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We’re thrilled to bring you another edition of ‘Hidden Scotland Weekly’. As always, we hope you enjoy reading and find inspiration for your next adventure.

We’re excited to announce that Issue 09, Issue 08, and the Isle of Skye Guidebook are now available digitally. Access these editions instantly on any device, and stay tuned for the upcoming release of Issue 10. With a subscription, you’ll receive every issue delivered directly to your door, beautifully packaged and accompanied by a complimentary bookmark and cover print. To find out more, click here.

Enjoy this week’s edition, and have a fantastic Sunday!

Digital Editions Now Available!

We’re thrilled to announce that Hidden Scotland Issue 09, Issue 08, and the Isle of Skye Guidebook are now available in digital format. For the first time, you can access these much-loved editions instantly on any device, wherever you are.

The Isle of Skye Guidebook is your companion to one of Scotland’s most dramatic islands, featuring handpicked recommendations for places to stay, eat, and explore, from iconic landmarks to hidden gems. Issue 09 dives into Scotland’s quieter corners, from the Small Isles to stargazing spots, alongside stories of inspiring locals and creative talents. Issue 08 offers a journey through Orkney’s ancient wonders and Scotland’s innovative present, with features on sustainable farming, coastal beauty, and more.

This is just the start—we’re working on digitising all past editions and guidebooks, creating a full library of Hidden Scotland.

Castle Tioram and the Adventures of Allan Macruari

Castle Tioram is perched on a tidal island in Loch Moidart, seemingly isolated at the end of a long and winding road. However, hundreds of years ago a location like this was ideal for a seafaring clan to have their base of operations. They had safe harbour for warships and easy access to the Hebrides, along the coast or even up river as far as Loch Shiel.

We don’t know for sure who first built Castle Tioram but it became home to the MacDonalds of Clanranald and their cunning clan chief Allan MacRuari.

MacRuari kept his neighbours on their toes with his lightning raids, becoming a thorn in everybody’s side. When the chief of Clan Mackintosh moved to a new castle far inland on an island in Loch Moy, he felt that he was finally safe. He hosted a banquet and declared loudly that for the first time in his life, he could be happy and free from the terror of Allan MacRuari.

Unfortunately for Mackintosh, the Irish harp player hired for the banquet was playing his next gig at Castle Tioram. For a couple of extra coins he let slip what Mackintosh had said and MacRuari didn’t like what he heard. He gathered his men along with some light, wicker boats and travelled day and night to reach Loch Moy. Deploying the little boats to cross the loch in the dead of night, they quietly slipped into the castle. MacRuari delighted in waking his enemy to remind him that he would never be safe before dragging him back to Castle Tioram as a prisoner.

The only person that might have hated MacRuari more than Mackintosh was MacLean of Duart. One day MacRuari was sailing out of Loch Moidart with just one boat and a handful of men when he saw 10 MacLean ships coming towards them.

Knowing they didn’t stand a chance in a fight, Allan ordered his men to lay a plaid over him and the piper to play a lament. When the lead MacLean ship got closer, they were informed that the mighty Allan MacRuari had died and they were taking his body for burial on the Island of Iona. MacLean was delighted at finally being rid of his nightmare and allowed the ship to pass along so they could help themselves to the goods in Castle Tioram.

As soon as they were out of sight, MacRuari changed direction and sailed towards Mull. They couldn’t carry off any loot so instead they burned down cottages, making sure to build the fires as high as possible. Before the MacLeans could get any stolen property aboard their ships, they saw the huge pillars of smoke rising from their island and panicked. They rushed back to the ships to take vengeance on whoever was attacking them.

MacRuari wasn’t about to get caught in the act so his little ship sailed into Loch Sunart where only a narrow strip of land separated them from the River Shiel. Carrying the boat cross country, the group reached the river and sailed back to the safety of Castle Tioram. Once MacLean had put out the fires, he was left to curse the name of Allan MacRuari.

Written by Graeme Johncock Greame has recently written a book called ‘Scotland's Stories by Graeme Johncock’ Grab a copy here.

Itinerary: A Day Around Edinburgh’s Old Town

Edinburgh is a city packed with history and hidden gems, somewhere I was happy to call home for almost 10 years. While this isn’t a sprawling metropolis, it can still be difficult to know exactly where to start, so this itinerary around the Old Town is here to help.

Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh wouldn’t be here without the ancient fortress perched on Castle Rock. It’s one of the oldest fortified locations in Europe and the scene of many bloody tales. As well as stories from the castle’s many sieges and inhabitants, you’ll have the chance to see the Honours of Scotland – the crown, sword and sceptre of state.

It’s such a popular place to visit in Edinburgh, that you should aim to see it first thing in the morning before it gets too busy! Booking tickets in advance with specified entry times is essential.

The Grassmarket

You could easily end up spending half the morning or more in Edinburgh Castle, but once you’ve dragged yourself away, head down the steps towards the Grassmarket. For centuries, this was an important trading site for the city, lined with pubs and hostelries just as it is today. Looking back up where you came from, this is one of the best views of the castle. It gets even better if you want to tackle the steps leading up the top of the Vennel!

Maggie Dicksons

As you walk along the length of the Grassmarket, stop outside a pub called Maggie Dicksons and you’ll notice the shadow of a gibbet marked out on the ground. Once a common spot for public executions, residents rented out the view from upper floor windows for a few pennies! Maggie Dickson was a young woman from the early 1700s who was sadly hanged here before being carted away for burial in Musselburgh. Imagine the driver’s surprise when Maggie suddenly woke up! She wasn’t dead, but her sentence had technically been carried out, so the authorities had let her live out her days, now popularly known as Half- Hangit Maggie!

