Scotiana

In the heart of France, on the borders of romantic Sologne and Berry, the flowered little town of Aubigny-sur-Nère, with its old church and picturesque half-timbered houses, boasts a rich Scottish heritage on the ‘Route Jacques Coeur’.
So don’t be surprised if, on entering the town, as mentioned in my first post about Aubigny, you’re welcomed [...]

To our dear Ralph, I dedicate this post.
I’m sure he’s waiting for us somewhere in greener lands…
But we miss him here …
I have sometimes thought of the final cause of dogs having such short lives, and I am quite satisfied it is in compassion to the human race; for if we suffer so much in [...]

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A Scottish piper welcomes the visitor at the entry of the town…
Pieces of tartan stretched like sails within bamboo frames flap in the wind … hunting and royal Stuart tartans…

On a charming little square, a yellow-harled house, which would not look out of place in Culross, proudly stands across the street, while a Stuart tartan [...]

Mairiuna! upon watching a You Tube video about United States postage stamps, I discovered that one of the featured stamps, the $1 value of the 1898 Trans-Mississipi Exposition Issue, internationally known as the “Cattle in the Storm” stamp, was designed from a 19th century painting of Scottish painter, John A. MacWhirter.  
Imagine…this stamp was considered for [...]

While travelling all over Scotland we’ve discovered a great number of ruins and visited some of them, from the grandiose remains of castles, abbeys and churches, often set in dramatic landscapes, to the more modest and heartbreaking crofts and villages burnt during the infamous period of the Highlands evictions in the 18th and 19th centuries…

We’ve [...]