20 February 1472
Shetland and Orkney formally become part of Scotland under an Act of Parliament, so settling the northern extent of the kingdom.
Author - Rick
When I look across the long arc of British history, I’m struck by how rarely the monarchy has been forced to confront real accountability. For centuries, the Crown has existed in a space above ordinary consequences — insulated by tradition, ceremony, and the sheer weight of its own...
A Valley Betrayed On 13 February 1692, a narrow Highland glen became the site of an act that would lodge itself in Scottish memory as both atrocity and allegory. Glen Coe’s steep slopes and river-carved floor—landscape and livelihood intertwined—were the stage for a betrayal that fused...
A Candle in Two Kingdoms: Writing on the Anniversary of Mary, Queen of Scots Every anniversary invites a particular kind of listening. Not the loud, modern kind—hot takes and hurried summaries—but the older kind, the way a chapel hears footsteps or the way a river remembers a bridge. When...
How one parish entry moved my ancestor from legend into landscape—and tied her more clearly to the Buchanans of Gartincaber. For years, I carried my understanding of my 7th great‑grandmother, Mary McGregor, the way many families carry the past: as oral history—names spoken across...
We slipped out of Kings House before first light, breath fogging in our headtorch beams while the glen held its breath. The river murmured behind the hotel and the pyramid of the Buachaille was just a darker shape against a thin scatter of stars. Our plan was simple: move quietly along...
For years, our Walker family history rested on scattered records, family stories, and a handful of names passed down through generations. But as anyone who has chased their ancestry knows, paper trails fade, records disappear, and sometimes the truth hides just beyond reach. That’s where...
The History of Hogmanay in Scotland From the end of the 17th century to the 1950’s Christmas was not really celebrated as a festival in Scotland, regarded as a Catholic celebration and banned by the Protestant Kirk for this reason. As a result in Scotland most people worked over...