Seil Chat

How sad! While I was walking in Seil this morning, greatly enjoying our unique scenery and natural world, the peace of that natural harmony was disturbed by the sounds of people from some other world taking expensive pot-shots at slow fat birds especially raised by a delusioned minority of our fellow-islanders in order that these birds might be easily killed by the foreign toffs for fun and profit. Surely this form of local "industry", organised by the local toffs for visiting toffs, is archaic and pathetic and inconsistent with an ecologically responsible local community?

yet you eat beef.lamb.venison.etc????

It's It is part of rural life and fairly harmless in ecological terms. Pheasant rearing and shooting doesn't have any real impact on most of us and is a valuable essential income stream for a lot of estates. Would you prefer them to all open theme parks?

Now theres a thought


****MICKEY MOUSE SHOOTING***

MonaLott wrote: .....a delusioned minority of our fellow-islanders
......foreign toffs
......the local toffs

Way to go Mona. Let 'em have it !
I'm with you all the way, lets have a good old fashioned Class War here, coupled with a juicy bit of xenophobia.
Just so we know our targets, Mona:
1. What is your definition of "foreign" as in "foreign toffs"?
2. What is your definition of "toff"?

Karl McShanks (Pinko by choice)

Great to see that some of the golden oldies are still around this forum! At least, my first objective is achieved i.e. resuscitating Seil Chat!

My basic complaint is not at all about killing pheasants for food. This is normal. We eat things and things will eventually eat us. My sadness is about the concept that shooting specially reared-to-be-fat-and slow-and-stupid-and-easy-to-hit birds should be a source of fun and regarded as a sport. It is clearly a moronic exercise in terms of objective, practice and philosophy and how killing these daft but beautiful birds can be enjoyed is way beyond me. It is also sad that local land-owners have so little respect for bird-life and that they are prepared to prostitute their estates in this way. It is nonsense to say that there is no harm in ecological terms as the whole ecosystem must be adapted to ensure pheasant survival until the daft shoot. All the natural local predators are exterminated. The whole balance of a shooting estate is artificial.

By "foreign", I just meant foreign - folk who make up the main custom - they come here for a day or two specifically for this purpose from other lands and countries, including England (off you go, Longshanks!), like the unsmiling-faced occupants of a trail of packed 4-wheel drives that passed me yesterday followed by the Italian-plated armoury vehicle.

I think we all know what "toffs" are! In this case, the local landed gentry. OK, hosting shoots may provide an income stream for these folk. But it's an archaic, unecological, eletist and moronic one, out of touch with the times. There are many more lucrative activities related to outdoor sports and eco-tourism that these estates could tap into. But toffs do this for other toffs - it's a rich boys' club. And it despoils Seil and its environs.

P.S. I'm not even a member of the local greenie's club!

MonaLott wrote: ........By "foreign", I just meant foreign
.........But toffs do this for other toffs - it's a rich boys' club.

With you all the way Mona.
Can't have Jonny Foreigner coming here. Whatever next!
As for bl##dy Toffs ! How dare they make a success of their lives and then have the cheek to spend their money pursuing an age-old country sport. Why can't they just watch the XFactor like the rest of us, with a few bevvies and a bag of chips?
I reckom the Estates should all be nationalised and turned over to ecotourism. Then we can enjoy our "Right to Roam" on land we don't actually own nor maintain, in the company of other bearded, smelly, wooly-jumper-wearing, four-eyed, vegans.
Up the Revolution!

Flatulant Shanks (eating beans by choice)

I'm so glad you agree, Longshanks. The funny thing about what you say is that the toffs I know all watch things like X-Factor. They're not intellectual giants like you and me! And they tend to wear woolly sweaters and be 4-eyed too! Furthermore, it's not that they've made such a success of their lives, it's more that they inherited their land and wealth. Damned disgrace all round, eh?!

MonaLott wrote: it's more that they inherited their land and wealth. Damned disgrace all round, eh?!

Ooooh, you're so right, Mona.
How dare people give their possessions to their children !
If I worked hard all my life and ended up owning a nice house and some land I'd give it all to Gordon Brown.
What right do my children have to think they can be given the things owned by their dear, departed Father?
Toffs, eh, don't we just hate them. Its enough to put more chips on our shoulders!
BTW; you seem to know these things, Mona, do they watch Corrie as well as the Xfactor? (I bet they watch to have a good larf at our expense)

Long Envy (green by choice)

Still playing games, Longshanks! e.g. quoting out of context. I have no objection to inheritance but was merely countering your daft remark about these buffoons having made such a success of their lives! But maybe, come independence, be it gradual as at present or sudden by democratic referendum, we should just confiscate these estates into public ownership for optimal use by the local communities?

ecologically responsible local community?

