January/February 2021

Scotland Magazine

Celebrating Scotland across the world

Scotland Magazine1 min read
Scotland Magazine
EDITORIAL Editor Sally Coffey Production Editor Jenny Rowe Consultant Editor Roddy Martine Art Editor Chloë Collyer CHELSEA CREATE Partnerships Director Lyndal Beeton ADVERTISING SALES Group Account Director Caroline Warrick caroline.warrick@chelseam
Scotland Magazine2 min read
Editor’s Letter
I’ve always believed in new years heralding new beginnings and never more so than this one. I doubt there are many people out there who aren’t relieved to see the back of 2020. In 2021 there is so much to look forward to, including the reopening of S
Scotland Magazine1 min readEarth Sciences
Clan Courier
[QUIRKY SCOTLAND] Winters can be harsh in Scotland, where freezing temperatures, heavy snowfall and ice often leads to road closures – occasionally areas get cut off due to the weather – so spare a thought for the nation’s gritters that work tireless
Scotland Magazine1 min readFashion
Connery Honoured
It was a sad day when news broke on 31 October that Scottish icon, Sir Sean Connery, had died. Of his many accomplishments (see page 38), Connery was one of the co-founders of the Dressed To Kilt fashion show, which launched in 2003. Thanks to Conner
Scotland Magazine1 min read
Secret Shetland
If you’re pining for the remoteness and wild allure of Shetland, then it looks likely that you’ll be able to make it there in 2021. Discover Shetland offers small group tours for 2-4 people, ensuring a personal and completely safe experience of the i
Scotland Magazine1 min read
Stately Home For Sale
Ever dreamed of living in the Scottish countryside, in your own authentic Georgian mansion? Then step this way. Netherfield House is set in 70 acres of grounds, which include a large landscaped loch with a waterfall, boathouse and woodland. Dating fr
Scotland Magazine1 min readComputers
Gift Cards Drive Scottish Recovery
A scheme is underway in Aberdeen, the Falkirk district, Kirkcaldy and rural Scotland that uses local gift cards to help towns, cities and communities recover from the havoc wreaked by the pandemic. The Town and City Gift Cards, which act like a prepa
Scotland Magazine1 min read
A Game Of Two Halves
The Tartan Army is elated as Scotland’s national men’s football team has made it through to its first major tournament in over 20 years, thanks to a dramatic penalty shoot-out win over Serbia in the UEFA Euro 2020 play-off final in November. The team
Scotland Magazine1 min read
Community Cheer For Beer
The tiny isle of Eigg, just 10 miles off the west coast of mainland Scotland, is celebrating after a successful crowdfunding appeal means its plan to open a brewery, which will make beer using renewable energy, is one step closer. At the time of pres
Scotland Magazine1 min read
Jewel In The Crown
Fans of TV’s The Crown may have noticed a few Scottish locations turning up on screen in Series 4 of the smash hit programme. Ardverikie Estate (pictured) in Inverness-shire, once mainly known as the fictional Glenbogle Estate in Monarch of the Glen,
Scotland Magazine5 min read
Notes From The Isles
“Kind friends keep ringing me to ask if I’m alright, so here are a few examples of the hardships of life on the Black Isle during this surreal time. An email from Alan, who painted my windows and doors last year (and was rewarded by a wasp sting on h
Scotland Magazine3 min read
We’ve Got Mail
Shortly after the Skye Bridge was opened, my wife and I spent a week in Lochalsh because we were attending the Gathering of the Matheson Clan in Lochalsh. I had rented a car and was told about how locals loved to taunt the people who manned the bridg
Scotland Magazine5 min read
Potter About Perthshire
Each summer, the Potter family would bundle the household, pets and all, onto a train from London to Perthshire. Benjamin Bouncer, the rabbit, squirmed the whole way. They would spend three months at a country estate, entertaining friends and allowin
Scotland Magazine5 min read
Mull’s Guard
Tradition has it that Clan Maclean originates from Gillean of the Battle Axe, a descendant of Irish migration from North Ulster. He and his son Malise fought against King Haakon IV of Norway’s invasion at the Battle of Largs in 1263. Thereafter, thei
