanology, sometimes spelled vulcanology, at the mid-oceanic ridges, two tectonic plates diverge from one another as new oceanic crust is formed by the cooling and solidifying of hot molten rock. Most divergent plate boundaries are at the bottom of the oceans, therefore, most volcanic activity is submarine, black smokers are evidence of this kind of volcanic activity. Where the mid-oceanic ridge is above sea-level, volcanic islands are formed, for example, subduction zones are places where two plates, usually an oceanic plate and a continental plate, collide. In this case, the plate subducts, or submerges under the continental plate forming a deep ocean trench just offshore. In a process called flux melting, water released from the subducting plate lowers the temperature of the overlying mantle wedge. This magma tends to be very viscous due to its high content, so it often does not reach the surface. When it does reach the surface, a volcano is formed, typical examples of this kind of volcano are Mount Etna and the volcanoes in the Pacific Ring of Fire. Because tectonic plates move across them, each volcano becomes dormant and is eventually re-formed as the plate advances over the postulated plume and this theory is currently under criticism, however. The most common perception of a volcano is of a mountain, spewing lava and poisonous gases from a crater at its summit, however. The features of volcanoes are more complicated and their structure. Some volcanoes have rugged peaks formed by lava domes rather than a summit crater while others have features such as massive plateaus
28.
Tuff
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Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is compacted into a rock in a process called consolidation. Tuff is sometimes called tufa, particularly used as construction material. Rock that contains greater than 50% tuff is considered tuffaceous, Tuff is a relatively soft rock, so it has been used for construction since ancient times. Since it is common in Italy the Romans used it often for construction, the Rapa Nui people used it to make most of the moai statues in Easter Island. Tuff can be classified as either sedimentary or igneous rocks and they are usually studied in the context of igneous petrology, although they are sometimes described using sedimentological terms. The material that is expelled in a volcanic eruption can be classified into three types, Volcanic gases, a mixture mostly of water vapour, carbon dioxide. Lava, the name of magma when it emerges and flows over the surface, and tephra, chunks of solid material of all shapes and sizes ejected and thrown through the air. Tephra is made when magma inside the volcano is blown apart by the expansion of hot volcanic gases. It is common for magma to explode as the gas dissolved in it comes out of solution as the pressure decreases when it flows to the surface and these violent explosions produce solid chunks of material that can then fly from the volcano. When these chunks are smaller than 2 mm in diameter they are called volcanic ash and it is made of small, slaggy pieces of lava and rock that have been tossed into the air by outbursts of steam and other gases. Among the loose beds of ash that cover the slopes of many volcanoes, in addition to true ashes of the kind described above, there are lumps of the old lavas and tuffs forming the walls of the crater, etc. In some great volcanic explosions nothing but materials of the kind were emitted. The ashes vary in size from large blocks twenty feet or more in diameter to the minutest impalpable dust, the large masses are called volcanic bombs, they have mostly a rounded, elliptical or pear-shaped form owing to rotation in the air before they solidified. Many of them have ribbed or nodular surfaces, and sometimes they have a crust intersected by many cracks like the surface of a loaf of bread, any ash in which they are very abundant is called an agglomerate. But many volcanoes stand near the sea, and the ashes cast out by them are mingled with the sediments that are gathering at the bottom of the waters, in this way ashy muds or sands or even in some cases ashy limestones are being formed. As a matter of fact most of the found in the older formations contain admixtures of clay, sand, and sometimes fossil shells. The showers of ashes often follow one another after longer or shorter intervals, the coarsest materials or agglomerates show this least distinctly, in the fine beds it is often developed in great perfection
29.
Columnar jointing
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Columnar jointing is a geological structure where sets of intersecting closely spaced fractures, referred to as joints, result in the formation of a regular array of polygonal prisms, or columns. Columnar jointing occurs in many types of rocks and forms as the rock cools. Columnar jointing can occur in cooling lava flows and ashflow tuffs, the columns can vary from 3 meters to a few centimeters in diameter, and can be as much as 30 meters tall. They are typically parallel and straight, but can also be curved, whereas an array of regular and straight columns is called a colonnade, an irregular array is termed an entablature. The number of sides of the columns can vary from 3 to 8. Other famous places include the Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland and Fingals Cave on the island of Staffa, the Devils Tower in Wyoming in the United States is about 40 million years old and 382 meters high. Geologists agree that the forming the Devils Tower solidified from an intrusion. Most columns are 6-sided, but 4,5, and 7-sided ones can also be found, the Giants Causeway on the north Antrim coast of Northern Ireland was created by volcanic activity 60 million years ago, and consists of over 40,000 columns. According to a legend, the giant Finn McCool created the Giants Causeway, the late Cretaceous Deccan Traps of India constitute one of the largest volcanic provinces of Earth, and examples of columnar jointing can be found in St. Marys Island in the state of Karnataka. The columnar jointed sandstone of the HaMinsara in the makhtesh of Makhtesh Ramon, Negev desert, several exposures of columnar jointing have been discovered on the planet Mars by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera, which is carried by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Basalt fan structure Prism Aydin, A. and J. Zhong Columnar Joints, Multiple Joint Sets, Rock Fracture Knolwedgebase, Stanford University, Stanford, California
30.
Giant's Causeway
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The Giants Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. It is also known as Clochán an Aifir or Clochán na bhFomhórach in Irish and it is located in County Antrim on the north coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles northeast of the town of Bushmills. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, in a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, the Giants Causeway was named as the fourth greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot, most of the columns are hexagonal, although there are also some with four, five, seven or eight sides. The tallest are about 12 metres high, and the lava in the cliffs is 28 metres thick in places. Much of the Giants Causeway and Causeway Coast World Heritage Site is today owned and managed by the National Trust, the remainder of the site is owned by the Crown Estate and a number of private landowners. As the lava cooled, contraction occurred, in many cases the horizontal fracture has resulted in a bottom face that is convex while the upper face of the lower segment is concave, producing what are called ball and socket joints. The size of the columns is primarily determined by the speed at which lava from a volcanic eruption cools, the extensive fracture network produced the distinctive columns seen today. The basalts were originally part of a volcanic plateau called the Thulean Plateau which formed during the Paleocene. According to legend, the columns are the remains of a built by a giant. The story goes that the Irish giant Fionn mac Cumhaill, from the Fenian Cycle of Gaelic mythology, was challenged to a fight by the Scottish giant Benandonner, Fionn accepted the challenge and built the causeway across the North Channel so that the two giants could meet. In one version of the story, Fionn defeats Benandonner, in another, Fionn hides from Benandonner when he realises that his foe is much bigger than he. Fionns wife, Oonagh, disguises Fionn as a baby and tucks him in a cradle, when Benandonner sees the size of the baby, he reckons that its father, Fionn, must be a giant among giants. He flees back to Scotland in fright, destroying the causeway behind him so that Fionn could not follow, across the sea, there are identical basalt columns at Fingals Cave on the Scottish isle of Staffa, and it is possible that the story was influenced by this. In overall Irish mythology, Fionn mac Cumhaill is not a giant, the Fomhóraigh are a race of supernatural beings in Irish mythology who were sometimes described as giants and who may have originally been part of a pre-Christian pantheon. In the caption to the plates French geologist Nicolas Desmarest suggested, for the first time in print, visitors can walk over the basalt columns which are at the edge of the sea, a half-mile walk from the entrance to the site. The Causeway was without a permanent visitors centre between 2000 and 2012, as the building, built in 1986, burned down in 2000. A privately financed proposal was given approval in 2007 by the Environment Minister
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Northern Ireland
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Northern Ireland is a constituent unit of the United Kingdom in the north-east of Ireland. It is variously described as a country, province, region, or part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2011, its population was 1,810,863, constituting about 30% of the total population. Northern Ireland was created in 1921, when Ireland was partitioned between Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland by an act of the British parliament, Northern Ireland has historically been the most industrialised region of Ireland. After declining as a result of the political and social turmoil of the Troubles, its economy has grown significantly since the late 1990s. Unemployment in Northern Ireland peaked at 17. 2% in 1986, dropping to 6. 1% for June–August 2014,58. 2% of those unemployed had been unemployed for over a year. Prominent artists and sports persons from Northern Ireland include Van Morrison, Rory McIlroy, Joey Dunlop, Wayne McCullough, some people from Northern Ireland prefer to identify as Irish while others prefer to identify as British. Cultural links between Northern Ireland, the rest of Ireland, and the rest of the UK are complex, in many sports, the island of Ireland fields a single team, a notable exception being association football. Northern Ireland competes separately at the Commonwealth Games, and people from Northern Ireland may compete for either Great Britain or Ireland at the Olympic Games. The region that is now Northern Ireland was the bedrock of the Irish war of resistance against English programmes of colonialism in the late 16th century, the English-controlled Kingdom of Ireland had been declared by the English king Henry VIII in 1542, but Irish resistance made English control fragmentary. Victories by English forces in war and further Protestant victories in the Williamite War in Ireland toward the close of the 17th century solidified Anglican rule in Ireland. In Northern Ireland, the victories of the Siege of Derry and their intention was to materially disadvantage the Catholic community and, to a lesser extent, the Presbyterian community. In the context of open institutional discrimination, the 18th century saw secret, militant societies develop in communities in the region and act on sectarian tensions in violent attacks. Following this, in an attempt to quell sectarianism and force the removal of discriminatory laws, the new state, formed in 1801, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, was governed from a single government and parliament based in London. Between 1717 and 1775 some 250,000 people from Ulster emigrated to the British North American colonies and it is estimated that there are more than 27 million Scotch-Irish Americans now living in the US. By the close of the century, autonomy for Ireland within the United Kingdom, in 1912, after decades of obstruction from the House of Lords, Home Rule became a near-certainty. A clash between the House of Commons and House of Lords over a controversial budget produced the Parliament Act 1911, which enabled the veto of the Lords to be overturned. The House of Lords veto had been the unionists main guarantee that Home Rule would not be enacted, in 1914, they smuggled thousands of rifles and rounds of ammunition from Imperial Germany for use by the Ulster Volunteers, a paramilitary organisation opposed to the implementation of Home Rule
32.
