Editor’s letter

EDITORIAL

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Editor

Sally Co ey

Assistant Editor

Henrietta Easton

Consultant Editor

Roddy Martine

Art Editor

Clare White

PR Requests

pr@chelseamagazines.com

Group Sales Director

Catherine Chapman

Advertising Manager

Daisy Welch

Chairman Paul Dobson Managing Director James Dobson Publisher Simon Temlett Chief Financial O cer Vicki Gavin EA to Chairman Sophie Easton

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Distribution Scotland Magazine Issue #126, (ISSN 1475-5505) (USPS 020-429) is published six times a year (bi-monthly) by The Chelsea Magazine Company, Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London SW3 3TQ, UK. Distributed in the U.S. by NPS Media Group, 2 Enterprise Drive, Suite 420, Shelton, CT 06484. Periodicals Postage paid at Shelton, CT and additional mailing o ces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Scotland magazine, PO Box 37518, Boone, IA 50037-0518. UK and Rest of World: Seymour, 2 East Poultry Avenue, London EC1A 9PT, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 7429 4000

SCOTLAND IS PROUD TO SUPPORT THE SCOTTISH HOTEL AWARDS

Simon Temlett, Awards Director simon.temlett@chelseamagazines.com

© The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd 2023. All rights reserved. Text and pictures are copyright restricted and must not be reproduced without permission of the publishers. The information contained in Scotland magazine has been published in good faith and every e ort has been made to ensure its accuracy. However, where appropriate, you are strongly advised to check prices, opening times, dates, etc, before making fi nal arrangements. All liability for loss, disappointment, negligence or damage caused by reliance on the information contained within this publication is hereby excluded. The opinions expressed by contributors to Scotland magazine are not necessarily those of the publisher.

ANCESTRY • HISTORY • HERITAGE • TRAVEL

The world’s leading Scottish-interest magazine

Your kingdom kingdomawaits awaits From palaces you can rent to ancestral clan castles WIN

a luxury escape to the Highlands

SCOTTISH ICONS

How the Stone of Destiny and The Black Rood defi ned a nation

CHARLES THE CROFTER

When the King turned farmer

Whisky galore galore

The best distilleries, drams and tours

Rob Roy The enduring appeal of Scotland’s appeal of Scotland’s Robin Hood Robin Hood

SONGS OF THE ISLES

Traditional Hebridean music

ISSUE 126 Jan/Feb 2023 £4.95 COVER IMAGES:

Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye, the stronghold of the MacLeod clan since the 13th century. © Hemis/ Alamy. Inset: A portrait of Scottish folk hero, Rob Roy. © Art Collection/Alamy This issue we’re celebrating Scotland’s national drink, whisky

If there’s one symbol of Scotland bound to stir up more national sentiment than any other, it’s the Stone of Destiny (or Stone of Scone), the stone on which Scottish kings were supposedly crowned upon for centuries and which Edward I of England mercilessly stole. As the coronation of King Charles III approaches, and the question of whether the stone should be allowed to return to Westminster, where it was held hostage for centuries, is raised once more, I travel to Perth to investigate just what it is about this lump of sandstone that makes Scots so protective of it. You can read all about it in Romanticising the stone (p16).

In Scotland’s Lost Treasure (p64), author David Willem tells the story of another of Scotland’s prized possessions, also stolen by Edward: The Black Rood.

One thing Scots have always had over the English is their skill at making whisky and this issue we celebrate this most Scottish of drinks with a Whisky Special (p49), which takes in all ve of the main whisky-producing regions, plus we go behind the scenes at a cooperage to see how the casks that age our whiskies are made.

If you like the ner things in life, then check out To the manor reborn (p28), where we roundup some of the best stately homes you can stay in, while for a back-to-basics holiday, you may prefer to follow in the footsteps of our new King, whose time in the Outer Hebrides we report on in Charles the crofter (p42). I hope you enjoy the issue.

SALLY COFFEY Editor

editor@scotlandmag.com facebook.com/ScotlandMagazine @Scotland_Mag @scotlandmagazine

Berneray p42

42

Speyside Cooperage p56

Balquhidder p68 Scone Palace p16

Buchanan Street p76

CONTENTS

ISSUE 126

03 Editor’s letter 06 The clan courier

Scottish news and the latest travel tips

12 Notes from the isles

Our friend pays a visit to Gretna Green

14 We’ve got mail

Your letters and stories of Scotland

Campbeltown p50

56

16 Romanticising the stone

The Stone of Scone has attracted many myths throughout its history, but are any of them true?

26 Sing while you work

Our writer learns a ‘waulking song’ – an old folk song sung by women fulling newly woven tweed or tartan

28 To the manor reborn

Ever wondered what it’s like to stay in a stately home? We visit some of the fi nest homes for hire in Scotland

40 Travels with Tom

Our tour guide assesses General Wade’s insights into Highland clans, which proved prophetic for the ‘45 rising

41 Competition

Your chance to win a luxury spa break for two in the Highlands at the Golf View Hotel & Spa

16

This rehoming will mark the first time the stone will be back in Perthshire in over 700 years

26

28

42 Charles the crofter

In the 1980s our future king spent time in a farming community on the Isle of Berneray, his host remembers

49 Whisky special

This issue we’re celebrating the history and legacy of Scotland’s national drink

50 Ultimate whisky tour of Scotland

Our writer drinks in the scenery in all five main Scottish whisky regions, from Speyside to Islay

56 The craft of casks

Jeremy Flint meets John Richard, who is upholding the ancient craft of coopering at Speyside Cooperage

60 The water of life

Our pick of some of the best distilleries, tours, and whisky experiences in Scotland

64 Scotland’s lost treasure

David Willem traces the history of the almost forgotten crown jewel of Scotland, the Black Rood

68 Legend in his own lifetime

We examine whether the Scottish legend, Rob Roy, lives up to his reputation as the Scottish Robin Hood

76 Buchanan Street

Named after an 18th-century Tobacco Lord, this street is now the hub of shopping in Glasgow

81 Dates for your diary

This season’s best events celebrating Scottish culture and history, both in Scotland and overseas

82 The story behind...

Author Pamela Hanson Ryder takes us back to 19th-century Scotland in her novel The Lamplighter

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