Apr 16
The Battle of Culloden was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745. On this date, 16 April 1746, the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force under Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, on Drummossie Moor near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. 1250 Jacobites died at …
Apr 06
We were in NYC April 6, 2019 for our daughter-in-law’s birthday and the Tartan Day Parade. Look who the Grand Marshall was! I am so sorry we missed 2015 when Sean Connery was Grand Marshall Get ready to don your kilts and play the bagpipes – National Tartan Day is here, and it’s a whirlwind …
Feb 27
“Scotland the Brave” (Scottish Gaelic: Alba an Àigh) is a Scottish patriotic song. It was one of several songs considered an unofficial national anthem of Scotland. My cellphone ringtone is Scotland the Brave. At any rehearsal, everyone knows it’s my phone, if one is ringing 🙂 I posted a bit about that here: http://maryoblog.com/2015/08/ Below, the …
Feb 07
This video just came up on my Facebook feed but I hadn’t seen it before. This was a fantastic performance for Sean Connery in 1999. Sean Connery was honored at the Kennedy Center for lifetime achievements. The music consists of the Washington Pipe Band, Alasdair Fraser, Davidson School of Scottish Dance, Mairi Campbell and Dave …
Jan 25
Burns Night commemorates the life of the bard (poet) Robert Burns, who was born on January 25, 1759. The day also celebrates Burns’ contribution to Scottish culture. Burns’ best-known work is “Auld Lang Syne”. We were at the Edinburgh Tattoo for this performance but I didn’t take this video. Haggis, …
Jan 14
When we were in Scotland a couple years ago, we walked to Edinburgh Castle and back from hotel a couple times. I had never heard of Greyfriar’s Bobby until our bus tour the second day although we had walked by the statue 3 times already! On our 4th pass-by, we saw several people taking pictures …
Jan 06
Shortbread is a classic Scottish dessert traditionally made with: 1 part white sugar (I use powdered) 2 parts butter 3 parts flour (I usually use rice flour) And a bit of salt Shortbread is so named because of its crumbly texture which is caused by its high-fat content, provided by the butter. “Shortening” is …
Jan 01
In Scottish folklore, the first-foot is the first person to enter the home of a household on New Year’s Day and a bringer of good fortune for the coming year. Although it is acceptable in many places for the first-footer to be a resident of the house, they must not be in the house at …
Dec 21
The Lockerbie Cairn, through its 270 blocks of red Scottish sandstone, memorializes the 270 lives lost in the terrorist attack on the United States when Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed Dec. 21, 1988, over Lockerbie, Scotland. It is a gift of the people of Scotland to the people of the United States, financed …
Dec 18
I was always very proud of my paternal grandmother. In the early part of the last century she had been living in Scotland with her husband and they had a young son – my father. My grandfather was in the Black Watch during World War I, and he was killed in Peshawar, India. My grandmother left …
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