Ulva
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Ulva is an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, off the west coast of Mull. It is separated from Mull by a strait, and connected to the neighbouring island of Gometra by a bridge. Much of the island is formed from Cenozoic basalt rocks, which is formed into columns in places, Ulva has been populated since the Mesolithic and there are various Neolithic remains on the island. The Norse occupation of the island in the Early Historic Period has left few tangible artefacts but did bequeath the island its name, celtic culture was a major influence during both Pictish and Dalriadan times as well as the post-Norse period when the islands became part of modern Scotland. This long period, when Gaelic became the dominant language, was ended by the 19th-century Clearances, at its height Ulva had a population of over 800, but today this has declined to less than 20. Numerous well-known individuals have connections with the island including David Livingstone, Samuel Johnson and Walter Scott, wildlife is abundant, cetaceans are regularly seen in the surrounding waters and over 500 species of plant have been recorded. Today there is a ferry service and tourism is the mainstay of the economy. Ulva is approximately oval in shape with an indented coastline and it is aligned east-west, being 12 kilometres long, and 4 kilometres wide. Viewed on a scale, Ulva and its neighbouring island Gometra appear to be a peninsula of the Isle of Mull. Caolas Ulbha at the east of the island is a narrow channel a few hundred metres across to Ulva Ferry on Mull, to its west, it is separated from Gometra by Gometra Harbour. To the south are Mulls headlands of Ardmeanach and the Ross of Mull, to the north, Loch Tuath separates it from another headland of Mull, and to the south east is Loch na Keal, and the island of Eorsa. There are two bays on the south coast, Port a Bhàta, and Tràigh Bhàn. On the north coast, there is the bay of Lòn Bhearnuis, Soriby Bay. The highest point of Ulva is Beinn Chreagach, which reaches 313 metres and it has a neighbour in Beinn Eoligarry whose summit is 306 metres above sea level. There is also the hill of A Chrannag in the south east at 118 metres high. The island has a ridge, with the highest ground running along its lateral axis - this ridge is somewhat broken by Gleann Glas. The south east peninsula tends to be lying, with a small plain along the south coast. The climate is moderated by the Gulf Stream, Ulva was part of Argyll pre-1974, and Strathclyde Region after that
33.
Olivine
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The mineral olivine is a magnesium iron silicate with the formula 2SiO4. Thus it is a type of nesosilicate or orthosilicate and it is a common mineral in the Earths subsurface but weathers quickly on the surface. The ratio of magnesium and iron varies between the two endmembers of the solid solution series, forsterite and fayalite, compositions of olivine are commonly expressed as molar percentages of forsterite and fayalite. Forsterite has a high melting temperature at atmospheric pressure, almost 1,900 °C. The melting temperature varies smoothly between the two endmembers, as do other properties, olivine incorporates only minor amounts of elements other than oxygen, silicon, magnesium and iron. Manganese and nickel commonly are the elements present in highest concentrations. Olivine gives its name to the group of minerals with a structure which includes tephroite, monticellite and kirschsteinite. It has a structure similar to magnetite but uses one quadravalent. Olivine gemstones are called peridot and chrysolite, olivine is named for its typically olive-green color, though it may alter to a reddish color from the oxidation of iron. Translucent olivine is sometimes used as a gemstone called peridot, some of the finest gem-quality olivine has been obtained from a body of mantle rocks on Zabargad island in the Red Sea. Olivine occurs in mafic and ultramafic igneous rocks and as a primary mineral in certain metamorphic rocks. Mg-rich olivine crystallizes from magma that is rich in magnesium and low in silica and that magma crystallizes to mafic rocks such as gabbro and basalt. Ultramafic rocks such as peridotite and dunite can be left after extraction of magmas. Olivine and high pressure structural variants constitute over 50% of the Earths upper mantle, the metamorphism of impure dolomite or other sedimentary rocks with high magnesium and low silica content also produces Mg-rich olivine, or forsterite. In contrast, Mg-rich olivine does not occur stably with silica minerals, Mg-rich olivine is stable to pressures equivalent to a depth of about 410 km within Earth. Mg-rich olivine has also discovered in meteorites, on the Moon and Mars, falling into infant stars. Such meteorites include chondrites, collections of debris from the early Solar System, the spectral signature of olivine has been seen in the dust disks around young stars. The tails of comets often have the signature of olivine
