Old Photograph Menstrie Clackmannanshire Scotland

Old photograph of cottages, houses and children in Menstrie in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. Located about five miles East North East of Stirling. It is one of a string of towns that, because of their location at the base of the Ochil Hills, are collectively referred to as the Hillfoots Villages or simply The Hillfoots. The people of Menstrie once processed wool from sheep farmed on the Ochils. In 1800, businessmen from Tullibody set up a carding and spinning mill on the east side of the Menstrie Burn to exploit its soft water and power, absent from their own village.



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Old Photograph Skerryvore Lighthouse Scotland

Old photograph of Skerryvore lighthouse located twelve miles South West of the Isle of Tiree located South West Of Coll which is West of Isle Of Mull, Scotland. With increasing sea trade from Scotland to North America in the early 19th century it became imperative to clearly mark the reef which had claimed many ships. Skerryvore was constructed of Mull granite by a team headed by Alan Stevenson, uncle of Robert Louis Stevenson, the writer, from 1838 to 1844.



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Old Photograph Pentland Skerries Lighthouse Scotland

Old photograph of Pentland Skerries Lighthouse on Muckle Skerry off the north coast of Scotland. This Scottish lighthouse was constructed in 1794 by the Commissioners of the Northern Lights. The engineers were Thomas Smith and his stepson Robert Stevenson, this was the first light that Stevenson officially worked on.



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Old Photograph Hyskeir Lighthouse Scotland

Old photograph of Hyskeir Lighthouse located on rocks approximately five miles south west of the Isle of Canna, the westernmost of the Small Isles archipelago in the Scottish Inner Hebrides of Scotland. This Scottish lighthouse was established in 1904. It marks the southern end of the Minch, warning of the presence of the Mills Rocks, Canna and Hyskeir itself. It was designed by David and Charles Stevenson and constructed by MacDougall contractors from Oban. The white tower was manned until March 1997, becoming one of the last lighthouses in Scotland to be automated.



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Old Photograph Lighthouse Flannan Isles Scotland

Old photograph of the lighthouse on the Flannan Isles located twenty miles West of the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Designed by David Alan Stevenson, the tower was constructed for the Northern Lighthouse Board between 1895 and 1899 and is located near the highest point on Eilean Mòr. Just over a year after it was commissioned a mysterious event took place here. The steamer Archtor on passage from Philadelphia, America, to Leith passed the islands in poor weather and noted that the light was not operational. This was reported on arrival at Oban although no immediate action seems to have been taken. The island lighthouse was manned by a three man team, Thomas Marshall, James Ducat and Donald Macarthur, with a rotating fourth man spending time on shore. The relief vessel, the lighthouse tender Hesperus, was unable to set out on a routine visit from Lewis planned for 20 December due to adverse weather and did not arrive until noon on 26 December. On arrival, the crew and relief keeper found that the flagstaff was bare of its flag, none of the usual provision boxes had been left on the landing stage for re-stocking and, more ominously, none of the lighthouse keepers were there to welcome them ashore. Jim Harvie, captain of the Hesperus, gave a strident blast on his whistle and set off a distress flare, but no reply was forthcoming. The island was scoured every corner for clues as to the fate of the keepers but no bodies were found. The Northern Lighthouse Board investigation by Robert Muirhead concluded, " From evidence which I was able to procure I was satisfied that the men had been on duty up till dinner time on Saturday the 15th of December, that they had gone down to secure a box in which the mooring ropes and landing ropes were kept, and which was secured in a crevice in the rock about 110 feet above sea level, and that an extra large sea had rushed up the face of the rock, had gone above them, and coming down with immense force, had swept them completely away.



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Old Photograph Fowlis Castle Scotland

Old photograph of Fowlis Castle located five miles North West of Dundee, Scotland. In 1448, King James I dated a charter at Fowlis. King James IV resided there in 1497. The castle was occupied by the Grays until after the erection of the more modern building which is a tower house dating from the seventeenth century. It was held by the Maule family and then by the Mortimers before coming to the Gray family in 1337. Sir Alexander Gray of Broxmouth was made Lord Gray of Fowlis.



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Old Photograph Raith House Kirkcaldy Fife Scotland

Old photograph of Raith House, Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland. This Scottish mansion was built by Alexander, Lord Raith between 1692 and 1694, the work of that time being represented by the central portion of the present house, oblong on plan. The old house has been altered, but the ground floor vaulting remains. The outside walls are harled but the dressings are left exposed.



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Old Photograph River Kelven Maryhill Glasgow Scotland

Old photograph of the River Kelvin by Maryhill, Glasgow, Scotland. This Scottish river rises on the moor south east of the village of Banton, east of Kilsyth. At almost 22 miles in length it first flows south to Dullatur Bog where it falls into a man made trench and takes a ninety degree turn flowing west through Strathkelvin and along the northern boundary of the bog parallel with the Forth and Clyde Canal. Its first important confluence is with the Chantyclear Burn which originates from the ridge of Dullatur. It then continues its westward flow being joined by the Shawend Burn to the west of Craigmarloch bridge. The next important tributary is the Garrel at a point South East of Kilsyth south of Dumbreck Marsh. The Kelvin then passes through the large flood plain north of Twechar where is fed by the Dock Water, Queenzie Burn, the Cast Burn and the Board Burn before reaching Kirkintilloch at its confluence with the more substantial waters of the Glazert and Luggie, it then flows past Torrance, meanders through Balmore Haughs, to the south of Bardowie where it joins the Allander Water after which it takes a South Westerly direction towards Maryhill, Hillhead, through Kelvingrove Park before falling into the River Clyde at Yorkhill Basin in the city of Glasgow.



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Old Photograph Duncan Napier Edinburgh Scotland

Old photograph of Duncan Napier in Edinburgh, Scotland. Duncan was a Victorian botanist and herbalist. His early start in life was hard as he was orphaned at an early age. From his youth he was fascinated by plants and nature. His interest in herbal medicine started when he found a book about it on an Edinburgh market stall. He had been apprenticed to a baker and, possibly due to the flour dust, had developed a chronic cough. After reading the book's recipes he experimented and made a Lobelia Cough Syrup that cleared up his cough within six months. He opened his first herbal shop on Bristo Place, Edinburgh in May 1860.



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Tour Scotland Photograph Video The Jellyman's Daughter Southern Fried Music Festival Perth Perthshire

Tour Scotland video of The Jellyman's Daughter singing at the Southern Fried Festival on visit to Perth, Perthshire, Scotland. This wonderful duo are from Glasgow.

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