Having seen dozens of top ten places to visit in Scotland, mostly compiled by tourist guides who’s writers have barely scratched the surface we felt it was time to weigh in with our personal view. At ScotClans we spend a lot of time travelling to parts of Scotland collecting stories and legends and capturing the […]
What now Scotland?….. Last Thursday evening I set my alarm for 2am and took to bed early, the fridge was stocked with snacks and beer and a bottle of wine sat in the kitchen, champagne seemed too much like tempting fate. I checked my phone just before 2.00 to find a message from a friend, Clackmannanshire […]
It could be any other lazy, late summer afternoon today in Aberdeen. Sunlight is attempting to squeeze its way through the clouds, seagulls are circling in droves, and ship horns are belching at the city’s bulging harbour. Right on cue, the haar has begun to roll in off the North Sea, making the crowd of […]
The world is watching Scotland this week. This is nothing new to those of us who know and hold our Alban ancestors in great respect. We have been keeping an affectionate eye on Scotland for hundreds of years. Like tens of millions of others across the globe, I am descended from those of Scotland’s children […]
We have just returned from two amazing weeks spent in Barcelona, Spain. We enjoyed the comfort of a family home during our stay and on our return were welcomed back to our home with a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates, our house all neat and tidy (not like we normally leave it […]
Recently I was reading an article on James VI of Scotland, Who became James I after the Union of the Crowns. I was reminded of a piece I had read some time ago by an Anglo Welsh historian called James Howell. Howell was possibly the first ever professional English language writer and grew up around […]
Until relatively recently rural Scotland was dominated by a narrow clique of aristocrats and landowners; some of whom with titles, deeds and rights stretching back centuries. Often living in castles and mansion houses, these men owned vast tracts of land, counted in the hundreds of thousands of acres; dominated the local political environment and controlled […]
Disney and Pixar are about to release a blockbuster animation that’s set in Scotland entitled ‘Brave’. But if a recent trailer that was released on Youtube is anything to go by it looks like they might need to do a wee bit more research or run the risk of having more than a few angry […]
On the 20th of September 1746 the French ship, L’Heureux, sailed into Loch nan Uamh on the west coast of Scotland; it’s intention to rescue the beleaguered Prince Charles Edward Stuart and take him home. We’re all familiar with the prince’s abortive rebellion of 1745, his attempt to put his father back on the throne […]
On the 19th of May Edinburgh’s two great footballing rivals, Hearts and Hibs will meet on the hallowed turf of Hampden Park in Glasgow to contest one of the oldest sporting competitions in the world – the Scottish Cup. England’s version of this top prize, the FA Cup founded in 1871, is the oldest soccer […]