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Tholeiitic magma series
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The tholeiitic magma series, named after the German municipality of Tholey, is one of two main magma series in igneous rocks, the other magma series being the calc-alkaline. A magma series is a series of compositions that describes the evolution of a mafic magma, the International Union of Geological Sciences recommends that tholeiitic basalt be used in preference to the term tholeiite. Rocks in the tholeiitic magma series are classified as subalkaline and are distinguished from rocks in the calc-alkaline magma series by the state of the magma they crystallized from. The difference between these two series can be seen on an AFM diagram, a ternary diagram showing the relative proportions of the oxides Na2O + K2O, FeO + Fe2O3. As magmas cool, they precipitate out significantly more iron and magnesium than alkali, like all basalt, the rock type is dominated by clinopyroxene plus plagioclase, with minor iron-titanium oxides. Orthopyroxene or pigeonite may also be present in tholeiitic basalt, and olivine, if present, tridymite or quartz may be present in the fine-grained groundmass of tholeiitic basalt, and feldspathoids are absent. Tholeiitic rocks may have a fine, glassy groundmass, as may other types of basalt, basalt magmas are partial melts of peridotite produced by decompression melting in the Earths mantle, a process described for igneous rocks. Tholeiitic basalts are the most common volcanic rocks on Earth, as they are produced by submarine volcanism at mid-ocean ridges, MORB, the acronym for typical mid-ocean-ridge basalt, is a type of tholeiitic basalt particularly low in incompatible elements. In contrast, alkali basalt is not typical at ocean ridges, because the Moon is extremely reduced, all of its basalt is tholeiitic. Petrology Igneous differentiation R. W. Le Maitre, A. Streckeisen, zanettin, M. J. Le Bas, B
35.
Sea cave
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A sea cave, also known as a littoral cave, is a type of cave formed primarily by the wave action of the sea. The primary process involved is erosion, sea caves are found throughout the world, actively forming along present coastlines and as relict sea caves on former coastlines. Some of the largest wave-cut caves in the world are found on the coast of Norway and these would still be classified as littoral caves. Some of the sea caves are European. Fingals Cave, on the Scottish island of Staffa, is a cave some 70 m long. The Blue Grotto of Capri, although smaller, is famous for the apparent luminescent quality of its water, the Romans built a stairway in its rear and a now-collapsed tunnel to the surface. The Greek islands are noted for the variety and beauty of their sea caves. Numerous sea caves have been surveyed in England, Scotland, and in France, until 2013, the largest known sea caves were found along the west coast of the United States, the Hawaiian islands, and the Shetland Islands. In 2013 the discovery and survey of the worlds largest sea cave was announced, located on New Zealands Otago coast on the South Island, Matainaka Cave has proven to be the worlds most extensive at 1.5 km in length. Also in 2013, Crossley reported a newly surveyed complex reaching just over a kilometer in survey at Bethells Beach on New Zealands North Island, however, there are some notable exceptions as discussed below. In order to form a sea cave, the host rock must first contain a weak zone. In metamorphic or igneous rock, this is either a fault as in the caves of the Channel Islands of California, or a dike as in the large sea caves of Kauai. In sedimentary rocks, this may be a bedding-plane parting or a contact between layers of different hardness. The latter may also occur in rocks, such as in the caves on Santa Cruz Island, California. The driving force in littoral cave development is wave action, erosion is ongoing anywhere that waves batter rocky coasts, but where sea cliffs contain zones of weakness, rock is removed at a greater rate along these zones. Adding to the power of the waves is the abrasive force of suspended sand. Most sea-cave walls are irregular and chunky, reflecting an erosional process where the rock is fractured piece by piece. However, some caves have portions where the walls are rounded and smoothed, typically floored with cobbles, and result from the swirling motion of these cobbles in the surf zone
36.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
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Fionn mac Cumhaill
