Can't run scripts no more: "permission denied"

[Blue Raccoon]

Hi,

I tried to make a simple script to launch sylpheed when mailto: is clicked in firefox:
 sylpheed --compose "$1"
I put that in a plain text file, made it executable.. and nothing happened. From the command line I get "permission denied" when I run it. Even when I set perm to 777. 
Next I find that another script (which copies a bunch of config files to a safe place) also won't run anymore. It worked fine this morning.
Sudo makes no difference.

I've been using FreeBSD for a couple of weeks now - so please don't laugh. Just tell what I am doing wrong please.

thanks,

--Jay