The Hector was a fully rigged fluyt built in the Netherlands sometime before 1750. She was employed in the local trade off the coasts of Great Britain but was also involved in the immigrant trade to North America. Whilst she had already made a trip carrying Scottish emigrants to Boston, Massachusetts in 1770, she had never before made a voyage to Canada. By the time of this voyage the Hector was an old ship and had definitely seen better days.

This famous voyage began with her departure from Loch Broom in the second week of July, 1773. Mr. John Pagan, the ships owner, had purchased three shares of land near Pictou, Nova Scotia, along with Dr. John Witherspoon, a presbyterian minister who is most famous for being one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. John Ross was hired by Pagan and Witherspoon to act as a recruiting agent for settlers willing to emigrate to Nova Scotia and was given authority to offer free passage, one years worth of free provisions and a farm as an incentive. John Ross recruited those that went from Greenock and Lochbroom in Rossshire, with the majority coming from Lochbroom. Most of those that boarded the Hector were poor crofters and artisans who only spoke Gaelic. There was a school teacher onboard, William McKenzie, who was one of only a few passengers who spoke both English and Gaelic.

The arduous journey was a long one and was not without troubles. The journey was delayed by 14 days due to increasingly bad weather. Dysentry and smallpox spread throughout the passengers and claimed the lives of 18 passengers. But spirits were not dampened, and in fact, were raised with the birth of a child not far fro the Canadian coast. A long 11 weeks after it left Scotland the Hector finally reached Pictou harbour. On the 15th September 1773 she made her landing at Browns Point, immediately west of the present day town of Pictou, just as the harsh winter weather was setting in.

Unfortunately the provisions they had been promised never materialised and the settlers had to hurry to build shelter without them before the harsh weather set in and starved them. This was a hard task, but the hardy Scottish settlers managed and proceeded to tame a small part of this wild new continent, naming it Nova Scotia in honour of their roots.

The town of Pictou holds great significance within the history of the Scots spreading throughout Canada. It is known as the ‘Birthplace of New Scotland’. Whilst there was already a great number of Scots settled in other areas of Nova Scotia by the time of the towns founding, it was the first settlement that was primarily made up of Scottish immigrants and was a receiving point for many Scottish immigrants moving to a new home in northern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island following the Highland Clearances.

During the early 90′s, officials in Nova Scotia sought to commemorate the Hector‘s contribution to Pictou’s, and Nova Scotiain, history. The Ship Hector Foundation was formed in 1992 as a result. Consisting of volunteers from Pictou county, the group began to raise funds in order for a replica of the Hector to be built. After several years of fundraising and construction, the replica Hector was launched with great fanfare and media coverage on September 17, 2000 and can still be visited today.

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When land and water combined well in the late 19th Century, endless American prairies produced the grass that fed the cows that fed a growing nation and then some. The iconic American cattle industry was a multi-ethnic team sport in the nineteenth century west, involving First Nations folk, Black Americans, Spanish and Mexican vaqueros and others. But the basic shape and direction of the western beef industry was in no small part the work of a handful of first and second generation Scottish immigrant company managers and their Scottish right hand men.  They were dispatched to a land as freshly cleared of conflicting human settlement as Scotland was. They went to spend enormous amounts of Scottish/British imperial wealth and enlightenment ingenuity to overcome all obstacles and achieve success breeding, growing and moving “beeves” from west to east and south to north to feed an insatiable America.

Most of the profit of these huge and complex operations was sent back to Scotland to build Scottish infrastructure and baronial mansions. But many of the Scots cattlemen lingered on the prairie. They sprouted American families who have remained in the west, often still working in western agriculture. Scottish cowboys and cattlemen who came here to create a new industry have left a most indelible mark on the American west.

Murdo Mackenzie (1850 – 1939)

From one cleared landscape to another.  Perhaps the greatest of the immigrant Scottish American cattle barons was born in 1850, the second of eleven children of Gaelic tenant farmers in Ross-shire in northern Scotland. The area around Scotland’s oldest royal burgh, Tain, had been a ground zero for brutal clearance and removal of Gaelic communities in Scotland since 1792 when Sir John Lockhart-Ross introduced the first sheep into the area and cleared a corresponding number of Gaelic tenant farmers from his Balnagowan estate. Clearance of Ross County continued throughout the next century and almost sixty years later, during the same year that Murdo Mackenzie was born, his own clans folk, Mackenzies, were brutally cleared from Strathconon, just down the road.

Though Murdo Mackenzie’s parents were tenant farmers in Ross County, the family apparently did not itself suffer clearance and they were able to send their second born to the Tain Royal Academy where he could acquire skills to compete in the new highland economy. Even though Murdo’s family did not suffer removal, the tragedy of others’ lives was forever visible. The infamously cleared community of Strathnaver was less than sixty miles from the Tain Tollbooth where much of the administrative work of the clearances was done. No doubt, at the Tain Royal Academy, Murdo learned the best English grammar and the newest improved agricultural and economic ideas as they were sweeping across Scotland’s highlands and islands in the heady enlightenment atmosphere of the second half of the 19th century.

While it might make for a better rip roaring Wild West frontier saga if Murdo Mackenzie had led a young life more like a Rob Roy or if he had a bit of that outlaw William Wallace in him, the truth is that Mackenzie was groomed for clerking and law. And management. He didn’t like guns and made a strong argument that carrying one, even in the gun toting American west of the early 20th century, put a man at a distinct disadvantage. As a fellow who had more than once found himself looking down the business end of another cowboy’s hand gun, Mackenzie maintained that “A man who carries a gun is no man.”  Lack of a sidearm was no disadvantage and Murdo Mackenzie was not a man with whom to trifle:

“He is is heavy-set. Physically, he is a man whom it would be hard to move. And when he looks straight at you out of his gray eyes, you cannot doubt that it would be still harder to move him from a course of action which he had decided was right.”  

       – From “Do you use fair play or gun play to gain your ends”, American Magazine, by Neil M. Clark (1922).

The man who would one day build and run a vast American cattle empire in the still largely wild American west was taken from the Scottish legal and banking industry to begin his first adult agricultural job as an assistant factor on the Balnagowan estate of Sir Charles William Frederick Augustus Lockhart-Ross, 8th Baronet, possessing Scottish lands extending to an estimated 500,000 acres and 500 tenants. By Scottish standards, that is an awful lot of land. By the measuring stick that young Murdo Mackenzie would learn to use in America, it was a drop in a bucket.

Having performed well as assistant factor for ten years at Balnagowan, Murdo Mackenzie earned enough respect and confidence to attract the attention of some of the wealthiest Scottish investors of the period. Sir Charles Ross died in 1883, the same year that the Highland Land League was formed. Things were beginning to change in the highlands but not until they had become a sad and divided battleground pitting old ways against new. When those investors tapped Mackenzie to take his young family to the American frontier to help build great cattle empires, Mackenzie said yes.

The scholarship is not available to tell us for certain what Murdo Mackenzie was involved in during his decade long tenure as assistant factor on the Balnagowan estate. It seems unlikely though, that he was an active advocate of highland land reform, especially in light of the great trust he had gained from highly placed investors during that tenure. It is clear however, that Murdo Mackenzie’s early years were spent at the very heart of the new agricultural practices that were pushing his own Gaelic people out of the lands they had occupied from time immemorial. Undoubtedly, Mackenzie took these lessons and ideas with him to the wild American west where another episode of human clearance had also been underway.

