The New Town in Edinburgh is a beautiful area right smack bang in the centre of the city, contrasting greatly with it’s counterpart the Old Town. One straight and neat, in fact considered to be a masterpiece of city planning, the other jumbled and confused but layered in history. Let’s take a look at a very […]
During the week we posted a picture we took when on a visit to the haunting yet beautiful site of the Battle of Culloden, which you can see below… We asked our many fans if they had ever been and if they could share their pictures in an effort to take a look at some […]
I am of the opinion that there is value in pre-colonial indigenous ideas about how to get on in this world and so they are worth exploring. I live in the midst of recognized indigenous cultures in every direction, as far as the eye can see. Some of these cultures are still alive; others just remnants disclosed […]
Scottish Gaelic in the United States truly is a marginalized language and culture, and it has been largely subsumed and reinvented on a very different Anglo-Scottish model. Thus, much of the discussion necessary to set the stage for expanded efforts at Gaelic culture and language recovery and revitalization tends to be a bit dark and more than a little uncomfortable. Such […]
If one looks at Scotland from a certain perspective, it is completely possible to identify two distinct worlds co-existing under one Alban sky. A close reading of north Britain human history reveals about 1,300 post-Roman years of a multi-cultural, multi-lingual, dynamic melting pot of Gaelic, Pict, Norse, Briton and finally Anglo Saxons and Normans. Rich, […]
I wrote a Not Your Father’s Gaelic blog post a few weeks ago wherein I expressed how nice it would be to have neighbors who are aware of and interested in their Scottish Gaelic heritage. Perhaps even neighbors with whom I could joke around in Gaelic! As it is, even my own (Italian American) mother’s eyes […]
Having seen dozens of top ten places to visit in Scotland, mostly compiled by tourist guides who’s writers have barely scratched the surface we felt it was time to weigh in with our personal view. At ScotClans we spend a lot of time travelling to parts of Scotland collecting stories and legends and capturing the […]
Its with no small amount of pride and pleasure that we welcome aboard our latest guest blogger and addition to the ScotClans family, Susan McIntosh. Those of you who move in clan circles may already know her as she is a ‘weel kent face’ to many who have connections with the clan diaspora. Susan has […]
What now Scotland?….. Last Thursday evening I set my alarm for 2am and took to bed early, the fridge was stocked with snacks and beer and a bottle of wine sat in the kitchen, champagne seemed too much like tempting fate. I checked my phone just before 2.00 to find a message from a friend, Clackmannanshire […]
It could be any other lazy, late summer afternoon today in Aberdeen. Sunlight is attempting to squeeze its way through the clouds, seagulls are circling in droves, and ship horns are belching at the city’s bulging harbour. Right on cue, the haar has begun to roll in off the North Sea, making the crowd of […]
