The Scottish Snippets Newsletter in its original format began in April 1997 and continued in an unbroken series for 591 issues. Although no longer produced in that style, there is now this regular update on the new and updated pages on the Rampant Scotland site including "Scottie's Photo Diary From Scotland".
To receive a text version of this newsletter as a reminder to look at these Web pages when they are published, just send an e-mail to Scottie@RampantScotland.com with "Subscribe Newsletter" in the subject line.
Castle Photo Library - Duart Castle, Mull In 1350 Lachlan Lubanach Maclean of Duart, the 5th Clan Chief, married the daughter of John of Islay, Lord of the Isles who gave Duart as her dowry. This was despite her father only agreeing to the marriage after being kidnapped by Lachlan! In later centuries the castle was sold to repay family debts but on September 11, 1911, the ruin was bought by Sir Fitzroy Donald Maclean, the 26th Chief of the Clan Maclean and was restored. However, the castle is now in need of major repairs and a worldwide appeal has been launched to raise funds for this. For an illustrated outline of Duart's stormy history, see Castle Photo Library - Duart Castle, Mull
Castle Photo Library - Portencross Castle, Ayrshire
Portencross shows what can be achieved to bring "at risk" castles back from the brink. The present site has been fortified since the 13th Century after Robert the Bruce gave the land to the Boyd family for supporting him in the War of Independence. Portencross harbour became an important ferry port for access to Rothesay Castle and the royal deer forest on Little Cumbrae. The castle remained occupied until the roof was blown off during a violent storm in 1739. The castle walls still remained in place, and as a result of local conservation efforts by organisations and individuals over £1million was raised. The building has recently been opened to the public with visitors able to access a ground floor room, the main hall, and the roof - the latter gives clear views across the Firth of Clyde. For more on this little gem of a castle see Castle Photo Library - Portencross Castle, Ayrshire
Scottish Castle Photo Library Index
So far, there are pages on over 150 castles in the Rampant Scotland Photo Library. Most of the pages cover castles I have visited myself, illustrated by my own photos. But for various reasons I am never going to be able to visit all the castles I would like. But graphics can often be obtained via Wikimedia Commons (with suitable attribution) and so I am planning now to look into the history of a lot more Scottish castles and add more illustrated pages to this popular section of the site. The current index can be found at Scottish Castle Photo Library Index. The castle on the right is, of course, in Edinburgh and has more visitors than any other Scottish castle.
Scottie's Photo Diary - Jewels in July
Although travelling in and around Glasgow during the Commonwealth Games sometimes had to be carefully planned to avoid the heavy traffic, the sunny weather on many days during the month was perfect for visiting some of my favourite parks and gardens. Here's a selection of some of the photographs I took during July at Rouken Glen, Pollok Country Park, Culzean Castle Country Park, Loch Lomond Shores, Ardardan and Geilston and of course my own garden I even came across a flower I had never seen before. I suspect it is a new introduction here as the flower reference books are remarkably silent on it! See Scottie's Photo Diary - Jewels in July
Scottish Recipes
It's a while since new pages have been added to the Scottish Recipe section, despite this being the most heavily accessed on the Rampant Scotland site. (The graphic on the right shows a Cherry cake, shortbread, Selkirk bannock and plain scone with strawberry preserve). To rectify that, here's a three course meal of soup, main course and desert! The main index to the over 200 recipes is at Scottish Recipes
The latest additions to the recipe section are:
Scottish Recipes - Lentil Soup
Thick and warming, this soup is a great start to a meal on a winter evening. See Scottish Recipes - Lentil Soup
Scottish Recipes - Beer Battered Fish
Fried Fish battered and deep-fat fried in a tasty beer batter. Serve with chipped potato (French Fries) and a little lemon juice. See Scottish Recipes - Beer Battered Fish
Scottish Recipes - Bread and Butter Pudding
A recipe for using up stale bread. Unlike bread pudding, with which this is sometimes confused, this is better made with stale white bread. This is a tangy version and quite a bit richer than the frugal original. See Scottish Recipes - Bread and Butter Pudding
Next Newsletter
The next newsletter is scheduled for 23 August with articles by Tam O'Ranter. Additional pages from Scottish Radiance will feature in the newsletter scheduled for 6 September.
Yours aye
Scottie
Previous editions of this Newsletter are available in an Archive. The Index to the other pages of the Rampant Scotland site is available here.
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