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Sunday 29 June 2008

Best Scottish Pottery


Best Scottish Pottery. Crail Pottery, is set amidst a beautiful pot and flower filled yard in the heart of Crail.


Best Scottish Pottery.


Best Scottish Pottery.


Best Scottish Pottery.

Tour Aberdeen, Tour Edinburgh, Tour Glasgow, Tour Inverness, Ancestry Tour of Scotland. Best Scottish Tours, Best Scottish Food, Best Scottish Hotels, Small Group Tours of Scotland, Rent a Cottage in Scotland. Tour Isle of Skye.

Saturday 28 June 2008

Best Scottish Wrestling


Best Scottish Wrestling, today at Ceres Games in Fife, Scotland.

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Friday 27 June 2008

Donald MacLaren Ancestry Tour of Scotland


Donald MacLaren Ancestry Tour of Scotland. This graveatone can be found in Balquhidder Parish Churchyard, The Trossachs, Scotland.

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Tour Balquhidder Scotland on the Best Scottish Tours.

Thursday 26 June 2008

Scottish Ford


A wee Scottish video of Little Glenshee Ford, three miles North of the village of Methven, Perthshire, Scotland. The Ford could not be crossed today as the river was in spate.

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Wednesday 25 June 2008

Scottish West Highland Tales


Scottish West Highland Tales. In the Highlands of Scotland the Seanachie, or Bard, occupies an honoured place in the household of every clan chief. The multitude of tales they told were passed on from generation to generation over many centuries, yet the stories still retain their vivid sharpness and interest. Fitzroy Maclean himself assumes the role of storyteller in this book, with a personal collection of favourite tales from his native land. Ranging from the thousand-year-old tale of ‘Deirdre of the Sorrows’ to tales of brave warriors, treacherous love, and the mischievous or chilling influences of ghosts and spirits, this is an entertaining and evocative collection. Some stories are surprisingly candid and bawdy, some are shocking, many are very amusing, and all are marvellous testaments to the wonders of the human imagination. West Highland Tales.

Sir Fitzroy Maclean of Dunconnel, Fifteenth Keeper and Captain of Dunconnel in the Isles of the Sea, served as a diplomat, as a soldier and as an MP. He also enjoyed considerable success as an author; Eastern Approaches has sold over a million copies worldwide and he subsequently enjoyed huge success with an acclaimed biography of Bonnie Prince Charlie. One of Argyllshire’s best known characters, he lived at Strachur House and died in 1996.

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Scottish Highland Yesterdays


The Back O' the Hill. Highland Yesterdays. This book is a blend of memories of a boyhood spent, just after the war, at Craigag, the earl of Morton's Victorian shooting lodge near Glenfinnan, and a study of the history of that small once-Gaelic place. It is written from the point of view of some scholarship, and from the point of view of someone whose historical and ethnographic research work has been done mostly from Judique in Cape Breton. The author's imaginative and stimulating blend of personal reminiscence and rigorous research demonstrates that Highland history can almost always be, and often best is, done from a local starting point. It exposes the first struggles from ruralism into industrialism on the fringes of Lochaber and Ardgour and what happened in a depopulated area of Gaelic Scotland for a century from 1840. The Back O' the Hill: Highland Yesterdays.

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The Scottish Graveyard Miscellany


The Scottish Graveyard Miscellany. In A Scottish Graveyard Miscellany, Hamish Brown explores in words and extraordinary pictures the folk art of Scottish graveyards from the eighteenth century (when gravestones began to be widely used) to the present day. Each old kirkyard is a riotous celebration of folk art: there are skulls and skeletons, ships and lighthouses, angels galore, carved portraits of our forebears and even a gravestone decorated with a picture of Bart Simpson and his skateboard! More than mere memorials, the graves are a collection of pages in stone taken from the history of Scottish everyday life. Scotland's kirkyards are not gloomy places to be shunned, but places to find vivid stories from the lives of people, without distinction of class or creed. There is much humour in this book, and the photographs throughout taken by the author illustrate better than words why we should look after the unique treasuries in our midst. The Scottish Graveyard Miscellany: The Folk Art of Scotland's Graves.

