Your most-read Scottish stories of 2022
- Published
The BBC Scotland news website has looked back at our most-read stories of the year. This is the top 20 for 2022, with the ranking based on the number of page views.
1. Sexism row
Eilidh Barbour tweeted that the event had made her feel "unwelcome"
The most-read story of the year came back in May when an after dinner speech at the Scottish Football Writers' Association (SFWA) gala dinner in Glasgow prompted a walkout by guests.
TV presenter Eilidh Barbour was among those who left.
She tweeted that she had "never felt so unwelcome in the industry" while others described the jokes as "sexist, racist and homophobic".
The SFWA said it apologised to anyone "offended or upset" by the speech.
2. Cyclist Rab Wardell's death
Katie Archibald spoke of her devastation following the death of partner Rab Wardell
In August, mountain bike champion Rab Wardell died at the age of just 37.
His partner, Olympic cyclist Katie Archibald, tried desperately to save him as he suffered a fatal cardiac arrest in bed beside her.
Archibald, 28, made an emotional statement in a social media post.
She said: "I love him so much and need him here with me. I need him here so badly, but he's gone. I can't describe this pain."
3. Kate Winslet's intervention
Kate Winslet during an appearance at Wimbledon earlier this year
In November, Oscar-winning actor Kate Winslet read a BBC Scotland story about a mother facing a sky-high energy bill to operate her daughter's life support and stepped in to help.
Carolynne Hunter was warned by Clackmannanshire Council that her bill could be £17,000 next year.
Her daughter Freya, 12, has severe cerebral palsy and relies on receiving oxygen for chronic breathing problems.
Ms Hunter said she was overwhelmed when the Titanic actress intervened to donate the money.
4. Lockerbie bombing suspect
The US alleges Abu Agila Masud made the bomb that downed Pan Am flight 103
In December, it was revealed that a Libyan man accused of making the bomb which destroyed Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie 34 years ago was in United States custody.
The US announced charges against Abu Agila Masud two years ago, alleging he had played a key role in the bombing on 21 December 1988.
The blast on board the Boeing 747 left 270 people dead.
It is the deadliest terrorist incident to have taken place on British soil.
All 259 passengers and crew on board the jumbo jet bound to New York from London died while another 11 people were killed in Lockerbie when wreckage destroyed their homes.
5. Forgotten bank account
Carol Allison spent a year in Edinburgh with her granny when she was six
When six-year-old Carol Allison spent a year in Edinburgh with her granny, she was taken every week to the bank to deposit a shilling into her account.
More than 60 years later, she found the forgotten bank book while tidying her house in the city's Stockbridge area.
She took it along to her bank, and found that the £2.50 she had deposited was now worth £250 - and that the money was still there for her to collect.
6. Micronation
Lamb Island is a place of natural beauty, as well as myths and legends
In August, a feature on the little-known Scottish island of Lamb caught the imagination.
It told how its controversial owner, the world's most famous spoon bender Uri Geller, wanted to elevate Lamb's status from a private Scottish island to that of a country - with a flag, constitution and anthem.
Geller, the master of the grand gesture, claimed he was offering citizenship, with all proceeds going to Save a Child's Heart, an Israeli charity which treats children with heart conditions from all over the world.
Settlement on the island itself is not allowed, its only inhabitants being puffins, guillemots and an assortment of other seabirds - and until recently a solitary rat.
7. Jerry Sadowitz cancelled
Jerry Sadowitz, 61, is known for his provocative stand-up material
Comedian Jerry Sadowitz is famous for his aggressive and provocative stand-up performances.
But when the comic and magician played the Edinburgh International Conference Centre during the festival in August it sparked complaints that led to his next show being cancelled.
Fringe venue The Pleasance, which promoted the show, said the second night would not go ahead as his material "does not align with our values".
Sadowitz said on Twitter: "Did a show last night, 75 mins, thought it went well. Didn't see any walkouts.