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Fionn mac Cumhaill, sometimes transcribed in English as MacCool or MacCoul, was a mythical hunter-warrior of Irish mythology, occurring also in the mythologies of Scotland and the Isle of Man. The stories of Fionn and his followers the Fianna, form the Fenian Cycle, much of it narrated in the voice of Fionns son, Fionn means blond, fair, white, or bright. The name Fionn is related to the Welsh name Gwyn, as in the mythological figure Gwyn ap Nudd, and to the continental Celtic Vindos, the 19th-century Irish revolutionary organisation known as the Fenian Brotherhood took its name from these legends. The Scottish form of his name, Fingal /ˈfɪŋɡəl/, comes from a retelling of the legends in epic form by the 18th-century poet James Macpherson, most of Fionns early adventures are recounted in the narrative The Boyhood Deeds of Fionn. He was the son of Cumhall, leader of the Fianna, Cumhall abducted Muirne after her father refused him her hand, so Tadg appealed to the High King, Conn of the Hundred Battles, who outlawed Cumhall. The Battle of Cnucha was fought between Conn and Cumhall, and Cumhall was killed by Goll mac Morna, who took leadership of the Fianna. Fionn Mac Cumhaill was said to be originally from Ballyfin, in Laois, the direct translation of Ballyfin from Irish to English is town of Fionn. In Fiacals house Muirne gave birth to a son, whom she called Deimne. Muirne left the boy in the care of Bodhmall and a woman, Liath Luachra. The young Fionn met the leprechaun-like druid and poet Finn Eces, or Finnegas, near the river Boyne, eventually the old man caught it, and told the boy to cook it for him. While cooking it Deimne burned his thumb, and instinctively put his thumb in his mouth and this imbued him with the salmons wisdom, and when Finn Eces saw that he had gained wisdom, he gave young Fionn the whole salmon to eat. Fionn then knew how to revenge against Goll, and in subsequent stories was able to call on the knowledge of the salmon by putting his thumb to the tooth that had first tasted the salmon. The story of Fionn and the salmon of knowledge and the Welsh tale of Gwion Bach are similar, Fionn arrived at Tara, armed with his fathers crane-skin bag of magical weapons. He kept himself awake by touching the point of his magically red-hot spear to his forehead, the pain kept Fionn awake, allowing him to pursue and kill Aillen with the same spear. After that his heritage was recognised and he was given command of the Fianna, Goll willingly stepped aside, Fionn demanded compensation for his fathers death from Tadg, threatening war or single combat against him if he refused. Tadg offered him his home, the hill of Allen, as compensation, Fionn met his most famous wife, Sadhbh, when he was out hunting. She had been turned into a deer by a druid, Fear Doirich, Fionns hounds, Bran and Sceólang, born of a human enchanted into the form of a hound, recognised her as human, and Fionn brought her home. She transformed back into a woman the moment she set foot on Fionns land and she and Fionn married and she was soon pregnant
38.
Loch na Keal
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Loch na Keal extends over 20 km inland, almost bisecting Mull, and extending to within 5 km of the eastern shore. Loch na Keal consists of a triangular shaped outer loch, separated from Loch Tuath to the north by the islands of Gometra and Ulva. The island of Staffa is at the mouth of the loch, Inch Kenneth is in the outer loch. The outer loch northern coastline on Ulva is made of basaltic ridges and many rocks and islets, the southern coastline, bounded by the Ardmeanach peninsula, has cliffs, land slips and substantial slopes that are covered in scree. The inner loch coastline is bounded on both sides by Mull, the north shore, steeply sloped, has some moderate hills, with Killiechronan Wood to the east. The southern shore consists of cliffs and slopes leading to the Munro and extinct volcano of Ben More, Loch na Keal has no significant villages. Most of the settlements are at the head of the loch where there is a small area of flat land. These include Gruline, a small scattered township, primarily consisting of crofting, the closest larger village is Salen, located 4 km northeast across the isthmus from the head of the loch
39.
John Cleveley the Younger
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John Cleveley the Younger was a British artist and marine painter. Cleverley was the son of John Cleveley the Elder and he and his twin brother Robert were both, like their father, marine painters. John and Robert were both brought up and trained in dockyards, but addressed much wider audiences with their art than their father had done and he trained under the artist Paul Sandby at Woolwich. He was Joseph Banks draughtsman on his journey to the Hebrides, Orkney, John was employed to turn drawings made on Captain Cook’s second voyage to the South Seas into engravings, and later also got access to some of the art produced on the third voyage, 1776-80. John the Younger painted the Royal Dockyards at Deptford, Woolwich, the sons range of subjects was also far wider
40.
Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
41.
