Articles

The first golfer to win the Open, the man to instigate the Ryder cup, is all but unknown on his home turf.

Originally a sculptor, Elspeth Haston works tirelessly to keep alive the memory of her mother, Mary McMurtrie, known for her immaculate flower paintings.

Tucked away at the end of a little alleyway leading off Montrose High Street is one of Scotland’s hidden treasures. The workplace of artist William Lamb never fails to surprise and delight.

A suitcase owned by E.W. MacPherson, namesake of the new laird of Glen Doll, contains a first hand account of a dispute that started on Jock’s Road, but traversed ultimately to Westminster. Without the Lords’ ruling of 1888 on the Glen Doll case, we would not be free to roam our native land.

Near the Beach Boulevard the sand heaves with people. We find space for our towels and snacks on a less-crowded stretch beside the Beach Ballroom. The soundtrack for that day is The Beatles. Their new Revolver album plays endlessly to the sweltering crowds over the speaker system strung along the Esplanade… Taxman, Eleanor Rigby, Got To Get You Into My Life

The man who brought the countryside right into our living rooms and helped educate generations about the wonders of Scotland’s natural heritage.

“More than anything else, Colin wants to have sex. Colin won’t ever have sex. It is up to me to have it for him so I can tell him what the feeling might be like if he ever did, but I just don’t feel like it just now.”

When Duncan Rice returned to his native city to be principal of its university in 1996, his aim was to raise £150m. Now £142m is already in the bag, with promises of more to follow.

In the kirkyard of a sleepy Angus hamlet lay a priceless collection of incised sculptured stones, neglected memorials which had marked the graves of warriors and monks

Imagine an exhibition which attracts thousands of visitors, year after year; an open show, for the talented amateur and established professional – and every work of art selected by the same open procedure.

The name McCombie was well known in Aberdeenshire in the 19th century and three William McCombies, all cousins, were particularly notable.

For nearly 300 years the bell of St Drostan’s kirk tolled the life of the parish in times of peace and danger. Then it disappeared for 30 years

Last winter brought quite a fall of snow, inspiring the usual clichés such as ‘arctic’ conditions. It was as if we never saw snow, but we have, every year. And whereas our world might stop because we cannot cope with it, up on the high hills there are animals and plants that could not live without it.

By 1812 the harbour’s future was uncertain. Far from being a shelter in time of storm, it could be the cause of the unexpected end of boats. It would, however, take a further 13 years before the work to improve the harbour would begin – facilitated by the hand of the engineer responsible for the Bell Rock Lighthouse: Robert Stevenson.

The gaunt and forlorn ruin of Slains Castle at Cruden Bay is perhaps one of the most recognisable images of the Aberdeenshire coast, still proudly standing on its precipitous cliff edge and dominating the skyline for miles around. But that this is not the original Slains Castle; in fact, it is not even in Slains.

Even in bare, grim country where the higher slopes have long been abandoned as too poor, too hungry or just too damned difficult to yield a worthwhile return, you can still see the dykes, standing as a lasting memorial to the heroes who made the North-East farmlands out of rock-strewn wilderness.

“You are, by painting, making a very positive assertion that you do not want to die – yet. For painting is about life and living.” – Frances Walker, artist

In the 1960s a real estate company offered to demolish the Music Hall, suggesting a more modern concept. Fortunately, the public outcry that erupted secured the building for an impressive future.

One year a shooting star streaked across the night sky, and a good harvest followed. Since shooting stars were not at their command, the people set out to mimic them with home-made fireballs.

“I made up a variety of home-made equipment for us to experiment with, there being nothing on the market. Gas masks, motor tyre air pumps, an ‘open’ helmet made from a copper-wrapped dustbin lid – all helped us breath underwater.”

The native wild thistle may be the Scottish emblem, but the tended and productive garden of plants from around the world has been our national obsession

Witches. Fornicators. Vandals. Teenage mothers. Murderers. Do you know of any in your family? Aberdeen City Archives are a window on our past, containing references to those whose misdemeanours have been recorded for posterity.

A remarkable Scottish tradition – linking medicine, botany and gardening – had an huge impact on the landscapes and gardens of Britain and on the ecology of the British Empire.

