Category Archives: Scotland

Keep reading, stupid

Posted on October 23, 2026 by Jamie Jauncey

For the past twenty-five years I have been involved in one way or another with book festivals – as a board member, as a chair or moderator, as a presenter of my own work, and as a patron. Book festivals … Continue reading →

Posted in Artificial Intelligence, book festivals, Edinburgh Book Festival, Education, Empathy, Kindness, Scotland, Stories, Writing | Tagged Birnam Arts, Birnam Book Festival, book festivals, Children's reading, Cognition, Edinburgh International Book Festival, James Marriott,, Naional Literacy Trust, Post-literacy, Post-literate society, Year of Reading | 9 Comments

Hector the Hero

Posted on October 9, 2026 by Jamie Jauncey

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When striking coincidences occur, I find it hard not to look for meaning in them: are these things that in some unexplained way were meant to happen; are they intended to lead one to something or to teach one something; … Continue reading →

More Galleries | Tagged Aly Bain,, Battle of Omdurman, Coincidence,, General Sir Hector MacDonald, Hector MacDonald, Hector the Hero,, James Scott Skinner, Pete Clark, Scottish Traditional Music,, Suicide,, Synchronicity, Victoria Cross | 2 Comments

Leaving home

Posted on June 5, 2026 by Jamie Jauncey

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This is a moment of limbo. We are in the countdown to departure for a two-month break, six weeks of which will be spent in south-west France. While we are there, there will be AirBnB guests in our home. Today, … Continue reading →

More Galleries | Tagged Airbnb, Changeover, Departure, Family, Family Home, Guests, Holiday let, Holidays, Home, Landlord, life, Tenants, Travel, writing | 1 Comment

Drystane dyke

Posted on May 29, 2026 by Jamie Jauncey

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In the centre of our village of Birnam stands the Birnam Hotel, a large Victorian hotel. It was built in 1850 at a time when, following the queen’s example, tourists were starting to discover the majesty of the Highlands. When … Continue reading →

More Galleries | Tagged Birnam Hotel, Building, Drystane dyke, Drystane dykers, Drystone, Drystone wall, Dyke, MAes Howe, Skara Brae, Stone, The Highlands, The TAybank, Victorian architecture | 2 Comments

Time machine

Posted on May 15, 2026 by Jamie Jauncey

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Orkney is a gentle, green time machine. While the waters around it carry stories of sea-faring and exploration and the drama of two world wars, the land – low-lying pasture pocked with shallow scoops of water – tells a much … Continue reading →

More Galleries | Tagged aurochs, burial chamber, ceremony, Kirkwall, MAes Howe, mid-winter, neolithic era, Orkney, pyramids, Ring of Brodgar, runes, Skara Brae, standing stones, Stonehenge, Vikings | Leave a comment

Vampires, wolves and Victoria sponge

Posted on May 3, 2026 by Jamie Jauncey

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Back in March I wrote about our sister city Asheville, North Carolina (here), and the bestselling American novelist and Asheville resident, Elizabeth Kostova, who was here in Birnam and Dunkeld on a two-month writing residency. Last week, before she returned … Continue reading →

More Galleries | Tagged Appalachians, Asheville, Berthe Morisot, Birnam and Dunkeld, Blue Ridge Mountains, Elizabeth Kostova, FRench Broad River, Mystery Play, North Carolina, River Tay, The Historian, The Impressionists, The Shadow Land, The Swan Thieves | Leave a comment

A Hegira

Posted on May 1, 2026 by Jamie Jauncey

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Next Thursday, 7th May, is Scottish parliamentary election day. In discussion with the publishers, Scotland Street Press, it seemed a fitting day to publish the paperback edition of my biography of my great-great-uncle, Don Roberto: the Adventure of Being Cunninghame … Continue reading →

More Galleries | Tagged .Mexico City, A Hegira, Apaches, Chlle, Everybody to Kenmure Street, General Pinochet, Home Office, Mexico, Nae Pasaran, No Pasaran, RB Cunninghame Graham, Scottish elections, Texas | 3 Comments

The sea, the sea

Posted on April 24, 2026 by Jamie Jauncey

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Stromness on Sunday is quiet. Very quiet. In another era one might imagine the whole town to be at prayer. The cobbled main steet is deserted. We glimpse the harbour in splashes of vivid blue at the bottom of wynds … Continue reading →

More Galleries | Tagged Franklin expedition, Gunther Prien, HMS Royal Oak, Hudson's BAy Company, John Rae, Ludwig von Reuter, MAes How, Northwest Passage, Orkney, Scapa Flow, Skara Brae, Stromness, Stromness Museum | Leave a comment

A Sair Fecht

Posted on April 10, 2026 by Jamie Jauncey

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This time five years ago, in the weeks leading up to the Scottish Parliament elections of May 2021, I made a series of short videos arguing the case for an independent Scotland. I felt driven to it, more than anything … Continue reading →

More Galleries | Tagged BBC Scotland, Channel Four, history, independence, ITV, mainstream media, media ownership, news, politics, propaganda, Scotland, Scottish Independence, Sky, The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Times, The Union | 3 Comments

Sister Cities

Posted on March 27, 2026 by Jamie Jauncey

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In a city centre park in Asheville, North Carolina, there is a signpost with markers indicating six Sister Cities around the world. One of these points to Dunkeld and Birnam (3808 miles). I live there. Dunkeld and Birnam is not … Continue reading →

More Galleries | Tagged Asheville, Climate Café, Dunkeld & Birnam, Elizabeth Kostova, Fiona Ritchie, FRench Broad River, Jess Pepper, North Carolina, River Tay, Sister Cities, The Historian, Thistle & Shamrock | 5 Comments