Old Photograph Crown Room Edinburgh Castle Scotland

Old photograph of the Crown Room in Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland. The Honours of Scotland, also known as the Scottish Regalia and the Scottish Crown Jewels, dating from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, are the oldest surviving set of crown jewels in the British Isles. They were used for the coronation of Scottish monarchs from 1543 until 1651. Since then, they have been used to represent Royal Assent to legislation in both the Estates of Parliament and the Scottish Parliament, and they have also been used at state occasions including the first visit to Scotland as sovereign by King George IV in 1822 and the first such visit by Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.



Tour Scotland April video of storm clouds over Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland. Edinburgh Castle is a historic fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position on the Castle Rock.As the backdrop to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo during the annual Edinburgh International Festival the castle has become a recognisable symbol of Edinburgh and of Scotland and indeed, it is Edinburgh's most frequently visited visitor attraction.

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Old Photograph Farm Brighouse Bay Scotland

Old photograph of a farm by Brighouse Bay and beach near Kirkcudbright in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The country of Kirkcudbrightshire west of the Nith was originally peopled by a tribe of Celts called Novantae, who long retained their independence. After Gnaeus Julius Agricola's invasion in 79 AD, the country nominally formed part of the Roman province of Britannia. By the 7th century, much of Galloway became part of the English kingdom of Northumbria. During the next two hundred years the country had no rest from Danish and Saxon incursions and the continual lawlessness of the Scandinavian rovers. When Malcolm Canmore defeated and slew Macbeth in 1057 he married the dead king's relative Ingibiorg, a Pictish princess. The Galloway chiefs hesitated for a time whether to throw in their lot with the Northumbrians or with Malcolm; but language, race and the situation of their country at length induced them to become lieges of the Scottish king. In 1308 the district was cleared of the English and brought under allegiance to the king, when the lordship of Galloway was given to Edward Bruce.



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Old Photograph Waterfall Rouken Glen Scotland

Old photograph of a waterfall in Rouken Glen in Giffnock, East Renfrewshire, to the South West of Glasgow, Scotland. The glen has many of the typical features of an Edwardian urban park, such as a boating pond started in 1923 by Sir Robert McAlpine to replace a former curling pond. Rouken Glen includes a large waterfall surrounded by steep woodland; the waterfall is based on a natural waterfall, doubled in height to form a reservoir to supply the printworks downstream at Thornliebank during the early 19th century. There is a walled garden in the grounds of the former manor, Birkenshaw house.



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

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Old Photograph Royal Pew St Giles Cathedral Scotland

Old photograph of the Royal Pew in St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, Scotland. St. Giles' Cathedral or the High Kirk of Edinburgh is a Church of Scotland place of worship decorating the midpoint of the Royal Mile. The church has been one of Edinburgh's religious focal points for approximately 900 years. Today it is sometimes regarded as the mother church of Presbyterianism. St. Giles was only a cathedral in its formal sense, ie. the seat of a bishop, for two periods during the 17th century (1635-38 and 1661-1689), when episcopalianism, backed by the Crown, briefly gained ascendancy within the Kirk. In the mediaeval period, prior to the Reformation, Edinburgh had no cathedral as the royal burgh was part of the Diocese of St Andrews, under the Bishop of St Andrews whose episcopal seat was St Andrew's Cathedral. For most of its post-Reformation history the Church of Scotland has not had bishops, diocese, or cathedrals. As such, the use of the term Cathedral today carries no practical meaning. The " high kirk " title is older, being attested well before the building's brief stint as a cathedral. It is the Church of Scotland parish church for part of Edinburgh's Old Town. As the name implies, it is dedicated to St. Giles, who was the patron saint of cripples and lepers and a very popular saint in the Middle Ages.



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Old Photograph Andre Letta Turriff Scotland

Old photograph of Andre Letta in Turriff, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Andre Letta, born 1875, died 1957, was the was the stage name of the professional magician known as " The Scottish Court Magician ". Letta also performed ventriloquism and puppetry. He was one of the first magicians to perform in a kilt and did so into his seventies. In 1904 he journeyed from Scotland to America to present his magic. He was the first president of the Society of Scottish Magicians which began meeting in 1912.



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