"Today I'm told my show's been cancelled. Great stuff. I'm truly sorry for everyone who travelled to see the show tonight."
8. Supreme Court ruling
Supreme Court president Lord Reed read the verdict of the justices
At the end of November, a ruling by the Supreme Court halted Scottish government plans to hold an independence referendum next year.
The court ruled that the Scottish government cannot hold a referendum without the UK government's consent.
The UK government has refused to grant formal consent for a referendum.
Court president Lord Reed said the laws that created the devolved Scottish Parliament, external in 1999 meant it did not have power over areas of the constitution including the union between Scotland and England.
9. Evicted from the castle
The 170-year-old Knockderry Castle is in Cove, Argyll and had been owned by Mrs Van Overwaele since the 1970s
In March, the owners of a £3m Scottish castle were evicted after a 22-year legal wrangle over a £230 debt.
It all began when Marian Van Overwaele allegedly refused to pay a factor's bill relating to a bridalwear business she owned in Helensburgh in 1997. She claimed the bill had nothing to do with her.
The bill and the subsequent legal costs saw the debt soar to a reported £30,000.
In 2000 Mrs Van Overwaele, the owner of Knockderry Castle in Argyll, was sequestrated - the Scottish legal term for being made legally bankrupt.
She went on to make numerous appeals against eviction which went all the way to the Supreme Court.
It all ended with sheriff officers taking control of the castle on behalf of trustees.
10. The future of the NHS
Health services across the UK have come under unprecedented pressure in recent years
At the end of November, a BBC Scotland exclusive reported on the minutes of a confidential meeting between NHS leaders in Scotland which discussed abandoning the founding principles of the service by having the wealthy pay for treatment.
They discussed a "two-tier" health service and the possibility of curtailing some free prescriptions.
The minutes highlighted the degree of official concern about the sustainability of Scotland's NHS in its present form.
They include suggestions that hospitals should change their appetite for risk by aiming to send patients home more quickly, and pause the funding of some new drugs.
In response, Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the principles of the NHS were "not up for debate".
11. Message in a bottle
Peter Allan cut around the bottle without knowing it was there
A plumber could not believe his eyes when he cut a hole in floorboards in an Edinburgh house and found a bottle containing a 135-year-old message.
Peter Allan discovered the Victorian time capsule when he opened up the floor in the exact spot where the whisky bottle had been left.
He rushed downstairs to tell the owner Eilidh Stimpson, who had to smash open the bottle to read the note.
It read: "James Ritchie and John Grieve laid this floor, but they did not drink the whisky. October 6th 1887.
"Who ever finds this bottle may think our dust is blowing along the road."
12. Russian oil tanker
The NS Champion was expected to dock at the Flotta oil terminal
In the days after Russia's invasion of Ukraine at the end of February, there were plans to restrict access to UK ports for Russian vessels.
It came after concerns that a Russian-owned tanker was due at an Orkney oil terminal within days.
Orkney Islands Council said it was powerless to prevent the NS Champion accessing Flotta oil terminal, despite growing anger on the islands.
The tanker was owned by Sovcomflot (SCF Group), a large shipping company majority-owned by the Russian state.
It was later announced that the tanker would not dock in Orkney.
13. Funniest joke
Comedian Masai Graham is best known for his one-liner jokes
In August, a pasta pun was named the funniest joke of the Edinburgh Fringe as the award returned for the first time since the Covid pandemic.
Masai Graham was voted the winner with his gag: "I tried to steal spaghetti from the shop, but the female guard saw me and I couldn't get pasta."
14. Heckling Prince Andrew
Prince Andrew was heckled as he walked behind the hearse
Thousands lined Edinburgh's Royal Mile in September as the Queen's coffin was paraded through the Scottish capital before a service at St Giles Cathedral.
Footage showed a man shouting at Prince Andrew as he followed the coffin up Edinburgh's Royal Mile in September.
