Good Morning from Scotland 

A drone captures a misty start to the day near Callander in the Trossachs 

📸sdukcreative on Instagram  

Good Morning from Scotland 

Edinburgh sunrise 󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴from Dean Village

📸leeemurray on Instagram

Scotland Fix of the Day: The Scottish landscape is rich, often inspiring and sometimes overpowering. But sometimes this land evokes other emotions, a darker moodiness that reflects history, a wandering solitude that invites reflection, a beckoning urge to escape. I relish these summons, the land calling on me to see what is neither easy to capture nor expected to please. But this exploration is central to my idea of the dramatic landscape, images that lend their weight to storytelling, act within visual narratives that explore the heart of a place. I often fail, but sometimes I find it rewarding to gather the images together to see how close I have come. I’d like to invite you to witness this journey as I present The Dramatic Landscape for Viewfinders Live on Thursday, November 3. Follow the link in my bio or go to ViewfindersLive.com/events. Use the code JIM20 and save 20%

These scenes: 1. Rackwick Bay, Orkney 2. Isle of Jura 3. Isle of Muck, The Small Isles 4. The Village, St. Kilda

#scotland #naturephotography #wildphotos #conservationphotography #storytelling #wildlife #naturelovers #natgeo #earthfocus #landscapephotography #landscape #nature #natgeotravel #neverstopexploring #travelphotography #exploretocreate #photographyworkshop #photography #photographer #learnphotography — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/og0uqv8

The City and the Stars (5) – Structure 10: pyramid ~ Steve Tanham

The City and the Stars (5) – Structure 10: pyramid ~ Steve Tanham

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Still setting out the canopy

October 28th 1652 saw the Battle Corrichie.

Fought on the slopes of Meikle Tap, near Aberdeen, this lesser known battle was the culmination of simmering tensions between George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly, and Mary, Queen of Scots.

As one of Mary’s few remaining Catholic nobles in country by then transformed by the phenomenon of the Protestant Reformation, it might have been expected that Huntly would have been amongst the least likely to openly oppose his Queen.

Nevertheless, oppose her he did. Angry at the granting of the Earldom of Moray he believed was his birthright to Mary’s half-brother James Stewart, he would not give his son John up to the Queen as demanded, and his lieutenant at Inverness Castle refused Mary entry to the northern fortress. Huntly was soon declared a rebel, and formed an army of around 700 men before marching towards Aberdeen.

Huntly’s army was met by a considerably larger force outside the city led by the Earl of Moray, and soundly defeated. He was said to have died of a heart attack and shortly afterwards his son John was executed in Aberdeen, apparently not without the tears of the Queen, who, it was rumoured, had been a lover of the young man.

Not to be out down by the main man George Gordon actually dying,  his body was preserved and taken to Edinburgh for trial, an ancient law stated that in cases of treason against the monarch, the offender, living or dead, should be brought in front of Parliament for trial.

In May 1563, seven months after his death, Huntly’s corpse was set up in front of a full session of Parliament, with Mary sitting on her throne. The grisly relic was solemnly declared to be guilty of treason. The body was then left in Blackfriars priory in Edinburgh, and it was not until April 1566 that the body was released.

The Earl was finally laid to rest in the family tomb at Elgin Cathedral.

Today, the battlefield, now largely covered by commercial forestry is marked by a solitary granite standing stone, erected in 1951, it is inscribed with the Gaelic “Cuimhnichibh La Coire Fraoichidh” - Remember the Day of Corrichie. 

A wee add on to the event is Huntly’s wife, who had a reputation for having a dominant personality and like many other strong women, had a reputation as a witch. Allegedly, before the battle, she was assured by her demon familiars that her husband would end the day unwounded in Aberdeen Tolbooth. 

The prophecy was fulfilled.Huntly was taken prisoner along with his sons Sir John Gordon, George and Adam of Auchindoun. That night, Huntly, described as being ‘ gross and corpulent’ collapsed and died. His unmarked body slung over a horse and carried to Aberdeen Tolbooth.

Fans of mysterious ancient stone circles (like me) strike it rich in Orkney off the north coast of Scotland. The Stones of Stenness are 700 years older than Stonehenge and just up the road is the fantastic dig site at the Ness of Brodgar where they are digging up a whole Neolithic temple site. You can follow along on this year’s dig on their Instagram feed. Follow: @nessofbrodgar. They use some of my pictures which makes me feel proud to be associated with such a cool exploration and great folks. #orkney #scotland @natgeo @natgeocreative #archeology #worldheritage #unesco https://ift.tt/2kRGBSL

Archaeologists marvel at Neolithic axe finds in Orkney

A large number of stone axes are among more than 30,000 pieces of pottery, bones and tools found so far at a 5,000-year-old site in Orkney.

