"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island." - Walt Disney

Saturday, April 15, 2017

Magnus Magnusson, Mary, Money, and Music

Magnus Magnusson – born in Icelandic, he had moved to Scotland by his first birthday. This broadcaster, journalist, translator, writer and television presenter lived and died near Glasgow. He also wrote what many consider to be one of, if not THE best book about Scotland.  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6239745.stm

Mary, Queen of Scots – the most famous of the Stuarts (1542-87) and who acceded to the throne as an infant. Raised in France, she was beautiful, clever, gentle and spirited. She returned to Scotland at the age of 18, already a widow and Dowager Queen of France, and spent just six turbulent years as Scotland’s queen. Due to changes in the country’s religion, poor choices in husbands, and rumors of scandal, she became extremely unpopular. She was deposed and held captive, making a daring escape to England, only to be imprisoned there for 18 years before being executed on the orders of her cousin, Elizabeth.

Money – there are currently two main types of currency being used in Scotland. The first, is Britain’s pound Sterling which is divided into 100 pence. Secondly, Scotland’s own pound sterling notes, which are printed by the Bank of Scotland. The notes represent the same value as an English note and CAN BE accepted elsewhere in Britain, although it is usually with reluctance. Usually, the Scottish note will not be accepted outside of Scotland, Bank of England and Northern Ireland notes can be used throughout Scotland, but you will usually receive change in Scottish notes. All three countries use Bank of England coins.

Music – music has always been an important and popular art form in Scotland. While it has changed over the years, today it’s a particularly vibrant industry, ranging from opera, Gaelic song and pibroch (the classical music of the bagpipes) to varied international acts, and even electronic musical styling. Traditional music has experienced a renaissance using rhythms and instruments from around the world.

As a thank-you to the blogging community, and to celebrate one year since its publication, I am offering FREE e-pub copies of my western short story “Broken Angel” from now through April 30. If you would like to receive a copy, simply email me at writinginwonderland(at)gmail(dot)com

2 comments:

Click said...

One of my favourite things about Scottish money is all the different banks who print notes which always proves entertaining when we travel south of the border.

Once we went to a pub where they had to get permission from the manager to take any Scottish notes, so we clubbed together all the different notes we had and paid using a different one each time, hehe.

For the longest time we still had one pound notes as well, though I've not seen one for years!

Cait @ Click's Clan

PJ said...

If somewhere in England refuses a Scottish note my husband will refuse to ever go there again - he gets very annoyed by it. Love your post.

Pamela @ Highlands Days of Fun