Place of interest Archive

Eriskay – Princes, Ponies, Plunder

The smallest islands often have the biggest stories. The Isle of Eriskay tells of extremely expensive whisky bottles from a shipwreck, a royal visitor, and many small ponies. They came in the dark. Nimbly they climbed aboard, their women’s dresses rustling, as they made straight for the ship’s cargo hold. Cotton, medicine, clothing … all […]

Elgin Cathedral – the Wolf and the Fire

It was once the second-largest cathedral in Scotland. Today, however, only a ruin stands in Elgin, hinting at its former splendour. Here’s how that came to be … The Wolf of Badenoch, the Celtic Attila – history has no kinder nicknames for Alexander Stewart. And he certainly earned them. He ruthlessly did away with his […]

Na Gearrannan Blackhouse Village – a Habitable Museum on Lewis

A village from a bygone era shows how the islanders lived around 1900. And you can not only visit the museum, but stay overnight too. Cosy peat fire included. For decades, the low, dark houses had sheltered their inhabitants from the sharp westerly wind that sweeps through the little strait of Gearrannan from the nearby […]

St Clement’s Church Rodel – Retirement Seat of a MacLeod Chief

Great sins call for great penance. Alexander MacLeod paid his with an entire church – St Clement’s Church near Rodel. But what crimes was he actually guilty of? Alasdair Crotach had much to atone for. The massacre of 400 men, women and children weighed on his conscience, and that was only ONE incident in an […]