A bright spot in a difficult day

In the middle of the 18th Century the illigitimate son of Mary Kier collected another name when his mother married David Hardie. Illiterate, he had a variety of labouring jobs but taught himself to read and write.

He worked through the union movement in his native Lanarkshire where as James Kier Hardie he won a seat at Westminster, becoming one of only two Labour Members of Parliament - although these were perhaps more correctly seen as independents representing the Labour movement rather than a political party. As the party became more formalised, Kier Hardie became the first Leader of the Labour Party.

Gordon Brown, today's Labour leader, was born in Glasgow, Until the late 19th Century, Glasgow was in Lanarkshire, but a border reorganisation moved it.

There are historical cultural ties between Scotland and Iceland. Indeed, Iceland has many Gaelic features, and Scotland has many Nordic / Scandinavian features. These are perhaps instantly visible in crafts and, in particular, patterns on sweaters.

Indeed, it is said that Iceland was originally colonised by a group of Scottish Norsemen around 900 ad.(Warlords and Holy Men, Alfred P Smyth).

And so to the final link in this story: Brown's actions against Icelandic banks have cause great personal distress to the quietly spoken and very reserved Prime Minister of Iceland.

His name is Geir Haarde.

Allowing for a thousand years of translitteration differences, try saying that, and then Kier Hardy.

Geir Haarde, Kier Hardy, Geir Haarde, Kier Hardy....