By Alexander Lawrie THE STORY has all the hallmarks of a 17th century soap opera – royal scandal, family fueding and a sordid love triangle. A wonderful tortoiseshell cabinet which was bequeathed by King Charles II to the woman who posed as Britannia is on display at a historic Scots country house. The cabinet is [...]
By Karrie Gillett A GRIEVING couple are prepared to exhume the bodies of their two sons after being ordered to remove their loving graveside memorials. Zander and Tricia Donaldson have hit out at council officials who told them to remove the mementos at the burial site of baby Lewis and 11-year-old Kieran. They were told [...]
By Karrie Gillett POLICE have vowed to strip criminal gangs of their assets after carrying out a series of raids on the homes of suspected drug dealers. Detectives searched 18 properties in Edinburgh during early morning raids as part of an ongoing drive to tackle organised gangs in the city. More than 100 officers [...]
By Oliver Farrimond THE ARCHITECT of Scotland’s Freedom of Information laws has called on the Scottish government to start properly exercising its powers. Lord Wallace of Tankerness expressed surprise that more public bodies had not been brought under the scope of the laws, despite a “compelling” case to do so. The 2002 act allows for [...]
By Paul Thornton A MOTHER dolphin and her calf had to be saved after becoming stuck in mud at a harbour. It is thought the white sided dolphin became trapped after trying to help her young calf when he strayed into shallow water at Broughty Ferry yesterday (Wednesday) morning. Builders working nearby managed to lift [...]
By Oliver Farrimond SCOTLAND’S most recognisable landmark is to be plunged into darkness for one hour this March. The world-famous Forth Bridge joins a list of celebrated structures all over the world that are switching off their lights as part of Earth Hour 2009. Last year’s event saw the lights go out in 35 cities [...]
By Paul Thornton A GARAGE worker was caught with sick child images after cops seized his computer while probing an alleged pirate DVD operation. Officers had been told that Paul Bird, 29, had been selling knock-off films from the Shell garage in Edinburgh’s Crewe Toll. When they questioned him about the alleged counterfeit goods in [...]
By Cara Sulieman WHEN Scotland’s tweeters get together for the first time later this week, they will raise money for charity and grab themselves a whole host of goodies at the same time. The Edinburgh Twestival, organised solely through the social networking site, is happening this Thursday, along with a whole host of similar parties [...]
By Cara Sulieman YOU WOULDN’T think it listening to the country’s men, but women are easier to read than men. Research by New Scientist magazine revealed that women’s faces give away more about their personalities than men’s do. And this will come as a shock to the legions of men who say that they [...]
By Cara Sulieman CHRISTINE Hamilton has changed her name by deed poll – to Mrs British Battleaxe. The wife of former Tory minister Neil Hamilton made the change as part of an elaborate PR stunt for an online deed poll company. The 59-year-old – who gained a formidable reputation through a series of TV appearances [...]
By Cara Sulieman SCOTLAND has a new famous resident in the shape of a member of American rock royalty. Mary-Jean Lewis – niece of Jerry Lee Lewis – has been living in the country for fourteen months after meeting and falling in love with a dashing Scotsman. But the streets of North Lanarkshire are a [...]
By Alexander Lawrie SCOTLAND’S kiltmaker to the stars has decided to set up his own business – because Edinburgh’s world-famous Royal Mile is over-run with ‘tartan tat’. Howie Nicholsby – who has designed exclusive kilts for superstars Robbie Williams, KT Tunstall and Vin Diesel – has admitted he is leaving his family’s famous kiltmaking business [...]
By Cara Sulieman THE REPORT into the C Diff outbreak at Alexandria’s Vale of Leven Hospital revealed that positive changes have been made – but more still needs to be done. It found that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have made “rapid and very significant progress” to the way the hospital is run. Between December [...]
By Alexander Lawrie SCOTS film star Alan Cumming has thrilled crowds in New York by performing his first ever musical concert. The bi-sexual actor performed songs by Cyndi Lauper, Dolly Parton and Abba as he made his debut in front of 800 fans at the Lincoln Centre, near Central Park. X-Men star Cumming, 44, who [...]
By Alexander Lawrie EIGHT burly firemen put their pulling power to the test to heave an elderly horse to safety. A fire crew from Edinburgh was called out yesterday (Tue) to help free the 36-year-old gelding which had become trapped in its own stable, near Roslin, Midlothian. Elderly Tally has been a regular at the [...]
By Oliver Farrimond THE son of a top Tory has had his hopes of becoming student union president dashed – after he impaled his foot on a spike. Edinburgh University student Oliver Mundell – whose dad is Conservative MP David Mundell – was climbing over a fence in the city’s George Square so he could [...]
By Paul Thornton A MAN has been held on remand over claims he tried to murder an elderly man after an alleged double attack on two pensioners last week. Robert Murphy, 38, is charged with the attempted murder of 83-year-old Francis McGeachie in one of the two incidents on Wednesday, February 4. It is claimed [...]
By Karrie Gillett HUNDREDS of horses will parade through the streets during a festival which dates back hundreds of years. The Edinburgh Riding of the Marches has been revived after an absence of more than 60 years. The last time the festival took place was in 1946 as a victory march to celebrate the end [...]
By Alexander Lawrie A FIVE-YEAR old Scots girl has survived a pioneering operation to remove over a quarter of her brain – in a bid to halt her suffering 20 epileptic seizures each day. Little Millie Mackenzie underwent a rare and arduous seven-hour operation last week at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London. The brave tot [...]
By Alexander Lawrie A BORDERS councillor has blasted Lord David Steel’s daughter after she wrongly copied him into an e-mail in which she labelled him an “idiot”. Independent David Paterson was shocked to receive the offending email sent to him by Lib Dem councillor Catriona Bhatia – which questioned the cost to the public in [...]