Editor’s letter

EDITORIAL

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Distribution Scotland Magazine Issue #121, (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 2022. 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

Castles & gardens Special places to see in 2022 WIN a holiday

Mary, Queen of Scots

Codes & ciphers used to plot her escape

worth £5,000

THE RUM LIFE

Where community is everything

THE GREAT GLEN WAY

Explore this epic route

THE OTHER JACOBITE HEROINE

‘Colonel’ Anne Mackintosh and her brave stand

World Heritage Sites Scotland’s six wonders

£4.95 ISSUE 121 March/April 2022 COVER IMAGE:

Ballindalloch Castle in Speyside © Damian Shields/North East 250/ VisitScotland. Inset: Mary, Queen of Scots © The Artchives/ Alamy Davaar Island Lighthouse, in Campbeltown Loch

Spring is in the air and it always makes me want to get out and about more, exploring our ne country, and I’m lucky to have plenty of inspiration at my ngertips thanks to the wonderful travel articles in this issue.

By the time you read this, I will have returned from a family holiday in Argyll, and I’m currently planning my itinerary based on some of the beautiful places highlighted by Robin McKelvie in Get your kicks on Kintyre 66 (p14).

Elsewhere this issue, Douglas Milne recounts a walking holiday he undertook with his wife in The Great Glen Way (p70). I have to admit, when I visited the area, I took things a little easier and travelled by boat.

If you’ve had enough of admiring castles, stately homes and their exquisite grounds from afar, then I can thoroughly recommend some of the places featured in Gentry does it (p22), where you can see for yourself how the other half lives. When I visited our cover star Ballindalloch Castle last year, I couldn’t believe such an incredibly handsome castle existed that I’d never even heard of. But that’s Scotland for you: we’re never short of a castle or two.

This year marks Scotland’s Year of Stories, so it’s only right that our history bof ns have been busy researching some of our nation’s most intriguing tales. First up, in Mary’s Secret Code (p30), we reveal how Mary, Queen of Scots communicated with her supporters while imprisoned in England, while in La Belle Rebelle (p57), we give the ‘other’ Jacobite heroine, ‘Colonel’ Anne Mackintosh, the recognition she duly deserves. Enjoy!

SALLY COFFEY Editor

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

Isle of Rum p44

Mull of Kintyre p14 World Heritage Sites p62

Littleferry p68

Ballindalloch Castle p22

Great Glen Way p70

Rose Street p42

14 57

CONTENTS

ISSUE 121

12 We’ve got mail

Your letters and stories of Scotland

14 Get your kicks on Kintyre 66

Explore Scotland’s latest touring route on the Kintyre peninsula, lined with history, beaches and great malts

03 Editor’s letter 06 The Clan Courier

Scotland news and the latest travel tips

09 Dates for your diary

This season’s best events on both sides of the Atlantic

10 Notes from the isles

Kate Francis is still beaming with memories of a family reunion in the Outer Hebrides

22 Gentry does it

Scotland’s most impressive stately homes and gardens, which some lucky people call home

30 Mary’s secret code

How Mary, Queen of Scot’s communication with supporters through coded, locked letters, ultimately contributed to her downfall

Win a great British holiday

36 Competition

Your chance to win a luxury holiday to Britain, including free fl ights to the UK

44

By partaking in the trail, worldwide visitors will rediscover Scotland’s unique treasures

62

22

38 Hide and seek

Meet the master craftsman who employs traditional saddlery techniques to create the finest leather products

42 Rose Street

Discover the ups and downs of one of Edinburgh’s most famous streets and the characters who frequented it

44 The Rum life

Take a peek into the picture-perfect island of Rum, and hear from some of the people who live here

52 Art for all

The Edinburgh art gallery celebrating its 180th year that champions Scottish artists old and new

57 La Belle Rebelle

The remarkable story of Jacobite Anne Mackintosh’s fight to restore a Stuart to the British throne

62 Out of this world

As Scotland becomes the first nation to link its UNESCO sites in a digital trail, we visit its six wonders

68 Battle of Littleferry

With a memorial stone set to mark the site of the 1746 Jacobite battle, we tell its largely forgotten story

70 The Great Glen Way

Follow Douglas Milne as he traverses the magnificent Highlands landscape, from Fort William to Inverness

76 Scottish societies

Find contact details here if you’d like to become a member of a real Scottish clan

80 The story behind...

A fascinating delve into the life of George Heriot, royal Goldsmith during the reign of King James VI