What is a Quaich?

What is a Quaich?

    The quaich is a traditional Scottish drinking vessel which was used to offer a guest a cup of welcome and also a farewell drink, usually a dram of whisky. The quaich has a rich heritage in Scotland. Indeed, they are a uniquely Scottish invention, having no apparent connection to any other European drinking vessel. […]

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Painting the Peats – Damian Callan

Painting the Peats – Damian Callan

Painting the Peats is a project that began when artist Damian Callan and his family started helping crofter Chris Spears stack his peats at his peat bank on North Uist. The experience led to a series of ink and wash studies that combined groups of working figures in the Hebridean landscape and were developed into […]

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Family Tree Relationship Chart

Family Tree Relationship Chart

One of most common issues in genealogy is to understand the relationship between two people in a family. We’re all familiar with the relationship between our direct line ancestor and ourselves, but the other branches can get a little tangled. For example, most people are familiar with the concept of a sibling (brother or sister) […]

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Happy Ramadan to our Muslim Friends

Happy Ramadan to our Muslim Friends

Happy Ramadan to our Muslim Friends Wishing you four weeks of blessings. Scottish Muslims have a long history to celebrate. Scotland has been closely connected with Muslim countries as far back as the Middle Ages. In the 8th and 9th centuries pilgrims travelled to the Holy land and Scottish traders visited the Muslim countries of […]

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Gaelic Map of Scotland and Gaelic Place Names

Gaelic Map of Scotland and Gaelic Place Names

To understand the occurrence of Gaelic in place names in Scotland we thought it would be good to show a map and a breakdown of places and their gaelic equivalent or the gaelic the modern name is derived from. We hope you find this interesting: Scotland/Alba Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City English Scottish Gaelic Meaning or […]

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Chief of Clan Wallace Dies

Chief of Clan Wallace Dies

We have just received the sad news that Ian Francis Wallace of that Ilk, Chief of the Name and Arms of Wallace passed away at the weekend.  Our hearts go out to his friends and family.  This is a massive loss to Clan Wallace. Ian was 89 years old. Ian was the 35th Chief of the Clan.  He became Chief […]

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Mysterious Clan Macnab Pistols

Mysterious Clan Macnab Pistols

A clansman has acquired an interesting pair of flintlock belt pistols, which bear the Macnab crest and motto. The pistols were made about 1770 by Joseph Adams of Birmingham and are very finely decorated with silver furniture.                                           […]

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The Northern Lights and The Merry Dancers

The Northern Lights and The Merry Dancers

Recently people living in Scotland witnessed spectacular displays of the Northern Lights far more than previous years. Even here in Edinburgh we saw them. Tim Peake up in the international space station also watched them. The northern lights are also known as ‘Aurora borealis’ and the southern lights as ‘Aurora australis.’ In Roman mythology Aurora […]

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