Lindores Abbey is now not more than a few crumbling walls. However, signs within the romantic ruin point to a darker past. Many a death has occurred here. Many bodies were take to this place. This was once a graveyard to the rich, the famous and the ill-fated. These are the horrors of Lindores Abbey.
The belief in witchcraft was probably one of the most common superstitions in Scotland and the rest of the Christian world. Witches were not necessarily evil but when commanding the powers of darkness, they were to be feared like nothing else, for they could leave a deadly trail of destruction. In the graveyard of Lochaline... Continue Reading →
Rescobie is a pretty picturesque graveyard. Rescobie Loch in the distance, ancient gravestones scattered around the 19th century church building in Thomas Telford’s typical austere style. Some of the grave date back as far as the early 17th century, over 400 years have they lasted. Symbols of mortality, death and time decorate the slabs. The... Continue Reading →
The reign of King Robert saw the second major division between Aberdeenshire and Banffshire and the rise of the de la Keith family. After the war and the long period of securing his power, the king owed many. In addition to the long-established nobles, new families now came to influence and wealth, lands were freshly... Continue Reading →
The Cross Kirk played an important role for the people of Peebles in the past. Not anymore. The ruin suggests a massive and castle-like construction, an atmosphere of war rather than prayer seems to surround it. This was once a monastery, one of many that flourished in Scotland’s South in the Middle Ages and then... Continue Reading →
Restenneth’s impressive tower adds grandeur to the modest simplicity of the structure that albeit many additons still feels very much 12th century. It is certainly one of the oldest churches in Scotland. The Picts Angus is the heart of the land of the Picts. If you know where to look, you’ll find their traces everywhere.... Continue Reading →
If ever there was holy ground, it surely is to be found on a small island of striking beauty and breathtaking light in the Ross of Mull: Iona, burial-place of the kings. To many Iona is an overcoming experience. It was here that Christianity made its way into Scotland. Irish monasteries have existed for centuries... Continue Reading →
Dunlichity is a Parish church. There was an older building dating back to the 16th century but the faithful have worshipped here for much longer. The close-by loch and its fishing right belonged to the church. It is called Loch a’Chlachain, the lake of the church. Very still with a very remote feel to it,... Continue Reading →
From the first Viking raids right up to the middle of the 17th century Gairloch was nothing but a big battlefield. First the Norsemen against then Scots, then the Mackenzies, the McLeod, and the MacDonalds among each other, fighting for power and ownership, retaliating attacks, avenging murders, killing rivals. Many died a brutal death here.... Continue Reading →
farmers The graveyard of Bothkennar and Carronshore Parish church (founded as early as 1150) seems very rural. This land has been farmed since King Robert the Bruce, possibly even earlier. Rather remarkable since this was once known as the "Carselands", an alluvial plain around the River Carron, and therefore expected to be water-logged. Carse is... Continue Reading →
Graveyards of Scotland 
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