The challenges Murdo Mackenzie met in the American southwest were very different from the chores of raising sheep and managing land and men in the Scottish highlands. Indeed, the Scot who Theodore Roosevelt would one day call “the most influential cattleman in America” had no personal experience with the type of environment he found in America. Yet it was the application of the lessons learned from a wider Scottish experience – one heavily influenced by Scottish enlightenment ideas, for good or ill – that Murdo Mackenzie likely used to shape new long lasting land use and ownership patterns across a great American frontier.

Yee Haw! In 1885 Murdo Mackenzie removed his family from Ross County to the new town of Trinidad in the frontier state of Colorado. He was to help grow and market tens of thousands of cows in an unsettled and largely unimproved desert. Mackenzie’s first job was an unromantic one: watching over the finances of the already very substantial Prairie Cattle Company, based out of Trinidad. But the especially cold and snowy winter of 1885-86 saw thousands of Prairie Cattle Company stock perish as the cold and snow bunched the cows up along the endless ‘drift fences’ that southwestern cattlemen had erected to stop northern cows from drifting down to munch southern grass. It was called “the big die-up.” The winter storms drove the cows south into the fences and when the animals could go no further they piled up against the fences and simply died there by the thousands. In early 1886 the old Prairie Cattle Company ranch manager had left and Murdo Mackenzie took the reins of a very large but very young cattle operation.

Based out of southern Colorado, the Scottish owned Prairie Cattle Company ran around 100,000 head of cattle across range that covered a 300 mile section of land between the Canadian River and the Arkansas River. It would become Britain’s largest investment company, finally dying out in 1916, but it wouldn’t hold Murdo Mackenzie very long. As he continued to learn more about cattle, cowboys and American grass and water, other opportunities came his way.

Murdo Mackenzie left the Prairie Cattle Company in 1890 to become the general manager of the new Matador Land and Cattle Company. Though the Matador was based in Texas, Mackenzie chose to remain in Colorado with his family. He brought a great deal of the administration of the Matador operation to Trinidad in order to allow him to stay in that dusty and diverse little town. With Scotland firmly in his past, Mackenzie became a naturalized American citizen at the earliest opportunity and eventually was elected mayor of the roughly 3,000 citizens of the town of Trinidad, Colorado, where he remained for the majority of his long American life.

The Matador Land and Cattle Company, Trinidad, Colorado.  Before Kansas soil grew corn, wheat and soy beans, it sprouted short and medium grass prairies that fed migrant cattle.  These were cows that Murdo Mackenzie had set in motion from Texan hills as part of his innovative – and braw – Matador herd management scheme in the 1890s. While the Kansas prairies did not ultimately prove the grazing panacea that Mackenzie sought, there were plenty of other places to try – and succeed – Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, North and South Dakota and Saskatchewan, Canada. Eventually, he would use them all, including several “indian reservations” where native bison had been replaced with Matador Herefords. The idea was to get two year old Matador cows off of dry Texans plains way down south and up to richer grass farther north for their third and fourth years with the least amount of expense to the cow and the cowman. According to Mackenzie’s plan, this would deliver the fattest and most profitable four year old steers to slaughter at Chicago. It did.

Before the cows got there, however, that same Midwest soil grew the grass and forbs that fed vast herds of buffalo, elk, antelope and other animals. Thus, it also fed the First Nations peoples who lived there until they were cleared, along with the buffalo, under order of the U.S. Government and by settlers, with and without governmental sanction. The Natives and the buffalo and a great deal more were cleared to make way for cattle.

The pattern is hard to ignore when considering the perspective of an immigrant from Tain, Scotland in the 1890s. Like the Scottish highlands where Mackenzie was born and grew into adulthood, married and began a family, the American west was still in the process of being cleared for men like Murdo Mackenzie to recast as they thought best, for the alleged betterment of mankind, completion of Manifest Destiny and all that. It still bore the fresh marks and reminders of several very recently cleared societies when Mackenzie arrived about ten years following General George S. Custer’s bad day at Little Big Horn. The same year that Murdo Mackenzie undertook the management of the Matador Ranch, troops of the United States Army committed the massacre at Wounded Knee Creek on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. The Matador would a few years later graze cows on the Pine Ridge reservation. By removing the people and the buffalo, the land had been made ready to accept an American cattle industry of a grand scale.

The numbers of Scottish beef cattle on the prairies are greatly reduced today and the ranches are no longer the play things of Scottish empire builders. But the defining marks of immigrant Scotsmen on land use and management west of the Mississippi River remain in place long after the giant Scottish cattle empires have blown away with the dry cold prairie winds.

We’re not at Falkirk anymore – driving cattle on an American scale. It seems a paradox that western American grass had, for centuries, richly supported herds of bison so large that it was reported early in the 19th century that entire days passed before the end of a migrating herd of native buffalo rambled through a valley. Yet Murdo Mackenzie reported cheerfully to Dundee shareholders at the close of the 19th century that portions of the Matador range could support one cow on every 15 acres. Back in Scotland the cattle to land equation was more along the lines of how many cows could be fed on each acre of grass instead of how many parched American acres were needed to carry one cow. America was definitely not Scotland, and it was not even especially well suited to growing fat cattle. But it possessed advantages that could, if rather mercilessly exploited, overcome all of the disadvantages and provide returns on investment to Scottish investors that satisfied their appetites.

Yes, it could be dry, cold, windy and blazing hot in ways that often conspired to kill cows by the hundreds and sometimes thousands. Yes, Americans were none too pleased that British bankers were buying up king sized portions of the American western frontier for their own foreign advantage. In response, Washington D.C. politicians were enacting limiting regulations that squeezed Scottish cattle profits. Railroads didn’t yet reach everywhere and where they were, the railroad men drove very hard bargains. Nonetheless, Mackenzie was determined to find ways to make cattle profitable on the high, dry American prairies.

One big thing that the American frontier gave Mackenzie to work with during the last decades of the 19th century was mind boggling geographical vastness. The incredible scope of the available landscape was accompanied by  broad seasonal diversity across that land. In ways that were similar to the ancient Gaelic practice of moving cows from one landscape to the next according to seasonal variations, Mackenzie devised a network that would put the enormous western American landscape to work growing fat Matador cows and even fatter Matador profits. The Matador’s Scottish financiers were generally pleased with the results and Mackenzie continued to grow this king of American cattle companies stretching from Trinidad, Colorado to his namesake town of Murdo, South Dakota.

Mackenzie’s network of Matador pastures strung from Texas to the Dakota country, west to Montana and back down south through Wyoming and Colorado. His Matador cowboys began moving cows along that plan in the 1890s and the practice continued until 1928 when Mackenzie himself suggested to the shareholders that conditions had changed enough that the Matador should release its vast network of pastures and grow cows entirely on Texas grass.

The numbers associated with these early livestock operations are amazing. From his headquarters in Trinidad, Colorado, Mackenzie directed not only the Matador’s home division in Texas but the leased divisions as well. The leased pastures included 500,000 acres on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, a Sioux preserve in South Dakota, 500,000 acres along the Milk River on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in northern Montana, 150,000 acres along the north bank of the Saskatchewan River in Canada, and 300,000 acres on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Closer to home, in 1902 the Matador purchased 210,000 acres of the XIT Ranch in Oldham County, Texas. Subsequent acquisitions increased the size of this home Alamositas Divisions to approximately 800,000 acres. That year, when the ranch counted 69,213 head of stock including 600 horses, the ranch hands branded 17,647 calves with the Matador “Flying V”, a brand that was chosen to reflect the original 50,000 pound capital investment made to begin the outfit.

