The Declaration of Arbroath is one of Scotland’s most famous documents. Scotland’s great cry of independence and freedom from the (then) yoke of the English. As with all great moments in history they do tend to appear on all manner of tourist souvenirs; there are Declaration of Arbroath fridge magnets, Declaration tea towels, probably even […]
This week sees the return of the historically significant Glenfinnan Stone to Scotland. It is a round, weatherworn stone, about 12 inches in diameter, with a hole carved out at its centre, supposedly for the purpose of supporting the standard carried by Bonnie Prince Charlie when he arived at the shores of Loch Shiel. This […]
Two Scottish companies have now been asked to supply textiles for the redecoration of the White House. Biggar company, Calzeat Ltd were commissioned in January by Los Angeles designer Michael Smith to provide fabric for curtains which will hang in the First Family’s private apartments. Another company, Perth-based MacNaughton Holdings, have now received an order […]
Scotclans was at the Edinburgh Twitter Festival (Twestival)last night. We saw quite a few nice kilts, met some intersting people and raised lots of money for the charity ‘Water’. We failed however, to win the raffle! We have our own twitter page where we’ve been trying to make some Clan connections – feel free to […]
We had a phone call from a stressed bride-to-be today (not an unusual occurrence) Shed been in a kiltmakers on Edinburgh’s Royal mile and had asked about having a tartan garter made up in her own tartan. When she asked where she might be able to obtain such an item the rather dour shop assistant […]
This year is the bicentennial of Charles Darwin’s birth and 150 years since the publication of his masterpiece, The Origin of Species. The inspiration he found in visiting the Galapagos Islands is very well known, but in the Editorial, ‘Darwin in Scotland’ by Dominic J. McCafferty (The Glasgow Naturalist-2009), we find that the time Darwin […]
Scottish lawyers are noticing a significant rise in the number of men seeking divorce in Scotland. Apparently they stand to benefit significantly from Scottish laws in which a “clean break” dividing of assets is the norm, as opposed to English divorce laws in which the non-earner is generally granted a lump sum plus a share […]
Any Fletchers or Inglises out there? Check out the new histories for these clans! For example, Andrew Fletcher (1653) was a politician who campaigned for the rights of the Scottish people and opposed the Act of the Union in 1707, and Elsie Inglis, who made history furthering the cause of women’s liberation. Look out for […]
The Scottish Conservative Party has invited Barack Obama to mark his inauguration as US president by creating his own tartan. Apparently the new president’s roots can be traced back to William the Lion, who ruled from 1165 to 1214, through Mr Obama’s maternal ancestor, Edward FitzRandolph, who is said to have emigrated to America during […]
There is a fantastic new site: scotlandsimages.com which is an archive of Scotland’s national collections: The National Archives; The National Library; the National Museums; the National Trust for Scotland; and the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments. I have personally been very interested in the St Kilda images. Here are my pictures from when […]
