William Wallace was executed on the 23rd of August 1305. He began life as an obscure laird or lord, one of Scotland’s lesser nobility. Wallace was never king of Scotland but for a short while, he led the country. He was a soldier and yet he fought in relatively few battles. So what caused his [...]
As Janet Douglas, Lady Glamis was led towards the waiting pyre on that fateful day on July 17th, 1537, her eyes must have fallen upon one in the gathered crowd. Her young son, John Lyon, 7th Lord of Glamis, stood between his captors. Perhaps he called to his mother. Perhaps he hung his head in [...]
Alexander Stewart, otherwise known as the Wolf of Badenoch, is perhaps the most notorious character ever to set foot in the north of Scotland. From his lair at Lochindorb, he began a reign of terror which extended through his lands in Northern Perthshire, to Buchan in the East and Lewis to the West. He was [...]
Cardinal Beaton was a man of many properties, during his lifetime. Many of these were acquired due to his position in the church. However, these were dangerous times to be lining your pocket with your parishioners’ silver. After all, the Reformation was a powder keg waiting to explode in Scotland. His own actions were to [...]
Patrick Hamilton was only 24 years old on that fateful day in 1528. A tempest was raging through the streets of St Andrews, home to Scotland’s oldest university and once the resting place of the bones of Scotland’s patron saint. Another storm was raging in the hearts of the Scottish people. The flames which consumed [...]
Murder! Massacre! Betrayal! Treason! Glencoe is one of the most spectacular areas of unspoiled wilderness in Scotland. There is a haunting quality about the moor-clad mountains that stand as sentinels over the eight-mile-long glen which runs from east to west along the northern border of Argyll. And there are those who say that the glen [...]
Friday the 13th is considered to be the unluckiest day of the year and in December, 2019 we have the double whammy of having Friday the 13th and a Cold Full Moon. Any misadventures we encounter on this day can be attributed to the date but on this day 712 years ago, you were truly [...]
Rubble is all that is left of the tiny settlement of Badanluig, once home to a proud people who pitted themselves against the land and sea and eeked out a meager survival in the Scottish Highlands. It is here they loved and raised their children. It was here that cruel landlords had them cast out [...]
Perhaps one of the most magical places on Earth, Spooky Scotland investigates haunted Skye. The mention of Skye conjures up images of rugged landscapes, picturesque villages and medieval castles. It is a land overflowing with myths and legends, with tales of faeries and giants and lochs which are home to ferocious Kelpies. It is a [...]
As evening descended on Holyrood Palace, 9th Match 1566, a band of assassins burst into the chambers of the heavily pregnant Mary Queen of Scots and, before her eyes, brutally murdered David Rizzio, her secretary. His blood still stains the floor where he was slain, and his ghost is said to haunt the 16th Century [...]