131 items

• Galloway Family Name: History, Motto & Origins in Southwest Scotland

  The Galloway name carries the weight of an entire Scottish region rather than a single family line. Galloway is a habitational, or toponymic, surname — one taken by people identified...

• How to Find Your Scottish Clan: A Definitive Guide to Ancestry & Heritage

  Unlocking your Scottish ancestry is more than a genealogical search; it is an immersion into a world of highland strongholds, ancient Gaelic patronymics, and the enduring bond of the clan...

• Adiston Scottish Surname History: An East Lothian Place-Name

  Adiston is a locational Scottish surname from the lands of Adinston near Macmerry, East Lothian, with roots shared with the Addison name.

• Stupart History & Origins: Over Possil in 1513, a Very Rare Name & Sir Robert Stupart

  A tenant named Robert Stawpart held part of Over Possil outside Glasgow in 1513 and was written Stalpart nine years later. We set out what the four earliest Stupart entries...

• Whannel History & Origins: A Reduced McWhannell, St Comgall of Bangor & a Rare Southwest Name

  Whannel is most plausibly a worn-down McWhannell, from Gaelic Mac Gille Chonghail, son of the servant of St Comgall of Bangor. Just 56 bearers appear in the 1901 Scottish census...

• Which Scottish Castle Is Most Visited?

  Edinburgh Castle draws well over a million visitors a year — making it Scotland's most visited paid attraction. But which castles come closest, and what draws so many people to...

• Scottish Castles of Moray & the North-East: Gordon Country, Speyside & the Moray Firth

  Moray and the lands around the Moray Firth carry a castle heritage shaped almost entirely by one great rivalry — Gordon versus everyone else. From Huntly's heraldic palace to Spynie's...

• Scottish Castles of Aberdeenshire

  Aberdeenshire has more castles per square mile than almost anywhere in Europe — a concentration of tower houses, courtyard castles, and baronial mansions that spans seven centuries of clan history....

• Athell Scottish Surname History: Origins, Atholl Roots & Heritage

  Athell is a variant spelling of Atholl, Scotland's ancient Perthshire earldom. Explore the district's Pictish roots and the family's Jacobite-era history.

• Dalmahoy History & Origins: Ratho, Midlothian, Dalmahoy Hill & Scottish Heritage

  Dalmahoy began as a Gaelic saint's meadow below an Iron Age hillfort, became a Midlothian knightly surname, ended up as an eighteenth-century word for a wig, and now has barely...

• Wight History & Origins: The Scots Word Wicht, the Isle of Wight Question & James Alfred Wight

  Wight most plausibly comes from wicht, the Older Scots word for strong and brave, recorded from 1375. We weigh the Isle of Wight and White alternatives, count 1,079 bearers in...

• Kildrummy Castle History, Clan Mar & the Greatest Medieval Ruin in Aberdeenshire

  Kildrummy Castle in Aberdeenshire was one of the greatest medieval fortresses in Scotland — a sophisticated thirteenth-century design with a great gatehouse modelled on Harlech, a curtain wall of exceptional...

• Clan MacArthur History, Motto & Origins: Loch Awe, Argyll & Scottish Heritage

  Clan MacArthur claim to be among the oldest families in Argyll, their tradition of descent from the same ancient stock as the Campbells giving them a proud if ultimately ill-fated...

• Dunkeld Visitor Guide: Cathedral, Birnam & the Hermitage

  Plan a gentle Perthshire visit around Dunkeld’s cathedral grounds and historic streets, with a choice of Birnam’s Beatrix Potter connections or the Hermitage.

• Shepherd History & Origins: An Occupational Name, Nan Shepherd & the North-East

  Shepherd is a job, not a family, so two Shepherd lines in one parish need not be related. The 1363 Moray record, the north-east footprint, the Sheppard and Shepard spellings,...

• Glendinning History & Origins: Westerkirk in Eskdale, the Glendonwyns & Border Heritage

  Thomas Telford was born at Glendinning, and the hill farm in Westerkirk parish gave a Dumfriesshire surname its name. We trace the Cumbric place-name elements, the Glendonwyns who held Glasgow...

• What Is the Difference Between a Scottish Clan and a Family?

  A Scottish clan was a territorial community of loyalty, not just a blood family. Discover the real difference between a clan and a family in Scottish history, what septs are,...

• Clan Cumming History, Motto & Origins: The Comyn Legacy, Badenoch & Scottish Heritage

  Discover the history, motto, and origins of Clan Cumming — descendants of the mighty Comyn family who once dominated medieval Scotland, whose destruction at the hands of Robert the Bruce...

• Highland Games and Scottish Festivals 2027: Dates and Visitor Guide

  Choose your 2027 Highland Games weekend with organiser-confirmed dates across Scotland, the USA, Canada and Australia, plus practical tips on tickets, travel and what to wear.

• Clan Bannatyne History, Motto & Origins: Isle of Bute, the Bannatyne Manuscript & Scottish Heritage

  Discover the history of Clan Bannatyne — Isle of Bute origins, the motto Nec Cito Nec Tarde meaning Neither Quickly Nor Slowly, George Bannatyne and the priceless manuscript that saved...

• Scottish Castles with the Best Views: Ten Perspectives Worth the Climb

  The view from a Scottish castle battlements is one of the great experiences of heritage travel — but not all views are equal. These ten Scottish castles offer perspectives so...

• Clan Dunbar History, Motto & Origins: Black Agnes, Dunbar Castle & Scottish Heritage

  Discover the history, motto, and origins of Clan Dunbar — the great Earls of March who defended Scotland’s eastern frontier, home of Black Agnes whose legendary castle defence in 1337...

• Bertram Surname History: Norman Origins and a Scottish Lowland Legacy

  Bertram traces to Norman barons of Mitford, Northumberland, not Scotland - but a Lanarkshire branch built a genuine Scottish legacy from the 1600s onward.

• Bellenden Surname History: Scottish Borders Origins and a Family That Reached the Peerage

  Bellenden is a Scottish Borders surname from Roxburghshire, long interchangeable with Ballantyne, that produced royal scholars, a bishop, and a short-lived peerage.