David Don
37 Mosshead Road
Kilmarnock
KA1 4PD
P:-
E:-W: daviddon.co.uk
Summary
I am a University-educated writer, experienced with working on a freelance or voluntary basis since 2010 and
looking for consistent writing work. Check out my website or my portfolio to see samples. I have been trained by
Cambridge to teach English as a second language, taught in Saigon and privately tutored secondary school
students for five years. I also have 6+ years experience working in retail and customer services.
Work
May 2017 Teacher - ILA Vietnam (HCMC, Vietnam)
December 2019
Teaching English at ILA was a fantastic way to focus on language as well as a fun and
confidence-building experience in general. We have to be self-motivated, self-organised
(teachers at ILA make all their own lesson plans and materials) and always bring positive
energy to the workplace.
Aug 2011 Present
Freelance Writer – Self-employed (Kilmarnock/Glasgow, Scotland)
I have created content for a number of different formats, including copy for small business
retail websites and press releases for bands. I also have some experience proofreading and
editing for small business websites.
Mar 2020 May 2020
Web Copywriter - Two Red Crows / Give Me Articles (Cape Town, South Africa)
During Vietnam’s lockdown I wrote 40+ white paper articles, as well as SEO-focused flash
fiction, generally for insurance companies catering to construction workers in America.
Aug 2009 May 2014
Private Tutor - Self-employed (Kilmarnock, Scotland)
I provided assistance, worksheets and handouts (which I made myself), supervision and my
own syllabus of revision to secondary school students in English, Media Studies and French.
Nov 2009 May 2017
Customer Services Assistant - ASDA (Kilmarnock, Scotland)
Every shift at ASDA instilled in me a sense of commercial practice, meeting targets and
talking to people from diverse backgrounds affably, easily and in a way that meets their
needs as quickly as possible. For my efforts beyond my remit I was three times awarded
Employee of the Month (out of over 200 staff members).
Education
Sept 2010 Apr 2013; Sept
2014 - Apr 2015
MA (Hons) English Literature/English Language - University of Glasgow
(Glasgow, Scotland)
Nov 2015 Dec 2015
CELTA ESL Teacher Training - Randolph CES School of English
(Edinburgh, Scotland)
Aug 2004 - June
2010
Advanced Higher (AA, English/Music); Higher (AAAB) - Kilmarnock Academy
(Kilmarnock, Scotland)
Additional skills: Fast typing speed;
clean UK driving license; coding
knowledge; good understanding of
online business practices and
regulations.
Further interests: I love reading and volunteered at a charity
bookshop at weekends, before the pandemic. I write short fiction
and poetry which I have self-published in the past but am currently
submitting to magazines and journals. I have a huge interest in
classic and contemporary films and TV.
David Don
Writing Portfolio
e:-m: -
w: daviddon.co.uk
1. [#CancelCovid - nonprofit; introduction and mission statement]
2. [K2 Coffee - Beverage retailer; landing page]
3. [eatable - vegetarian food delivery app; print advert]
4. [offwhite_hex - marketing and training agency; Instagram campaign]
5. [Year of the Rat - Give Me Articles, marketing agency; flash fiction]
6. [Introduction to DACs and Headphone Amplifiers - audio hardware company;
corporate blog post]
7. [Endless Arcade - Band; new album press release]
8. [GENERATION - Newspaper; arts review article]
9. [Why Is Scotland an Awesome Place to Get Married? - wedding brochure; product
profile]
[#CancelCovid - nonprofit; introduction and mission statement]
#CancelCovid
We can wipe out coronavirus if we work together.
We have two potent tools to combat COVID-19: information and vaccination.
#CancelCovid is a nonprofit drive to sharpen the effectiveness of data while we wait for
vaccines to prevail. We offer simple infographics, web resources and other materials
focused on beating COVID-19.
These resources are made by experienced creative professionals. This lends the facts
more legitimacy to sway unsure or unconvinced readers. The goal is to create a stream
of simple, practical knowledge and help science-backed advice reach as many as
possible.
