Latest On The Blog
Not All My Habits Are This Good
I was thinking today about my first blog, when I said, I was a bit addicted to walking. And that I feel bad if I don’t walk every day. That’s true. And it’s one of my better habits. But, it’s not all good. If I’m going to keep going with this blog, then I’d better...
Walking Into Wild Bluebells
The wild bluebells I meet on my walk now are nothing like their plumper, cultivated Spanish bluebell cousins. But crikey, there’s a lot of them. After the hosts of golden daffodils have gone over, they come. Numberless herds of tiny Hyacinthoides non-scripta – Wild...
I Solve it by Walking
The 'it' in the title of this blog stands for all the things requiring my attention each day, that add up to my life. Or don't add up - and stop me writing. Because, sometimes I feel pulled apart and owned by my To Do list, instead of me owning them. WALKING daily,...
Jacobite Gold
The Jacobite Gold, The Loch Arkaig Treasure; whatever name you give it, is about a pot of gold at the end of a tartan patterned rainbow; or most likely, several pots of gold. It is a symbol of happiness just beyond your ability to attain it, the symbol of some...
Rest In Peace
If there’s one thing this whole History Hit – Royal Society – Professor Sue Black investigation into the Old Fox has shown, it is how many bones do not rest in peace. It is a world away from scenes of horrendous massacres and accidents worldwide. Yet, what...
The Headless Man Speaks Again
Well, I’ve just heard something off the charts. It can’t be true but I have to pass it on. To set the scene, I was walking the dog on a stunning day. The Highlands lying under snow and blinding sun, you can see for 50 miles. A neighbour stopped me. He said he had seen...
The Best King We Never Had
Stirling Castle, a cold February morning in 1594, a Scottish prince is born. His birth symbolises the hopes of four nations. He is Henry Frederick Stuart. When his father, James VI of Scotland inherits the crowns of Elizabeth I in 1603, James inaugurates the new age...
Patriot Games
Sir Simon Fraser of Neidpath, can be thought of as the founding father of the Lovat Frasers. Born in 1257 in Neidpath Castle near Peebles, he met a gruesome death in London in 1306. He had been captured fighting in the Scottish Wars of Independence. One chronicler...
1000 Years of History
What follows is an enormously long post – so I’d better explain what it’s for. There is such a huge revival in the interest in Highland history – in the clans, and in clan Fraser of Lovat in particular, as a result of the smash hit TV series Outlander. I want to give...
