The Scotsman Sessions
The Scotsman Sessions are short video performances, recorded by artists all around the country & introduced by our critics. To explore the first 400 in the series, visit
Now & Then ◆ 11 SEPTEMBER
1297: Battle of Stirling Bridge. William Wallace and Andrew de Moray defeated the English. 1645: Thomas Fairfax’s “New Model Army” occupied Bristol. 1758: French forces repelled a British invasion at the Battle of Saint Cast in the Seven Years War. 1792: In the confusion of the French Revolution, thieves stole the country’s crown jewels, including the fabulous Hope Diamond. Most were recovered quickly but the Hope Diamond did not reappear until it was bought by a London banker more than 20 years later.
1855: Sebastopol was taken by the Allies after the capitulation of the Russians in the Crimean War. 1895: The FA Cup, which had been won by Aston Villa, was stolen from a sports shop window in Birmingham. It was never recovered.
1909: Halley’s Comet was first observed from Heidelberg, Germany.
1940: Buckingham Palace was damaged by German bombs. 1945: Physician Willem J Kolff performed the first successful kidney dialysis using an artificial kidney machine, in the Netherlands.
1951: Florence Chadwick became the first woman to swim the English Channel from England to France. She completed the swim in 16 hours, 19 minutes.
1962: The Beatles recorded their first single, Love Me Do, for the Parlophone label.
1972: BBC television quiz programme Mastermind was first transmitted.
1978: Bulgarian defector Georgi Markov was attacked and stabbed in the leg with a poisoned umbrella point in London. He later died. 1990: The official report into the Lockerbie air disaster recommended reinforcing civil aircraft.
1997: After a nationwide referendum, Scotland voted to establish a devolved parliament, within the United Kingdom.
2001: Two hijacked passenger jets smashed into the Twin Towers of New York’s 110-storey World Trade Center. A third hijacked aircraft crashed into the Pentagon building in Washington, and a fourth, believed to be heading for the presidential retreat Camp David, crashed near Pittsburgh. The death toll was 2,973,
2012: Dunblane’s Andy Murray ended Britain’s 76-year wait for a male Grand Slam singles champion with victory over Novak Djokovic in the US Open final.
2014: South African athlete Oscar Pistorius was found not guilty of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. He was later found guilty of culpable homicide.
2015: A panel from the Great Tapestry of Scotland – illustrating the story of Rosslyn Chapel – was stolen while on display at Kirkcaldy Galleries.
2017: The Scottish SPCA backed a petition to the Scottish Parliament to have all pet cats in the country neutered, amid concerns that the cat population could spiral out of control and threaten “environmental disaster”, with 880,000 pet cats (13 per cent un-neutered) and 400,000 feral cats on the loose north of the Border.
2019: The Court of Session, sitting in Edinburgh, ruled Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s prorogation of parliament was unlawful.
◆ BIRTHDAYS
Graeme Obree, Scottish cyclist, 59; Catherine Bott, British soprano 72; Harry Connick Jr, singer, 57; Brian De Palma, US film director, 84; Virginia Madsen, US actress, 63; Moby, musician, 59; Jonny Buckland, musician (lead guitarist of Coldplay), 47; Bashar Al Assad, president of Syria, 59; Richard Ashcroft, musician, singer-songwriter (the Verve), 53; Matthew Stevens, snooker player, 47; Jon Moss, drummer (Culture Club), 67; Earl Holliman, actor, 96.
◆ ANNIVERSARIES
Births: 1815 Allan Robertson, St Andrews-born golfer; 1885 DH Lawrence, novelist; 1917 Jessica Mitford, English author; 1923 Alan Badel, actor; 1948 John Martyn, Glasgow-born singer- songwriter; 1950 Barry Sheene, motor bike racing world champion.
Deaths: 1968 Tommy Armour, Scottish golfer; 1971 Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet prime minister; 1994 Jessica Tandy, actress; 2007 Ian Porterfield, Scottish footballer; 2014 Sir Donald Sinden CBE, actor and author; 2017 Sir Peter Hall CBE, film and theatre director; 2018 Fenella Fielding, actress.