In 1545 the aptly titled War of Rough Wooing was in full, ruthless swing. In order to gain Scotland’s allegiance to England, King Henry VIII employed the curious tactic of scorching and pillaging Scotland into submission. In retaliation, approximately 2,500 Scottish soldiers were raised by the Chief of Clan Douglas, Archibald Douglas 6th Earl of […]
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have discovered accounts dating back more than one hundred years of Morag of Loch Morar. The descriptions paint a conflicting view of the monster, who is reputed to inhabit the Loch in the remote Lochaber area of the Highlands. One account describes her as a mermaid-like creature with flowing […]
A handwritten, unpublished work by a Scottish music hall performer known as the world’s worst poet is set to fetch thousands of pounds at auction. Edinburgh-born William McGonagall, won notoriety in the 19th century as an extremely bad poet, and to this day is regarded as the worst in English literature. His works were so […]
THE world’s top haggis hurler Alan Pettigrew has announced he is to quit before his 29 year old record is broken. His world record was set in 1984 when he threw a 1lb 8oz haggis 180ft and 10in on the island of Inchmurrin on Loch Lomond. But the retired school janitor, from Saltcoats, Ayrshire, fears […]
Today marks the 321st anniversary of the Massacre of Glencoe, in which 38 MacDonald of Glencoe clansmen were murdered on direct orders from the crown. The death warrant signed by King William III provided flames to fuel the Jacobite’s cause and subsequent rebellions, and contributed to generations of unease between the MacDonald and Campbell Clans. […]
A new soundtrack by a Scottish composer has been influenced by the infamous Highland Clearances of the 18th and 19th Centuries. Kildonan, the latest work by Sutherland based composer Robert Aitken, draws on traditional, contemporary and classical styles to create an album that evokes the forced eviction of people from their lands. During the industrial […]
On a sunny morning in September 1928, Scottish biologist Sir Alexander Fleming accidentally made one of the most important medicinal discoveries of all time. After returning from holiday with his family, he noticed that one of the cultures of bacteria he had left sitting on a bench in his laboratory had developed mould which had […]
Here’s a strange case of life imitating art from Inverness, with news just in that rivals Hitchcock’s 1963 horror The Birds: A giant Eagle Owl is to blame for attacks on pedestrians over the last week on Castle Street. Police have warned residents to keep clear of the giant bird of prey, who has taken […]
It has been recently suggested that the centuries-long rivalry between Scotland’s capital and Scotland’s largest city all started over bread. It seems to have begun in 1656 when the Glasgow town council spoke of their worries about the low quality of bread its local bakeries were producing, and two bakers from neighbouring Edinburgh cheekily offered […]
