Old Photograph The Mine Tyndrum Scotland

Old photograph of the Mine by Tyndrum located South of Glencoe, Scotland. The earliest known record of mining in this area was in 1424. Mined for precious metals rather than lead, the mines supplied King James I with silver. On 30 May 1730, Sir Robert Clifton signed a thirty-eight year lease with the Earl of Breadalbane to mine any metals that he could discover on the earl's estate. In 1740, he discovered lead and established Tyndrum Mine the following year. Bad debts, however, led to his imprisonment in 1745, and he gave up his lease. Later in the 18th century, the Scots Mining Company operated the mine and built a smelting works nearby to turn the mined lead ore, called galena, into metal. Mining for lead, silver and gold continued at various times into the 20th century, but with limited success, however, gold mining continues in the area today.





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Old Photograph Belladrum House Scotland

Old photograph of Belladrum House by Beauly located ten miles West of Inverness, Scotland. Belladrum Estate was once part of the lands owned by the Lords of Lovat, chieftains of the Clan Fraser, to whom belonged much of the land in the area and stretching to the South and West. From them it came into the ownership of the Frasers of Belladrum, whose memorials you can see in Wardlaw Church in the nearby village Kirkhill, and who raised the Regiment of Fraser Fencibles during the Napoleonic Wars. In the 1820s, the Belladrum Frasers sold their estates to merchants by the name of Stewart. They in turn sold in 1857 to James Merry of Belladrum. MP for the Burghs of Falkirk, and an ironmaster from Glasgow.



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

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Old Photograph Bonshaw Tower Scotland

Old photograph of Bonshaw Tower located one mile South of Kirtlebridge village located five miles North East of Annan in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Bonshaw belongs to the Irving family. It was held in unbroken succession until the death of Sir Robert Beaufin Irving, a former captain of RMS Queen Mary, in 1954.



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

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Old Photograph Whig's Vault Dunnottar Castle Scotland

Old photograph of the Whig's Vault in Dunnottar Castle, Scotland. One of the darkest chapters of Dunnottar's history is that of the Whig's Vault. In 1685, one hundred and twenty two men and forty five women, whose crime was their refusal to acknowledge the King's supremacy in spiritual matters. They were imprisoned with little food and no sanitation from 24 May until the end of July in the gloomy, airless cellar. Thirty seven Whigs finally agreed to take the oath of allegiance and were released. Twenty five escaped, however fifteen were recaptured and two fell to their deaths during the attempt. A further five prisoners also died.



Tour Scotland video of Dunnottar Castle, Scotland. The ruined medieval fortress situated upon a rocky headland on the north-east coast of Scotland, about two miles south of Stonehaven. The surviving buildings are largely of the 15th to 16th centuries, but the site is believed to have been an early fortress of the Dark Ages. Dunnottar played a strategic role in the history of Scotland from the Middle Ages through to the Enlightenment, because of the location: it overlooked the shipping lanes to northern Scotland; and is situated on a narrow coastal terrace that controlled land access to the coastal south via Portlethen Moss to Aberdeen during the medieval period. Both the Jacobites and Hanoverians used Dunnottar Fortress. In 1689 during Viscount Dundee's campaign, fourteen suspected Jacobites from Aberdeen were held in the fortress for approximately a year, including George Liddel, professor of mathematics. In 1715 the Dunnottar cannons were utilized by the Jacobites; following this uprising all the possessions of the Earl Mariscal were forfeit, and the fortress was dismantled three years later. Dunnottar Castle was the runaway winner in an 8th Wonder of the World competition. Elsinore Castle in the film Hamlet was in part Dunnottar Castle.

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

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Old Photograph Sports Day Kirkcowan Scotland

Old photograph of Sports Day in Kirkcowan located six miles from Newton Stewart, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. William Gordon, had charters of parts of the barony of Craichlaw, in the parish of Kirkcowan and county of Wigtown. He married Janet Baillie, and was ancestor of the Gordons of Craighlaw. The principal industry has always been agriculture, although in the 19th century two woollen mills were erected on the River Tarf nearby.



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

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