Sven says:

In the UK parliament since the 2010 election Labour has 41 of the 59 Scottish seats, and the Scottish National Party has 6. In the election for the Scottish parliament last Thursday SNP got 69 seats out of 129 (a gain of 22) and Labour got 37 (a loss of 9). Tories got 15 (losing 1) and Liberal Democrats got 5 (a loss of 11!). Has there been a great change of political opinions in just one year? Too early to say. But obviously a majority of Scots find it suitable to have a local party in power at home, rather than parties that take their orders from London. And what orders should they take, considering that the majority in London is unstable?

This was a wood of birches, growing on a steep, craggy side of a mountain that overhung the loch. It had many openings and ferny howes; and a road or bridle track ran north and south through the midst of it, by the edge of which, where was a spring, I sat down to eat some oat-bread …
Robert Louis Stevenson: Kidnapped, chapter 17.

Ian Hamilton Finlay was a poet, sculptor, and gardener. I believe he thought of this passage from Kidnapped when he created the Stevenson Memorial Grove in Edinburgh, just below the castle.

The story of a young English officer who by a series of coincidences gets into fighting against his army gives much to reflect upon, and many questions to ask. I doubt whether there has ever been a first novel by any author that has made such an impact on the very milieu where it was created. If you go by train to the centre of Edinburgh, you arrive at Waverley Station. Imagine there could be a Pickwick Station in London, or a Gare Quasimodo in Paris? Or a Red Room Station in Stockholm? It also seems that the growing enthusiasm for “the author of Waverley” who was at first anonymous, gave popularity to the then obsolete kilt as a Scottish national attire.

In this novel, there are more mentionings of whisky than of brandy, quite naturally since the great part of the plot is located in Scotland or among Scots.

The Last Drop, in Grassmarket.

This is the monument to Robert Louis Stevenson in Princes Street Gardens. I don’t know if birches had any special significance for  Stevenson, but in this context they form a truly romantic sight!

When I get back to Scotland, don’t know when but I certainly will, I wish to spend sensible time in Edinburgh, which I failed to do two years ago, because I had too much trouble getting to Rosslyn. I knew there were buses, but I didn’t know there were three bus companies running at the same poles, that was confusing! The Walter Scott Monument is fascinating though, even from behind. Inside the Rosslyn Chapel photographing is now prohibited, which it was not in 2007.

Dan Brown is a liar, but a very entertaining one. I like both the book and the film a lot.