More to learn. There is no scholarly study of Murdo Mackenzie’s early life yet available and we do not know all of what motivated and influenced him. Of what impact were those ten years with Sir Charles Ross at Balnagowan, during active local clearances and removals? Was the tragedy possibly overshadowed by the excitement of the success of new agricultural improvement and every growing profits gained from the changes? We do not know how those infamous Scottish experiences affected Mackenzie or influenced his decisions and ideas on the American landscape. But it is difficult to believe that those vivid Scottish land and landlord experiences did not, in some ways, color America’s early cattle industry and the ultimate development of the American west.

• Highland Cowboys by Rob Gibson (2003)
• The Matador Land and Cattle Company by W. M. Pearce (1964)
• Frontier Scots: The Scots Who Won The West by Jenni Calder (2010)

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One of the most famous of these, and one that gets the crowds going is a walk through Greyfriers Graveyard. Best done as the light has disappeared to get the full effect, in this dark kirkyard it’s not difficult to feel spooked, large faceless angels surround you, skull and cross bones and eerie mausoleums with the tales that someone on the previous tour collapsed through fear. It’s not all about loyal dogs now.

The kirkyard is also the home of plague pits where the bodies of thousands of victims of the Black Death were buried in mass graves.  Also on the grounds is the Covenanter prison, people that died here were buried in the kirkyard; some escaped, some executed.  In the prison they would wait in terrible conditions for many months awaiting trial. Conditions were so inhumane that this prison is often described as the world’s first concentration camp.  There was no shelter and the only food they were allowed was a daily ration of 4oz of bread.

Covenanters Prison

It is no wonder that Greyfriers has the reputation of being one of the most haunted places in Scotland.  Here the dead do not rest.

The highlight of a ghost tour around Greyfriers graveyard comes when you approach an impressive forboding mausoleum.  This is the final resting place of Sir George MacKenzie, chief persecutor and prison guard of the Covenanters.

The Black Mausoleum of Sir George Mackenzie

Sir George Mackenzie

MacKenzie was an infamous, brutal man with the nickname ‘Bluidy MacKenzie’. He was made advocate in August 1677 by King Charles II. From here MacKenzie organised an enthusiastic and bloody prosecution of Covenanters in retaliation for their refusal to replace Scotland’s Presbyterian Church with the Episcopalian Church that had come to dominate England to the south.

In 1679 the Covenanter were defeated at the Battle of Bothwell bridge, 3,000 of them were captured. These men were brought to Greyfriers. Some were beheaded, some hanged, decapitated heads rotted on walls around the city. It was a time of public torture. By just mid November of the same year 1,200 prisoners had died from starvations or exposure. The survivors were packed onto a boat bound for Australia.

MacKenzie is said to have been responsible for around 18,000 death of Covenanters (his fellow countrymen) during a reign of terror known as ‘The Killing Times’.  Now his mausoleum is said to be the point of the ‘the world’s most recorded poltergeist activitiy’.

A chain and padlock holds the door to his mausoleum shut.  An attempt to keep out the living, rather than keep in the dead.  In 1998 a homeless man looking for shelter came across the Black Mausoleum and took refuge inside, at this time it was just a simple lock on the door.  This break in is said to have woken the evil Bluidy MacKenzie from his slumber.

Inside were coffins of Mackenzie’s  relatives, the homeless man opened one out of morbid curiosity.  Suddenly beneath him the floor gave way and he fell down into a pit.  Many bodies were contained here, they had filled the pit with plague bodies – basically they had so many that bodies were stuffed into anywhere they could find for quick disposal.  Despite their age, the sealing up of these bodies had meant they were still in a state of decomposition.  This scene could have come straight from a horror film, imagine the man’s terror as he tried to claw his way out of the pit, grasping body parts on his way.

From this point people started getting hurt.  It was only a few days later that a woman looking into the mausoleum was  blasted by a cold force.  Then soon after another woman was found unconscious next to the mausoleum, her neck covered in bruises.

Locks can not keep the undead at bay. – Some of the injuries blamed on Buildy MacKenzie from people who have taken The City of Dead Tour

But the vagrant falling through the floor of his tomb wasn’t to be the last desecration to stir up the poltergeist.  In 2003 to add insult to injury a group of 17 year olds out for mischief and trying to be all macabre and impress the local goths were caught playing in the graveyard with what was thought to be a football under one of the boys arms, this turned out to be the severed muffified head of George MacKenzie.  The kids had broken into the tomb and chopped off his head with a penknife.  According to coverage in the Daily Mirror of the trial the teenagers were throwing the head to each other jokingingly pretending it was performing sex acts on them and wearing it as a glove puppet.    The teenager in question was given 200 hours community service and his partner in crime was given two years probation.

The severed head of George Mackenzie

Two years later unknown intruders gained access despite increased security at the churchyard, removed a head and posed it on one of the spikes that top the cemetery’s gates. They left behind a note with the message “The Vampire Lark”.  They have not been traced.

Tours now start with the warning “The Mackenzie Poltergeist can cause genuine physical and mental distress. You join the tour at your own risk!”.  Exorcisms have been carried out twice at the location, first by a spiritualist minister named Colin Grant and a year later by his son. Both were unsuccessful and the attacks continue.

Long before the homeless man fell into the corpse filled pit there is the story of John Haynes, a petty criminal, possibly a highwayman who used the second chamber in the mausoleum as a hideout for six long months.  Eventually the police caught up with him and found him to be completely insane.  Haynes kept insisting that the coffins kept moving around at night.

There are some other explanations for the feelings people have around the tomb.  One suggests it’s the result of high voltage machinery which is housed to the rear of the mausoleum by Edinburgh University’s Artificial Intelligence Unit. These machines can give off electromagnetic energy, a force that some believe could create hallucinations in people that are ‘EM sensitive’ and be the explanation for certain paranormal activity. This, however, does not explain the physical attacks that visitors to the vault have suffered.

Another scientific explanation concerning these phenomenons looks deep underground. Sandstone forms much of the rock underneath the Greyfriars area. Brian Allen of SPI suggests that:

“If the pores of the sandstone were to become saturated with mineral electrolytes, this in effect would create thousands of tiny batteries. Given the right conditions, a micro-tremor perhaps, the stored energy could be discharged, creating an electrical field above the ground affecting a sensitive person by causing a tiny seizure in the temporal lobes of their brain. These seizures appear to run in distinct patterns, with the people affected experiencing the same or similar images”.

What ever you believe – would you dare challenge Bluidy MacKenzie by knocking the door of the Black Mausoleum three times saying” Bluidy Mackingie, come oot if ye daur, lift the sneck and draw the bar!”?

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1. Dalmore

Dalmore 12 Year Old Whisky

In 1263, an ancestor of Clan Mackenzie saved King Alexander III of Scotland from being gored by a stag whilst out hunting. The grateful King granted the Mackenzies the right to bear a stag’s head, with twelve points to its antlers, signifying a ‘Royal’ in their coat of arms. Today every bottle of the Dalmore single malt is adorned with the clan’s proud emblem. The distillery is located on the northern shores of the Firth of Cromarty overlooking the Black Isle, and was originally established in 1839 by Alexander Matheson, a trader who made his fortune in opium imports. The Mackenzie family bought the distillery in 1866 and have recently begun to use the Mackenzie motto of Luceo Non Uro (I shine, not burn) as the company’s philosophy. The Dalmore Single Highland Malt Collection is matured in a wooden casks (both sherry wood and American white oak) which, along with the years and the climate, contributes to the flavour of each malt.

