No, not July. That's of interest to urban dwellers in Central Scotland. The other half of the population lives in parts of the country where the 12th refers to the 12th of August, when the shooting season starts.
I read an article in today's Herald by a representative of PETA urging us to abandon shooting and blaming the gamekeepers on large shooting estates for the wholesale slaughter of birds of prey like eagles, hawks and harriers, shot to preserve the grouse, pheasant, partridge and other 'sports' birds.
The Scottish countryside is not full of large shooting estates. It has some and these bring jobs and money to areas where these are much needed. I used to travel on planes and boats to and from the Hebrides. I was always pleased to see passengers checking in large golf bags and in the departure lounge complaining about the hangovers they planned to have on their weekend away or about the hangovers they were suffering on their way home. Some carried home large plastic bags full of local whisky and beer. Some were dressed in their recently-purchased expensive tweeds and sat on the plane with sets of antlers on their knees (the jaggy bits stopped with corks). Everyone smiled at these people tolerantly because on their way to their destinations, they bought plane and ferry tickets and had meals in airports and ferry ports. In the countryside, they spent unimaginable amounts of dosh on rounds of golf, posh accommodation and meals and drinks that few locals could afford.
Mind you, more people in the Scottish countryside are employed in farming than in shooting estates. And man, they are having a tough time - and have been for a generation now. Every time you hear about a rise in the cost of electricity or petrol and diesel, think what that must mean to farmers.
Not that the other locals, employed or unemployed, are having it much easier. Most of them are employed in service industries (hotels, restaurants, farms, local government, shops) and while their living costs have increased in the past 5 years, their wages have declined. If they still have jobs, that is.
As usual after I've read one of these articles by animal conservationists, I want to set up my own organisation. I'm going to call it: PLHT. It stands for: People Live Here Too. Not very catchy, I know.
All I want to do through PLHT is to point out that everything in the countryside is connected.
Let's suppose we stop the grouse shoots as the Herald writer suggests, so that rare birds of prey don't get shot by gamekeepers and farmers desperate to protect the livestock that bring in the money. What happens then? On the shooting estates, work for gamekeepers and seasonal workers like beaters, cleaners, drivers, cooks - all these die out. Workers have to leave the area. Farms fail and jobs are lost. Housing stock lies empty and decays through damp. (If you've lived in the countryside, you'll know the damp is your worst enemy.) The community shrinks. Local schools close, with fewer jobs for dinner ladies, janitors, cleaners, etc. Local shops, petrol stations, post offices, medical centres - all are in danger of failing.
Or maybe I want PLHT to do a bit more: to point out that organisations like PETA - and especially the RSPB - don't have the right to dictate a whole way of life to the two million odd people in Scotland who live in the countryside because the days of the Clearances are over; that running a shooting estate or a farm is just like running a business in London (they export the animals we eat instead of goods people could actually manage without) and if you tried telling a business person there how to run their business you'd soon be told what to do with your opinion.
And no, I don't think animals have rights. I think people have rights and these are all too often overlooked.
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