The relationship between Scotland and England wasn’t always as amicable as it is today. From the late 13th century to the 16th century, Scotland and England were constantly at war with each other. This created a lawless environment where crime soared, people from both sides of the border would live more like outlaws, taking advantage […]
Thomas Learmonth from Ercildoune (now Earlston), better known as Thomas the Rhymer was a 13th century Laird, poet and a supposed prophet. Legend tells us how Thomas the Rhymer went out walking one day and fell asleep beneath a tree on the side of the Eildon Hills. He awoke to find a shining woman sitting […]
Clan Gunn is one of Scotland’s oldest Clans, it’s history dating back centuries. The Clan is descended from Vikings, claiming their descent from Sweyn Asleifsson, a warlike Norwegian known as “the Ultimate Viking”. This most northern Clan inhabited Orkney, Sutherland and Caithness. Clan Gunn has been without a chief for more than 200 years. […]
Having discovered the game of tennis while in captivity as a child, King James I had his own court built when he returned to Scotland in 1424. When he was constantly losing balls down a nearby sewer, he ordered it to be blocked up. James I had numerous enemies – the nobilty were unhappy with […]
An old Clan feud has resurfaced after plans were announced that the remains of Rob Roy MacGregor were to be dug up. The legendary outlaw is believed to have been buried in Balquhidder, Stirlingshire. But the chief of Clan MacLaren now plans to exhume a body for DNA testing, proving once and for all if […]
The year of Homecoming is upon us, when expats and people from abroad with Scottish blood return to their homeland to celebrate all things Scottish. But 217 years ago, the Government were doing quite the opposite, Scots were being banished from their homeland, threatened with execution if they refused. Amid the backdrop of […]
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 […]
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 […]
Any Fletchers or Inglises out there? Check out the new histories for these clans! For example, Andrew Fletcher (1653) was a politician who campaigned for the rights of the Scottish people and opposed the Act of the Union in 1707, and Elsie Inglis, who made history furthering the cause of women’s liberation. Look out for […]
The Scottish Conservative Party has invited Barack Obama to mark his inauguration as US president by creating his own tartan. Apparently the new president’s roots can be traced back to William the Lion, who ruled from 1165 to 1214, through Mr Obama’s maternal ancestor, Edward FitzRandolph, who is said to have emigrated to America during […]
