SCOTTISH MEMORIESSCOTTISHMEMORIES Reader Holiday Offers in association with

Christmas in the Scottish Borders

Up Helly Aa

The Cardrona Hotel,Golf and Country Club ,nestling on the banks of the River Tweed in a tranquil valley a few miles to the east of Peebles in the Scottish Borders,provides the luxurious setting for a relaxing,stress-free Christmas break.From the moment you arrive at the hotel,welcomed with a malt whisky, you will enjoy the best of Scottish hospitality and a full festive programme that includes carol singing,light entertainment and, of course,a traditional Christmas lunch with all the trimmings. You can make full use of the superb leisure facilities or take a bracing walk by the River Tweed and during the course of our stay there will also be an excursion into the rolling Borders hills.

Departure points:Glasgow,Edinburgh,Dunfermline,Kinross, Perth,Dundee,Aberdeen,Arbroath,Montrose. Departs:24 December 2007 :4 days from £395pp :Single room supplement £60.

Tour Highlights:Welcome drink on arrival,Bucks Fizz at breakfast and Lunch on Christmas Day;carol service and light entertainment;free use of leisure facilities plus the opportunity for a round of golf on the hotel’s championship standard golf course,scenic tour of the Borders.

Christmas at Brodie Castle

A wander through the streets of Lerwick is normally a quiet,peaceful experience,but take a walk there at the end of January and it’s quite likely that you will bump into a squad of very large,very bearded Vikings,resplendent in gleaming chain-mail and winged helmets.

Later,the Vikings and their fancy-dressed followers fill the narrow streets,their flaming torches illuminating the winter skies,their boisterous songs filling the air. A 30-foot Viking longship is carried aloft before it is set alight with a thousand blazing brands and the sky over Lerwick shimmers with exploding sparks and fireworks.This is Up Helly Aa,the annual winter festival of Shetland,which celebrates the coming of another year.

Shetland is a beguiling place to visit at any time but in the short winter days the islands take on a special character with steely grey seas and dramatic skies.

During our stay we will take in the prehistoric and Norse settlement of Jarlshof to the south, and a tour as far as the islands ofYell and Unst to the north,as well as having a full day in Lerwick to enjoy the festivities.

Departure points:Aberdeen,Dundee,Kinross,Perth,Edinburgh,Glasgow,Dunfermline, Arbroath,Montrose.

Departs:27 January 2008 :5 days from £495pp. Supplements per person:Single room price on request :Insurance £27 (65 years and above £42). What’s included:2 nights dinner,bed and breakfast at the Sumburgh Hotel,Shetland. 2 nights half board in 2-berth cabins on the overnight ferry.Outside cabins available for a small supplement. Two full day tours of mainland Shetland and the Islands of Yell and Unst, including entrance to Jarlshof;free day in Lerwick to enjoy the events of Up Helly Aa. An air package to Shetland is available on request.

There can be no finer setting for a traditional Christmas than a highland castle,and Brodie Castle,near Forres,fits the bill perfectly. Their special pre-Christmas celebration has all the trimmings – mulled wine,carol singing and festive decorations,a craft fair and a demonstration of Christmas in days gone by.

With Christmas around the corner,it is also the perfect time to stock up on some top quality gifts for your loved ones.You can choose from heart-warming whiskies from Scotland’s smallest distillery;a superb collection of Scottish crafts,knitwear and produce from one of our finest outlets and a range of quality shops in the Highland’s capital city,Inverness.

Departure points:Glasgow,Edinburgh,Dunfermline,Kinross,Perth,Dundee,Aberdeen, Arbroath,Montrose.

Departs:7 December 2007 :3 days from £135pp :Single room supplement £24.

Tour Highlights:Entrance to Brodie Castle’s Traditional Fair,plus visits to Edradour Whisky Distillery,Inverness and the newly refurbished Culloden Visitor Centre.

All enquiries to Brightwater Holidays,Eden Park House,Cupar,Fife,KY15 4HS Tel 01334 657155 or email scottishmemories@brightwaterholidays.com Quoting Scottish Memories Scottish Memories SEPTEMBER2007

CCoovveerr SSttoorryy

Our front cover this month from the lens of ace landscape photographer Dennis Hardley is a summer view of that palatial stately home, Floors Castle, as seen across the River Tweed, a mile from Kelso in Roxburghshire.

Scottish Memories Lang Syne Publishers Ltd Strathclyde Business Centre, 120 Carstairs Street, Glasgow G40 4JD. Tel: 0141 554 9944 Fax: 0141 554 9955 Email: info@scottish-memories.co.uk

FOUNDER/PUBLISHER Ken Laird

Editor George Forbes

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Subscriptions Ashley Whitehead 0141 554 9944

Print Warners Midlands Plc

Distribution Warners Midlands Plc

ISSN 0968 7874. The publishers, authors and printers cannot accept liability for errors or omissions. Any transparencies, prints or artwork will be accepted at owner’s risk. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the copyright holder and the publisher, application for which should be made to the publisher. The editor reserves the right to shorten or rewrite any submitted material at his discretion without consultation. © Lang Syne Publishers Ltd. 2007

Periodicals postage is paid at Rahway, NJ. SCOTTISH MEMORIES is published monthly by Lang Syne Publishers Ltd., Strathclyde Business Centre, 120 Carstairs Street, Glasgow, G40 4JD, Scotland. POSTMASTER send address corrections to SCOTTISH MEMORIES, c/o Averbell Ltd., P.O. Box 32510, Fridley, MN 55432. Distributed in the USA by Mercury Intl., 365 Blair Road, Avenel, NJ 07001.

Inside

6

Unsung Beauties

2

Chiel,Fancy Thats,Wit And Wisdom

4

Guardian Of The Glens

5

Crash Landing

6

Under The Double Eagle 8

The Puffer Wedding

Sounds Of Scotland

10

11

14

Paradise Lost

12

The Honour Of The Regiment

14

The Salt Of The Earth 16

Time Capsules

20

32

Dennis Hardley’s View Of The Month 24

The Folk Under The Hill 28

Newsflash ’77

30

Blood Will Out

32

Coming Attractions

34

The George Forbes Column

Picture Posing

35

36

36

Up In Smoke

38

Supernatural Scotland,Time Capsule 39

Time Capsules

41

44

Mailbox

42

Poets Corner

43

September Songs

44

In The Old Quarter 46

Next month in Scottish Memories • On The High Road • The Power House • Bird Of Ill Omen • The Devil And The Deep • Making Tracks • Autumn Glows

October issue on sale Thursday,September 20th.

www.scottish-memories.co.uk

View Of The Month

The Dennis Hardley View of the Month in

this issue is a panoramic sweep from Fo rt

William’s esplanade gardens across Loch

Linnhe in the West Highlands; and can b e

seen in its full glory on pages 24 and 25 .