For historical reasons this black bitch is a symbol of Linlithgow in West Lothian. So much so that citizens born there, no matter their colour or sex, are proud to be called a black bitch.  However, there was a stushie when this statue was commissioned and erected as people thought the description was offensive.

But the dog was female and black and the epithet is therefore descriptive.

The information board tells the story:-

I discovered today that SF writer Anne McCaffrey has died.

I mentioned her briefly a few months ago in my review of Legends.

I wasn’t over familiar with her work – her only book on my shelves is Dragonquest from the old Corgi Master SF series. I also have her contributions to Roger Elwood‘s uneven Continuum series – in which McCaffrey’s stories were better than most. But hers was a high profile name in SF circles in my youth.

She has been quite prolific, though but most of her woek has passed me by.

Anne Inez McCaffrey: 1/4/1926-21/11/2011. So it goes.