The Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye again, this time further along beyond the rowan trees (My Photo)
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As stated on the homepage, all posts etc will be here & arranged using topic tags 🏷 Click/tap on a topic tag – found at either the side or the bottom of the page depending on your device – to see all related posts. Use the search bar at the top of the page if you’re looking for something specific 🔍
Boreraig – Cleared Township on the Isle of Skye 🌊
🗓️ This week is Gaelic week! As part of that I recently saw a post with two stories from Boreraig, so I thought in addition to linking it I’d also share some more of the history and my own photos from when I visited it myself all the way back in 2016. 🗃️ From Canmore:…
Paisley’s Gaelic Graveyard 🪦
🗓️ Following on from my previous blog post on the cleared village of Boreraig, I think Gaelic week is a good time to write about the former St Columba’s Gaelic Chapel Graveyard in Paisley, which I was also able to visit but much more recently – in December 2022! One of the destinations for those…
🌱Happy St Bride’s Day/Là Fhèill Brìghde or Imbolc/Imbolg to those celebrating 🔥
💧Have a watch/listen to a story about St Brìde in Scottish Gaelic or English from the wonderful, new Map of Stories website: 📰 More folklore & folk customs can be found in this great article from the West Highland Free Press. 🐍 Also, for people interested in our native adders, some seasonal folklore associated with…
🥂Happy New Year! Bliadhna Mhath Ùr! Guid New Year & lang may yer lum reek 🔥
🏴 My highlight of 2022: finally managed a – far too short – trip back to Scotland to see family & friends after almost 3 years (due to the pandemic)! Hope everyone has had a great festive season & new year too! Here are some wee seasonal links that may be of interest ⬇️ 📖…
🎅🏻Merry Christmas🎄Nollaig Chridheil ⭐️Blythe Yule to all celebrating!
Hope everyone had a great day ☺️ 🎧 Anyone who likes a chilling Christmas ghost story should have a listen to the latest Christmas Special of the Uncanny podcast – in it we’ve got someone from Scotland telling us about his experiences that centre around Christmas time – listen here or wherever you get your…
Flora MacNeil & Challenging Themes in Traditional Scottish Gaelic Songs🩸
🎶📺 There’s a fab documentary about Scottish Gaelic singer & tradition bearer Flora MacNeil (1928-2015) available to watch on YouTube. It features information about her life, her contribution to the survival of traditional Gaelic songs, her building of ties with Ireland & Brittany, & of course you can hear her singing too 🎙️⬇️ 🩸An interesting…
🗓 Scottish Government Consultation on commitments to Scottish Gaelic & Scots languages closes 17th November 2022 – be sure to have your say! 🗓
💭 In Scotland, as with English speaking countries in general, language learning is unfortunately severely undervalued which leads to many never properly learning &/or using any languages other than English. I think it also leads to people being less aware of the inextricable connection between language, culture & worldview; an example of which is nicely…
🔥 Oidhche Shamhna Shona Dhuibh & Happy Hallaeen/Halloween if you’re celebrating ☺️!!
👻 This is one of my absolute favourite times of the year, filled with great memories! If you’re the same then you might be interested in reading some wee facts about Halloween if you haven’t already here ⬅️ 🎧 Additionally, if you enjoy a good chilling story – & some comedy too – you might…
Cochno vs Kilmartin – fascinating talk on major rock art sites now available on YouTube (plus some Scot Arch Month 2022 Highlights) 📺
A fabulous talk given by Dr Kenny Brophy from University of Glasgow for Kilmartin Museum is now available to watch for free online, running time approx. 120 mins including Q&A. In it he talks about his work on the Cochno Stone & West Dunbartonshire sites, the value of archives for not only historians but archaeologists…
Mare Stanes (Hag Stones) – Keeping the Nightmare at Bay 🌌
Small stones with one or more naturally occurring holes in them, usually found near water, are commonly known as “hag stones” in much of the English speaking world. In this article I’m going to explore what I’ve found in terms of names for them in Scotland and their use as a defense against nightmares in…
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Scottish history, archaeology, folklore & more~ 