Old Photograph Clock Tower Fife Street Dufftown Scotland

Old photograph of the Clock Tower on Fife Street in Dufftown in Moray, Scotland. The Tower was originally the town jail, later the Burgh Chambers and now houses the VisitScotland Tourist Information Centre. The clock is known locally as " The clock that hanged MacPherson ". MacPherson of Kingussie was an infamous freebooter condemned to death at Banff in 1700 for robbing the rich and giving it to the poor. The local inhabitants raised a petition for his reprieve but when the pardon was on it's way, MacPherson's arch enemy, Lord Braco, the Sheriff of Banff, put the clock forward a quarter of an hour to make sure MacPherson would hang. Sometime later the clock was removed from Banff and installed in Dufftown's tower.



Tour Scotland wee video of old photographs of Dufftown in Moray, Scotland. The old Kirkton of Mortlach, with its historic church, is on the southern outskirts of the present town. In the 19th century, James Duff, 4th Earl Fife, established Dufftown as housing for soldiers returning home from the Napoleonic War. Dufftown's notable buildings include Balvenie Castle, which was partly built with stones from the ruins of nearby Auchindoun Castle. The street plan of Dufftown is mainly four main roads meeting at the clock tower; previously a prison but now a tourist information centre. Dufftown is located on the River Fiddich and is the location of several Scotch whisky distilleries. It produces more malt whisky than any other town in Scotland. George Stephen, 1st Baron Mount Stephen, was born in Dufftown on 5 June 1829. He was the son of William Stephen, a carpenter, and Elspet, daughter of John Smith, a crofter at Knockando, Moray. He wwas known as Sir George Stephen, Baronet, between 1886 and 1891, was a prominent Canadian businessman. He made his fame in Montreal and was the first Canadian to be elevated to the Peerage of the United Kingdom. He was the financial genius behind the creation of the Canadian Pacific Railway.. He died on 29 November 1921. Of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day.

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

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Old Photograph Docks Bo'ness Scotland

Old photograph of ships in the Docks in Bo'ness, West Lothian, Scotland



Tour Scotland video of a train ride on the Morayshire steam locomotive in Bo'ness, West Lothian, Scotland. Designed by Gresley and built at the LNER Darlington Works in 1928, Morayshire is the only surviving member of 76 Shires. Sir Herbert Nigel Gresley, born 19 June 1876, died 5 April 1941, was one of Britain's most famous steam locomotive engineers, who rose to become Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London and North Eastern Railway. He was the designer of some of the most famous steam locomotives in Britain, including the LNER Class A1 and LNER Class A4 4-6-2 Pacific engines. An A1 pacific, Flying Scotsman, was the first steam locomotive officially recorded over 100 mph in passenger service, and an A4, number 4468 Mallard, still holds the record for being the fastest steam locomotive in the world at 126 mph.



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

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Old Photograph Road To Blackness Castle Scotland

Old photograph of the road to Blackness Castle on the south shore of the Firth of Forth in West Lothian, Scotland.



Tour Scotland video of Blackness Castle on the south shore of the Firth of Forth in West Lothian, Scotland. This castle was built, probably on the site of an earlier fortress, by Sir George Crichton in the 1440s. At this time, Blackness was the main port serving the Royal Burgh of Linlithgow, one of the main residences of the Scottish monarch. The castle, together with the Crichton lands, passed to King James II of Scotland in 1453, and the castle has been crown property ever since. It served as a state prison, holding such prisoners as Cardinal Beaton and the 6th Earl of Angus. Strengthened by Sir James Hamilton of Finnart in the mid 16th century, the castle became one of the most advanced artillery fortifications of its time in Scotland. A century later, though, these defences were not enough to prevent Blackness falling to Oliver Cromwell's army in 1650.

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

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Old Photograph Caravan Site Banff Scotland

Old photograph of the Caravan Site on the coast at Banff, Scotland.



Tour Scotland video of old photographs of Banff, Scotland. Banff is situated on Banff Bay and faces the town of Macduff across the estuary of the River Deveron. Banff is a former royal burgh, and is the traditional county town of Banffshire. The first recorded Sheriff of Banff was Richard de Strathewan in 1264, and in 1372 Royal Burgh status was conferred by King Robert II. By the 15th century Banff was one of three principal towns exporting salmon to the continent of Europe, along with Aberdeen and Montrose.

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

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Old Photograph Caravan Site Portsoy Scotland

Old photograph of the Caravan Site on the coast at Portsoy, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Portsoy is located on the Moray Firth Coast of North East Scotland, 50 miles North West of Aberdeen and 65 miles East of Inverness. From the 16th century until 1975, Portsoy was in the civil and religious parish of Fordyce. The old Harbour dates to the 17th century and is the oldest on the Moray Firth. The new harbour was built in 1825 for the growing herring fishing. Jimmy MacBeath, born 1894, died 1972, the wandering singer, was born in Portsoy and is buried there. He was a bachelor all his life and learned many songs in the bothies, or farm huts where the male farm workers lived. He was to be a traveller for much of his life; in 1908 he took his first long walk, from Inverness to Perth, Perthshire. In the First World War he joined the Gordon Highlanders and fought in Flanders. Later he served in the Medical Corps during the Anglo-Irish War. In the 1920s he was demobbed. Working as a kitchen porter, begging and at seasonal fruit picking, he set about tramping the roads of Scotland, England, the Channel Islands, and even Nova Scotia, Canada. In the streets, pubs, hiring fairs and markets he earned money by singing. Jimmy Paterson, trombonist with Dexy's Midnight Runners, was born and raised in Portsoy

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

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