The Ness of Brodgar is one of the largest and most important Neolithic excavations in Northern Europe, according to archaeologists.

Two of the polished stone axes show damage from use.

One of the tools, found by an Australian student, has been described as an “object of beauty”.

Ness of Brodgar Trust and the Archaeology Institute of the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) are running the excavation.

UHI said the axe found by archaeology student Therese McCormick “astonished” archaeologists at the site through its “sheer quality of workmanship”. Read more.

The single most fascinating and important site under exploration at present

Lost in the woods

Roussanou Monastery, Meteora 2019

Lost in the woods

Craig-a-Barns

Craig-a-Barns is a big rocky hill overseeing the village of Dunkeld. It has a flat rocky outcrop, which makes a great viewpoint. You can see Dunkeld and the River Tay and almost as far as the City of Perth in the South. It is one of our preferred walks, as it is not too difficult. One winter, when the foliage wasn’t as thick, we discovered a small cave up on the side of the hill. When I was filming a tour of King’s Seat Hillfort for my channel recently, we also went up to Craig-a-Barns and revisited the little cave. It’s about 2 meters deep and could probably serve as an emergency shelter in the rain or as a camping spot. However, there is also the thought of many tons of rock hovering above one’s head while sleeping, which isn’t so appealing. 

Inchewan Path and Braan Path

Last Summer I went out to film a virtual forest walk in one of my favourite places. The walk starts off in Birnam and leads up Inchewan Burn. There is a little fishing loch, which we like to stop by for a rest and if you have been following me for a while, I’m sure you’ve seen it before. This time it was covered in pollen. From there the walk continues and connects to the Braan Path, which follows the River Braan. Braan Path is its own circular walk and includes the famous Hermitage, just across from Dunkeld. The Braan Waterfall is a great sight to behold, especially from the ‘Hermitage’, a small chamber with a viewing platform built by the 3rd Duke of Atholl in the 18th Century to enhance nature walks for him and his guests. Indeed, it adds to the experience, being able to be so close up to the waterfall and get a refreshing mist on a hot day.  

Finally, I managed to put up the footage on Youtube. 

The Wow Signal

The ‘Wow! signal’ was received at 11.16pm on August 15, 1977 - the night before Elvis died — as a radio telescope in Ohio swept its gaze through the constellation of Sagittarius.—

It lasted 72 seconds and was earned its name because of the message of disbelief Jerry Ehman, a researcher with the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) programme, scrawled next to the printout recording it.

The characteristics of the signal - a rise and fall in its ‘loudness’ were exactly what the alien-hunters had been told to look out for.

The signal had the trademark of an artificially produced interstellar broadcast. 

How did they broadcast it from a point in space where there are no planets and there are no solar systems? Well, the only explanation would be a spaceship, and the signal is used to communicate to other spaceships.

Deep in and old park (Park W Maciejowej) in Poland, there is an abandoned and decaying mausoleum. If you wander inside, you’ll stumble upon a rather terrifying sculpture of a demon that was left behind after the filming of a horror movie (Redwood).

The building is open, so everyone can visit this impressive creature. The sculpture is often vandalized but is often repaired by local people who love this addition to the landmark.

If you’re curious about the movie, I actually found it on youtube (link below).

REDWOOD

I Feel Fantastic

Who remembers this video from 2009?

Tara the Android was created by John Bergeron. He stated that he created the android to entertain and perform.

The video is centered entirely on a pale, mannequin-like character who sings the title song (I feel fantastic) through a primitive voice-simulator program while bizarre, atonal synthesizer music noodles in the background. The mannequin can only move her head and her hands. (The gifs dont do the creepy-ness any justice, watch the video)

Rumors started circulating that John Bergeron was a serial killer and he dressed the mannequin in the clothes of his victims. At one point the video cuts from the mannequin to a shot of the woods while the “Please leave, run run run” plays in the background. Rumors also stated that Bergeron had killed a woman named Tara and was using this video to hint/taunt viewers of her body’s location.

Eventually a 15 minute video of Tara the Android surfaced and it pointed to a more another more practical explanation: that Bergeron created her to be the first android music star.

No solid evidence confirms any of the rumors. No one knows John Bergeron’s true identity either.

SOURCE