2. Clan MacGregor

Clan MacGregor Blended Whisky

Clan MacGregor blended whisky takes its name from the highland clan, honouring one the descendents of ancient Celtic royalty as proclaimed in the motto ‘Royal is my Race’. The blend is made from 15 malt and grain whiskies from the heart of Scotland, blended to create a delicate, sweet aroma and smooth, mellow taste. The bottles proudly carry the Clan MacGregor badge and motto, and with his kind permission, the personal crest of the 24th Clan Chief, Sir Malcolm MacGregor of MacGregor. The Clan badge, a crowned lion’s head on a wreath encircled with a belt and buckle, signifies the unity and loyalty of the clan who suffered two centuries worth of oppression. It is enjoyed in over 60 countries around the world, from the USA to Venezuela and the Middle East to Thailand.

3. Talisker

Talisker 10 Year Old

My personal favourite, this wee gem of single malt is produced at the Talisker distillery on the shores of Loch Harport on the Isle of Skye. It’s the only distillery on the isle, with the distillery’s seaside home giving it a deep peaty character followed by a hint of sweet. The distillery was built in 1831 by brothers Hugh and Kenneth MacAskil after they acquired the lease of Talisker House from the chief of Clan MacLeod. When a new lease for the distillery was negotiated with the chief in 1892 the annual payment was to be £23.12s and a ten-gallon cask of best-quality Talisker. Today the single malt continues to be the preferred dram of clan chiefs – the MacNeil of Barra leases their seat of Kisimul Castle to Historic Scotland at a cost of £1 per annum and a bottle of Talisker. In 2007 Talisker 18 year old won ‘Best Single Malt in the World’ at the World Whiskies Awards and was one of three whiskies described by poet Robert Louis Stevenson as “The king o’ drinks, as I conceive it” in his poem The Scotsman’s Return From Abroad.

4. Clan Campbell

Clan Campbell Blended Whisky

While the link between this blended whisky and the actual clan is unclear, the whisky takes it names from the clan who have 14 million descendents around the globe. Clan Campbell is one of the largest clans in Scotland and renowned for its bravery and influence over the country’s history since the 13^th century. The whisky is distilled, blended and aged in the Highlands, combining Scotch grain and malt whiskies that have aged in oak casks for at least three years. The present clan chief, Torquhil Ian, combines his duties as Duke or Argyll, chief and landowner with a consultant role with Pernod Ricard, promoting Scotch Whiskies including Chivas Regal and Glenlivet.

5. Drambuie and Glayva

Drambuie Liqueur

Glayva Liqueur

Technically not a Whisky, Drambuie is a sweet golden coloured liqueur made from malt whisky, honey, herbs and spices. Produced in Broxburn, West Lothian, Drambuie derives its name from the Gaelic phrase an dram buidheach, (the drink that satisfies). After the Battle of Culloden in 1746, Prince Charles Edward Stuart fled to the isle of Skye. There, he was given sanctuary by Captain John MacKinnon of Clan MacKinnon. According to family legend, after staying with the captain, the prince rewarded him with this prized drink recipe. This version of events is disputed by historians who believe it to be a story concocted to boost sales of the drink. The MacKinnon family produce the liqueur to this day. A similar liqueur is Glayva, produced in Leith since 1947. It made from a blend of aged Scotch whiskies, herbs, anise, cloves, almonds, heather honey, and citrus fruits. Legend has it that when Bonnie Prince Charlie was served a whisky based liqueur, he looked at his host, held up the glass and spoke the Gaelic “Gle mhath!”(very good) thus giving the drink the name it carries to this day.

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The spirit that stalks the kirkyard of Greyfriars, known as the ‘MacKenzie poltergeist’ is believed to have been one Sir George MacKenzie, known to the Scots as ‘Bluidy MacKenzie‘. The summer of 1679 saw defeat for the Covenanter’s at the Battle of Bothwell Bridge and 1,200 men were captured. It was MacKenzie who organised an enthusiastic and bloody persecution of these unlucky men. MacKenzie brought them to Greyfriar’s and they were held within a small courtyard to the back of the kirkyard, now referred to as the Covenanter’s Prison, in horrible conditions open to the elements. MacKenzie had some of the men hanged, others beheaded, their rotting skulls displayed around the city. The more unfortunate were publicly tortured. Many died due to this harsh treatment and those that didn’t were executed or sold to slavery. Their only way out was to swear an allegiance to the King, which they refused to do. Those that died in Greyfriars remain there to this day and ironically share their final resting place with Bloody George Mackenzie.

MacKenzie Tomb

Although stories of unusual occurrences within the kirkyard had been told for years, it seemed to intensify greatly after one incident 1998. A homeless man looking to get out of the Scottish weather, made the unfortunate decision that the MacKenzie tomb looked like a cosy and safe place. For reasons known only to himself, the man began to break into the coffin that lay within, whilst doing so he slipped dragging the coffin down with him and ending up sprawled on the floor with the remains of Bloody MacKenzie across him. He understandably fled the area, but it seems the disturbance he caused awoke something in the tomb.

Covenanters Prison

By early 1999 reports of strange goings on in the kirkyard had significantly risen, but not by the MacKenzie tomb but around the corner in the Covenanter’s prison, so much so that the council made the decision to close the area off from the public. Luckily for those looking for a thrill or keen on the paranormal a tour company was granted access to the prison, to guide small groups through the area in controlled visits. Those on these tours have reported many strange phenomena including being scratched, attacked, feeling nauseous, discovering large marks and bruises on their bodies the following day and drastic changes in temperature. There are even those that have been knocked unconscious! In 2000, an exorcist, Colin Grant was summoned to the graveyard to perform an exorcism ceremony; he was said to have picked up “evil forces” and claimed that the forces were too overpowering and feared that they could kill him. A few weeks later, he died suddenly of a heart attack.

Only a short walk from Greyfriar’s can be found the Edinburgh or South Bridge Vault’s, but only by venturing under the streets of Edinburgh. The vaults are a distinct series of chambers formed in the 19 arches of the South Bridge, built to span the Cowgate gorge between High Street and the growing University of Edinburgh on the Southside, which was completed in 1788. These vaults where walled in on either side due to the building of tenements leaving spaces ranging from 2m square to 40m square.

From taverns and tradesmen’s workshops, a red light district and even, a rumoured hunting ground for serial killers Burk and Hare – each vault has its place in history and a story to tell. They were also home to an infamous distillery that once labelled the area ‘Whisky Row’ and, at some point they served as stables to the Royal Families’ bodyguards, the French Cavalry. As the conditions in the vaults deteriorated, mainly because of damp and poor air quality, the businesses left and the very poorest of Edinburgh’s citizens moved in, though by around 1820, even they are believed to have left too. That people had lived there was only discovered in 1985 during an excavation, when middens were found containing toys, medicine bottles, plates, and other signs of human habitation. The vaults on the southside where converted into several very unique venues, the most well known being the Caves, the vaults on the northside however are used for ghost tours and are known to house several unique and characterful spirits…

The most famous of the spirits that roam the vaults is known to the guides as Mr Boots, an apparition that earned its nickname from the many unexplained reports of heavy footsteps heard since the vaults opened nearly 20 years ago. Mr Boots is regularly spotted within the vaults and has been described as being attired in a long blue frock, tri-corner hat and large leather boots. He seems to have an issue with the visitors that regularly explore the area and has been reported blocking doorways, shoving and breathing whisky fumes on the guests and has even been known to throw stones at those he deems unwelcome.

