Scottish Blethers

As this episode airs we are approaching St Andrew’s Day on the 30th of November - Scotland’s official national day. We explore the story behind the man and what led to him being adopted as the patron saint of Scotland - amongst other things including gout! This leads in turn to the Saltire and how it came to be the official flag of Scotland and a visible symbol of our identity. We conclude with a wide ranging  and light-hearted discussion on what it is that makes someone Scottish. The traits, the stereotypes, the psyche - “here’s tae us; wha’s like us? Damn few, and they’re a’ deid!”

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Thanks for listening!

Liz, Susan & Helen

P.S. I know we are still in November, but we have put a date in the diary for a virtual Christmas Party with you, our listeners and followers.  We have loved all your likes and comments and it would be lovely to have a blether with you – bring your party hats and be ready for some Christmas games !  The date is Wednesday December 9th at 8.30pm GMT (London) / 9.30PM Paris / 3.30pm EST (New York).  Full details will be in an event on our facebook page nearer the time. We’ll also post details to our Instagram page.

In this episode we look at the island archipelago of St Kilda that was evacuated 90 years ago.  We blether about sheep, of which there are over six million in Scotland and lastly, we discuss one of the first heroes of Scottish engineering and infrastructure, Thomas Telford.  As always, we finish our 30-minute blether with our Scots words of the episode.

Drop us a message on instagram on facebook on @scottishblethers if you have any comments or topic suggestions.

Thanks for listening!

Liz, Susan & Helen

P.S. I know we are still in November, but we have put a date in the diary for a virtual Christmas Party with our listeners and followers.  We have loved all your likes and comments and it would be lovely to have a blether with you.  The date is Wednesday December 9th at 8.30pm GMT (London) / 3.30pm EST (New York).  Full details will be on our facebook page nearer the time.

We wanted to do a couple of special interviews to mark Book Week Scotland from 16-22 November 2020.

In this second bonus interview, Helen talks to Shona who is the Glasgow Book Fairy - one of a network across the world.  What does a Book Fairy do ?  You'll have to listen to find out more !

It is Scottish Book Week 16-22 November 2020 and Susan talks to author Mark Bridgeman, who resides in Highland Perthshire, about his books, blog and other projects he is working on.

Mark's first book ‘The River Runs Red’ was published in September 2019. A history of true crime in Highland Perthshire, the book proved an immediate success. Following on from ‘The River Runs Red’ came ‘Blood Beneath Ben Nevis’ and ‘Surviving in the Shadows’, both released in March 2020. 

To read Mark's blog posts, go to https://markbridgeman.wixsite.com/author

For more information on Book Week Scotland, go to https://www.scottishbooktrust.com/book-week-scotland/events/

In this episode we reflect on those who fell in two World Wars and subsequent conflicts. We revisit the ancient people of Scotland and the buildings they left on the landscape. We rediscover one of our most loved of indigenous species - the Highland Cow.

Join Liz, Helen and Susan, all Blue Badge qualified Scottish Tourist Guides, in our weekly Scottish Blethers podcast as we discuss 3 different topics  and bring out 3 great Scots words at the end of the episode.

Follow and interact with us on facebook and instagram via @Scottishblethers - we post numerous photos through the week that support the topics under discussion.  We'd love to hear from you, please let us know your thoughts or requests for topics to be covered in future episodes.

Who would have thunk it  - we have made it to 10 episodes of Scottish Blethers !

We have decided to change the format for the first episode of each month and pick our favourite... from a theme.  For November, we have chosen contemporary Scottish authors.

Liz kicks off with children's authors, Susan moves into Tartan Noir and Helen focuses on female crime writers and people from abroad who have made Scotland the star in their writing - and yes, we couldn't do this without mentioning Diana Gabaldon and Outlander !

We hope you enjoy listening to us.  Please leave a review on your podcast platform of choice or on our facebook page @scottishblethers .

Take care and happy November.

Don't you love the Scots language !  By now we figure that you are getting used to our turn of phrase, but just in case you need a translation into English, this episode is about Bread, Dead and use your Head !  

We are talking about plain or pan loaf bread (a big thing in Scotland, none of this fancy bread with bits in it!), the origins & traditions of Halloween and why, given this year's compulsory slow down, we should all be taking it a bit easier and keeping the mileage down when we go on vacation.  As always, we finish with our words of the episode.

The Scottish Blethers podcast is brought to you by three Scottish Blue Badge qualified Tourist Guides who have found ourselves with a lack of guests to take around the country.  Rather than talk to ourselves, we thought we would record a podcast and put it out there to see if anyone is listening and keep ourselves occupied and out of trouble ;-)

We'd love to hear what you think about our podcast and any requests you have for topics for future episodes.  you can get in touch through instagram or facebook on @scottishblethers

Happy listening !

Scottish Blethers Episode 8 podcast is here !

The controversy continues... Campbell or MacDonald, gin or whisky, Braveheart or Brigadoon ???

Join us as we blether about Glencoe, Scottish films and actors and "mothers ruin" - gin by its other name.

As always, let us know what you think on our @scottishblethers social media and please leave us a review on your podcast platform of choice or our facebook page.

Wealth & the Privilege it Brings - From Andrew Carnegie to the popular sport of shooting - just the preserve of the rich ??

Join Liz, Helen and Susan in their weekly Scottish Blethers podcast as we discuss 3 different topics each week and bring out 3 great Scots words at the end of the 30 minute episode.

In Episode 7, we find out more about Andrew Carnegie and his philanthropic legacy in Scotland as well as discuss clay pigeon shooting and The Glorious 12th, a key date in the Scottish Game shooting calendar.  Words of the episode - toucher, ye canny whack it and keek - with a wee added bonus word at the end !

Follow and interact with us on social media under Scottish Blethers - we post numerous photos through the week that support the topics under discussion.  We'd love to hear from you, please let us know your thoughts or requests for topics to be covered in future episodes.

Come into our world where over the next 30 minutes, we discuss castles, queens and fairy folk in Scotland.  We finish the episode with our Scots words of the episode.

We are 3 freelance tourist guides who are missing our guests, so we started the Scottish Blethers podcast.  New skills and an ever growing bloopers reel have kept us amused.  We'll keep going as long as people keep listening and are happy to take requests.  Drop us a message on instagram on facebook on @scottishblethers if you have any comments or topic suggestions.

Thanks for listening !

Liz, Susan & Helen