The History of Scotland Magazine
Every month we will feature articles relating to the history of Scotland – famous people, famous battles, famous places etc. These will build over the months into a full and intriguing insight into the history of this ancient land.
The History of the Loch Ness Monster
The Great Glen in the Scottish highlands is a rift valley 60 miles long and contains three famous lochs; Lochy, Oich and Ness. The most famous of these is Loch Ness because of the monster said to ‘lurk’ in its deep waters.
The Romans in Scotland
Since AD 43 the Romans had conquered southern England and bloodily suppressed Boudicca’s rising. However, the fierce Caledonians tribes had decided they were not going to be subject to Rome rule, even if it meant that they had to make a fight of it!
The Pittenweem Witch Trials
In 1705, as a result of some wild stories told by a 16 year old boy, three people died and others were cruelly tortured.
The History of Orkney and Shetland
To many people on the UK mainland and beyond, the Shetland and Orkney Islands are ‘somewhere up at the top’ of the map of Great Britain. In fact the Shetland Isles are located in the North Atlantic, as close to Norway as to Aberdeen.
Black Agnes
The story of Black Agnes Randolph and her defence of Dunbar Castle against the Earl of Salisbury and the English in 1338.
Captain William Kidd
Captain Kidd can be said to be the most unfortunate pirate ever to sail the high seas! For it was his bad luck to sail as a privateer/pirate just when the rules changed and the privateer/pirate became an outlaw.
Greyfriars Bobby
John Gray joined the Edinburgh Police Force as a night watchman in 1850. To keep him company through the winter nights John took a partner, a diminutive Skye Terrier, called Bobby. Together they became a familiar sight on the cobbled streets of the city.
St Columba and the Isle of Iona
Lying off the west coast of the Isle of Mull the tiny Isle of Iona, barely three miles long by one mile wide, has had an influence out of all proportion to its size on the establishment of Christianity in Scotland, England and throughout mainland Europe.
Burkers and Noddies – town tinkers and the body snatchers in Scotland
Like many other Scottish cities, Aberdeen has many urbanised tinkers who are descendants of the ancient caste of nomadic metalworkers. These town tinkers had an unholy fear of ‘body-snatchers’, or ‘Burkers’ as they were also called.
