In this episode, Annie and Jenny investigate some of the unexplained phenomena seen in the skies above Scotland. Since the 1990s the town of Bonnybridge has been the centre of Scotland’s UFO activity, with thousands of reported sightings leading to it being crowned ‘The Roswell of Scotland’. It is a hotspot in the greater area known as The Falkirk Triangle, in which many strange and unexplained encounters have occurred. Perhaps the best-known of these is Bob Taylor, a forester who saw more than just trees in the forest.

Want to try out WeeBox? Go to www.weebox.co.uk and enter the code ‘Story10’ for an exclusive discount!

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We’re delighted to bring you a sample episode from one of our friends who makes the tremendously splendid Scotland: A Scottish History Podcast. The episode featured is called Milngavie vs the Monorail - The George Bennie Railplane System.

Listen here:

http://link.chtbl.com/scotland

When we heard the Milngavie vs the Monorail episode, we were entranced by the big emotions around this intriguing entrepreneur.

Annie and Jenny are currently putting together a new season for you and are aiming to make more regular Stories of Scotland Podcasts. Thank you for your support of our show, and our listening to our wonderful friends and their emotions towards the monorail.

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In this episode, Jenny and Annie explore the curious phenomenon in Scottish folklore of the spirits of women being captured by stone. From the glorious mountains of the Five Sisters of Kintail to the Maiden Stone of Drumdurno in Aberdeenshire, we investigate why there are so many stories of women turned to stone.

Also, we revisit Smoo cave to hear a tremendous tale of a loch-protecting Cailleach.

Want to try out WeeBox? Go to www.weebox.co.uk and enter the code ‘Story10’ for an exclusive discount!

Interested in visiting the National Museum of Scotland? Get more information here: https://www.nms.ac.uk/scotland

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Jenny and Annie explore some folklore around a couple of the most common plants of the Scottish landscape. We go out into the wilds of Scotland and have a think about the plants we’re treading on along the way.

This episode is sponsored by WeeBox - go to www.weebox.co.uk and enter the code ‘Story10’ for an exclusive discount!

You can support Stories of Scotland on Patreon! www.patreon.com/storiesofscotland

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Annie and Jenny look at the beautiful environment of Loch Fyne, and explore the folklore that has developed around it. We have some lighthearted fairy stories and a spooky ghost tale around the areas of Inveraray Castle and Stonefield Castle.

This episode is sponsored by WeeBox - go to www.weebox.co.uk and enter the code ‘Story10’ for an exclusive discount!

You can support Stories of Scotland on Patreon! www.patreon.com/storiesofscotland

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Join Annie and Jenny on a trip around the world. The year is 1852, the Potato Famine and Highland Clearances are causing devastation, and hundreds of Scots board The Hercules, a ship destined for Adelaide, but struck by horrific disaster. As they leave their home in Scotland to start a new life halfway around the world, storms, disease, and sharks all plague the voyage. This episode looks at why these people left their homes, the journey they undertook, and their lives in Australia, if they survived to live them.

This episode is sponsored by WeeBox - go to www.weebox.co.uk and enter the code ‘Story10’ for an exclusive discount!

Interested in visiting the National Museum of Scotland? Get more information here: https://www.nms.ac.uk/scotland

You can support Stories of Scotland on patreon, visit www.patreon.com/storiesofscotland to join up!

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We’re sharing the first episode of a new podcast series we’ve just released called Weight of Sand.

This is an audio drama exploring the life and lore of Isobel Gowdie. Isobel was accused of witchcraft in 1662. She lived in Auldearn in the Highlands of Scotland and her witchcraft confessions were detailed and vivid. 30 years after her trial, a nearby village of the Culbin was destroyed in a storm and covered in sand dunes. The sand was so extensive the land was called ‘The Sahara of Scotland’.

Folklore blamed Isobel for cursing this land as revenge. Weight of Sand explores Isobel, her life, and the environment she is said to have destroyed.

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Join Annie and Jenny deep in the Cairngorms, as they climb Ben Avon, but the summit isn’t the goal, instead they take a detour to an astounding rock formation called Clach Bhan, or in English, the Women’s Stone. This rock formation overlooks the surrounding glens, and has been a place of pilgrimage for hundreds of years. Pregnant women from miles around would undertake an arduous trek to this point and ask the stone for a safe childbirth. But why this stone, three-quarters of the way up a mountain? What caused it to be here? Why are there numerous bowl-shaped holes, perfect for sitting? And most importantly, what drew women to this spot, in search of solace and safety?

This episode is sponsored by WeeBox - go to www.weebox.co.uk and enter the code ‘Story10’ for an exclusive discount!

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Annie and Jenny discover how Skye’s greatest mountains are remains of an ancient volcano. We unravel rich Scottish folklore about Beinn na Caillich: the Mountain of the Old Woman. We discuss the lore of giant women who battled across the sea with giant boulders.

Learn about Saucy Mary, a lost Norwegian Princess and a fake Norwegian Princess.

If you love Skye, this episode is filled with magical mountain lore.

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Jenny and Annie explore the far edge of the Outer Hebrides, St Kilda. We look at the wonders of climbing the stacks of St Kilda, and the seabirds that create a symphony.

