The History of Scotland Magazine

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.

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.

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.

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.

The House was established in the 14th century and the Stewart rule spanned from 1371-1714. Despite the longevity of their reign the Stewart monarchs were not without their failings, which lead to murders, beheadings, and a civil war to name but a few!

In the drawing room of Dunvegan Castle is the most precious treasure of the MacLeods. It is a flag, rather tattered, made of faded brown silk and carefully darned in places. This is the MacLeods’ Fairy Flag.

Read about the life of Robert Stevenson, the man who lit up Scotland with his lighthouses.

When St. Andrew was being crucified by the Romans in A.D. 60, he met his end on a ‘saltire’, or X-shaped cross (St. Andrew’s cross) which became his symbol. Two separate legends help to explain the association between St. Andrew and Scotland.