Old Travel Blog Photograph Glasgow Academicals Rugby Football Club Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of the Glasgow Academicals Rugby Football Club in Glasgow, Scotland. The Glasgow Academical Football Club is the third oldest rugby football club in Scotland. Its history is notable for a number of reasons, including the clubs longevity, its early foundation in the timeline of rugby, and the fact that the club has produced so many internationals, both for Scotland and for the British Lions. The club was founded in 1866 when a number of former pupils of Glasgow Academy, under the chairmanship of the Rector, Mr Morrison, adopted a resolution that an Academical Club should be formed. At a time when the rules of rugby were far from formalised, the new club elected to play on the lines of the Edinburgh Academical Club. The club played their first match in the season 1867 to 1868



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Of Turnbull Sisters From Govan Glasgow Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of the Turnbull sisters from Govan, Glasgow, Scotland. This surname is mainly found recorded in Northern England and Scotland. A sizeable group of early European surnames were gradually created from the habitual use of nicknames. These were given in the first instance with reference to occupation, or to a variety of characteristics, such as physical attributes of peculiarities. Scottish tradition tells of a man called Rule, who saved the life of King Robert the Bruce, by " turning " a ferocious bull which had threatened to gore the King. For this service he was given a new name and obtained a grant of the lands of Bedrule. William Turnbull, died 1454, was bishop of Glasgow in 1447, and founded Glasgow University in 1451.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Crofter Spinning Wool Shetland Islands Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of a Crofter spinning wool outside her cottage on the Shetland Islands, Scotland. The Scottish croft is a small agricultural landholding of a type which has been subject to special legislation in the United Kingdom since 1886. The legislation is largely a response to the complaints and demands of tenant families who were victims of the Highland Clearances. The modern crofters or tenants appear very little in evidence before the beginning of the 18th century. They were tenants at will underneath the tacksman and wadsetters, but practically their tenure was secure enough. The first evidence that can be found of small tenants holding directly of the proprietor is in a rental of the estates of Sir D. MacDonald in Skye and North Uist in 1715.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Crofter Spinning Wool Orkney Islands Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of a crofter spinning wool outside her cottage on the Orkney Islands, Scotland. The Scottish croft is a small agricultural landholding of a type which has been subject to special legislation in the United Kingdom since 1886. The legislation is largely a response to the complaints and demands of tenant families who were victims of the Highland Clearances. The modern crofters or tenants appear very little in evidence before the beginning of the 18th century. They were tenants at will underneath the tacksman and wadsetters, but practically their tenure was secure enough. The first evidence that can be found of small tenants holding directly of the proprietor is in a rental of the estates of Sir D. MacDonald in Skye and North Uist in 1715.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Coronation Parade Coldstream Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of the Coronation parade celebration for the crowning of King George VI in Coldstream, Scottish Borders, Scotland. The coronation of George VI and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth and as Emperor and Empress of India took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on 12 May 1937. George VI ascended the throne upon the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII, on 11 December 1936, three days before his 41st birthday. Edward's coronation had been planned for 12 May 1937 and it was decided to continue with his brother and sister-in-law's coronation on the same date.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Cowdenknows Road Earlston Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of girls walking on Cowdenknows Road by Earlston, Berwickshire, Scotland. In the 12th and 13th centuries the Lindsays and the Earls of March and Dunbar were the chief baronial families in this area. Residents of early Earlston, Earlstons, have since spread afar, with some travelling to the United States of America in the early 1800s. But the vast majority of Earlstons with that surname, have taken residence in the Black Country, West Midlands in England. Travelling to the Black Country in the early 1700s, they have set up a strong residence, governed by middle child of the Earlston three brothers, Lord Dale.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Blackadder House Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of Blackadder House near Allanton in Berwickshire, Borders, Scotland. It was built on the site of the earlier Blackadder castle. The house was vandalized by troops in World War I. Since there was no money to repair it, the house was demolished around 1925. The Blackadder family were an integral part of the constant Borders’ feuds, and opportunistically extended their lands by grants from James II. These were bestowed as a reward for repelling English raids, with great ferocity. The Borders holdings of Blackadder of that Ilk were taken into the family of Home, now the Home Robertson family, by the marriage of Beatrix and her younger sister, the only heirs of their father Robert, to younger sons of Home of Wedderburn in 1518. Wedderburn Castle is still owned by his descendent, Georgina Home Robertson.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Crofters Outside A Cottage Poolewe Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of crofters outside a cottages in Poolewe, Gaelic: Poll Iù, Wester Ross, Highlands, Scotland. Literally the name means " the pool on the Ewe river ". Poolewe has a relatively warm climate for its latitude, thanks to the Gulf Stream, which creates an almost sub tropical climate. While the winter in Poolewe is generally cold and wet, the maritime location means that it receives only a few days of snow a year. The Northern Lights are visible on occasion, depending on the weather and time of year; most often in winter.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Of Family From Isle of Tiree Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of a family from the Isle of Tiree, Scotland. An island in the Scottish Inner Hebrides, southwest of Coll. The island is at the same latitude as southern Alaska and the same longitude as the border between Spain and Portugal. Britain’s twentieth largest island, it is just over ten miles at its longest, five miles at its widest, and a little over half a mile at its narrowest.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Of A Pipe Major 1st battalion Seaforth Highlanders In Edinburgh Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of a Pipe Major, 1st battalion, Seaforth Highlanders in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Seaforth Highlanders was a historic line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw service in World War I and World War II, along with many numerous smaller conflicts. In 1961 the regiment was amalgamated with the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders to form the Queen's Own Highlanders, Seaforth and Camerons, which merged, in 1994, with the Gordon Highlanders to form the Highlanders, Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons. This, however, later joined the Royal Scots Borderers, the Black Watch, the Royal Highland Fusiliers, Princess Margaret's Own Glasgow and Ayrshire Regiment, and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders to create the present Royal Regiment of Scotland.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Of Lumsden Family From Govan Glasgow Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of the Lumsden family from Govan, Glasgow, Scotland. Recorded in several spellings including Lumsden, Lumsdaine, and Lumsdon, this is a Scottish locational surname. which originates from a place called " Lumsden " in the parish of Coldingham, Berwickshire. The name derives from the Olde English pre 7th century " lumm " meaning a pool, plus "denu " a valley. In an early Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland, reference is made to an Adam de Lummesdene of Berwickshire who rendered homage in 1296. In the early half of the 14th century a branch of the Lumsden family acquired land in Fife and in Aberdeenshire, near Aberdeen to which they gave their family name, whilst John de Lummysden witnessed a charter by Duncan, earl of Fife in 1335. An interesting name bearer was Sir Harry Burnett Lumsden, born 1821, died 1896, lieutenant general of the British army, and who served for many years in India. He introduced the khaki uniform into the Indian army, and it was subsequently adopted throughout the forces at the end of the 19th century. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Gillem de Lumisden. this was dated circa 1166, when he witnessed a charter by the earl of Dunbar to the Priory of Coldingham. This was during the reign of King William, the Lion, of Scotland.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Of Gilfillan Family From Govan Glasgow Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of the Gilfillan family from Govan, Glasgow, Scotland. This Scottish surname is recorded in a range of spellings including: Gilfillan, Gilffillan, Gillffilland, Gillilan, Gilliland, and others, this is a Scottish surname. It is also widely recorded in its different spellings in the province of Ulster, Northern Ireland. It derives from the pre 10th century Gaelic name " Mac gille Fhaolain ", meaning " The son of the servant of St. Faolan ", an early saint whose personal name represents a diminutive form of " faol ", meaning wolf. This personal name appears frequently in the early charters and registers of Scotland from the 12th Century, and examples taken from surviving charters include: Gillefalyn who held land in Lauderdale in the year 1214, another Gillifelan is recorded as being the dean of Kintyre in 1250. The surname has early examples of recordings which include: Ewan Gillfillance, in the register of the Privvy Seal of Scotland in 1516, James Guilliland, who was christened on July 8th 1743 at Hand Alley Presbyterian church, in the city of London, England, and Ann Gilfillan, who emigrated from Glasgow in the ship " Hynderford ", bound for the city of New York, America, on June 8th 1847.