Another apparition, on who little is known, is a wee bit friendlier. Little Jack as he is known, is believed to be the spirit of a small boy who was murdered within the vaults. He is reported to take the hand of guests in the hopes they will lead him out of the dark and foreboding vaults. An unsettling event you might say, but with innocent intentions.

As with areas such as these other phenomena have been reported such as sudden drops in temperature, whispers heard in the distance and even fire doors opening of their own accord(these can only be opened from one side, and never is a figure seen on the side with a handle). Even stranger is events that go unnoticed until mentioned by the guide. One room in particular was believed to have been a men only drinking establishment, and guides advise the patrons that the feeling of segregation of the sexes pervades the room to this day. Invariably the guests then notice that the group has separated on it’s own accord, men on one side of the room, women on the other.

Another short walk away, a little up Edinburgh’s world famous Royal Mile, you will find another of Edinburgh’s most haunted areas, Mary King’s Close.

Mary King’s Close, possibly named after the daughter of Alexander King a wealthy property owner ran from High Street all the way down to Market Street, before Cockburn Street was built. In 1645 the inhabitants of the buildings served by Mary King’s Close were stricken with the plague. It had probably come from rats arriving in Edinburgh through Leith docks. In order to quarantine them and prevent the spread of the disease throughout Edinburgh, Mary King’s Close was sealed, possibly according to legend with some people still alive and suffering inside. Due to housing shortages becoming a worry, the people of Edinburgh wanted to open up Mary King’s Close and shortly after it was opened and the houses reoccupied due to overcrowding.

The new inhabitants of Mary King’s Close found the buildings to be haunted and various reports were made of apparitions including a dog, headless animals, a young girl and several severed limbs and body parts such as heads.

The inhabitants were then evicted in 1753 to make way for a new building project. The upper stories of the buildings around Mary King’s Close and its immediate neighbours were demolished and The Royal Exchange, now the City Chambers was built on top of them. The lower eight stories of beneath the City Chambers, dropping down to Cockburn Street were sealed up, including Mary King’s Close.

Sealed for two hundred and fifty years, Mary King’s Close has now been re-opened for tour groups and you can go down beneath the City Chambers to the lane and buildings that still exist, hidden away. Visitor’s still report to this day strange goings on and apparitions…

The most famous ghost to haunt Mary King’s Close is that of a little girl known as Annie. Her tale starts in 1992 when she scared the daylights out of a Japanese psychic. This lady had been unimpressed by the tour until she arrived at one of the many small rooms. There she was suddenly struck by an overwhelming feeling of sickness, hunger and cold and, when she tried to leave felt the ghastly tug of a ghostly hand on her leg. In order to placate the spirit the women left a small doll within the room, and was released and allowed to leave.

Annie’s story has been fleshed out since then, and it is now believed that she had been left to die in the close by her family during the plague outbreak, although there is very little evidence to back this up. A tradition has built up from the ‘gift’ the psychic left, and now many tourists leave a toy for Annie, and the room in which she was found has turned into something of a shrine…

Dr Caroline Watt of Edinburgh University’s Koestler Unit had her own experience when conducting experiments into the paranormal activity within the close…

“I was in a part of the close where no one else was supposed to be,” she says. “I heard footsteps and the sound of rustling clothing. From a professional point of view I was annoyed because I thought it was someone intruding on our experiment, but when I asked the tour guides I found out there was no one there.”

Another short walk, and almost taking us full circle through the Old Town, leads to Edinburgh’s biggest and most famous tourist attraction, Edinburgh Castle. With a history hundreds of years old it’s not surprising that the Castle has it’s own share of ghost stories.

Edinburgh’s hidden underworld is said to be strongly connected to the castle due to a series of secret tunnels leading from Edinburgh castle down the Royal Mile. One of these is even rumoured to lead all the way to Holyrood House, at the very bottom of the Royal Mile. When the tunnels were first discovered several hundred years ago, a piper was sent to explore. As he navigated the tunnels, he played his bagpipes, so that his progress could be tracked by those above. About half way down the Royal Mile the piping suddenly stopped. When a rescue party was sent, there was no trace of the piper. He had simply vanished. Several search parties went into the tunnel system but no trace of the piper was ever found. It is said that the Piper’s ghost still roams the tunnels to this day, and those on the Mile on a quiet evening can hear the sounds of the pipes drifting up from below the streets.

Another apparition commonly reported at the castle is that of a drummer on the battlements. One account, reported in 1960, told of a sentry who whilst patrolling the battlements heard the faint sound of the drums. On closer investigation the sentry witnessed a figure standing on the battlements and as he drew closer he found the figure was missing his head. As he watched, it turned to face him, then vanished completely. Who this drummer is and why he haunts the castle is something that still remains a mystery.

The next ghostly presence from Edinburgh castle is believed to be that of a rather desperate prisoner. In a rather unsanitary bid for freedom the man hid himself in the castles dung cart, ready to be carried out and down the Royal Mile where he could make a run for it. Unfortunately the men in charge of the dung cart were not willing to heave the smelly load quite so far and instead emptied it over the side of Castle Rock and the prisoner plummeted to his death. Visitors have claimed that this man attempts to push people from the battlements and is always accompanied by the strong and unpleasant stench of dung.

On April 6th 2001, a 10 day study scientific investigation into the paranormal events at Edinburgh castle took place. Dr. Richard Wiseman, a psychologist from Hertfordshire University enlisted the help of 240 volunteers to explore allegedly haunted sites. Chosen from visitors from around the world, each was carefully screened to ensure only those that knew nothing about Edinburgh’s hauntings were selected to participate.

The volunteers were not told of any areas previously reported as haunted and were led in groups through locations with a reputation for strange activity as well as ‘red herring’ sites that had no history of activity at all. Interestingly the volunteers only reported paranormal experiences in the areas with a history for it, and not one of the 240 volunteers reported activity in the ‘red herring’ areas.

Some of the activity recorded include seeing shadowy figures, and unseen presence touching the face, sudden drops in temperature and a feeling of being watched.

Wiseman, a sceptic who has in the past attempted to expose the myths of several British hauntings, admitted his surprise at the results. “The events that have been taking place over the last 10 days are much more extreme than we expected,” he said.

So although there is no solid proof, there is evidence to suggest that something odd is definitely going on at Edinburgh castle and the surrounding old town. But is it ghosts or something else? Let us know what you think in the comments…

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The Clans and Families of Scotland

The Scottish Government announced today that it is to provide funding for clan events to the tune of £200,000 in 2014 and beyond. The move cements the relationship between clans and the government, highlighting the importance of ancestral tourism to the Scottish economy.

Known as the Scottish Clan Event Fund, the fund will be made available over three years beginning in 2014 to coincide with the Year of Homecoming. Legally constituted clans will be able to apply for financial support of up to £5000 for additional elements that are part of existing events, new activity specifically designed to grow events and events that expand visitor experiences and spread benefits across the country as a whole. Activities covered by the fund will include strategic marketing, adding new event elements, equipment hire and travel and transport in rural areas that supports rural engagement.

