Gavel 2 Gavel: The Compass: Scotland

PHOTOGRAPH BY JIM RICHARDSON

Graced with craggy peaks and windswept isles, shimmering lochs and rugged highlands, Scotland is a place steeped in legend and myth. Join us this week as we celebrate the Scottish poet Robert Burns night, learn about the efforts to save the Scottish wildcat, and see how Scotland's tourism scene is aiming for the stars.

Let's explore Scotland.

HISTORY & CULTURE

Haggis is now considered a delicacy, but was basically the hot dog of medieval Scotland and was forever immortalized in a 1787 Robert Burns poem.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JIM RICHARDSON, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

On Scottish poet Robert Burns night, don’t forget the haggis

On Burns’s birthday—now commonly known as Burns Night—Scots and Scots’ lovers around the world gather to celebrate, feast on haggis, and drink Scotch whiskey. But how did the stuffed sheep’s stomach become the star of the feast?

In this 1955 photo, a weaver in the Outer Hebrides is shown producing Harris Tweed on a foot-pedal loom. The centuries-old textile tradition carries on in these remote islands off the west coast of Scotland.

PHOTOGRAPH BY BERT HARDY, PICTURE POST / HULTON ARCHIVE / GETTY IMAGES

How tweed became a symbol of Scottish culture

In Scotland’s hills and islands, textile traditions touch on sustainability and local pride while making a mark in high fashion.

A diver holds a Neolithic (ca. 3,500 B.C) Ustan vessel found near a crannog (artificial island) in Loch Arnish, Scotland.

PHOTOGRAPH BY C. MURRAY

Artificial islands older than Stonehenge stump scientists

A study of crannogs in Scotland's Outer Hebrides reveals some were built more than 3,000 years earlier than previously thought. But what purpose did they serve?

Dan Dawson has kept Horseman Thief pigeons for 50 years.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBERT ORMEROD

Inside the quirky world of competitive pigeon seduction

The urban pastime of Scottish “doomen” is filled with avian attraction, obsession, and the thrill of the chase.

ANIMALS

These two Scottish wildcat kittens were rescued after their mother was killed and will be released to the wild once they are able to survive on their own.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOEL SARTORE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PHOTO ARK

The Scottish wildcat is disappearing. Can it be saved?

Perhaps only a couple dozen "Highlands tigers" are left in the wild. Now, the race is on to prevent their extinction.

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A moor—like the scene visible from Sgorr Tuath, a peak in the northwest of Scotland—is a minimalist, melancholy sweep of close-cropped, open terrain. A substrate of contention—over ownership, conservation, and land management—underlies the surface of these tended spaces. Composite of seven images.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JIM RICHARDSON

What will become of Scotland's moors?

The future of the nation's signature landscape is murky amid debates over class, culture, and nature.

An engraving reproduces Henry Fuseli’s 1783 painting of the witches from Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth. First performed in 1606, the play was a compliment to the newly crowned king of England, James I, who had published a book on witchcraft in 1597.

QUINTLOX / ALBUM

A royal obsession with black magic started Europe's most brutal witch hunts

In the 1590s, King James VI of Scotland's fear of witchcraft began stirring up national panics, resulting in the torture and death of thousands.

TRAVEL

DREAM NOW, GO LATER

Castle Varrich rises above Kyle of Tongue, a shallow sea loch, on northern Scotland’s A’ Mhòine peninsula.

PHOTOGRAPH BY LATITUDESTOCK, ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

Golf, whiskey… and rockets? Scotland’s tourism scene aims for the stars.

An orbital space port could boost northern Scotland’s economy. But the proposed site, on fragile peatland, raises environmental concerns.

Locals and tourists stroll through Old Town along Cockburn Street, connecting the Royal Mile to Waverley Station.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ISTOCK
EDITORIAL, GETTY IMAGES

Old and new towns of Edinburgh

Explore a unique urban landscape known for its distinct architectural design.

An ancient landslide created the Old Man of Storr on the Trotternish peninsula of Skye, a dramatic rock formation that Scottish legends say is the remains of a giant.

PHOTOGRAPH BY PETER ADAMS, AVALON/UNIVERSAL IMAGES
GROUP / GETTY IMAGES

Where to find warrior queens, fairies, and castles in Scotland

For centuries, colorful tales have shaped the Isle of Skye—and are still deeply intertwined in its landscapes and legends.

In Glasgow’s West End, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum rises above a park of the same name.

PHOTOGRAPH BY KIERAN DODDS

Why Glasgow is Scotland’s most exciting city right now

Celebrated for its legacy of art and design, the Scottish city is abuzz with new openings as it hosts November’s COP26 summit.

WHERE WILL WE JOURNEY TO NEXT?

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Gavel 2 Gavel

1.22.2022

The Compass: Scotland

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