Vacation Scotland

Scotch to Bourbon – The Lost Migration

The Great Grey Man of Ben Macdui

Scotland – the Patchwork Kingdom

Planning a Scottish Ancestral Tour

Easter and the Synod of Whitby

Edinburgh’s Other Castle – Craigmillar

January 12, 2013

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With the exception of around 60,000 native Gaelic speakers, most Scots are English monoglots: that is they can only speak, read and understand English. All languages impart a ‘view’ of the world, and as a result we see our land and our culture through the medium of the English tongue. Gaels, people who speak Gaelic, [...]

July 26, 2012

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Famous Scottish Breeds

Scotland is known the world over for its natural beauty, its wilderness and stunning landscapes; all rich in a flora and fauna increasing rare acrossWestern Europe. Yet, Scotland is also renowned for some famous and familiar breeds of domesticated animals as well. Recent genetic work has shown that all modern cattle breeds in Europe draw [...]

June 25, 2012

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Mary of Guise

On Sunday 7th of August 1548 the five year old Queen of Scotland was smuggled under cloak of darkness from the realm of her ancestors and shipped across the sea toFrance. The immediate and most dangerous reason for the move was the real threat posed by her uncle, the wife-slaughtering king of England, Henry VIII [...]

June 24, 2012

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Scotch to Bourbon – The Lost Migration

From the very start of European settlement in North America, the new arrivals brought their various alcohol making skills with them. The most profitable early colonies were in the Caribbean; where sugar and tobacco were making the merchants back in Glasgow, Liverpool and London very, very rich. One of the key markets for the sugar [...]

May 10, 2012

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Filmset Scotland

The Glenfinnan Viaduct in the west Highlands is an iconic image: a long, curving bridge spanning a deep valley amid a stunning backdrop of mountain and lake. You’ll find it on postcards, calendars, tourist board advertising and in several movies. Perhaps the most famous is in the Harry Potter films, when the train is crossing [...]

May 5, 2012

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A Scottish Horror Story

A great thing about a Vacation Scotland tour is that it takes you to corners of the country that perhaps you would never venture to otherwise. As well as scenery and history, what I love as much as anything are the local tales and folklore – and no tale is more bizarre, indeed more gruesome [...]

April 21, 2012

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The Great Grey Man of Ben Macdui

For the last 50 years or so the Northern Corries of the Cairngorm Mountains have been a winter playground for skiers and snowboarders alike, with months of deep snow covering the high peaks. In summer however, with only a few secluded snow patches left, these craggy slopes become the preserve of the intrepid few who [...]

April 19, 2012

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Scotland – the Patchwork Kingdom

The Kingdom of Scotland is really a patchwork of territories: of counties and regions, of Earldoms and Lordships, of Clan lands and great provinces. Each in its own way reflects the diversity of our small country; from the old Scandinavian world of the Northern Isles, to the Gaelic communities of the Hebrides and all the [...]

April 16, 2012

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The Pass of the Cattle

Many of Scotland’s place names reflect a distant past when evangelical monks wandered the country trying to convert the locals during the so-called Dark Ages. Many of these priests left an indelible mark, and were canonised as Celtic Saints; and one such was St Mael Rubha (who’s name we find in Loch Maree) who preached [...]

April 16, 2012

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The Pass of Killiecrankie

The Great North Road, the A9 Highway slices northwards into the Highlands at Dunkeld and then follows the Rivers Tay and Tummel to Pitlochry before reaching a formidable barrier at Killiecrankie. For centuries the narrow gorge and steep mountain slopes looming large above have provide an engineering challenge for any road builder carving a route [...]