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Gave a little help setting up for the gala day.
I like to call it 'grounding' after my dreams of lilac forests with violets carpeting my own little Fangorn; but really it's just me enjoying a moment's machismo. I can still heft steel hoarding around; not by myself because it's awkward to balance but it pleases me that the weight's no problem. See me proudly wear my invisible lumberjack shirt! See me also feel that grumbling ankle. It is possible that I have not been the cleverest boot over the past two days.
I am still not sure about attending today. It feels odd when R is still too exhausted to join me. He's improving, no doubt that those antibiotics did the trick, but he's not clear yet.
There's been controversy about the gala day. Lots of Scottish small towns have them, but Bathgate's is special for two reasons. The first is that this historically celebrates the day that the barony and keys to Bathgate castle were given by Robert the Bruce as his daughter Marjorie's dowry when she married Walter Stewart, all grand so far, much pageantry and fun.
But the day is also called The John Newland Festival, a man who was born in Bathgate, made his fortune in Jamaica thanks to sugar plantations, died there and would have been forgotten had he not left a fair bob or two for the building of at least one school in his home town. Problem is, John Newland made that money off the back of slave labour. By the time he died, he had 100 slaves valued at about £15000, so there has been an anguished debate about whether his name should be dropped, and eventually it happened, though with indignation and resignations. This last seems somewhat reactionary, though with a little effort I get it in the same way I get the resistance to the Rhodes must fall movement. We shouldn't celebrate bad men. But the most sincere and pointed way to do that is not to accept their money and if we do accept their money, we have to accept that their money matters more than their evil to us. That's not exactly a pleasant idea, and it may not even be true, there's nuance, the most hated word of the century! Meanwhile the man is dead, the school is there, and we all need schools. So, understanding the ugliness and the privilege, on we go, bear what we can, leave what we must.And today is about having a good time, happiness with a bare glance at history. The lessons can wait though they mustn't be lost.
And in the meantime, beer, music, wrestling. Shall I go? Maybe for a bit. Looks to be a sunshiny day.
I like to call it 'grounding' after my dreams of lilac forests with violets carpeting my own little Fangorn; but really it's just me enjoying a moment's machismo. I can still heft steel hoarding around; not by myself because it's awkward to balance but it pleases me that the weight's no problem. See me proudly wear my invisible lumberjack shirt! See me also feel that grumbling ankle. It is possible that I have not been the cleverest boot over the past two days.
I am still not sure about attending today. It feels odd when R is still too exhausted to join me. He's improving, no doubt that those antibiotics did the trick, but he's not clear yet.
There's been controversy about the gala day. Lots of Scottish small towns have them, but Bathgate's is special for two reasons. The first is that this historically celebrates the day that the barony and keys to Bathgate castle were given by Robert the Bruce as his daughter Marjorie's dowry when she married Walter Stewart, all grand so far, much pageantry and fun.
But the day is also called The John Newland Festival, a man who was born in Bathgate, made his fortune in Jamaica thanks to sugar plantations, died there and would have been forgotten had he not left a fair bob or two for the building of at least one school in his home town. Problem is, John Newland made that money off the back of slave labour. By the time he died, he had 100 slaves valued at about £15000, so there has been an anguished debate about whether his name should be dropped, and eventually it happened, though with indignation and resignations. This last seems somewhat reactionary, though with a little effort I get it in the same way I get the resistance to the Rhodes must fall movement. We shouldn't celebrate bad men. But the most sincere and pointed way to do that is not to accept their money and if we do accept their money, we have to accept that their money matters more than their evil to us. That's not exactly a pleasant idea, and it may not even be true, there's nuance, the most hated word of the century! Meanwhile the man is dead, the school is there, and we all need schools. So, understanding the ugliness and the privilege, on we go, bear what we can, leave what we must.And today is about having a good time, happiness with a bare glance at history. The lessons can wait though they mustn't be lost.
And in the meantime, beer, music, wrestling. Shall I go? Maybe for a bit. Looks to be a sunshiny day.
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