Pat
@swottypat.bsky.social
73 followers 110 following 59 posts
SGSAH funded PhD researcher in early modern Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow. I've been known to knit. Whiles I cook. I sometimes take pictures. But mostly I read.
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swottypat.bsky.social
READ THIS POEM!
It's joyful.
asls.org.uk
Stop looking like a purse. How could a purse
squeeze under the rickety door and sit,
full of satisfaction, in a man’s house?

—Norman MacCaig, “Toad”
published in THE POEMS OF NORMAN MacCAIG (Birlinn, 2009)
#poem #poetry #BookWormSat
birlinn.co.uk/product/the-...
Toad
by Norman MacCaig

Stop looking like a purse. How could a purse
squeeze under the rickety door and sit,
full of satisfaction, in a man’s house?

You clamber towards me on your four corners –
right hand, left foot, left hand, right foot.

I love you for being a toad,
for crawling like a Japanese wrestler,
and for not being frightened.

I put you in my purse hand, not shutting it,
and set you down outside directly under
every star.

A jewel in your head? Toad,
you’ve put one in mine,
a tiny radiance in a dark place.
swottypat.bsky.social
I found this in the library today. @megaheid.bsky.social has me hooked from the first chapter. Weekend plans: ignore #stormamy and stay snug at home.
#glasgowlibraries
#penguins
#readalocalauthor
swottypat.bsky.social
I was looking for that at the weekend, but as I was in Dunblane Cathedral with an imperfect memory, I was disappointed.
Reposted by Pat
scottishbooktrust.bsky.social
This Dyslexia Awareness Week Scotland (29 Sept–5 Oct), it's time to challenge common myths about dyslexia. Scotland will only become a dyslexia-friendly country when everyone knows what dyslexia is – and isn’t.

Explore 10 myths from Dyslexia Scotland: dyslexiascotland.org.uk/busting-dysl...
Reposted by Pat
swottypat.bsky.social
The Chain Bridge over the Tweed near Berwick
Reposted by Pat
vivdunstan.bsky.social
From @chrismpaton.bsky.social Ancestry and the NRS - when the corporate genealogy world turns ugly. Extremely alarming legal saga involving US genealogy company Ancestry and National Records of Scotland re core Scottish genealogy and family history records. scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2025/09/ance...
Ancestry and the NRS - when the corporate genealogy world turns ugly
From Scotland, a daily news blog about genealogy, family history and personal heritage.
scottishgenes.blogspot.com
Reposted by Pat
asls.org.uk
“I mean, your society’s broken, so who should we blame? Should we blame the rich, powerful people who caused it? No let’s blame the people with no power & no money & these immigrants who don’t even have the vote, yeah it must be their fucking fault.”

—Iain Banks
www.theguardian.com/books/2013/j...
Iain Banks: the final interview
Iain Banks died last Sunday, just before the publication of his final novel The Quarry. Last month he talked to Stuart Kelly about writing, politics and all the things still left to do . . .
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by Pat
asls.org.uk
“I could not do violence to my conscience for anything less than ten shillings”

—In Saki’s (Hector Hugh Munro, 1870–1916) short story “The Boar-Pig”, a cunning girl – called Matilda – extracts money from 2 society ladies trying to gatecrash a garden party. 🖼️ by Quentin Blake …
#BookWormSat
💙📚
1/4
An illustration to Saki’s “The Boar-Pig”, by Quentin Blake: a dark-haired young girl, wearing an Edwardian-era frock, is sitting up a tree. She is looking down, smiling, at two ladies wearing Edwardian finery, with puffed shoulders, gloves, and elaborate hats. One lady is just peeking into the frame of the picture; the other, a robust woman carrying a small handbag in one hand an a furled parasol in the other, is looking up at the young girl in some dismay.
Reposted by Pat
commamonger.bsky.social
We live in cretinous times, and the cretins would appear to be winning. Join the resistance and read a book.
swottypat.bsky.social
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ Saki.
asls.org.uk
“In a forest of mixed growth somewhere on the eastern spurs of the Carpathians, a man stood one winter night watching and listening, as though he waited for some beast of the woods…”

