Recent analysis of 4,000-year-old pots recovered during an excavation of two graves at Upper Largie, near Kilmartin in Argyll and Bute, has provided exciting evidence linking prehistoric Scotland with the Netherlands.
Analysis of the pots by Alison Sheridan, of National Museums Scotland, has revealed early international-style Beakers of the type found around the lower Rhine, which [...]

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Under a cold, damp grey sky the muffled roar of water cascading down treeless hillsides, hewing its way through the granite bedrock, provides almost the only sound amid a glen of tranquillity.
Alladale Estate lies less than 25 miles and world away from the modern bustling city centre of Inverness, yet it is at the forefront [...]

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Publishing giant DC Thomson has been criticised after it reprinted a 1939 annual which contained racist references to black people.
A reader condemned the inclusion of a comic strip from the original 1939 Dandy annual which included a term deemed unacceptable in modern society.
The issue has led to calls for the withdrawal of the [...]

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AN appeal is being made for information to help establish if four men who died in World Wars I and II came from Stonehouse, so that they can be properly commemorated.

Members of the recently-established war memorial sub-committee, comprising members of the village’s community council and heritage group, initially identified 37 ‘forgotten’ servicemen (31 killed [...]

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The holiday season revs up before Halloween, accelerates at Thanksgiving and is way over the speed limit by Christmas. There’s another small but intense surge before New Year’s. Then, it’s all over. Just like that. It’s dark, it’s cold. No more twinkly lights, no more parties. The Christmas trees are on the curb, and you [...]

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SLE OF SKYE, Scotland: Scotland’s first contemporary feature film in Gaelic is in post-production. The BBC has begun broadcasting live sports coverage in Gaelic. A Gaelic-only high school has opened in Glasgow. A leading Scottish politician is seeking, via Brussels, to ensure Gaelic’s place as a European language.
Currently spoken by fewer than 2 percent in [...]

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Islanders on South Uist have taken control of their estate in Scotland’s biggest ever community land buyout.
The estate, which was owned by a sporting syndicate, has changed hands in a £4.5m deal.

The transfer has taken place amid storms battering the Western Isles and police warned that winds could gust to 70-80 mph.
The [...]

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A Christian lobby group has claimed the wearing of red poppies is “politically correct” and stifles debate.
The director of Ekklesia, Jonathan Bartley, said people should be able to choose between red or white ones.
He added red poppies implied redemption through war, but Christianity seeks redemption through non-violence. White ones were created to symbolise [...]

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A RELIGIOUS group has sparked anger by calling for red poppies to be replaced by pacifist white ones.
It claimed the white emblems sold by peace campaigners were more Christian, while the red ones promoted and glorified war.

In the run-up to Remem-brance Day this Sunday, Jonathan Bartley, director of the religious think-tank Ekklesia, caused offence by [...]

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An island which has seen drastic action to protect its rare mice and birds is now trying to end a decline in its human population.
The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) hopes to attract two new families to Canna in the Hebrides.
The trust, which owns the most westerly of the Small Isles, said it [...]

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THE outgoing director of the Edinburgh International Festival has mounted a spirited defence of his 15 years in the post, insisting it faces no financial crisis and calling for the event to remain open to the widest possible audience.
Brian McMaster, who steps down at the end of this year’s Festival, also warned against any [...]

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Ceremonies to mark the creation of a single Scottish Army regiment have been held across the UK and elsewhere.
The old six infantry regiments have become battalions of the new Royal Regiment of Scotland (RRS).
Major General Euan Loudon, the General Officer commanding the Army in Scotland, led the re-badging ceremony at Edinburgh Castle.
He [...]

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[Why are they only attacking churches?-ed]
A reward has been offered for information about vandalism at Robert Burns’ mausoleum in Dumfries.
Investigations have been continuing into the incident at St Michael’s churchyard between 12 and 17 March.
Two panes of glass were smashed at the burial site in the latest of a spate of attacks on [...]

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[With calls to ban (by SSP) Scotland flag and replace it with a multi-racial flag I have got a suspicision that they will bring in a multi-racial anthem for Scotland-ed]
A decision must be made on an official national anthem for Scotland following confusion caused by the Commonwealth Games, according to campaigners.
While Flower of Scotland is regularly played [...]

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Unexplained sightings of the Loch Ness monster could have been elephants enjoying a swim, a scientist has said.
Neil Clark, curator of palaeontology at Glasgow University’s Hunterian Museum, spent two years researching Nessie.
He said they could have been circus elephants, as fairs visiting Inverness would often stop on the banks of Loch Ness to [...]

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A 150-YEAR-OLD Scottish army tradition is facing the axe by the Ministry of Defence.
Borders weavers Robert Noble have provided the cloth for the kilts and tartan trews worn by Scots soldiers since 1850.
But the Ministry of Defence have announced the £300,000 contract to supply tartan cloth for the outfits of the new [...]

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But it was a little too late. The 1991 census confirmed what many had suspected, that the language was on a ventilator gasping for breath. Between 1981 and 1991 Gaelic went from 80,000 to 65,000 speakers.
The brutal truth was that with so few speakers, Gaelic appeared to be in terminal decline. At the most recent [...]

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POLITICIANS are being asked to ditch the Saltire as Scotland’s national flag because its “Christian symbolism” has little relevance to large sections of the population.
A motion being presented to the Scottish parliament will ask MSPs to approve a new “rainbow” flag that better reflects Scotland’s cultural and ethnic diversity.
Colin Fox, leader of [...]

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SECRET files have revealed the government made plans to protect the Loch Ness monster from poachers.
Officials feared Nessie would have no legal protection from trophy hunters if she surfaced.
They eventually decided the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act made it illegal to snare, shoot or blow up the legendary monster.
Panic set in during 1985 when the [...]

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[Where is the Scottish Executive when you need them? Why are they not protecting Scottish firms?-ed]
More than half the workers at a 175-year-old textile company in the Scottish Borders have lost their jobs after the firm went into receivership.
John Laing, of Hawick, which has had a turnover of £3.5m and employed 95 people, [...]

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