Scottish West Highland Tales

Scottish West Highland Tales. In the Highlands of Scotland the Seanachie, or Bard, occupies an honoured place in the household of every clan chief. The multitude of tales they told were passed on from generation to generation over many centuries, yet the stories still retain their vivid sharpness and interest. Fitzroy Maclean himself assumes the role of storyteller in this book, with a personal collection of favourite tales from his native land. Ranging from the thousand-year-old tale of ‘Deirdre of the Sorrows’ to tales of brave warriors, treacherous love, and the mischievous or chilling influences of ghosts and spirits, this is an entertaining and evocative collection. Some stories are surprisingly candid and bawdy, some are shocking, many are very amusing, and all are marvellous testaments to the wonders of the human imagination. West Highland Tales.

Sir Fitzroy Maclean of Dunconnel, Fifteenth Keeper and Captain of Dunconnel in the Isles of the Sea, served as a diplomat, as a soldier and as an MP. He also enjoyed considerable success as an author; Eastern Approaches has sold over a million copies worldwide and he subsequently enjoyed huge success with an acclaimed biography of Bonnie Prince Charlie. One of Argyllshire’s best known characters, he lived at Strachur House and died in 1996.

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Scottish Highland Yesterdays

The Back O' the Hill. Highland Yesterdays. This book is a blend of memories of a boyhood spent, just after the war, at Craigag, the earl of Morton's Victorian shooting lodge near Glenfinnan, and a study of the history of that small once-Gaelic place. It is written from the point of view of some scholarship, and from the point of view of someone whose historical and ethnographic research work has been done mostly from Judique in Cape Breton. The author's imaginative and stimulating blend of personal reminiscence and rigorous research demonstrates that Highland history can almost always be, and often best is, done from a local starting point. It exposes the first struggles from ruralism into industrialism on the fringes of Lochaber and Ardgour and what happened in a depopulated area of Gaelic Scotland for a century from 1840. The Back O' the Hill: Highland Yesterdays.

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The Scottish Graveyard Miscellany

The Scottish Graveyard Miscellany. In A Scottish Graveyard Miscellany, Hamish Brown explores in words and extraordinary pictures the folk art of Scottish graveyards from the eighteenth century (when gravestones began to be widely used) to the present day. Each old kirkyard is a riotous celebration of folk art: there are skulls and skeletons, ships and lighthouses, angels galore, carved portraits of our forebears and even a gravestone decorated with a picture of Bart Simpson and his skateboard! More than mere memorials, the graves are a collection of pages in stone taken from the history of Scottish everyday life. Scotland's kirkyards are not gloomy places to be shunned, but places to find vivid stories from the lives of people, without distinction of class or creed. There is much humour in this book, and the photographs throughout taken by the author illustrate better than words why we should look after the unique treasuries in our midst. The Scottish Graveyard Miscellany: The Folk Art of Scotland's Graves.

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Stone of Destiny

Best Scottish Books. Stone of Destiny. This title is now a major Hollywood film starring Robert Carlyle and Billy Boyd. Ian Robertson Hamilton was an unknown law student at Glasgow University until Christmas Eve 1950. On that night, assisted by Alan Stewart, Gavin Vernon and Kay Matheson, he took the Stone of Destiny from beneath the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey and in doing so became a Scottish national hero. In England, however, the act had the opposite effect and a manhunt for the 'vulgar vandals' was started to satisfy the outrage of the English establishment and bring them to justice. In the end, the Stone was given up, but the gang were not charged. This solitary act set Hamilton on a path for the rest of his life from which he has not diverged. Although, it is now nearly sixty years since that fateful night, it is the actual events surrounding the taking of the Stone which hold people spellbound when Hamilton recounts them.In this book, Ian Hamilton has set down the chain of events which led to his decision to go to London, remove the Stone and a minute-by-minute account of the act and the aftermath. But this is not simply a retelling of a stunt that made nationwide news, it is a book about how a nation's conscience was stirred by a symbolic act that changed lives of many. Stone of Destiny.

