Douglas MacQueen's blog

The Fettercairn Jewel has been described as a rare and outstanding piece of Scottish Renaissance jewellery. Now the 16th Century Scottish jewel has been bought at auction at Sotheby’s by National Museums Scotland (NMS) for more than £200,000 and its future in Scotland has been secured. David Forsyth, principal curator of the Scottish history and archaeology department at National Museums Scotland said: "The purchase of this piece will significantly enhance the national collections and present new insights into the magnificence of the Renaissance in Scotland."

Orkney (Scottish Gaelic: Arcaibh) is an archipelago situated off the north coast of Scotland. Wind and marine energy resources are of growing importance, and the island generates more than its total yearly electricity demand using renewables. Renewable energy is energy collected from renewable resources, such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat. 

The proposal for a second independence referendum has been backed by the Scottish Parliament. Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland and the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) saw the referendum motion passed by 69 votes against 59. SNP and Green MSPs voted in favour. Predictably the Conservatives, Labour and the Lib Dems voted against the motion. Nicola Sturgeon now has the mandate of parliament to start discussions with the UK Government on the timing of such a referendum.

Oil exploration firm, Hurricane Energy, has made a large undeveloped discovery of oil in Scottish waters. Its is estimated that one billion barrels of recoverable oil could be contained in an area located 60 miles (97km) west of Shetland. It is thought that up to 20 billion barrels of oil equivalent remains under the North Sea and in the wider basin.

A sheepdog belonging to a local crofter that went missing 12 days ago has been rescued from a gorge. Nel the collie is an older dog and retired from working. She was spotted by someone passing on a train on the nearby West Highland Line. Members of Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team used ropes to get down into Monessie Gorge, at Roybridge near Fort William, where the the cold and hungry dog was stuck. Nel was returned to the crofter who was delighted to have his dog safely returned.

Metal detectorist Derek McLennan, from Ayrshire, discovered a haul of Viking treasure in Galloway (Gaelic: Gall-Ghàidhealaibh) in 2014. The value of the treasure runs to hundreds of thousands of pounds. There is now a heated discussion taking place about where to house the the Viking treasure hoard involving Dumfries and Galloway Council and National Museums Scotland (NMS). The Council wants to house the artefacts in a new art gallery being built in Kirkcudbright (Gaelic: Cille Chuithbeirt) but NMS is also bidding for the hoard.

Peat, also called turf, is made from partly decomposed plant material and forms in waterlogged conditions. Lack of oxygen means the plants do not rot completely and peat is unique to natural areas of peatlands and bogs.  It takes thousands of years for peatlands to develop and there is an estimated 1.7 million hectares of peatland in Scotland. It's ecosystem is the most efficient carbon sink on earth and peatland plants capture the CO2 which is naturally released from the peat.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon caught most people on the hop this morning by her announcement that a new Scottish referendum on independence is being sought. It was her timing more than the announcement itself that caused surprise, as most thought it would come at the Scottish National Party’s spring conference at the end of the week. She said that she wanted the referendum to be held between the autumn of 2018 and the spring of 2019.

The demand for Gaelic education is growing in Scotland's largest city Glasgow. The number of pupils in Gaelic Medium Education, where lessons are mainly taught in Gaelic, stands at 900 and the two existing primary schools are full. As reported recently in The Scotsman newspaper the growing demand for Gaelic education has led to the need for a third primary school in Glasgow. Rolls are predicted to increase to 1150 within three years and a report presented to the council’s education committee points out that a “sharp increase” in demand for places had been recorded in August 2016.

A new opinion poll carried out by Ipsos MORI for Scottish Television's STV News, shows that independence for Scotland is now backed by half of voters. Support for autonomy is now five points higher than in the September 2014 referendum. This will give added impetus to those calling for a ballot on Scottish independence to be held in the Autumn of 2018. It also provides a boost for the Scottish National Party ahead of their spring conference in Aberdeen next week.