celtic-connexions-blog

Clan McLean Gathering June 2012

Thu, 17 May 2012 02:47:13 +0100

In 36 sleeps I hope to be marching down the street in Tobermory as part of the McLean pipe band, wow how cool is that. the day it stops lifting the hairs on the back o me neck playing the pipes in that kinda situation i will be deid, but Tobermory of all places. man even the name itself is so exciting and conjures up all sorts of memories. Is there treasure still lying in the Spanish galleon that sunk in the Bay when the Armada was fleeing, the Florencia blew apart by herself in an explosion, but she had been sitting at anchor for months undergoing repairs necessary to get home. maybe it was the McLeans who blew up the vesell for non payment of the materials supplied to make good the ship, maybe not, or maybe the mission! was to throw blame on Scotland and for Spain to lose faith in us. a bit of diplomatic skullduggery. or maybe it was the Witches, aye stories abound about the `Witch of Mull` that lived high up in the mists of Ben More.

So I am full of stuff like that but love it all, and it will be a pleasure to stand in the Mclean Pipe band as ambassador for a late great friend of mine, Donald from Aviemore, his mother was a McLean and he wore the Duart tartan if ever there was a more proud wearer of the Kilt I have yet to find them.

Bring it all on

Discover your roots

Thu, 10 May 2012 20:17:30 +0100

I started taking people on tour because I heard so many times, yes I have been to Scotland or Ireland or wherever and after asking a few questions I realised that it seems they have been whisked around the land and all they really saw was the back seat of a bus. I was the ` duty piper` at many hotels at home and found great numbers of tourists never even made it down to dinner or the subsequent ceilidh because they were so tired. And how often have you heard, we did not see anyone wearing tartan, we did not hear anyone speaking gaelic, we did not see nessie, (well thats a hard one at the best of times.) we dod not hear anyone playing the bagpipes.

You see the facts are ,most tourists, for whatever discription you fit into, of tourist ! have to accept that most Scottish folk do not wear kilts every day, that large areas of Southern Scotland in particular is urbanised and that bagpipe music is not not as easy to find as they might have thought. Little wonder then that many bury their heads in in the past, and conjure up images of what it must have been like, and bring in the scenery the family history, the culture.

well come with us and you will see and hear all these things, we guarantee it, see our sites and have a look around our new tattoo site please.We want to help you know us better

bob
http://www.celticconnexionstours.com/

Bannockburn 2014-Come with us

Wed, 09 May 2012 04:46:23 +0100

We have our ideas, its quite exciting to see the various bodies in Scotland coming together with Stirling Council to make all this happen, and the launch of this website as well,
http://www.stirling2014.co.uk/
see our 2014 tour page, and i hope we can make Clan Wallace NZ another major force in the Clans parade.

Edinburgh Tattoo- 2013 our tour now live

Wed, 02 May 2012 08:28:30 +0100

All the plans are set for 2013, we will have 2 tours , the first one is now live here, Edinburgh tattoo tour with Celtic Connexions and we will soon have tour number 2 which is going to include some really special Western Island visits, and of course we now have access to more family history assocated stuff us let us help you. we have a genealogist in Scotland helps us.

Come back see us soon, better still sign up for our newsletters or subscribe to this blog.

We have a dedicated Edinburgh Tattoo as well, site below

all the best

bob
http://www.edinburghtattoo.co/

The Battle of Auldearn 1645-A place to revisit

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 02:58:04 +0100

The Battle of Auldearn 1645

Having just booked our tour party in to Covenanter in Auldearn I started thinking then about the battle way back then which the scene of one of the most closely-fought battles in the Wars of the Covenant when the marquis of Montrose’s royal army defeated the Covenanters under general Sir John Hurry. It is commemorated by a memorial that I must revisit when we are there because this is an old and long forgotten duel.

And of course it’s in the area of Culloden , Fort George and so on and makes a pleasant day out.

This is an excellent resource for those interested in learning about the battle itself.

