On the Highroad: celebrating Scotland's history & heritage

After 25 years behind the scenes at National Museums Scotland, David Forsyth leads a 10-day journey celebrating Scotland’s history and heritage.

Scotland is a country that punches well above its weight in terms of size, beauty and achievement. Working within the Scottish history and art collections at the National Museum of Scotland, I have been privileged to study up close through many incredible objects the most momentous and watershed moments in Scottish history: Mary, Queen of Scots, the Jacobites, up to the Industrial revolution and the wars in the 20th century. Now, leading this journey, I look forward to sharing this intimate knowledge and taking it beyond the museum, to the places where events took place.

It is often forgotten that, until the early 19th century, the population of Scotland was evenly spread in the Highlands and Lowlands. It is not until the dawn of the industrial age that the Highlands emptied. As we look at some of the magnificent castles, the homes of the lairds and magnates, we begin to understand how the nature of the terrain in many ways made the country very difficult to govern.

The spectacular natural landscape has a lot to do with a sense of Scottish identity. Land and access to it are among the catalysts for migration. We will consider a Scottish sense of belonging in relation to the land and the rich cultural traditions that are still resonant today. Tartan is not made up, in spite of what Hugh Trevor Roper says. We will discover, as we travel about the country, through tartan, through music, through poetry, that this is very much a living, breathing culture.

Intellectual inheritance

In the castles of Stirling and Glamis, we will have a glimpse of life in the Scottish court and one of Scotland’s most powerful landed families. In these remarkable homes we uncover their interests, their art collections, libraries and richly decorated rooms. Edinburgh, was a small but rich, vibrant capital city with its own crown. Europe was very much, the playground of Scots. And indeed, they in turn were very heavily influenced by and imbued with European ideals. There is an intellectual inheritance to explore here, that evolves into the Scottish Enlightenment. As Voltaire said, ‘we look to Scotland for all our ideas about civilisation’.

By contrast, as we move further north on our journey, the landscape shifts. From the rolling fields of the Lothians and Fife we motor towards the Highlands. Here the scenery becomes rugged and dramatic, with moor and mountains all around. We reach Inverness and Culloden, where the story is of how a people were defeated and depressed but still their spirit remained fierce and strong. And that will be a very reflective moment.

Over the sea to Skye

As we travel westwards down the coast towards Skye, we will start to see the sea. Scotland’s long shoreline reminds us how the sea was not seen as a barrier in the past, but as an express route between the shared Celtic worlds, of Scotland and Ireland. Later on, the Atlantic Ocean became the superhighway to North America.

Arriving in Glasgow, we’ll encounter a wonderful city with amazing municipal buildings and superb art collections. This is a city that called itself the Workshop of the World. It was born out of the tobacco trade and the famous tobacco barons who made huge amounts of money and profits which spent on the city. Here we see the architectural heritage of the Scottish Industrial Revolution, which was actually much more intense than in the rest of the UK.

Enlivening our journey will be a sense of the Scottish people: the words of Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, and of course Robert Burns, who wrote the world’s most famous song, Auld Lang Syne. Together with some of the more modern Scottish writers, we will unpack myths relating to Mary, Queen of Scots, Bonnie Prince Charlie and others without spoiling people’s enjoyment. Mary, Queen of Scots is often seen as a tragic heroine. The victim. But, my goodness, she was the only Renaissance queen to lead her army in battle. And there are wonderful stories to be told about her, how she stood up to these regional magnates.

Scotland: History & Heritage runs for 10 days from 8–17 May & 18–27-September 2026. Read more.