Friday 22 July

Quite a nice day, during which I completed another batch of transcriptions from the Napier Report. I am currently looking at the submissions, heard at Ullapool, on 30 July 1883. The next locations will be Poolewe, Shieldaig, Balmacara and the Ross-shire hometown of Dingwall. The Napier Report is an important document in the history of the Highlands and Islands, documenting the conditions in which crofters and cottars had to live during the latter years of the 19th century. The Commission also heard from landowners and interested parties, such as church ministers and fish curers.

I was shocked by the double attack on Norway this afternoon, with a carbomb in Oslo and a gun-attack on a youth camp in Oslo Fjord later. The city centre attack claimed 7 lives, and more than a dozen in the island attack. One man has been arrested on the island. He was dressed as a police officer. 22nd July 2011 will go down as a dark day in Norway's history, but the country's leaders have vowed that they will not be beaten down. I am posting the Norwegian flag on this blogpost as a mark of respect to the victims of this attack.