Dear readers, The 13th February is a date marked in red ink (bloody red) on the Scottish calendar… it’s a date to remember, and indeed it has been remembered again and again, the sad history being passed from generation to generation of Scottish people … they will never forget the innocent people who fell in Glencoe on that fateful day … Continue reading →
Dear readers, Here we are again, at the beginning of a new year, hoping for the best in the coming months. Given the sanitary situation we still don’t know when we will be allowed to return to Scotland. En attendant des jours meilleurs I try to compensate my frustrations by browsing our pictures of Scotland, reading or re-reading books about … Continue reading →
Dear Friends and Readers, ⌛ Another year is gone…May the New Year 2022 bless you with health, peace, wealth and happiness! Pretty much in all the largest cities of the world as in Scotland – Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Stirling and Inverness – all-night celebrations are traditionally held to welcome the New Year. The Edinburgh Hogmanay celebrations are among the largest … Continue reading →
How am I to sing your praise, Happy chimney-corner days, Sitting safe in nursery nooks, Reading picture story-books? (Robert Louis Stevenson – From A Child’s Garden of Verses) I could not have found more charming lines to introduce my new selection of books for Christmas than the above verses written by Robert Louis Stevenson in his lovely poem “Picture Books … Continue reading →
Happy Spooky Halloween Dear Friends! I know its an old-fashioned holiday that actually dates back many centuries, but nice to recall that Halloween actually originates from Scotland. Back then it was called Samhain, a Gaelic and Pagan commemoration of the end of the harvest season. The celebration is mentioned in Celtic literature over two thousand years ago. During Samhain, the … Continue reading →
Born on 17 October 1921, in Stromness, Orkney, George Mackay Brown, “The Bard of Orkney” would be a hundred years old today. We would like to join his many fans all over the world to celebrate this anniversary and pay homage to the great Scottish poet. As one of the leading Scottish poets and authors of the 20th century GMB … Continue reading →
Dear readers, Autumn is back with its gorgeous colours and shorter days. A good time for fireside reading and for me to go on with my promise to Sir Walter Scott to read all his books. A promise that seems to be well on its way though I still feel like the climber at the foot of the Himalayas ;-). … Continue reading →
Bonjour Marie-Agnes, Janice et Jean-Claude ! 🙂 Hello again from Scotland ! Is there, I wonder, any more romantic story in all of our country’s modern history than the tale of ‘The Stone’ – how at Christmas 1950 Ian Hamilton (b.1925) and some young friends removed Scotland’s Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey to bring it back home? What they … Continue reading →
Scottish Place Names in Quebec Hello Dear Friends, The maple trees will soon be vibrant with colors of red and golden-yellow and all their multiple combinations as we are now entering the autumn season. It brings back the beautiful memories of when MairiUna and Jean-Claude flew fom France in the fall of 2010 to meet me in Montreal. We then … Continue reading →
Today, 15 August 2021, is a keydate on the Scottish calendar. It is the 250th birthday of Sir Walter Scott, one of the most popular authors in Scotland and his popularity goes far beyond its frontiers. As one of his French admirers, I could not help writing a few lines on Scotiana today. How I would like to be in … Continue reading →
As soon as I received the last issue of The Scots Magazine (August 2021) I browsed through its pages to read the two articles devoted to Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) for his 250th birthday anniversary, on 15 August 2021. “How you can mark 250 years of Sir Walter Scott” … I read on the magazine’s cover. Personally, as I had … Continue reading →
Hello dearest friends, As you might know by now, I’m passionate of all things Scottish related! Therefore, in my ongoing quest of Quebec-Scottish links, I’m very happy, as a native Quebecer, to share a glimpse on the origin of a brave, courageous and thoughtful municipality in the Centre-du-Québec region of Canada named Inverness ( referring to Inverness, Scotland) which first … Continue reading →
On April 16th 2021, I decided (at last) to fulfill the promise we made a few years ago to Sir Walter Scott during one of our unforgettable visits at Abbotsford in the Scottish Borders…
Continue reading →Hello dear friends! I was tidying up some philatelic files and came across this beautiful booklet of ten (10) postage stamps depicting Scottish archeological sites, issued by Great Britain, for exclusive sale by Historic Scotland. I don’t remember at which property I bought same as there are over 300 properties in the care of Historic Scotland and I have visited … Continue reading →