Simple doesn't mean simplistic. The novel coronavirus is an incredibly complex
problem - biologically, politically and personally. Our job is to refigure the often-complex
information we have and make it accessible to the public.
So, let's start with the basics:
Wash your hands
We touch our own faces about 23 times an hour¹. That's 23 chances for coronavirus
particles to enter your body, via your mouth, nose or eyes. Soap kills the virus.
Wear a mask
Coronavirus is transmitted through fine droplets in the air, from coughs, sneezes and
even breathing. A multi-layer cloth mask blocks 50 to 70% of droplets².
Work from home (if possible)
We know that coronavirus can only spread when two people come into contact.
Employers must ensure this happens as little as possible.
And always keep a safe distance
It has been proven that the virus doesn't tend to linger on surfaces³. So if you must go
out, your best course is to stay at least two metres apart from others.
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What next?
These are facts we have all heard countless times. But the more we see an idea, the
more it sinks in, becoming second nature. What if we could internalise even more
aspects of the pandemic? What do you - or those around you - know about vaccine
efficacy, incubation periods, or Vitamin D? Provisional information is out there, but it
often gets lots in the shuffle.
Less confusion means a more focused drive against the virus.
To help with this drive yourself, have a look through our resources and share anything
you like. Remember to use the hashtag #CancelCovid to help this initiative build
momentum and make a real difference.
[Browse Resources Button]
Sources:
1. National Library of Medicine, 'Face touching: a frequent habit that has implications for hand
hygiene'
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 'Community Use of Cloth Masks to Control
the Spread of SARS-CoV-2'
3. The Lancet, 'Exaggerated risk of transmission of COVID-19 by fomites'
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[K2 Coffee - Beverage retailer; landing page]
Wake up on a silent crystal peak.
Sip K2 coffee for a rush of crisp mountain air, to blow away the
morning fog.
● 100% organic and ethically sourced.
● An array of flavours and strengths.
● Bottles crafted from recycled materials.
Visit our shop:
[K2 coffee Icon]
Connect with us:
[FB Icon] [IG Icon]
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[eatable - vegetarian food delivery app; print advert]
Two Recipes for Coconut Tofu Curry
Recipe 1:
Recipe 2:
1. Halfway through 90 Day Fiancé, remember
it’s your turn to cook dinner. (For extra
flavour, sprinkle in a not-very-nice word.)
1. Order the curry on eatable.
(Oh, and add a peshwari naan.)
2. Boil water in a large pot.
3. Google ‘substitutes for tumeric’.
2. Watch 90 Day Fiancé, letting the
episode play for 30-50 minutes.
3. Serve up and enjoy.
4. Marinate the tofu. (Which you should have
done last night.)
5. Get your fingers nice and garlicky doing
battle with the crusher.
6. Sniff an aroma of scorched pot as the last
water evaporates. Sink to the floor and let out
a groan. You’ll know it’s done when you hear
concerned voices and knocks at the kitchen
door.
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[offwhite_hex - marketing and training agency; Instagram campaign]
Bio:
Testimonial:
offwhite_hex
offwhite_hex “Just one day after our first
Zoom meeting, I got an email from OH
detailing our whole action plan, point by point.
They took everything I’d asked for and came
up with a vision that I instantly knew was
effective - and mine.” Chris Wright, owner
and CEO, Northlight Promotions. [Full story in
bio
]
Digital branding and marketing agency,
based in Glasgow, Scotland.
You make it. We make it better.
Top content
| Training courses
| More
views
👋
👍
👌
👆
like2b.uy/offwhite_hex
General promo:
Engagement post:
offwhite_hex As humans, stories are among
the most powerful tools we have.
Marketing is storytelling. We focus, first and
foremost, on people (you) and create the best
story possible (your brand) to keep customers
absorbed. Follow the link in our bio to start
telling yours ☝
offwhite_hex Who’s using the time at home
to build their brand for post-lockdown life?
Any new insights? Tips or tricks?
Drop a comment and let us know ☝
#WorkFromHome
Discount offer:
[below fold]
offwhite_hex This month we’re offering a
40% discount on our Digital Design training
course!