Crathes Castle, boasts one of the finest painted ceilings in the country, and it is a ceiling of musicians.

Life is a bug for Hugh Pennington and he would not have it any other way. At an age when most people are taking it easy, he has become the public face of reassurance over the health of the nation.

A ballad called The Jolly Beggar, believed to be about King James V, tells of him seeking lodgings at ‘a hoose near Aiberdeen’ disguised as a beggar

The Mither Kirk Project has taken about six years to reach this stage. We anticipate that contractors will be on site shortly to begin Phase 1 – the repair and restoration of the exterior fabric. Phase 2, the interior structures and fit out will follow as soon as funding permits.

Leask is quite one of Scotland’s tinier families, with few enough of the name of this firmly Aberdeenshire-anchored clan. Some members claim links to Lasks of Denmark, the Laski family in Poland or the Lesques in Boulogne.

The lands of Auchmacoy have almost doubled in size, while Clan Buchan is a flourishing organisation with branches throughout the world.

Since their beginnings in 1973, the Bailies of Bennachie have embraced the story of the squatters who lived on the east corner of the hill. Today these crofting ruins can be explored freely, but little is known about them.

Carefully preserved in the bank at Aboyne is a small, leather-bound book which contains minutes of the birthing of the Aboyne Games.

The Charter Room in Aberdeen Town House was built in 1873 to house the historical records of the council, the earliest surviving document being a charter granted in 1179 by King William the Lion.

Winner of the Toulmin Prize for 2009, by Eleanor Fordyce

Imagine a city where everything lies within walking distance of home: shops, parks, cinemas, school, a gym, football stadium, and a bus station. How can you fit everything in? The answer: high-rise development.

Gordons and their name have woven themselves into the fabric of Scotland. Music, song, poetry, dance, a regiment and even a steam locomotive all remember the name.

Life might have treated Forbeses better had they and the House of Gordon and clan Leslie not engaged in centuries-long feuds involving two battles and several massacres.

Ninety-minute shows twice nightly, half-hour intervals, patrons vacating the building by 10 o’clock sharp for fear of air raids. This was 1943 and variety shows at the Tivoli were fun for all the family in the dark days of war.

The last generation of traditional Kincardineshire fisherfolk is passing and the race is on to preserve something of their knowledge, of their life experience, before it slips irretrievably beyond our grasp.

Androcles saw there wis a muckle stob in the pad o his fit. He pulled it oot, cannily an gentle like, an gied the beast a gentle tickle ahin the lugs as he used tae dae tae his maister’s dogs.

What does it feel like to be a clan chief, I wonder aloud, and the riposte is immediate. “I suppose I see my role as mother of the clan, the matriarch among Frasers.”

With an expertise that encompasses field sciences, meteorology, biology, ornithology, zoology, ecology, etymology, skiing, Gaelic, Doric, placenames, philosophy, mountaineering and archaeology, Adam Watson should certainly be considered one of Scotland’s treasures.

“The recipe, as explained to me many years ago, is impressively easy to follow: Tae mak brose? One, a haunfae o oatmeal. Two, a pickie saut. Three, haud on the bilin watter. Fower, steer like buggery.”

“A Force 9 south-east gale had been blowing for three days. It was snowing. Visibility was virtually zero, and the tidal races were running at 10 knots against the wind. It was into this fearsome mountain of sea that coxswain Dan Kirkpatrick launched the Longhope lifeboat .”

Who were the “brave Ramsay and Fergusson” whom Burns toppled from the throne of poetry? Here, we will discover a truth which we in Scotland are prone to overlook: Burns is the greatest, but far from the only, Scottish poet.

Deceptively self-effacing, Frank Robb is unique in the North-East in having forged his livelihood since the Seventies as a folk musician, stand-up comedian and after-dinner speaker.

The earl headed celebrations marking the 700th anniversary of King Robert’s coronation and has the very sword once wielded by our hero king.

The spirit of clan Hay is kept alive today in Delgatie Castle, where an enormous collection of Hay memorabilia is lovingly maintained

The rich lands of the Laich of Moray guard an ancient past – for under the waving ears of barley are traces stretching back thousands of years

Burnett chiefs of old fought to establish rights for themselves and their folk, befriending king and commoner alike in the quest for prosperity. Today’s chief might be first to suggest that fighting to maintain prosperity in the current economic climate is probably more difficult than raising armies in ancient days.

