Our annual maintenance trip under our existing Scheduled Monument Consent was canceled this year due to the pandemic.

We have been working diligently with our archaeologists,  Historic Scotland, the Court of the Lord Lyon, the National Library of Scotland, and others to create a draft sign for the island.

As of this evening, we have posted the draft(s) at a temporary website put together to solicit feedback from the community.

AllMacFarlanes.Info

Please visit and register your input!

Joss Durnan of Historic Environment Scotland has provided us with feedback on the proposed sign and on our proposals for additional works. (Many Thanks!)  He may have also offered another option for location of the sign on the island.  We are considering that as well.  More to follow on these soon!

While it is clear that the Regent of Moray granted Andrew the new crest and motto based on his service at the Battle of Langside, there are several accounts of the battle and Macfarlanes' role.    Some accounts suggest the Macfarlanes were responsible for the victory while others suggest the Macfarlanes real impact was inconsequential to the victory.  It is interesting that the Macfarlanes were named explicitly in many accounts ... so were likely of note on some basis.  It is also not clear what action/support would merit the grant of crest and motto.   That said, we have changed the home page text to better reflect the fact that the grant of crest and motto was made based on Macfarlane's contribution to the victory.   

More to come as the signage evolves!  David Connolly and Fiona Baker are making great progress iterating through that!  We should have drafts to share soon!

To all historians and interested parties:  Please do always send us your thoughts if you see something that is 'not quite right' on our site.  We'd love to hear more and love to hear of any references, information, or stories that you may have.

COVID-19 is certainly putting question marks around our planned maintenance trip in August.  We will continue to monitor options.

David Connolly has done a wonderful job creating initial drafts for signage on Elanvow and continues to refine an interpretation of what the castle tower and grounds might have looked like.  There is very little information to base this on, of course, so it is intentionally abstract.  We have the hand-drawn image representing the castle on Elanvow from Timothy Pon't's map (about 1590) but it is hard to confirm details based on the materials we have.  Nonetheless, it is worhwhile to try to paint a picture of what Elanvow might have looked like in the late 16th century.

The main sign would be a low platform, we hope with a stone base, and it will be located at the beach end of Building 1 (per discussion with HIstoric Environment Scotland).

We plan to include QR codes (at least one) in the signage and possible several to link to references.   We are also considering the placement of natural stones, engraved with QR codes, at various points of interest on the site.   Hopefully these will not be noticeable or distracting but will provide a link to location-specific information while on the island.   We also continue to hope for augmented reality presentations on-island and these could trigger those as well.

Be Safe!  Be Well!

Apologies for the apparent gap in entries.  We are still here and progressing at a pace consistent with the complex schedules of the Team!  January was absorbed for Katherine and me by a two week trip to Egypt and February, well February is just short.

We a planning the next visit for the first week in August 2020 with goals to do significant tree/foliage maintenance and, hopefully, to get signage up.   Joss Durnan of HES had recommended a number of maintenance activities in our last visit.

More to follow...

Happy Thanksgiving!  No trips planned before spring, but we are contemplating a maintenance trip in March or April.  Timing may also depend on the progress/approvals for placing the signage.

We are still here and working away.

We have wonderful professionals working with us, but their schedules are quite hectic.  We have concluded that we are unable to influence the pace of the completion of the HES report and the progression toward work on the tower itself.   The tower has been there for 442 years and ... particularly with the work we have done so far ... will be around for many more.   

We had planned to have the HES report completed by the end of this year, but I think that is unlikely at this point.   We will leave the progression of the report and stabilization of the tower in the capable hands of the professionals ... and we will focus on what we can do ... the continued maintenance of the site and the signage.

Thank you again for your continued support!

August 9-12, 2019 were spent cleaning up the island, trimming saplings on the walls and wall heads, and trimming ivy under our existing Scheduled Monument Consent. On August 12, we were fortunate to be joined by Joss Durnan of Historic Environment Scotland.  Fiona Baker took extensive notes on Joss' recommendations for site management and for additional tree removal  and will write up details for review at first opportunity. (Thanks!)   

​One recommendation involved the old yew to the west of the chapel.  It leans badly and has a limited root structure penetrating one of the fence walls.  If possible, we'd like to find a way to reduce the chance of this tree falling rather than removing it.  These old yews are a special part of the Elan Vow environment.  We will also see if we can age the tree.  It is potentially quite old.

In addition, we reviewed possible locations for an informational sign.  After discussion with Fiona and Joss, it was decided that signage should be at the edge of the north landing beach near Building 1 and oriented north to south.  This is least intrusive and affords a view up the hollow way to the castle tower.  We are also engaging Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park for participation in the design and installation of the sign.  We plan to publish drafts for review when available.

Thanks for your continued support!

Our next visit is planned for August 8-13, 2019.  We will do our annual foliage maintenance and plan placement of proposed signage.

Coordinating schedules for August or September visit for foliage maintenance and, hopefully, some report work.   The Board will either donate a cordless hedge trimmer or will figure out how to properly transport one from the States.  If any readers have experience transporting similar tools, please advise.  

We will post dates as soon as we know them. Thanks!

We are also looking for volunteers to revamp the web site.