The Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood in Edinburgh is an interesting building, not least for the various quotations inscribed on the wall of the building. Now, to mark ten years of devolution, two more quotes will be added to the 24 already present.

The first new lines are from Oh Dear Me (A Mill Song) by Mary Brooksbank:

Oh, dear me, the warld's ill-divided, Them that work the hardest are aye wi' least provided, But I maun bide contented, dark days or fine, For there's no much pleasure livin' affen 10 and nine

The second quote is from A Man in Assynt by Norman MacCaig:

Who possesses this landscape? The man who bought it or I who am possessed by it? False questions, for this landscape is masterless and intractable in any terms that are human

The two new quotation stones will be officially unveiled on December 17th 2009.

The London Eye is a popular destination for tourists visiting England's capital. Now Scotland's capital could have its own version.

Plans have been proposed for a giant wheel to be built in Edinburgh. This would stand 120 metres high and be called Scotland's National Wheel. Planning restrictions and lack of space would prevent it being built in the city centre, instead a site on the Leith waterfront has been suggested.

If building of the wheel goes ahead it's hoped that it could become a major tourist destination and attract over half a million visitors a year.

The University of Edinburgh has found a way to allow those on distant learning courses enjoy the pageantry of a graduation ceremony: virtual graduation.

Students on the university's E-Learning course were able to attend a virtual ceremony in the Second Life (SL) representation of the McEwan Hall. The ceremony was complete with virtual robes, virtual hoods and - of course - a virtual bar!

Imagine living in a world with no stars in the sky...

Many people in today's world do just that. In some city centres light pollution all but removes the stars from the sky. Even in rural areas artificial light can still severely limit their visibility.

The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) exists to preserve and protect the nighttime environment. The IDA has now recognised Galloway Forest Park in south west Scotland as one of the best places in the world for viewing the night sky: it's been given gold tier Dark Sky Park award. Galloway is the first European location to be achieve this status and becomes one of only four in the world.

Martin Morgan-Taylor of IDA UK said:

[Galloway Forest Park] is ideally suited for access from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast and Northern England meaning that many people, including children, may have access to a quality night sky, both now and in generations to come.

Oysters from Edinburgh's Firth of Forth were once considered to be some of the best you could buy. At its peak the Edinburgh oyster industry produced over 30 million oysters a year and exported them across Europe.

That all came to an end when the Forth oysters were wiped out by over-fishing and pollution. Now it seems that they might be back.

Dr Elizabeth Ashton of Stirling University has discovered wild oysters in the Firth of Forth. She believes it might be possible to re-establish the colonies, possibly taking them back up to a level where commercial fishing once again becomes viable.

The exact location of the oyster discovery has not been revealed.

The square Lorne Sausage is a classic Scottish dish - and the country's butchers want it to stay that way.

Trade association Scottish Craft Butchers wants the Lorne sausage to be given a Protected Geographical Indicator (PGI) by Europe. This would mean that it would be protected in the same way as Parma ham and Melton Mowbray pork pies and its production restricted to Scotland.

Douglas Scott of Scotland's Craft Butchers said:

We will work on the application and hope to get the backing of Quality Meat Scotland and the Scottish Government in taking the square slice to Brussels

If you think that the price of lamp is a bit dear then how about this: a Scottish sheep has just been sold for £231,000! That's about US $376,000.

"Deveronvale Perfection" is an eight month old Texel lamb bred in Banffshire. He was sold for the record price at a livestock sale in Lanark.

The lamb will be put to stud in the hope of making a profit through breeding. Apparently he has a "strong loin" and an "incredibly chunky stature". Say no more.

Bog myrtle may not sound like something you wish to go near, let alone produce in quantity. However a large scale bog myrtle distillation facility is due to be opened in Scotland next week.

Despite the unfortunate name, bog myrtle has many uses. In particular it is a traditional ingredient of some insect repellents - especially useful in a country plagued by midges.

The new plant at Essentially Scottish Botanicals near Beauly has been supported by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE). It will be officially opened next week by Rural Affairs and Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead.

Inverness is set to get an artistic makeover, which is to include some "bizarre" buildings.

The BBC reports on the city's Re-imaging the Centre event this September. The five day event will feature 20 artists and discussions on artwork in the city.

Inverness has already installed street art including the "Three Virtues": trees bursting up through stone ramps to represent Perseverance, Open-heartedness and Insight. As part of this September's event arts group Ganghut will be attempting to out-weird the Virtues by building what it describes as "bizarre" wooden structures in the city centre.

Sounds fun.

Everyone knows that haggis is the most Scottish of dishes. Some people say that no other country would eat it. But now there's a suggestion that this gorgeous culinary creation might actually be... English!?!

Food historian Catherine Brown has reportedly found references to traditional haggis in an English cookbook "The English Hus-wife". This was published in 1615, 171 years before Burns wrote To A Haggis. The earliest reference to Scottish haggis that Brown has been able to find is from 1747. Brown says:

It was originally an English dish. In 1615, Gervase Markham says that it is very popular among all people in England. By the middle of the 18th century another English cookery writer, Hannah Glasse, has a recipe that she calls Scotch haggis, the haggis hat we know today.

