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Posted on February 7, 2013 by | 4 views | comments
Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, was descended from a Norman knight, Robert de Bruce, who came to England with William the Conqueror. His grandfather had been one of the 13 claimants to the Scottish throne in 1291, during the reign of the English king Edward I. Edward had chosen John de Balliol, an ...
Posted on February 7, 2013 by | 4 views | comments
“As we were sailing down the loch in my boat we were suddenly disturbed and frightened by a thing that surfaced behind us. We watched it catch us up then bump into the side of the boat, the impact sent a kettle of water I was heating onto the floor. I ran into the cabin to turn the gas off as the ...
Posted on February 7, 2013 by | 4 views | comments
The year was 1890 and John Norman Collie, a respected scientist and explorer was walking in the Cairngorms. This area now popular with tourists, mountaineers and skiers was an even more desolate and unexplored spot back then. As he approached the summit of Ben MacDhui, The highest peak in this ran...
Posted on February 7, 2013 by | 4 views | comments
Throughout history there are incidents that at the time may seem small or even insignificant, the action of a few individuals who would normally be considered mere spectators in the pageant of history. Some obvious incidents come to mind; The Boston Tea Party or the assassination of Archduke Ferdina...
Posted on February 7, 2013 by | 4 views | comments
Even since the first wild dog came sniffing around a stone age camp fire looking for scraps our relationship with these animals has been a close one. Many stories exist of this bond between man and dog and Scotland has its fair share. However the most famous by far was Bobby - the Skye Terrier. ...
Posted on February 7, 2013 by | 4 views | comments
Robert III, King of Scots, the eldest son of King Robert II by his mistress, Elizabeth Mure, became legitimised with the formal marriage of his parents about 1349. In 1367, Robert III married Anabella Drummond, daughter of Sir John Drummond of Stobhall and Mary Montifex. In 1368 his grand-uncle ...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by | 3 views | comments
The Battle of Mons Graupius took place in 83 or 84. Julius Agricola, the Roman governor had sent his fleet ahead to panic the Caledonians, and, with light infantry reinforced with British auxiliaries, reached the site, which he found occupied by the enemy. Even though the Romans were outnumbered in...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by | 3 views | comments
With Malcolm II as king and Owen of Strathclyde supporting him, an important battle was fought against Earl Uhtred of Bamburgh and his Northumbrian army at Carham, near Roxburgh. The Battle of Carham (sometimes referred to as the Battle of Coldstream) is generally believed to have been fought in 101...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by | 3 views | comments
Scotland was entirely submissive to England by 1296. Following English victories at Dunbar and Berwick, John Balliol had surrendered himself and was taken as a prisoner to England. Edward I toured his new possession as far north as Elgin and removed the Stone of Destiny from Scone to take it back to...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by | 3 views | comments
Before Pope John XXII, Scotland had been recognised as an independent nation by the papacy. Pope John preferred Edward II’s version of who was ruler of Scotland however, and in 1319 he accused four Scottish bishops of rebellion and summoned them to answer to him. Robert I had been King of Scotland ...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by | 3 views | comments
Flodden was a disastrous and unnecessary confrontation for Scotland. James IV of Scotland was married to the sister of England’s King Henry VIII and a treaty of friendship existed between their countries. The auld alliance between Scotland and France had been recently renewed. There had been Englis...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by | 3 views | comments
Following the Jacobite defeat at Culloden, the last pitched battle on British soil, Prince Charles fled to South Uist then eventually across to France. His supporters who remained suffered terribly from ‘Butcher Cumberland’ and his medieval reprisals. To further punish Scotland, Parliament issued...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by | 3 views | comments
James Watt, the son of a merchant, was born on January 19, 1736, in Greenock. He worked as a mathematical-instrument maker as a teenager and soon became interested in steam engines, which were used at the time to pump water from mines. His interest really took off in 1763 when he was given a Newco...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by | 3 views | comments
Designed by Sir Thomas Bouch, the Tay Railway Bridge was opened in 1878. The single-track bridge was a box construction with numerous box-section legs, up to 230ft apart, supporting the steam trains up to 88ft in the air as they snaked for almost two miles over the Tay and Perth-bound shipping. B...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by | 3 views | comments
One of the most treasured possessions of the clan MacLeod is the famous Fairy Flag of Dunvegan. The story behind the flag is one of the greatest romantic tales in all the highlands... A great young Chief of the clan MacLeod fell in love with a fairy princess, a bean sidhe, one of the Shining Folk...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by | 3 views | comments
The end of 1688 saw much discontent with the Catholic monarchy, this was brought to a head when James's wife gave birth to an heir, William of Orange was invited to intervene. When William landed in England James was compelled to flee the country. William was crowned in his place. But not everyon...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by | 3 views | comments
On the island of Eriskay in Scotland's Western Isles. There grows a small pink flower. Unique to the island this frail little Convolvulus flower has a link with Bonnie Prince Charlie. Before he reached Glenfinnan to raise the Jacobite standard in 1745 the 'young pretender' first arrived at the is...
Posted on February 7, 2013 by | 3 views | comments
Living in Edinburgh you are always aware that wherever you go you are trekking over centuries of history, that you can’t walk anywhere without walking on ancient bones. However in our little office in Leith we were completely unaware of the history right under our feet. King James V died in 1542 ...
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