Appropriate? - Not!

[neloon]

Since I started this haggis nonsense (post #19) by mentioning "fake news", maybe you would like to have a go at this quiz - no prizes! Which of these stories is/are false?

1. A "yella yitie" is an emberiza citrinella

2. Rob Roy was a student at Aberdeen University where his uncle was Professor of Mathematics. Here he is about to jump the Culter Burn on his way to classes.
http://registryguesthouse.com/images...y_DSCF6724.jpg

3. The characteristic finger positions in modern Highland dance are a relic of the snapping of fingers in time to the music.

4. Vegetarian haggis is actually vegan.

5. Prince Charlie hid in this cave about 10 miles from where I'm sitting.
https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2907698

6. This is my old school. Its first use was as a barracks for the Hanovarian troops on their way to Culloden.
http://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/28/...0_7d2cd226.jpg

OK, I think Bruce Scott is nearest to being correct. Here are my long-winded answers.

1. A "yella yitie" is indeed a yellowhammer (nothing to do with Alabama!) Also known as a "yorlin".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnvc-Cc3vkU
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowhammer
[At Scottish universities, first-year students are called some variation of "bajan" = French bec jaune = yellowbeak. In past days, at Aberdeen Uni, the term was "yalty"]

2. This one has a grain of truth. Rob Roy was indeed related to the Gregories of Aberdeen, an enormous family descended from the MacGregors of Glenlyon whose members over a couple of centuries were professors of just about everything in Aberdeen, St. Andrews, Edinburgh, Oxford ... and were in communication with all the top mathematicians, physicians, astronomers and philosophers of the day. If you're really keen, you could try this
https://archive.org/stream/recordsof...0greg_djvu.txt
And he does appear to have enrolled as a student atAberdeen Uni. The story of the well-known statue is here. The wooden figure has just been replaced by a fibreglass one!
https://www.robroyontherock.com/information/

3. This is now reckoned to be true. The dancing teachers of the 19th century didn't like finger-snapping so it disappeared. If you look carefully at this picture (you can + it), you can see the traditional style. Some dress details may interest you such as hard shoes for dancing - pumps didn't really appear until about 1900. And Jock Scot is on the left indulging in snuff and wishing he was anywhere else.. Both pipers left-handed? David Allan, 1780s
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c9/d0...cf6b01943b.jpg
Here are some modern day Portuguese (Galician) dancers finger-snapping though I don't really buy the "Celtic" link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4ImzQX_7Hk

4. All the commercial veggie haggis recipes seem to be basically oats, palm/rapeseed oil, black kidney beans, red lentils, carrot, swede, mushrooms, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds. spices. So, yes, vegan and delicious.
Or make your own more sophisticated version
https://www.peta.org.uk/blog/recipe-...SAAEgKmAPD_BwE

5. Nonsense. Charlie didn't come near the northeast after Culloden

6. True. Here is the story of Robert Gordon.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert...hilanthropist)
Only the centre part of the school known as the "Auld Hoose" - designed by William Adam - with its "classical" statue of Robert Gordon above the front door dates back to the 1700s.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/allanmaciver/9788885886
The school motto? When Aeneas wanted new armour, Vulcan said to his men "Now is the time to use masterly skill"
http://jkpg.myqnapcloud.com/piwigosb...2-0ad0b6f5.jpg

Alan