As this episode airs we are approaching St Andrew’s Day on the 30th of November - Scotland’s official national day. We explore the story behind the man and what led to him being adopted as the patron saint of Scotland - amongst other things including gout! This leads in turn to the Saltire and how it came to be the official flag of Scotland and a visible symbol of our identity. We conclude with a wide ranging and light-hearted discussion on what it is that makes someone Scottish. The traits, the...
Nov 24, 2020•27 min•Season 1Ep. 13
In this episode we look at the island archipelago of St Kilda that was evacuated 90 years ago. We blether about sheep, of which there are over six million in Scotland and lastly, we discuss one of the first heroes of Scottish engineering and infrastructure, Thomas Telford. As always, we finish our 30-minute blether with our Scots words of the episode. Drop us a message on instagram on facebook on @scottishblethers if you have any comments or topic suggestions. Thanks for listening! Liz, Susan &a...
Nov 22, 2020•30 min•Season 1Ep. 112
We wanted to do a couple of special interviews to mark Book Week Scotland from 16-22 November 2020. In this second bonus interview, Helen talks to Shona who is the Glasgow Book Fairy - one of a network across the world. What does a Book Fairy do ? You'll have to listen to find out more !
Nov 19, 2020•16 min
It is Scottish Book Week 16-22 November 2020 and Susan talks to author Mark Bridgeman, who resides in Highland Perthshire, about his books, blog and other projects he is working on. Mark's first book ‘The River Runs Red’ was published in September 2019. A history of true crime in Highland Perthshire, the book proved an immediate success. Following on from ‘The River Runs Red’ came ‘Blood Beneath Ben Nevis’ and ‘Surviving in the Shadows’, both released in March 2020. To read Mark's blog posts, go...
Nov 16, 2020•16 min
In this episode we reflect on those who fell in two World Wars and subsequent conflicts. We revisit the ancient people of Scotland and the buildings they left on the landscape. We rediscover one of our most loved of indigenous species - the Highland Cow. Join Liz, Helen and Susan, all Blue Badge qualified Scottish Tourist Guides, in our weekly Scottish Blethers podcast as we discuss 3 different topics and bring out 3 great Scots words at the end of the episode. Follow and interact with us on fac...
Nov 10, 2020•30 min•Season 1Ep. 111
Who would have thunk it - we have made it to 10 episodes of Scottish Blethers ! We have decided to change the format for the first episode of each month and pick our favourite... from a theme. For November, we have chosen contemporary Scottish authors. Liz kicks off with children's authors, Susan moves into Tartan Noir and Helen focuses on female crime writers and people from abroad who have made Scotland the star in their writing - and yes, we couldn't do this without mentioning Diana Gabaldon ...
Nov 03, 2020•27 min•Season 1Ep. 110
Don't you love the Scots language ! By now we figure that you are getting used to our turn of phrase, but just in case you need a translation into English, this episode is about Bread, Dead and use your Head ! We are talking about plain or pan loaf bread (a big thing in Scotland, none of this fancy bread with bits in it!), the origins & traditions of Halloween and why, given this year's compulsory slow down, we should all be taking it a bit easier and keeping the mileage down when we go on v...
Oct 27, 2020•38 min•Season 1Ep. 109
Scottish Blethers Episode 8 podcast is here ! The controversy continues... Campbell or MacDonald, gin or whisky, Braveheart or Brigadoon ??? Join us as we blether about Glencoe, Scottish films and actors and "mothers ruin" - gin by its other name. As always, let us know what you think on our @scottishblethers social media and please leave us a review on your podcast platform of choice or our facebook page.
Oct 20, 2020•36 min•Season 1Ep. 108
Wealth & the Privilege it Brings - From Andrew Carnegie to the popular sport of shooting - just the preserve of the rich ?? Join Liz, Helen and Susan in their weekly Scottish Blethers podcast as we discuss 3 different topics each week and bring out 3 great Scots words at the end of the 30 minute episode. In Episode 7, we find out more about Andrew Carnegie and his philanthropic legacy in Scotland as well as discuss clay pigeon shooting and The Glorious 12th, a key date in the Scottish Game s...
Oct 13, 2020•29 min•Season 1Ep. 107
Come into our world where over the next 30 minutes, we discuss castles, queens and fairy folk in Scotland. We finish the episode with our Scots words of the episode. We are 3 freelance tourist guides who are missing our guests, so we started the Scottish Blethers podcast. New skills and an ever growing bloopers reel have kept us amused. We'll keep going as long as people keep listening and are happy to take requests. Drop us a message on instagram on facebook on @scottishblethers if you have any...
Oct 06, 2020•30 min•Season 1Ep. 106
Episode 5 already, who would have thunk it that 3 Scots wumin could put something like this together and have a great laugh doing it !! Welcome to Scottish Blethers, or welcome back for those that have listened to previous episodes. We are 3 freelance tourist guides who decided that instead of sitting at home twiddling our thumbs whilst our guests and stories disappeared into the new Covid-19 world order, that we would get together virtually through our computers and see if we could batter techn...
Sep 29, 2020•28 min•Season 1Ep. 105
We're getting into our stride now and the chat is flowing ! Thanks to everyone who has listened in so far and welcome to new listeners. We are 3 Scottish tourist guides who get together on a call for a right good blether about a range of topics. In this week's episode, Helen, Liz and Susan talk about Highland Games, childhood games and Edinburgh-Glasgow rivalry ! Our Scots words of the episode are stooky (Helen spells it with a y on the end, whereas Susan spells it with ie on the end!), shooglie...
Sep 22, 2020•32 min•Season 1Ep. 104
Thanks for coming back for more, or welcome, if you are new to Scottish Blethers ! We are 3 Scottish tourist guides who get together on a call for a right good blether about a range of topics. In Episode 3 we cover 3 very different topics - "it's different in Scotland", a little bit about identity and also about devolved powers. Childhood holidays which was inspired by a trip to the west coast of Scotland and Susan's uncle revisiting a site where he used to camp with the family Scottish Fayre - ...
Sep 15, 2020•34 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Welcome or welcome back to Scottish Blethers. We are excited that so many people chose to listen to Episode 1. In this episode we'll be talking about outdoor access including Scotland's enviable right to roam and outdoor access code, vernacular architecture in Scotland (vernacular basically means using whatever building materials are available) and ancestry research. We'll finish the episode with each of our Scots words of the episode. Please feel free to get in touch with us over our social med...
Sep 08, 2020•22 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Scottish Blethers podcast is the result of 3 Blue Badge qualified Scottish tourist guides having time on their hands ! We decided to take our knowledge, learn new (tech) skills and have a laugh talking about different topics relating to Scotland that we thought people might enjoy listening to. We don't take ourselves too seriously and we hope that you can join us on our podcasting learning curve and let us know what you think - and give us topics that you would like us to cover. Our first episod...
Sep 01, 2020•19 min•Season 1Ep. 1