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Police Constables In Lanark Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of Police Constables in Lanark, Scotland. Lanark has served as an important market town since medieval times, and King David I made it a Royal Burgh in 1140, giving it certain mercantile privileges relating to government and taxation. King David I realised that greater prosperity could result from encouraging trade. He decided to create a chain of new towns across Scotland. Lanark was the county town of the former county of Lanarkshire, though for many years Hamilton was the county town, before the formation of Strathclyde. Lanark railway station and coach station have frequent services to Glasgow. There is little industry these days in Lanark and some residents commute to work in Glasgow and Edinburgh.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Of Stewart Family From Govan Glasgow Scotland

Old travel Blog of the Stewart family from Govan, Glasgow, Scotland. The progenitor of the Stewart family was Alan fitz Flaad, a Breton knight who settled in England after the Norman Conquest. His son, Walter fitz Alan, relocated to Scotland during the Anarchy, and became the High Steward of Scotland, hence the origin of the surname. Stewart is the 66th most common surname in the United Kingdom.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Of Bruce Family From Kilmarnock Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of the Bruce family from Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland. The Bruce surname, so celebrated in the history of Scotland, is of Norman French origin, and is a locational name either from an extensive fortress, built by Adam de Brus at Brix between Cherbourg and Valognes, Normandy. Robert, The Bruce, born 1274, died 1329, was crowned king of Scotland in 1306, and consolidated Scottish independence when he defeated the English forces of King Edward 11 at Bannockburn in 1314. His brother, Edward, was crowned King of Ireland in 1315. The Bruce family hold the titles of barons of Kinloss, barons of Aberdare, earls of Elgin, and earls of Kincardine.

The first collection of work by Scottish poet Robert Burns, Poems, chiefly in the Scottish dialect, was published here in 1786, and became known as the Kilmarnock volume. The internationally distributed whisky brand Johnnie Walker originated in the town in the 19th century. A comparatively modest settlement until the Industrial Revolution, Kilmarnock extended considerably from around 1800 onwards. This resulted in formal, planned developments such as King Street, Portland Street, Saint Marnock Street and latterly John Finnie Street; the last often suggested as one of the finest Victorian planned streets in Scotland.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Of Charles Reid And His Family From Wishaw Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of Charles Reid and his family from Wishaw, Scotland. A large Scottish town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, Wishaw is located on the edge of the Clyde Valley, 15 miles south east of Glasgow. The surname Reid was first found in Aberdeenshire, Gaelic: Siorrachd Obar Dheathain, a historic county, and present day Council Area of Aberdeen, located in the Grampian region of northeastern Scotland where the name has been found since the 14th century. Ancient charters show the name as Rufus, Latinized, records include an Ada Rufus who witnessed resignation of the lands of Ingilbristoun in 1204; and a William Rufus, who was a juror on an inquest on the lands of Padevinan in 1259. For the purposes of Clan identification, the family name Reid is officially a sept of the Clan Robertson. Reid is a surname of Scottish origin, and is the 90th most common surname in the United Kingdom.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Interior Campbell's Dye Works Perth Perthshire Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of the interior of Campbell's Dye Works in Perth, Perthshire, Scotland. Peter Campbell, the founder of P&P Campbell, Dyeworks had originally begun work in Perth in 1814, in Methven Street, with Archibald Campbell, possibly a relative. By 1819 Peter had set up his own business. By 1881 Campbells were buying its dyes from John Deas of Perth who supplied substances like indigo and madder to produce the colours. Following a disastrous fire in 1919 Campbells was taken over by Pullars. Pullars was established by a John Pullar who had been apprenticed to Peter Campbell in 1816.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Children Linn Park Glasgow Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of children on a bridge in Linn Park in Glasgow, Scotland. Linn Park is a large park surrounded by the suburbs of Cathcart, Simshill and Netherlee on the southern fringes of Glasgow, where the city borders East Renfrewshire. It is Glasgow’s second largest park, after Pollok Country Park. Both parks have the White Cart Water flowing through them.