Lake Zurich
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Lake Zürich is a lake in Switzerland, extending southeast of the city of Zürich. The waters of the Lake of Zürich flow out of the lake at its north-west end, passing through the city of Zürich, however, the culminating point of the lakes drainage basin is the Tödi at 3,614 metres above sea level. No streams of importance flow into the lake besides the Linth, the Seedamm, a partially artificial causeway and bridge, crosses a narrow point of the lake carrying a railway line and road from Rapperswil to Pfäffikon. The eastern section of the lake is known as the Obersee, west of this dam lie the small islands of Lützelau and Ufenau, where in 1523 Ulrich von Hutten took refuge and died. Both shores are well cultivated and fertile, another touristic destination is the Au peninsula at the village of Au between Wädenswil and Horgen. To the east – separated by Zürichberg-Adlisberg, Forch and Pfannenstiel – are two lakes, Greifensee and Pfäffikersee. Zimmerberg and the Etzel regions lie to the west, administratively, Lake Zürich is split between the cantons of Zürich, St. Gallen and Schwyz. The lower lake, to the west of the Seedamm, is largely in the canton of Zürich, besides Bürkliplatz in Zürich and the Seedamm, there are no bridges across the lake. The Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft – the Lake Zürich Navigation Company – provides with its 17-passenger ships touristic services on Lake Zürich, there are a number of passenger ferry services, noticeably the Horgen–Meilen ferry, an auto ferry between Horgen and Meilen. Zürich, at the end of the lake, is the largest city on Lake Zürich. On the west shore are Rüschlikon, Thalwil, Horgen, Wädenswil, Richterswil, Pfäffikon, on the opposite shore are Küsnacht, Meilen, Stäfa, and Rapperswil-Jona with the medieval town of Rapperswil, whose castle is home to the Polish museum. Schmerikon is close to the east end of the lake, Lake Zürichs water is very clean and reaches, during summer, temperatures well beyond 20 °C. Swimming in the baths and beaches is very popular. Historically, the best weather for swimming has been late August, with August 28 typically having the nicest weather at around 5, the lakes water is purified and fed into Zürichs water system, it is potable. Because the lake has grown in size over time, the piles are now around 4 metres to 7 metres under the water level of 406 metres. Also on the area of about 40 square kilometres around Zürichsee, there also the settlements Greifensee–Storen/Wildsberg on Greifensee
42.
Clan MacQuarrie
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Clan MacQuarrie is one of the seven Siol Alpin clans descended from the Kings of the Picts and Dál Riata. Clan MacQuarrie is one of the four oldest Highland clans and can trace its ancestry to 9th century Kenneth MacAlpine, the first King of Scots. According to the nineteenth-century historian William F. Skene, the manuscript of 1450 documents the royal descent of Clan MacQuarrie through their progenitor Guaire, brother of Fingon and Anrias. They were fierce fighters in the Wars of Scottish Independence and fought in support of King Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Clan MacQuarrie is first found in possession of the island of Ulva in the Scottish Inner Hebrides, the first record of Clan MacQuarrie is of the chief John Macquarrie of Ulva, who died in 1473. In 1504 MacGorry of Ullowaa, along with chiefs, was summoned to answer for aiding in Domhnall Dubhs failed rebellion. The clan suffered grievously at the Battle of Inverkeithing on 20 July 1651, during the battle many Scots deserted, and the remaining Scots were decisively defeated by the well-disciplined New Model Army of the English. Amongst the slain were Allan Macquarrie of Ulva, chief of Clan MacQuarrie, Clan MacQuarrie currently does not have a chief. The last chief of Clan MacQuarrie was Lauchlan Macquarrie of Ulva, MacQuarrie was head of the clan when Samuel Johnson and James Boswell visited Ulva in 1773. Debts to creditors forced the last chief to sell off his lands, the chief then served in the American Revolutionary War, and died at the age of 103 on 14 January 1818. The last chief and his wife Alice Maclean, daughter of Donald Maclean, 5th Laird of Torloisk, Isle of Mull, had eight children - four sons and four daughters. Three of his sons joined the British Army and died without issue, the one to have children was his third son Donald. In July 1761, Donald was commissioned as one of the junior Ensigns in the Fencible Men of Argyllshire, after discharge from the army he moved to Liverpool, and on 28 October 1790 married Martha Lea at St Nicholas Church, Liverpool. They had one daughter, as recorded in a manuscript genealogy found amongst the papers of Lt. Colonel Charles MacQuarrie. It was compiled during the lifetime of the last Chief and because of certain births that are mentioned it was sometime between 28 March 1816 and 14 January 1818. It states that Donald follows the business and has one daughter who is married, in Liverpool, to the master of a trading vessel. Furthermore, the Liverpool Directory for the year 1818 describes Donald as a Mariner, of 13 Ansdell Street, a record of their marriage was published in the Monthly Magazine Vol.41,1816 - Capt. William Danson of Workington to Miss McQuarrie of Liverpool. On 6 April 1824, the Thisbe of Liverpool was reported to have sailed from Liverpool to Quebec and this vessel, it is stated sailed from Liverpool in April last with a very valuable cargo for Montreal and has not since been heard of
43.
