Letters to the Editor Book 40

Glenkinchie

Today there is only one distillery in Edinburgh - North British–a large grain whisky plant near Murrayfield Stadium. Once upon a time there were many more. Writing in 1777, Hugo Arnot, author of the wellknown History of Edinburgh, estimated that, while there were only eight licensed distilleries at that time there were no less than 400 illicit stills supplying their ‘goods’ to the taverns and shebeens of the Old Town!

Hamish MacInnes

It is four in the morning in Glencoe and in the utter darkness the towering, snow-covered mountains loom like a huddle of brooding giants silently watching over the cloud-veiled rock faces and plunging gullies of what must surely be Scotland’s most spectacular Highland landscape. In the entire glen, light shines from only one solitary house, Tigh A’Voulin, a lovely white-washed cottage by a lochan, home to the country’s most famous mountaineer, Hamish MacInnes.

John Duncan Ferguson

John Fergusson was born in Edinburgh’s portcity, Leith, in 1874 and forsook a medical career to train as a painter. He enrolled at the Trustees’ Academy in Edinburgh but left soon after and preferred to remain largely self-taught.

Lord Lyon King of Arms

On the eve of his retirement, the Lord Lyon King of Arms, Sir Malcolm Innes of Edingight, KCVO, spoke with Bruce Stannard about his 20 years of service as the Queen’s Supreme Officer of Honour in Scotland.

Castle Fraser

Visitors approaching Castle Fraser down the long avenue of oaks see the structure much as its 16th century lairds and builders intended it should be seen: fi rst the towers and crow-step gables, then the armorial panel high on the north wall and, fi nally, the two wings of the laigh biggins (low buildings).

Troubled Times Hounours of Scotland

On March 27, 1625, the 'blessed King James' passed away. His reign had been relatively peaceful. "Here I sit," he wrote, "and govern Scotland with my pen … which others could not govern by the sword". King James’s younger son,, Charles, Duke of Albany, succeeded to the throne as King Charles I.

Drum Gardens

It was King Robert the Bruce who fi rst brought the Irvines to Drum. William de Irwyn was both armour-bearer and later secretary to King Robert and evidence suggests that he followed the Bruce right through the dark days of his career to the triumph of Bannockburn and beyond. William de Irwyn was rewarded by Bruce with the land of Drum, part of the extensive forest where for many years the kings of Scotland had come to hunt deer and wild boar.

Scottish National War Memorial

Although the unspeakable carnage of the Western Front was still raging, there was, by 1917, a faint glimmer of hope that “the war to end all wars” might soon be over. Scotland had paid a terrible price. With more than 148,000 dead and many more wounded, the country was in no mood for celebration, still less gloating over the prospect of eventual victory.

Pitmedden

Laid out by Alexander Seton, Lord Pitmedden, in 1675, the 'Great garden' is a walled enclosure on two levels with ogee roofed pavillions, sundials and fountains that make it one of the most significant properties in the care of the National Trust for Scotland. Ilsa MacDonald reports from Oldmeldrum in Aberdeenshire.