For a long time in the fifteenth century and beyond the families of Cunninghams of Glancairn and the Montgomeries of Eglinton were deadly and bitter rivals, a bloody feud that makes Romeo and Juliet looks like child’s play. It was described by John Lesie (exiled bishop of Ross who wrote the ‘Historie of Scotland’) as ‘the auldest […]
This mask could come straight from a horror film, originally it even had false teeth stitched into it’s mouth. It’s made of leather and the hair is all real human hair. This mask was first discovered in the 1840s in a cottage near Cumnock. Along with the wig and a sword it had just been […]
A few weeks ago, we took a peek into the late nineteenth-century world of frontier Colorado with a most remarkable little Victorian era explorer named Lady Isabella Bird. On one of her many adventurous journeys around the globe, Englishwoman Lady Isabella introduced us to the Chalmers family in the foothills of the front range in […]
Before Christmas just passed there were various threads on Scottish Clans and Families about rights to the title ‘Scot’ or ‘Scottish’. Far from a relatively minor Facebook debate, there was an issue at stake – how we Scots (if I may be so bold) regard our diaspora cousins. Amanda (who is English, by the way) […]
Isle Maree is a tiny wooded island on Loch Maree in Wester Ross. Loch Maree is the largest loch in the North West of Scotland and lies in a glacial trough. There are 66 islands on Loch Maree. Isle Maree may be one of the smallest islands on the loch but this tiny island […]
One of the things that discourages individuals from recognizing and exploring, not to mention enjoying, their Scottish Gaelic heritage is the widespread view that the only distinct aspect of Gaelic culture was, and is, its Celtic language. Many people consciously and unconsciously are assured that beyond “Ceud Mile Failte” and “Slainte”, Gaelic culture is basically little […]
In 1873, an astoundingly plucky young woman made it her strong desire to visit a primitive Rocky Mountain supply outpost in the valley of the Big Thompson river. The place was called Estes Park and it had only recently sprouted up from pure wilderness in Colorado Territory’s northern mountains (Colorado would not enter the union as a state for another three years). Constantly […]
Any cattleman worth his salt will tell you that he’s in the grass business. He either grows it himself or takes his cows where it grows up naturally. That means that it is not so much the cow that deserves attention. The important thing is the land and the water – when water is available, […]
Some of the advantages that accompany engagement with one’s Gaelic heritage are the wonderful and useful bits of relevance that a Gaelic past brings to modern life. That’s right. Lessons learned from a Gaelic perspective can be productively relevant to difficult problems we face today. Consider the following: Gaelic tradition introduces community oriented and inclusive perspective in an increasingly exclusive and inward looking […]
Dunphail Castle, a few miles south of Forres, Moray, was a property of the Comyn’s that was besieged in 1330. Five headless ghosts are supposed to have haunted Dunphail Castle near Forres. This was a Cummings Clan Castle and was under seige from the Earl of Moray. Five of the defenders of the castle (Alasdair Comyn […]