The 22-year-old man was pulled out of the crowd by two bystanders and was later arrested and charged.
Eventually, Scotland's prosecution service said the case had been dealt with "by way of an offer of an alternative to prosecution".
It was not able to advise what this alternative was but it can include fines or community work orders.
Earlier this year, the prince paid a settlement to end a civil court sex assault case in the US - allegations he had repeatedly denied.
15. The Martin Compston story
Martin Compston (left) made his acting debut in Sweet Sixteen 20 years ago
Martin Compston is best known for playing Detective Inspector Steve Arnott in Line of Duty but in March he reflected on how he got his big break into acting as a schoolboy 20 years ago.
He was pulled up by a teacher in the corridor of St Columba's High School in Gourock and told that a film crew were looking for kids to star in a film.
"I remember Mr Harkins saying 'what they're describing, I think you're exactly it. I think you should go and meet them'," he told BBC Scotland. "Looking back, that probably means a wee guy that had far too much to say for himself."
Compston auditioned and landed the lead role in Ken Loach's gritty drama Sweet Sixteen which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
16. The Brandon Lee story
Brian MacKinnon lived a double life as teenage student Brandon Lee
March also saw the premiere of a new film telling the story of how a 30-year-old man, claiming to be teenager from Canada, enrolled as a fifth year student at Bearsden Academy, near Glasgow.
He gained five A-grade Highers before his world collapsed.
The teenager, who called himself Brandon Lee, was exposed as an imposter called Brian MacKinnon, who had left the same school more than a decade earlier.
17. Ed Sheeran tickets
Ed Sheeran was on his Mathematics World Tour
In June, an Ed Sheeran concert in Glasgow sparked dismay as some NHS and emergency service workers who had received promo tickets had them cancelled hours before the gig.
They were bought under the Blue Light Card scheme - which also offers discounts to staff from social care sector and armed forces.
Ticketmaster said that its allocation of Blue Light tickets had been cancelled by the event organiser.
AEG Presents said the event at Hampden Park had been oversubscribed.
18. Hidden van Gogh
Unknown Van Gogh self-portrait detected under cardboard and glue
In July, a Scottish gallery announced that a previously unknown self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh has been discovered hidden on the back of another painting.
Experts at the National Galleries of Scotland made the find when the canvas was X-rayed before an exhibition.
The hidden self-portrait was covered by layers of glue and cardboard on the back of an earlier work called Head of a Peasant Woman.
The gallery's senior conservator Lesley Stevenson said she felt "shock" to find the artist "looking out at us".
19. Batgirl scrapped
The film was based on the DC Comics character Barbara Gordon - or Batgirl - played by Leslie Grace
The new Batgirl movie was going to be a big deal for Glasgow so it was quite a blow when it was scrapped by Warner Bros Discovery just months before its planned release.
The production was filmed entirely in Glasgow and the local council said it had brought a significant economic benefit to the city.
Reportedly budgeted at more than $70m (£58m), it was due to be shown in cinemas and on the streaming service HBO Max later this year.
The New York Post reported that the decision had followed a poor reaction to test screenings., external
However, Warner Bros said the move reflected its "leadership's strategic shift".
20. Fugitive is Nicholas Rossi
Nicholas Rossi had insisted he was really an Irish orphan called Arthur Knight
After a saga lasting almost a year, a Scottish court made a ruling on the identity of a man arrested in a Scottish hospital.
The man had claimed to have been the victim of mistaken identity, and insisted his name was Arthur Knight.
But Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard that his tattoos and fingerprints matched those of US fugitive Nicholas Rossi.
Authorities in the US are seeking Rossi's extradition over allegations of rape and sexual assault.
It is alleged that he faked his own death and fled to Scotland to escape prosecution.
He will now face an extradition hearing in March, when the Scottish courts will decide whether to send him back to the US to stand trial on the allegations against him.
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