Tartan Day is upon us! Wondering if there are any special events in your area? Check out my friend Scotty's list of events, many in the U.S. Click here.
What's your favorite tartan? I have a few. :)
My clan tartan, MacPherson:
Black Watch:
and Flower of Scotland:
...which is not unlike Black Watch but a little lighter and more reminiscent of the colors of a thistle.
Oh, come on, who am I kidding? Just about any tartan is my favorite, worn in the right context:
For full results, visit the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association's web site.
View Scottie's slide show, set to music by Moira Kerr, on Youtube.
Scotland is increasingly marketing itself as Europe's leading wildlife destination, and with an incredibly diverse range of habitats hosting dozens of top quality projects and experiences, it's an idea that's becoming plausible. Home to vast expanses of protected ground and two spectacular national parks, rural and marine Scotland are awash with wildlife-watching opportunities, from bottlenose dolphins in the Moray Firth to golden eagles on the west coast or sailing among seals and puffins in Shetland. Read more
Scottish Lochs Slide Show
Landscapes of Scotland
Gorgeous landscape photos from David W. Robertson. Check out the "Glasgow Smiles" section - fun!
Thought I'd share a couple sites that feature some gorgeous photos. Enjoy!
iReporters capture castles in Scotland
National Geographic
Scotland Photos
Photo of the Day (verra cool time lapse)
Wales Photos
Ireland Photos
England Photos
Drive of a Lifetime: Cornish Coast
A Neolithic carving found in the Orkney Islands last year is to go on tour around Scotland. The 5,000-year-old figurine, known as the Westray Wife, was discovered in the Links of Noltland on the Orkney island of Westray and is the only Neolithic carving of a human form found in Scotland. Measuring just 41mm by 31mm and made of sandstone, the Venus figure will go on tour around Scotland before returning to Orkney for the summer. Source: Culture24.org.uk
Scotland During World War II
What was life like during the second world war in Scotland at home, at school and on the street? Click here for student and teacher resources.
Ginger Hair Due To Bad Scottish Weather?
Scotland’s notoriously bad weather appears to be behind why more of the country’s population appeared to be blessed with ginger hair, new research has claimed. Read more
Ran across this nice page of Scottish lighthouses. This is Bell Rock, one of many designed and built by the Stevenson family. Author Robert Louis Stevenson belonged to this family. This is a good book about them: The Lighthouse Stevensons.
Also Irish lighthouses.This one is Hook Head, which my husband and I visited a few years ago on rare, clear October day. Some sort of beacon has existed on this spot since about 450 A.D., making it one of the oldest (if not the oldest) lighthouse sites in the world!
Related site: Commissioners of Irish Lights
And here we have beacons in Wales. This one is Porthcawl.
Cornwall, of course, has its share! This one is Tater Du, near Penzance on the south Cornwall coast.
Scottie from Rampant Scotland made this slide show of photographs from the recent Glasgow Green for the World pipe band competition. Music by Moira Kerr. Enjoy!
Wigtown: Scotland's Book Town
Not that many people may have heard of Wigtown, but this small town in Galloway has many book-related businesses, including the largest second-hand bookshop in Scotland. Read more
Unique Dune Habitat May Be Under Threat
‘Machair’ is a Gaelic word, usually taken to refer to an area of low-lying fertile land. Over the years it has come to be used by ecologists to refer to a specific coastal habitat, related to predominantly west-facing coastal areas backed by sand dunes, which is found only in some areas of northern and western Scotland and western Ireland. Read more 
Cold Maintains Grip on Scotland
Forecasters have said temperatures in Scotland will remain very low over the weekend, with little let up until next week and more snow likely. Overnight temperatures into Saturday were higher than the previous night, with a low of -14.9C recorded at Dalwhinnie in the Highlands. However, fresh snow fell on several areas of the country, and forecasters have warned more snow is on the way. Ten Scottish Cup fixtures were postponed due to the icy conditions. Read more
Wales in Pictures
Recent reader-submitted pictures from around Wales.