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Stone of Destiny


Best Scottish Books. Stone of Destiny. This title is now a major Hollywood film starring Robert Carlyle and Billy Boyd. Ian Robertson Hamilton was an unknown law student at Glasgow University until Christmas Eve 1950. On that night, assisted by Alan Stewart, Gavin Vernon and Kay Matheson, he took the Stone of Destiny from beneath the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey and in doing so became a Scottish national hero. In England, however, the act had the opposite effect and a manhunt for the 'vulgar vandals' was started to satisfy the outrage of the English establishment and bring them to justice. In the end, the Stone was given up, but the gang were not charged. This solitary act set Hamilton on a path for the rest of his life from which he has not diverged. Although, it is now nearly sixty years since that fateful night, it is the actual events surrounding the taking of the Stone which hold people spellbound when Hamilton recounts them.In this book, Ian Hamilton has set down the chain of events which led to his decision to go to London, remove the Stone and a minute-by-minute account of the act and the aftermath. But this is not simply a retelling of a stunt that made nationwide news, it is a book about how a nation's conscience was stirred by a symbolic act that changed lives of many. Stone of Destiny.

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Monday 23 June 2008

Margaret Wallace Ancestry Tour of Scotland


Margaret Wallace Ancestry Tour of Scotland. Margaret, the mother of Scottish Hero, William Wallace, is buried in the Dunfermline Abbey Churchyard.

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Sunday 22 June 2008

Best Scottish Clan Donnachaidh Tours


Best Scottish Clan Donnachaidh Tours. With the exception of five Clan Donnachaidh chiefs known to be buried at Dunalastair’s burial ground, and Stout Duncan believed to be at Dull, most if not all Clan Donnachaidh chiefs lie buried at Struan Churchyard, Perthshire, Scotland. Tour Struan Churchyard Scotland.

Saturday 21 June 2008

Best Scottish Folk Museum


Tour Angus Folk Museum, Glamis, Angus, Scotland. Reconstructed farm steading with farmer's bothy as part of the museum. Agricultural exhibits where life on the land is explored. Wonderful exhibitions housed in six 18th century Scottish cottages offering many insights into the domestic and working life of rural farm workers in the beautiful Angus Region of Scotland. Tour Angus Folk Museum Scotland.

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Friday 20 June 2008

William Mathieson Ancestry Tour of Scotland

William Mathieson here lies,
Whose age was forty-one:
February 17 he dies,
Went Isabel Mitchell from,
Who was his married wife,
The fourth part of his life.
The soul it cannot die
Though the body be turned to clay.
Yet meet again they must,
At the last day
Trumpets shall sound, archangels cry,
Come forth Isabel Mitchell
And meet Will Mathieson in the sky!

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Thursday 19 June 2008

Scottish Plague

In a central part of the churchyard of Nigg there is a rude, undressed stone, near which the sexton never ventures to open a grave. A wild apocryphal tradition connects the erection of this stone with the times of the quarantine fleet. The plague, as the story goes, was brought to the place by one of the vessels, and was slowly flying along the ground, disengaged from every vehicle of infection, in the shape of a little yellow cloud. The whole country was alarmed, and groups of people were to be seen on every eminence, watching with anxious horror the progress of the little cloud. They were relieved, however, from their fears and the plague by an ingenious man of Nigg, who, having provided himself with an immense bag of linen, fashioned somewhat in the manner of a fowler's net, cautiously approached the yellow cloud, and, with a skill which could have owed nothing to previous practice, succeeded in enclosing the whole of it in the bag. He then secured it by wrapping it up carefully, fold after fold, and fastening it down with pin after pin; and as the linen was gradually changing, as if under the hands of the dyer, from white to yellow, he consigned it to the churchyard, where it has slept ever since.

