On Sunday 4th June a local piper was cuffed by the police in front of shocked tourists after playing his bagpipes too loudly, yes I’m serious, bagpipes too loud * head in hands* John McDonald was arrested on Edinburgh’s historic Royal Mile. He had been given a warning as part of a Edinburgh City […]
From the fancy dress import kilts that you see on Edinburgh’s historic Royal Mile, which are now also starting to appear around the International Scottish highland games. To the kilts redesigned for genuine reasons and also the modern takes on the kilt that still show great respect to the original garment. Scottish Kilts made by […]
Dundonald Castle is not one of Scotland’s most famous castles, yet it deserves to be. To look at the ruins now, sitting atop a hill in Ayrshire, you wouldn’t realise that it was once a royal residence, and that it played a crucial role in Scotland’s history. Dundonald has been called the cradle of the […]
A few weeks ago my son and I decided to create a circular route around the centre of Edinburgh that took in as many as possible of the ‘essential sights’ This week we came up with a plan to create a second walking tour but this time one that explored the New Town and covered […]
Edinburgh is one of Europe’s top visitor destinations and we have had many people ask ‘I only have one day to spend in Edinburgh – what should I see?” In many cities it would be virtually impossible to take in the main sights in one day without taking an open top bus tour or a handy […]
Oh deary me, where on earth do I start. There is a story stating that, it was, in fact an Englishman who invented the small kilt, the forerunner of the kilt we wear today. This comes from a letter that was published in a popular pamphlet of the time ‘The Edinburgh Magazine’ in 1785 Now, […]
Day 1 of our Orcadian Adventure For February break we decided to take a family trip to Orkney, it’s one place in Scotland we have never been to. We caught the ferry from Gills Bay to St Margaret’s Hope. A fun 1 hour trip. The departure was at 1.30 so it was a very early […]
After the ’45 uprising, Scotland was needed to be ‘brought to heel’, and the army showed little mercy. Jacobites were rounded up, imprisoned or executed. Hanoverian forces were held back by poor mapping, a great Military Survey of Scotland, “undertaken by order of William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland”, was commissioned. William Roy, a factor’s son […]
Border reivers were raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border from the late 13th century to the beginning of the 17th century. These were rugged, tough people who enforced their own brutal code of conduct in what was to be known as the 300 Year War. There are 77 predominant family names who can claim to have […]
A short distance from Glasgow city centre on the south bank of the Clyde is an area known as The Gorbals. The origins of the Gorbals are quite surprising – most people, myself included just think of the history of slums associated with this area, but The Gorbals started off as a small village centred on one street, […]