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Old Travel Blog Photograph Perth Street Blairgowrie Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of a Bakers Shop, houses and people on Perth Street in Blairgowrie, Perthshire, Scotland. Blairgowrie was made a barony in favour of George Drummond of Blair in 1634 by a royal charter of Charles I, and became a free burgh in 1809. In 1724 the military road from Coupar Angus to Fort George which passes through the town on the line of the A923 and A93 was completed. The town expanded hugely in the 19th century thanks to the employment provided by the many textile mills which were built along the River Ericht, all now closed.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Public School Blairgowrie Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of children outside the school at top of John Street by the church in Blairgowrie, Perthshire, Scotland. The Parish Church was erected in 1821, the foundation stone being laid by Mr William M’Pherson of Blairgowrie on the site of the old Church, which had become much too small for the accommodation of the rapidly-increasing population. Blairgowrie was made a barony in favour of George Drummond of Blair in 1634 by a royal charter of Charles I, and became a free burgh in 1809. In 1724 the military road from Coupar Angus to Fort George which passes through the town on the line of the A923 and A93 was completed. The town expanded hugely in the 19th century thanks to the employment provided by the many textile mills which were built along the River Ericht, all now closed.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Road Through Crianlarich Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of houses by the road through Crianlarich, Scotland. Crianlarich has been a major crossroads for north and west bound journeys in the Highlands of Scotland since mediaeval times. In the 1750s, two military roads met in the village; in the 19th century, it became a railway junction on what is now the West Highland Line; in the 20th century it became the meeting point of the major A82 and A85 roads. As such, it is designated a primary destination in Scotland, signposted from as far as Glasgow and Paisley in the south, Perth, Perthshire, in the east, Oban in the west and Fort William in the north.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Bowling Green Hopeman Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of men playing Bowls on the Bowling Green in Hopeman, a village on the Moray Firth coast of Scotland. The village was founded at the beginning of the nineteenth century as a fishing port by William Young of Inverugie. It expanded when the new harbour was built in 1838 for the export of stone from the nearby quarries. Hopeman has two large sandy beaches split by the man-made harbour. The West Beach is the smaller. The East Beach is surrounded by large, grassy sand dunes. BBC presenter Fiona Bruce traced her family back to the Bruces of Hopeman during an episode of Who Do You Think You Are? in February 2009. Of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day. Scottish bowlers developed the present flat green game, established rules, worked out a uniform code of laws, and were instrumental in saving the game for posterity. The ancient game of bowls has always been dear to the heart of every true Scot, and it has always held a prominent place in the history and literature of Scotland. To the Scots goes the credit also for giving the game an international background, as emigrant Scots enthusiastically carried the game with them to all parts of the world. Today there are more than 200 public bowling greens in the City of Glasgow alone.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Post Office Conon Bridge Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of the Post Office, cottages and people in Conon Bridge near Dingwall, Scotland. Conon Bridge was effectively founded after the construction of a bridge across the River Conon in 1809 by Thomas Telford in his role with the Commission for roads and bridges in the Highlands. Many of the present day residents of Conon Bridge work in Inverness, some 13 miles South of the village across the Kessock Bridge while some of the others work in Dingwall.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Belmont Terrace Kirkintilloch Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of a church, buildings and people on Belmont Terrace in Kirkintilloch, Scotland. A town and former royal burgh in East Dunbartonshire. It is located on the Forth and Clyde Canal, about 8 miles north east of central Glasgow. Following the Scottish victory in the wars of independence and the subsequent decline of Clan Cumming, the baronies of Kirkintilloch, Lenzie, and Cumbernauld were granted by Robert The Bruce to Sir Malcolm Fleming, Sheriff of Dumbarton and a supporter of the Bruce faction in the war. Hitherto part of Stirlingshire, the area subsequently became a detached part of the county of Dumbarton, in which it remains today. On 3 January 1746, the retreating Jacobite army of Bonnie Prince Charlie made its way through Kirkintilloch, on its way back from Derby, England, and on the march to Falkirk and ultimately Culloden. The town was one of the hotbeds of the Industrial Revolution in Scotland, beginning with the emergence of a booming textile industry