Scotland in Winter White
Scout Out the Legendary White Stag
Scotland By Sled Dog
Watch Video of Seal Pups
Talisman's Mountain Diary
Hi friends,
It's been a busy holiday season, so I apologize for the lack of recent updates! I hope everyone had fun hunting for clues in the Raven Happy Hour contest - I'll pass along who the winner is as soon as I hear.
UPDATE: The winners have been posted! Click here
My bit of holiday cheer comes in the form of a new review for A Ghost of a Chance - 4.5 stars from Romantic Times Booklovers Magazine! Since Beaudry's Ghost got 4 stars, I've been holding my breath on this one, hoping AGoaC would do as well. :)
Before I take off for God's Country (aka North Carolina) for New Year's, here's a video from Rampant Scotland - a recent Parade of Clans in Edinburgh. Get ready to hoot and holler for your favorite!
It's here! Rampant Scotland's annual Scottish Pictorial Calendar! Best of all, it's free! (Too many exclamation points for a Monday?) Click here to view and download
Meet the Cybraphon
Edinburgh based art and music collective FOUND have been hard at work over the past few months creating the monster that is Cybraphon. Taking inspiration from the 19th century player piano, the band have created a modern day equivalent, an autonomous music machine, built to create music without the need for any human interaction. Read more by Paul McFadyen
Scotland Outdoors
Spectacular pictures from the 2009 Etive River Race. I like to kayak, but you won't catch me launching myself over a waterfall! See more
Scotland Outdoors - Online Games
Test your skill in Rockface Rescue or Navigate Scotland. Play here
Scottish Teen is Youngest to Conquer "Unclimbable" Mountain
A 16-year-old boy from Kinross has conquered what has been described as an 'unclimbable' mountain in the Himalayas. Calum Macintyre is the youngest person to have climbed Ama Dablam, which at 22,525ft (6812m) is five times the height of Ben Nevis. The young mountaineer was raising money for the Teenager Cancer Trust. Calum's father and sister have both been treated for cancer in the past three years. Read more
All Things Dylan Thomas
Visit this site for a comprehensive overview of the life of Dylan Thomas. Includes fun stuff like a random poem generator. Click here
Blog of the Week:
Bluegrass Ireland Comprehensive and up-to-date news of bluegrass and old-time music events in Ireland
The Celtic New Year
For the Celts, Samhain marked the start of their new year. The hard word of summer growing and fall harvesting is over, and it's time to celebrate - and hunker down for the cold winter ahead. The Living Myth site offers a nice overview. Click here
Sea Power May Cut Scotland's Carbon Emissions
Opening up the Pentland Firth to wave, tidal and offshore wind projects would cut Scotland's carbon emissions by 30%, according to Scottish Renewables. The energy trade association said this was equivalent to taking more than 4.5 million cars off the roads. The Crown Estate said on Wednesday it plans to allow companies to produce "green" energy in the sea between mainland Scotland and Orkney. Wave and tidal devices could be generating power by 2020. Read more
FREE Audio Walks Around Historic Scotland
The Open University in collaboration with the BBC have created a series of audio walks around historic locations in Scotland, with narration from Neil Oliver and input from local experts. You can download them and take them with you on your mp3 player. A new walk will be released each week. Read more
Scotland's History
Interactive maps help you explore early chapters of Scotland's history. Click here
Something To Make You Smile on a Monday!
Scottie, the master of RampantScotland.com, was kind enough to share some photos from his son's recent wedding on the shores of Loch Lomond. Men in kilts, lovely ladies in love. What could be more romantic? Thanks, Scottie!
