Love Scotland: Stories of Scotland's History and Nature

In the first of a two-part visit to the Isle of Canna, Jackie meets the team behind Canna House: the former home of Gaelic scholars John Lorne Campbell and Margaret Fay Shaw. The National Trust for Scotland has recently complete a nine-year programme of repair and restoration to the house, which now has a strong sense of being a lived-in, post-war home. Jackie finds out all about the house’s histo...

This week, Jackie is off to Glencoe to meet the National Trust for Scotland’s footpaths team – a hard-working group who protect hundreds of miles of paths across the country. In a year that also marks the 25 years of the Footpath Fund, which supports the team’s work, Jackie finds out what it takes to maintain the Trust’s path network. Jackie discovers the challenges of rewards of a job that takes...

Double, double, toil and trouble… the Scottish play… out, damned spot! William Shakespeare’s take on Macbeth has well and truly embedded itself in our culture. The play, written in the early 17th century, charts how an ambitious Macbeth turns to violence in order to realise a prophetic vision of becoming King of Scotland. But what of the real Macbeth, who really did sit upon the Scottish throne? W...

In the second of our Second World War-themed episodes, Jackie heads to Tenement House in Glasgow to hear about the experiences of an ordinary woman who lived during this extraordinary chapter of history. Agnes Toward, who lived at Tenement House from 1911 until 1965, preserved her furniture and belongings as a way of creating a frozen time capsule. Nowadays, visitors can experience how things woul...

With the 80th anniversary of VE Day less than a week away, Jackie heads to Aberdeenshire to find out more about the Haddo babies: the more than 1,250 children born at Haddo House when it became an emergency maternity unit during the Second World War. Discover how the stately home was transformed into a makeshift hospital, and what happened to those babies after the war. Jackie sits down with visit...

This episode is the second part of a partnership between the National Trust for Scotland and the National Trust. Scroll back for Love Scotland 's episode about Lord George Murray. General James Wolfe, the 'boy solider' who joined the military at 14 and fought in one of Britain's bloodiest battles while he was still a teenager. National Trust historian James Grasby visits Wolfe’s childhood home to...

In the first of a two-episode partnership between the National Trust for Scotland and the National Trust, join host Jackie Bird as she uncovers the life of a leading general in the Battle of Culloden. Historian and National Trust for Scotland Trustee Professor Murray Pittock reveals the story of Lieutenant General George Murray, a nobleman and soldier who was involved in each of the 18th century J...

Do you know your Adam Smith from your Adam Ferguson? What was it that sparked a historical period overflowing with ideas, intellect and philosophical musings? And what did Enlightenment ever do for Scotland? Jackie is joined by Dr Alasdair Raffe, senior lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, to unpick the tapestry of this fascinating era, meeting some of the key thinkers, makers and doers who ma...

Known to many through his work on nature documentaries, Gordon Buchanan is one of Scotland’s foremost wildlife filmmakers and presenters. This week, he joins Jackie in the studio to share stories of his time in the natural world. From a childhood spent daydreaming about the world outdoors and enjoying risky adventures in nature, to a career that has taken him to some of the planet’s most biodivers...

As we get ready for Burns Night on 25 January, we’re delving into the Love Scotland archives to bring you three episodes that reveal the life and legacy of Robert Burns. - Jackie gathers two companions to discuss the “song that everybody sings”: Auld Lang Syne. With lyrics penned by Robert Burns in 1788, but origins dating back further, it is now a global anthem of friendship, celebration, yearnin...

As we get ready for Burns Night on 25 January, we’re delving into the Love Scotland archives to bring you three episodes that reveal the life and legacy of Robert Burns. - Robert Burns, born in 1759, died just 37 years later – an early passing attributed to alcoholism. However, recent advances in medical knowledge have raised questions about the accuracy of this diagnosis. Professor David Purdie,...

As we get ready for Burns Night on 25 January, we’re delving into the Love Scotland archives to bring you three episodes that reveal the life and legacy of Robert Burns. - We all know the songs and poems written by one of Scotland’s most famous sons – but who were the people that most influenced his life and his writing? Host Jackie Bird is on a mission to find out. This week, she’s joined by Chri...

In our final episode of 2024, Jackie Bird heads to Edinburgh to take a look at Stitched: Scotland’s Embroidered Art  – a new exhibition that tells the nation’s story through textiles. The result of a two-year research and conservation programme by the National Trust for Scotland,  Stitched puts many delicate pieces of needlework on public display for the first time. Joining Jackie are Trust curato...

