Books | For centuries, life has had its uppies and downies (w/ podcast)

Jedburgh, Scotland, Mar 12 | Hugh Hornby, author of a comprehensive account of Britain’s 15 surviving festival football games—Uppies and Downies: The Extraordinary Football Games of Britain (English Heritage, 2008)—was busy signing books during the Jedburgh Ba’ Game on Feb 14, but says that the Uppies “may have prevailed by an odd hail.”

That he terms the annual rituals “mass-participation games” indicates that the emphasis is on taking part, not the result. With 27-minute podcast.

Flower of Scotland | Do nationalist feelings last longer than 90 minutes?

Edinburgh, Scotland, May 8 | Nationwide parliamentary elections have lifted Scottish nationalists, for the first time, into a plurality of seats in the Scottish Assembly at Holyrood. Did feelings for the Scotland football team, made explicit in the lusty terrace singing of “Flower of Scotland,” play a role?