Scotland Magazine Issue 4

A force that demands respect

Editor Marcin Miller puts his faith in Mother Nature

This has to be the best time of all to be in Scotland. Whatever it is that draws you to visit this most attractive of countries, you should make the most of the summer months. Unless your name is T...

By Marcin Miller in the section From the Editor

Festive season

I was at an American-Scottish gathering in Atlanta, Georgia, when an attractive young lady wearing a skirt, waistcoat and bonnet in the Buchanan tartan approached me and asked if I could tell her abou...

By Roddy Martine in the section Roddy Martine's World

A phoenix from the ashes

Roddy Martine pays a visit to the newly renovated Fenton Tower, a castle given a new lease of life

The rich, flat farming land of East Lothian encroaches upon all sides, the surrounding grassland literally swaying in the wind that sweeps across it. To the far distant north is Edinburgh; to the sout...

By Roddy Martine in the section Scottish Property

Calling all the shots

Elizabeth Walton examines scottish shooting, from the thrill of the hunt through to the practical side of the experience

The silence is broken only by a faint susurration of wind through the heather and the cackling mockery of the grouse, the most difficult gamebird to shoot. A shower of rain has knocked the pollen from...

By Elizabeth Walton in the section Outdoor Scotland

The Right Stuff

Thanks to a changeable climate, scotland has long been a world leader in the business of producing clothing fit for any weather, as geraldine coates explains

To say it sometimes rains in Scotland is the understatement of all time. Even in the height of summer one sometimes experiences all four seasons in one day, often in one hour. That’s why visitors and ...

By Geraldine Coates in the section Scottish Clothing

Seeds of the nation

James Irvine-Robertson wades into the ‘exceedingly murky’ history of the pictish peoples, direct predecessors of the men and women who united scotland as a nation

People first came to Scotland some 10,000 years ago when the first hunter-gatherers ventured into a landscape still raw from the retreat of the glaciers. To their remote Highland descendants, those ea...

By James Irvine Robertson in the section Scottish History

Social climbers

Kate Patrick reports on the success of pedlars mail order clothing: a smart combination of evolution and integrity

Scene one: catalogue purveying lifestyle products plops through letterbox, the third to arrive this week. Occupants of house skim through atmospherically-styled shots of pale suede fringed cushions an...

By Kate Patrick in the section Scottish Shopping

A scenic dream

For many people, the real Scotland is to be found in the Highlands. Tom Bruce-Gardyne heads north

If it is true what they say, that Scotland has a split personality, on the one hand reserved and slightly dour, on the other passionate and sometimes sentimental - it is perhaps not entirely surprisin...

By Tom Bruce-Gardyne in the section The Highlands

Jamie McGrigor's Highlands

This issue’s Q&A features jamie mcgrigor, member of scottish parliament for the highlands and islands since 1999 and owner of an extensive hill farm for over 25 years

Q: How long have you lived/worked in the area? A: My parents moved to Argyll when I was six. Although I was educated and worked south of the border for a time, I returned permanently to Argyll 27 ye...

By Jamie McGrigor in the section Questions and Answers

John Buchan's classic steps

Gerald Warner gives an overview of the life and works of scottish novelist john buchan, who rose from obscurity on the merit of his talent

If ever there was a classic example of a Scots “lad o’ pairts”, promoted from obscurity to fame by his own talents, it was surely John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir. As a writer of thrillers and seriou...

By Gerald Warner in the section Scottish Literature

Romantic weddings in Scotland

Susan Nickalls says ‘I do’ to an in-depth examination of Scottish weddings

When it comes to fairy tale weddings, Scotland is the ultimate destination with its unique combination of history, tradition and romance. As well as boasting spectacular natural landscapes and the mos...

By Susan Nickalls in the section Scottish Weddings

Tea time

Sue Lawrence explores the ritual of afternoon tea the scottish way with a few tasty recipe ideas

Tea is a contentious subject in Britain. Not whether it is Earl Grey or Darjeeling in the pot or whether it is correct to pour the milk into the cup before or after the tea, but what exactly the meal...

By Sue Lawrence in the section Scottish Food

The Great Escape

Charles Douglas gets away from it all

For those in search of an escape from the big city pressures of modern life, the Scottish countryside beckons. The climate, often featuring four seasons in a day, may not always be what you had hoped...

By Charles Douglas in the section Scottish Hotels

The wheel thing

Brigid James goes round and round attempting to unravel which Scotsman really invented that indispensable mode of transport, the bicycle

According to common myth, Kirkpatrick Macmillan, a blacksmith at Courthill Smiddy, Keir Mill, Dumfriesshire, invented the bicycle somewhere between 1839 and 1842. His velocipede was made of wood and h...

By Brigid James in the section Scottish Innovators