Hi everybody ! We’ve taken this photo at a crossroads on arriving at Aubigny-sur-Nère. Isn’t the bagpipe looking like some big greedy insect ready to plunge into the flowers to gather its lot of pollen! We’ve already introduced ‘Aubigny-sur-Nère‘ on Scotiana. Together with a vast area around the town, including Concressault and Oizon, it remained Scottish … Continue reading →
As revealed in Mairiuna’s post “Sir Walter Scott’s Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border Rediscovered “, I am now quite pleased to introduce you to a series of articles about Sir Walter Scott’s cherished friends, be them on two legs or four. 😉 As you will surely agree with me, this is a very daunting project to undertake because Sir … Continue reading →
Hi everybody, Holiday time and time reading too 😉 We’d like to wish you a very good summer, whether you go on holiday or not. Why not take advantage of this leisure time to read this or that old volume by one of your favourite authors that has been waiting for you since ages in a dark corner of … Continue reading →
In books lies the soul of the whole Past Time:the articulate audible voice of the Past, when the body and material substance of it has altogether vanished like a dream. (Thomas Carlyle) Hi everybody, Day after day, we’re adding colourful pieces to our great Scottish mosaic and when we aren’t roaming the beautiful roads of Scotland we … Continue reading →
. Blooming rhododendrons at the entrance of Hoddom Castle, in Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland © 2006 Scotiana Just try to imagine what it can be to get asleep and wake up in the shade of an old castle, to be immersed in the silent atmosphere of such a place when the only sounds around are the murmur of the wind … Continue reading →
Hi everybody ! In a recent post about golf, I’ve mentioned Hoddom Castle for its quiet and beautiful golf links, promising to tell you more about the castle itself in another post. Standing as it is, amidst a vast wooded estate which has been partly converted into a first class caravan park and campsite, the castle is well worth … Continue reading →
One of George Mackay Brown’s favourite words was marvellous. He used it about the weather, his friends, music, the Dounby Show, the landscape, and about his penn’orth of sweeties and The Hotspur comic for boys. He thought it an intense word, shorthand for the kind of state described by poets such as Dylan Thomas, Muir and Wordsworth. So here we … Continue reading →
Bonjour! Hello again Janice, Marie-Agnès and Jean-Claude! 🙂 Our tenth “Letter from Scotland” already! We often look again at the series of articles you posted last year on the Auld Alliance, especially the description of your visit to the magical Stuart castle, the Château de la Verrerie. (Close to Aubigny-sur-Nère, an Enchanted Stuart Castle : ‘Le Château de la Verrerie’). … Continue reading →
We came back from our 2004 and 2006 trips to the Outer Hebrides (Vatersay, Barra, Eriskay, South Uist, North Uist, South Harris, North Harris, Lewis) with lots of unforgettable memories. We’ll share them with you on Scotiana but today and before investigating, as I’ve promised to do, into the past of Hoddom Castle, that old and mysterious castle which … Continue reading →
Mairiuna, on discovering that the news release by Marshall Islands was about the commemorative stamps issued to celebrate the 400th Anniversary of King James Bible, I immediately felt it could be an interesting subject for Scotiana and I tried to know more about this famous translation of the sacred book and its royal Scottish translator James Charles Stuart, who made such … Continue reading →
Romania 2003 Easter Rabbit Stamp Mairiuna and Jean-Claude are traveling today towards the beautiful French Touraine’s region to visit family, and I would like to wish, on their behalf and mine, to all our loyal readers, a very Happy Easter! The celebration of Easter is a worldwide celebration and involves many customs and traditions. It’s a time of joy, relaxation … Continue reading →
If you really want to get better at golf, go back and take it up at a much earlier age. Thomas Mulligan (*) Is there a golf season? I wonder… So many times have we been watching Scottish people deeply absorbed in their game while we were staying miserable and drenched to the skin on the edge … Continue reading →
A few days ago, when I discovered ‘First Days of Golf’, Iain and Margaret’s last Letter from Scotland, I suddenly realised that our friends had been writing on Scotiana for more than one year. Their first letter appeared on February 13 th 2010 and we are not about to forget this memorable date since they had chosen as … Continue reading →
I guess I will surprise no one if I confessed that Iain’s latest post about the “First Day of Golf…” got me running to my stamp albums to see if I could find some stamps featuring Scottish golf courses. You can imagine the smile on my face when I stumbled upon a Great Britain First Day Cover commemorating the 250th Anniversary of the world’s … Continue reading →
. Bonjour Marie-Agnès, Jean-Claude et Janice! Hello again, how are you? 🙂 . Thank you for all your help in finding illustrations for our last Letter from Scotland (‘Daft Pate’ Macmillan of Courthill Smithy, Pioneer of the Pedal-Driven Bicycle). . We’re very pleased that “Kevin 76’s” (presumably a cycling enthusiast) should make available his excellent photographs from Keir Mill by posting them at flickr. It all helps to … Continue reading →