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Scottish Myth and History

Scottish Myth and History. "I believe that the whole history of Scotland has been coloured by myth; and that myth, in Scotland, is never driven out by reality, or by reason, but lingers on until another myth has been discovered, or elaborated, to replace it," so wrote Hugh Trevor-Roper. This book argues that while Anglo-Saxon culture has given rise to virtually no myths at all, myth has played a central role in the historical development of Scottish identity. Trevor-Roper explores three myths across 400 years of Scottish history: the political myth of the 'ancient constitution' of Scotland; the literary myth, including Walter Scott as well as Ossian and ancient poetry; and the sartorial myth of tartan and the kilt, invented ironically by Englishmen in quite modern times. Trevor-Roper reveals myth as an often deliberate cultural construction used to enshrine a people's identity. While his treatment of Scottish myth is highly critical, indeed debunking, he shows how the ritualisation and domestication of Scotland's myths as local colour diverted the Scottish intelligentsia from the path that led German intellectuals to a dangerous myth of racial supremacy This compelling script was left unpublished on Trevor-Roper's death in 2003 and is now made available for the first time. Written with characteristic elegance, lucidity and wit, and containing defiant and challenging opinions, it will absorb and provoke Scottish readers and intrigue many others. The Invention of Scotland: Myth and History.

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Best Scottish Books April 2008

Best Scottish Books April 2008.

Flower of Scotland

Flower of Scotland Roy Williamson, My Father. This is Karen Williamson's own very personal view of her father and of life with fame and The Corries, based on memories from her childhood onwards as well as of others, with a foreward by Ronnie Browne. "Flower of Scotland" - Roy Williamson, My Father.

A Gallus Collection of Scottish Words

A Gallus Collection of Scottish Words. The Little Book of Scotland is a gallus collection of words of wit and wisdom by and about the Scotland football team's players, managers and officials from the Wembley Wizards to Alex McLeish's Euro 2008 campaigners. The book will contain over 150 brave-hearted football quotes. Each quotation will be dated and attributed to its source and, where appropriate, entries will be accompanied by explanatory asides and/or supporting statistics. The sayings will appear in no particular order, but where connections and themes emerge these will be taken into account. The Little Book of Scotland.

Scottish Journal

The Guynd. A Scottish Journal. The author describes her life married to a Scottish laird and dealing with a grand but crumbling Georgian mansion, troublesome tenants, and an intractable class system. The Guynd: A Scottish Journal.

Scottish Whisky Dream

Scottish Whisky Dream. Whisky Dream. One Man's Battle to Resurrect an Islay Jewel. The extraordinary story of one man's dream to raise from the dead not one, but two of Islay's most cherished malts. After a hard-fought battle, former wine merchant Mark Reynier, together with old business partner Simon and masterblender Jim McEwan reopened Bruichladdich in 2001 after seven years of silent mash-tuns. Their astonishing journey involved scrapes with a top secret MOD submarine, U.S. military satellites, the CIA, faceless multinationals, patronising bank staff, supply problems, all-new international sales and distribution network, and an eleventh hour, GBP7.5 million bank loan. Port Charlotte Distillery, closed its doors on Islay in 1929, exactly a century after its foundation, as a direct result of a major downturn in the whisky industry, caused by Prohibition in the United States, becoming nothing more than a windswept ruin.Not happy with achieving what even their families and close friends told them was impossible with Bruichladdich, and after declaring that he would never, ever, ever do this again, Mark set his sights on the traumatic challenge of, indeed, doing it all over again with Port Charlotte.

More than anything, however, this is the story of the islanders themselves, The Ileach: their resourcefulness, their stubbornness, their ancient ability to triumph over adversity. This is what brought, and will bring, both Bruichladdich and Port Charlotte distilleries back from the grave. Whisky Dream: One Man's Battle to Resurrect an Islay Jewel.

Scottish Engineering Legend

The Weir Group. The History of a Scottish Engineering Legend, 1871-2006. In 1871, two brothers, George and James Weir, founded the engineering firm of G. & J. Weir, one of a booming range of industry on the west coast of Scotland. At their Cathcart works in Glasgow, the Weirs produced their own groundbreaking inventions, all crucial to the development of steam ships at that time. Today, 130 turbulent years later, the Weir Group is almost the last of those once-flourishing companies still to retain its independence and its Scottish base. Over the intervening century, Weirs manufactured pumps and valves for ships' engines around the world, oil pipelines and desalination plants, armaments, in the two world wars, and heavy equipment for power stations. Along the way, it was briefly involved in autogiros, the precursor of the helicopter. Rooted in the inventiveness and determination of the Victorian manufacturing age, Weirs adapted to the changing world of the twentieth century, determined always to diversify, win overseas contracts, build partnerships and above all survive. This fascinating story is told by William Weir, a past chairman and chief executive of the company. Combining reminiscence and colourful anecdote with cool analysis of the company's triumphs and failures, this is an unusual company history and an invaluable record of a Scottish engineering legend. The Weir Group: The History of a Scottish Engineering Legend, 1871-2006.

