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Months in 2009 edit
- January
The Storr is a rocky hill on the Trotternish peninsula of the Isle of Skye. The hill presents a steep rocky eastern face overlooking the Sound of Raasay, contrasting with gentler grassy slopes to the west.
The Storr is prime example of the Trotternish landslip, the longest such feature in Great Britain.
The area in front of the cliffs of The Storr is known as The Sanctuary. This has a number of weirdly shaped rock pinnacles, the remains of ancient volcanic plugs. One of the most famous of these is known as The Old Man of Storr.
- February
Crail is a former royal burgh in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland. Built around a harbour, it has a particular wealth of vernacular buildings from the 17th to early 19th centuries, many restored by the National Trust for Scotland, and is a favourite subject for artists.
Crail probably dates from at least as far back as the Pictish period, as the place-name includes the Pictish/Brythonic element caer, 'fort', and there is a Dark Age cross-slab preserved in the parish kirk, itself dedicated to the early holy man St. Maelrubha.
- March
Greyfriars Bobby was a Skye Terrier who became known in 19th-century Edinburgh, Scotland, after reportedly spending fourteen years guarding his owner's grave, until his own death on 14 January 1872
A year after the dog died, the philanthropist Baroness Burdett Coutts, had a statue and fountain erected to commemorate him. Several books and films have been based on Bobby's life, including Greyfriars Bobby by Eleanor Atkinson and the films Greyfriars Bobby and The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby
- April
Fife Opera is a semi-professional grand opera company dating back to 1975, and based in Kirkcaldy, United Kingdom. It has produced over 40 full-scale productions since its inception. At present, it is one of only a handful of companies left in Scotland today producing large-scale operas, the only remaining company routinely to play with a full orchestra, and the foremost company of its sort in Fife.
The Company was founded in 1975 with the impetuous being provided by Kirsty Adam, who was then keen to draw together a number of opera enthusiasts and singers from across the County. In 1978, the Company performed Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors in the thirteenth-century Cistercian Culross Abbey.
- May
Eilean Ruairidh Mòr is a forested island in Loch Maree, Wester Ross, Scotland. Its name was formerly anglicised as "Ellan-Rorymore".
Owned by the Forestry Commission, Eilean Ruairidh Mòr forms part of Slattadale Forest. The islands in Loch Maree are among the least disturbed in Britain and are managed as a National Nature Reserve.
- June
The Scottish Parliament Building is the home of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, within the UNESCO World Heritage Site in central Edinburgh. Construction of the building commenced in June 1999 and the Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) held their first debate in the new building on Tuesday, September 7, 2004. The formal opening by Queen Elizabeth took place on October 9, 2004. Enric Miralles, the Catalan architect who designed the building, died before its completion.
- July
Oban (An t-Òban in Scottish Gaelic meaning The Little Bay) is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. It has a total resident population of 8,120. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William and during the tourist season the town can be crowded by up to 25,000 people. Oban occupies a beautiful setting in the Firth of Lorn. Oban Bay is a near perfect horseshoe bay, protected by the island of Kerrera, and beyond Kerrera is Mull. To the north is the long low island of Lismore, and the mountains of Morvern and Ardgour.
- August
Soutra Aisle, just within the Scottish Borders, not far from Fala, is the remains of the House of the Holy Trinity, a church that was part of a complex comprising a hospital and a friary. It lies half a mile along the B6368 from its junction with the A68.
The hospital was founded in 1164 by Malcolm "the Maiden", when he granted it the lands of Brotherstanes up to and including the lands of Lyndean. The complex at Soutra was built close to the Via Regia, the main route from the North to the Borders Abbeys, the hospital was known as the House of the Holy Trinity, and was run by Augustinian Order and is believed to have been the largest hospital in mediæval Scotland.
- September
Loch Tummel (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Teimhil) is a long, narrow loch, 7 kilometres north west of Pitlochry in Perth and Kinross, Scotland The loch is approximately 11 kilometres long from east to west, and is just under 1 kilometre wide. The loch is traversed by roads on both north and south banks, offering splendid views of the surrounding countryside. The best is probably the well-known 'Queen's View' from the north shore, which Queen Victoria made famous in 1866, offering a magnificent vista over the loch with Schiehallion in the background.
- October
The Scott Monument is a Victorian Gothic monument to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott (not to be confused with the National Monument). It stands in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, opposite the Jenners department store on Princes Street and near to Edinburgh Waverley Railway Station.
The tower is 200 feet 6 inches (61.11 m) high, and has a series of viewing decks reached by a series of narrow spiral staircases giving panoramic views of central Edinburgh and its surroundings. The highest viewing deck is reached by a total of 287 steps.
- November
Arbroath or Aberbrothock (Scottish Gaelic: Obair Bhrothaig) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus in Scotland, and has a population of 22,785. It lies on the North Sea coast, around 16 miles (25.7 km) ENE of Dundee and 45 miles (72.4 km) SSW of Aberdeen.
As a settlement, Arbroath dates back to Pictish times and it remained a small village until the founding of Arbroath Abbey in 1178. Arbroath grew considerably during the Industrial Revolution due to the expansion of the jute industry. A new harbour was built in 1839 and by the 1900s, Arbroath had become one of the larger fishing ports in Scotland.
- December
The Royal Museum is the old name for part of the National Museum of Scotland, one of Scotland's national museums, on Chambers Street, in Edinburgh.
The Royal Museum began in the 19th century and was added to in the 1990s when a new building known as The Museum of Scotland was added on. Both names became defunct in 2007 when they were merged into The National Museum of Scotland. Admission, other than for special temporary exhibitions, is free.