Rabbie’s ode to a martyr
QUESTION Is it true that the trial of Glasgow lawyer Thomas Muir of Huntershill inspired Robert Burns to write Scots Wha Hae? RobeRt buRns wrote scots Wha Hae in 1793, taking the form of a speech given by Robert the bruce before the battle of bannockburn in 1314, in which bruce defeated edward II’s english forces and preserved scots sovereignty.
the lyrics were written to the traditional scottish air Hey tuttie tatie (supposedly played before the battle) and appear unambiguous. they begin: Scots, wha hae wi Wallace bled, Scots, wham Bruce has aften led, Welcome tae yer gory bed, Or tae victorie. Now’s the day, an now’s the hour, See the front o battle lour, See approach proud Edward’s power, Chains and Slaverie. but it’s more than a reference to past scottish victories against tyranny. As burns wrote to his publisher, George thompson: ‘I had no idea of giving myself any trouble on the subject till the accidental recollection of that glorious struggle for freedom, associated with the glowing ideas of some other struggles of the same nature, not quite so ancient, roused my rhyming mania.’
broadly speaking, the ‘other struggles’ were those of the revolutionary French Republic, which was just a year old. the fact that this letter was dated August 30, 1793, was no coincidence — it was the start date of Muir’s edinburgh trial.
Lawyer thomas Muir of Huntershill (1765-99), who came from a modestly landed family in the Campsie Hills north of Glasgow, was a prime mover in the scottish Friends of the People, an organisation set up in 1792 to press for a democratic franchise and annual parliaments.
Muir had visited revolutionary France and attended the proceedings of the Convention. on his return to scotland, he was tried for distributing and recommending thomas Paine’s radical work the Rights of Man.
sitting in judgment was the notorious reactionary, Lord braxfield, known for hamming up his scots dialect on the bench to create an effect of coarse brutality. ‘Hang a thief when he’s young, and he’ll naw steal when he’s auld,’ ran his callous motto. the claim of one of the tried radicals, Joseph Gerrald, that ‘even our saviour himself’ had been a reformer, elicited from braxfield the wry blasphemy: ‘Muckle he made o’ that, he was hanget.’ Muir and several co-accused received 14 years’ transportation to botany bay.
the trial caused outrage among reformers, Lord Lauderdale saying: ‘not one case in the whole history of scottish criminal law stood upon record, even to justify, or even to countenance, the proceedings.’
Muir subsequently made a remarkable, but arduous, escape from the penal colony, having his cheekbone destroyed in the process, finally reaching France in 1797 but dying shortly thereafter.
Jon Bowman, Glasgow.
QUESTION Can brain cells regenerate? HIstoRICALLy, it was believed each person was born with a finite number of brain cells, so if you damaged any, you operated on a deficit for the rest of your life.
In the sixties, scientists studying rats discovered two regions of the brain that contained dividing cells which ultimately become nerve cells. Despite this, they retained the belief the adult brain could not generate new nerve cells. evidence now shows the brain remains ‘plastic’ throughout life: it can rewire in response to new learning. the brain can even create new cells through neurogenesis.
In a 1998 study, neurogenesis In the Adult Human Hippocampus, published in the journal nature, scientists placed a substance that identifies dividing cells in a group of terminal cancer patients. Postmortem examinations found the substance was attached to new cells in the hippocampus, thus demonstrating brain cell regeneration.
In 1999, elizabeth Gould and others documented thousands of new growing neurons in macaque monkeys in both the hippocampus and subventricular zones of the brain. these deep brain sites are now considered the two major sites of neural stem cells.
the discoveries not only refute the ‘finite brain cells’ idea, but also raise hope for victims with brain injury or those suffering degenerative brain disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.
G. Maldon, Oxford. QUESTION Roy Keane recently caused a stir by saying: ‘If Ashley Young is a Man Utd player, then I’m a Chinaman.’ My dad used this phrase. What other phrases have gone out of fashion? FuRtHeR to the earlier answer, my mother-in-law used to say: ‘I am so hungry I could eat a horse and chase the rider.’
Robert Jones, St Annes on Sea, Lancs. My FAtHeR’s favourite saying to me growing up after the war was: ‘I’m sure the Germans dropped you instead of a bomb.’
Tony Coulton, Chester-le-Street, Co. Durham. tWo phrases my mother uses are: ‘never in a month of pig’s pudding’ for an unlikely event; and when distant rain clouds appear: ‘It’s black over bill’s mother’s.’
John Wright, Sutton Coldfield, W. Midlands. WHen an item of clothing or an object was nearing the end of its life, my mother-inlaw would say: ‘that jumper’s going home.’
Ian Page, Tadcaster, N. Yorks.