In this issue...

Talking Tartan Across The World

The Scottish Banner recently caught up with ScotlandShop’s founding director Anna White on being in the tartan business, opening a new North American branch and her love of the Scottish Borders.

Sailing Down The Water

Scotland's steamboats. In their hundreds, they once chuffed and puffed their way along the mighty River Clyde, as well as many other canals and waterways of the west coast of Scotland. Before the advent of diesel power, it was steamboats that ruled the water, carrying cargo and passengers to remote communities and scenic holiday spots. And it was fitting that the area became home to so many steamers – while there were several inventors and engineers around the world working on the idea of putting Scotsman James Watt’s steam engine to work in boats, it was in Scotland that key developments were made in an industry that was to transform the world...

Dumbarton Rock

Scotland's most underrated fortress? Find an outcrop of rock in Scotland and chances are someone, at some point, called it a seat of power. Inland crags, coastal cliffs, and the stone spires left by retreating glaciers 12,000 years ago are commonly crowned by castles or their prehistoric equivalents - duns, brochs, hillforts, lookout towers, and every other type of fortification imaginable...