This week, Jackie Bird is in Culloden to join the team of archaeologists hoping to unlock more of the battlefield’s historic secrets. With the National Trust for Scotland’s Head of Archaeology Derek Alexander, Jackie discovers how modern techniques are helping to unearth musket balls, coins and buttons. Though the battle on 16 April 1746 may have lasted just a short time, it was hugely consequenti...

When we think of a queen of Scots, Mary is very much the first one who comes to mind. But her grandmother, Margaret Tudor, played an equally crucial role in 16th-century Scotland. Here, her story is told. Linda Porter, author of  The Thistle and the Rose , which tells the story of this overlooked historical figure, joins Jackie to discuss the life and legacy of Henry VIII’s sister. From a young pa...

The idea of Scotland being caught up in the story of the Spanish Armada may seem bizarre, and yet wrecked off Fair Isle is one of the Spanish fleet’s flagship vessels. How did this 650-ton ship come to end up in the North Sea? And how do the activities of the Armada relate to, among others, Mary, Queen of Scots? Jackie Bird is on a mission to find out.  This year marks 70 years since the National...

The Wicker Man  is widely regarded as one of the best British horror films of all time. The strange tale of Sergeant Neil Howie’s doomed trip to Summerisle has cemented itself in popular culture since the film’s 1973 release, and with it, immortalised several of the National Trust for Scotland’s places on screen. Joining Jackie Bird to dissect this cult classic’s enduring popularity are film criti...

Sculptor Andy Scott, the creator of the iconic Kelpies, joins Jackie Bird to discuss his incredible work, Scotland’s position in the art world, and his aspirations for the future.  Together, they talk about the physical demands of working on such large pieces of metalwork, the catharsis of sculpting, and how his Scottish identity influences his creations and his process. The Glasgow School of Art-...

This week, host Jackie Bird is at Robert Smail’s Print Works in the Scottish Borders to see the oldest working commercial letterpress printers in the UK. She meets the team that keeps the printing works running today and hears about the history of the press and its eponymous owner. Jackie also discovers secrets of the ever-changing publishing industry of the Victorian era, unpicks the mechanisms b...

We all know the songs and poems written by one of Scotland’s most famous sons – but who were the people that most influenced his life and his writing? Host Jackie Bird is on a mission to find out. This week, she’s joined by Christoper Waddell, learning manager at the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, and Professor Gerard Carruthers, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and Francis Hutcheson Chai...

How do you restore a 200-year-old church on one of Scotland’s most remote islands? Jackie Bird sits down with Susan Bain, property manager of St Kilda, to find out.   A dual UNESCO World Heritage Site that sits on the edge of the Atlantic, St Kilda is vital to Scottish history but a big challenge for the Trust to care for properly. Once inhabited year-round by a civilian population, the island now...

Meet Hugh Miller: the man regarded as the David Attenborough of his day. Though often overlooked in the history books, this self-taught geologist helped to popularise natural history to his Victorian audience.  What did he help to discover about prehistoric Scotland? How were his scientific findings viewed by his peers? And why has he not remained better known?  Joining Jackie Bird this week is Ja...

As the Edinburgh Festival Fringe gets into full swing, Jackie Bird takes a walk from Gladstone’s Land along the Royal Mile to discover the dark side of this city centre street.  Guiding Jackie through the murky past is Eric Melvin, veteran tour guide and author of  A Walk Down Edinburgh’s Royal Mile . Expect tales of body-snatching, the exploits of Deacon Brodie, and rumoured Jacobite-era cannonba...

Whether you’re out every week hitting the links, or consider golf a good walk spoiled, the sport is undeniably a key ingredient in Scotland’s social tapestry.  At Kingarrock Hickory Golf Course, the only remaining course of its kind in the UK, Jackie meets Dave Allan, visitor services assistant at the Hill of Tarvit venue. She also meets Hannah Fleming, learning and access curator at The R&A W...

Recorded in Falkland Palace’s chapel royal, host Jackie Bird and her guest Steven Veerapen discuss the adult life and legacy of James VI of Scotland and I of England. During his reign, the king faced a host of challenges, from religious tensions to anti-Scottish sentiment in his London court, not to mention Guy Fawkes’ gunpowder plot.  Veerapen’s book,  The Wisest Fool , challenges the varied perc...