Travel to the far north to tour the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland, a landscape of towering cliffs and sea stacks and windswept beaches.
Some highlights
- Time your visit to coincide with Up Helly Aa, the midwinter fire festival which takes place every year in Shetlands
- Discover the traditional fiddle tunes and musical heritage of the islands
- Step back in time and visit the superb Neolithic sites of Skara Brae, the chambered cairn at Maes Howe and the standing stones of the Ring of Brodgar. These ancient monuments are some of the best preserved in Europe
- Follow the arts and crafts trail which showcases local producers of textiles, jewellery, pottery, art, woodwork and more.
Hope everyone has been enjoying the antics of the Tartan Army over in Boston for the World Cup! Glad to see the Glasgow tradition of putting cones on statues is alive and well across the pond 😂⚽️🏴The Scottish fans didn't just bring bagpipes and beer to Boston.
They brought traffic cones for the statues too.
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If trees could talk, this one would have some tales to tell!
This is the Birnam Oak, 600 years old and the last remaining tree of the Birnam Wood mentioned by Shakespeare in Macbeth.
In the play Macbeth is warned by the witches that he will not be overthrown until Birnam Wood moves to Dunsinane. Macbeth decides to ignore the witches with their crazy talk of trees moving around and commits several murders in pursuit of the Scottish throne. However Malcolm’s army take branches from the trees in the wood, use them to disguise themselves, and ultimately Macbeth meets a sticky end (it is a tragedy after all!)
Shakespeare is rumoured to have visited Perthshire with a group of travelling players in 1589, so perhaps he visited here and took inspiration from the forest ✍️
The oak in folklore is the king of the forest, and a hollow in an oak tree is said to be a fairy door, or a gateway to supernatural realms. The word ‘druid’ may come from a Celtic word meaning “knower of the oak tree” 🌳 🌳🌳
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