Month: March 2009

I have been shooting videos for the last 3 years and HD videos of Scotland for the last year and I have now started to add it them to the website . This will be an ongoing process which will continue throughout this year . I have videos of Edinburgh Castle and Eilean Donan Castle which are available as downloads to mobile phones  . The project as a whole is titled ” Videos of Scotland” and will also be for sale on CD .

Two hundred year old graffiti in Edinburgh Castle’s prison vaults is one of the inspirations behind the development of a major  exhibition within the castle .The exhibition explores the castle’s connections with the American War of Independence as well as 18th century European conflicts including the French Revolution, through the stories of the men who found themselves gaoled at Edinburgh Castle.The prison vaults lie beneath the Queen Anne building in the castle’s Crown Square. The exhibition is one part of a £3.5 million construction project within the Queen Anne building to provide a permanent all-weather education centre; function and exhibition space and additional café space.

“Edinburgh Castle is Scotland’s most popular visitor attraction,” Dr Murray said. “More than 1 million visitors are drawn each year by its spectacular location and history. They can see the Crown Jewels, the One O’Clock Gun and the Stone of Destiny as well as the Great Hall, St Margaret’s Chapel, and Mons Meg. “This new exhibition will explore more of the castle’s complex story, with links to Scots-born John Paul Jones – renowned in America as founder of the US Navy  and in Britain for capturing one of the Royal Navy’s warships – and the turbulence of revolutionary Europe at the end of the 1700s.”Edinburgh Castle is a world-class attraction and today’s well-traveled tourists have high expectations.”The vaults at Edinburgh Castle were constructed around 1500 and later used as soldiers’ barrack-rooms and a bakehouse. However they were used for many years as prisons of war from the 1750s into the early 1800s. Graffiti carved into prison doors reveal the names and sentiments of many of the men there, and some of them etched crude drawings of their vessels. One drawing shows a gallows and noose, with the inscription Lord Nord (North) – the British Prime Minister at the time of the American War of Independence. Another shows a ship flying what appears to be the stars and stripes: one of the earliest known depictions of the American flag.
The Castle is at the top of the Royal Mile . If you walk down the Royal Mile you can see a large number of gift shops , pubs and restaurants . At the foot of the Royal Mile is the new Scottish Parliament building and the Palace of Holyroodhouse , the official residence of the Queen in Scotland.

videos of Edinburgh Castle and Eilean Donan Castle

I went up to Eilean Donan Castle last week and shot some photos and videos of it . The weather was changeable , which is typical for the weather in Scotland nowadays . It was a mixture of sunshine and cloud .

Eilean Donan is Gaelic for Island of Donan , a 12th century religious figure .Eilean Donan was Clan
MacKenzie’s most important stronghold from the 13th Century
until it was destroyed in 1719. Robert the Bruce was given
refuge in Eilean Donan Castle by John MacKenzie, Second of
Kintail when he was being hunted by the English at the
beginning of the fourteenth century. The MacRae Clan who settled in the area came from the
Beauly Firth where they had protected the Clan
Fraser.They acted as bodyguards to the MacKenzie
chiefs. Although there was a number of disputes,
the MacKenzies held Eilean Donan right up until
until the 16th century ,

Eilean Donan Castle will  switch off its lights as part of conservation group WWF’s Earth Hour.
Owners of buildings and individuals across the world have been asked to turn out lights for 60 minutes from 2030 GMT on 28 March.
The Forth Rail Bridge and Edinburgh Castle are also part of the switch off.
Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, the Eiffel Tower and Sydney Opera House will also be blacked out.

The Beltane Fire Festival in Edinburgh is inspired by an ancient Celtic rite marking the fruition of spring and the arrival of summer. Festivities begin towards the end of April with a series of events including workshops, walking tours, seminars and exhibitions. The Festival is organised by volunteers of the Beltane Society, which has over 300 members. The 11,500 tickets for the main Fire Festival event usually sell out in advance.
Discover the origins of Beltane and its modern day relevance at a seminar. Guided walking tours visit medicinal herb gardens and historical sites from the Lothians’ pre-Christian past. Perfect the art of body painting or design a Celtic knot at a workshop. The event culminates with the Fire Festival on Calton Hill on the last night of April continuing into the early hours of May Day. pictures of Edinburgh The May Queen and the Green Man, a ubiquitous presence in Celtic mythology, light a bonfire to symbolise the renewal of the earth. Spring wallpapers

Plans to rename Leith Docks as Edinburgh Harbour have caused outrage among local residents. A 4000 signature petition was produced at record speed and now the plans to have been dropped .Locals believed the move would remove Leith’s historic character.

The docks are at the centre of a multi-billion pound redevelopment of the area which will take between 25 and 30 years, and has been underway for a decade.

Residents had said that if the name change was pushed through, they would campaign to have Edinburgh Castle renamed as Leith Castle.

Forth Port, the group behind the regeneration plans, have claimed that the proposed change was misunderstood. A spokesman told The Journal: “The master plan was submitted to Edinburgh council under the name of Edinburgh Harbour. There were obvious reasons for this. It will be a new international cruise harbour and it needs international recognition.

“Leith is moving away from it being a working port, to a new community: there is new housing, businesses, places to shop, to really utilise the waterfront in Edinburgh.”

He continued: “It was submitted as Edinburgh Harbour as part of the redevelopment project. People were misinformed – we are clearly not dropping the name of Leith Docks. It will all fall under the banner of Leith Docks, and it’s a misrepresentation of our position.”

“We accept there is a high degree of public complaint over the issue. Although this is built on misinformation, we felt it was important to show people we are part of the community and prepared to work with them.”