As part of the Homecoming Scotland celebrations, a poll was held by STV to see who the public believes the greatest ever Scot is. Thousands of people were said to have voted from the list of 35 nominees, with Robert Burns, perhaps aptly, generating the most popularity. Homecoming Scotland 2009 has Burns as its focus, […]
The 30th of November is celebrated by Christians across the world as Saint Andrew’s day; remembering the day that Andrew, one of the Jesus’ twelve apostles, was martyred by crucifixion on an X-shaped cross, also known now as a ‘St Andrew’s Cross’, in Patras, in Greece. However, for Scots, the day is more about celebrating […]
The eldest son of ‘Auld’ (Old) Wat of Harden was William Scott who would succeed his father as Baron of Harden and be knighted by James VI. Harden House is still to be seen about three miles south of Hawick in the Scottish Borders as is the deep glen where Auld Wat hid the cattle […]
Today is the third, and final, Friday the 13th of 2009, and the date has long been associated with superstition and bad luck. The number 13 is considered awkward and irregular because of the ‘completeness’ of the number twelve, which is reflected by the twelve months of the year, twelve hours of the clock, the […]
The Lords Forrester were a principal family in the Corstorphine area of Edinburgh. Their main home was Corstorphine Castle, a 14th century stronghold which, by the 18th century, was nothing but ruins, and today nothing of the castle remains but a 16th century dovecot. Sometime during the 17th century, a James Forrester was laird at […]
Sir John Carmichael of that Ilk was murdered in June 1600 by a party of Scottish Reivers as he rode from Langholm to Lochmaben to attend a Warden Court. Sir John was born in 1542, son to an illustrious family which hailed from Lanarkshire. He was a direct ancestor of the Earls of Hindford. He […]
John Ross was considered one of the greatest chiefs of the Cherokee tribe, having been chief for nearly 40 years from 1828 to 1866, the year of his death. However, John was not how many would have imagined a typical 19th century chief of a Native American tribe to be like. Infact, Ross was politician […]
Major Duncan Campbell of Inverawe was fatally wounded at the Battle of Carillon in 1758 during the Seven Years’ War. The night before the battle Campbell had a ghostly encounter with his dead foster-brother, and after that meeting he knew that the battle was going to kill him. Years before Duncan Campbell was even […]
Renowned archaeologist Dr. Tony Pollard will be hoping that the remains of soldiers from Scotland will be found buried in the German town of Lützen. Under a modern-day supermarket in the east German town, archaeologists believe they have found the final resting place of some of the soldiers who fought in a battle during the […]
It is said, according Scottish myth, that Merlin, the wizard from Arthurian legend, is buried in the Borders town of Drumelzier. However, there are many different versions of what actually happened to Merlin, ranging from his own prophecy of a “triple death” to slightly more supernatural accounts of him being imprisoned in a tree and […]
