Happy Hogmanay, Happy Hogman-eh, Happy New Year et Bonne Année 2023! The Scottish word for New Year’s Eve, Hogmanay, refers to the ancient Norse festival of Yule, celebrated at the turn of the year. Today, the New Year’s eve party in Edinburgh, is one of the grandest, most spectacular, and most extravagant street festivals on earth. In Glasgow, the partying … 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 →
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 →
Hi Mairiuna! The Prince’s journey up to Glenfinnan being the subject of one of your recent articles, I thought it would be a great idea to continue our “blog conversation” on the topic of the Glenfinnan viaduct which greatfully enhances the scottish landscape. It is situated just on the other side of the road, facing the monument. You have visited … Continue reading →
Hi Mairiuna! Upon reading your great article about the magnificient Prestonpans Tapestry: the Prince’s journey up to Glenfinnan… I wondered if postage stamps were issued to commemorate this milestone in Scottish history? I surfed the web and .. by golly … found one! 🙂 It was issued in 1981 by the Royal Mail to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of … Continue reading →
Mairiuna, imagine receiving an enveloppe in the mail on which you would find postage stamps depicting Dragons, Unicorns, Pixies, Giants, Mermaids and Fairies ??!!! It could happen for real you know, because Great Britain recently issued a collection of six stamps, depicting “Mythical Creatures” found in British folklore. These stamps were created exclusively for Royal Mail by Dave McKean, one … Continue reading →
This is right up my alley Mairiuna ! Thanks for the invite. 🙂 For the benefit of our readers, I can say that I’m really passionate about topical stamp collecting and have marveled in this rewarding hobby of philately since I was 12 years old. And as of today, I still delight in collecting those miniature pieces of art called … Continue reading →
