black dog at night

Alastair mor a' Bhochdain – Big Sandy of the Ghost Sandy was an enormous man, powerful and commanding and he was a gifted man – he could foretell the future, or rather: he knew somebody who could... Big Sandy lived in Munerigie, just a short walk away from Invergarry House where he used to come... Continue Reading →

Macdonald’s in his grave!

The following lines were read in 1746 in Kilmore churchyard: If Heaven be pleased when sinners cease to sin, If Hell be pleased when sinners enter in, If Earth be pleased to quit a truckling knave, Then all be pleased; Macdonald’s in his grave. Otta F. Swire: Skye - The Island & its Legends, Birlinn;... Continue Reading →

straight to the grave

Kildrummy old churchyard bathed in summer sunlight, a beautiful place to be and to rest. Final resting place graves are often called. coffin carrying rite Kildrummy is more than more than a final resting place for the dead. It was also very much a resting place for the living, especially the men carrying the coffins,... Continue Reading →

grave warren

The bass of Inverurie and Inverurie cemetery face a furry and rather cute danger – rabbits. They seem to be everywhere in this large ground between the wild banks of the river Ury and Reithhall Road.     The Norman Motte and Bailey castle that once stood here must have commanded the glen with power... Continue Reading →

Hill of blood, Dunfallandy       

Most people will travel to Dunfallandy to see the Pictish stone. But a far more bloody tale tells the burial enclosure right next to the ancient marker of the Picts. The graveyard is not signposted for it is the private burial enclosure of the Fergussons of Dunfallandy. There has been an early chapel on this... Continue Reading →

lost fortune, lost land, lost graves

To lose ones fortune is bitter, it happened to many. The more you have, the more you have to lose and to lose your land as well as your fortune has consequences for generations to come. Among the many things landed gentry could lose in Scotland apart from stately homes, forests, arable fields and rich... Continue Reading →

Glencalvie people the wicked generation

It is the year 1845. Leipzig celebrates the première of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s Violin Concerto in E minor, the Glasgow School of Art opens its elaborate doors, “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe is published and anaesthesia is used in childbirth for the first time. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visit Wartburg Castle in Germany.... Continue Reading →

visions of the unknown

Vision is an essential part of greatness. Being able to see what others can not makes all the difference and even more so, having the courage to see it through. Men and women with such a powerful vision are still remembered long after their death. Alexander Mackenzie was such a daring man with a vision... Continue Reading →

to be remembered

This is a story of maltreatment, anger, revenge and the thirst for power - a story about clan men and a disastrous battle. At the center of this story emerges a woman - Sidheag, sister of the MacLeod of Lewis and wife of Angus Mackay, 6th of Strathnaver. A woman trying to live within the... Continue Reading →

where the salmon leaps

The River Cassley is one of Sutherland's many, where in autumn Atlantic salmon will follow its primordial urge to return upstream to its birthplace, jumping from rock pool to rock pool, never giving up in its potentially deadly determination to give life. New life. Life! The powerful fish will pass a graveyard on its journey... Continue Reading →

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