Sunday, August 12, 2007

Scotland's European landowners

Yesterday I wrote that 19th century European aristocracts would visit the Highlands and wear the kilt. Today I read in the paper that Vladimir Lisin, Russia's second richest man, has bought Aberuchill castle in Perthshire and the associated 3,300-acre estate. Until his recent sad death, Paul Van Vlissingen a Dutchman an ardent environmentalist, was Scotland's richest landowner. Then there is the Swedish millionairess Sigrid van Rausing, also an environmentalist who owns Coignafern estate. It seems that the new European (industrial) aristocrats are even more committed to the Highlands, and perhaps to the environment here, than were the tsars and princes who visited Queen Victoria at Balmoral and got appropriately togged up for the occasion.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

well heres the thing my family is originally from scotland and dunderave castle was ours and i'm the rightfull hier to the property and all its contents and for some odd reason theres an american living in what is rightfully mine wich i find ridiculous and sad now i can never go see my families history or anything because somebody stole everything from us before we had no choice but to come to canada and well i'm just putting this here to say we our land back and i will do whatever i can to reclaim what we lost if you have any information please email me at tom_mcnaughton2@hotmail.com thanks
sincerely
Thomas McNaughton the 8th