—Forest horror in “The Interlopers”, by Saki (Hector Hugh Munro)
#BookWormSat 💙📚
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gwoa...
"The Interlopers" by Saki / Lost in the Wilds of Horror
YouTube video by HorrorBabble
www.youtube.com
Reposted by Pat
rnib.bsky.social
As it’s #NationalReadABookDay, it feels like a good time to remind people that listening to audiobooks counts as reading 📚
swottypat.bsky.social
According to @leightonlibrary.bsky.social it is
#ReadABookDay #NationalReadABookDay
My question is 'Where to start?' when your favourite aunt is having a clear out. #spoiledforchoice
Reposted by Pat
rhonabrown.bsky.social
Poet Robert Fergusson was born #OTD in 1750. At #ProjectFergusson, we're working on a new edition of his works. You'll find an online exhibition, details of a poetry collection responding to Fergusson's life, works and legacies and much more besides on our website!
robert-fergusson.glasgow.ac.uk
A close-up of the bronze sculpture of Robert Fergusson by David Annand, at the Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh. We can see Fergusson's head and torso. He is dressed in eighteenth-century garb, with a coat with lapels and large cuffs, a shirt with sleeves flowing under his jacket cuffs, a waistcoat and large bow at his neck. He is carrying a book in his right hand. His hair is curled on either side of his head and is tied back. He looks upwards, his expression reflective.
Reposted by Pat
rfergussonpoet.bsky.social
Happy Birthday to Robert Fergusson, born #OTD 275 years ago!

For more info on what we've been up to on Project Fergusson as the official end of the project approaches, see our website: robert-fergusson.glasgow.ac.uk

We've got online exhibitions, other resources, project updates and much more!
Reposted by Pat
orkneylibrary.bsky.social
Are your sheep always turning up late for work? Are they taking too long on their lunch break or simply struggling to get through the workload? Are they always just mucking about?

Then you need some
An old book titled Intensive Sheep Management.
Reposted by Pat
crookston.bsky.social
We're participating in Doors Open Day, with a picnic at the Castle.

Sunday 21 September, 1pm–3pm

🧭 Guided tours
📖 Storytelling
🎭 Creative workshops

Bring your blankets and a light picnic lunch. More details www.doorsopendays.org.uk/regions/glas...

#GDODF #Glasgow850
Doors Open Days | Crookston Castle
Crookston Castle with The Village Storytelling Centre & Friends of Crookston Castle
www.doorsopendays.org.uk
Reposted by Pat
rhonabrown.bsky.social
We’re really pleased that our Robert Fergusson exhibition, initially held at Glasgow’s Mitchell Library last year, is now available online. If you weren’t able to visit last year, click along and remember Robert Fergusson with us 👇
rfergussonpoet.bsky.social
We're very excited to announce that our wonderful exhibition 'Celebrating the Scottish Poet, Robert Fergusson (1750-1774)' with the Mitchell Library, Glasgow, has been turned into an online exhibition!

Check it out at the link below: robert-fergusson.glasgow.ac.uk/online-exhib...
Reposted by Pat
sgsah.bsky.social
⭐ Host a PhD Researcher in 2026 ⭐

We support paid internships & artist residencies, enabling Arts & Humanities researchers to spend up to 3 months with an organisation.

Benefit from expertise, creativity & fresh perspectives – while supporting future research leaders!

👉 www.sgsah.ac.uk/e_t/i_ar/
Reposted by Pat
leoniejungen.bsky.social
Something personal to share:

I‘m hopping into my hiking boots for a good cause and will be joining the #Edinburghkiltwalk next month in support of Breast Cancer Now 🥾
If you‘d like to support them with a small donation, please click here: justgiving.com/leoniejungen...

Thank you (and pls share 💜)
Reposted by Pat
asls.org.uk
Byres Road Book Festival 2025
25–28 Sept, Glasgow

The programme for the sixth annual Byres Road Book Festival is now online. All events are free but ticketed.
byresroadbookfestival.com/tickets/
2025 SCHEDULE & TICKETS | Byres Road Book Festival
byresroadbookfestival.com
swottypat.bsky.social
"The poor Padre has gone awa into one o they wee broon things-"
"Into what?"
"Into a dwalm, sir, a reveree, like a trance, ye ken. He wanders, and keeks intae bunkers, and whistles in the Gaelic."

Golf as it should be played, from 'McAuslan in the Rough.'