The chilling discovery of the commandment, “All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others” in George Orwell’s fable, Animal Farm, warns of the dystopia to come. But the portrait of porcine dictatorship in Orwell’s satire is a pig in a poke in reality. More intelligent than cats or dogs, pigs are thought to be highly sentient creatures with cognitive abilities […]
Category Archives: The Land
Volcanic rocks around St Abb’s and Eyemouth give a feeling of a lunar landscape. They are the best-exposed remnants of late Caledonian igneous rocks south of the Southern Upland Fault. Small pools appear as mini lakes reflecting the jagged edges of these ancient rocks. Further north, at Siccar Point, James Hutton discovered his “Unconformity” and […]
Sunday morning and a beautiful flat calm in Eyemouth bay. In salt water the swans forage for weed and algae. The edge of Fort Point can be seen in the distance. The profile resembles a dog with its paws stretched out to sea. A real dog appears. It is ready for action and has the same dog face as […]
Not many miles from Eyemouth is the man made lake of Mire Loch in St Abb’s Head Nature Reserve. Each year a pair of swans nest here and raise their young. In the golden light of sunset it becomes the stuff of Arthurian legend.
With under a week to go before Scotland decides its future, views are being made public in formal and informal ways. The swans swim in oily waters, oblivious to great changes in the air.
Not many miles to the south of Eyemouth lies the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. It became a centre of christianity after the founding of the monastery by St Aiden and by its association with St Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne and worker of miracles. Way marker poles define the route of the Pilgrims Way across the island. Twice daily, the island is cut […]
On the Eyemouth factory of D. R.Collin, a major exporter of sea food products worldwide, a small word proclaims a large notion. Independence for Scotland. The Yes Campaign font is a tightly kerned version of Helvetica Neue, the letters squeezed together in symbolic, typographical solidarity. Designed as a sans serif typeface in 1957 in the Swiss town of Munchenstein, Helvetica became […]
A seal pup, washed up on the beach, finds itself the centre of attention at the height of the tourist season. Local people, sensitive to the dangers of dogs and the curiosity of strangers, form a protective cordon until the animal welfare service arrives.
The debate about Scottish Independence stepped up this weekend, with a brief affirmative appearing on the hill above the harbour. Torn between head and heart, between acts of faith and a pact with the devil you know, the outcome for Scotland is far from assured as the polls divide equally between the yes, no and […]
The wind farm on Coldingham Moor. All the senses come into play as the reason for the choice of location of these windturbines is made clear. There are more and more wind farms in Scotland. Harnessing the power of solar, wind and wave has to be part of the way forward and some of the […]
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