Way back in the days before Urquhart Castle existed in the days when the Great Glen was just starting to have settlers – perhaps some of our Urquhart ancestors before the name of Urquhart was even spoken – and took advantage of its abundant food and resources. It was a fertile valley which made life […]
The Isle of Eigg is situated in the heart of Clanranald country, this small island has very bloody history being involved in every MacDonald rebellion against the crown and in a good many feuds. A lengthy feud between the MacDonalds and the MacLeods in the 16th Century led to the death of 395 MacDonalds in […]
Scottish tradition holds that a member of the MacLachlans of Kilbride travelled to Aberdeen to purchase cattle. While there, he fell in love with the daughter of the Duke of Gordon. The two lovers eloped and eventually settled down and built a home on the island of Seil. After a time, the MacLachlan, his […]
A MacLachlan legend tells of a MacLachlan Chief who would pay his feu duty (a sign of submission to an overlord in true feudal fashion) in a very strange way. The duty itself was a pair of gloves handed over through an annual ceremony which took place over a large rock called Capull Cruaidh. This […]
I came across some MacNeil legends, would be interested in finding out more about them, oranyone else knows any MacNeill of Barra/MacNeill of Colonsay tales? “There is a Saying in the Highlands of Scotland That in the long genealogy of the MacNeils, The biblical Noah is not to be found. For it is said; ‘The […]
Skene Loch is an eerie and forbidding place, particularly on cold evenings in the dead of winter – when the waters on the loch can freeze over. If you were to brave the icy conditions and venture down to the lochside and look across the frozen loch you might see what seems like a mysterious […]
The MacGregors were once the most feared and persecuted clansmen in Scotland – forced to renounce their ancient ancestry or face execution. Clan Gregor was effectively erased from existence after King James VI decreed the name MacGregor should be abolished following the murder of the King’s Forester, killed for hanging some clansmen for poaching. For […]
David Booth an amateur metal-detecting enthusiast came across more than the usual tin cans and coins when he unearthed a collection of 2000 year old Iron Age golden neckbands in a field near Stirling, this amazing find could land him an impressive £460,000 payment. David is a keeper at Blair Drummond Safari park, he had […]
A leading DNA expert has shown that the celtic hero Somerled who was credited with driving the Vikings out of western Scotland was himself descended from a Norseman It had always been believed that Somerled was descended from an ancient royal line going back to when the Scots were living in Ireland. A few years […]
I’ve always been a big fan of the Harry Potter books so was interested to hear that some of the character names came from Greyfriers Graveyard in Edinburgh. The room is which JK Rowling sat to write Harry Potter overlooks Greyfriers graveyard, and in this graveyard are the graves of Tom Riddle and Mcgonagal. The […]
