The Flower of Scotland

The thistle is the national flower of Scotland and appears on many national emblems. Legend has it that a bare foot Viking invader stepped on one of these prickly plants at night and cried out, so alerting the sleeping Scottish warriors.The first use of the thistle as a royal symbol of Scotland was on silver coins issued by King James III in 1470.

Castle Fraser

Castle Fraser    is in Scotland and is about 250 miles north of Newcastle upon Tyne; shown here as a reflection in a car window on a recent trip to the auld country.

Carter Bar

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Northumberland is England's most northerly County and the Cheviot Hills, along the border with Scotland, are still in the stubborn grip of Winter. This picture was taken today at Carter Bar where the A68 crosses the border.

windows

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Sir William Burrell gave his amazing collection of over 9,000 works of art to the City of Glasgow in 1944. The collection is vast and is contained in a museum known as The Burrell which was purpose built for the collection and opened in 1983. Architectural features from the collection have been integrated into the structure of the building, like the windows you can see here.