On the 8th of February, 1587 Mary I of Scotland was executed for treason at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire. She was found guilty of conspiring against her cousin Elizabeth of England, and so after 18 years of confinement, Mary was eventually taken to the scaffold where she was beheaded at the age of 44. 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 […]
During our holiday to Mull we saw an amazing variety of wildlife, including this stag that was just stood beside the wee train we were riding to Torosay Castle. We were also very lucky to see a sea otter off the pier at Tobermorary – which is an animal I’ve always wanted to see. The […]
On the Caithness east coast, five miles north of the town of Helmsdale, you will see the ruinous remains of the once inhabited village of Badbea which saw its last resident leave at the start of the 20th century. The Highland Clearances affected thousands of Highland families who were made to move from their homes. […]
At a speech given to a gathering of chiefs at this years Gathering, Robert McWilliam president emeritus of the Council of Scottish Clans and Associations, said that Scotland’s Clans must turn to social networking websites such as facebook and twitter to increase their ranks in the 21st Century. Holyrood was host to the Clan Covention […]
Glamis Castle near Forfar in Angus is Scotland’s, and one of Britain’s most haunted castles. However it is trying to distance itself from the paranormal stories that the place is famous for, and instead attempt to rebrand as a family-friendly visitor attraction. Glamis, a gift from Robert II to Sir John Lyon, is the ancestral […]
The Beatons of Mull, the famous ‘Ollamnh Muileach’, were a family of doctors, whose origins can be traced back to Béthune in France, and are said to have been very talented with a rather unique medical ability. They family were hereditary physicians first to the Lords of the Isles, and then to the MacLeans of […]
The 13th of July, 1680 saw the last significant clan battle to be fought in Scotland, with the Sinclairs, under the command of George Sinclair of Keiss, taking on the Campbells led by Sir John Campbell of Glenorchy, fighting over the right to the Girnigoe Estates in Caithness. In 1676, George Sinclair, the 6th Earl […]
A stunt pulled by the Menie Liberation Front (MLF) has seen around twenty statues in four of Scotland’s cities given a Donald Trump mask and a plastic toy golf club in an attempt at a light hearted protest against the American tycoon’s £1bn golf resort plans for Menie in Aberdeenshire, which Trump claims will be […]
The relationship between Scotland and England wasn’t always as amicable as it is today. From the late 13th century to the 16th century, Scotland and England were constantly at war with each other. This created a lawless environment where crime soared, people from both sides of the border would live more like outlaws, taking advantage […]
