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 cottages in Brunton in Fife, Scotland. Brunton in 1846 was described as a village, in the parish of Creich, district of Cupar, county of Fife; containing 90 inhabitants. This village, which is pleasantly situated, is inhabited chiefly by persons employed in agriculture, and in hand-loom weaving for the linen manufacturers of Cupar, under the inspection of a resident agent who furnishes the materials. Previously to the introduction of machinery, several of the females were employed in spinning yarn; but, at present, there is only one spinning wheel in operation.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old photograph of Annie Swan's house in Kinghorn, Fife, Scotland. Annie Shepherd Swan, born 8 July 1859, died 17 June 1943, was a Scottish journalist, novelist and story writer. She used her maiden name for most of her literary career, but also wrote as David Lyall and later Mrs Burnett Smith. She was a popular writer of romantic fiction for young women during the Victorian era and published more than 200 novels, serials, short stories and other fiction between 1878 and her death in 1943. Annie was one of the seven children of Edward Swan, a farmer and merchant, by his first wife, Euphemia Brown. After her father's business failed, she attended school in Edinburgh, latterly at the Queen Street Ladies College. Her father belonged to an Evangelical Union congregation, but she turned in adulthood to the Church of Scotland. She persistently wrote fiction as a teenager. She Swan married the schoolteacher James Burnett Smith in 1883. They lived initially in Fife, where she became close friends with the Scottish theologian Robert Flint and his sister. They moved two years later to Morningside, Edinburgh, where Burnett Smith became a medical student, and in 1893 to London, where their two children, Effie and Eddie were born.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
Old photograph of Galloway Library in Colinsburgh, Fife, Scotland. Mr Galloway made his money in America. He also left a sum of money to provide newspapers and bursaries to the school children.The Colinsburgh Galloway Library is on the main street in the middle of the village, open twice a week.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
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.