Who gave Seil this designation anyway and on what basis?

Well, Eric, I assumed that we all would like Seil to be ecologically responsible. But you being a Viking, a raper and pillager of the land, probably have a genetic tweek otherwise!

Aside from raping and pillaging (which despite its rewards does get a bit tedious after a bit) we vikings settled in many places and lived off the land.

My point is this you are making the assumption on behalf of the community, making the claim that it is in fact ecologically responsible - and whilst many of us are 'right on' there are equally many of us that are not. What are the criteria do you use to give the island this designation or is it just some self-styled phrase you choose to adopt on behalf of others eg 'Oban - Seafood capital of Scotland'?

Och, Eric, I think you are misunderstanding my language! - nowhere am I claiming that the Seil community is ecologically responsible. In fact, the whole point of my moan is that it isn't. All I said was that, if Seil should wish to be ecologically responsible, in my opinion it would do something about its sad pheasant rearing and shooting estates. It's just my view, I'm entitled to it and you are all entitled to disagree. The good outcome is that it brought some of us back out of the woodwork!

I don't mind attracting foreigners over here to shoot pheasant or deer, it brings a lot of money into the country and is a long standing tradition...I am, however, utterly against the persecution of predatory birds...

..I am totally against fox hunting btw...

Working on "the Mona Principle" that all who allow shooting on the land are gentry can you tell me
to what other use this land can be reallistically put.

Free range veggies perhaps,but then who will fight for the rights of the humble carrot.

Do all tennant farmers live in the lap of luxury.
Or do the fees paid by a shoot to the farmer( by whoever)
mean that possibly he can feed his family a little better.

As for raising fat slow and stupid Pheasants --Are there any other sort?
they arent a native bird and were originally imported to this land as a food source.
and farming is farming,

Teddy

MonaLott wrote: come independence....we should just confiscate these estates

Blimey.
Dramatic revelation from a SNP stalwart !
So, when we gain independence we'll introduce Mugabenomics.
That'll stop rotten Jonny Foreigner investing in Scotland. Good thing too, keep 'em out what with their posh accents and Toffy ways.
Now Mona, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe there are only two land holdings on Seil which we could call Estates.
One, the largest land holding on Seil, is owned by a charming chap who successfully built up a trading company in the Far East and purchased the Estate with the fruits of his efforts.
The other is owned by a lovely chap who inherited it from his father. A man of very humble origins who built a very successful career in Law in Edinburgh. It is known, by the current owner, as "the smallest estate in Scotland".
So, you'ld confiscate these two then. What about the rest of privately owned land on Seil. Any Mugabenomics to justify confiscating that too?
Your OP registered your annoyance with your walk (over someone else's land) being disturbed by the noise of other people, quite legally, shooting fat, lazy, bred pheasnts.
Here's a simple answer for you to give to your braveheart colleagues to use as a minifesto promise (rarely kept unfortunately).
How about, simply, passing a law banning the shooting of pheasants.
Simps.
Your problem solved.
Glad to be of assistance.
Toodle Pip.

Commie Shanks (Guillotine by choice)

CanU, I couldn't agree more about the killing of predatory birds. Unfortunately, fair game for the pheasant plucking keepers, so to speak.

Longshanks, good to see you taking the bait as usual. If you were a wee pheasant, you'd last 5 seconds!

Mugabenomics


Supporters of Mugabe have praised his policies, saying that they have helped correct colonial injustices. The supporters also explain the current crisis as being the result of sanctions and drought.(perhaps not drought)
Some supporters even deny that there is an economic crisis in Zimbabwe

Sort of local SNP then????

Teddy

Pretty distorted thinking, KT. And totally irrelevant to this thread. Why not start your own one about the connection between Mugabe & Salmond, or infinitely more appropriately, Mugabe and Blair/Brown, masteful liars both? Or are you a fan of the Eton numpty? Whatever, the London government, first into recession, last out of recession, criminals in invasion of other nations, are well up there with Mugabe in the top ten of criminal deniers...... But this thread is just about pheasants