MSP for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism, Mr. Fergus Ewing, spoke of the funds potential in supporting the history and traditions of Scottish clans, saying: “The Clan Event Fund will not only help to support activities promoting Clan tourism during the celebrations next year but will also provide legacy by supporting Clan events through to our Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology in 2017.”

The fund was drawn up with the support of clan representatives including the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs and the Highland Clan Partnership. Clans that are not recognised by these bodies will need to make an individual case to the government which includes rationale for why the clan or society should be recognised, and a brief history and background of the clan.

John Mackenzie, Earl of Cromartie and Joint Chair of the Highland Clan Partnership, said he was extremely gratified the Government has recognised the role clans play in tourism and the Scottish economy. “Investment in Clan Events will expand the visitor experience and bring welcome financial, community and cultural benefit to the Highland region of Scotland.”

Sir Malcolm MacGregor also welcomed the move, saying: “The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs welcomes this initiative which will help to support and enhance Clan activities in local communities and encourage people to celebrate their clan heritage across Scotland.”

Applications are open now and close on the 28th of November. Events seeking funding must take place outside the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow between 1st January 2014 and 31st December 2015. Proposals will be assessed on their ability to provide economic impact, strengthen and develop clans and their societies and to present social, community and cultural benefits.

Click here to view the Scottish Government’s webpage about the fund.

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Lilias, Countess of Cromartie

A much-loved and respected pillar of the North Highlands community and wife of the late chief of Clan Mackenzie has died. Lilias, Countess of Cromartie, passed away peacefully on 11th October 2013 at her home Dower House in the clan seat of Castle Leod at Strathpeffer.

Born on the 25th March 1918, Lilias Janet Garvie MacLeod was the eldest of seven children to James Walter MacLeod, Professor of Bacteriology at Leeds University, and Jean Garvie, who were both immensely proud of their Scottish heritage. She grew up in Leeds and later went to boarding school at Esdaile School in Edinburgh. A gifted pianist, Lilias chose to study medicine, enrolling at Leeds University as one of the only female students there at the time.

She married her first husband Dick Richard in 1940, and during the war years worked in London as a medical officer, running family and children’s clinics in Marylebone. Following the break up her marriage, she joined the Strathpeffer Medical Practice where she became a much respected doctor in the tight-knit community, covering a scattered rural area and driving an average of 100 miles a day. It was here she met Roderick MacKenzie, 4th Earl of Cromartie and Caberfeidh Chief of Clan Mackenzie. They married in 1962 and the Countess adapted to the role of chief’s wife with great tact and commitment, bringing Castle Leod back to life as a family home and focal point in the local community, a venue for concerts and charitable fundraising activities.

Castle Leod, seat of Clan Mackenzie

The Earl and the Countess enjoyed 27 happy years of marriage together before the Earl passed away in 1989. In 2000 Lilias visited members of the MacKenzie clan in New Zealand, who spoke very highly if her visit. She was equally impressed with the clan society there.

The Countess had a wide-ranging interest in art and music, supporting the Strathpeffer Pavilion and Eden Court Theatre, performing in the Strathpeffer Amateur Operatic Society and was the first president of the National Association of Decorative & Fine Arts Societies.

Although after her second marriage she felt the roles of Countess, wife of the Mackenzie Clan Chief and continued GP practice to be incompatible, she put her medical background, intelligence and commonsense to good use providing wise leadership for many years on the Highland Hospital Board, as president of the Ross and Cromarty Red Cross and of the District Nurses.

The Countess leaves behind a wide circle of friends and admirers of diverse ages and backgrounds. She is survived by her two sons, Nigel and Roderick, by five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. The current chief is John Ruaridh Grant Mackenzie, 5th Earl of Cromartie (1948). He is the son of Roderick, 4th Earl of Cromartie and his first wife Olga Laurence.

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I’d like to continue by reproducing Alaistair Moffat’s reading given at St Giles. It was an excellent account of the battle and the aftermath.

—

FLODDEN ADDRESS. – ALISTAIR MOFFAT

When dawn broke on the morning of 10th September, 1513, the landscape of hell was revealed. On the gently undulating northern ridges of Branxton Hill more than 10,000 men lay dead or dying. In the midst of the carnage were the naked, plundered bodies of King James IV of Scotland, his half-brother, Alexander Stewart, Archbishop of St Andrews, George Hepburn, Bishop of the Isles, two abbots, nine great earls of Scotland, fourteen lords of parliament, innumerable knights and noblemen of lesser degree and many thousands of farmers, ploughmen, weavers and burgesses. It was the appalling aftermath of the battle of Flodden, the greatest military disaster in Scotland’s history.

In the grey light of that terrible dawn, sentries posted around the captured Scottish cannon could make out where the brunt of battle had been joined. Below them, at the foot of the slope ran the trickle of a nameless burn now choked with slaughter, a wrack of mangled bodies, broken pikeshafts, shattered shields and everywhere blood and the sickening stench of death, vomit and voided bowels. Not all of the bodies were yet corpses. Through a long dark night the battlefield had not been a silent graveyard. Trapped under lifeless comrades, crippled, hamstrung or horribly mutilated, fatally wounded men still breathed. Bladed weapons rarely kill outright and they were often used to bludgeon men to their knees or into unconsciousness. In the churned mud of the battlefield some men will have lost their footing, fallen and been hacked at before they could get up. Many bled to death, maimed, lacerated by vicious cuts, screaming, fainting and screaming once more in their death agonies. Some will have been put out of their misery by parties of English soldiers scouring the field by torchlight for plunder, stripping the bodies, ransacking them for valuables. But other men will have lingered on in

unspeakable pain, praying to their God, passing in and out of consciousness, slowly bleeding to death. The fury of the battle on Flodden field may have been stilled and awash with death and defeat. But all was not yet over. In an instant the plunderers and scavengers looked up and the sentries by the cannon stood to, frantically peering through the morning light. They could hear the rumbling thunder of hoofbeats – and then, suddenly, riders erupted over Barelees Rig. With 800 horsemen at his back, Lord Alexander Home galloped hard across the horrors of the battlefield and up the slopes of Branxton Hill. They had not come back to Flodden to rejoin a lost battle but to rescue their captured ordnance. And they very nearly succeeded. After a sharp skirmish, the English gunners managed to load and get off a volley at Home’s squadron, and they scattered.

And so it ended. As the Border horsemen wheeled round and raced out of range, the remnants of the shattered Scottish army were limping across the Tweed at Coldstream. There was no organised pursuit. The victorious English army had taken heavy casualties and the Earl of Surrey and his captains were exhausted. In any event, their bloody work was done. The floors o’ the Forest were a’ wede awa, Flodden was a national disaster, a harbinger of lawlessness in the shape of the Border Reivers, the beginning of a long period of political uncertainty and the last medieval battle in the history of Britain. The last time a king was to die leading his army.

It was also an epic. As two huge armies mustered and marched into history, extraordinary scenes had been witnessed. At Ellemford, high in the Lammermuirs above Duns, where sheep now graze on the flanks of the hills, where buzzards hang in the updrafts and an elegant bridge crosses the Whiteadder, King James IV and his army camped. Huge guns were trundled down the hill trails, dragged by oxen, and by 21st August 1513, almost 30,000 men had massed in this beautiful, now lonely valley. Two days later, the largest force ever to leave Scotland crossed the Tweed at the fords below Coldstream. They had declared war, they had entered the realm of the Tudors, of the ferociously ambitious and bull-like Henry VIII.