Victoria Street 

Wander up the elegantly curved Victoria Street with its brightly coloured buildings, often claimed to be an inspiration for Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley. Full of independent shops, it’s also a great place to grab lunch. My personal favourite is the hog-roast takeaway Oink (with haggis stuffing), but there are other great options including Maxies or Maison Bleue. For anybody still hungry, you can get a takeaway Scottish Cheeseboard from I.J. Mellis and follow it up with an afternoon dram from Bow Bar’s excellent whisky selection!

St Giles Cathedral 

Up on the Royal Mile, a visit inside St Giles Cathedral is essential on a trip to Edinburgh. It’s the next most historic spot after the castle and entry is entirely free. What lots of people don’t realise is that it’s dog friendly too! Almost every important figure from Scottish history will have stepped foot inside this building at some point. Don’t miss the Thistle Chapel, tucked away in the back-right corner and a marvel of architecture. Once a year, the 16 Knights of the Thistle meet there!

Greyfriars Bobby 

A short walk along George IV Bridge takes you to the statue of Greyfriars Bobby – the most faithful dog in the world. When Bobby’s master died in the middle of the 1800s, this wee terrier refused to leave his grave. Even though he would be chased from the graveyard, he always returned. The dog became a local celebrity and this statue was donated by Lady Burnett-Coutts who was touched by the story, but it’s important not to touch it! Misguided tourists rubbing the nose has destroyed it in the process. It’s not something we do for luck!

Greyfriars Kirkyard 

The first grave you’ll see inside Greyfriars Kirkyard is of Bobby himself, usually covered in a pile of gifted sticks. However, there are many more fascinating headstones to find around here. Some are protected by mortsafes – iron cages used to protect bodies from being dug up and sold to the medical school in the 1800s. It’s a fascinating, albeit slightly morbid, place to explore. Just be on your guard at night in case the Mackenzie Poltergeist makes an appearance...

National Museum of Scotland 

There’s no better place to end your day exploring Edinburgh’s Old Town than the National Museum of Scotland. While there are exhibits from around the world, it’s the Scottish section that you should focus on, where you can travel throughout Scotland and its history in a matter of hours. There are artefacts from long before Scotland was a nation, including the Ballachulish Goddess – a lump of wood carved into a woman’s figure dating from around 600BC. Mysterious carved Pictish Stones are followed by the Arthur’s Seat Coffins and an early guillotine known as the Maiden!

There’s enough here that you might even end up coming back the next day!

Spotlight: The Drovers Inn

Cock your ear in the bar here and you might catch the tale of a young drover named Angus, who some 300 years ago called in for the night while herding his cattle south to the livestock markets. He had a few drinks (and who could blame him?), but when he eventually stirred the next morning, his animals had been stolen. Bitter and broken, he roamed the region before returning to the inn in search of the culprits. Tragically, they spotted him first – and that was the end of poor Angus, whose ghost is still said to wander the inn at night, wailing and searching for the thieves.

Stories like this abound at the aptly named Drovers Inn, established way back in 1705 on one of the key droving routes through the Highlands. Indeed, it’s been billed as Scotland’s most haunted pub, although once you step beyond its rough-and-ready stone exterior you’ll find plenty of good reasons to hang around. It’s said that Samuel Johnson and his biographer James Boswell were the first cultural tourists to come calling, and thousands more have followed in their footsteps.

Visit today and you can expect plenty of taxidermy (including a rather aggrieved-looking bear) and a dark, atmospheric bar area where candlelight and beamed ceilings are the order of the day. The pub’s proximity to the West Highland Way makes it a much-used stopover by walkers, and its variety of different room categories make it suitable for everyone from dog-owners to families. Room 6 is reportedly the most ghoul-infested of the lot; it’s probably a good idea to opt for one of the modern Drovers Lodge rooms if you’d rather not be woken by Angus in the dead of night.

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Dugald - Staffin Dinosaur Museum

An Corran’s sandy beach sits among gnarly dolerite cliffs with views across the Quiraing, the Minch and the Sound of Raasay. Its striking looks make it a must-see, but there’s another reason to visit. Look closely, and at low tide you might find the 168-million-year-old footprints of the fearsome three-toed carnivorous Megalosaurus – among the many fossils that have lent Skye the nickname ‘dinosaur isle’.

In fact, the island holds more than 10 per cent of the world's Middle Jurassic dinosaur species. And if there’s one person who can help you distinguish your stegosaurus from your brontosaurus, it’s Dugald Ross, whose Dinosaur Museum in a stone barn in Staffin, near An Corran on the Trotternish peninsula, contains around 50 dinosaur footprints and bones.

“I was born in Skye and although I had a fossil collection since childhood, it was in 1994 that I took an active part in researching local dinosaur fossils,” he says. That was the year Scotland's first recorded dinosaur bone was found, at Valtos, a mile south of the museum. “There have been numerous finds since then which have attracted international interest,” says Dugald.

He set up the museum in 1976, aged 19, using his collection of ammonites. Nowadays, the collection includes bones from dinosaurs such as cetiosaurus and stegosaurus. “One of the most outstanding fossils is an adult theropod trackway that includes footprints of its young,” says Dugald.

To hunt for easily accessible tracks, Dugald recommends An Corran beach, as well as Brother's Point, Staffin Bay and Duntulm. “They are all on the shore, which means that people should check tidal conditions before visiting,” he says.

Click here to learn more.

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