Enter the discount code: OH4040 at checkout
on our site
Or follow the link in our bio
🎉
💻
👆👆👆
Learn the basics of design for web and apps,
and make your own site professional-grade.
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Gallery advert:
Picture 1 image overlay:
Picture 2 image overlay:
BUILD YOUR BRAND
WE’LL MOCK UP SAMPLES
FROM YOUR BRIEF
WORK WITH A
PROFESSIONAL CREATIVE
MARKETING TEAM
BROWSE THEM, GIVE
FEEDBACK AND WE’LL
SUIT OUR WORK TO YOUR
NEEDS
Picture 3 image overlay:
WE CREATE NAMES, UX/UI
LAYOUTS, LOGOS,
MESSAGING AND MORE
👇
FOLLOW THE LINK IN OUR
BIO
TO FIND OUT
Post body:
offwhite_hex Many are using
this time to take apart their
branding and rebuild. Let us
help you.
Drop us a message,
comment here, or follow the
link in our bio to get started
👆
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[Year of the Rat - Give Me Articles, marketing agency; flash fiction]
Year of the Rat
That little rat is always at our door. He likes the shoes. We’ve put out traps (humane) and
moved our footwear indoors. He still comes.
Maybe he’s bold because it’s his year. A year of vitality: the females can have around 5000
annual youngsters. But he’s the same rodent. You can tell. He looks lost now, sniffing
where the shoe rack was.
He reminds me of my faraway younger brother, who actually is a Rat – born 1996. Not to
slight my brother. Just, he’s persistent to a fault when he wants to be.
But perhaps it’s no fault. In my case, I gave up rat-catching after one attempt. Now I’m
sitting here complaining.
*
I select a sacrificial welly and head out. He’s there. I brandish the heavy old boot toward
him, then place it halfway down the path and return inside. Through glass I watch him
scamper over, sniffing and prodding. He seems thrilled.
This is your year, little rat. Enjoy it while it lasts.
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[Introduction to DACs and Headphone Amplifiers - audio hardware company; corporate
blog post]
An Introduction to… DACs and Headphone Amplifiers
by David Don
RHA’s DACAMP M1, set for release later this year, is a portable device which integrates
a DAC (digital-to-analogue converter) and a headphone amplifier. In basic terms, these
elements combine to let your media player and headphones produce high fidelity,
reference-grade sound.
If you are wondering whether this is worth adding to your audio setup - believe me, it is.
To understand why, an outline of how DACs work might be useful.
Overview of DACs and Headphone Amplifiers
We first have to look at the types of information that are conveyed through audio
devices.
An analogue audio signal is the continuously changing voltage that passes through the
cables of microphones, speakers and headphones. Variations in this electrical signal
represent the shifting air pressure of sound waves.
Put simply: when a microphone picks up a sound, it sends a corresponding charge
down its wires. Vice-versa, a set of headphones know which sound waves to reproduce
because they receive the analogue signal that represents those sound waves, via the
cable.
For recorded audio, these analogue signals need to be stored somewhere if we want to
use them again. Digital storage is by far the most common modern method. When a
signal is stored digitally it is represented by a binary code (a set of 1s and 0s) on the
hard-drive of a media device.
A DAC is a processor that takes the stored binary code and turns it into the analogue
signal that will make your headphones reproduce the original sound that was recorded.
A headphone amplifier takes the analogue signal that comes out of the DAC and
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provides it with electricity, boosting the signal to a level where it is audible through
headphones.
When attached to a less powerful onboard DAC and amplifier, components that most
computer and smartphone manufacturers do not particularly focus on (mainly for
economy of space and production costs). Even high-end headphones can suffer from a
loss of detail and volume and will not be able to realise their potential functionality or
sound fidelity. An external device like the DACAMP takes over from the playback
device’s on-board DAC and amplifier and raises the level of intricacy with which the
binary code is converted back to analogue, as well as increasing the amount of
electricity supplied to the headphones.
