The Clan Courier

CLAN COURIER

Perfect summer gardens, a queen’s letter from captivity, and old links remain strong

[ATTRACTIONS] SECRET GARDENS

This spring and summer, you can visit some of Scotland’s most beautiful gardens as they hold special open days through the charity-run Scotland Garden Scheme.

There are around 40 castles and stately homes with gardens to choose from, such as Perthshire’s Drummond Castle Gardens (pictured), plus gardens that are normally closed to the public. scotlandsgardens.org

[DIASPORA] OVER THE OCEAN FROM SKYE

A chance meeting between a Gaelic singer and an Australian farmer has unearthed a deep connection between the cleared Skye village of Greaulainn in Kilmuir, and a farm in Geelong, Victoria.

In 1852 Donald and Anne MacPherson boarded a ship to Geelong to fi ght for a new life in the New World, having been forced out of Skye during the Highland Clearances. The couple took with them the clothes on their backs, the family bible, and their cooking pot hook.

Singer Anne Martin (pictured above) said: “I met Stuart MacPherson [their descendant] by complete chance when I was singing at the Port Fairy Folk Festival in Victoria in 2007. He just happened to tell me that his people were from Skye, and it just so happened that his people were not just from Skye but from the abandoned village behind my property.

“Stuart told me about the family heirloom, the slabhraidh (chain), which was taken from Greaulainn by his ancestors all the way to Australia and passed down through the generations to end up with him on his farm, along with the bible. To the family, the hook is a poignant reminder of their journey to the other side of the world.”

Now, this story, along with others, will form part of a new project, An Tinne (The Link), led by Scottish performing arts charity SEALL and supported by EventScotland and Creative Scotland, as part of Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022. Through songs, stories and objects, An Tinne will show how Gaelic culture has endured across time and distance.

SEALL interim director, Sara Bain, said: “We hope An Tinne will inspire people to come forward with more of the real stories from Skye and Raasay that still remain untold.”

The project also aims to inspire visitors with roots in the Northwest Highlands to visit the lands of their ancestors and experience the real stories behind the lore. seall.co.uk

[CAMPAIGN] BIG WIN FOR BOOK FANS

An international appeal to keep important works of British literature for public enjoyment has been successful, thanks to support on both sides of the pond.

The Blavatnik Honresfi eld Library, a private collection that includes an early volume of poems by Robert Burns – the First Commonplace Book –as well as the only extant letter from the bard to his father; Sir Walter Scott’s private travel journal, and manuscripts of both Rob Roy and The Lay of the Last Minstrel, will no longer be sold at open auction.

Thanks to a concerted fundraising campaign by The Friends of the National Libraries, the National Trust for Scotland, Abbotsford, and the National Library of Scotland, which attracted generous contributions from both UK and American donors, £15 million has been raised to buy the collection.

The works will now be shared among libraries and cultural institutions across the UK. fnl.org.uk