Tour Scotland Video Spring Drive From Crieff To Huntingtower Castle And City Of Perth Perthshire

Tour Scotland video of a Spring drive West on the A85 road from Crieff through Methven to on ancestry visit to Huntingtower Castle and into the city of Perth, Perthshire, Scotland. Huntingtower Castle once known as Ruthven Castle or the Palace of Ruthven is situated about 3 miles from the centre of Perth, on the main road to Crieff. The Castle was built in stages from the 15th century by the Clan Ruthven family and was known for several hundred years as the Palace of Ruthven. In the summer of 1582, the castle was occupied by the 4th Lord Ruthven, who was also the 1st Earl of Gowrie, and his family. Gowrie was involved in a plot to kidnap the young King James VI, son of Mary, Queen of Scots. During 1582 Gowrie and his associates seized the young king and held him prisoner for 10 months. This kidnapping is known as the 'Raid of Ruthven' and the Protestant conspirators behind it hoped to gain power through controlling the king. James eventually escaped and actually forgave Gowrie, but after a second abortive attempt by Gowrie and others to overthrow him, Gowrie was finally executed and his property, including Huntingtower, was forfeited to the crown. The Castle and lands were restored to the Ruthven family in 1586. However in 1600, the brothers John and Alexander Ruthven were implicated in another plot to kill King James VI and were executed. This time, the king was less merciful: as well as seizing the estates, he abolished the name of Ruthven and decreed that any successors would be ineligible to hold titles or lands. Thus the House of Ruthven ceased to exist and by royal proclamation the castle was renamed Huntingtower. The Castle remained in the possession of the crown until 1643 when it was given to the family of Murray of Tullibardine, from whom the Dukes of Atholl and Mansfield are descended. John Murray, 1st Duke of Atholl resided in the Castle, where his wife Lady Mary Ross bore a son 7 February 1717. The Castle began to be neglected and after Lady Mary died in 1767, it was abandoned as a place of residence except by farm labourers. Today, the Castle can be visited by the public and is sometimes used as a venue for marriage ceremonies.

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Tour Scotland Video Spring Drive From Perth To Auchterarder Perthshire

Tour Scotland video of a Spring drive West from Perth on the A9 road then onto the A824 road through Aberuthven on ancestry visit to Auchterarder, Perthshire, Scotland. The 1.5 mile long High Street of Auchterarder gave the town its popular name of " The Lang Toun " or Long Town. In 1983 the A9 was diverted to the South, bypassing Auchterarder and Aberuthven, to improve the connection between Stirling and Perth.

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

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Old Photograph The Drosten Pictish Stone St Vigeans Scotland

Old photograph of the Drosten Pictish Stone at St Vigeans near Arbroath, Angus, Scotland. The Drosten Stone is a Class 2 cross slab: a flat rectangular stone with a cross carved on one side and symbols on the other. The stone is unusual in having a non ogham inscription. There are many possibilities for the origin of the stone. One is as a monument to a noble or ecclesiastic called Drosten, a common Pictish name related to Tristan, who died in the reign of Uoret and Fergus. The second possibility is a dedication to the popular Pictish Saint Drostan, or perhaps to Saints Drostan and Fergus. The final possibility is that Drosten and Fergus had the stone made.



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Old Photograph Class II Pictish Stone Rosemarkie Scotland

Old photograph of the Class II Pictish Stone which was found sometime prior to 1821 in the floor of the old church in the village of in Rosemarkie, Scotland. Rosemarkie was the probable site of a major Pictish monastery, on the Black Isle of Easter Ross. When found, the stone was broken into two parts that have since been reconstructed. On the front side is an elaborately decorated cross, while on the reverse side are various common Pictish symbols, including three crescents and v rods and a double disc and Z rod, as well as a smaller cross at the bottom. It is the only Pictish stone to bear three versions of the same symbol. The sides are also decorated with a number of interlace patterns. It is one of the major surviving examples of Pictish art in stone.



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Old Photograph Douglas Road Leslie Fife Scotland

Old photograph of houses on Douglas Road in Leslie, Fife, Scotland. Little is known about the history of Leslie before 1300. The village which bears the name of the Leslie family area descended from Bartolf or Bartholomew who was a Hungarian or maybe Flemish tradesman, who according to legend arrived in Scotland with Queen Margaret, the sister of Edgar the Ætheling in 1057. Finding favour with Queen Margaret's husband, King Malcolm III, Bartolf became the governor of Edinburgh Castle and was knighted and granted with lands in the Garioch in Aberdeenshire. The main industry in Leslie was paper making, in the form of what was known as Fettykil Paper Mill, operated by Smith Anderson, which continued into the 21st century.





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

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