Hugh Miller, 1802-56

Scottish Bee Boles

Dear Sandy, I hope your article on Scottish bee boles interested readers. I suggest that you mention the website for the IBRA Register of Bee boles which records all those in the UK: www.ibra.org.uk/beeboles. Viewers can visit the site free and can search by county or place name to see individual records and photos.

The publication page on the website mentions an article I wrote in 1988 re bee boles in Scotland. I have recently written about winter bee houses in Scotland; see
"Recesses used by traditional beekeepers in Scotland to protect skeps in winter". Pp. 21–28 in: Vernacular Building 31. Scottish Vernacular Buildings Working Group. 2007–2008 (Edinburgh: SVBWG, 2008).

One point you ought to mention in your article is that almost all bee boles are on private property and owners must be asked for permission for a visit.

I don't know where you got your total figure for Scotland, but the Register now has records for 228 properties with bee boles (and I am investigating others)!

If any of your readers write in about bee boles they know of, I'd be interested to hear, they may be sites I don't know about! (But please don't publish my email address, there are contact details on our website.)

Penny Walker
Voluntary Curator, IBRA Bee Boles Register

Wednesday 18 June 2008

Aberdeen Angus Cattle Society Perthshire Scotland


Aberdeen Angus Cattle Society, Perth, Perthshire, Scotland. This Scottish website is dedicated to the Aberdeen-Angus breed which is arguably the best known and most numerous beef cattle breed in the world. Since its formation in 1879, the Society has seen the popularity of the breed spread to every corner of the developed world and is proud to have been the fount of the genetics that has gone on to dominate the world's beef industry. Aberdeen-Angus beef and its renowned eating quality has been the driver behind the breed's popularity. The Society is proud of how the breed here at home is now a major player in the beef industry and has aspirations to further develop the market for beef and pedigree stock and to bring tangible benefit to members and their customers. The Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society is a Company Limited by Guarantee, Registered in Scotland No. 926, Scottish Charity No. SC003894 and has its registered office at Pedigree House, 6 King's Place, Perth PH2 8AD.

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Monday 16 June 2008

Scottish Rainbow at Dusk


A Scottish Rainbow today at Dusk.

Sunday 15 June 2008

Scottish Love


Scottish Love.

Scottish Big Drummer


Scottish Big Drummer.

Saturday 14 June 2008

Scottish Wedding Glamis Kirk Angus Scotland


A Scottish Bride arriving today at Glamis Kirk, Angus, Scotland. Although it had been a very dull and cold morning, the sun appeared just in time for this traditional Scottish Wedding.

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Ancestry Tours of Bridge of Allan Scotland


Ancestry Tours of Bridge of Allan, Scotland.

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Friday 13 June 2008

Scottish Deer Sculpture


Scottish Deer Sculpture at Keltneyburn Smiddy, Perthshire, Scotland.

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Scottish Blessings

Dear Sandy, Thank you for sharing those lovely blessings with us. I was looking for one I had known, but couldn't remember well enough, and there it was. It's for my daughter to move into her first flat, with friends, and I'm traditionally minded enough that I felt they needed a house blessing.

Here's a blessing to you:
may the joy of sharing
the beauties of your native land
shine undimmed for you
always.

God bless,
Eilidh.

Ancestry Tours of St Fergus Scotland


Ancestry Tours of St Fergus, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

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Scottish Broom at Dull Perthshire Scotland


Scottish Broom at Dull, Perthshire, Scotland.

Scottish Thistle Perthshire Scotland


A Scottish Thistle today in Perthshire, Scotland.

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Wednesday 11 June 2008

Anna Mhor Ancestry Tour of Scotland


Anna Mhor Ancestry Tour of Scotland. Anna Mhor, sitting at her spinning wheel outside her cottage at Balmacara.

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Ancestry Tours of Stonehaven Scotland


Ancestry Tours of Stonehaven, Scotland.

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Tuesday 10 June 2008

Scottish Battle Axe


" Of course I can recognize a Scottish Battle Axe when I see one, after all I have lived with you for more than thirty years ! "

Monday 9 June 2008

Best Scottish Castle Gardens Scotland


One of the Best Scottish Castle Gardens is Earlshall Castle Gardens, Leuchars, Fife, Scotland. Garden designed by Sir Robert Lorimer. Topiary lawn, for which Earlshall is renowned, rose terrace, croquet lawn with herbaceous borders, shrub border, box garden, orchard, kitchen and herb garden.

