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Tartan Footprint helps you connect and share with Scottish people in your life.
Posted on February 7, 2013 by | 11 views | comments
Robert II, King of Scots, called "the Steward", a title that gave the name to the House of Stewart (later spelled "Stuart"). He ruled from 1371 until his death. Robert was the sole son of Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland and Marjorie Bruce, daughter of King Robert I of Scotland and his...
Posted on September 17, 2019 by | 11 views | comments
Notes on one of the Most Obscure clans in Scotland's History. Clan MacFadyen, or MacPhaiden, or Patton, etc... In doing research recently for my Bachelor's thesis on Gaelic culture in Scotland and Ireland, and in turn doing some digging into family history, I decided to pursue my Patton roots and lo...
Posted on April 19, 2013 by | 10 views | comments
Tha sinn a cruinneachadh an seo an diugh airson cuimhne a chumail air na thachair bho chionn da cheud tri-fichead sa seachd bliadhna air ais nuair a chaill faisg air da mhile duine – Gaidheil anns a mhor chuid dhiubh – am beatha agus a chaidh na ceudan eile an droch-leon ann am blar a mhair nas lugh...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by | 9 views | 1 comments
Living around the same time as the legendary Nostradamus was a farm labourer called Coinneach Odhar. His prophesies are maybe not as well known as his contemporary but the alarming accuracy of his predictions has added to the sense of mystery that still exists around the Black Isle. Indeed many of...
Posted on February 7, 2013 by | 9 views | comments
Dundas Castle was built in 1818 by renowned Scottish architect William Burn, situated in South Queensferry this castle is now the stately home of Sir Jack and his wife Lady Lydia Stewart-Clark. The castle's commanding views over the Forth made it an integral part of Scotland’s defence in World ...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by | 8 views | comments
When Duncan I took the Scottish throne, his grandfather had the blood of several relatives on his hands, having murdered the way clear for Duncan. With such ill feeling as there must have been, Duncan would have been wise to pacify his remaining family, especially his senior cousin Thorfinn the Mig...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by | 8 views | comments
Culloden Moor, known then as Drummossie Muir, was the site of the last pitched battle on the British mainland on 16 April 1746. The Jacobites were pulling back into the Highlands, ending their siege of Stirling as they headed for Inverness. Despite their victory at Falkirk, Jacobite morale was de...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by | 8 views | comments
Anyone who has browsed the Scotclans site can't help but notice that our logo incorporates the saltire (or at least a reversed out and colourised version of it). Take a walk through Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness or any other Scottish town and city and you will see countless saltire flags. They ado...
Posted on February 7, 2013 by | 8 views | comments
Although the Stuart family had gained the Scottish throne through Marjory (daughter of Robert the Bruce), Mary became Queen only because all male alternatives had been exhausted. Princess Mary Stuart was born at Linlithgow Palace, Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland, on December 7 or December 8, 1...
Posted on February 7, 2013 by | 8 views | comments
The son of King James IV of Scotland, he was born in 1512, at Linlithgow Palace, West Lothian, and was still an infant when his father was killed at the Battle of Flodden Field on September 9, 1513. He was crowned in the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle on September 21, 1513. During his childhood,...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by | 7 views | comments
The Viking invasions of Scotland heralded a new type of warfare. By equipping their boats with keels, a significant number of warriors could be accommodated on sea journeys that presented little problem to the highly developed Norse navigational and rigging skills. Their terror is first recorded i...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by | 7 views | comments
There are many Scottish stories about selkies, but the most common is a tragic story of theft, love and loss. Seals live close to people in many coastal and island communities in Scotland. They hunt the same fish, those big eyes and round heads look almost human in the water, and when they sing, yo...
Posted on February 7, 2013 by | 7 views | comments
Cináed mac Ailpín was king of the Picts and, according to national myth, first king of Scots. Cináed's undisputed legacy was to produce a dynasty of rulers who claimed descent from him. If he cannot be regarded as the father of Scotland, he was the founder of the dynasty which ruled that country f...
Posted on February 7, 2013 by | 7 views | comments
James III of Scotland was the son of James II and Mary of Gueldres. James was an unpopular and ineffective monarch owing to an unwillingness to administer justice fairly, a policy of pursuing alliance with the Kingdom of England, and a disastrous relationship with nearly all his extended family. ...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by | 6 views | comments
During the Wars of Independence, Philip de Mowbray agreed to surrender Stirling Castle if not assisted by England. Edward II therefore came across the border and by the time he left Edinburgh for Falkirk on the 22 June, he had amassed an army of sixteen thousand infantry and two and a half thousand ...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by | 6 views | 1 comments
The Battle of Otterburn is remembered as the fight where ‘a dead man won the field’. A Scottish attack was made in Northumberland on Henry Percy and his estates, led by James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas, on the 5 August 1388. During the fighting, Douglas was very badly wounded. He told his office...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by | 6 views | comments
The Highland Dress Proscription Act of 1746, designed to punish the clans and destroy their identities and economic structures, was repealed in 1782 after thirty six years in law. The Repeal went as follows: "Listen Men. This is bringing before all the Sons of the Gael, the King and Parliament o...
Posted on February 6, 2013 by | 6 views | comments
During the 1300s two dominant branches of the same Clan existed. MacLean of Duart and MacLaine of Lochbuie were headed by two brothers; Eachann Reaganach (Hector the stern) controlled the MacLain of Lochbuie and Lachainn Lubanach (Lachlan the Wily) controlled the stonger Macleans of Duart. Hecto...