Back in the Colonial days, Britain had about 10,000 civil servants in India (which then included Pakistan and Bangladesh), and another few thousand scattered around Burma, Malaysia, Singapore and Ceylon. They were augmented by the various traders, chancers, and adventurers – and their long suffering wives so memorably described by W. Somerset Maugham.  Scots dominated, then as now, meaning every colonial home and bar catering for this British diaspora had a regular supply of whisky on hand. Many blends of varying quality made their way from Scotland to the region; some of the ancient brands such as Black Dog, Old Keg and Bagpiper were actually distilled locally using know-how and equipment brought in from Scotland.

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Clutch Thorn (think “Axl Rose”) & The Tiananmen Squares were an air guitar heavy metal group who went on tour in Shanghai in September 2000. We hyped the city up with stickers, t-shirts and posters advertising a one-off evening of “concerts” around various bars and clubs around Shanghai, got dressed up in these absurd outfits, and accompanied by the gorgeous, pouting Tiananmen Squarettes….went out to party!

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I had one of these fellows fly into my Lounge the other evening, I am used to many strange and beautiful bugs coming in, but this chap tops the list. At about three inches long and an inch and a half high he’s a compact animal, and despite the fierce looks was rather docile.

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I have a troop of the exotically named “Purple Faced Green Leaf Langurs” regularly visiting my garden in Sri Lanka. They’re quite a rare monkey, so I’m lucky to have them, but are unpopular with the locals as they decimate the fruit trees. They are discouraged by the letting off of fireworks aimed at them. I don’t mind them though, I have plenty of bananas, jak and mango and it’s a small price to pay for having them regard my land as a bit of a sanctuary. So Purple Faced Green Leaf Monkeys are welcome to roam my property and they frequently do. The troop comprises a large male, who stands about three feet tall, and often makes a gorilla-ish sound. “Owo owo owo owo” in a dark guttural throat. With him are various females – perhaps a harem of about twenty, and various younger monkeys and infants. When males reach adult hood they are expelled and have to go off on their own – or fight the dominant male for the right to be King

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One of the wonderful things about Sri Lanka is living so close to nature, although often the natural cycle can expose itself somewhat brutally in terms of life and inevitable death. It’s no wonder the concept of reincarnation is so strong in the Buddhist beliefs here, daily exposure to the natural worlds recycling technologies means the underpinning of reincarnation is a viable way to understand the rather too quaintly titled “circle of life”. That’s only half the equation, the circle of death stands by opposing it.

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Udawalawe is the nearest national park to where I am based in Sri Lanka, sited on the edge of the southern plains just as the rugged mountains of the islands interior begin to appear. Adams Peak shows itself amongst the many crags, and this huge expanse of rolling mountains, carved in part from ancient volcanic rock allows Udawalawe its regular downpours, keeping the area lush. It is one of the best places in Sri Lanka to see wild Elephant.

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As winter starts to get a grip in Europe, it is time to decamp to Sri Lanka, and the warmer climate it has to offer. While I live near Galle, on the South Coast and can enjoy the mild tropical breezes and acres of unspoiled beaches, Sri Lanka is a large island with plenty of variety. Famous for its tea, this is a plant that prefers to grow in heat but also altitude – and Sri Lanka is perfect for this as its southern plains give way to rugged mountains and chains called “The Knuckles”. Kandy, the old Kingdom, is elevated at 1,600 feet, and the highest point, Nuwara Eliya even more at over 6,000 feet.

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I’ve been researching my family history, which I knew was nautical themed, but never quite sure exactly how. With Parents, Grandparents, aged Aunts and Uncles also now long deceased, it is impossible to obtain detailed answers. However, the internet can indeed sometimes be a wonderful thing. How many hours it takes devoted netizens to archive, record and place available, online, sometimes the most trivial and esoteric data never quite fails to amaze me. Researching the Devonshire-Ellis’s was a bit of a task – the name is not always used amongst family members, and is carried down via the eldest son. On occasion, it’s been dropped from use altogether – fear of being cast as aristocrats or as wealthy was not such a desirable thing in post war Britain.

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I enjoy a good cigar, however this habit means I need to pay serious money for the experience. And even that is sometimes not enough – I have purchased cigars from reputable and expensive five star hotels in China, only to find they were fake,  and persuading a Chinese barman that the USD100 just blown – and tried – is fake isn’t going to work. Once lit, the deal is done with cigars. Even worse though was the entire box of fake cigars purchased at Beijing Capital Airport in the Government run duty free. That box of “Panamas” was even sealed.

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Although I have assumed the title of Baron of Coigach and been able to use it since 2011, Royal protocol dictates that as a new Baronial Blazon and Crest has been created, this needs to go through the correct approval procedures. As the Barony is a Scottish title, the responsibility of this lies with the Lord Lyon, being the Queens representative for Scotland. This is because Scottish Baronial law is different from the English equivalent.

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