in the area. There were 185 weavers in Kirkintilloch by 1790, and in 1867 James Slimon's cotton mill at Kelvinside employed 200 women. With the construction of the Forth and Clyde Canal through the town in 1773, and the establishment of the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway in 1826, Kirkintilloch developed further as an important transportation hub, inland port and production centre for iron, coal, nickel and even small ships. Of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph West High Street Innerleithen Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of a horse and cart, houses and people on West High Street in Innerleithen in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. This a civil parish and a small town in Tweeddale in the historic county of Peeblesshire. The town is said to have been founded by an itinerant pilgrim monk called St. Ronan in A.D.737, who came to Innerleithen via the River Tweed in a coracle. The industries which have supplanted the traditional wool industry and allowed the town keep growing have been primarily tourism and nearby Traquair House. The area is famous for fly fishing, both trout and salmon. Of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Bowling Green Cowdenbeath Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of men playing Bowls on the Bowling Green in Cowdenbeath, Fife, Scotland. Cowdenbeath is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is located 5 miles north east of Dunfermline and 18 miles north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a Police Burgh in 1890. Scottish bowlers developed the present flat green game, established rules, worked out a uniform code of laws, and were instrumental in saving the game for posterity. The ancient game of bowls has always been dear to the heart of every true Scot, and it has always held a prominent place in the history and literature of Scotland. To the Scots goes the credit also for giving the game an international background, as emigrant Scots enthusiastically carried the game with them to all parts of the world. Today there are more than 200 public bowling greens in the City of Glasgow alone.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Shops Grange Street Grangemouth Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of shops and people on Grange Street in Grangemouth, South of Stirling, Scotland. In 1872 responsibility for municipal affairs passed from the Dundas family to a new burgh council in Grangemouth and soon the marks of civic pride began appearing all over the prosperous town. Fine new churches of various denominations, public buildings and schools graced the elegant streets with Bo'ness Road, Charing Cross, Abbots Road, Talbot Street, and Ronaldshay Crescent among the most attractive. Here the well to do merchants and traders built high quality homes while ensuring that the working population in Marshall and Lumley Street had good houses as well. By the turn of the century the population was over 8,000 people.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Durham Terrace Lower Largo Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of houses on Durham Terrace by the railway line in Lower Largo, East Neuk of Fife, Scotland. The Fife Coast Railway was a railway line running round the southern and eastern part of Fife. It was built in stages by four railway companies: the Leven Railway opened the section from a junction at Thornton on the Edinburgh and Northern Railway main line to Leven in 1854, serving textile mills and a distillery. In 1857 the company extended eastwards to Kilconquhar; the East of Fife Railway built the line from Leven to Kilconquhar, opening in 1857; the Leven and East of Fife Railway was created in 1861 by an amalgamation of the first two companies. It opened the line to Anstruther in 1863; finally the Anstruther and St Andrews Railway completed the line from Anstruther to St Andrews in 1887. St Andrews itself had already been reached from Leuchars in 1852 by The St. Andrews Railway. As well as the textile industries, the line served fishing and agriculture, and an important passenger traffic built up. The line thrived up until 1939, but road transport took its toll on both passenger and freight business, and the importance of coal declined, and the line closed to passengers in 1965 and to goods traffic in 1966.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Aird Ferry Loch Duich Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of the Aird ferry boat transporting sheep over Loch Duich near Eilean Donan Castle, Scotland. The Aird or Dornie ferry operated from Ardelve to both Dornie, and across Loch Duich to Totaig, at least until the beginning of the 20th century. In the final year of operation the ferry ran from 8 am to 8 pm daily, including Sundays and Bank holidays. Eilean Donan Castle can be seen in the distance.





