A spacious country house dating from 1795

A beautifully presented seven bedroom home is for sale in the Scottish Borders. Knight Frank present Springhill, a Georgian detached house with a two bedroom cottage, stable courtyard, outbuildings and two paddocks. The house has three reception rooms, kitchen, reading/music room, seven bedrooms and five bath/shower rooms. Springhill was originally built in 1795 with an Edwardian…

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Bringing music to the hills of southern Scotland

The longest running camping music festival in Scotland is all set to return this summer. The Knockengorroch festival’s 2019 line-up will feature some of the best home-grown Scottish talent alongside an eclectic mix of international acts, all coming together to create a melting pot of innovative traditional and electronic music. The event takes place from…

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Who will pick up the young trad musician title?

Six of Scotland’s finest young musicians will compete for the crown of BBC Radio Scotland’s Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2019 this weekend. Presented by Bruce MacGregor and part of Celtic Connections 2019, live performances at the event will also be filmed and posted on the BBC Radio Scotland website, live from the City…

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Travel essentials that you can’t go without

Finding great clothes to travel with is no mean feat – I’ve been on the road full-time as a travel writer for 35 years and struggled to find good kit for decades. Interestingly I find men’s travel clothes easier to source than women’s. One brand worth sussing out is Bluemint. Founded by Turkish-born Dogu in…

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Glasgow set to come alive for Celtic Connections

Celtic Connections 2019 begins today (Thursday 17 January) with 18 days of music set to bring the city alive on stages across Glasgow. The festival’s traditional opening concert in the world-famous Glasgow Royal Concert Hall this year celebrates the passing on of traditions between generations. Syne of the Times stars more than 100 young musicians…

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Romantic opera given a new Scots translation

Professional soloists and an orchestra join Paisley Opera’s full community chorus in their first ever full opera: a new production of Puccini’s romantic masterpiece, La Bohème. And to make it unique, it will feature a new, specially commissioned ‘Paisley’ translation. There will be four performances running from Friday 1 to Sunday 9 February 2019 in…

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True OriGINS Festival to bring Scottish gin home

A new festival celebrating Scottish craft gin and showcasing 80 different gins from across the country is to be held nationwide this year. With UK gin sales doubling in the last five years and Brits spending around £516 million on bottles of ‘mother’s ruin’ – the popularity of gin shows no sign of slowing. It…

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Giving folk a regular venue in the capital

A new live music club – dedicated to presenting the very best in folk, trad and roots-based music – opens its doors for the first time next month. Going under the name RootsBase, the weekly gigs will take place every Tuesday at the Gilded Balloon Basement, located in the Rose Theatre in Edinburgh, and will…

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Celtic Connections ready to begin this week

The world-leading annual music festival Celtic Connections begins this Thursday (17 January) in Glasgow. It will open with around 100 young musicians from across Scotland and Showcase Scotland partner-country Galicia taking to the stage of the Main Auditorium at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, alongside some of the most well-respected Scottish musicians to have emerged since the…

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Lesley’s making a hue and cry in the world of art

It’s been nearly two decades since award-winning painter Lesley Birch swapped her keyboards for a canvas. Born in Glasgow and based in Scotland until her late 30s, Lesley was a full-time musician writing songs and touring as a session keyboards player for chart-topping band Hue & Cry. Nowadays, she paints from her studios in York…

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