Given that the referendum on Scottish independence is now very near - September 18 - I think people will be interested in the new Survation poll. See http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/ 29 August entry for full details and further discussion. The result when 'don't knows' are accounted for is given in the title of this entry.
It is worth treating all polls on this issue with some caution; the polling companies have never polled on such an issue and so, obviously, have no record of knowing if their methodology will accurately - or even reasonable accurately - reflect the final outcome. Later The Guardian newspaper has an interesting analysis about the opinion poll result and why the increased yes vote may be happening. See http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/aug/30/independence-referendum-scotland-vote-women And for a useful Al Jazeera article comparing the Scottish referendum position with the independent Quebec (Canada) 1995 referendum position see http://blogs.aljazeera.com/blog/europe/scotland-seeing-quebec-effect And for a 2 September Guardian article see http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/sep/02/scottish-independence-yes-campaign-poll-boost - the key point being affirmation of the narrow gap between the 'yes' and 'no' sides as shown by further polls.
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Clan Gunn tartan For a fascinating discussion of Clan Gunn tartan - and Clan Mackay, Clan MacWilliam and Clan Morrison tartans - and the district association with tartan which later evolved into a 'Clan' tartan see the Scottish Tartans Authority site http://www.tartansauthority.com/resources/archives/the-archives/scobie/territorial-tartans/ where is written -
It has long been widely (perhaps generally accepted) that distinctive tartan patterns were originally associated with districts rather than with specific clans or families.... The Gunn Clan Tartan was featured in the Cockburn Collection (1810-1820). The sett is essentially "Mackay", with a red stripe on the green instead of black.... There are different ways of postulating an explanation for just how these four clans came to have such similar tartans. There is our own basic contention that there was an old, traditional pattern (now known as "Mackay"), which was native to areas within the counties of Sutherland and Caithness. ... There seems no good reason to doubt that these four tartans, so evidently related, are variations on an old Sutherland/Caithness theme... Now, the STA has an obvious position to uphold but the full article is worth reading. It's worth noting that the Clan Gunn tartan is 'new' in that no record exists for it before 1810-1820, the time when, for various reasons, 'Highlandism' became fashionable and a plethora of newly named tartans came into existence. (Named tartans can be considered as tourist-ware invented in the early 1800s although, since then, named tartans have gathered emotional appeal.) For more on this issue see http://clangunn.weebly.com/on-scottish-clan-re-invention-in-the-18th-and-19th-centuries.html And for the The Guardian's view (The Guardian being one of the great British newspapers) on the issue of tartans with the topic of - I read that Scottish clan tartans are historically a fraud, that they are primarily inventions of the 19th Century weaving industry and assorted Romantics. Is this true? with reader's answers, see http://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,,-195574,00.html answers include In his book of essays: 'The Invention of Tradition' historian Eric Hobsbawm said that it was so. Eric Hobsbawm (1917-2012) was one of Britain's greatest historians, ever. In my view the best site for commentary on political polling in the United Kingdom is 'UK Polling Report' at http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/ and its 17 August entry discusses the narrowing of the gap between the Yes and No vote on Scottish Independence. Given the importance of the event - and how soon the vote will occur - it's well worth a visit.
Clan Gunn history and Clan Gunn origin, again As I have made clear many times there is no verifiable Clan Gunn history before Gunn crowner / Coroner of Caithness in the fifteenth century; Gunn 'history' before that time is generally best viewed as fiction (and that includes the Clan Gunn Chief Orkney islands origin myth) although I am inclined to accept Smibert's idea as to the origin of the Gunns, namely that the Gunns were some of the original inhabitants of Caithness / Sutherland / Strathnaver.
Further support for the above comes from Alex McBain (M.A. LL.D. Place Names of Highlands & Islands of Scotland published by Eneas Mackay of Stirling in 1922) who writes - The Clan Gunn were of Caithness origin ... Their ancestor was Gun, crowner of Caithness, about the middle of the 15th century (1450). He was a man of great power in his day, and a descent from the King of Denmark was claimed for him... John Gunn Robson was leader of the Caithness Gunns in 1616 ... pages 21 / 22 I note MacBain's encouragement for -
I thought I should mention two stories on the Scottish Independence referendum -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-28773893 for the Bank of England's Scottish referendum's contingency plans. It's interesting that the Reserve Bank of the United Kingdom is called the Bank of England - why is it not called the Bank of the United Kingdom? One can see Scottish objections to the Bank of England's title and role... And http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-28780811 which is about how the BBC will broadcast a debate on the issue across the United Kingdom. The first debate was only broadcast in Scotland. My view? I suspect the Nationalists will not win this referendum. I note the first referendum on Scottish devolution - the return of a Scottish parliament - did not 'win' (it did win in that the majority of those who voted, voted for devolution but not enough people voted to match the criteria set by the Westminster Parliament in London) but devolution won the second referendum. I suspect a second referendum will quite quickly happen on Scottish independence and it will return a pro-independence majority. Concerning the Clan Gunn origin myth I've just bought the book 'Warriors of the Word - the World of the Scottish Highlanders by Michael Newton. He was a lecturer in the Celtic Studies Department of the St Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia at the time the book was published by Birlinn in 2009. I found it at Bookstore Brierlow Bar just out of Buxton, Derbyshire - a great bookshop with the majority at remainder prices.
There is much to absorb from this text and a lot of it applies to Clan Gunn history, including the Clan Gunn origin myth. For example - People all around the world have an inherent interest in their origins and display great creativity when attempting to explain the present in terms of the past. Although the specific of the origin myths of people change according to circumstance, they tend to reflect several common ideas and concerns. First they are rooted in the deep past to provide a sense of solidarity and historical continuity for people who may be heterogeneous in reality. Second, these myths usually connect their ethnonym with the name of of an historic character on the basis of similarity in sound. Third, origin myths seek to raise the prestige of the group by choosing a high-status legendary founder. Because of their ideological purposes, origin myths always tell us a great deal about the perceptions of the people who create them... (page 55) The above sums up the Clan Gunn origin myth extremely well; there is no historical support for the idea that the Clan Gunn descends from the deep past of Snaekoll Gunnison and the Orkney islands, it's just his name sounds the same and he was of high status. Following on from my earlier entry (http://clangunn.weebly.com/clan-gunn-blog/clan-gunn-society-uk-is-against-scottish-independence) about the Scottish independence referendum see an excellent article by John Curtice on the current polling position at http://blog.whatscotlandthinks.org/2014/08/survation-suggest-the-games-have-had-little-impact/
And last night - 5 August 2014 - there was a big debate on Scottish TV about the issue and the result was that the debate basically had no impact on voting intention for the referendum. If you were predisposed to vote for Scottish independence you thought Alex Salmond won; if you were pre-disposed to be against independence you thought the 'better together' leader Alistair Darling won. See http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/ for discussion of the polling... |
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