The Thompson’s Curse
There’s a very old, very little known tale connected with the Thompson Clan. Four brothers and five sisters lived on a beautiful bay in the island of Arran at Machrie. The sisters do not feature in this tale as they all lived very long lives. The bay at Machrie was famous for it’s beauty, and […]
The Annat Skull
There’s a superstition in Applecross/Torridon area of Scotland that relates to the Annat skull in which water sipped from the skull of a female suicide is a supposed cure for epilepsy. The poor woman (C. M. Robertson) is thought to have been the daughter in law of the Garve Wizzard who is said to have […]
Messages from WW2 soldiers at Dundas Castle
We recently visited Dundas Castle – located in South Queensferry this castle is now the stately home of Sir Jack and Lady Stewart-Clark, but was formerly a home of Clan Dundas The commanding views over the Forth made this castle an important part of Scotland’s defence during the Second World War. In 1938 a […]
Scots of the world create a 'Special Piece of History'
Did you know that at one time Scotland was almost covered in dense forest? The great Caledonian forest covered nearly 80% of the country from shore to shore. Sadly now though despite the work in Scottish forestry the UK now only has 12% woodland compared to the European average of 32%. In a unique initiative […]
Virtual Clan Gathering
Getting Clan members together is extremely difficult, generations have scattered to every corner of the world. A small remote museum in the Highlands is planning an inventive way to get the member’s of the MacKay Clan together, it has organised a virtual clan gathering. The museum has invited members of Clan MacKay to send in […]
What are this clan’s great stories?
We are looking for great stories to turn into blogs for this clan/family. Do you know of any? These could be news, history, myths, photos anything of interest. If you can help, please email Amanda: amanda@scotclans.com Thank you!
Scottish places mentioned in songs
A challenge has been set by our Twitter supporter BergFulton to find songs that mention specific sites/cities in Scotland. Bonus points if the band is not actually Scottish …. So here we are: Lochaber no more, sutherland no more Lewis no more Skye no more. Bathgate no more Linwood no more Methil no more Irvine […]
Freedom and Chips Please!
The Declaration of Arbroath is one of Scotland’s most famous documents. Scotland’s great cry of independence and freedom from the (then) yoke of the English. As with all great moments in history they do tend to appear on all manner of tourist souvenirs; there are Declaration of Arbroath fridge magnets, Declaration tea towels, probably even […]
Glenfinnan Stone found at last
This week sees the return of the historically significant Glenfinnan Stone to Scotland. It is a round, weatherworn stone, about 12 inches in diameter, with a hole carved out at its centre, supposedly for the purpose of supporting the standard carried by Bonnie Prince Charlie when he arived at the shores of Loch Shiel. This […]