Scottish Rhymes for Wee Folk

Scottish Rhymes. Katie's Coo. Scots Rhymes for Wee Folk. Katie Bairdie had a coo, Black and white aboot the mou. Wasna that a dainty coo? Dance, Katie Bairdie. Mini Katie's Coo is the compact format of Itchy Coo's popular first publication specially for babies and very young children, Katie's Coo, a delightful board book illustrated in full colour throughout and containing some much-loved traditional Scots rhymes along with a few that are less well known. Parents and grandparents will enjoy singing or chanting the words to babies and toddlers while the bairns will love the combination of Scots words and sounds with the bright and simple illustrations by award-winning artist Karen Sutherland. Rhymes featured include favourites like "The Three Craws", "Katie Bairdie", "Wee Willie Winkie" and "Ally Bally Bee". Mini Katie's Coo: Scots Rhymes for Wee Folk.

Scottish Myth and History

Scottish Myth and History. The Invention of Scotland. Myth and History. This book argues that while Anglo-Saxon culture has given rise to virtually no myths at all, myth has played a central role in the historical development of Scottish identity. Trevor-Roper explores three myths across 400 years of Scottish history: the political myth of the 'ancient constitution' of Scotland; the literary myth, including Walter Scott as well as Ossian and ancient poetry; and the sartorial myth of tartan and the kilt, invented, ironically by Englishmen, in quite modern times. Trevor-Roper reveals myth as an often deliberate cultural construction used to enshrine a people's identity. While his treatment of Scottish myth is highly critical, indeed debunking, he shows how the ritualisation and domestication of Scotland's myths as local colour diverted the Scottish intelligentsia from the path that led German intellectuals to a dangerous myth of racial supremacy. This compelling script was left unpublished on Trevor-Roper's death in 2003 and is now made available for the first time. Written with characteristic elegance, lucidity and wit, and containing defiant and challenging opinions, it will absorb and provoke Scottish readers and intrigue many others. The Invention of Scotland: Myth and History.

Scottish Local Heroes

Scottish Local Heroes. How Loch Fyne Oysters Embraced Employee Ownership and Business Success. The extraordinary evolution of Loch Fyne Oysters, the highly successful and environmentally pioneering seafood company from the west coast of Scotland. A remarkably eloquent and inspiring read, it describes how two men from entirely different walks of life founded and built the company, and how the employee buy-out transpired and developed. The founding partners were Johnny Noble, an extrovert estate-owner drowning in debt, and Andy Lane, a marine biologist who was committed to environmentalism from the age of eight. The sudden death of Noble precipitated four bids from large companies keen to acquire the brand, but in 2003 an all-employee buyout fought off the would-be predators, then faced the challenging but energising process of managing an employee-owned company. Local Heroes: How Loch Fyne Oysters Embraced Employee Ownership and Business Success.

Scottish Warriors and Wordsmiths

Scottish Warriors and Wordsmiths. The Warriors and Wordsmiths of Freedom. The Birth and Growth of Democracy. Did you know that the Declaration of Independence was based on a Scottish declaration of independence from the English from nearly 700 years ago? This book will take you from the days of William 'Braveheart' Wallace and Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Independence in Scotland, to the days when Scottish and Irish people emigrated to the American Colonies and helped George Washington and Thomas Jefferson fight for freedom in America during the Revolutionary War. Follow the thread from Scotland to America and come to understand how important one ended up being to the other in the development of democracy. The Warriors and Wordsmiths of Freedom: The Birth and Growth of Democracy.

Scottish Highland Cowboys

Scottish Highland Cowboys. Highland Cowboys. From the Hills of Scotland to the American Wild West. From droving to driving, heilan coos to long horns, "Highland Cowboys" explores the links between the two cattle cultures of Scotland and America through music, song, dance, and folklore. The vast number of Scots who emigrated to North America, whether through forcible eviction during the Highland Clearances or voluntarily in the hope of a better life, has been well documented. With them they took their culture, their language, their music and their skills. Cattle droving in Scotland was an established profession from the 16th century, and many such migrants took cowboy jobs in the American West. The medium of music paints a vivid picture of their social and personal lives, and describes a mutual exchange as music crossed and re-crossed the Atlantic creating strong links between the old culture and the new. This unique exploration of the cowboy culture sheds new light on the everyday life of the cattle communities. Highland Cowboys: From the Hills of Scotland to the American Wild West.

