Street names give clue to how Scottish you may feel

From our archives

5 years ago

THE name of the street where you live indicates how Scottish you feel, a study has found. People living in areas of Scotland with street names celebrating Britain, such as “Queen”, “Royal”, “Regent”, or “London” are less likely to define themselves as Scottish. The finding, published in the Journal of Economic Geography, is part of new research at the University of St Andrews focusing on what street names tell us about our identity. The study compared Scottish Westminster parliamentary constituencies with a recent population census asking people to describe their national identity. In areas with fewer Union-themed street names, people were more likely to describe themselves as having a “Scottish identity only”.

10 years ago

THE UK Government has thanked China for its support in clamping down on sales of fake Scottish whisky. More than £66 million worth of Scotch was sold in China last year. But the industry is increasingly facing challenges from imitations. This year, joint Chinese and British operations have found 300 cases of fake Scotch. On a visit to China, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson met trading standards authorities. He said: “I’m really pleased I’ve been able to strengthen relationships that will protect iconic brands like Scotch whisky and have been able to pass on the thanks of the Scotch Whisky Association to the Chinese authorities.”

25 years ago

A HANDOUT of £15m to help with school closure and refurbishment plans for Scotland’s crumbling classrooms was announced yesterday. Glasgow

City Council, which is today expected to reveal the names of at least eight secondary schools marked for closure, is to receive £12m, while seven other authorities will share the remainder. The Scottish Office money – part of a £200m drive to improve Britain’s classrooms announced in this year’s Budget – is aimed at helping improve schools which are likely to receive additional pupils as a result of the closure of other schools. Glasgow’s education committee meets tomorrow and is expected to approve a list of eight secondaries to be closed.

50 years ago

WOMEN and children used old prams and bicycles yesterday to bar traffic from Janefield Street, Camlachie, Glasgow, where mothers have claimed that the cars are a danger to children at play. It was the second time in 18 months that the residents had tried to set up an unofficial pedestrian area in the district.

They took action yesterday after a four-year-old boy was seriously injured by a car. In June last year mothers and children formed a barricade across Crail Street, Parkhead. In both cases they said that motorists using the streets to avoid Parkhead Cross were causing danger to their children.

100 years ago

THE lack of care shown in the selection of persons engaged to act as collectors on flag days in Glasgow was severely criticised at Glasgow Sheriff Court yesterday, when 15 women appeared before Sheriff Blair charged with stealing money from collection boxes on Saturday when they were engaged in selling poppies on behalf of Earl Haig’s Fund for disabled ex-service men.

On this day

1724: Highwayman Jack Sheppard was hanged in front of 200,000 people at Tyburn.

1869: The formal opening of the Suez Canal took place. It had taken 10 years to make the 100-mile canal devised by Ferdinand de Lesseps. 1896: Oswald Mosley, English Fascist leader, was born. 1920: The Bolsheviks defeated the White Russians in the Crimea, ending Russia’s Civil War.

1937: MPS voted in favour of air raid shelters being erected in towns and cities. Winston Churchill insisted they were “indispensable”. Labour opposed this, fearing it would mean a big rise in rates. 1959: The Sound Of Music, a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, opened on Broadway.

1960: Clark Gable, the “King of Hollywood” and Oscar winner, died after shooting the final scenes of The Misfits opposite Marilyn Monroe.

1989: A pillar of South African apartheid crumbled when beach access restrictions were removed by president FW de Klerk.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: The Cambridge Dictionary revealed its word of the year for 2021 was “perseverance”, with editors crediting global interest in Nasa’s mission to Mars.