Few families have survived for over 800 years in the same place. The lairds of Arbuthnott prove an exception to the rule.

The whole spectacular production was let down by the female lead, who sported – as one of my colleagues used to say – a voice like a crackit chunty

In the 16th century an array of richly-carved medallions adorned the ceiling of the King’s Hall at Stirling Castle, extraordinary examples of Renaissance craftsmanship. Now woodcarver John Donaldson is nearing the end of a huge commission to create a complete replica set of the world-famous Stirling Heads.

Keith is one of the greatest names in Scotland’s history, the legend being that the chief of the house could ride from Berwick to Caithness, stopping every night at one of his own properties.

Animals and plants are introduced to this country for many reasons – aesthetic, recreational or commercial. Some of these, however, have devastating effects on our own native species.

A centuries-old feud with neighbouring Clan Keith was ended only on 4 August 2002 when David of Drum and the Earl of Kintore finally met on neutral ground – in the middle of Park Bridge they signed a peace accord

The advent of DNA show in tests that the historic branches of the wider Lumsden family are descended from the original people who inhabited Scotland after the Ice Age

Alex Salmond – described by Andrew Marr as “one of the few technically excellent speakers left, like an exotic bird on the verge of extinction” – talks to Leopard and reveals the secret of his confident public persona.

It was a cat alright, and I gasped when I realised its kind: the great size; the thick, banded tail; the wide face and jaw of the creature that spat at me though hopelessly injured was, I was sure, the Scottish wildcat.

Over recent years the British Bluebell has declined severely and is now an endangered species.

Insch artist Roy Benzies followes in the footsteps of Joseph Farquharson to capture the seasonal colours, and light (sometimes warmth!) of the Finzean Estate.

There was a wonderful response to the Toulmin story-writing competition, which left the astounded judges with 77 un-named entries to read. The standard was high, and many fine tales must remain untold for now. The winner of the cheque for £500 – the donor wishes to remain anonymous – was Bill Robertson from Banchory, who was amazed at having his story chosen, as it was the first he had ever written. We are sure, with this encouragement, it will not be the last.

Staring out across Aberdeen beach, the waves crashing on the shore, the sea a mass of grey-green and swirling white foam, it is hard to imagine that there could be much in the way of life lurking beneath those waves. Yet don a mask and snorkel and another world is revealed, overflowing with a wealth of spectacular marine life.

Nestled in a thicket of trees just beyond New Deer, Brucklay Castle has stood for over 400 years. Originally called Brock’s Hillock, the castle site was no more than a badger set.

Jessie Kesson went from the slums of Elgin, where her mother was a prostitute, to an orphanage, then on to a hard life in service and on the land. Eventually her talent for writing brought her recognition.

One of Aberdeenshire’s most attractive castles reached the end of an era last year with the death of Mrs Mhairi Bogdan, the last of the Ramsay and Irvine families for whom the castle had been home for more than 250 years.

Elizabeth Craigmyle – a pupil of the Aberdeen High School for Girls – and Charles Murray were almost exact contemporaries. Their lives and poetry, however, could not have been more different. While Murray’s poems gave an insight into prevailing opinion, Bessie wrote of her love for Maggie Dale, with whom she had what the Victorians called a ‘romantic friendship’.

Aberdeen-born David Logie has worked with Greenpeace for 13 years.  Here he shares his experiences of the harsh realities facing an eco-warrior, from our own Scottish shores to the banks of the Amazon.

When did Scots first emerge as a distinct language? There is a clear answer, and one with particular interest for the North-East. The Bruce, the first literary work to survive in the Scots tongue, dates from 1375, pre-dating Chaucer; its author was John Barbour, Archdeacon of Aberdeen.

The shameful footsteps of his North-East past brought Peter Gordon to one of the most fulfilling projects of his life – finding Scotland’s rural past in the footprints of smugglers.

The Freedom Lands and their march stones never cease to intrigue, relating as they do to Robert the Bruce and the development of Aberdeen into an independent and self governing community in the 14th century.

