With over 20 million copies sold, Diana Gabaldon’s hugely successful series of novels set in the Highlands has been greenlit for televison. Outlander centres around a love story between an 18th Century Mackenzie clansman and a 20th Century WWII nurse, and has received a 16-episode order from American cable network Starz. The Outlander series spans […]
A map of Great Britain’s most popular surnames shows the dominance that clan areas still hold in Scotland, while other areas show the effects of modern-day immigration. Created by experts from three English Universities, Uncertainty of Identity uses surnames listed on the electoral roll to find the three most popular names in each electoral ward. […]
A few days ago we were walking around the North end of Glencoe. A forest path eventually takes you to a rocky outcrop called “Tom a’ Ghrianain”. The legend has it that this hill was the site of a beacon which would be lit by the clan in time of emergencies or when they needed […]
Ard Hill is a wooded promontory on Lochalsh, south of Reraig. It is enshrined in MacKenzie Clan Law. When the Clan needed to communicate with all it’s Clan members, usually to rally them in times of trouble, a barrel of tar would be set alight at the top of the hill. This image of […]
The ruins of Castle Strome sit in the picturesque headland which once formed part of the ancient earldom of Ross. It became the focus of Clan fighting due to it’s strategic location between the lands of the MacDonalds of Glengarry and the MacKenzies of Kintail. The castle was built in the early 15th Century and […]
The BBC has begun the re-broadcast of the series ‘Scotland’s Clans’ with the story of Clan Armstrong. This was broadcast here in the UK on Monday night and is available online on the BBCi Player. I have to say that the presentation was first rate and whilst there will no doubt be a few that […]