Iceland
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Iceland is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of 332,529 and an area of 103,000 km2, the capital and largest city is Reykjavík. Reykjavík and the areas in the southwest of the country are home to over two-thirds of the population. Iceland is volcanically and geologically active, the interior consists of a plateau characterised by sand and lava fields, mountains and glaciers, while many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a climate, despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle. Its high latitude and marine influence still keeps summers chilly, with most of the archipelago having a tundra climate. According to the ancient manuscript Landnámabók, the settlement of Iceland began in the year 874 AD when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfr Arnarson became the first permanent settler on the island. In the following centuries, Norwegians, and to a lesser extent other Scandinavians, emigrated to Iceland, the island was governed as an independent commonwealth under the Althing, one of the worlds oldest functioning legislative assemblies. Following a period of strife, Iceland acceded to Norwegian rule in the 13th century. The establishment of the Kalmar Union in 1397 united the kingdoms of Norway, Denmark, Iceland thus followed Norways integration to that Union and came under Danish rule after Swedens secession from that union in 1523. In the wake of the French revolution and the Napoleonic wars, Icelands struggle for independence took form and culminated in independence in 1918, until the 20th century, Iceland relied largely on subsistence fishing and agriculture, and was among the poorest in Europe. Industrialisation of the fisheries and Marshall Plan aid following World War II brought prosperity, in 1994, it became a part of the European Economic Area, which further diversified the economy into sectors such as finance, biotechnology, and manufacturing. Iceland has an economy with relatively low taxes compared to other OECD countries. It maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. Iceland ranks high in economic, political and social stability and equality, in 2013, it was ranked as the 13th most-developed country in the world by the United Nations Human Development Index. Iceland runs almost completely on renewable energy, some bankers were jailed, and the economy has made a significant recovery, in large part due to a surge in tourism. Icelandic culture is founded upon the nations Scandinavian heritage, most Icelanders are descendants of Germanic and Gaelic settlers. Icelandic, a North Germanic language, is descended from Old Norse and is related to Faroese
44.
Johan Zoffany
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Johan Joseph Zoffany, RA was a German neoclassical painter, active mainly in England. His works appear in many prominent British National galleries such as the National Gallery, London and his name is sometimes spelled Zoffani or Zauffelij. Of Bohemian origin, Johan Zoffany was born in Frankfurt on 13 March 1733 and he undertook an initial period of study in a sculptors workshop in Ellwangen in the 1740s and later at Regensburg with the artist Martin Speer. In 1750, he travelled to Rome, entering the studio of Agostino Masucci, in autumn 1760 he arrived in England, initially finding work with the clockmaker Stephen Rimbault, painting vignettes for his clocks. He also was popular with the Austrian Imperial family and in 1776 was created Baron by the Empress Maria Theresa, Johan Zoffany was a Freemason and was initiated into the Craft on 19 December 1763 at The Old Kings Lodge No 28. He was a master of what has called the theatrical conversation piece. Zoffany has been described by one critic as the real creator, in the later part of his life, Zoffany was especially known for producing huge paintings with large casts of people and works of art, all readily recognizable by their contemporaries. Though Zoffany made several visits to continental Europe and India in his lifetime, he remained in Britain and he is buried in the churchyard of St Annes Church, Kew. The painter Thomas Gainsborough was, by that artists own request, in the comic opera The Pirates of Penzance, by Gilbert and Sullivan, the Major-General brags of being able to distinguish works by Raphael from works by Gerard Dou and Zoffany. Zoffany lived in Lucknow for a time, during his return to England, the survivors held a lottery in which the loser was eaten. William Dalrymple thus describes Zoffany as having been the first and last Royal Academician to have become a cannibal. Despite the high profile the artist enjoyed in his day, as painter in London and Vienna, Zoffany has, until very recently. In 1920 Lady Victoria Manners and Dr. G. C. Williamson published John Zoffany, R. A. his life and works. 1735–1810 – the first in-depth study of the artist and his work, privately printed, presumably at some cost and this was followed by Johan Zoffany, 1733–1810, Mary Websters short but authoritative illustrated guide for the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London. In December 2009, the first full biography was published, Johan Zoffany, Artist, in 2011 Mary Webster published her long-awaited monograph on the artist, Johan Zoffany 1733–1810. A2014 book by David Wilson describes Zoffany’s relationship with Robert Sayer, in this way he helped to secure Zoffany’s international reputation. Sayer and the artist became longstanding friends as well as business associates, in 1781 Zoffany painted Robert Sayer in an important ‘conversation piece’. The Sayer Family of Richmond depicts Robert Sayer, his son, James, from his first marriage, on Sayer’s death in 1794 the house was to become the residence of a future king of Great Britain
45.
