Douglas MacQueen's blog

A handwritten copy of a song by Robert Burns, rediscovered in an album is about to be auctioned and could fetch between £8,000 - £12,000. Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796) was born in the Scottish village of  Alloway (Scottish Gaelic Allmhaigh) and is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland. The song is called The Banks of the Cree.

Rodney's Stone is a two-metre (6.56 ft) high Pictish cross slab. It is now located close on the approach way to Brodie Castle, near Forres, Moray, Scotland. (Scottish Gaelic: Farrais, Moireibh, Alba). It was discovered in the late 18th Century during excavations for the foundation of the new parish church at Dyke.  The church, built in 1781, stands on the site of an earlier mediaeval church. 

Last June members of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; Scottish Gaelic: Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, BPA) voted to ban the unlicensed culling of mountain hares and to make them a protected species. The new law came into force today March 1st 2021 and forms part of the new Animals and Wildlife Bill. The measure was proposed and campaigned for by Scottish Green MSP Alison Johnstone and gives greater protection for mountain hares.  Mountain hares are Scotland's only native hare, where they could have existed since the last ice age.

Bannan is a Gaelic-language television series produced by Young Films and first broadcast in 2014. The long-running Gaelic drama is broadcast by BBC Alba. BBC Alba is a Scottish Gaelic-language free-to-air television channel jointly owned by the BBC and MG Alba, which is the operating name of the Gaelic Media Service (Scottish Gaelic: Seirbheis nam Meadhanan Gàidhlig). The drama has English subtitles when aired on BBC Alba (the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland).

A local community is making a bid to buy the remotest mainland pub in Scotland. It is located in the village of Inverie (Scottish Gaelic: Inbhir Aoidh) which is on the north side of Loch Nevis (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Nibheis). The Highland village is set in spectacular and beautiful scenery on the Knoydart (Scottish Gaelic: Cnòideart) peninsula in Lochaber. The pub is The Old Forge. Inverie is not connected to the rest of the national road network and can only be reached by a 18-mile (29-kilometre) hike or by a regular 7 mi (11 km) ferry from the port of Mallaig in Lochaber. 

Scotland's first ever Golden Eagle Festival will be held in Moffat (Scottish Gaelic: Mofad) between 19 and 26 September 2021. Moffat is located in the Dumfries and Galloway (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) area in Scotland. The Moffat Hills cover some 300 square kilometres of hills, noted for their outstanding scenery and rich wildlife. In the past it was home to a number of Golden Eagles, but as the result of deliberate persecution and land use changes their numbers declined to critical levels.

Following four weeks since the commencement of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca Covid vaccine programme in Scotland. Research led by Public Health Scotland found hospital admissions were reduced by 85% and 94% for the Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs respectively. Although initial results indicate that the AstraZeneca vaccine is more effective, both have been found to have a significant impact in the reduction of a person’s risk of hospital admission

Orkney (Scottish Gaelic: Arcaibh. Old Norse: Orkneyjar. Norn: Orknøjar) is an archipelago made up of 70 islands, 20 of which are inhabited, that lie 10 miles (16 km) from the coast of Caithness (Scottish Gaelic: Gallaibh) in northern Scotland. The islands have been inhabited for at least 8,500 years. There are a number of world famous prehistoric sits on the islands.

The Massacre of Glencoe (Scottish Gaelic Mort Ghlinne Comhann) took place early in the morning of 13 February 1692. One of the most beautiful places in Scotland Glen Coe (Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Comhann) takes its name from the River Coe that winds and tumbles its way through the glen. It is hard for those who visit this area of great beauty today to think that it was the site of such a treacherous act of murder and brutality against the Clan MacDonald of Glencoe.

A sculpture of a woman and child looking forlornly out to see stands in the Scottish fishing village of Pittenweem (Scottish Gaelic: Baile na h-Uaimh). Created by sculptor Alan Herriot it bears the inscription: “The memorial is dedicated to the men and women who make their living from the sea and to those who have lost their lives in doing so.” The sculpture was unveiled in 2019  after a fundraising drive by the Pittenweem Fishermen’s Memorial Association.