Declaration of Arbroath

Scots the world over are familiar with these stirring words. They come from the Declaration of Arbroath, the best known and most treasured document in the National Archives of Scotland.

Return of the Native

John Cairney has left an indelible mark on the Scottish psyche. For as long as anyone can remember, the veteran actor, now in his 78th year, has been regarded as the living embodiment of Robert Burns, so much so that year after year, he has been called home by popular demand, to appear in concert as the Bard, to recite his works, and to pay tribute to his Immortal Memory.

Loch Ness Lodge

Loch Ness Lodge enjoys one of the most spectacularly beautiful locations in all of Scotland. Set snugly into the hillside on the wooded western slopes above the loch, the white-washed Lodge with its distinctive traditional roofline, commands breathtaking views north and south over the country’s most famous stretch of water. When we arrived, late on a glorious autumn afternoon, the loch lay before us like a gleaming mirror reflecting at its margins groves of silver birch and golden beech and at its centre the pale powder blue of a cloudless sky.

Newports Colonial Heritage

Bruce MacLeish has the enviable job of overseeing one of America’s great cultural treasure troves, the magnificent collection of fine art and colonial furniture at the Newport Restoration Foundation left by the philanthropist, Miss Doris Duke. From his office in Rough Point, the sprawling ocean-side mansion that was once the Duke family home in Newport, Mr MacLeish presides over paintings by Gainsborough, Van Dyke and Renoir, together with an unsurpassed collection of elegant American colonial furniture that includes highly prized pieces made by Newport’s eighteenth century master craftsmen John Goddard and Christopher Townsend.

The Bagpipes Book 13

In this, the fourth in a series of articles on the history of the bagpipes, the distinguished Scottish historian and piper, Hugh Cheape, looks at the pipes in Europe’s twelfth century Renaissance.

Letters Issue 12

Ospreys

I was greatly interested in Heather MacIlwraith’s timely and comprehensive report on the Ospreys of Loch Garten (SCOTS Number 11) and not least because we have just received word that one of the famous Scottish ospreys has come to a sticky end out in Africa.

Loch Morar

Morar in Inverness-shire is one of the many west coast peninsulas defined by deep, probing sea lochs, in this case Loch Nevis to the north (beyond which lies Knoydart) and Loch Ailort and the Sound of Arisaig to the south, beyond which lies Moidart.

A Year in the Highlands

Spring comes but grudgingly to Sutherland. We’re a long way north at Alladale and the winter snow often clings to the high tops well into May. After the long, cold winter months, we’re all on the lookout for the first tell-tale sign of spring.

Tullibardine

The village of Blackford is famous for its water. It was from here that King James IV ordered a barrel of beer for his coronation in 1488. He granted the brewery a Royal Charter in 1503. Alfred Barnard, the tireless distillery and brewery visitor, came here in 1889 and found brewery buildings that had been in use since the 17th century. Then, in 1947, along came William Delmé Evans, a Welsh land surveyor with a keen interest in distilling and brewing. “When I saw the results of the water tests,” he said, “I knew it was perfect for distilling. By the end of the week I had purchased the [brewery] building”. Delmé Evans had contracted tuberculosis during the war, and, while recuperating, designed what he called “an up-to-date gravity-flow distillery”.

Border Country, Lauderdale

Sir David and Lady Steel continue our journey through the Scottish Borders with a visit to lovely Lauderdale.