Sign Up
Tartan Footprint helps you connect and share with Scottish people in your life.

Scottish Myths & Legends

Posted on February 7, 2013 by
The year was 1890 and John Norman Collie, a respected scientist and explorer was walking in the Cairngorms. This area now popular with tourists, mountaineers and skiers was an even more desolate and unexplored spot back then. As he approached the summit of Ben MacDhui, The highest peak in this ran...
Posted on February 7, 2013 by
“As we were sailing down the loch in my boat we were suddenly disturbed and frightened by a thing that surfaced behind us. We watched it catch us up then bump into the side of the boat, the impact sent a kettle of water I was heating onto the floor. I ran into the cabin to turn the gas off as the ...
Posted on February 7, 2013 by
From a time that predates the great Scottish King Robert the Bruce or even the exploits of Scottish Hero William Wallace there lived a great king of Scotland, Alexander III. A ruler who reigned over a great time of peace and prosperity in Scotland but who's tragic death plunged the country into a gr...
Posted on February 7, 2013 by
Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, was descended from a Norman knight, Robert de Bruce, who came to England with William the Conqueror. His grandfather had been one of the 13 claimants to the Scottish throne in 1291, during the reign of the English king Edward I. Edward had chosen John de Balliol, an ...
Posted on February 7, 2013 by
Living in Edinburgh you are always aware that wherever you go you are trekking over centuries of history, that you can’t walk anywhere without walking on ancient bones. However in our little office in Leith we were completely unaware of the history right under our feet. King James V died in 1542 ...
Posted on February 7, 2013 by
I'm sure most of our readers have either read Dan Brown's book 'The Davinci Code' or at least watched the film of the same name. The connection with Scotland is seen as the story reaches it's climax in the enigmatic Roslyn Chapel. The tale of intrigue surrounding an ancient biblical artefact is a ...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by
On the 30th of November St Andrews day is celebrated across Scotland and indeed around the world. So how did this most eligable of all saints come to be Scotland's patron saint? Saint Andrew was one of the original Christian Apostles, he was the older brother of Saint Peter. The name 'Andres is t...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by
Like many of the early Christian Saints, Æbbe was from royal blood. Æbbe was the daughter of King Æthelfrith the Ravager of Bernicia and his third wife Acha of Deira. She was also related to St. Oswald and St. Edwin, King of Northumbria. Æthelfrith had become the first king of Northumbria when he...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by
The saint most closely associated with the foundation of the city of Glasgow, St Mungo's true story must lie somewhere between fact and legend. Mungo’s mother was Denw (or 'Tenew' in some versions), his grandfather was a Brythonic king Lleuddun also referred to as King Llew or Loth after which th...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by
It could be argued that St Margaret was Scotland's greatest female character. Born into a time where Scotland was a lawless and dangerous place St Margaret was a great civilising influence on the country and her legacy exists all over Scotland today. Margaret was born, possibly in Hungary, in 104...