September - October 2023

Scotland Magazine

Celebrating Scotland across the world

Scotland Magazine1 min read
Scotland Magazine
Editor Sally Coffey Assistant Editor Henrietta Easton Art Editor Clare White Group Sales Director Catherine Chapman Advertising Manager Daisy Welch Senior Sales Executive Melissa Arancio Managing Director James Dobson Publisher Simon Temlett Chie
Scotland Magazine2 min read
Editor’s Letter
Anyone who knows me knows I love a Scottish road trip (see Exhibit A above if you don’t believe me) and one of my favourites takes in some of the most bucket-list worthy destinations in Scotland, which you can read all about in To the Heart of the Hi
Scotland Magazine3 min read
Clan Courier
Councillors in the Orkney Islands are considering a Brexit-style break from the UK after being “failed dreadfully” by the governments in Edinburgh and London. At a council meeting in July, council members, frustrated at the poor level of funding comi
Scotland Magazine2 min read
Editor’s Diary
It’s a rare occasion when I visit Edinburgh and don’t come here, where they’ve been hosting folk music sessions since 1942. It’s so renowned for its nightly music sessions, where musicians usually huddle into a corner at the back of the pub, that you
Scotland Magazine4 min read
Notes From The Isles
My brother-in-law, David, a widower for three years, was still at school when my parents-in-law bought this dear old farmhouse in 1952, and he shares my love of the Highlands despite living in England and having spent a nomadic life as a diplomat. Re
Scotland Magazine2 min read
We’ve Got Mail
Regarding the amazing story on p32 of your great article Belle of the Borders (July 2023, Issue 128), seeing King James killed by his exploding ‘canon’, must have truly been a mighty religious experience!. Charlotte Kerr, by email EDITOR REPLIES: Oop
Scotland Magazine10 min read
To The Heart of The Highlands
The Scottish Highlands is a place of epic landscapes, where legends and stories permeate the heather-coated hills and glassy lochs – some of them true and some of them perhaps not. It’s renowned for its haunting beauty, from its ruined castles that s
Scotland Magazine5 min read
A PALACE of PLEASURE
Created as a ‘pleasure palace’ of country sports and leisure pursuits for the Stuart monarchs, Fife’s magnificent Falkland Palace is one of Scotland’s finest Renaissance palaces. Though partly in ruin, the palace, now managed by the National Trust fo
Scotland Magazine3 min read
Travels With Tom
The Knoydart Peninsula, between Loch Nevis and Loch Hourn, has always been one of the most remote parts of the Highlands. It is still the only inhabited part of the mainland that can’t be reached by car. A paradise for nature lovers, walkers and anyo
Scotland Magazine4 min read
No fish WITHOUT SMOKE
Ugie Smokehouse, situated on one of northeast Scotland’s most bountiful salmon and trout rivers, the River Ugie in Peterhead, north of Aberdeen, is the oldest salmon fish house in Scotland. Built in 1585 for Scottish nobleman, George Keith, 5th Earl
Scotland Magazine3 min read
‘Simply Escape’ To Scotland’s Ayrshire Coast This Autumn
Located just 40 minutes from Glasgow, The Gailes Hotel & Spa, near Irvine, has gained a reputation as Ayrshire’s award-winning luxury spa and wellness destination, offering a collection of over 50 personalised treatments, day-spa packages, and overni
Scotland Magazine5 min read
The Great And The Good
David was the youngest son of Malcolm III and his second wife, Margaret of Wessex. He was born about 1082 and reigned from 1124 to 1153. Having spent a few years at the court of Henry I of England when young, he was determined to introduce more Engli
Scotland Magazine1 min read
Great Savings When You Subscribe
SAVE UP TO 37% The perfect companion for anyone interested in the rich history and culture of Scotland – full of fascinating stories and inspiration in every issue Order an annual subscription to Scotland magazine for yourself or as a gift: UK £21.95
Scotland Magazine4 min read
In The Tartan Blood
An interview with Sir Rod Stewart can often take a while to arrange, but when it finally happens there’s Never a Dull Moment, to borrow the title of his 1972 album. We meet in the East End of Glasgow for a pre-match lunch at Celtic Park. When the sin
Scotland Magazine2 min read
WIN A £200 FORTNUM & MASON VOUCHER
Help us fill every issue with more of the things you love Take our short survey to let us know what we’re doing right – and how we can improve. You could be in with a chance of winning one of three Fortnum & Mason vouchers, each worth £200. Enjoy spe
Scotland Magazine5 min read
Still Here
The Cabrach is a part of northeast Scotland that evokes a wonderful sense of nostalgia and belonging to those that know of it, and a look of blankness from the many, many more people who don’t. For this hidden high parcel of land where Moray meets Ab
Scotland Magazine5 min read
Break For The Borders
The Scottish Borders, that green region of sloping hills and patchwork pastures that follows the serpentine shape of the River Tweed, forming a natural border with England, is a quiet part of southern Scotland but one that still manages to hold a sur
Scotland Magazine5 min read
Maitland
There can hardly be a family in Scotland that has had a deeper and more lasting influence than the Maitlands – as much as the Stuarts, Hamiltons, and Douglases, and on a par with the Cecils, who dominated the rule of Elizabeth I of England. The surna
Scotland Magazine5 min read
The Holy Islet
There’s a landfall off the coast of Argyll that I believe deserves to be the jewel in the crown. During the summer months thousands of people cross every day to Iona to visit the island where St Columba made his home and his monastery; the island tha
Scotland Magazine5 min read
Lost Lives Remembered
Sandwood Bay is an old place. Quite literally. In Gaelic, it was known as Seannabhad – seann for ‘old’, abhad for ‘place’. This name, in turn, may be derived from the Old Norse sandvatn – ‘sand water’. It is an apt description of this landscape, with
Scotland Magazine2 min read
Highland Flings
TARTAN, V&A DUNDEE This exhibition celebrates the global story of tartan and its rich and complex history. vam.ac.uk/dundee/exhibitions/tartan ROYAL NATIONAL MÒD 2023, PAISLEY The Gaelic world’s premier musical and cultural event returns to Paisley f
Scotland Magazine3 min read
The Story Behind…
My new book My Margaret, Your Toshie is a fictional exploration of the lives and loves of Scottish architect and artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife, Margaret. Mackintosh’s impact on Scottish consciousness endures today, but Margaret, who h

Scotland Magazine

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