When selling traditional Scottish clothing what can be more iconic than the Scottish Kilt. This has to be one of the most recognisable items of clothing in the world. Kilts are cherished for generations. As soon as you talk about kilts you hear wonderful family stories; like people still having their grandfather’s military kilt. People […]
Strathglass was known in gaelic as Crom ghleann, it is the area around Upper Valley of the River Beauly. This land belonged to the Chisholm Clan. People here strongly adhered to the Catholic faith, even long after the ”Reformation” of 1560. A time when catholic priests were forced into hiding and preached in secret places to their […]
The Highlands hold many myths and legends. Most warn people not to stray from the path, don’t speak to strangers – especially beautiful female ones, best to stay in doors and most definitely stay faithful. This one warns of The Baobhan Sith – a female blood sucking fairy who terrorised the misty glens and the […]
Sadly Danus Skene has just died following surgery during the early hours of this morning. Mr Skene was ‘a gentleman and a scholar’, terms often used when describing him. A man deeply passionate about politics but also a historian, musician and a minister. He loved the outdoors, but most of all he loved Scotland. He […]
For our families Summer holiday this year we decided to go to Denmark for a couple of weeks. I’ve always been interested in Denmark especially as it’s thought to be the happiest place on earth – and have also wanted to find out more about the Danish Vikings. I know that they shouldn’t really be […]
Painting the Peats is a project that began when artist Damian Callan and his family started helping crofter Chris Spears stack his peats at his peat bank on North Uist. The experience led to a series of ink and wash studies that combined groups of working figures in the Hebridean landscape and were developed into […]
One of most common issues in genealogy is to understand the relationship between two people in a family. We’re all familiar with the relationship between our direct line ancestor and ourselves, but the other branches can get a little tangled. For example, most people are familiar with the concept of a sibling (brother or sister) […]
Happy Ramadan to our Muslim Friends Wishing you four weeks of blessings. Scottish Muslims have a long history to celebrate. Scotland has been closely connected with Muslim countries as far back as the Middle Ages. In the 8th and 9th centuries pilgrims travelled to the Holy land and Scottish traders visited the Muslim countries of […]
To understand the occurrence of Gaelic in place names in Scotland we thought it would be good to show a map and a breakdown of places and their gaelic equivalent or the gaelic the modern name is derived from. We hope you find this interesting: Scotland/Alba Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City English Scottish Gaelic Meaning or […]
We have just received the sad news that Ian Francis Wallace of that Ilk, Chief of the Name and Arms of Wallace passed away at the weekend. Our hearts go out to his friends and family. This is a massive loss to Clan Wallace. Ian was 89 years old. Ian was the 35th Chief of the Clan. He became Chief […]