Meanwhile Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, and the Bishop of Durham carried the standard of St Cuthbert before their battle-hardened troops. In front of the high altar of the great cathedral, Howard had watched the bishop bless the flag of the Haliwerfolc. The lands of Palatinate, of the Prince-Bishops of Durham, reached to the Tweed and beyond, and in an early definition of Englishness, their people were known as the Holy Man’s Folk, the Haliwerfolc. Ancient allegiances were being roused and summoned.

Between 2nd and 9th September two vast armies circled each other in a small corner of North Northumberland, like heavyweight boxers looking for weaknesses or waiting for wrong moves. After the Earl of Surrey had despatched a herald, the Rouge Croix, it was finally agreed that battle would be joined on 9th September. Supplies for almost 70,000 men, horses and camp followers were running dangerously low

and neither army could remain in the field much longer.

Realising the strength of the Scots’ entrenched position, Surrey led his men to the east, skirting Flodden Edge and staying out of artillery range. On the morning of the appointed day, he crossed the River Till and took up a position to the north of James IV’s army, barring any retreat to Scotland. And then, on a damp afternoon, the greatest battle ever fought between England and Scotland began.

On the left wing of the Scottish host, the Highlanders led by the Earl of Huntly massed in formation with Lord Home’s Borderers, and in the moments before their chiefs roared the claideamh mor, the order to charge, the Gaelic-speaking warriors did something remarkable. They began to summon the army of the dead. They began the sloinneadh, the naming of the names of memory. To bolster his courage, each man began to recite his genealogy. Many waiting to charge could go back 20 generations. As if they were offering up the murmur of prayer, each man remembered why he had come to fight. Is mise mac Iain, mac Ruaridh, mac Domhnuill. I am the son of John, the son of Roderick, the son of Donald. And once their quiet voices stilled, the roar of the claideamh mor rent the air and they broke into the charge. With their broadswords and Lochaber axes, the Highlanders tore into the English ranks, the division led by Edmund Howard, They scattered and a rout was only prevented when Lord Dacre rode to the rescue with his English Borderers. As history rumbled across Branxton Hill, fortune appeared to be smiling on the Scots.

At the same time, James IV was about to make a catastrophic decision, a crucial error of judgement. Instead of occupying an elevated position at the rear of his vast army, he chose to lead from the front. His division raced down Branxton Hill and as they reached the lower slopes and much softer ground, many men began to skid and lose their footing. This unsteadiness made it very difficult for them to control their long, 12 foot pikes. The wet ground made them charge out of formation, only engaging piecemeal with the solidly planted ranks of English billmen, With their shorter, more easily handled bills, they began to slice into James IV’s division. And as the men at the back saw the Scottish pikes go down, they hesitated and many of them ran, believing their king to be killed. By leading from the front, James was immediately submerged in the ruck of the fighting, only able to see what was directly in front of him, in no position to direct his forces. The result was disaster.

The legacy of Flodden was most immediately and keenly felt in the Borders. North of the Tweed the memory of the battle is kept alive in the fabric of the midsummer common ridings. At Selkirk the ceremony of the casting of the colours is unique in Britain and it is based on the return of a soldier known as Fletcher, traditionally believed to have been the only one of sixty from the town to return. In his bloodied hand he held aloft, in a gesture of desolate defiance, a flag captured from the men of Macclesfield in Cheshire. Many Englishmen had fought and fallen at Flodden. And passions still run high. When the Mayor of Macclesfield recently wrote to the Provost of Selkirk asking for the return of the flag, he was told that he would need to come to the Borders and take it.

Flodden is an immense story. Like Culloden in 1746, it signalled the end of a fading, feudal Scotland.  And it also ushered in a century of lawlessness, the criminal society controlled by the appalling Border Reivers. Across Europe, renaissance, enlightenment and the reformation were changing lives, forming new ideas and creating the institutions of the modern world. In the first half of the 16th century, central authority broke down in a leaderless nation, and while swords and spears spoke in Scotland, the law was often silent.

What is to be learned from all of that suffering and slaughter, from all of those ancient enmities? First that they are ancient and must remain firmly in the past. In 2014 Scotland faces a historic choice and whichever way the people of Scotland vote, it must be a signal lesson of Flodden that enmity, even ancient enmity can have no part. And it is to the credit of politicians on all sides of the argument that it has not reared an ugly head. But it might.

And alongside that it mustmbe important to remember, to understand the visceral, bloody realities of whatmwent on on that terrible day 500 years ago. Lest we forget, Flodden should become a place of remembrance and of pilgrimage, a place where the uncomfortable lessons of history can be learned and never forgotten.

Two weeks ago, on one of the countless beautiful evenings of this glorious summer, I drove over to Branxton. As the sun threw long shadows across the gently undulating fields, I tried to imagine the 10th of September, 1513, the distant roar of thousands of men, the screams, the fear and feral closeness of hand-to-hand fighting when

men can smell the breath, smell the sweat of men grunting pushing, hacking, swearing at them, trying to kill them. In a Gaelic phrase, I tried to listen for the music of the thing as it happened. I tried to listen to the slow, sad music of our history. I hope that many in Scotland and England hear it too.

Prior to the sir Malcolm MacGregor (who has admitted that try as he might he can not find a single MacGregor involved in the battle) researched the casualty lists. The following names are clans and families who are known to have fought at Flodden along with notable people who fell in the battle:

From the Highland Clans: 

Campbell, Erskine, Fraser, Gordon, Graham, Guthrie, Haldane, Hay, Keith, Leslie, Lindsay, Macaulay, Macfarlane, Mackay, Maclean, Macnab, Menteith, Moncreiff, Moray, Murray, Ogilvy, Oliphant, Ramsay, Rattray, Ross, Ruthven, Seton, Sinclair, Stewart, Forbes, Forsyth, Grant, MacKenzie, MacNaughton, Ross, Skene, Buchanan Of Leny, MacDonald

The Lowland and Border Clans and Families:

Adair, Abercromby, Adam, Anstruther, Baillie, Baird, Balfour, Barclay, Blackadder, Bonar, Boswell, Carnegie, Cathcart, Cleland, Cockburn, Colville, Craig, Crauford, Crichton, Cunningham, Dunbar, Dundas, Edmonstone Of Duntreath, Elphinstone, Fotheringham, Gray, Grierson, Haig, St.Clair Of Roslin, Henderson, Hepburne, Herries, Home, Hoppringle, Houston, Lauder, Liddel, Lockhart, Lumsden, Lyon, Masterson, Maitland, Maule, Maxtone, Maxwell, Melville, Muirhead, Mure, Napier, Rollo, Sempill, Somerville, Spottiswood, Stewart Of Traquair, Allardice, Ballingall, Kerr, Colville, Crammond, Eliott, Ferguson, Fleming, Foreman (Standard Bearer), Inche, Inglis, Johnstone, Kirkcaldy, Knolis, Logan, Montgomery, Morton, Muir, Nelson Of Madinpap, Otterbrun, Pitcarin, Pringle, Reid, Rorison, Savage, Scott, Seton, Tunstall, Vallanche, Wood Of Raik, Kennedy, Douglas, Hamilton, Livingstone, Wemyss, Wallace, MacLellan, MacCulloch, MacDowall

