About Us

The Celtic Society was founded in Edinburgh in 1820 at a meeting convened by Captain William Mackenzie of Gruinard.  Those at the first meeting comprised a group of high-profile Highland gentlemen that included Colonel David Stewart of Garth, who would be joined three weeks later by Sir Walter Scott, who became the society’s first Vice President. The Society’s first meeting was in Oman’s Tavern, situated very close to where Register House now stands.

The Society quickly became established as the principal promoter and guardian of the heritage of the Highlands and Islands, playing a prominent role in George IV’s historic visit to his Scottish capital in 1822.  It received its ‘Royal’ designation from Queen Victoria in 1873.

The Society was in the vanguard of the Highland renaissance that began in the early 19th century and its role in promoting the language, literature, tradition and culture of the Highlands and Islands was recognised with the grant of a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria.

It is as important today as it was then to preserve the history, language and arts of the Scottish Highlands and Islands. The Royal Celtic Society’s members are people with a passionate commitment to that end. The Society achieves that objective by awarding prizes for excellence in the arts and through a programme of annual and one-off grants to Highland games, music festivals, piping and clarsach groups, folk museums, educational projects (including Gaelic playgroups) and literary projects.