Old Photograph Freemasons Dalry Scotland

Old photograph of Freemasons 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 Photographs Bridge Street Ballater Scotland

Old photograph of Bridge Street in Ballater, Royal Deeside, Scotland. Balmoral Castle, the British Royal Family's holiday home, lies to the West, and the family has visited the town frequently since the time of Queen Victoria. Birkhall lies to the South West of Ballater. Victoria Barracks is used by the Royal Guard for the castle. Local stores had for decades Royal Warrants bestowed upon them. Five years after the passing of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, who had granted them, the warrants lapsed and, to the chagrin of many townsfolk and especially shop owners, were removed. Several shops still display the arms marking the royal warrant.

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Old Photograph Harbour Burghead Scotland

Old photograph of boats in the harbour in Burghead located eight miles North West of Elgin, Moray, Scotland.



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Old Photograph Harbour Lossiemouth Scotland

Old photograph of fishing boats in the harbour in Lossiemouth, Moray, Scotland. The first harbour for fishing boats at Lossiemouth was started in 1699 by a German engineer, Peter Brauss, at the mouth of the river Lossie near to where the East and West piers stand today.

Alexander Edwards was born on 4 November 1885 in Stotfield, Lossiemouth. He was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was the son of a fisherman and became a cooper working in the herring fishery. He served with the 1/6th Morayshire Battalion of the Seaforth Highlanders, 51st Highland Division and joined the battalion at Elgin in July 1914. Edwards demonstrated tremendous bravery and was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions at the Battle of Pilckem Ridge during the first day of the Battle of Passchendaele. On the 21 March 1918 the Germans began the ferocious Kaiserschlacht spring offensive and on 24 March, Edwards was killed and missing in action at Bapaume Wood, east of Arras, France.


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Old Photographs Moray Street Blackford Perthshire Scotland

Old photograph of horses and carts, hotel, houses, people and cottage on Moray Street in Blackford, Perthshire, Scotland. Blackford was first known as a ford over the Allan Water. There is a legend that a King Magnus lost his wife Queen Helen in a storm and she is buried on a nearby hill. Blackford became a popular stopping place especially when Scotland's first public brewery was started. James VII of Scotland even stopped in Blackford while travelling to sample their ale. The village was becoming more prosperous by the nineteenth century with manufacturing including two breweries and with a healthy agricultural sector based on wool and flax. The Scottish Central Railway built a line between Perth and Stirling with a station at Blackford in 1848. Local manufacturing declined at the beginning of the 20th century with many people leaving the village. However, many people in the village were employed when the Gleneagles Hotel was opened nearby in 1924. The Tullibardine distillery was built on the site of the former Sharp's Brewery.





All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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