Genealogy Series: Bigamy, Adultery and Murder - Talk to Scottish Genealogy Society

Transcription to follow.

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Discussions at a Distance

The pace of change seems to be stepping up. This week will see me participate in eleven online video discussions, only one of which is social. Two are international discussions centred around COVID-19 and its potential long-term effects. The remainder are Parliamentary. But I think we have further transitions in our mode of working to make. We shall have legislation to progress. And I am deeply concerned that this key part of our duties excludes those of us unable to be present physically. With social distancing rules also restricting the number who can be present in the Chamber, the scrutiny is potentially reduced while we are accelerating the pace at which we make new, albeit mostly temporary, new laws. The risk of error is rising, although I cannot see any yet. Others may. Two difficulties exist that need our attention. We don't seem to be able to run sessions where some members are physically present while others are "dialled in" from home. And yet even Westmins...

Preparation

Yesterday I wrote about preparing for the week ahead. Now we have just completed the last meeting of the Environment Committee before recess. That too was forward-looking. We have about 25 more weeks sitting before we depart Parliament for the 2021 election which will determine who will serve in Session 6. I have had the privilege and enormous pleasure of serving in the first five sessions since we resumed after being prorogued in 1707. But now my mind turns to reviewing the past and planning for the future. As I will be 75 next year, I will be handing over to a successor. But I also need a short term plan for our much-abbreviated summer recess. We will come back when the schools resume in the week starting 11th August and will have a Parliamentary meeting every week until then. But no Committees. So a wee bit of space to pick up some much neglected personal interests. But no vacation booked. The first of these has to involve my main hobby - family research. There's been qu...

Windy Weather

Yesterday's walk was a little different. A forecast of wind gusts of 42 miles per hour, admittedly under a clear blue sky, suggested choosing a more sheltered route than usual. So a bit shorter, but much harder, my route took me off-road for some of the distance. Two scarves to keep the wind off my ears, and another day encased on long johns, represented something substantially less than high fashion but provided an effective barrier against the wind. A route around the edge of Reidside Moss, our local site of Special Scientific Interest, was a wee bit depressing. The state of this SSSI is short of the ideal. It should be a bog and support a diversity of wildlife. It is rather dry and looks like a scruffy bit of scrub with a near monoculture of whin, broom and grass. But it probably isn't deteriorating because its status at least prevents it being used for anything other than what is. Nature as it once was—a rare patch of land which is not obviously the product of ...

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