We have just returned from spending a week near to Hadrian’s wall. The wall was built by the Romans under the orders of Emperor Hadrian in AD122 and runs from coast to coast for 73 miles. This remarkable feat of building marked the northern edge of the mighty Roman Empire. By the late 4th century […]
Some time ago Dr Bruce Durie, former professor of Genealogy at Strathclyde University and a very good friend sent me this article…. Enjoy: Clans and Families Clans are a consequence of the templating of the Anglo-Norman feudal system onto pre- existing territorial holdings, but with certain specific features (such as a military elite), and were […]
Over the last 2 days Highland Titles – the company that sells ‘souvenir’ plots of land where you can title yourself a Laird, Lord, Lady of Glencoe became the focus of an onslaught of social media activity - a posse of very sharp lawyers had the scent of blood and went for them, it was quite incredible to watch it […]
Gruinard island is just off the mainland, in Gruinard Bay, along the A832 halfway between Gairloch and Ullapool. During WWII it became the focus of the UKs secret effort to find a weapon capable of defeating the Nazis. These experiments left the island so contaminated it was deemed out of bounds for almost 50 years. […]
There is an old Scottish tale behind the MacLachlan Coat of Arms. Legend has it that the reason behind the two roebucks (deers) supporting the MacLachlan Chief’s Coat of Arms came in 1249, when King Alexander II made his great show of strength in Argyll, he ordered the local chiefs to send their money (taxes) […]
On the 5th of August, 1388, the Battle of Otterburn took place. This was a skirmish between Scotland’s James, 2nd Earl of Douglas, and England’s Henry “Hotspur” Percy, the son of the Earl of Northumberland. This battle was part of continuous Anglo-Scottish border conflicts that were quite common at the time. It was a decisive […]
Our Facebook Group “Scottish Clans and Families” run by us over at Scotclans.com has been steadily growing for many years now and now has well over 12,000 members. In that time we have seen a hell of a lot of posts by people from all over the world. Some are interesting and informative and others are […]
This posting is a guest posting by Margaret who works at VieAmhor Apartments, an edinburgh based holiday letting agency set right in the heart of Edinburgh’s old town. As you walk up the Royal Mile, it’s hard to miss the arched entryways that sit on either side. Signposted with odd names like ‘Fleshmarket’, ‘Lady Stair’s’ […]
As dusk fell over Culloden Moor on the 16th April 1746 the last major land battle to be fought on British soil had drawn to a conclusion. With close to 2,000 dead and wounded Jacobites the campaign to restore the Stewart monarchy to the throne had been dealt a decisive final blow. In the days […]
The Clan MacThomas Society has announced that the Clan Diamond Jubilee Gathering will be held in Pitlochry & Glenshee, Scotland over the English Bank Holiday weekend of 22-26 August 2014. Details of the hotel, together with provisional details of the programme, were announced in the 2013 edition of the Clach Na Coileach magazine, which has […]
