Posts by Kenny Smith
A historic weapon goes on show for first time
A hunting rifle gifted by Queen Victoria to her loyal servant John Brown has been acquired by National Museums Scotland. The rifle will go on public display for the first time in a major exhibition this summer, Wild and Majestic: Romantic Visions of Scotland. A gold plaque fitted into the butt of the.450 double-barrelled hammer…
Read MoreThey’re celebrating with a Scottish Field bronze
The Ardgowan Distillery’s very first whisky has taken the bronze award in the over £100 category in this year’s Scottish Field Whisky Challenge. Ardgowan Expedition, an exclusive 20-year-old premium blended malt specially created by Ardgowan Chairman Willie Phillips, was ranked against its peers in a completely blind tasting by a panel of 11 expert judges,…
Read MoreScottish wildcats on the last of their nine lives
With wildcat numbers dwindling, is there hope for Scotland’s feisty feline? It was only as recently at 1988 that wildcats received the full protection of the law. Before that they were snared, trapped, shot, stuffed and poisoned (a wildcat sporran lurks in our cupboard, a relic from a Victorian relative), and it took a long…
Read MorePoaching is a danger to Scotland’s food economy
Poaching is back – only now the traditional one-for-the-pot merchant has been joined by organised criminal gangs systematically looting our natural larder. Thought to be a problem that had been consigned to the bad old days of the 1980s by the advent of cheap salmon from fish farms, a plentiful supply of venison from deer…
Read MoreScotland’s global gift to the world is football
Along with the telephone, penicillin and whisky, Scots also gave the world the beautiful game – football. No other nation of Scotland’s size has left such a big footprint on the planet. Even were it not for the invention of everything from the telephone and television to penicillin and insulin, Scotland’s legacy around the globe…
Read MoreThe life and loves of Sir Kenneth Calman
Sir Kenneth Calman is a former chairman of the National Trust for Scotland, the father of comedienne daughter Susan, and has a passion for Scottish song and literature. As well as having a host of anecdotes from his days as a Glasgow doctor, he tells Scottish Field of his life and loves, in an interview…
Read MoreEquestrian property with a letting history now for sale
An equestrian property with a successful letting history is now for sale. Presented for sale by Galbraith, Balhaldie Farm near Dunblane comprises of a modern three bedroomed dwelling house with garden grounds, equestrian facilities including stable block, outdoor arena woodlands, paddocks and former agricultural outbuildings extending in all to 8.4 Ha (20.7 acres). The house…
Read MoreA mystery as the Clearances take hold on Skye
Anna Mazzola sets a dark and gothic scene in The Story Keeper, a period novel which explores multiple plot lines that weave together to form a story about a broken community, death and folklore. Mazzola’s careful attention to detail reveals the extent of the research that has gone into the writing of this book, which…
Read MoreScots inspired the kings of the wild frontier
Displaced Highlanders and reivers-turned-drovers created the all-American cowboy, gifting him his cattle-herding skills, outsider status and, best of all, his campfire songs . Pearl Zane Grey, to give him his full name, is widely acknowledged as the creator of the ‘western’. Riders of the Purple Sage, first published in 1912, may be as much about…
Read More10 of Scotland’s worst ever rail distasters
Scotland has had its fair share of train related tragedy over the years. These are ten of the worst rail disasters in the history of Caledonian train travel. 1. Inverythan, 1882 As the four o’clock train carrying five loaded wagons and four carriages from Macduff to Inveramsay crossed a single track underbridge on 27 November,…
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