August 29th is the 85th anniversary of the last people leaving St Kilda. For most people, St Kilda is remote and mysterious, a windswept outcrop in the North Atlantic which against all odds supported human habitation for more than 2,000 years (some say this is more like 4,000 years). This lonely island sits in the outermost […]
A report by Paul Macdonald, Swordmaker Further to presenting a talk at Culloden House in April of this year on the topic of Scottish Swords of Legend, I was advised that the Clan Donnachaidh Museum housed a sword with Culloden provenance. As this was on the return route to Edinburgh, stopping in to study the […]
By John W. Patterson, Editor of the Lion’s Face, Clan Farquharson UK This is a personal account on my trip to the Culloden Battle Field and visitor centre. I visited Culloden on August 12th of this year. For those who have never visited, it is a very solemn place. Culloden is a historical site managed […]
A few weeks ago I posted the Scottish news that 16 and 17-year-olds will be voting next May for the 2016 Scottish Parliamentary elections. As noted, next year will be a big year in Scottish politics, potentially including an up or down vote on whether Scotia should schedule a second independence referendum. Over 100,000 16 […]
Sitting on the banks of the Cromarty Firth between Evanton and Dingwall, the Storehouse of Foulis is a fully restored 18th Century building that once housed the rent paid in kind from the Munro estate. Once only visited by horse and cart, the Storehouse now sits alongside the busy A9 with cars zipping past on […]
A young Dundee actress is to take on the lead role of a Highland heroine for a new short film about the Highland Clearances. The Last Footsteps from Home is a haunting story inspired by the real life story of Kate McPherson, a courageous young Scots woman who was forced to leave her family home during the […]
Last week we asked our fantastic audience, or our ScotClans family if you will, a very simple question… What do you think is the most valuable invention/discovery/creation to come from a Scot? You all replied with some amazing answers, so first of all I would like to say thank you. ScotClans really does love having […]
A few years ago I read James Robertson’s excellent book; ‘The Fanatic’. The book tells the story of an Edinburgh tour guide and how he becomes obsessed with the gruesome character he portrays. In one passage of the book the character mentions a place called the ‘Gallow Lee’ an area just beside Leith Walk in […]
Johnnie Armstrong of Gilnockie was once one of the most popular, powerful, and feared clan chiefs in the Scottish borders. However, after his execution in 1530 by order of James V, Clan Armstrong have been without a chief for over 450 years. The Border Reivers were a band of raiders along the Scottish-English border from […]
By the reign of Charles 1, king of both Scotland and England, 1625 to 1649, Border Reiving had been almost eradicated from the English Scottish Border. With some members of a society which was still broken, old habits died hard. Christie’s Will Armstrong was one of a few who still benefited from the product of the ‘reive’.
