Famous adventurer Bear Grylls has discovered he is related to the First Marquess of Argyll.
The survivalist – who regularly wears a kilt anyway – finds out in the latest series of Who Do You Think You Are?
Scotland is where he met his wife, Shara. The couple and their three sons live on a house boat on the Thames in London and a private island off the west coast of Wales.
Bear confesses he originally didn’t want to take part in the BBC series which delves into the ancestry of famous people.
After turning the show down several times over the years, he eventually decided to do it, for his mother.
Appearing on the cover of the latest Radio Times, Bear speaks candidly about the experience.
So what are the Scottish links?
Bear is not only related to someone aristocratic, but also someone royal. None other than Robert the Bruce.
These fascinating ancestors loved spending time in the great outdoors almost as much as Chief Scout Bear does.
Through his mother’s family, Bear is related to Archibald Campbell, First Marquess of Argyll.
Today Inveraray Castle is still the family home of the Duke of Argyll.
Archibald Campbell was beheaded in 1661 for his support of Oliver Cromwell and resistance to religious changes originally brought in by Charles I.
The Marquess was unrepentant. And was executed for his beliefs.
Later in the show Bear learns he’s descended from Scottish King Robert the Bruce.
Grylls said: “As soon as I was told we were going to Scotland, I thought that was awesome because it’s where my heart has always been.”
And on the Bruce, he said: “He was a clansman who rewrote the rules of conventional soldiering. He was an inspirational leader who spent time in the great outdoors, he came back transformed and renewed.
“It was epic for me to follow that, and to understand a connecting spirit through our lives.”
Thanks to this knowledge, Bear also now feels justified for wearing his kilt.
‘I love to wear a kilt’
He said: “I love wearing a kilt at home. My sons always laugh at me because I love to wear a kilt when I go out with the dogs.
“I love to go running beside a riverbank near where we live, in bare feet and just a kilt and T-shirt, then I just strip off and dive in and it feels so good, and natural.”
Who Do You Think You Are? season 20 will air on BBC One in early June.
Are you interested in more exclusive and breaking Highland and Islands news from The P&J? If so, why not join our dedicated Facebook page.
Conversation