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Old Travel Blog Photograph Alexandria Fountain Dock Street Dundee Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of people beside the Princess Alexandria Fountain on Dock Street, Dundee, Scotland. Erected in memory to Queen Alexandra. The fountain is inscribed Alexandra Fountain, presented to the community by William Longair, Lord Provost of the City from 1905 to 1908. Dundee was second only to Edinburgh in terms of commercial prosperity. Most early trade was by sea and Dundee was ideally located on shipping routes to and from the Baltic and North European ports due to being closer than Edinburgh by two days sailing.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Post Office Kirkliston Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of people outside the cottage Post Office in Kirkliston village located ten miles from Edinburgh in West Lothian, Scotland. It is located on the old road between Edinburgh and Linlithgow. In the 13th century the name was recorded as Temple Liston, referring to the Knights Templar, who possessed the Barony of Liston at the heart of the parish. Kirkliston was the location of the first recorded parliament in Scottish history; the Estates of Scotland met there in 1235, during the reign of King Alexander II. In June 1298 Edward Longshanks made camp at the town on his way to fight Sir William Wallace at the Battle of Falkirk. The oldest surviving building in Kirkliston is the kirk for which the town is named. Locally Kirkliston is often known as Cheesetown, a name first recorded in print in 1902. Of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Post Office Arbuthnott Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of the cottage Post Office in Arbuthnott, Scotland. Reverend George Gleig, born 12 May 1753, died 9 March 1840, was a Scottish minister who transferred to the Episcopalian faith and became Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church. He was born at Boghall Farm, near Arbuthnott in Aberdeenshire, the son of a farmer. He was educated at Arbuthnott Parish School. At the age of thirteen he entered King's College, University of Aberdeen, where the first prize in mathematics and physical and moral sciences fell to him. In his twenty-first year he took orders in the Scottish Episcopal Church, and was ordained to the pastoral charge of a congregation at Pittenweem, Fife, whence he removed in 1790 to Stirling. In 1797 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were James Gregory, Sir James Hall, and Dugald Stewart. In 1808 he was consecrated assistant and successor to the bishop of Brechin, in 1810 was preferred to the sole charge, and in 1816 was elected Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, in which capacity he greatly aided in the introduction of many useful reforms, in fostering a more catholic and tolerant spirit, and in cementing a firm alliance with the sister Church of England. He died in Stirling. He is buried in the chapel of Greyfriars Church in Stirling.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Camden Street Evanton Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of houses on Camden Street in Evanton, Easter Ross, Scotland. The current town was founded in the early nineteenth century by Alexander Fraser of Inchcoulter Balconie who named it after his son Evan, but the core of the village buildings date from the Victorian era. The Fyrish Monument is a monument built in 1782 , on the orders of Sir Hector Munro, 8th of Novar, a native lord of the area who had served in India as a general. As the local population were being cleared off their land, employment was a problem and so it was built to give the locals some work. It was said that Sir Hector rolled stones from the top of the hill to the bottom, thereby extending the amount of time worked and paying the labourers for additional hours. In 1860, the Highland Railway decided to construct a railway line going from Inverness through Easter Ross. The line was completed by 1862, and the following year, on 23 May 1863, Evanton gained its own railway station. Of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph John Ross Pub Rosemarkie Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of the Pub owned by John Ross in Rosemarkie on the south coast of the Black Isle peninsula in Scotland. This is a Scottish village on the south coast of the Black Isle. It is located a quarter of a mile east of the town of Fortrose. The pair make up the Royal Burgh Of Fortrose and Rosemarkie, situated either side of the Chanonry Ness promontory, approximately twelve miles north-east of Inverness. Rosemarkie fronts on a wide, picturesque bay, with views of Fort George and the Moray coastline across the Moray Firth. Ross can be used as a given name, typically for males, but is also a typical family name for people of Scottish descent including members of Clan Ross. In this case, the name is of Scottish origin



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Old Travel Blog Photograph South Railway Station Fairlie Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of South Railway Station in Fairlie on the eastern shore of the Firth of Clyde, in North Ayrshire, Scotland. The station was originally opened on 1 June 1880 by the Glasgow and South Western Railway during the extension of the former Ardrossan Railway to Largs. It was renamed Fairlie Town on 30 June 1952, however this name was short lived and the station became Fairlie High on 2 March 1953. The station was renamed back to its original title some time before 1986. Originally a two platform station, it now has only one platform, the former northbound platform. The southbound platform was demolished and its track removed as part of the electrification of the Largs branch of the Ayrshire Coast Line in 1986.





