Dalriada – the early Scots DALRIADA. This is where "modern" history began. With history from the time of Moses, intermingled with legends such as St. Patrick and St. Columba, Dalriada was first the name for the land in Northern Ireland . Founded by Cairbre Riadia who settled in this area and later, the name [...]
A WEE BLOG BY PAUL MCLEAN, AFTER SPENDING SOME TIME IN THIS BEAUTIFUL PART OF SCOTLAND On the shore of Loch nan Ceall on the west coast, Arisaig is a wee village surrounded by superb scenery, white buildings littered between the harbour and the road to Morar. The landscape is a rocky coast, blue [...]
Almost hidden away obetween Gateside in north-west Fife and Aberargie in southern Perthshire is a late 15th century L-plan tower house, surrounded by a 16th century wall with a courtyard and gatehouse. The castle stands on a hill, and consists of a central keep (tower) with a main block and wing, the courtyard and gatehouse [...]
HISTORY It is said they were originally a form of war game in which the strongest and bravest soldiers would triumph. The first historical reference to Highland Games-type events in Scotland was made during the reign of King Malcolm III (1057-1093) when he summoned men to race up Craig Choinnich near Braemar in [...]
THE CASTLE, THE COFFEE AND THE CHIEF Dateline 30 June 2016. Location Duart Castle, Isle of Mull Written by Paul McLean We were on tour with Clan Montgomery from USA, a nice group. We sailed from Oban over to Mull and headed straight to Duart Castle for a visit. We pulled up our coach right [...]
Duart Castle, Isle of Mull - June 20th to June 25th 2017 The Clan are to gather again next year (2017) over on Mull, a 45 minute sail from where I was born (Connel) and it should be another great time for all Maclean’s. Liz and I have attended the last 4 gatherings and [...]
Correct! I was staying with my friends Ian and Elaine in Wick recently taking a tour. I was there to give a whisky tasting at the local hotel, 28 people with 8 drams each, that’s another story. Whilst there, Ian and I always drive off wandering the local countryside of Caithness and Sutherland, this particular [...]
A short tour of Wales and The Lake District - Scots head south to Celtic Wales and English Lakes In October we took a couple of Texan ladies south to the English lakes and to Wales. Of course, they had been to Scotland with us previously, in fact, a good friend of ours also guided [...]
A Clan story by Paul McLean, Connel, Scotland. Clan History: The Maclean clan is one of the oldest of all highland clans famed throughout history for great fighting skills of its warriors. For centuries they lived by the sword. According to historical sources, the founder of the Maclean clan was Gilleain na Tuaighe - [...]
There were seven of us on the half day of sailing tour; Liz, Barry, Julie, Dennis, Lois, Jenny and myself. Jenny (aka the Jenny Wren) was our transport and Barry the “driver”. We set off from Craobh Marina, a stunning location on the west of Scotland and just a 30-minute drive from Oban. We [...]
