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Category Archives: Dumfries and Galloway
A Night at the Coach and Horses
History, Witchcraft, Slam Poetry and the Banality of Evil—Or Maybe Not? ‘What is history, but a fable agreed upon?’ That is a rendering into English of words allegedly spoken by Napoleon Bonaparte. Or so I was told as I waited … Continue reading
Posted in Comment, Dumfries and Galloway
Tagged Biff Smith, Hannah Arendt, Performance Poetry, poem, poems, poet, Poetry, Poets and Pints, Robert Fergusson, Scottish History, Spoken Word, Witch Trials, writing
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Deiseil – Dancing in Time: Reclaiming a Lost Rhythm
An Event at the Kirkcudbright Fringe, September 2026 That’s deiseil, pronounced jay-shal, Scots Gaelic for “ready!” So! Are you ready? A strange boy is weavingA course of grace and havocOn a yellow skateboardThrough midday sidewalk traffic Why on earth should … Continue reading
Transported
Observations from a meeting advocating the reopening of rail links in Dumfries and Galloway. Anyone who lives in Dumfries and Galloway will be aware that a railway line once spanned the region, snaking its way from Dumfries to Portpatrick, with … Continue reading
Friday Portraits
A Sitter’s View of the Matter In September of last year I had to run an errand which took me into the studio of artist Hugh Bryden. I found him surrounded by the output of his work. Canvases, linocut prints, … Continue reading
Posted in Comment, Dumfries and Galloway
Tagged art exhibition, contemporary Scottish art, Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway, Friday Portraits, Gracefield Arts Centre, Gracefield Studios, Hugh Bryden, Jackson Browne, portrait painting, Sandy Robb, sitting for a portrait, The Crown, Tom Lindsay
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Reflections from the Kirkcudbright Book Festival, 2026
Poets Fixing the World, A Graphic Novelist, A Pioneering Musician with Roots in the Scottish Folk Tradition; and a Path of Slime Just the other day, I was talking with a friend about the challenges of appreciating poetry. I think … Continue reading
Posted in Comment, Dumfries and Galloway
Tagged Books, Graphic Novels, Kirkcudbright Book Festival, Martyn Bennett, poems, Poetry, Politics and Art, Scottish Culture, writing
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Great Lives, The Lisbon Lions, Scottish Landscape and Bohemia in a Small Scottish Town
I’d never heard of the improvisational guitarist Derek Bailey until I encountered his story on BBC Radio’s Great Lives programme. Amongst other things, the programme was memorable for a short and fractious exchange between the presenter Matthew Parris, and comedian … Continue reading
Posted in Comment, Dumfries and Galloway
Tagged Art, avant-garde, music, Poetry, writing
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Kirkcudbright Fringe 2025
Three Stories from This Year’s Festival of Art and Culture Story 1: Home Truths for Home Rule: Scotland After 25 Years of Devolution Lesley Riddoch and Henry McLeish in Conversation Kirkcudbright Fringe has once again presented us with a fine array … Continue reading
Posted in Comment, Dumfries and Galloway, Electoral Reform
Tagged Art, beatles, lgbtq, photography, protest, Scottish Independence, travel
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Roncadora
I arrived at the Coach and Horses last Thursday with no intention to write anything about the evening which was to come. But I went home with a different idea entirely for the event celebrated not just poetry but … Continue reading
Bogland
Tradition, Memory, and the Future of Peatlands Once upon a time, the burghers of Dumfries would dig and burn peat to keep them warm in the cold of winter. The town had an array of bogs or mosses from which … Continue reading
Posted in Comment, Dumfries and Galloway, Environmental
Tagged biodiversity, conservation, environment, peat, peatlands, trees
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The Tech Bros are Coming for Our Wind
Should AI Data Centre Roll-Out be Phased and Linked to Renewable Installation? In the dreamy and often overlooked backwater of Dumfries and Galloway, on the site of the former Chapelcross Nuclear Power Station near Annan, an AI Data Centre is … Continue reading →