Royal Society
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Founded in November 1660, it was granted a royal charter by King Charles II as The Royal Society. The society is governed by its Council, which is chaired by the Societys President, according to a set of statutes and standing orders. The members of Council and the President are elected from and by its Fellows, the members of the society. As of 2016, there are about 1,600 fellows, allowed to use the postnominal title FRS, there are also royal fellows, honorary fellows and foreign members, the last of which are allowed to use the postnominal title ForMemRS. The Royal Society President is Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, who took up the post on 30 November 2015, since 1967, the society has been based at 6–9 Carlton House Terrace, a Grade I listed building in central London which was previously used by the Embassy of Germany, London. The Royal Society started from groups of physicians and natural philosophers, meeting at variety of locations and they were influenced by the new science, as promoted by Francis Bacon in his New Atlantis, from approximately 1645 onwards. A group known as The Philosophical Society of Oxford was run under a set of rules still retained by the Bodleian Library, after the English Restoration, there were regular meetings at Gresham College. It is widely held that these groups were the inspiration for the foundation of the Royal Society, I will not say, that Mr Oldenburg did rather inspire the French to follow the English, or, at least, did help them, and hinder us. But tis well known who were the men that began and promoted that design. This initial royal favour has continued and, since then, every monarch has been the patron of the society, the societys early meetings included experiments performed first by Hooke and then by Denis Papin, who was appointed in 1684. These experiments varied in their area, and were both important in some cases and trivial in others. The Society returned to Gresham in 1673, there had been an attempt in 1667 to establish a permanent college for the society. Michael Hunter argues that this was influenced by Solomons House in Bacons New Atlantis and, to a lesser extent, by J. V. The first proposal was given by John Evelyn to Robert Boyle in a letter dated 3 September 1659, he suggested a scheme, with apartments for members. The societys ideas were simpler and only included residences for a handful of staff and these plans were progressing by November 1667, but never came to anything, given the lack of contributions from members and the unrealised—perhaps unrealistic—aspirations of the society. During the 18th century, the gusto that had characterised the early years of the society faded, with a number of scientific greats compared to other periods. The pointed lightning conductor had been invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1749, during the same time period, it became customary to appoint society fellows to serve on government committees where science was concerned, something that still continues. The 18th century featured remedies to many of the early problems
46.
Tobermory, Mull
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Tobermory is the capital of, and the only burgh on, the Isle of Mull in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. It is located in the part of the island, near the northern entrance of the Sound of Mull. With a current population of approximately 1000, the town was founded as a port in 1788. The name Tobermory is derived from the Gaelic Tobar Mhoire, meaning Marys well, the name refers to a well located nearby which was dedicated in ancient times to the Virgin Mary. Legend has it that the wreck of a Spanish galleon, laden with gold, lies somewhere in the mud at the bottom of Tobermory Bay—although the ships true identity, and cargo, are in dispute. By some accounts, the Florencia, a member of the defeated Spanish Armada fleeing the English fleet in 1588, following a dispute over payment, the ship caught fire and the gunpowder magazine exploded, sinking the vessel. In her hold, reputedly, was 300,000 GBP worth of gold bullion, other sources claim the vessel was the San Juan de Sicilia, which, records indicate, carried troops, not treasure. Whatever the true story, no significant treasure has ever recovered in Tobermory Bay. The largest attempt made to locate the galleon was in 1950 when the then Duke of Argyll signed a contract with the British Admiralty to locate the galleon, nothing came of the attempt, apart from the development of equipment still used today to locate ancient sunk vessels. Owing to similarities in sailing conditions, in the mid-1800s emigrant sailors created the community of Tobermory, located in Ontario and this namesake town has twin harbours, known locally as Big Tub and Little Tub, which sheltered ships from the severe storms of Lake Huron. Big Tub Harbour is Canadas largest natural freshwater harbour, there are numerous shipwrecks nearby, so it is a thriving SCUBA diving destination. His biography was written by broadcaster Richard Baker, who trained under him, the burgh hosts the Mull Museum, the Tobermory whisky distillery as well as Mull Aquarium, the first catch and release aquarium in Europe. The clock tower on the wall is a noted landmark. The town also contains a centre, An Tobar, the management of which was merged with Mull Theatre in 2012 to form the umbrella arts organisation Comar. The theatre remains, based just outside Tobermory in Drumfin, and is used by youth and adult dance and drama groups, 71% of Tobermory residents were born in Scotland, 23% in England and 6% elsewhere. Tobermorite, a calcium silicate hydrate found near Tobermory in 1880, was named after the town, tobermorys sons and daughters include Duncan MacGilp and Janet MacDonald, both past Gold Medal winners at Scotlands Royal National Mòd. Three generations of the towns MacIntyre family have achieved eminence, Colin MacIntyre is a singer-songwriter, the late accordionist Bobby McLeod lived in the town from his birth in 1925 until his death in 1991, and owned the Mishnish Hotel. He was the last casualty of the Chilcotin War of 1864, isabella Bird, the famous Victorian traveller and writer, frequently stayed in the town, where her sister Henrietta had a house
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