Scottish Landscapes : Scotland Magazine

The view from above

Sometimes the best way to see a city is from up high. Gary Hayden picks out the best vantage points from which you can look down on Edinburgh

Edinburgh is a city of hills, and has some wonderful viewpoints. No visit is complete without taking in some of its high spots. Here are four of the best. Arthur’s Seat At 251m, Arthur’s Seat is the tallest of eight peaks in Holyrood Park, a 650-acre chunk of the highlands situated in the heart of ...

By Gary Hayden from Issue 34 published on 30/08/2007

Snap happy

Scotland is one of the most picturesque places in the world, so Kate Ennis gets some insider information on how to capture it on camera

Postcards of inspiring vistas to make friends and relatives back home envious of your holiday destination are never in short supply in Scotland. It has to be one of the most picturesque countries in the world, with its contrast of sweeping landscapes and dramatic lighting, which is why the great Sco...

By Kate Ennis from Issue 33 published on 22/06/2007

A glimpse of scott's Edinburgh

Part six of our journey through Scott’s Scotland. Written and photographed by John Hannavy

When Henry Fox Talbot published Sun Pictures in Scotland in 1845 – the first picture book dedicated to the life and works of Sir Walter Scott – he concentrated almost exclusively on Scott’s beloved border country and the Trossachs settings of several of his most popular works. Despite the importanc...

By John Hannavy from Issue 24 published on 05/01/2006

Illuminating landscapes

The fifth part of our series walking in the footsteps of Scott. Written and photographed by John Hannavy

In the introduction to the first edition of The Bridal of Triermain, Scott wrote a brief essay on the role of the poet, the different styles of poetry, and the expectations of the reader. In it, he suggested that “in a word, the author is absolute master of his country and its inhabitants, and ever...

By John Hannavy from Issue 23 published on 14/10/2005

Epic tales & Border ballads

John Hannavycontinues his series tracing the footsteps of Sir Walter Scott

Any writer will tell you that writing about what you know is easier than making it all up! Using locations with strong personal ties draws on your own memories, and helps you weave your own emotional responses into the narrative. Sir Walter Scott was no exception. Scott’s family associations with t...

By John Hannavy from Issue 22 published on 10/08/2005

In the footsteps in Scott part 3

In the latest chapter of Walter Scott’s travels in Scotland we travel to Rob Roy country. Words and pictures: John Hannavy

Weaving historical facts and figures into his writing was one of Walter Scott’s recurrent strokes of genius – legend meets literature against that beautifully drawn landscape for which Scott’s writings are renowned. It was that marriage of fact and fiction which caught the Victorian imagination – an...

By John Hannavy from Issue 21 published on 10/07/2005

More wanderings in Scott’s steps

John Hannavy on the trail of Sir Walter Scott’s landscapes

One of the most enduringly appealing aspects of Sir Walter Scott’s writings was his ability to evoke the various faces and moods of the Scottish landscape in his works. Read some of his descriptions – actually they go beyond mere description – and you can see the places, experience the terrain, feel...

By John Hannavy from Issue 20 published on 10/04/2005