What does this all add up to for you? It's simple: the final sound is crisper, clearer and
louder. The separate amplifier uses its extra power to manage the varying impedance
levels between devices and headphones, so that there is less distortion of the stored
signal in the final sound. And, of course, it raises the potential volume without risk to
your headphones or sound quality.
Introducing the DACAMP M1
RHA’s DACAMP M1 performs these basic purposes and raises the game even further.
It has a frequency response from 1Hz to 100Khz, so it can convey the broadest, richest
sounds available to the human ear, and power in-ear models from 8-150 ohms and
bigger XLR-based headphones from 8-600 ohms without disruption.
It also houses two asynchronous USB ports, meaning that the DAC controls the rate of
data transmission from the devices plugged into them. This prevents audio ‘jitters’
caused by background processes on said devices - such as web browsing or gaming and allows the audio to flow through smooth and uninhibited.
The DACAMP is a versatile, powerful device that will get your headphones and media
device working to their full capacity. If you want to improve your listening experience
without buying a new set of headphones or player, then it's worth adding to your audio
setup.
The RHA DACAMP M1 will be on sale later in 2016. For more information, check the
DACAMP M1 product page.
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[Endless Arcade - band; new album press release]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New Album Announcement
Teenage Fanclub: Endless Arcade
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND — Teenage Fanclub are chuffed to announce the release of their next
album, Endless Arcade, following 2016's Here.
This is the Fannies' first album with new member Euros Childs (of Gorky's Zygotic Mynci) after
he joined the band in January 2019. The full lineup comprises: Norman Blake (rhythm guitar,
vocals), Raymond McGinley (lead guitar, vocals), Euros Childs (keyboards, vocals), Dave
McGowan (bass) and Francis MacDonald (drums).
Building on sounds featured in the lead singles 'Everything is Falling Apart', 'Home' and 'I'm
More Inclined', Endless Arcade holds honeyed melodies, jangling guitars and meditative words.
For troubled times, it's a small, sunny antidote.
Of the title, Raymond says: "I think of an endless arcade as a city that you can wander through,
with a sense of mystery - an imaginary one that goes on forever." All songs on the album were
written by Norman and Raymond, with contributions from the band. The album was
self-produced by Teenage Fanclub.
This is the full tracklist:
1. Home
2. Endless Arcade
3. Warm Embrace
4. Everything is Falling Apart
5. The Sun Won't Shine on Me
6. Come with Me
7. In Our Dreams
8. I'm More Inclined
9. Back in the Day
10. The Future
11. Living with You
12. Silent Song
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Endless Arcade will be released to the public on the 30th of April 2021, via PeMa and Merge. In
support of the album, the band will be touring with some UK dates in September 2021, followed
by a full European and American tour in April and May 2022.
For any questions and promo or interview requests, contact:
David Don
37 Mosshead Road
Kilmarnock
KA1 4PD
-
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[GENERATION - Newspaper; arts review article]
GENERATION: 25 Years of Contemporary Art in
Scotland
By David Don
The late 1980s marked the start of a stark change for British contemporary art. While
the ‘Young British Artists’ in London were pickling dead animals and leaving their beds
unmade, something distinct and important was happening in Scotland, too – a vibrant
creative regeneration, sprung largely from Glasgow.
This was a manufacturing city that had been plagued with post-industrial uneasiness
since locomotive production and shipbuilding had declined dramatically following the
first World War, leaving Glasgow as a 'depressed state' and, in many ways, robbing the
city of its identity. Then the 80s came, and neoliberal policies tore away even more of
the city’s heart.
But hope was not lost. A surge in all strata of the Glaswegian artistic community over
the last quarter-century has represented a bold attempt to reignite this fading energy
and identity. It has sometimes been referred to as the 'Glasgow miracle', although
artists working in Scotland today would be the first to point out that it was no
coincidence or accident - and that Glasgow was not the only city blessed with wonderful
art.
GENERATION: 25 Years of Contemporary Art in Scotland, a mega-exhibition, housed
during the summer of 2014 in over sixty galleries and spaces nationwide, that attempts
to encompass a cross-section of key moments – paintings, sculptures, films and more –
that have succeeded in raising Scotland up as a unique and important landmark in
visual art worldwide.