Bob

http://www.celticconnexionstours.com/

Bannockburn- relive the legend with Celtic Connexions Tours

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 03:52:50 +0100

The Battle of Bannockburn ... 2014, yes the date is maybe 700 years wrong but
well where on earth is all the time going because the big and i mean big celebrations will take place in 2014 to mark the anniversary of that famous battle,

Just 2 miles (3.2 km) from Stirling Castle, Bannockburn was immortalised in Scottish and world history by King Robert the Bruce’s famous victory in 1314.

As part of an exciting project to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the battle a dazzling battle re-enactment on 28 and 29 June 2014 to launch the opening of our new world-class visitor centre.

We’ll keep you posted about developments. and of course all the details of our own personalised tour

The new Riverside Museum

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:04:32 +0100

Forming part of a wider complex this new museum now embraces the old transport museum as well which we visited on our tours in 2009. As usual for me I thought the old place ! was pretty outstanding and very accessible but i bet this is just fab.
There were so mnay section, old cars, engines etc and ships and it was that section that fascinated me, dad being a Navy man.
One pic here from the old museum. we look forward to seeing the new one in the future
bob

Try this
http://www.rampantscotland.com/visit/blvisit_riverside.htm

The Story of Annie Laurie

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 18:23:33 +0100

I have a friend whose name is the reverse of Annie Laurie and this is what I call her, not Laurie Anne, and that led to me thinking about the song, thinking at one time it was a Burns song and of course our forthcoming Supper in Hamilton.

Maxwelton Braes have you found the place about 8 miles to the west of Dumfries, and what about the house where `Annie Laurie was born, the song immortalised into one of the most famous of love songs. But you see I always thought this was one of `Burns `Works but maybe not, this song was penned a by a fiery young soldier by the name of William Douglas of the Morton castle Douglases.it is reported he fell in love with Annie, the daughter of Sir Robert Laurie, and Annie was keen to return the favours but alas the parents had ither ideas and poor ole Annie was locked in her room till she promised to jilt him.

This she did.

But instead of laying him” doon to dee” William Douglas eloped with and merried a Miss Elizabeth Clerk of Lanark and very soon after that Annie Laurie merriet a Mr. Alexander Ferguson of Craigdarroch. What a wonderful story.

But then the song was rewrote and set to music by Lady Scott and it rose to instant popularity. In altering the words slightly from William`s original version lady Scott has maybe left a more presentable picture for posterity.

Is not a song a wonderful thing? A mood at a time in one`s life where sentiments creep in and in this case words that became a song immortalised the love one man had for a woman who merried someone else.

I have not time to study the differences between Willies version and Lady John Scott’s alteration right now but maybe we can on a trip look further into.

Bob

www.celticconnexionstours.com

www.rabbieburns.co

Dumbarton Castle- Stronghold.

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 04:22:11 +0100

Dumbarton Castle- Medieval Stronghold on PhotoPeach Its a fair climb, 557 steps i think and the last bit I am not too keen on coz I dont like heights so i will get the tea on. A must to see where Mary and some notable others spent time. bob

www.celticconnexionstours.com

Edinburgh Tattoo- Come see it with us in 2012

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 23:21:02 +0100

I was thinking, as you do, about our wonderful new stadium in Dunedin over here, which is completely roofed in, wow, and bout the comments made during the Word cup about here being no wind to worry spectators or the players, and then I got to thinking.

I wonder why they have not roofed in the Castle for the Edinburgh tattoo but see you cannot, all the scaffolding is necessary bit it’s just wonderful when it’s all down and you can wander the esplanade in freedom. But I did try to imagine a roofed in tattoo, but they you could not smell the free air, the sights and sounds of `Auld Reekie` in the background. Just lovely.

And then you think, has it ever rained hard at the tattoo, enough to stop play and then I don’t think about it anymore so as to tempt fate. And then I got to thinking I suppose the crowd just see the performers coming out and not realise the weeks and months of planning and practicing by all these artists, all that goes on behind the scenes, the square-bashing at Redford barracks, the perfect practice place to iron out all these little and some big discipline troubles, at least for those without a Military background. I never minded the drills; in face I kinda loved it all.

And of course it’s great to watch.

Make up your mind.

Come with us in 2012.only a few seats left.