In this series of articles Rodger Moffet at ScotClans looks at some of the symbolism used in clan heraldry and explores their meaning and origin. In this episode we look at the powerful border clan, Armstrong. This blog should probably have the working subtitle ‘just when you thought you knew the answer’. I have to […]
Near the highland town of Dingwall sits the village of Strathpeffer, A collection of attractive houses. surrounded by impressive mature trees. A quaint victorian railway station, no longer used, gives away the village’s past as a popular spa destination – the nearby grand old hotel is another sign of a now faded glory. Nestling among […]
On The Fife coast sits the pretty village of Lower Largo. The village was the Birthplace of Alexander Selkirk, the inspiration behind the story of Robinson Crusoe and a sign in the village points to the Juan Fernandez Islands, some 7,500 miles away where Selkirk was a castaway. The history of the area goes back […]
Some of the advantages that accompany engagement with one’s Gaelic heritage are the wonderful and useful bits of relevance that a Gaelic past brings to modern life. That’s right. Lessons learned from a Gaelic perspective can be productively relevant to difficult problems we face today. Consider the following: Gaelic tradition introduces community oriented and inclusive perspective in an increasingly exclusive and inward looking […]
Back in 1978, Gavin Alston, an Aberdeenshire farmer was ploughing his field when he uncovered a 6 foot high Pictish stone. The stone was carved with a distinctive figure carrying an axe, it quickly earned the name the ‘Rhynie Man’, coined from the village in which it was found. It was ploughed up on Barflat Farm […]
Did the Picts did not look like this We see these depictions all the time, of naked blue people adorned with tattoos and maybe a severed head or two. But evidence shows us they looked was quite the opposite. It’s an incomplete jigsaw puzzle as not much is known, but what we do know is […]