This effect is immediate. At the top of the National Gallery's entrance stairs hangs Karla
Black's 'Story of a Sensible Length' (2014), an abstract dream-like mass of powder blue
and pink polythene sheets draped from the ceilings and walls and tied up with crude
knots. This piece, made for the exhibition in response to the NG space, blends
childhood colours and the distinct 'newness' of its polythene body to give viewers an
immediate sense that this event is not just a history or an overview of the last
twenty-five years of the Scottish contemporary art scene – it is a reminder that it still has
an abundance of forward momentum.
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Straight from this, visitors encounter the re-staging of a turning point in Scottish art and,
for many, the birth of this very movement, Steven Campbell's 'On Form and Fiction'
(1990). Sharply contrasting the abstracted ‘Story of a Sensible Length’, sturdy benches
point at twelve acrylic paintings, themselves surrounded by detailed sepia drawings
covering the walls, of cats, nudes and guillotine chairs, while Serge Gainsbourg's 'Je
T'aime' plays on a loop. It was his first step away from the 'New Glasgow Boys' and
aims at something bigger than those paintings – he creates an entire immersive
environment, one which settled profoundly over many of the artists who created the rest
of the work featured in GENERATION.
Having moved directly from Karla Black's completely fresh work to the conception point
of the whole exhibition, already the incongruence between the different pieces featured
is clear, and this dissonance continues throughout. Other than their being made in
Scotland since 1990, there isn't a lot connecting the works in terms of style or
chronology. This is sort of the point – modern Scottish art is so diverse and
wide-reaching that it can't be ordered into a neat pattern.
No artist addresses this more directly than the Glaswegian Roderick Buchanan, whose
'Work in Progress' (1995), a set of photographs of five-a-side Glasgow amateurs teams
dressed in AC and Inter Milan's strips, shows how easy it can be to play with identity
assignation, and perhaps says something larger about the 'Glasgow miracle' movement
as a whole, and how unnecessary it is to look for connections between the individual
works.
This exhibition continually reiterates the idea that Scotland, especially Glasgow, is a
powerhouse for creative talent. It has certainly achieved monumental recognition in the
art world – six of the Turner Prize winners since the nineties have been connected with
Glasgow, including the 2010 winner Susan Philipsz, who is not even featured in the
exhibition. There could be no clearer indication of how much material the curators had
to choose from.
Previous Turner winners who did make the cut for GENERATION include Douglas
Gordon, whose influential '24 Hour Psycho' (1993) slows down Hitchcock's masterpiece
of suspense to last a full day, and Hamilton's Martin Boyce, whose striking 2002
Tramway installation 'Our Love is Like the Flowers, the Rain the Sea and the Hours' has
also been recreated in the National Gallery, staging trees made of strip lights and
jagged benches to suggest a utopian park at night.
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These pieces suggest that while GENERATION is an overview of important Scottish art,
there is no need for explicit 'Scottish-ness' in the work for it to be featured. David
Shrigley's woodcut prints and ceramic boots fill one room; Jim Lambie's 'Zobop' (1999)
merges collage, sculpture and installation to turn a room in Edinburgh’s Fruitmarket
Gallery into a shiny, colourful, melting space; and viewers are presented with scenes
from a completely fantastical island by Charles Avery's drawings from his ongoing
Islanders project.
This is certainly not to say, however, that Scottish identity and life does not play an
important role in many of the works. Ross Sinclair's 'Real Life Rocky Mountain' is an
installation that looks at the stereotypical ways Scotland is represented, as he builds a
picturesque hillside from styrofoam and felt, and belts out traditional Scottish songs with
his guitar from the ‘hills’. In Glasgow, Cameron Morgan's mural 'Cameron's Way: Coast
to Coast' (2014) captures Scotland's landscape, wildlife and social history 'from the very
old, to the very new', as Morgan puts it. His open-studio work is housed by Project
Ability, a visual arts company based in Glasgow that supports artists with disabilities
and mental health issues.
