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Post by LLady on Feb 24, 2006 4:49:47 GMT 10
February 23
Today in 664 St Boisel, second prior of Melrose Abbey, died. He followed St Aidan as prior and was succeeded by St Cuthbert. The modern village of St Boswells is named after him.
February 23 1303 Battle of Roslin in which a Scots army of 8,000, led by Sir Simon Fraser, Sinclair of Rosslyn and the Red Comyn, surprised an English army of 30,000 led by Sir John Seagrave and defeated them.
On this day in 1310 the Declaration of the Clergy and People in favour of King Robert I, was issued from the Church of the Friary Minor in Dundee. This was a significant step in giving legitimacy to Bruce's campaign against the English and also his claim to the Scottish crown.
February 23 1995 James Herriot (pen name of James Alfred Wight), author of "All Creatures Great and Small", died aged 78.
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Post by LLady on Feb 24, 2006 4:52:23 GMT 10
February 24
On February 24 1923, the world famous steam train, the Flying Scotsman, went into service with LNER. It was the first train to run non-stop between London and Edinburgh, and also the first steam train to reach the speed of 100mph.
On February 24 1940, footballer Denis Law was born. He enjoyed a long career, mainly with Manchester United, and was a fixture in the Scotland side throughout the 60s. He managed to score 30 times in only 55 international appearances, a total matched only by Kenny Dalglish.
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Post by LLady on Feb 24, 2006 4:54:07 GMT 10
February 25
On this date in 1888 a conference advocated the adoption of leaving certificates in Scottish schools. The conference was held in Edinburgh and attended by officials of the Scottish Education Dept and Secondary School Rectors, although representatives of universities declined the invitation to attend. The first Leaving Certificate exam was sat by pupils on Monday 18 June 1888 and the certificate remained a fixture of Scottish education until 1962.
February 25 1957 Stuart "Woody" Wood, guitarist with the Bay City Rollers, born.
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Post by LLady on Feb 24, 2006 4:58:29 GMT 10
February 26
February 26 1672 Philip van der Straten, a Fleming, was granted Scots naturalisation and set up a factory in Kelso, thus starting the Border woollen industry.
February 26 1931 Scotland football manager Ally MacLeod born in Glasgow. Long remembered, unfairly, for the disaster of the World Cup in Argentina in 1978.
Today in 1935, Robert Watson-Watt demonstrated radar for the first time. Watson-Watt was first approached by the Air Ministry regarding the possibility of building a "death ray". The chain of radar stations subsequently built along the coast of England, known as Chain Home, were to go on to play an important part in winning the Battle of Britain. On February 26 1950 the entertainer and song writer, Sir Harry Lauder, died. Lauder went from being a pit boy in Lanarkshire to being one of the most successful entertainers in the world, touring the Unites States twenty three times and becoming the first performer to entertain front line troops during the First World War. Lauder's last stage performance was in 1947, at a concert in the Gorbals celebrating the 25th anniversary of a local Rover Scout Group.
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Elly
Administrator
Posts: 29,887
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Post by Elly on Feb 24, 2006 8:06:09 GMT 10
On February 15 1986 Scotland scored their biggest ever win against England in a rugby international. They won the game by 33-6 at Murrayfield, with Gavin Hastings scoring 21 points in the match.
Hope they can pull it off again on Saturday #tartanberet# #saltire#
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Post by LLady on Feb 28, 2006 8:26:28 GMT 10
February 27
Today in 1545 the Battle of Ancrum Moor took place, where the Scots, led by the Earl of Douglas, managed to defeat a much larger English force. A local legend has it that a Lady Lilliard took part in the battle in a bid to avenge the death of her lover, who was killed by English troops. According to the story she fought well until dying of her wounds, and her memory is marked by the Lilliard Stone on the battlefield.
On February 27 1560 the Second Treaty of Berwick was signed. The treaty provided English financial and military aid to the Protestant Lords of Scotland as they fought to rid the country of Mary of Guise and her French forces.
On this day in 1735, John Arbuthnot, Scottish mathematician, physicist and author died. He was a close friend of Johnathan Swift and Alexander Pope. His work, History of John Bull, popularised Bull as the proto-typical Englishman, although he probably did not invent the character. Arbuthnot was also co-founder, along with Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, John Gay and Thomas Parnell, of the satirical Scriblerus Club, founded "to ridicule false learning and bad teaching".
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Post by LLady on Feb 28, 2006 8:29:30 GMT 10
February 28
February 29 1528 Patrick Hamilton, a Protestant martyr, was burned at the stake in St Andrews.
Today in 1638, the Second Covenant was signed in Greyfriars Churchyard. The Covenant was signed and inaugurated by Scottish Protestant churchmen in Edinburgh. The document was a direct response to Charles I's attempts to introduce a Book of Common Prayer across the whole of Britain, as presbyterians were incensed that the General Assembly had not been consulted. Copies of the document were sent to churches around the country and soon over 300,000 Scots had signed the Covenant.
Today in 1873, Rev. Thomas Guthrie, founder of the Ragged Schools, died. A leading figure in the Disruption of 1843, Guthrie became a leading light in the early Free Church, becoming Moderator in 1862. With the support of the Edinburgh Review, Guthrie raised enough money to found a Ragged School and his 1847 book, A Plea for Ragged Schools, or Prevention is Better Than Cure, paved the way for the setting up of Government funded Industrial Schools. Perhaps Guthrie's most fitting epitaph are the words of a little girl from one of his schools: "He was all the father I ever knew."
February 28 1946 Robin Cook, Foreign Secretary, born.
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