a prince drowned, a church gone and a Loch renamedThe Isle of Skye boasts an overwhelming richness of meaningful place names coming out of two linguistic sources: Gaelic and Old Norse, the latter because of the invading Viking forces. Norse names can be found all over the island but mainly along the coast where the Viking ships... Continue Reading →
This is a tale about a chapel, a saint and a bishop and rather surprisingly in that context, a tale about destruction, castration and a proud heart. The Isle of Skye at its wildest! The tale unfolds on graveyard on a small island in the river Snizort , just a few miles off Portree, and... Continue Reading →
This graveyard is a very peaceful one, snuggling between the river and the old town of Callander, the Parish church is long gone. But there is a small building in the old graveyard wall, that tells a gruesome story. Not by day but by night. Callander old kirkyard once was haunted by very creepy... Continue Reading →
It was in Fife that the first collection of Scottish proverbs was made by David Ferguson, minister of Dunfermline. Ferguson's collection, though published only in 1644, nearly fifty years after his death, had been made during his life in the latter half of the sixteenth century. This is a collection of sometimes odd and often amusing sayings.
Rhynie is first and foremost known for its Pictish symbol stones, on display next to the graveyard in the adjacent car park under an open wooden construction. The graveyard itself is old, too. The place-name Rhynie or sometimes also spelled Rhyny derives either from the French word roinneau, meaning a small promontory or from the word rig, meaning... Continue Reading →
The path to Little Leny, the Buchanan burial enclosure starts here, in the floodplains of Callander Meadows in the Trossachs. To access the site you cross the former railway line. This field is the second step on the way to the ancient and picturesque graveyard. And thy skull is a sort Of garrison... Continue Reading →
Campbeltown Cross has a special place in the hearts of the local community, a respect observed regularly by its circumnavigation prior to all weddings and funerals.
Most of the headstones are indecipherable now. Time has taken its toll amongst the engravings. But there is one war grave among the withered stones, to the memory of John William Campbell of the Royal Engineers, who died January 3rd, 1944, at the age of 27. A man mourned by his family and friends in this remote and scarcely populated part of the country close to the river Thurso.
This place is so absolutely not what it looks like and bears far more depth, surprises and secrets than most of the graveyards I have been to in Scotland. And believe me, I have been to a lot.
Sutherland, who had some presentiment that he would never return, stretched himself on the ground in the old churchyard of Berriedale before setting out, and caused two stones to be fixed, the one at his head and the other at his feet, which were to be seen for ages after but are not to be distinguished any more.
Graveyards of Scotland 
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