By Catherine McKinley Highland Dancing first came about long before recorded history. It is known, though, that this form of dance was started by Scottish Warriors as a way to …
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Tastes of Scotland: Cottage Pie
By Carolyn McDonald Graf Cottage pie, as the name suggests, is a pie of humble origins. Using simple ingredients of vegetables and meat with potatoes as a topping, it is …
Tastes of Scotland: Smothered Turkey with Walnuts
By Carolyn McDonald Graf One story goes that in 1526, a man from Yorkshire named William Strickland got two turkeys from an American Indian trader and sold them for tuppence …
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Does Scotland Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?
By Catherine McKinley Saint Patrick’s Day was, officially declared in the 1630’s, to be March 17th, the date Patrick passed on in 461 AD. And while the 17th of March …
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The Celtic Roots of Our Christmas Traditions
By Catherine McKinley Mistletoe In the Celtic times, druids observed the festival of “Alban Arthan” (also known as “Yule”) during the Winter solstice. In Norse mythology, mistletoe was a symbol …
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Tastes of Scotland: Treacle Scones
By Carolyn McDonald Graf Half a pound of tupenny (= two-penny) rice,Half a pound of treacle.That’s the way the money goes,Pop! goes the weasel. Treacle brings up memories of sweets …
Tastes of Scotland: Raisin History and Recipe
By Carolyn Graf It’s said that raisins were discovered when humans stumbled into some grapes drying on a vine. History books record that raisins were sun-dried from grapes as long …
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Scotland’s Fall and Winter Holiday Traditions
By Catherine McKinley Plaid pumpkins Anyone? Halloween has decidedly Celtic origins. Some traditions which began long ago are still active among Scots both inside and outside of Scotland. Halloween in …
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The History of the Kilt
By Catherine McKinley WOVEN CLOTH ORIGINS? The oldest example of textiles were flax fibers, radiocarbon-dated to between 30,000-36,000 years ago. Woven wool fabrics seem to have first been used in …
Tastes of Scotland: The Outer Hebrides
By Carolyn McDonald Graf Scotland is an island nation made up of large and small bits of land surrounded by water. The western most of these are the Outer Hebrides. …