Another important feature that characterises Scottish art since the nineties is the rapidly
increasing prominence of female artists. As if to highlight this theme, Karla Black's piece
is the first item presented to visitors, and the radically disparate works of other sculptors
like Claire Barclay, Christine Borland and Cathy Wilkes provide further examples of the
staggering diversity that exists in current Scottish art.
As well as sculpture, female painting and film making is well-represented too, including
Alison Watt's detailed close-ups on fabrics from French nineteenth century portraits,
Julie Roberts' series of often harrowing medical apparatus paintings and Kate Davis'
'Denkmal' (2013), an experimental short film that reflects on the obsolescence of
various everyday objects in the dawn of the technological age, to name a tiny few.
It would be impossible to cover everything important, because, in a way, everything in
this exhibition is important in the chronology of Scottish art. There has been so much
inbound talent in recent Scottish art that each piece of work only serves as a starting
point, a representative of a moment, of which there have been so many that the work
pours out into corridors and, in the case of Richard Wright's 'Stairwell Project' (2010), up
onto the roof and the architecture.
Even so, there's still too much, and certain artists – for example, perhaps the most
characteristic contemporary Glaswegian, Alasdair Gray – are simply not featured. That
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the likes of his work has had to be omitted will inevitably be seen as a travesty by some,
but from a different perspective, it is really a testament to the stupefying volume of
creative talent that has continued to pour out of this country for the last twenty-five
years, showing no sign of lessening any time soon.
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[Why Is Scotland an Awesome Place to Get Married? - wedding magazine; product
profile]
Why Is Scotland an Awesome Place to Get Married?
So many locations, such a special occasion - it can be tough to find the
perfect place for your big day. Scotland is often chosen by betrothed
couples to hold their ceremony (and honeymoon). But why?
There's just something about Scotland and weddings.
For centuries, Gretna Green has been an alluring spot for marriage. Straddled against
the Scottish border, differing marriage laws in England and Scotland meant it stood as a
place where English couples could elope in a fit of youthful ardour.
Today, those laws long-since equalised, it still holds its great romantic power. Gretna
and Scotland are synonymous with marriage.
So, why is it still so appealing today?
Scotland is, simply, a national manifestation of authenticity, from its jaw-dropping glens
and lochs, built over centuries of deep time, to the personalities found in its population,
who are known internationally for honesty, humour, pragmatism and warmth.
Everything about Scotland is rooted in the real. Today, such a place is truly nourishing.
Perhaps there's something in its water, the freshness and clarity of which is commonly
championed by visiting drinkers.
But perhaps it’s not just water they're drinking.
Distilleries all over the country produce some of the finest whiskey (with an 'e') in the
world; Johnnie Walker, The Macallan, Glenfiddich - and so many more, keeping bodies
warm during the cold winter nights (and spring nights, and summer nights...). Scots
brace against the elements and trod them down with warmth.
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No wonder, then, that so many from near and far afield find this Scotland an ideal
environment for them to express - with a bit of Scotch courage - their deepest
vulnerabilities in front of those closest and accept another into their life.
Really - where better to have a wedding? The contrast between the funny, musical
culture of Scotland and its strange, moody landscapes - Skye, Lewis, Edinburgh, Loch
Ness, Ullapool, to name a tiny few - imbues the country with dramatic intensity,
irresistible to those newlyweds seeking a distinctive set of memories. It is an
environment supercharged with emotion.
From wave farms to wildlife protection, Scotland is singular in sustaining and renewing.
Strong marriages are hardwired in. It looks backwards and forwards simultaneously,
matching its bounty of traditions with an openness to new ways. Visitors always run into
contrast and surprise, as well as the humour, empathy and self-awareness that make
Scottish weddings so relaxed and enjoyable.
Why is Scotland an awesome place to get married? Well, there's a short answer for you:
it inspires awe.
But there's more, too. Formal, informal, new and old sit happily together at the Scottish
table, revelling in music, world-class food and drink, and, most importantly, patter.
David Don
Get started planning your own Scottish wedding for 2022. We have a range of locations
and packages to make your most special day into a perfect memory.
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