Scottish Border Reivers

The Steel Bonnets. The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers. From the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries, outlaws reigned supreme on the contentious frontier between England and Scotland. Feud and terror, raid and reprisal, were the ordinary stuff of life, and a way of survival. Power was held by the notorious border reivers, the "steel bonnets," named for their flashy helmets, who robbed and murdered in the name of family: the famous clans (or "grains") such as Elliot, Armstrong, Charlton, and Robson, all romanticized by Sir Walter Scott. In The Steel Bonnets, George MacDonald Fraser, author of the bestselling Flashman novels, and himself a borderer, tells the fascinating and bloody story of the reivers, their rise to power as ferocious soldiers of horse, and their surprisingly sudden fall from grace. The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers.

Scottish Piper Alpha Disaster

Scottish Piper Alpha Disaster. The fire was visible seventy miles away as a distant, flickering flame on the horizon. The heat generated was so intense that a helicopter could only circle at a perimeter of one mile. Flying at a height of 200 feet, the air crew saw that the tongues of flame extended high above the rotor blades. On the surface two converted fishing trawlers inched as close as possible, but the paint on each vessel's hull blistered and burnt, and the rope handrails began to smoke. In the water surrounding the inferno, men's heads could be seen bobbing like apples as their yellow hard hats melted with the heat.

At the centre stood, at least for now, the Piper Alpha oil platform, 120 miles northeast of Aberdeen, accounting for ten per cent of the oil and gas production from the North Sea. On 6 July 1988, its final day, it was ablaze with 229 men onboard. Only sixty-two would survive.

Fire in the Night will tell, for the first time and in gripping detail, the devastating story of that summer evening. Combining interviews with survivors, witness statements and transcripts from the official enquiry into the disaster, this is the emotional tale of what went on, minute by minute, on that fateful night inside an oil rig inferno. Fire in the Night: The Piper Alpha Disaster.

Scottish Stone of Destiny

Scottish Stone of Destiny. The Stone of Destiny, In Search of the Truth of Jacob's Pillow. The first book to explore the reasons behind the theft of the Stone of Scone in 1296 by King Edward I of England and to examine the validity of the myths and legends associated with its origins. It is widely believed that the stone taken to Westminster Abbey and returned to Scotland in 1996 was the Covenant Stone of the Israelites, also known as Jacob's Pillow, which was carried to Spain by the Egyptian Princess Scotia before being moved to Ireland and subsequently to Scotland, and used as the Coronation Seat of the early Scottish kings. The authors examine the political situation between the various kingdoms of Britain and the Church of Rome during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and how very real the threat of another European crusade, like the Albigensian Crusade, must have been felt in Scotland. Also explored are the many theories about the authenticity of the stone now on display in Edinburgh Castle and whether this is the Palladium of Scotland that Edward intended to take, or whether there is another artifact that can make sounder claims to being the genuine Coronation Stone. The Stone of Destiny: In Search of the Truth of Jacob's Pillow.

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Scottish Superstitions of the Highlands and the Islands

The Gaelic Otherworld.Scottish Highlands and the Islands and Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. John Gregorson Campbell (1834-91), a Gaelic speaker from Appin who spent his life as minister of Tiree, was one of a number of outstanding folklorists working in Scotland during the second half of the 19th century. Based on materials which he had gathered in the 1850s and 1860s, his Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland were published posthumously in 1900 and 1902. Engagingly written in an anecdotal style, they introduce us to a galaxy of fairies, witches, ghosts and supernatural creatures, as well as general superstitions and the beliefs and rituals of the traditional calendar. Having been written as a single work, they are now reunited as one volume. The Gaelic originals of Campbell’s shorter quotes are brought out of his footnotes into the main text, and the Gaelic originals of his longer ones have been restored from previously unpublished manuscripts.

In a lively introduction, Ronald Black points to the relevance of The Gaelic Otherworld to everyday social issues in our own time. He illuminates Campbell’s work with extensive explanatory notes and a radically revised biography, supported by bibliography, maps and index. The sheer readability of Campbell’s work disguises its importance, but Black’s meticulous research and innovative analysis enable it to take its rightful place alongside Popular Tales of the West Highlands and Carmina Gadelica as a classic of world folklore.

Formerly a lecturer in Celtic in the universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, Ronald Black is Gaelic Editor of The Scotsman and a columnist in the West Highland Free Press. As well as various anthologies and studies of 18th- and 20th-century Gaelic verse, he has edited Birlinn’s edition of Johnson’s Journey to the Western Islands and Boswell’s Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides published as To the Hebrides. The Gaelic Otherworld: Superstitions of the Highlands and the Islands and Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.