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Old Travel Blog Photograph Judging Highland Cows Island Of Islay Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of Judges judging highland cows at an Agricultural Show on the Island of Islay, Inner Hebrides, Scotland. Highland cattle, Scots: Heilan coo, are a Scottish cattle breed. They have long horns and long wavy coats that are coloured black, brindle, red, yellow, white, silver, looks white but with a black nose, or dun, and they are raised primarily for their meat.They originated in the Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland and were first mentioned in the 6th century AD.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph All Saints' Church In Glencarse Perthshire Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of All Saints' Church In Glencarse, Perthshire, Scotland. The style of architecture of the church, designed by Mr Blackadder of Perth, is English Domestic Gothic, and the walls are of pitch pine and cement. The church was consecrated by the Bishop of Brechin, the Right Reverend Dr Hugh Willoughby Jermyn, on the 25th April 1878. It was established as a mission church, free of debt, most of the money having been provided by Lord Kinnaird, Mr Greig of Glencarse House and Colonel Drummond-Hay of Seggieden. Mr Greig gave a most appropriate site with a southerly aspect and a sunny location. Up to that date Episcopalians were forbidden to assemble at meetings exceeding nine persons for religious worship. Such meeting were usually private houses, or even fields. The Episcopal congregations of Glencarse in the eighteenth century had meeting houses in Inchyra and Pitroddie. Inchyra was a busy mediaeval trading village with its pier and ferry. Pitroddie, formerly known as Battrodie, once a burial place of Druids, had a thriving population based on the quarrying industry. These meeting houses can be regarded as as the forerunners of All Saints' Glencarse. No part of the grounds can be used for burials or the interrment of ashes, the traditional burial ground being that of the old parish church at Kinfauns, about two miles west of Glencarse.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Dinnet Bridge River Dee Aberdeenshire Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of Dinnet Bridge over the River Dee in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. At Dinnet Bridge there was formerly a ford, which at one time was guarded by a fort, which can still be traced. The River Dee rises in the Cairngorms and flows through South Aberdeenshire to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen. The general area is called Deeside, or Royal Deeside in the region between Braemar and Banchory because Queen Victoria came to love the place and built Balmoral Castle there.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Oakwood Rustic Tea Gardens Elgin Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of Oakwood Rustic Tea Gardens in Elgin, a former cathedral city and Royal Burgh in Moray, Scotland. The town originated to the south of the River Lossie on the higher ground above the floodplain. Elgin is first documented in the Cartulary of Moray in 1190 AD. It was created a Royal Burgh in the 12th century by King David I of Scotland. On 19 July 1224, the foundation stone of the new Elgin Cathedral was ceremoniously laid. The cathedral was completed sometime after 1242 but was completely destroyed by fire in 1270. In the 19th century the old medieval town of Elgin was swept away. The first major addition to the town centre was the Assembly Rooms, built in 1821 by the Trinity Lodge of Freemasons, at the corner of High Street and North Street. The Morayshire Railway was officially opened in ceremonies at Elgin and Lossiemouth on 10 August 1852. William Dunbar was born in 1749 in Thunderton House, Elgin. He was the youngest son of Sir Archibald Dunbar and Anne Bayne Dunbar. In 1763 he attended King's College, Aberdeen, and graduated from there in 1767. He emigrated to America arriving in Philadelphia in April 1771. In 1773 he and a Scottish merchant opened a cotton plantation in Florida and in 1792 opened another plantation in Mississippi. Dunbar became surveyor general in the Natchez area in 1798 and making his first meteorological observations in the Mississippi Valley in 1799. President Thomas Jefferson appointed him and fellow Scot Dr George Hunter to explore the Ouachita River region and travel all the way to the source of the Red River. They set out on 16 October 1804, traveling up the Ouachita River and on to the area of Hot Springs, Arkansas. Dunbar became the first man to give a scientific report of the hot springs, and his journal of the exploration was later published in Documents Relating to the Purchase and Exploration of Louisiana. He died in 1887. Of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day.



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Tour Scotland Travel Blog Video Day After Boxing Day Drive To Pitlochry Highland Perthshire

Tour Scotland travel Blog video of a misty day after Boxing Day road trip drive North on the A9 Road on ancestry visit to Pitlochry, Perthshire, Scotland.

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Tour Scotland Travel Blog Video Best Outdoor House Christmas Lights Perth Perthshire

Tour Scotland travel Blog video of what I think are the best outdoor Christmas Lights on a house on visit to Perth, Perthshire, Scotland. It has become increasingly common for Scots to decorate the outside of their house or cottage with weatherproof Christmas lights. A familiar pastime during the holiday season is to drive or walk around neighbourhoods in the evening to see the lights displayed on and around other homes. While some homes have no lights, others may have incredibly ornate displays which require weeks to construct.