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Sunday 8 June 2008

Scottish Graveyard Humor


Scottish Graveyard Humor.

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Saturday 7 June 2008

Scottish Highland Games Solo Piper


A solo piper performing in remembrance of persons who had passed away during the previous year, filmed at a Highland Games in Scotland.

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Scottish Twins


Scottish Twins. "So these are your beautiful twins, Flora ! And don't they look exactly alike!"

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Friday 6 June 2008

Scottish Fainting


Scottish Fainting.

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Thursday 5 June 2008

Scone Palace White Peacock


A white peacock on the grounds of Scone Palace, Perthshire, Scotland.

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Wednesday 4 June 2008

Best Scottish Tours of Braco Castle


Best Scottish Tours of Braco Castle. Braco Castle, Perthshire, Scotland. A 16th Century Scottish tower house with 18th century additions. Braco Castle is a much altered and augmented tower house. A rectangular tower, probably late 16th century, now forming the north-west corner of the building, was extended by Sir William Graham, 2nd son of the 3rd Earl of Montrose. He was uncle to the famous 1st Marquis of Montrose and was created Nova Scotia Baronet of Braco in 1625. General David Graeme, equerry to King George III and MP for Perthshire, added the enormous extension of the same height and general style to the east in the late 18th century to impress his royal master and to enhance his own dignity. Unfortunately the King never came. Finally the U-shaped building was filled in with a lower 'castellated' portion in the Victorian time, probably by George Kellie McCallum. After 1894 Sir William Rennie Watson added to the Victorian service wings to the north east and was also responsible for building the water reservoir further up the hill. The Walled Garden is part walled in stone. The north wall supports a range of glass-houses. The Stables are probably Georgian but have been considerably altered as farm buildings. The Ice-house, situated south-east of the house and south-west of the burn, is constructed of stone overlaid by a mound of earth. The late 19th-century, stone-built Gardener's Cottage lies on the north side of the walled garden. The early 20th-century Indoor Tennis Court is now used as a farm building. The Lodge and Entrance Gateway comprise a single-storey sandstone lodge with semicircular sandstone walls with iron railings.

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Monday 2 June 2008

Scottish Myth and History


Scottish Myth and History. "I believe that the whole history of Scotland has been coloured by myth; and that myth, in Scotland, is never driven out by reality, or by reason, but lingers on until another myth has been discovered, or elaborated, to replace it," so wrote Hugh Trevor-Roper. This book argues that while Anglo-Saxon culture has given rise to virtually no myths at all, myth has played a central role in the historical development of Scottish identity. Trevor-Roper explores three myths across 400 years of Scottish history: the political myth of the 'ancient constitution' of Scotland; the literary myth, including Walter Scott as well as Ossian and ancient poetry; and the sartorial myth of tartan and the kilt, invented ironically by Englishmen in quite modern times. Trevor-Roper reveals myth as an often deliberate cultural construction used to enshrine a people's identity. While his treatment of Scottish myth is highly critical, indeed debunking, he shows how the ritualisation and domestication of Scotland's myths as local colour diverted the Scottish intelligentsia from the path that led German intellectuals to a dangerous myth of racial supremacy This compelling script was left unpublished on Trevor-Roper's death in 2003 and is now made available for the first time. Written with characteristic elegance, lucidity and wit, and containing defiant and challenging opinions, it will absorb and provoke Scottish readers and intrigue many others. The Invention of Scotland: Myth and History.

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Scottish Haymaking


An old view of Scottish Haymaking.

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Sunday 1 June 2008

Best Scottish Tours of Fleshmarket Close


Fleshmarket Close is a real Scottish close, or alley, off The Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland. Fleshmarket Close is also the title of a novel by Scottish Writer, Ian Rankin. Fleshmarket Close.

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