Silent Rob Roy film from 1922 to get rare screening

Tickets to a rare screening of the Rob Roy film from 1922 are to go on sale on St Andrew’s Day. The Hippodrome Silent Film Festival (HippFest) has announced that it will open its 2019 programme with a rare screening of Rob Roy accompanied by a new score composed and performed by multi-instrumentalist David Allison.…

Read More

A striking seven bedroom home on the bonnie banks

A striking seven-bedroom property on the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond is now on the market. Presented by Savills, Gartochraggan dates back to around 1800, the property has been formed though extensions and refurbishments following the acquisition of neighbouring properties to create the superb family home that stands today. Constructed of white harled stone under…

Read More

Whisky celebration for a decade of the Bruadairs

The tenth anniversary of popular houses on the country estate have been toasted by their whisky partner. George Dark, one of the kilted whisky guides from Dewar’s Aberfeldy Distillery, has raised a dram to the ever-popular Bruadair Houses on the Mains of Taymouth 5 star Country Estate & Golf Course at nearby Kenmore, along with…

Read More

A beautiful coach house with a link to Merlin

A stunning Peeblesshire coach house occupying a majestic woodland setting has come to the market. Bellspool Coach House, a striking conversion near Stobo, is now on the market through Strutt & Parker – in an area rich in Arthurian legend. Originally built as stabling and carriage quarters for Dawyck House around 1863 and then developed…

Read More

It was all light on the night for 42K visitors

More than 42,000 people attended a light and sound spectacular in Kilmarnock’s Dean Castle Country Park. Organisers of Illuminight with Lidl, which ended on Sunday, hailed the second event to be a great success welcoming over the huge number of visitors during its four-week run, a 10% increase in audiences from the inaugural event. Presented…

Read More

The festival taking music to the people of Skye

An eight-day festival of music is underway on the Isle of Skye. The SEALL Festival of Small Halls is a new community-led winter festival taking place between 23 November and 1 December, bringing some of the biggest names in Scottish traditional music to remote village halls around Skye. It has received tremendous support from communities,…

Read More

When Ayrshire was at war with two families

April 2016 marked the 430th anniversary of the Massacre of Annock. Though not an unusual occurrence in the lawlessness of Scotland in the 16th century, that event, and particularly the extent and ferocity of the reprisals that followed, marked the beginning of a change in attitude towards blood feud. ‘Blood feud was the custom of…

Read More

A love affair that has lasted over 500 years

The origins of the Palace of Holyroodhouse lie in the religious, or monastic, setting of the Holy Rood, which is said to have been a fragment of the cross of Jesus Christ which found its way from the Holy Land to Edinburgh. There is also the tale of David I of Scotland (1124-1153) having a…

Read More

The late Alan Bean was the Scotsman on the moon

Artist Alan Bean was part of the second lunar landing – and in tribute to his Scots ancestry, he took a swatch of MacBean tartan with him. Sadly, in May this year, Alan passed away at the age of 88. Prior to his death, Alan was an artist, who liked to paint figures set in…

Read More

10 facts you never knew about Clan Morrison

In Scotland, our clans have rich fascinating histories, dating back hundreds and hundreds of years. Here, we reveal ten important facts every aspiring member of Clan Morrison should know. 1. The seat of the Morrisons of Harris was at Pabbay (Gaelic: Pabaigh), a small island to the south of Harris. The island is now uninhabited. It is…

Read More