Love Scotland: Stories of Scotland's History and Nature

This week, Jackie is on the case of a famous painting that disappeared for centuries. The portrait in question was commissioned in 1803 and produced by prominent artist Henry Raeburn. For more than 200 years, however, it was missing and assumed to be lost to time.

Then, in 2025, everything changed. Joining Jackie to tell all is the man who investigated the portrait’s disappearance: William Zachs, a Burns scholar and the director of Blackie House Library and Museum in Edinburgh. What follows is a tale of internal art history centuries in the making.

The Portrait of a Poet exhibition runs at Robert Burns Birthplace Museum until 1 November. Find out more here, and plan your visit here.

To enjoy more episodes of Love Scotland, please follow or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Join Jackie as she discovers the personal stories of Newhailes House, the stately home that belonged to the Dalrymple family for almost three centuries. Diane Martin, visitor services supervisor, guides Jackie through the mansion to highlight the stories of three women in particular who helped to shape its history.

Together, you’ll discover the tale of Janet, the first lady of Newhailes, who managed the estate in the 18th century; her great-granddaughter whose community spirit was a marvel of its time; and Lady Antonia, the last female resident of the Musselsburgh home.

To find out more about Newhailes itself, click here.

To enjoy more episodes of Love Scotland, please follow or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

This week, Jackie is heading back further in time than ever before. Join her on a prehistoric adventure 170 million years in the making as she explores a prehistoric Scotland formed of warm lagoons, humid forests, and dinosaurs aplenty.

Guiding her through this incredible period of history is the palaeontologist Stephen Brusatte, an author and academic at the University of Edinburgh who has also acted as a consultant and expert for Jurassic World and Walking With Dinosaurs. Together, they separate the facts from the fiction and delve into Scotland’s rich history of palaeontology, fossil discovery, and the awe-inspiring animals who once roamed the nation’s landscapes.

Plus, join Hugh Miller’s Birthplace visitor services supervisor James Ryan as he takes to Cromarty beach in search of fossils.

For more on Hugh Miller’s Birthplace, click here.

To enjoy more episodes of Love Scotland, please follow or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

This week, Jackie is exploring centuries of history in less than half an hour. Join her as she discovers the secrets of Aberdeenshire’s Drum Castle, covering everything from Robert the Bruce to James VI, the Jacobite Uprising of 1745 to the majesty of the walled gardens. Plus, Jackie learns all about the Trust’s Timesliders project, which opens up history to new generations.

To find out more about Drum Castle, and to start planning your visit, head to the website.

To enjoy more episodes of Love Scotland, please follow or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

This summer, we’ve been celebrating the best of Scottish books and authors. In the final instalment, we’re turning our attention to the nation’s rich world of non-fiction. This episode, first released in 2024, looks at the fascinating legacy of Scotland’s most recognised queen.

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Arguably the most famous monarch in Scottish history, Mary, Queen of Scots remains a figure of global intrigue more than 400 years after her death. One question, then: why?

In a previous episode of Love Scotland, Jackie explored the life and times of Mary. Today, she’s on a mission to find out why Mary’s story and legacy have been pored over in such detail for centuries.

Joining Jackie in the studio is Professor Steven Reid of the University of Glasgow, who is also the author of The Afterlife of Mary, Queen of Scots. Together, they unpick the posthumous interest in Mary, the many different perceptions of her legacy, and how Mary’s death has been used throughout history to further different groups’ objectives.

For more information on Falkland Palace, click here. 

This summer, we’re celebrating the best of Scottish books and authors. To mark the occasion, we’re re-releasing a gem from a previous season of Love Scotland featuring Outlander author Diana Gabaldon.

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Jackie Bird is joined by author Diana Gabaldon to discuss her best-selling books, its TV adaptation, and how the Outlander effect has shaped global perceptions of Scotland.

Outlander tells the story of a time-travelling nurse from the 20th century who falls in love with an 18th century Highland warrior. The early books span several places now cared for by the National Trust for Scotland, including Culross, Falkland Palace, and Culloden.

In this episode, Diana reveals the origins of the Outlander story, her visceral reactions to visiting Culloden herself, and her first thoughts on the new series of the popular TV adaptation which begins airing on 16 June.

Plus, she reveals some secrets from the future of the franchise, including the next book instalment.

To find out more about some of the places mentioned in this episode of Love Scotland, click here.

This summer, we’re celebrating the best of Scottish books and authors. To mark the occasion, we’re re-releasing a gem from a previous season of Love Scotland that discusses the history of an incident made famous by Compton Mackenzie’s 1947 classic Whisky Galore.

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In 1941, cargo ship the SS Politician ran aground near Eriskay, an island in the Hebrides. On board? Some 22,000 cases of whisky. What followed has been immortalised on page and screen in Whisky Galore, a retelling of how local islanders made the most of the unexpected arrival of so much alcohol, and how the authorities tried to stop them.

But what really happened? Jackie Bird is joined by journalist Roger Hutchinson, author of Polly, The True Story Behind Whisky Galore, to discover the truth about SS Politician and its valuable cargo.

To enjoy more episodes of Love Scotland, please follow or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. 

For more information on Canna House collection, click here.

This week, Jackie is kickstarting a summer of reading-related episodes with one of Scotland’s most beloved writers, Denise Mina. The Scottish author, active for 30 years and the writer of multiple award-winning and best-selling books, is in the studio to talk about juggling facts and fiction in historical works.

Her 2021 book, Rizzio, revolves around the murder of David Rizzio, Mary, Queen of Scots’ secretary. It tells the story, based on true events, through a contemporary lens, and Denise explains how her wider writing experience led her to this project.

To enjoy more episodes of Love Scotland, please follow or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

This week, Jackie is at Ben Lomond to dig into another strand of the National Trust for Scotland’s work: its Plan for Nature. Joined by the Trust’s head of nature conservation, Jeff Waddell, Jackie discovers some of the nature conservation work being done across the country, including at Mar Lodge, Canna and St Kilda.

And, while surrounded by a cloud of midges, Jeff shares some of the success stories from recent years, including increased populations of corncrakes. You’ll also hear how the Trust talks about the wildlife it conserves, how new technology is helping with the Trust’s work, and what goes on behind-the-scenes to care for Scotland’s landscapes and wildlife.

To find out more about Ben Lomond, click here.

To take part in the Scottish Animal World Cup, visit the Trust’s Facebook, Instagram or TikTok. A winner will be crowned on 19 July.

Find out more about the Trust’s Plan for Nature progress by clicking here.

Arguably one of the best known monarchs of all, Henry VIII casts a long shadow through British history books. But, what influence did Henry have on Scotland?

That’s the focus of this week’s episode, in which Jackie and her guest explore the complex and dramatic relationship between Henry and the kingdom that lay to the north.

Author Dr Steven Veerapen talks us through the politics and religious influences that shaped Henry VIII’s rule and its impact on Scotland, and how an Auld Alliance prevented war from breaking out.

To enjoy more episodes of Love Scotland, please follow or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.