Hi Mairiuna! Happy to welcome you back home and I just can’t wait to read your next article about the Prestonpans Tapestry which you had the opportunity to visit while in the city of Bayeux. It must have been so impressive to view the 104 meters wide embroidered panels celebrating the journey of 25 year old Bonnie Prince Charlie from … Continue reading →
(Old luggage at Arley railway station on the Severn Valley Railway – Wikimedia) Hi everybody! As we are spending a few days away in the family, I’m busy preparing our luggage but on the eve of our departure I feel, as I always do on such occasions, very frustrated not being able to squeeze more things in my suitcase. … Continue reading →
(Flodden Monument in the distance – Wikimedia) Five hundred years have passed since that fateful day of 9 September 1513 when James IV, the beloved King of Scotland fell at Flodden Field, at the age of 40, with so many of his valorous friends and followers… My knowledge in history being rather limited I try to find in books … Continue reading →
THE LIFE OF BEATRIX POTTER Hi Mairiuna! Your recent post Scotland, a great source of inspiration for Beatrix Potter joyfully took us on a journey into the marvelous book illustrations and lovely tales that we grew up with! Thanks for such a great travel back in time celebrating one of the best-loved children’s authors. As you now, I always delight … Continue reading →
Before resuming our ‘Mackintosh Trail in Roussillon‘ and our ‘Journey around Scotland‘ and also to pave the way for Janice’s philatelic post about Beatrix Potter, I invite you to share with us pictures and pages about this very popular English author who wrote and illustrated so unforgettable children tales. Beatrix Potter was also a good naturalist (known for her … Continue reading →
These photos of Margaret and Charles Rennie Mackintosh date from a time when they were young and happy, still brimming with enthusiasm and activity, working together at great projects. Portraits of the Mackintoshes at the time of their arrival in the south of France, in 1923, would certainly show the ravages of time for after a great period of … Continue reading →
Art is the flower – Life is the green leaf. Let every artist strive to make his flower a beautiful living thing – something that will convince the world that there may be – there are – things more precious -more beautiful – more lasting than life. But to do this you must offer real living – beautifully coloured … Continue reading →
Before resuming our ‘Journey around Scotland‘, with next episode leading us to Glasgow, mainly in the steps of Margaret and Charles Rennie Mackintosh, why not make a detour via the Roussillon, in this very nice and sunny region of France, where the famous Scottish artists spent the last and probably the happiest years of their life. A ‘Mackintosh Trail’ … Continue reading →
“These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves.” Gilbert Highet, writer (1906-1978) “Most eloquent among the sons of Scotland, educated at Glasgow and Oxford, you have for the last forty years enriched the world of classical letters with the richness of your scholarship. You have been at once a support and an ornament … Continue reading →
Hi everybody, Before resuming our virtual ‘Journey around Scotland‘, let me tell you a few words about the titles I’ve just added to my summer reading list for whether we are going to take our favourite books with us on the beach, on a bench in the garden or in a comfortable armchair inside the house, it’s summer time … Continue reading →
More about John Muir and his native town: Dunbar, Scotland. Even though the A1 bypasses Dunbar, I’m so happy we took time to turn off to this quaint little town, on the East Coast of Scotland which is less than 30 minutes drive east of Edinburgh. For those not wishing to drive, Dunbar has a mainline station, and it is … Continue reading →
Wednesday 5 September Today we are leaving our cosy wigwam at Morton’s Hall Campsite and we intend to spend the whole day in the old town of Edinburgh before taking the road to Glasgow. The weather is fine. In our journey around Scotland, we look forward with much anticipation to our last day in the Scottish capital city and our … Continue reading →
Friday 4 September – Part 3: Our journey around Scotland goes on, following the A 198 in East Lothian. Today, we’ll reach Dunbar, a colourful little town by the North Sea and the native place of John Muir, a Scottish immigrant and one of the most celebrated American heroes. Another landmark on our ‘Literary Scottish Trail’. Writing may not have … Continue reading →
Hi Mairiuna! Just received “The Scots Canadian” quaterly newsletter published by the Scottish Studies Society and I’m really pleased to share good news from an article that grabbed my attention in no time flat… ‘Canadian-Scottish Studies at McGill’ Listen to this my friend: the St-Andrew’s Society of Montreal and the McEuen Scholarship Foundation are seeking philanthropic support to create a … Continue reading →
