On the 4th of March, two of the ScotClans team (Amanda and Donald) went on a resource finding trip down and around the south west of Scotland. We took in a number of castles and places of interest along the way, as well as enjoying some beautiful scenery. When we set off from Edinburgh it […]
Tuesday saw the sad loss of Iain MacNeil, chief of The MacNeils of Barra. He was 80. A popular Chief he will be missed greatly, especially by the people of Barra. He was a remarkable man who led one of the oldest Clans in Scotland. Born in New York, Iain was also educated in the […]
By the middle of the sixteenth century the Border Reivers had a strangle hold on the lands on each side of the English Scottish Border. None more so than the Elliots and Armstrongs of Liddesdale. Murder, theft, arson, blackmail and feud were the canker of the Border Marches. Whatever resources, initiatives or amendments to the […]
By 1593 the feud that had existed between the Maxwells and the Johnstones, the two most powerful families in south-west Scotland, was to reach its zenith. The feud was long-standing as it had existed for over a century. Whilst the culmination of the feud would result in the Battle of Dryfe Sands which has already […]
Major Duncan Campbell of Inverawe was fatally wounded at the Battle of Carillon in 1758 during the Seven Years’ War. The night before the battle Campbell had a ghostly encounter with his dead foster-brother, and after that meeting he knew that the battle was going to kill him. Years before Duncan Campbell was even […]
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 […]
Clan Gunn is one of Scotland’s oldest Clans, it’s history dating back centuries. The Clan is descended from Vikings, claiming their descent from Sweyn Asleifsson, a warlike Norwegian known as “the Ultimate Viking”. This most northern Clan inhabited Orkney, Sutherland and Caithness. Clan Gunn has been without a chief for more than 200 years. […]
This tiny ruined church sits in solitude overlooking the sea at Trumpan. Once the centre of a medieval village, Trumpan church now stands as a monument to a dark history where an entire population were massacred. Back in the 1500s The MacDonalds and The MacLeods were engaged in fierce clan rivalry. This came to a head in […]
Our roving reporter took this photo of the preparations for the Gathering this weekend – lots more to follow, watch this space, and hope to see lots of you there!
An old Clan feud has resurfaced after plans were announced that the remains of Rob Roy MacGregor were to be dug up. The legendary outlaw is believed to have been buried in Balquhidder, Stirlingshire. But the chief of Clan MacLaren now plans to exhume a body for DNA testing, proving once and for all if […]
