Tour Scotland photographs and videos from my tours of Scotland. Photography and videography, both old and new, from beautiful Scotland, Scottish castles, seascapes, rivers, islands, landscapes, standing stones, lochs and glens.
Old photograph of a gravestone in Eye church, Aignish, Island of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Carved in hornblende schist, this gravestone depicts a knight with pointed helmet, said to be Roderick, 7th Chief of the Macleods of Lewis the last of Macleod chiefs who died around 1498. It is believed that St Catan, a contemporary of Columba, established a cell at Aignish on the island of Lewis. The buildings that stand there now date from the 14th century and from two separate construction phases. The church was dedicated to St Columba and is known variously as St Columba's (Uidh), Eye Church and Eaglais na h-Aoidh. It was used as an Episcopalian church until 1829 when a new Thomas Telford church was built nearby during a time when evangelical Scottish Presbyterianism was sweeping across the islands. The graveyard at Eye Church is the burial place for around nineteen of the Chiefs of the Macleods of Lewis.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old photograph of Cluny Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. This Scottish castle is located South of Monymusk and north of Sauchen. Owned by three separate branches of Gordon families over the centuries, it was used to shelter Jacobite rebels in the mid 18th century. Extensive additions were made in 1820 to the design of architect John Smith when it was in the ownership of Colonel John Gordon. King Robert the Bruce granted the lands of Cluny to his sister Mary's husband, Alexander Fraser. The lands passed down through the family, via Adam Gordon of Huntly and the Earls of Huntly, to John Gordon, a younger son of the 3rd Earl. His son Sir Thomas Gordon built the castle to replace an earlier house or peel tower. The lands were inherited by his son, Alexander Gordon, who became the fourth laird of Cluny. By 1636 the cost of building the castle combined with other financial difficulties caused ownership of the lands to be transferred. The castle had various owners, probably creditors, until 1680 when it became the property of Robert Gordon, of the Gordonstoun branch of the family. It remained in the hands of this family until the mid 18th century. The Gordons of Cluny were implicated in the Jacobite Rising of 1745, and had also incurred debts. This resulted in the castle passing to a third branch of the Gordon family around 1753. The new proprietor John Gordon was of obscure origins. He was an Edinburgh merchant as well as a factor to Cosmo Gordon, 3rd Duke of Gordon. John Gordon's son was also named Cosmo and he inherited the estate on his father's death in 1769. He did some work at the castle, although records give no indication of what was involved. Plans for a re-design were commissioned from Robert Adam in 1790 and from his business partner and younger brother James in 1793, though this work was never carried out. Pre-deceased by his wife, Mary Baillie, Cosmo Gordon died without issue in 1800 and was succeeded by his brother Charles. When Charles died on 8 May 1814, various bequests were made to his children; his eldest son John, later an army colonel and a member of Parliament, inherited Cluny and the remainder of the properties plus £30,000. No money had been spent on the estate during the years it was owned by Charles Gordon. It was under the ownership of Colonel Gordon that extensive additions were made to the castle, commencing around 1820.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old photograph of cottages and people by the harbour in Cellardyke, East Neuk Fife, Scotland. Cellardyke was formerly known as Nether Kilrenny, Scots for Lower Kilrenny, or Sillerdyke, and the harbour as Skinfast Haven, a name which can still be found on maps today. The harbour was built in the 16th century and was rebuilt between 1829 and 1831. The modern name of the fishing village is thought to have evolved from Sillerdykes, meaning silver walls, a reference to the sun glinting off fish scales encrusted on fishing nets left to dry in the sun on the dykes around the harbour. Cellardyke and Kilrenny were together a royal burgh from 1592, having been a burgh of regality since 1578. Fishing was a dangerous occupation, and over the years a number of boats from Cellardyke were lost. On the 6th of April 1826 a boat was lost. Seven of the crew perished and one survived. On the 28th of May 1844 a boat with eight crew members was lost. Two years later, on the 23rd of April 1846 a boat with seven crew was lost. On the 3rd of November 1848 a boat with eight crew was lost. The next loss occurred on the 10th of May 1865, when a boat with eight crew disappeared. In 1910 a boat from Pittenweem sank off Cellardyke with the loss of three lives. There was one survivor. In addition, on the 1st of July 1837 a boat from Cellardyke carrying people on an excursion to the Isle of May as part of a celebration for the start of the herring fishing foundered. Seventeen women and children lost their lives.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old photograph of Gothenburg Hall in Kelty, Fife, Scotland. Gothenburg Public Hall was built in 1910 by the Gothenburg Temperance Society as a Cinema. The clock tower was added in 1925 as a gift to the people of Kelty from the Gothenburg society. The building was demolished in 1976. The Gothenburg or Trust Public House system originated in the 1860s in Gothenburg, Sweden in an attempt to control the consumption of spirits. In Scotland, pubs run under the Gothenburg system are often colloquially known as " Goths. " There were several Goths in the Lothians, one each in Stirlingshire and Ayrshire and, prior to 1914, more than twenty in Fife, where the system took its strongest hold. The local coal companies were often a source of funds to establish these pubs and were usually a dominant force on the boards of the trusts, with the miners themselves usually holding representation and sometimes contributing in part to the capital.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old photograph of the Carnegie Library in Kinross, Perthshire, Scotland. The original Tradesman's Library here dated from 1825. The memorial stone for the new library was laid by Sir Basil Montgomery in 1905 after Kinross Burgh Council received a gift from Dr Andrew Carnegie. The building adjoins the Clock Tower, Town Hall and old Post Office. The architect was Peter Henderson based at 122 George Street, in Edinburgh, who was better known for his brewery and bar designs.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