Brown - herself a Scot - believes Scotland "hijacked" the haggis after the 1706 Treaty of Union. Apparently:

It seems to be that there's an identity thing here. We'd lost our monarchy, we'd lost our parliament and we gained haggis.

Needless to say, Brown's claims have provoked something of a backlash. Robert Patrick, a former champion haggis maker, says:

We've nurtured the thing for all these years, we've developed it, so I think very much it is a Scottish product

James Macsween, of the famous Macsween haggis company, says:

I didn't hear of Shakespeare writing a poem about it.

QED.

Scotland's oldest pub, the Crook Inn in Tweedsmuir, may have been saved.

The pub dates back to 1604 and its customers have included John Buchan and Robert Burns. Burns is believed to have written Willie Wastle's Wife in the Crook.

The Inn has recently been under threat as current owner, Jim Doonan, had planned to redevelop the site and build residential apartments. Following a Save the Crook Inn campaign Mr Doonan appears to have changed his mind and has withdrawn his development proposal. Instead the Tweedsmuir Community Company the chance to buy the Inn.

The campaign website describe this as a "very promising development" and says:

Having not seen the plans at this time it is difficult to comment, however we would be concerned if the staff accomodation were to be removed as this would leave us with a unviable business. We look forward to discussing these concerns with him and hope to arrive at a compromise that will suit everyone.

.

Just days after the latest reports of the Sundrum Slasher, spectacular video has emerged of another Scottish big cat.

Off duty MoD policeman PC Chris Swallow shot this footage of a large, black feline prowling a railway line. It's difficult to tell the exact size of the creature however comparison with the railway lines gives some feel - it's at least four foot long, definitely bigger than a domestic cat.

PC Swallow describes the cat as being as big as a labrador dog. Since he's a police dog handler he has the experience with animals to make that a reliable estimate.

A 47 year old single mother in Scotland has an unusual problem: trying to persuade the government that she's not dead!

The Scotsman reports that Carol Buchanan from Glasgow was wrongly declared dead by the HMRC computer and her records wiped. She's been refused her tax credit payments and has even received a letter from her life insurance company wanting to pay out on her policy. Ms Buchanan says:

It wasn't a very nice thing to hear. I feel like just a number, not a person.

Many people in the UK fear that such incidents could become far more common if Britain goes ahead with a central National Identity Register (NIR).

Edinburgh is to host a very special screening of the classic feelgood movie Gregory's Girl. The film will be shown on a big screen in the city's Festival Square as a free public event.

This screen is the first one of its kind in Scotland, but that's not what makes this screening so special. This version of Gregory's Girl will be augmented by Scratch and Sniff technology. Which in practice means that attendees will be given a scratch 'n' sniff card with eight smells to enjoy at the appropriate moments.

Apparently the smells on offer include those of cut grass, sweaty socks and teenage aftershave. Sounds irresistible.

It looks like there might be an alien big cat (ABC) on the loose in Scotland: the Sundrum Slasher.

The BBC reports that a recent attack on a horse in Ayrshire is probably the work of a puma - not exactly a native of Scotland. The horse was attacked last week near Sundrum Holiday Park in Coylton and left badly injured with slash and claw marks. Experts say the injuries point to a big cat, possibly a puma. This fits in with reports of a large cat being seen in the grounds of Sundrum Castle back in May.

If the Sundrum Slasher does indeed turn out to be a puma it won't be the first one found wild in Scotland. Back in 1980 "Felicity" the puma was captured at Cannich by farmer Ted Noble.

Members of the public are warned not to approach the puma if they see it. Di Francis of the British Big Cats organisation advises:

With any predator in the countryside you should never, ever turn and run because you then make yourself a prey. If you stand still the animal will totally ignore you. They really are not dangerous to humans.

The injured horse is reported to be making a good recovery.

Scottish sheep are shrinking, according to new research published in the journal Science.

Researchers from Imperial College London have been studying Soay sheep on the Scottish island of Hirta. They've concluded that on average the sheep have shrunk in size by 5% over the last 24 years. The reduction is in both body weight and length of leg.

The reason is believed to be global warming having made Hirta a greener place with more food available. That seems strange at first - you'd think that animals would be able to thrive and grow larger in a less hostile environment. However the researchers suggest that the opposite is true. Previously the Soay sheep needed to gorge on what food was available during the summer in order to survive the harsh winters. Now that more food is available for more of the year this is less necessary. In addition smaller new born ewes can now survive their first winter, further reducing the average size of the flock.

Not everyone agrees that climate change is the direct reason for the reduction in sheep size. Other mechanisms such as the nutritional value of the available grass my be involved.

After 35 years of sitting eerily empty on the Cowal Peninsula, the "ghost village" of Polphail (or Pollphail) is to be demolished.

Don't worry, there won't be any spirits and spooks made homeless. Polphail isn't haunted as far as I know. But it looks and feels as if it should be. Since it was built in the 1970s nobody has lived there. At least nobody human - sheep and bats apparently use it for shelter.

Polphail was originally intended to house 500 North Sea oil workers who were to build concrete oil rigs. However the economic climate changed and concrete rigs fell out of fashion before the workers arrived. The village has been empty ever since. Now it's to be demolished to make way for a new development of 270 properties.

Not everyone accepts the North Sea oil workers story. Over the years Polphail has been the basis of a number of conspiracy theories involving housing for a secret military base.