Scotland Magazine3 min read
Liquid Gold
From the Scottish Parliament’s imposition of the world’s first excise act in 1644 to the tariffs being imposed on Scotch single malts by the US administration in 2020, whisky has been a goose laying very valuable golden eggs for the Exchequers of Gov
Scotland Magazine6 min read
WOVEN Into The FABRIC
The Isle of Lewis & Harris is renowned for its awesome scenery: rugged coastlines – where you’ll find some of the most beautiful beaches in the world – bleak mountains and lunar landscapes, where you’ll find glistening rocks carved out by glaciers in
Scotland Magazine3 min read
Gothic Glamour
Edinburgh is many things: medieval town, the Georgian answer to Athens, and Scotland’s modern capital. But for many, including James Thomson OBE, it is its Gothic intrigue, seen in the decaying cemeteries, dark, twisting lanes, and old weather-beaten
Scotland Magazine2 min read
A Life In Film
Born on 25 August 1930 in the Fountainbridge district of Edinburgh, Thomas Sean Connery landed his career-defining role as James Bond in the Sixties. As the original actor to portray Ian Fleming’s protagonist on film, Bond not only made Connery, but
Scotland Magazine3 min read
The Name’s Glenbucket, Sean Glenbucket
Just when it was time to write the next column for this magazine, I heard the sad news of the death of Sir Sean Connery. Growing up in the 1970s and early 1980s, Sean Connery was, for me, the classic James Bond and I doubt there was a school boy who
Scotland Magazine5 min read
Scotland’s ‘Uncrowned’ King, James I
By 1406, a century had passed since Robert the Bruce was crowned Robert I, King of Scots. Yet, if he’d known that his great, great grandson was being held captive by the English monarch and would remain uncrowned for nearly two decades, he would no d
Scotland Magazine8 min read
Festival Throwback
The January sun rose mid-morning in Glasgow. Surface ice on the walkway along the River Clyde began to thaw and allow a firmer grip for the small crowd waiting and watching intently. Several cameramen stood ready to record the big moment. Storm, a gi
Scotland Magazine5 min read
Peace And Appin-ess
Scotland is full of surprises. Aside from the well-known tourist attractions and busy hubs, it is sprinkled with lots of lovely places that you’ll only find if you know where to look, or if you’re very lucky and you stumble upon them. Port Appin is o
Scotland Magazine7 min read
Shepherd’s DELIGHT
If you happen to be in the Scottish Borders the first Saturday in October, mark it as one of those ‘Save the Date’ invitations that have become fashionable in recent years, although this one is not for a wedding. With farmer friends in the Borders, I
Scotland Magazine3 min read
The Birth Of Nineteen Eighty-four
“The following morning George sat at the kitchen table drinking tea as Av busied around him looking for paper to light the fire in the stove. She found some sheets which Susan had crunched up into a ball and lit the fire with them. Paul came into the
Scotland Magazine6 min read
VILLAIN or SCAPEGOAT?
If you’re ever in Glencoe – and I thoroughly recommend it – pause for refreshment at that fine inn, The Clachaig. The desk at reception has a sign declaring “No Hawkers or Campbells”. Yes, it’s a joke to amuse tourists, but it shows how the story has
Scotland Magazine5 min read
The Talented Luthier
Steve Burnett is a man who loves trees and makes them sing in memory of great literary figures by transforming their substance into finely crafted violins. The Edinburgh-based luthier sees himself as “giving trees a voice for our struggling environme
Scotland Magazine4 min read
Dates For Your Diary
5th-18th Feb 2021 THE HEBRIDEAN DARK SKIES FESTIVAL What? Stargazing events, workshops, music, an exhibition by astronomy-inspired artist collective, Lumen, and talks led by leading scientists, as well as film, music and theatre. It’s all located on
Scotland Magazine2 min read
The Library
Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other BY SAM HEUGHAN & GRAHAM MCTAVISH Sean Heughan, best known for his starring role as Jamie Fraser in the hit TV show Outlander, and Graham McTavish, also an actor of Outlander fame, pla

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