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Old Travel Blog Photograph Italian Statues Castle Torosay Mull Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of Italian Statues in the gardens of Torosay Castle on the on the Isle Of Mull, off the west coast of Scotland. Statues by the 18th Century Italian sculptor Antonio Bonazza. The castle was designed by architect David Bryce for John Campbell of Possil in the Scottish Baronial style, and completed in 1858. John Campbell of Possil sold the castle and the estate to Arburthnot Charles Guthrie, a wealthy London businessman, in 1865. Following the sale of Guthrie Castle out of the Guthrie family, Torosay was generally acknowledged as the seat for Clan Guthrie.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Road To Eddleston Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of the road to Eddleston in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. This is a civil parish and a small village. Eddleston's earliest recorded name was Penteiacob, in Old Welsh or Brittonic, and meant headland of James's house. The Great Polish Map of Scotland is a three-dimensional concrete map in the grounds of the Barony Castle Hotel. It was constructed by Polish geographers in the mid 1970s. The map was conceived partly in recognition of the hospitality afforded to Polish soldiers during the Second World War. Of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Straloch Parish Church Near Enochdhu Perthshire Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of Straloch Parish Church near Enochdhu a small village located West of Kirkmichael, Perthshire, Scotland. Straloch was built as a church in 1846, constructed of granite and whinstone the property was converted to a house in 1989.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Wishing Well Wellmeadow Park Blairgowrie Perthshire Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of the Wishing Well in the Wellmeadow, a park in Blairgowrie, Perthshire, Scotland. The Celtic peoples considered springs and wells sacred places. Sometimes the places were marked with wooden statues possibly of the god associated with the pool. Water was seen to have healing powers, and wells became popular, with many people drinking the water, bathing in it or just simply wishing over it. Some people believed that the guardians or dwellers of the well would grant them their wish if they paid a price. After uttering the wish, one would generally drop coins in the well. That wish would then be granted by the guardian or dweller, based upon how the coin would land at the bottom of the well. If the coin landed heads up, the guardian of the well would grant the wish, but the wish of a tails up coin would be ignored. It was thus potentially lucky to throw coins in the well, but it depended on how they landed.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Royal Navy Sailors Football Team Portobello Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of a Royal Navy Sailors Football Team in Portobello, Edinburgh, Scotland. Photograph was taken by George G Morrison who was a professional photographer based at several addresses in Edinburgh, Leith and Portobello from 1912.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Of Building Sancta Maria Abbey Nunraw Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of building Sancta Maria Abbey in East Lothian, Scotland. Nunraw Abbey or Sancta Maria Abbey, Nunraw is a working Trappist ( Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae ) monastery. It was the first Cistercian house to be founded in Scotland since the Reformation. Founded in 1946 by monks from Mount St. Joseph Abbey, Roscrea, Ireland, and consecrated as an Abbey in 1948, it nestles at the foot of the Lammermuir Hills on the southern edge of East Lothian. The estate of the abbey is technically called White Castle after an early hill-fort on the land. Originally owned by the Cistercian Nuns of Haddington, the area that they settled becoming known as Nunraw, meaning Nun's Row. The Nunnery of Haddington was founded by Ada de Warenne, Countess of Huntingdon and daughter of the Earl of Surrey, soon after the death of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and the small evidence that is available suggests that Nunraw was a Grange of that convent.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Market Cross Dalry Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of the Market Cross in Dalry in North Ayrshire, Scotland. Dalry was mentioned in 1226 as a " chapel of Ardrossan ". The parish of Dalry was probably formed in 1279 when a " Henry, Rector of the Church of Dalry " appears in the Register of the Diocese of Glasgow. Lands including the area of Pitcon in Dalry were given by Robert the Bruce to his right hand man Robert Boyd in 1316. On the 8th Nov 1576, midwife Bessie Dunlop, resident of Lynne, in Dalry, was accused of sorcery and witchcraft. She answered her accusers that she received information on prophecies or to the whereabouts of lost goods from a Thomas Reid, a former barony officer in Dalry who died at the Battle of Pinkie some 30 years before. She convicted and burnt at the stake at Castle Hill in Edinburgh in 1576. Various manufacturing existed in the parish relating to cotton and carpet yarn with silk and harness weaving, in which both men and women were employed.A significant number of women were occupied in sewing and embroidering, mainly for the Glasgow and Paisley manufacturers. The dressing and spinning of flax to some extent was also done in the area.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph St Rufus Parish Church Keith Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of St Rufus Parish Church in Keith, a small town in Moray, Scotland. St Rufus Parish Church was built in the early 19th century as a replacement for the original, medieval church of Old Keith. It is built on a flat topped mound on the eastern edge of the original kirktown of Keith, overlooking the River Isla and its steep sided valley. The grid like new town, begun in around 1750, extends to the east and south. St Rufus sits within grass and gravel grounds, bounded by stone walls and railings.



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