FAREWELL
Farewell Anne Baird who in comment No 53 to my last piece asks kindly for more.
Alas there will be no more.
Thank you for your kind enquiry.
I and Bangar Ban my cat grow old.
For him: ‘This new age is breeding a nimbler race of mice.’
For me: It takes energy to be a nuisance and I have run my course.
Ian
July 2nd, 2010 at 3:28 am
I truly hope not Ian.
I rarely comment, but have often read your blog.
I am a young SNP activist, recently named secretary of the Branch no less; the Branch you once stood for in fact (G&I down in inverclyde), but even I know that we need the experience of the old cats to counterbalance the playful frivolity of youth such as I.
I hope there will be many more balls of wool from this old tabby-cat yet…
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:06 am
Dear Mr Hamilton
I too hope you are not going to stop writing. I’ll understand if you want to stop organising a Scottish army, but please keep writing. There are very few of your generation and spirit in the blogoshere and that makes you all the more valuable.
You introduced me to “Pangar Ban and I” with extraordinary timing. I was struggling to write an Oxbridge level essay on “Digital Literacy” skills for the future. It takes enormous effort to write properly. That hasn’t changed in the thousand odd years since the poem was written, irrespective of digital technology. I will be introducing you and “Pangar Ban and I” to my students, along with digital technology so they can learn that there is no short cut to quality.
My Grandfather lived till he was 104 and three quarters and his daughters were beside themselves with delight every time he took “pen to paper”, even if it was only once a year. You can imagine how much we grandchildren loved it.
Please write.
Best regards,
Maddy
PS: On a more trivial note, as a quarter-Scot Australian who would have been named Walter McDonald if a boy, I love reading the names of the Hamish’s, Scott’s, Finley’s, McDuff’s, McDaffs etc responding to your posts. Who could make up such a list?
July 4th, 2010 at 5:44 pm
[...] is embarking on wage labour in the private sector. After a period of mute abeyance, Ian Hamilton QC too has confirmed that he shan’t be rattling out any more posts. “It takes energy to be a nuisance and I have run my course”, he notes. Finally, in a [...]
July 5th, 2010 at 8:31 am
Dear Ian,
Respect! You’ve reached the point of being tired leading from the front - this is understandable - but I canny see an old codger like you ever being bereft of an opinion or two. I look forward to your re-emergence in other blogs.
“Newsnet Scotland” is one other home of independent thought and if Bangar Ban decides something’s worth airing then I for one will be delighted to see it. People are invigorated, for or against, with what you have to say - so never say never, you’ll only stop thinking when that big steam hammer falls.
So, for now, thanks for all you have done - much appreciated!
July 5th, 2010 at 5:47 pm
You should just scribble a note when you feel like getting something off your chest. Don’t shut it off - never say never again!
July 6th, 2010 at 10:20 am
All the best to both you and Bangar Ban.
Sometimes the conspiracy of apathy and the ‘I’m all rights’ is so wearying you feel like the idiot facing a tsunami with a holed bucket and a soup ladle.
But, if it’s in the blood; then you do the best you can with what you’ve got and to hell with the odds.
July 8th, 2010 at 3:50 pm
All the best sir.You have provided wisdom and inspiration for a daft wee Falkirk laddie who,in his despair,looked to his elders for guidance and a calming hand.You may have aged,but the fire in you still burns bright;and it should be with pride that,when you look around,you see those who you have touched and passed on the flame that has burned for hundreds of years and shall burn for hundreds more.
July 11th, 2010 at 11:19 pm
Hi ian
i need some advice regarding the act of settlement. I am a nuisance who thinks i would love to marry prince harry. If a woman where to claim that the act of settlement discriminates against her because she is catholic and this act of settlement means she is not equal before the law the same as anyone of any other religion who wants to marry him would a case brought on this basis have any chance of succeeding.
July 11th, 2010 at 11:44 pm
Thank you.
Not a thanks for stopping, but a thanks given to you or teaching me so much about life. I’m from Canada, but thats not to say that reading this blog over the past few years has not had its effect on me.
I first came into knowing of your existence when I attended a film fesival and saw the stone of destiny. It was quite a remarkable experience and instantly I wanted to know more about the tale and yourself. I was unaware at the time of the struggles in Europe between Britain and other countries, as this is not discussed in our north American society.
You have taught me all about the rights of the minority over the majority, respect, freedom, humanity, morals, and power. Without your online note, I would not be the person I am today and for that I thank you. Reading your blog gradually became a large part of my self improvement, although I never commented before this, “Leave European troubles to Europe”.
Thank you and enjoy your time off.
Humbly,
Dave
July 12th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
Dear Ian,
If you feel it is time to stop, I can’t argue, I can just give sincere and humble thanks for all the inspiration you’ve given me.
Many thanks,
P.S I live with the romantic notion that there will always be “a touch of treason” about you!
July 20th, 2010 at 11:49 am
One of the commentators in the last blog entry commented that one of the biggest British colonies managed to obtain independence through negotiation. I assume he means Canada. There was a little bit of a rebellion, more of a bar fight really, with a couple of Americans involved which was named the Upper Canada Rebellion. The leader of the rebellion, William Lyon Mackenzie, born in Scotland, fled to the US but his grandson later became Prime Minister of Canada. Victoria did send Lord Durham to investigate the unrest in the colonies and he proposed greater self government in his Durham Report. We didn’t become a country until a Scottish fellow from Glasgow, by the name of John Alexander MacDonald, later knighted, formed an agreement with other territories and signed the Charlottetown Accord. He became our first Prime Minister. There is more to it than that but because of the lack of copious bloodshed many people think Canadian history is really dull. I like a dull country. However, it seems many of the interesting bits were provided by the Scots so do keep writing.
July 21st, 2010 at 2:47 pm
Hello just stumbled your site and been browsing around, do you also run another a pet related website that looks exactly like this one? Have a good day anyhow.