Perched atop a hill overlooking the Beauly Firth in Inverness, the Clachnaharry Monument commemorates a particularly fierce battle between Clan Munro and Clan Chattan that occurred in 1454. After a day of sunbathing (in April) in the Highlands, I decided to take advantage of the unusually warm evening and take a walk out to the […]
Lordscairnie Castle – situated on the outskirts of Fife near Moonzie – was built between 1493 and 1498 by Sir Alexander Lindsay, seventh Earl of Crawford. The forlorn ruins are being sold for around £200,000, with selling agent Smiths Gore hoping to find an ‘emotional purchaser’ ready to take on the castle’s challenges. At the […]
Clan Munro has helped to bring a Highland military museum fundraising campaign one step closer to victory. Hector Munro of Foulis, Chief of Clan Munro, has donated £15,000 on behalf of the clan and wider family to the Highlander’s Museum fundraising appeal. The Highlanders are the descendents of Scottish Regiments originally raised from the clans […]
Upon the death of Scottish Doctor and Suffragist Elsie Inglis, Winston Churchill remarked that Inglis and her band of nurses would ‘shine in history’. From a Lady who raised rebel troops, to a seafaring businesswoman, here are five real-life heroines who have shone against the backdrop of Scottish history: Dr. Elsie Inglis – Surgeon and […]
A Braveheart impersonator has been charged with firearms offences after police received a complaint about “a man with a blue face firing a gun”. Adam Watters, who performs dressed as William Wallace in Edinburgh’s tourist hotspots, insists that his weapons are blank-firing replicas and that he has been the victim of heavy-handed policing. Police in […]
Last Friday Amanda and I attended the memorial service for James Charles Macnab of Macnab, 23rd Chief of Clan Macnab. The memorial was held in the Killin Kirk, followed by interment of the ashes of James and his wife Diana on the ancient Macnab burial island of Innis Bhuidhe. The journey from Edinbugh to Killin […]
Nigel Ivan Forbes, 22nd Lord of Forbes and Chief of Clan Forbes, has died aged 95. A distinguished parliamentarian and businessman, Forbes was premier baron of Scotland and possibly the last surviving member of Scotland’s Representative Peers. Forbes had a deep love of the Aberdeenshire countryside, and a lifelong interest in photography which led […]
American television network ABC has scraped plans to create a sweeping TV drama set in the Highlands. Described as a ‘tartan Game of Thrones‘, the series was to be set in medieval times when the great Clans battled one another and Viking invaders. Tentatively titled The Clan or Highlanders, a significant amount of the series’ […]
One of the most fascinating things about Scotland is the way that a country steeped in history and tradition is colliding with the new. This is especially true of Scotland’s clans – distinguished by heraldry tracing back over a thousand years – and how this is manifesting itself in modern life. Last week I had […]
In 1545 the aptly titled War of Rough Wooing was in full, ruthless swing. In order to gain Scotland’s allegiance to England, King Henry VIII employed the curious tactic of scorching and pillaging Scotland into submission. In retaliation, approximately 2,500 Scottish soldiers were raised by the Chief of Clan Douglas, Archibald Douglas 6th Earl of […]
