In ancient times, Duncan Campbell, the laird of Inverawe, sat in his castle in the western isles of Scotland. One dark night, there was a loud pounding at the gate, and when Campbell opened it, he saw a stranger who begged him for asylum. The man was disheveled and his clothes were torn and smeared …
Do you have a cat? If you do, you may be one of those people who insist that cats have a special place in the universe — and a world of their own that humans can only glimpse from time to time. Here’s a little story that has variations all over the British Isles and …
Back From the GraveMargaret Halcro married, 1674, in her 27th year, the Rev. Henry Erskine, and died, 14th January 1725, in the house of her son, Rev. Ebenezer Erskine. She was buried at Scotland Wells, where her tombstone is still to be seen. Those are the basic facts of Margaret Halcro Erskine’s life, but they …
By Marilyn McPhie Robert Burns, an icon of Scottish literature, who is celebrated annually on his late-January birthday, wrote a long narrative poem telling the old Scottish legend of Tam O’Shanter. Here’s how the story goes: It was a dark and stormy night in a cozy neighborhood pub. There at the bar sat Tam O’Shanter, …
