THE YEARS...
THE BUS PARTY
ON September 11, 1997, a huge Yes vote was cast in a referendum that delivered a Scottish Parliament with tax-raising powers.
Ahead of that fateful day, a “Bus Party” organised by the likes of Neal Ascherson and William McIlvanney travelled around Scotland, bringing people from across the arts to town and school halls to engage the nation in healthy debate.
On the eve of the vote, the bus tour ended at the Vigil For A Scottish Parliament, where campaigners sat and sang and talked, day and night, for five years in a perpetual protest called Democracy For Scotland.
Do you recognise any of the faces here? Did you take part in the Bus Party? Let us know at letters@thenational.scot if so!
FEAR not! Your usual p22-23 puzzles are on the next spread.
But while you’re here, let me explain what you’re seeing with this newest addition to our Back In The Day coverage.
On these pages of your Sunday National going forward, we’ll be digging through the Herald and Times picture archives. The framing? Major moments in Scotland’s story from decades gone by.
Some will bring a smile to your face, with fond memories of political movements our readers have taken part in.
Others may have you boiling over ... as we’ll be offering up reminders of the UK Government’s tactics.
The independence movement is in a time of flux. This feature will give us a chance to look back at some of the factors that have fuelled its growth. Let us also reflect on the founding principles of the Scottish Parliament and the collaboration and campaigning that led to its existence.
Perhaps it can also serve as a history lesson – sparking curiosity for further research among younger Scots interested in self-determination.
So, stay tuned, because this week is just the start of what we have planned...
ACROSS
1 Idiom meaning to speak incessantly (4,3,4,4,3,1,6) Zoomed in on (9) Perth’s port city in Western Australia (9) Majorette accessory (5) One upholding a belief contrary to the prevailing religion (7)
1988 film starring Tom Cruise as a bartender (8) Natter (8)
Device banned in new-builds as of April 1st (4,6)
To have an equal but opposite effect (14) Fictional island submerged in the ocean (8) Academic terms (10)
Bird related to the puffin (3) Hit another car from behind (4-3)
Thick fog (3-6)
Lack of veneration (7) Of dentistry concerned with misaligned teeth (11) A statue of this missionary is found in East Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh (11) Surname of the shipping magnate that President Kennedy’s former wife married (7)
Actions of spacecraft entering Earth’s atmosphere once more (2-7) Activity of the maids in ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ (7) Flightless bird endemic to Australia (3)
As a deceased person, to be displayed for the public to pay respect (3,2,5)
Sci-fi novel by Michael Crichton, ‘– Park’ (1990) (8) Novel by F.Scott Fitzgerald about an eponymous millionaire (3,5,6) Aardman Animations film loosely based on ‘The Great Escape’ (7,3)
Name for Robin Hood used in Walter Scott’s ‘Ivanhoe’ (8) Piece of pork on a curved bone (5,3)
Inspiring adoration (7) Tribe of Boudicca (5) New offence which has been criticised by JK Rowling (4,5) Female sex-hormone (9) Idiom meaning highly unlikely (3,1,9,6,2,4) 14 15
16 17
18
19 22
24 25
27 29 33
34 35 36
38 41 43 44 45 46 47 50 52 55 56
57 60 61
62 63