On 5 August 1923 Scottish broadcaster, Eileen Mitchell, was born. Mitchell was the woman whose voice was known to millions through the phrase, Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin.

She presented BBC Radio's daily children's series Listen with Mother, and also sang many of the nursery rhymes in the programme on which she appeared for about 15 years. When the programme spawned BBC TV's Watch With Mother, she supplied one of the voices in The Woodentops.

On 5 August 1704, the Act of Security was passed by the Scottish Parliament.

The Act of Security, which allowed the Three Estates to choose another successor to Queen Anne than the choice made by the English Parliament, if Scottish conditions were not met, was approved by the Scottish Parliament. The English responded with the Alien Act (1705) which demanded that if the Scots did not accept the Hanoverian succession, or begin proceedings on a union of parliaments, then Scottish imports to England would be banned and Scots living in England would be treated as aliens.

Today's recipe: a spicy fish dish using newly in-season grey mullet.