In this year the first women were allowed to serve on Local Government Councils; the Territorial Army was introduced, and across the Atlantic, the electric washing machine was invented. In Aberdeen, the Town Council Watch & Lighting Committee agreed to form a pipe band for the City Police Force. Here we look at the Pipe-Majors who led it.

Her popularity as a teacher can be gauged by that fact that in 1876, the school board had to prohibit parents from trying to enrol their sons in the girls’, rather than the boys’ department of St Paul Street School!

The discovery of medieval human remains at St Nicholas Kirk reminds us of its 800 years in which it has witnessed every major event in the life of the city. It is custodian of its secrets and treasures. Not least of these are the unique tapestries made by a 16th century Aberdeen embroideress which hang in a transept.

In the autumn of 1926 Mrs Fenella Paton of Grandhome made a brave decision to set up a birth control clinic in Aberdeen for working class mothers. This was highly significant, as it was one of the first birth control clinics in Britain and only the second in Scotland.

Union Bridge is a living structure, an inhabited bridge, with an arcade of shops and offices suspended above the tracks of the Invernes railway line.

In 1696, at the time when Glenbucket Castle was held by the Gordons, Upperton was a thriving clachan, supporting seven families. Today only one ruin remains.

The composer Sir Edward Elgar struck up an unlikely friendship with Charles Sanford Terry, Professor of History at Aberdeen University, and an enthusiastic amateur musician.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust – a body for whom I have some admiration – errs, in my view, in opposing the Trump plan on the grounds that the proposal would lead to an unacceptable level of impact. But it is right to flag up the fact that much valuable habitat will be irretrievably lost.

It is a great chance to dress up. Like wearing a fancy hat at a wedding or at Ascot, you can be slightly larger-than-life.

Oh! the youthful pleasure of dookin in the open air pools around our rocky coasts. When mixed bathing become common in the 1920s, swimming pools provided shelter from snell winds; places where manly youths could display their physique and nubile females their charms.

When the writer learned of his Aberdeen forebear, the ‘Harbour Master at Fittie’, coincidence revealed links to the present day. It was as if the story of Captain Alexander Morrison beckoned to be told.

Over the centuries, the settlement grew and prospered and was known as Kilwhang. With ‘Kil’ meaning hill and ‘whang’ the name, or sound of a whip, possibly, the name is derived from the cliffs above the original settlement and the sound of wind whistling around their meagre shelters.

Mention of the Aberdeen to Inverurie canal these days often surprises people, unaware of its existence. Most of it has disappeared under the railway, roads and housing, but some short stretches, now dry and ditch-like, can still be found.

There is something chillingly fascinating about natural disasters. Some Scottish towns have always been liable to floods. Elgin. Jedburgh. Perth. But Inverness is my pick for The One To Watch.

Robert MacKenzie was appointed to the headship at Summerhill in 1968 by the Labour-controlled Aberdeen Council. It caused a stir in Scottish educational circles, given MacKenzie’s record as a non-conformist

Ever since the Great Awakening of 1859 and the evangelical revivals which followed, the coastal communities of the North-East have celebrated a vibrant gospel singing tradition.

Somewhat belittled in the ballad, the self-educated Jock Bruce of Fornet was in fact a writer with an interest in radical politics, an ardent campaigner and public speaker, a defender of the rights of the tenant farmer and a social commentator.

The original Scots were Gaelic speakers, so why do we now apply the word to the language of the Lowlands?

Mrs Frances Dunlop of Dunlop was nearly 30 years older than Burns, physically unattractive and the mother of 13 children. Yet, with her, he had a unique friendship.

The Girnock land was poor; when cattle droving declined, the folk were driven to whisky smuggling and the Glen became notorious for its black bothies. Now its abandoned farm-touns carry us back to the time when it bustled with Gordons.

Aberdeen is a better-run city than most, but there is concern for its main artery. Union Street used to be jam-packed with shoppers on Saturdays, and you met everyone you knew there.

A personal recollection of Aberdeen’s mini ‘golden age’ of ballroom dancing – inspired by welcome signs of another just beginning…

As a researcher on farms near Inverness and Aberdeen, the writer has been invading the private world of the secretive corn bunting. His task sounds simple: find where they build their nests, and how successful they are in rearing their young. But he has only one clue to help him solve these puzzles.

