Spirit of Scotland
We went to see the three bridges on the Maid of the Forth.
It was a lovely day out on the water. We cruised around the firth with a guide's commentary on all the towns, bridges and landmarks we were passing. They mentioned specific islands and towns and described how many of the islands had been fortified during WWII to either look out for or repulse incoming bombers from the sea.
Charmingly a tiny island just off Inchcolm harbour is populated by seagulls, sea-lions and ... garden gnomes. We never did discover the story behind the gnomes but someone with a boat clearly decided it would be a good idea. Perhaps they are intended to be miniature scarecrows (scaregulls?), but if so they are not working. The gnomes opinion of being stranded on a rocky islet was not obtained.
One of the notable characteristics of the Scottish commentary was that they didn't hide their engineering marvels, in fact they were proud of them. We passed a pumping station in the middle of the Firth which is used for pumping North Sea oil into tankers. Not a word was said about dirty oil or environmental hazards, but they filled us with statistics of how much it pumps and how good their safety record was.
This attitude became particularly apparent when we sailed under the three bridges crossing the Firth of Forth. Each was an engineering marvel in its era, one built in each of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. More interestingly they told us of the engineers who designed them. Thomas Bouch, Sir John Fowler, Benjamin Baker and others. These people became heroes and villains in the narrative (the villain is the one whose bridge over the Tay fell down). We were given lots of details of the tons of steel in the iconic Forth bridge (the one from the nineteenth century), and how it used a double cantilever system as a fundamental engineering design, as well as, inevitably, a comment about how long it takes to paint it, or not. The Forth road bridge, built in the twentieth century, received its share of praise, as well as commentary on the erosion of its cabling system leading to it being replaced by the 21st century Queensferry bridge
This pride in engineering achievement lines up well with Edinburgh's claim to be the "Athens of the North" with their world renowned engineers, economists and philosophers (Adam Smith, William Thompson, David Hume and on and on).
To me (Richard) this pride in Scottish engineering. which is indeed excellent, is a powerful and hopeful symbol of looking toward the future. This is a forward-looking attitude which contrasts with an attitude that some have of looking to the warrior heroes of the past in support of a Scottish isolationism.
This expedition was in contrast to some of our other explorations. As we have visited historic sites we have noticed a prominent expression of nationalism in many of them. The brave Scots fighting for independence from the domineering English, mostly. The two warrior heroes that stand out are Robert the Bruce and William Wallace. These heroes are championed again and again, mostly because they each won significant battles against the English (like the battle of Bannockburn). These men lived seven hundred-plus years ago, but their exploits are still trumpeted.
The long-ago warrior heroes of the past are indeed heroes, if you don't examine their lives too closely but it is far more exciting (to me) to see people being uplifted by the more recent heroes of the Scottish Enlightenment and their significant accomplishments in thinking and building. The Scots are proud of their heritage. It will be good to see what they build in the future.
It was a lovely day out on the water. We cruised around the firth with a guide's commentary on all the towns, bridges and landmarks we were passing. They mentioned specific islands and towns and described how many of the islands had been fortified during WWII to either look out for or repulse incoming bombers from the sea.
We sailed to the island of Inchcolm and admired the seals lazing on the rocks. There's a lovely abbey there built by a grateful monarch, King Alexander I, when he was rescued from shipwreck by a hermit monk who lived on the island at the time.You can see us looking handsome and beautiful respectively, with the abbey on the island in the background.
Charmingly a tiny island just off Inchcolm harbour is populated by seagulls, sea-lions and ... garden gnomes. We never did discover the story behind the gnomes but someone with a boat clearly decided it would be a good idea. Perhaps they are intended to be miniature scarecrows (scaregulls?), but if so they are not working. The gnomes opinion of being stranded on a rocky islet was not obtained.
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| Gnomes on the island, keeping seagulls company |
One of the notable characteristics of the Scottish commentary was that they didn't hide their engineering marvels, in fact they were proud of them. We passed a pumping station in the middle of the Firth which is used for pumping North Sea oil into tankers. Not a word was said about dirty oil or environmental hazards, but they filled us with statistics of how much it pumps and how good their safety record was.
 |
| North Sea oil pumping station |
This attitude became particularly apparent when we sailed under the three bridges crossing the Firth of Forth. Each was an engineering marvel in its era, one built in each of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. More interestingly they told us of the engineers who designed them. Thomas Bouch, Sir John Fowler, Benjamin Baker and others. These people became heroes and villains in the narrative (the villain is the one whose bridge over the Tay fell down). We were given lots of details of the tons of steel in the iconic Forth bridge (the one from the nineteenth century), and how it used a double cantilever system as a fundamental engineering design, as well as, inevitably, a comment about how long it takes to paint it, or not. The Forth road bridge, built in the twentieth century, received its share of praise, as well as commentary on the erosion of its cabling system leading to it being replaced by the 21st century Queensferry bridge
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| Forth cable-stayed road bridge with Queensferry in the background |
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| Queensferry Crossing |
This pride in engineering achievement lines up well with Edinburgh's claim to be the "Athens of the North" with their world renowned engineers, economists and philosophers (Adam Smith, William Thompson, David Hume and on and on).
To me (Richard) this pride in Scottish engineering. which is indeed excellent, is a powerful and hopeful symbol of looking toward the future. This is a forward-looking attitude which contrasts with an attitude that some have of looking to the warrior heroes of the past in support of a Scottish isolationism.
This expedition was in contrast to some of our other explorations. As we have visited historic sites we have noticed a prominent expression of nationalism in many of them. The brave Scots fighting for independence from the domineering English, mostly. The two warrior heroes that stand out are Robert the Bruce and William Wallace. These heroes are championed again and again, mostly because they each won significant battles against the English (like the battle of Bannockburn). These men lived seven hundred-plus years ago, but their exploits are still trumpeted.
The long-ago warrior heroes of the past are indeed heroes, if you don't examine their lives too closely but it is far more exciting (to me) to see people being uplifted by the more recent heroes of the Scottish Enlightenment and their significant accomplishments in thinking and building. The Scots are proud of their heritage. It will be good to see what they build in the future.
Hear! Hear!, Dad
ReplyDeleteInteresting update! It made me think of the time I flew into Edinburgh (I think) and was so impressed with a display of all the inventions of the Scots. I knew they were creative, but had no idea they had invented so many different things.
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