A 5,000-year-old whalebone figurine, one of the oldest representations of a human form ever found in Britain, has been rediscovered after going missing for more than 150 years. The figurine has been dubbed the “Buddo” of Skara Brae a name taken from an Orcadian word meaning ‘friend’. It was carved from a single piece of […]
The Clootie Well, near the village of Munlochy in the heart of The Black Isle. This is sort of an evolution of the tradition of holy wells to which pilgrims would come and make offerings. People would come here because of illness to get healed. The tradition dates far back into pre-Christian times, to the […]
Buried in Edinburgh’s Grey Friars Kirk are the bones of Christian Shaw. Christian came from a fairly wealthy family, and in her adult life became an industrialist who pioneered the invention of thread. Because of this, she’s regarded in relatively high esteem, alongside other Scottish inventors who helped shape our country and economy. But Christian […]
Archaeologists think they have discovered a ‘lost dark age kingdom in Dumfries and Galloway. The sixth century Kingdom of Rheged has always been a mystery, now they believe they have found the Royal Pictish Seat of this Kingdom. The location of Rheged had previously been thought by many historians to be in Cumbria. Pictish carvings […]
Clans and Families attending The Tattoo in August 2017 Updated 16.1.17 1 Here is the latest list of what Clans are marching on what days for The Splash of Tartan. There will be a series of Clan Parades that will take place each night of the Tattoo. This will be a major event within the Clan-themed […]
Clan chiefs have been sending out rallying calls to their Clansmen and Clanswomen all over the world to come and join them at the Edinburgh Tattoo this August. Rather than setting a fire on-top of a hill – this time they’re using the internet. Back in 2009 many of us remember the epic Clan March […]
It may be sister cities with San Diego, but what you might not be familiar with is Edinburgh’s more subtle connection with America’s Windy City. Sprawling 463 feet into the air at the bottom of Chicago’s famous ‘Magnificent Mile’ is the Tribune Tower, home to the Chicago Tribune and an epitome of the American architect’s desire […]
At Howburn Farm in South Lanarkshire, a scattering of flints, discovered by the Biggar Archaeology Group, turned out to be the earliest evidence found of human habitation in Scotland. The flints have been dated between 12,000 and 14,000 B.C. The implements are about 4cm in length, and as many as 40,000 fragments have been uncovered […]
A wonderful story from a broadside (early version of a newspaper) from 1828, about a man who was auctioning off his drunken wife at the Grassmarket in Edinburgh. Details of the extraordinary auction are held by the National Library of Scotland in its vast collection of broadsides, single newssheets which were distributed or pinned up […]
Archaeologists excavating Warren Field, an area next to Crathes Castle in Aberdeenshire from 2004-06 uncovered 12 pits which appear to mimic the phases of the moon and track lunar months. Unusual crop marks had been spotted from the air by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) which led to […]