How to make the traditional North-East rowie

With news of Glencraft, The Royal Aberdeen Workshops for the Blind and Disabled, having financial difficulties, my mind took me back to 1964.

In September 2006, a dedicated band of engineers and historians from Japan went to Scotland to pay tribute to a man who is virtually unknown in his native land. Who is William Kinninmond Burton? Why do his achievements arouse such devotion?

Two 18th century instruments from the same small workshop in Upperkirkgate, Aberdeen, survive today as unique examples of their type – and the oldest known. Now, through Leopard, a third has entered the ring.

Helen Denerley can be snowed up for weeks on end in her remote studio home, so that she can’t even reach her scrap metal. But in the balmy summer, surrounded by horses, dogs and deer, the entire Donside valley becomes a source of inspiration.

In the smaller fishing towns on the Moray coast, many families share a surname; certain first names are favoured, too, so quite a few individuals may have the same names. That’s where the tee-name, or by-name, comes in.

How an Aberdeen town councillor stole 1,044 coffin lids, seven coffins and two shrouds… and an undertaker was found guilty of the reset of 100 coffin lids and two coffins.

Originally built to defend the port, trade and city of Aberdeen, Torry Point Battery is an enduring landmark on this northern coast. The time has come to tell the tale of two unusual groups which occupied this defensive bulwark, groups with no connection to the Battery’s military past.

Should we cut down 1,000,000 trees, release huge amounts of carbon by excavating a bog for turbine bases, and ruin a river to save us from global warming?

I start with an apology. In 1980 while resident in Hong Kong, I received a letter from Diane Morgan, then editor of Leopard, inviting me to write a few words about our local Grammar and Gordonian Former Pupils’ Club. I never did get around to putting pen to paper, but the seed was sown. Here I am, 26 years later, scribbling away, hopefully before loss of memory and/or dementia set in.

The traditional music of an area reflects the dialect of the people. After an intensive two weeks listening to the Tarland locals talking, an American fiddler commented: ‘North-East people talk in Strathspeys’.

The technology of the next century will help the world of marine science towards a greater understanding of the marine ecosystem and some of its smallest inhabitants.

For the third year in succession controversy has arisen over estate deer culling. In 2004 it was Glen Feshie, in 2005 it was
Mar Lodge, and this year it is Invercauld. These estates are under separate management: the common denominators are the involvement of
the Deer Commission for Scotland – and the use of helicopters.

The one-time Aberdeen printer Thomas Bendelow became the most prolific designer of golf courses in the United States and Canada

For any other firm, being the laughing stock of the district would be a disgrace. But to father and son, Buff and John Hardie, being laughed at in public is the lifeblood of their business – and the louder the laughter, the happier they are!

‘The perfect foal’ suddenly appeared. A six-week-old black colt dancing around his mother, saying, “Look at me. Look at me.”

Mild-mannered Aberdonian Bill Gavin was the inspiration behind a team of amateur actors who brought what seemed like an unending supply of quality drama to Aberdeen theatre-goers

As one year ends and a new one begins, one’s thoughts turn philosophical. And what makes a gardener more philosophical than choosing a tree. Our gardens correspondent Gordon Smith gives his selection of the 10 best trees for 2006.

A legend in his field, Ronnie Rose is an inspiration to many young conservationists – and a thorn in the flesh of his adversaries

Animal-lover Lynn Rutter wrapped a badly-injured cat in her sweater and took it to the vet. Imagine her astonishment next day, when the vet told her that this was no pussycat.

Do you have piles of old letters, memos, articles or essays in your attic, in Aberdeenshire Scots – the Doric – or other language varieties used in Scotland? Do you own the copyright yourself, or know who does? If so, the Scottish Corpus of Texts and Speech – Scots – is interested.

The woods of Deeside and Donside are critical areas due to invading grey squirrels. Unfortunately, they were introduced into Aberdeen in the Fifties and are spreading out of the city along the Dee and the Don. Grey squirrels can now be found in Peterculter, Banchory, Tarland and Bennachie.

Flamboyant John Anderson was a showman in the grand manner. In 1851 he toured America, where a quarter of a million people saw him during his run at the Broadway Theatre in New York.