Scottie writes: "In the last email to subscribers I mentioned that the Culzean feature had been delayed in part due to my son's wedding and the slide shows I created as a result of it. Of course, I have had requests to let readers see some of Martin and Nicola's wedding photos and I've created a short slide show in response. The wedding took place at Luss parish church on the banks of Loch Lomond and the reception was at Ross Priory, also at Loch Lomond. The weather was dry but misty, as can be seen in the photos. Nicola is from Wales - hence the Welsh and Scottish flags. Martin and most of the ushers wore kilts for the occasion - the one exception had a good excuse - he had flown in from Texas to be there. Included in the slide show is also a picture of "Cariad" - a Welsh love spoon made of chocolate." Click here for video!
DNA tests on British populations of small mammals show a genetically distinct "Celtic Fringe", say scientists at The University of York. Voles, shrews, mice and stoats in northern and western areas have different DNA from their counterparts in other parts of the British Isles. The paper, in Proceedings B journal, says the different populations arrived at the end of the last ice age. The authors say the work sheds light on the origins of the Celtic people. Click here for complete article by Judith Burns
An experiment is under way in the Scottish Borders which will see 50 people try to source all their food from within a 50 mile radius of home. The Tweedgreen initiative centres on Peebles and will last throughout the month of October. Organisers hope it will show how eating local food can help to do "the least possible damage" to the environment. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/south_of_scotland/8282846.stm
Writer Says Scots Fiction Stifled by Mediocrity
A row has broken out among Scotland's leading authors on the state of fiction north of the Border. James Kelman, the influential Glasgow writer, accused the literati of favouring populist offering such as JK Rowling's Harry Potter, and detective novels, such as Ian Rankin's Rebus, over encouraging new innovative talent. Mr Kelman, who won the Booker Prize in 1994, derided Potter as "upper middle class" at the Edinburgh Book Festival and accused Scotland's literary establishment of rewarding mediocrity. He also accused it of failing to encourage contemporary literature by being anglocentric. He said: "Praise and position is given to genre fiction in Scotland. If the Nobel Prize were given to a Scot, it would be given to a f****** crime writer, or a children's writer who writes middle-class books about a child magician." Read article by Fiona MacLeod
All Things Whisky!
The Scotsman's definitive guide to uisge beatha, Scotland's national drink. Read more
Test Your Knowledge of Scotland
How well do you know Scotland? Put it to the test with this quick quiz from the website www.scotland.org. Click here
McNappy Tartan
In a bid to get more parents to "switch from bin to pin", Real Nappy supporters came together last week to launch the McNappy Tartan diaper. Click here for story by Kirsten Johnson
Sea Eagle Numbers in Scotland Soar to 150-Year High
The number of sea eagle chicks hatched in Scotland has reached its highest level in 150 years, according to the RSPB. The charity said that 36 chicks were successfully hatched in 2009, eight more than last year. Two new breeding pairs of the sea eagle, the largest bird of prey in the British Isles, were seen during its annual survey. Click for more
Wales Photo Galleries
Digital photographs of Wales submitted by BBC Wales readers. Click here
What Glass Ceiling?
Founded in 1908 by three women who were denied access to male-dominated climbing clubs, the LSCC has been going strong for over 100 years. Among their accomplishments are first ascents of several rock climbs in Glencoe, and the first all-female expedition to the Himalayas in 1955. Click here. Related site: Mountaineering Council of Scotland
For My Fellow Horse Lovers
All things horse are explored in articles and video on BBC Scotland. Horses at work, play and show and the people who love them! Click here.
How's That Again?
Let Scottie of RampantScotland.com lead you through the twisting of the Gaelic tongue in this lighthearted look at how to pronounce Scottish place names. Suffice to say what you see definitely isn't what you speak. Click here.
Scotland Above and Below the Waves
Diver Helen Hadley;s photographic tour of Orkney and Shetland. Click here.
Weatherman Walking!
Derek Brockway's blog about his travels and observations of the natural world of Wales. Click here.
Ireland's National Archives
Are you a history or genealogy nut? This site is a treasure trove of historical documents, with a searchable online database. Click here.
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