We see through the eyes of Evelyn Heathcote, as she spends the night in a sea cave with a group of Gaelic psalm-singing St Kildans. We examine the folklore and landscape of this unique and special place.

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With the 140th Anniversary of the Battle of the Braes, Jenny and Annie set out to try to understand this crucial fight for land reform in Scotland.

We look back to March 1882, when crofters of the Braes area of Skye tried to petition Lord MacDonald to let them have common grazing on the hill of Ben Lee. Lord MacDonald refuses this request, condemning the future of this crofting community into further poverty.

Standing up for their rights, the crofters protest through a rent strike. This leads to the Battle of the Braes, a violent moment in Scotland’s complicated history with land.

We consider how land is at the heart of economic and cultural survival for the Highlands and Islands communities, and why we should never forget the Battle of the Braes.

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In this episode, Annie and Jenny continue their exploration of the women found in the margins of the Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal. It’s Edinburgh in the early 1900s, and a climbing expedition up the Salisbury Crags is derailed when the public notice that there are women climbing alongside the men. Determined, the women keep climbing, but are forced to the edges of the day.

This is the beginnings of The Scottish Ladies Climbing Club, founded by Jane Inglis Clark. Jane was the definition of trailblazing and believed that everyone, regardless of gender, deserved to explore the outdoors.

The geologic significance of the Salisbury Crags as well as the ancient mythology swirling around Arthur’s seat are uncovered in this trip to Auld Reekie.

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Slightly frog-throated Annie and Jenny interview Highland author Jennifer Morag Henderson about her new book, Daughters of the North.

Daughters of the North explores the life of Jean Gordon, from the Far North of Scotland who lived from 1546 to 1629. We learn of the Far North of Scotland during the reign of Mary Queen of Scots, the industries of Sutherland, and some intrigues of the Early Modern court. We share a love of archives, historical research, and the falconry display of Dunrobin Castle.

Content warning: this episode contains some sensitive discussions of death and sexual violence, listener discretion is advised.

You can support Stories of Scotland on Patreon! www.patreon.com/storiesofscotland

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Join Jenny and Annie as they climb uphill on the West Coast of Scotland to explore the beautiful Beinn Sgritheall. We look at legends of the Glenelg brochs, Dun Telve and Dun Troddan, which reveal ancient folklore of giants, feasting women, revenge, and a very bad hair day.

We adventure up the beautiful Scottish rural mountain of Beinn Sgritheall, and spend some time thinking about why hillwalking is so enthralling.

This is the first episode of our new series, Radical Mountain Women, funded by the Royal Society of Literature, inspired by the writing of the Scottish Mountaineering Journal.

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Jenny interviews marvellous author Sue Lawrence and we learn about the women, castle and ghost that inspired her new book, The Green Lady. Jenny and Sue discuss Fyvie Castle in the 16th century and question how early modern women could try to gain control of their own lives.

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Are the Scottish Borders a rebel stronghold? Join Annie and Jenny as they examine the often-overlooked stories of the Border Reivers: the families of raiding, plundering, land-burning, outlaws.

Jenny explores her ancestry roots in the Scottish Borders, to discover she comes from a family of bloodthirsty brigands. We look at Border clans, curses and, calamities as we unpick the ballad of Johnnie Armstrong.

This episode is sponsored by Scotland Shop. If you are tempted to check out some of Scotland Shop’s beautiful tartan garments and fabrics, please click this link to Scotland Shop. https://hubs.ly/H0-0fjl0

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Jenny and Annie learn about the geology of the Scottish Lowlands, and travel as a wee grain of sand through half a billion years of geologic movement, ending up within the River Tweed.

In more recent history, we unravel Arthurian legends to explore the story of Merlin, the wizard of the wilds. A real cornucopia of Celtic mythologies and folklore.

This episode is sponsored by Scotland Shop. If you are tempted to check out some of Scotland Shop’s beautiful tartan garments and fabrics, please follow this link to Scotland Shop. https://hubs.ly/H0-0fjl0

You can support Stories of Scotland on Patreon!www.patreon.com/storiesofscotland

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Join Annie and Jenny as they get in the festive mood and journey back to the Yuletide crimes of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The reformation resulted in the banning of many celebrations, including yuletide festivities. Those caught celebrating were brought before the Kirk Sessions, and this resulted in strangely detailed records of the celebratory practices of the time. Guising and cross-dressing, dancing, eating goose, and baking bread were all punishable by law, listen in to find out more about each tradition.

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Annie and Jenny share some lighthearted folklore on the theme of tartans and plaids! Tartan eels, ghosts and fairies: this is a jolly voyage into rich Scottish mythology.

This episode is sponsored by Scotland Shop. If you are tempted to check out some of Scotland Shop’s beautiful tartan garments and fabrics, please follow this link to Scotland Shop. https://hubs.ly/H0-0fjl0

You can support Stories of Scotland on Patreon! www.patreon.com/storiesofscotland

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Do you want to know the secrets of the bees? So do we! In this bonus episode, Jenny and Annie speak to author Diana Gabaldon known for her bestselling Outlander series of novels. We are celebrating the highly-anticipated release of Go Tell the Bees That I am Gone on November 23rd 2021. Diana discusses her interest and research into Scottish heritage, culture, and folklore.

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