The River Moriston is peaceful and idyllic, it can be icy in winter and angry during a flood but it is tame these days. However, deaths have occured here and men have drowned in the river. Local tradition says, twenty men drowned in a rock pool some time long ago. The place is not to... Continue Reading →
Sometimes clues to the past lie within the place names. That is especially true for Scotland where the Gaels were very descriptive in their naming of landscape as well as man-made places. A map often tells you many things about a place before you even visit. It is down to the proper translation though, to... Continue Reading →
Kilbride on the Isle of Skye is now not more than a few scattered houses, sheep and a working quarry in Strath Swordale but it once was a place of worship, magic and ritual. And it was very much a place for women or at least a place where women left their mark. the abess's... Continue Reading →
Lady Norah Fairfax-Lucy was the youngest of a family of eight living at Calgary, born in 1895. She was a Mackenzie of Mornish by birth, her father an elder of the established Church of Scotland. Sundays on Mull Both parents observed the Sunday "with great reverence" and as austere as these Sundays now seem, Lady... Continue Reading →
Patrick Dubh of Craskie, was a Grant from Craskie and named after the farmland he owned and was living on. One day at the end of the 17th century, a party of Macmillans was came from the area of Loch Arkaig and spoiled a number of cattle belonging to Patrick Dubh. He, his brothers and... Continue Reading →
Pipers had a very dangeroud job in the past centuries for not only were they playing at weddings and funerals but during skirmishes, battles and wars with nothing to defend themselves but the weapons of those by their side who had time end energy to spare. The pipers' tunes would rally the Clan and their... Continue Reading →
Angus Martin seems to have been a memorable and intreaguing character. He was born during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots in a time of religious upheaval and political unrest. His family was an important one and affiliated to the MacDonalds of Sleat. Angus grew up and became 1st of Bealach, the tackman's position... Continue Reading →
Monasteries being haunted by monsters is a rare occurrence, not just in Scotland but according to legend that is exactly what had happened here in Beauly. The Eaglais Mhòr na Manachain, the big church of the monastery, was believed to be haunted by some horrific creature and „none who went to watch the churchyard or... Continue Reading →
When a Gael speaks about the concept of the "second sight", he speaks of an dà shealladh, which really means two sights rather than second sight and this slight linguistic difference applies to the concept as well. The person who has it, has an additional view as strong and as natural as the other one.... Continue Reading →
The Gaelic otherworld is populated by many strange and fascinating creatures: fairies, banshees, witches and animals that are not, what they seem to be. Peculiar to the Isle of Skye is the crodh sith, the fairy cattle, allegedly speckled and red (crodh breac ruadh), and able to cross the sea. These "magic cows" could only... Continue Reading →
Graveyards of Scotland 
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