Tour Scotland Video Steeple Church Clock Tower Dundee

Tour Scotland travel video of the Steeple Church Clock Tower on ancestry, genealogy, history visit and trip to Dundee, Scotland. St. Mary's Tower is closely woven into the history of Dundee and has also national importance as a splendid example of the late 15th century Gothic style in Scotland. It is also the oldest surviving building in Dundee, being a belfry, a clock tower from the 16th century, and has been used as a watch tower and prison. Clock towers were not a part of Christian churches until about AD 600, when they were adapted from military watchtowers. At first they were fairly modest and entirely separate structures from churches. Over time, they were incorporated into the church building and capped with ever more elaborate roofs until the steeple resulted.

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Old Travel Blog Photograph Edinburgh Road Biggar Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of Edinburgh Road in Biggar, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. In the 14th century, the Fleming family were given lands in this area by Robert the Bruce, whose cause they had supported. This Scottish town is situated in the Southern Uplands, near the River Clyde, around thirty miles from Edinburgh along the A702. The closest towns are Lanark and Peebles. Biggar was the birthplace of Thomas Gladstones, the grandfather of William Ewart Gladstone. Hugh MacDiarmid spent his later years at Brownsbank, near the town. Ian Hamilton Finlay's home and garden at Little Sparta is nearby in the Pentland Hills. The fictional Midculter, which features in Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles novels, is set here. The town hosts an annual arts festival, the Biggar Little Festival. The town has traditionally held a huge bonfire at Hogmanay.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph John Mitchell Barrhead Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of John Mitchell from Barrhead, East Renfrewshire, near Glasgow, Scotland. Mitchell or Mitchel is an English and Scottish surname with two etymological origins. In some cases the name is derived from the Middle English and Old French, Norman French, name Michel, a vernacular form of the name Michael. The personal name Michael is ultimately derived from a Hebrew name, meaning " Who is like God ". In other cases the surname Mitchell is derived from the Middle English, Saxon and Anglian, words michel, mechel, and muchel, meaning " big ". In some cases, the surname Mitchell was adopted as an equivalent of Mulvihill; this English language surname is derived from the Irish language Ó Maoil Mhichíl, meaning " descendant of the devotee of St. Michael ".



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Old Travel Blog Photograph Emma Watson Peebles Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of Emma Watson from Peebles in the Borders of Scotland. Watson is a famous Anglo Scottish surname of great antiquity. Very popular in the north of England and the Border Country, it is one of the patronymic forms of the pre 7th century popular male personal name Watt, itself a development of the Anglo Saxon personal name and later surname, Walter. This has the interesting translation of powerful warrior. It is also claimed that the name was introduced into the British Isles by the Norman French invaders after the Conquest of England in 1066, in the forms of Waltier and Wautier.



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Old Travel Blog Photograph William Munro Dingwall Scotland

Old travel Blog photograph of William Munro from Dingwall, Scotland. This famous surname is Scottish, recorded in various spellings including Munro, Munroe, Monro, and Monroe. According to the various histories of the clan there is a legend that the original name holders came from Ireland in the 12th century. The surname certainly appears to be Gaelic, and could derive from the name Maolruadh. This translates as the red haired tonsured one from maol meaning bald, and ruadh, red or auburn. However in Scotland there is also a different claim that the origin is locational, although still Irish, and a such describes a man from the River Roe in County Derry. It is also claimed that the surname had the Irish prefix O meaning grandson or male descendant, but this was certainly not used in Scotland. Early examples of the surname recording include Robert de Monroe who had a charter from King Robert 1st of Scotland in 1338. He is believed to have been the first registered chief of the clan. Other examples are those of Johannes de Monro, of Foulis, a charter witness of the lands of Usuy in 1463, whilst four centuries later James Monroe was the fifth president of the United States of America in 1823. He was a descendant of Andrew Monroe, who was captured at the battle of Preston in 1648, and shipped to Virginia Colony, where he ultimately prospered.



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