In 1746, the British Crown banned the tartan, the bagpipes, and the wearing of arms across the Highlands.
Scotland once imported more French wine per head than almost any nation in Europe.
For nearly two centuries, a father could not give his own surname to his child. A gravestone could not bear the family name.
There was a time when Gàidhlig rang out across Scotland from the Highlands to the island shores — the language of clan chiefs, bards, and crofters...
Every year, on the stroke of midnight, billions of people link arms, look into the eyes of those they love, and sing words they do not understand.
Every summer, from North Carolina to Hawaii, men in kilts hurl a 6-metre telegraph pole into the air and hope it lands correctly. They are not in Scotland.
Somewhere in Scotland, as the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, a dark-haired stranger is standing on a doorstep. In one arm: a lump of coal.
