The Scottish Register of Tartans has been criticised for including designs in their repository by Disney, a German Pipe Smokers group and Peter Rabbit. The Government register, which provides a definitive resource for protecting and promoting tartans, has come under fire by Scottish Members of Parliament, claiming the approval process needs to be changed to […]
Around Edinburgh at the moment signs of the post-festive season are evident, and life is slowly returning to normal. Discarded, tired Christmas trees lie on the pavements waiting patiently for someone to come and remove them, tram preparation has resumed on Princes Street after Hogmanay celebrations, and pubs seem to be quieter than usual as […]
The British architect Graeme Shankland once said: “A country without a past has the emptiness of a barren continent, and a city without old buildings is like a man without a memory.” Historic sites serve as a reminder of our past, help us to understand our culture and give clues as to where we may […]
New Zealand is a rather funny wee place. One of its defining features is the mishmash of cultures from all around the world that have gathered together on a few tiny islands far away in the depths of the South Pacific. You can find a sushi bar on almost every street corner, you’ll see men […]
Some details have finally been released about a clan event happening in 2014 as part of the Homecoming Scotland 2014 celebrations. The original dates of 11 – 13 July, 2014 announced have now changed, and the revised plan is to centre a general clan gathering directly around the Bannockburn 700th Anniversary activities in the last […]
16th century Scotland was a dangerous place for those in the higher echelons of society. Apart from the likelihood of dying on the battlefield or being murdered as the result of a local feud, it was not uncommon to fall foul of the executioner’s axe. Death by execution was quite a common occurrence and was […]
Until relatively recently rural Scotland was dominated by a narrow clique of aristocrats and landowners; some of whom with titles, deeds and rights stretching back centuries. Often living in castles and mansion houses, these men owned vast tracts of land, counted in the hundreds of thousands of acres; dominated the local political environment and controlled […]
John Murray, the Chief of the Murray clans and 11th Duke of Atholl has died in a South African hospital on Tuesday, 15th May after suffering a stroke. He was 83. The Johannesburg born Murray became Clan Chief and inherited the Dukedom after his cousin George Murray, 10th Duke of Atholl passed away unmarried in […]
On the 20th of September 1746 the French ship, L’Heureux, sailed into Loch nan Uamh on the west coast of Scotland; it’s intention to rescue the beleaguered Prince Charles Edward Stuart and take him home. We’re all familiar with the prince’s abortive rebellion of 1745, his attempt to put his father back on the throne […]
On the 19th of May Edinburgh’s two great footballing rivals, Hearts and Hibs will meet on the hallowed turf of Hampden Park in Glasgow to contest one of the oldest sporting competitions in the world – the Scottish Cup. England’s version of this top prize, the FA Cup founded in 1871, is the oldest soccer […]
