Vacation Scotland

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, [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

To some it is the holiest day of the year, to others a holiday filled with bunny rabbits and chocolate eggs; but over 1300 years ago the celebration and dating of Easter was a controversial ecumenical hot potato that pitted the might of the Papacy against the Abbey of Iona on Scotland’s west coast, and [...]

Edinburgh Castle, sitting high on its rock dominates the city; an icon of the nation and the top tourist attraction in Britain outside London. But, Edinburgh has another castle, less well known, less frequented but also steeped in the rich and often bloody history of Scotland: Craigmillar Castle. Craigmillar sits on a rocky outcrop about [...]

Edinburgh in 1800 was a grim place to be: disease was rife and life expectancy was low. The Old Town had degenerated into a horrific slum with death-trap wooden tenements stretching 14 storeys into the sky. Murderous crime and punitive punishment was a part of every day life; and all the while there was a [...]

Lying to the far north of Scotland are the amazing Orkney Islands; a genuine treasure trove of history, stunning scenery and prehistoric riches. There are standing stones circles and complex burial chambers erected by our Neolithic ancestors over 5000 years ago; a perfectly preserved stone age village; breathtaking cliffs abundant with some of Europe’s largest [...]

25,000 years ago Scotlandwas buried under a huge ice-cap over 4000ft thick; and as it slowly flowed towards the oceans the action at the base ground away nearly everything in its path, carving through the bedrock. As the ice moved down the Forth valley it reached an immovable object: Edinburgh Castle Rock; a tough plug [...]