History

9th May 2023

JOCKLAND RESULTS
An ODE as from 3000AD
by
Owen Dudley Edwards

Scotland's foremost Irish historian and Ireland's finest Jockstorian, Owen Dudley Edwards, finds a textless chronicle of the farcical and chaotic politics of Jockland in the 2020s. It's to be sung swiftly, though it's no song of Solomon. The rulers from Laputa assume they have (in the jargon of the period) 'taken back control', but none of them can actually determine where Jockland is, or if it even exists ...
30th March 2023

THE REVELATOR by Chris Leslie

Nights when people, places and stars align to create an unforgettable experience very rarely happen. A few weeks ago I attended a unique event in The Revelator in the historic Barclay Curle Shipyard. In this extraordinary space – a handmade Wall of Death – I watched a live gig from the band The Tenementals and listened to a rectoral speech from RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch. Nights like this are never to be repeated.
29th March 2023

A BALCONY IN CHICAGO
by
Murdo Macdonald

Is 'dwelling' always an invasion of some type? In the stoical approach, which is the inescapable ethos of our contemporary of the ecological and the sustainable, it seems so, yes. Here, in appropriately ossianic mode for these end-of-times, a paratactical Murdo Macdonald muses on the hybrid in Chicago.
31st January 2023

UK-SCOTTISH POLITICS in a UK-IRISH CENTENARY by Owen Dudley Edwards

From the sophistry of the Saorstat to the solecism of Saor Alba - what, if any, are the parallels between Irish Revolutionary relations with the UK, and the relations between the current crop of Scottish and UK politicians? Owen Dudley Edwards addresses an independent question.
27th January 2023

TOM NAIRN: THE WORK reviews by Mitch Miller & Johnny Rodger

Who was Tom Nairn? One of the great political thinkers of his age, we mark his passing away with an introductory examination of his work - almost a Nairn For Beginners. These reviews/summaries of some of his most important works are excerpted from Tartan Pimps, a 2010 book by Mitch Miller and Johnny Rodger, which examined how the new Scottish politics were written into being.
27th January 2023

AN INTRODUCTION TO TOM NAIRN The Enchanted Nat by Mitch Miller & Johnny Rodger

Who was Tom Nairn? One of the great political thinkers of his age, we mark his passing away with an introduction to his thought. This piece is excerpted from Tartan Pimps, a 2010 book by Mitch Miller and Johnny Rodger, which examined how the new Scottish politics were written into being. Some of the parliamentary politics here have aged a bit -Nairn's thought has not.
23rd January 2023

THE GLEAN review by Sara Stevenson

Billed as 'groundbreaking', the Edinburgh City Art Centre exhibition, Glean - curated by Jenny Brownrigg - gathers the work of 14 pioneering early 20th century women photographers and filmmakers. Sara Stevenson reviews it for The Drouth, and considers it an 'impressive achievement'.
13th April 2022

BoJo – Falstaff – Bunter:
or A Greater Englishness?
by Owen Dudley Edwards

Bunteresque? Falstaffian? BoJo-vian? England always gets the best. Owen Dudley Edwards on the rich history of greedy liars in English political and cultural life - Enlisting the critique of George Orwell, PG Wodehouse and fellow Irishman George Bernard Shaw along the way.
20th January 2022

THE ‘NOT PROVEN’ VERDICT
An open letter to Keith Brown, Justice Secretary
by Owen Dudley Edwards

Last month the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Keith Brown MSP, launched a three-month long consultation on the Not Proven verdict (and other aspects of the Criminal Justice System) and invited responses from the public. The Justice Secretary acknowledged that there are some 'strong opinions' on the verdict. We publish here an open letter the Justice Secretary, written by the Irish historian and writer Owen Dudley Edwards, giving his opinion on the verdict.