This is a story written by one of our customers about their kilt and the remaking of it. It was written by Todd R. Nelson After forty-two years, it was time for my kilt to pass to the next generation. In doing so, I learned a bit more about it, retrofitting memories as well as […]
I recently ran a stall at The MacLennan Gathering in Inverness, around a quarter of those attending had travelled from New Zealand and proudly claimed Scottish ancestry. New Zealand is place that couldn’t be further away from Scotland on the map but it’s inhabitants make up a good percentage of The Scottish Diaspora. So inspired by the […]
Dundonald Castle is not one of Scotland’s most famous castles, yet it deserves to be. To look at the ruins now, sitting atop a hill in Ayrshire, you wouldn’t realise that it was once a royal residence, and that it played a crucial role in Scotland’s history. Dundonald has been called the cradle of the […]
Day 1 of our Orcadian Adventure For February break we decided to take a family trip to Orkney, it’s one place in Scotland we have never been to. We caught the ferry from Gills Bay to St Margaret’s Hope. A fun 1 hour trip. The departure was at 1.30 so it was a very early […]
After the ’45 uprising, Scotland was needed to be ‘brought to heel’, and the army showed little mercy. Jacobites were rounded up, imprisoned or executed. Hanoverian forces were held back by poor mapping, a great Military Survey of Scotland, “undertaken by order of William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland”, was commissioned. William Roy, a factor’s son […]
Border reivers were raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border from the late 13th century to the beginning of the 17th century. These were rugged, tough people who enforced their own brutal code of conduct in what was to be known as the 300 Year War. There are 77 predominant family names who can claim to have […]
A short distance from Glasgow city centre on the south bank of the Clyde is an area known as The Gorbals. The origins of the Gorbals are quite surprising – most people, myself included just think of the history of slums associated with this area, but The Gorbals started off as a small village centred on one street, […]
A rare 17th Century map found hidden by a chimney on the Castle Fraser estate has been returned home to Aberdeenshire. The incredible rare document, one of only three created by Dutch engraver Gerald Valck, was discovered in Drumnahoy House, then part of the castle estate, during the 1980s. Paula Swan, property manager at Castle […]
Many mysteries and conflicting stories surround Dunderave Castle, a castle which stands in grand solitude on a rocky point jutting out into the silver waters of Loch Fyne. The setting only magnifies the mystery and magic of the place. By 1710 she fell into the clutches of the Argyll Campbells and her splendour declined until she was […]
A style of chair that goes back centuries. The iconic Orkney Hooded Chair was traditionally made from driftwood washed up from the sea. Timber in Orkney is scarce so islanders would use other materials to make furniture. The earliest version of the chair was more like a low round stool covered with straw. From this it […]
