ALEXANDER SELKIRK, THE ORIGINAL OF ROBINSON CRUSOE.
The following letter has been sent to Commodore Powell and the officers of H.M.S. Topaze,[1] on the occasion of their erecting a tablet to the memory of Alexander Selkirk, by the only surviving relatives of this world-renowned sailor, who lived in solitude for four years and four months on the island of Juan Fernandez.[2]
In Italian we have a saying which goes: Giovedí gnocchi, venerdí pesce, sabato trippa (Thursday gnocchi, Friday fish, Saturday tripe). Gnocchi was traditionally a dish which was cooked and eaten on a Thursday to store up a starchier, more calorific meal before the conventionally Catholic meat-free Friday.
BUSY BROUGHTON STREET NEEDS MORE ROOM FOR ACTIVE TRAVELLERS
The Council has been keen in recent days on making conditions in Edinburgh as safe and attractive as possible for pedestrians and cyclists.
Hi! My name is Giada Canderle and I’m an Italian expat currently living in Edinburgh.
My food blog and a separate series of recipes starting in the Spurtle over the coming months are the result of my growing passion for cooking and baking (and eating!) over the last 10 years.
Food has been in my blood since I was a little girl, with big family meals being one of the fondest memories of my time back home. I see food as a way to bring people together and to express our love and care for others.
COMMUNITY COUNCIL SEEKS 'DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGE'
PETER JARDINE, Job and Post Master, Dublin Street Lane, Edinburgh.
Very Superior Private Broughams, Landau Sociables, &c., to LET on Job by the Month or Year. Inspection invited.[2]
Edinburgh Evening Courant, 21 July 1868
DEADLINE EXTENDED FOR PUBLIC’S VIEWS ON SECOND DRAFT
In March, Edinburgh Council published a draft Place Brief for the partially vacant ‘backlands’ between Leith Walk, Smith’s Place, Halmyre and Manderston Streets.
THE SEWING MACHINE.
(MACPHERSON’S PATENT.)[1]
When we posted news this morning that Tattie Shaw’s is planning a phased reopening for collections, we had no idea of the tsunami of interest that would follow.
Edinburgh’s Vitamin C-starved hordes have been melting Spurtle’s social media and greengrocer James Welby’s mobile phone ever since.
So much so that, now, in the interests of public order and business sanity, we’ve taken down our original article and are instead posting appeals to delay placing any more new orders for the timebeing.
Not sure there’s much more to be said …
Ever since Drum Property closed down the majority of shops and local businesses on Stead’s Place, the mute shutters have served as a sounding board for every kind of local opinion, outpouring, oath, and obscenity it’s possible to imagine.
What looked at first like a kind of silencing has had just the opposite effect.
Thanks go to observant Spurtle contributor D.M., who captured the following images over recent days.
We really enjoy these suggestive vignettes, and present them without further comment.