The Scottish Snippets Newsletter in its original format began in April 1997 and continued in an unbroken series for 591 issues. Although no longer produced in that style, there is now this regular update on the new and updated pages on the Rampant Scotland site including "Scottie's Photo Diary From Scotland".
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Scottish Clans
When I was creating the clan and family history pages initially, I concentrated on the largest and best known ones and it's quite some time since I've added any new ones. But these pages get a lot of accesses so I thought it was worth doing some research and adding a few more - here's three added so far:
Clan Drummond
Having been to Drummond Castle in Perthshire and its magnificent gardens on many occasions, it's been interesting to find out about the family that built that castle. The name Drummond is derived from a village in Stirlingshire called Drymen which later became corrupted to the surname Drummond. They became one of the most powerful families in Scotland. They helped King Robert the Bruce win the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 in a surprising way and a grateful monarch granted them the lands near Crieff in Perthshire where their castle was built. For more on the Drummonds, see Scottish Clans - Drummond.
Clab Farquharson
Maybe the first thing that has to be said about this name is - how is it pronounced? It usually sounds more like "Farkerson" - with the accent on the first syllable. The clan settled in the Braes of Mar in the 16th century. At the end of the sixteenth century the Erskines attempted to reclaim the Earldom of Mar and John Erskine, built Braemar Castle (pictured here) in 1628 to defend himself against the claims of the Farquharsons. But the castle later passed into the hands of the Farquharsons and remains in their ownership to this day. The famous Braemar Gathering is held each year on the clan chief's estate. For more on the Farquharsons, see Scottish Clans - Farquharson
Clan Moffat
The armorial bearings of the different branches of Moffat seem to indicate a connection with the church. Robert the Bruce, as Lord of Annandale, granted four charters of land in the Barony of Westerkirk to the Moffats in 1300. They had a long feud with the neighbouring Clan Johnstone who were another Scottish border family. The feud climaxed in 1557 with the murder of the Clan Moffat chief and the most important members of the Moffat family. Clan Moffat was almost wiped out. Seventy years later, all of the Moffats' lands were passed to the Johnstones due to the Moffats having massive debts. The graphic here is of the Moffats at the Clan Gathering in Edinburgh in 2009. For more on the Moffat family history seeScottish Clans - Moffat
Royal Dunkeld Hotel, Perthshire
Fresh from reviewing the Western Isles Hotel in Tobermory, our reviewer "DL" was off a few weeks later with his wife to the Royal Dunkeld Hotel in Perthshire. They succumbed to the hotel's charm pretty quickly, finding that the hotel's management had put a lot of thought into guests' comfort. Even better, the food exceeded expectations They had both lunch and an evening meal in the hotel's Woodlands Bistro which they found absolutely delightful. The bistro was opened in June 2011 and has been a hit with both local diners and hotel residents alike. It is an ideal size, small enough to provide a certain degree of intimacy but large enough to feel like a proper restaurant. The hotel is run by a husband and wife team who moved to Dunkeld twelve years ago, ably assisted by an energetic hotel manager and head chef, both of whom have many years of service. For an illustrated review of the Royal Dunkeld Hotel, see Great places to Stay - Royal Dunkeld Hotel, Perthshire
Scottish Place Names in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
In the light of feedback and further research, Ian Kendall has updated his article on Scottish-related place names in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Winnipeg (pictured here) is one of the Canadian cities (along with Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Hamilton and Regina) where Scottish influences appear to have been particularly marked. Indeed, Winnipeg would seem to be the most 'Scottish' of all the Canadian cities, a legacy, perhaps, of Lord Selkirk's Red River Colony scheme and the large number of Scotsmen later employed by the railway companies. Of the names of the 324 communities and neighbourhoods that have been identified to date in Greater Winnipeg, 101 (31.2%) can be found as place names in Scotland or are based on Scottish family names or Scottish words. Of course, some of these names are used in other parts of the British Isles as well, but at least 74 of them (22.8%) appear to have a unique connection with Scotland, whether directly or indirectly.For all the background, see Scottish Place Names in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Yours aye
Scottie
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