Chief Or Notable Head Of House/Family

King James IV, Archbishop Of St.Andrews (King’s Son), Earl Of Morton ( Grandson Of James 1), Earl Of Glencairn, Douglas Of Drumlanrig, Sir James Dunbar, Dundas, Lord Elphinstone, Lord Erskine, Earl Of Huntly, Earl Of Montrose, Sir Alexander Guthrie, Haig Of Bemersyde, Haldane Of Gleneagles, Earl Of Errol, Earl Of Bothwell, Sir William Keith, Earl Of Cassilis, Earl Of Rothes, Earl Of Crawford, MacDowal, Earl Of Garthland, MacFarlane Of Arrochar, Hector MacLean Of Duart, Maxwell Lord Of Carlaverock, Sir John Moncreiffe Of That Ilk, Moray Of Abercairney, Ramsay Of Dalhousie, Rattray Of That Ilk, Rollo Of Duncrub, Master Of Ruthven, Lord Sempill, Lord Seton, Earl Of Caithness, Earl Of Atholl, Earl Of Lennox, Lord Darnley, Master Of Angus, Anstruther Of That Ilk, Ballingall Of That Ilk, Master Of Eliott, Lord Forbes, Master Of Lovat, Sir Alexander Gordon Of Lochinvar, Sir Alexander Gordon Of Knockenshene, Grant Of Freuchie, John Henderson Of Fordell, Lord Alexander Home, Sir Patrick Houston Of That Ilk, William Johnstone Of That Ilk, Lord Keith, Lord Lorn, Lyon (Sons Of Lord Glamis), MacKenzie Of Kintail, Sir Alexander MacNaughton Of That Ilk, Andrew Pitcairn Of Pitcairn And 7 Sons, Lord Ross, William Ruthven Of That Ilk, Sir Walter Scott Of Buccleuch, Alexander Skene Of That Ilk, Sir David Wemyss, Earl Of Argyll, Lord Kinnaird, Master Of Cathcart, MacDonald Of Lochalsh.

—–

The St Giles Service…

Just over 40 clan chiefs  attended the St Giles service. At the end of the service they mustered for a photograph on the steps. To help you identify who was there we have been given a sketch with a key to the names:

1. Sir Walter Riddell of Riddell 2. The Hon. Elizabeth Fairbairn 3. Madam Pauline Hunter of Hunterston 4. Sir David Bannerman of Elsick 5. Lord Polwarth 6. Andrew Wallace Younger of that Ilk 7. Andrew Dewar Durie of Durie CBE 8. Michael Ancram, Marquess of Lothian 9. Andrew MacThomas of Finegand 10. Earl of Dundee 11. David Campbell of Strachur 12. Roderick Macneil of Barra 13. Sir James McGrigor 14. Earl of Eglinton and Winton 15. Professor David Hannay of Kirkdale and of that Ilk 16. Henry Trotter Younger of Charterhall 17. John MacArthur of that Ilk 18. Duncan Paisley of Westerlea 19. Richard Carmichael of Carmichael 20. Earl of Caithness21. Earl of Lauderdale 22. The Hon. Alexander Leslie 23. Earl of Erroll  24. Lord Napier and Ettrick 25. Madam Arabella Kincaid of Kincaid 26. David Cranstoun of that Ilk 27. Jamie Macnab of Macnab 28. Earl of Wemyss and March 29. Sir Crispin Agnew of Lochnaw  30. The Hon. Kate Nicolson 31. Duke of Montrose 32. The Hon. Peregrine Moncreiffe of that Ilk 33. Martin Haldane of Gleneagles 34.  Lord Sempill 35.  Andrew Marjoribanks of that Ilk 36. Donald MacLaren of MacLaren  37.  Duke of Hamilton 38. Field Marshal the Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank 39. Isla St Clair 40. Marquess of Ailsa 41. Madam Margaret Eliott of Redheugh 42. Sir Malcolm MacGregor of MacGregor 43. Lord Macdonald of Macdonald 44.  Richard Oliphant of that Ilk

This image will help you identify the chiefs:

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Sam Heughan

It’s official – Scottish actor Sam Heughan has been cast in the upcoming television adaptation of Outlander. In a statement released yesterday, American cable network Starz confirmed the casting after the news was leaked via Twitter last week.

Heughan will play the role of Jamie Fraser in the drama series based on the international best-selling books by Diana Gabaldon. Adored by fans around the world, the coveted clansman role has been the subject of much speculation since production of the series was confirmed last month. There is still no word on who is set to play female lead Claire Randall.

Reacting to the news, Gabaldon said: “Oh. My. God. That man is a Scot to the bone and Jamie Fraser to the heart. Having seen Sam Heughan not just act, but be Jamie, I feel immensely grateful to the production team for their painstaking attention to the soul of the story and characters.”

Executive Producer Ronald D. Moore said from the very beginning he knew the role would be difficult to cast. “I had no one in mind for the part. I knew that someone would just come into the audition and be Jamie Fraser. And that’s what Sam did.”

Heughan took to Twitter to express his delight at landing the role, tweeting:
He’s going to be in need of the best wig ever to match Jamie’s famous red locks. Filming is set to begin in Scotland in Autumn.

_____

You can read my previous story on the Outlander television series by clicking here.

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The Outlander series spans the genres of romance, historical fiction and sci-fi, and follows Claire Randall who is transported back to Scotland circa 1743 after she touches part of a stone circle near Inverness. While there, she meets a Clan Mackenzie warrior named Jamie Fraser and is torn between him and her husband back in 1945. Their journey leads them throughout Scotland (including the 1745 Jacobite Rising), France, the West Indies and America. The series currently spans seven books, with an eighth due for release later this year.

The television series is due to begin filming in October in the Highlands, and is slated for broadcast in April 2014. Gabaldon is expected to be a consultant and co-producer, with the entire series masterminded by Battlestar Galactica developer Ron Moore. Gabaldon was inspired to create the central character of Jamie after catching a repeat of a Dr Who episode from the 1960s, in which Frazer Hines played a kilted character of the same name from the same era.

Gabaldon previously said: “That’s where I began, knowing nothing about Scotland or the 18th century, with no plot, no outline, no characters – nothing but the rather vague images conjured up by a man in a kilt.” Meticulous background checks and fact finding missions are incredibly important to Gabaldon’s writing process, saying she feels a large amount of responsibility to her readers and the people of the past to maintain historical accuracy.

Lord Jamie Sempill said Gabaldon’s work captures the highly appealing romantic element of the history of the clans. “I believe (the) series has been instrumental in raising awareness of the clan system which has been beneficial in complementing the hard work done by the clan commissioners to increase their membership in North America”. Lord Sempill invited Gabaldon to The Gathering in 2009, where she was invested as a Lady of the Garrison of the 78th Fraser Highlanders.

Gabaldon also recently visited the Mackenzie seat of Castle Leod, where along with clan chief John Mackenzie the Earl of Cromartie planted a Rowan tree in the grounds. Gabaldon is a guardian of Castle Leod, which is said to be the inspiration for the book’s location of Castle Leoch. The books have developed a loyal fan following, with various companies running ‘Jamie and Claire’ tours of Scotland. Starz also recently announced plans for a series centered around Phillipa Gregory’s War of the Roses trilogy entitled The White Queen.

Diana Gabaldon and the Chief of Clan Mackenzie planting a tree at Castle Leod

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