Caledonia Heritage

Kirkoswald Old Church dates back to 1244 when the monks of Crossraguel Abbey built a stone church to replace the shrine commemorating the great battle fought by St Oswald in 634 AD against the Welsh king, Cadwallon at Heavenfield, near Hexham. The word “kirk” means “church”. It is also possible that Robert the Bruce [...]

Since Ayrshire is Burns country and I’ve just returned from there, I thought I’d add more to the Burns theme by introducing you to the cottage of Souter Johnnie in Kirkoswald, Ayrshire. Souter Johnnie was a character from the famous Tam O’Shanter poem which Burns wrote in 1790 and is based on one of [...]

Discover My Past is a new genealogy and reference magazine solely dedicated to Scotland and its people. The magazine is available online or can be downloaded as a PDF file to be read offline.
The magazine shows you how to trace your Scots ancestry, as well as giving you a valuable insight into how your [...]

The Who Do You Think You Are Live! event takes place from 27 February to 1 March at the Olympia, London and is the biggest gathering of family history resources in the UK. There will be a number of workshops and exhibitions dedicated to different aspects of genealogy as well as a series of theatre [...]

William Burns, the father of Robert Burns, leased a small piece of land in 1757 in Alloway where he built the little cottage that is now famous the world over as Burns Cottage. William married his sweetheart, Agnes, in December of that year and a year later, their first son, Robert, was born on 25 [...]

On 21 December 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 exploded in the air and then crashed down into the small town of Lockerbie. All 259 passengers and crew were killed, as well as 11 people on the ground.
Twenty years on, a series of events will be held in both Scotland and America to remember those who [...]