Mary Queen of Scots took her first tentative steps down the stairway as the sun rose over Fotheringhay Castle sometime between 7 and 8 in the morning of the 8th of February 1587. But Mary was a queen, and she would meet her fate with the dignity of her office. A deadly hush would have [...]
The Declaration of Arbroath was signed on the 6th of April 1320. Robert the Bruce and a retinue of earls and knights met at Arbroath Abbey to sign the historic document. Not only was this most likely the most important document ever to be signed in Scotland but the ramifications of its ideals were to [...]
The martyrdom of George Wishart at St Andrews on the 1st of March 1546 has a déjà vu feel to it. Only eighteen years prior to this, Patrick Hamilton had a similar fate at the hands of a Catholic Beaton in the town, once said to hold the relics of Scotland’s Patron Saint. George Wishart [...]
Few places in the world can claim to have as many restless spirits as haunted Saint Andrews Cathedral. From Medieval times, Scotland has celebrated the Feast Day of its Patron Saint, Saint Andrew, on the 30th November. According to legend, some of Saint Andrew’s bones were carried across the ocean by a Greek monk named [...]
Witch! This was perhaps the most fearsome word encountered by Kathrin Key, resident of the small fishing town of Newburgh in Fife. Witches were powerful. They could curse and cure, make cattle sick, kill children and fly broomsticks. Their magical abilities came from the devil. Satan! Auld Nick! In order to gain that power, they [...]
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 [...]