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Lucy Smith and Pauline Ranken of the Ladies’ Scottish Climbing Club, ascending Salisbury Crags in Edinburgh, Scotland - 1909

some highland magic

water wanderers

On this day in 1958: Scottish musician, singer and co-founder of Big Country, Stuart Adamson was born. Gone but not forgotten.

in the company of tall reeds (2)

hills of the highlands.

Plum blossom, Edinburgh, Scotland

The way home… an open gate.

A very wet Easter Saturday. The beach car park (upper left) was not well subscribed…

The house is a typical 1920s or 1930s west Highland croft house in the local vernacular of that period.

Photo: 19th April 2025

Isle of Skye, Scotland - by Alex Musso

Kilchurn Castle, Scotland - by Daniel Munro

Isle of Skye, Scotland - by Mano & Sophie

Eilean Donan Castle (Scotland)

Sligachan, Scotland - by Long-Nong Huang

aclotheshorse 🏰 instagram

Eilean Donan Castle, Scotland

Eilean Donan Castle (Scotland)

Robert II the first of the Stewart Kings died on April 19th 1390 at Dundonald Castle, South Ayrshire.

Robert was the son of Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland and Marjorie Bruce, daughter of Robert the Bruce

An act of Parliament in 1315 decreed that the crown should have passed to Robert the Bruce’s brother, Edward, if The Bruce did not produce an heir, which would have been interesting. Edward at the time of his death in 1318 was the, albeit disputed, High King of Ireland, this might have united the two countries, but alas he died, and also he had no children or they would have been in line before the Stewarts.

After Edward died, a hastily arranged Parliament decreed the crown should pass through Marjorie, should an heir not be produced beforehand. All these acts, and if and buts during the decade after Bannockburn were cancelled out when The Bruce and Elizabeth de Burgh produced an heir. King David II though married twice, failed to have any children to either wife, he is also said to have had a number of mistresses, I can find no evidence of any illegitimate children either, and so it reverted to the line through Marjorie Bruce, daughter of Robert I.

Young Robert was well thought of with one chronicler describing him to be

‘for the innate sweetness of his disposition generally beloved by true-hearted Scotsmen’.

Over 600 years later the jury is still out on Robert II, some say he was quite ineffective, the machinery of government was allowed to stagnate with Robert using honours as a way of controlling the more powerful barons. The rule of law was also weakened and crimes went unpunished. Direct taxation lapsed and barons and officials siphoned off money from customs duties, nothing changes in that way I bet!

Others say this style of bestowing honours made him a successful monarch, me I see little startling in his life, except his recruiting John Barbour to write the life of his namesake King Robert I, “The Brus” The epic tale is a mine of information about our most famous King.

Robert the second was also the father of one of the nastiest pieces of work in Scottish history, Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, the Wolf of Badenoch, his father backed his method of “management.”

In dealings with England he was most successful with a The victory of the Scots over the English at the Battle of Otterburn, it was tainted by the loss of James, Earl of Douglas, more of that in August.

Robert II toured the north-east of the kingdom in late January 1390 and returned to Dundonald Castle in Ayrshire where he died on 19th April and was buried at Scone on 25th April

What he lacked in his leadership he made up for in another field, he had 14 children by his two wives and at least another seven to other women, this was to cause conflict with later generations, but it left no shortage of potential heirs, his eldest son, John succeeded him, taking the name King Robert III.

Pics are Robert and a gif of how Dundonald Castle may have looked, made by my friend Andrew Spratt.