Scottish Heritage and Culture

THE driver of the Glasgow to Hamilton train was making good time, about a mile north of Blantyre, when he saw a figure standing on the track. Frantically sounding his whistle, he cut off the steam but it was too late to stop and the locomotive ploughed into the captain of Scotland’s rugby team, killing him instantly.

THE important thing about The Singing Butler is that Vettriano responded to his environment, which was the coast of Fife.

The year is 1869 and distinguished author, Charles Dickens, has for some years, been traveling around the world performing readings of his hugely popular stories to packed theatres. On a cold Edinburgh evening, the 26th February 1869, an eager crowd within the George Street Music Hall awaits his dramatic and enigmatic performance, which they know will be the last he ever performs in the city.

AGED 19 and studying to be a lawyer, it would be some time before he became an established household name.

Yet a glimpse into the life Sir Walter Scott was living as a young academic in the Capital has been revealed as a rare census goes on sale to the public for the first time.

CALL me a jaded cynic – alright, it’s been done. But when Scotland’s energy, enterprise and tourism minister describes an animated Hollywood film as a “once-in-a-century” marketing opportunity, is it the best way to sell Scotland to the world?

‘FASH, dinna fash yersel’ – Fash has two main meanings; one being not to get annoyed by a situation, and the other being not to inconvenience yourself with something or someone.

Tracing the origins of Scotland’s national drink

PAISLEY-BORN singer-songwriter who wrote ‘Baker Street’ (1947 - 2011)

All pupils sitting Higher English exams will be required to answer a question on Scottish texts, Education Secretary Michael Russell will announce today.

The influence of Robert Burns has been felt far beyond these shores. On the eve of Burns Night, Jennifer O’Mahony looks at how some of the world’s famous and powerful, from the USSR to Michael Jackson, have fallen under the spell of our national Bard

A PUBLIC garden and a monument in honour of celebrated town planner Sir Patrick Geddes are to be created in the shadow of one of his finest creations in Edinburgh’s Old Town.

HE HAS long been cast as a bit of a joke figure and is routinely described as the worst poet in the history of the English language.

A BUZZ of excitement rippled through the High Court in Edinburgh. The scene was one of the most dramatic trials to grip Victorian Edinburgh, at centre stage was one of the most familiar faces to grace the halls of justice.

AN AMERICAN document dealer is auctioning an 1878 letter from Alexander Graham Bell to his parents telling them to ground the telephone he invented by running a copper wire from their house to the duck pond.

Scots are divided over the choice of any future national anthem for the nation, a Scotsman poll has found.

HUGH MacDiarmid (1892-1978) started a Scottish literary revolution in the first half of the 20th century which helped restore indigenous Scots literature.

The son of farm workers, he became a fine poet, an extraordinary linguist, and inspired his great friend, Sir Walter Scott, to become a literary great. So, why have the remarkable feats of Dr John Leyden gone unrecognised over the years, asks Stuart Kelly

A SPECIALLY designed Scottish tartan has been created for a fundraising event in one of the villages hit by the New Zealand earthquake earlier this year.

Forty years ago next month the last inhabitants left the island of Scarp. But it’s another flight from there which really put the place on the map

FOR the 14th year The Scotsman Publications has joined forces with Glenfiddich, the world’s most awarded single malt Scotch whisky, to give you, our readers, the chance to vote in the Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards.