So when Sir James George Frazer’s book titled  The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion, landed on my doorstep, I was more than enthusiast about its cover design which depicts a superb white unicorn!

Thanks so much Mairiuna for keeping your eyes open.  Had it not been for you pointing me to this great book, I would have missed it big time. Cheers my friend!

The Golden Bough by J.G. Frazer - MacMillan (London) - 1983

I’m really hitting a home run here, as the subjects covered by Sir J.G. Frazer are all up my alley, especially his insights on Body Mind and Spirit, Folklore and Mythology, and Anthropology. What a dazzling seminal work this bulky 971 page book is!

Just to give you an idea of what The Golden Bough is all about, I quoted below excerpt from Wikipedia and Google Books:

The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion is a wide-ranging, comparative study of mythology and religion, written by Scottish anthropologist Sir James George Frazer (1854–1941).

It first was published in two volumes in 1890; the third edition, published 1906–15, comprised twelve volumes. It was aimed at a broad literate audience raised on tales as told in such publications as Thomas Bulfinch’s The Age of Fable, or Stories of Gods and Heroes (1855).

It offered a modernist approach to discussing religion, treating it dispassionately as a cultural phenomenon rather than from a theological perspective. The impact of The Golden Bough on contemporary European literature was substantial.

 

Text copies of the 1922 edition:

• The Golden Bough from eBooks @ Adelaide
• HTML version of The Golden Bough
• The Golden Bough at Project Gutenberg
• Download MP3 of this audio book for free at LibriVox

Source: Wikipedia.com

 

The Golden Bough project, like Frazer’s own imagination, was rooted in the Scotland whose religious controversies of the 1840′s put belief in religion to test both practical – in the establishment of the Free Church – and intellectual, in attempting to harmonize biblical Christianity with evolutionary concepts of human history.

Source: books.google.ca

Peter Goodfellow - Source: http://www.artsbank.co.uk

While investigating about the book,  I found out that the cover art designer was Peter Goodfellow, a well know painter and book cover illustrator that fell in love with Scotland, just as the team here at Scotiana did!

” (…) Fortunately his wife was also captivated by this country and has a great understanding of his consuming passion.

The viewer of his landscapes sees this passion at a glance. The vibrant colours are arresting and the mood which is set can bring a lump to the throat.Inspired by art movements as far reaching as the early Italian Renaissance and German Expressionism, Peter Goodfellow’s paintings divine a rich artistic heritage.

Living in a remote glen in North East Scotland, Goodfellow paints both figurative and landscape works.For Goodfellow, colour is the all important ingredient in his oils and water-colours.

He declares himself to be an ‘out and out colourist’,and often paints the same subject repeatedly to distil colour and form.”Raw colour can capture a sense of time and create a sense of mood and atmosphere” believes Goodfellow.

Often looking to the landscape as a subject matter for his paintings, Goodfellow deftly describes through his rich vocabulary of colour the extraordinary beauty and power of the natural world.”

Source: Art-FromScotland

You are invited to click on the image below if you wish to view some of the marvelous paintings from Peter Goodfellow’s portfolio hosted on The Lost Gallery, which he co-directs with his wife Jean in Bellabeg, approximately 40 miles west of Aberdeen, on the A944, near Strathdon, Aberdeenshire.

Source: http://www.lostgallery.co.uk (Click on the image)

Surprise…surprise!

Just got an email from Mairiuna sending along the dust jacket of the 1949 edition of Sir James Frazer’s book, as well as the informational note she received from the vendor:

This copy was acquired from the impressive private library of Film Director Roy Ward Baker and bears his name to the ffep. He started in the film industry as a gofar boy,but worked his way up to the level of as assistant director on Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes (1938).

He served in the Army during World War II, transferring to the Army Kinematograph Unit in 1943. One of his superiors at the time was novelist Eric Ambler who insisted on Baker being given his first big break directing The October Man, from an Ambler screenplay, in 1947.

Ambler also adapted Walter Lord’s A Night to Remember for Baker’s 1958 screen version.His next two films, The Weaker Sex and Paper Orchid (1949) were popular but overshadowed by the success of Morning Departure (1950), also featuring John Mills.

Baker worked for three years at Fox where he directed Marilyn Monroe in Don’t Bother to Knock 1952.

He returned to the UK in 1953 and continued to work on films.

Wow…thanks for sharing this gem of a book with us Mairiuna

Talk soon,

Janice

The Scots Magazine January 2012

Hi everybody,

I’m always looking forward to receiving The Scots Magazine. Its covers are generally gorgeous and its wee size allows me to take it with me in the tram. Indeed, so deeply immersed I often get in my reading that I soon forget where I’m going to… last time I missed two stations

What I like most in this magazine are the articles devoted to Scottish landscapes and wildlife. No risk for their authors to suffer from white page syndrome for Scotland is a paradise for lovers of Nature. There is a good audience too for everybody seems to be in love with Nature there. I’ve selected two articles in the last issue of the magazine (January 2012).

The  first article, “Jay is for January”  was written by Jim Crumley, one of the best nature writers in the UK and as the title indicates it should appeal to birdwatchers.

This well-known nature writer regularly writes in The Scots Magazine and he is the author of about 20 books, mainly about Scottish landscapes and wildlife.

Jim Crumley’s very lively style, full of humour and poetry, is irresistible.  His  article begins like that : 

“One of those half-dark-at-noon January days moved sluggishly through the afternoon, fuelled by that lethargic species of rain that makes almost no sound but has the capacity to saturate in minutes everything and everyone in its path. It was falling when I was having breakfast, mid-morning coffee, lunch and mid-afternoon-coffee (long sessions at the writing desk are punctuated with excuses for getting up and crossing the room to the kettle), but just when I was thinking I needed the full-blown exercise of going downstairs to the bar where I might have the day’s first conversation with another human being, I glanced out of the window and saw pale light. The rain had stopped and the last hour before dusk promised to be the brightest – or rather the least dark – of the day, so I postponed the pleasures of the bar, stepped into wellies, grabbed a jacket and binoculars, and went out into the sodden world.

It was good to be out, but there was an unease about the forest in such a mood, and it communicated itself effortlessly into the mind of a solitary walker. Then the forest screamed.” (…)

“The forest screamed”!  What an image!

Now, don’t you feel like following the “solitary walker” in the woods? I do.

The covers and titles of Jim Crumley’s books are very inspiring… Something Out There, The Winter Whale, The Last Wolf, Days with the Golden Eagle,  The Great Wood, The Isle of Skye …

A deep sense of place, a poetic approach of nature with a touch of mystery… I like that and I’ve just ordered three of Jim Crumley’s books. I will tell you more about these books as soon as I have read them. The Great Wood, with its beautiful engraving-style cover, is Jim’s Crumley last published book. Yes, there must be  “Something Out There” !!!

Jim Crumley Something Out There Whittles Publishing 2002.

‘Like many a Highland glen, the Fathan Ghlinne should be wooded but isn’t. But I have sat long and often and listened to the ancient river speech, to the windsong of three birches and a rowan, the rowan above a meeting of waterfalls which should be a portentous place. And the word on the wind and in the speech of the river is that the trees and wolves and the people will be back.’ Thus Jim Crumley concludes this remarkable book of nature writing. The setting is largely Highland Perthshire (there are startling asides to Mull and Alaska), the author’s home for several years, and where, having ‘chased a rainbow’ that faded early he stayed on and put down a root that nourished his nature writer’s instincts. Something Out There is Jim Crumley’s account of his quest to rediscover something of the ancient bond between man and nature. It is told in prose that is three-quarters of the way to poetry, and in the process gives the art of nature writing a bold new standard bearer for the 21st century.

Jim Crumley The Last Wolf Birlinn August 2010

In The Last Wolf, Jim Crumley explores the place of the wolf in Scotland – past, present and future – and challenges many of the myths that have been regarded for centuries as biological fact. Bringing to bear a lifetime’s immersion in his native landscape and more than twenty years as a professional nature writer, Crumley questions much of the written evidence on the plight of the wolf in light of contemporary knowledge and considers the wolf in today’s world, an examination that ranges from Highland Scotland to Devon and from Yellowstone in North America to Norway and Italy, as he pursues a more considered portrait of the animal than the history books have previously offered. Within the narrative, Crumley also examines the extraordinary phenomenon of wolf reintroductions physically transforming the landscapes in which they live that even the very colours of the land change under the influence of teeming grasses, flowers, trees, butterflies, birds, and mammals that flourish in their company, Crumley makes the case for their reintroduction into Scotland with all the passion and poetic fervour that has become the hallmark of his writing over the years. This is an elegant, erudite and imaginative account that readdresses the place of the wolf in modern Scotland.

The Great Wood Jim Crumley Birlinn September 2011

The Great Wood of Caledon – the historic native forest of Highland Scotland – has a reputation as potent and misleading as the wolves that ruled it. The popular image is of an impassable, sun-snuffing shroud, a Highlandswide jungle infested by wolf, lynx, bear, beaver, wild white cattle, wild boar, and wilder painted men. Jim Crumley shines a light into the darker corners of the Great Wood, to re-evaluate some of the questionable elements of its reputation, and to assess the possibilities of its partial resurrection into something like a national forest. The book threads a path among relict strongholds of native woodland, beginning with a soliloquy by the Fortingall Yew, the one tree in Scotland that can say of the hey-day of the Great Wood 5,000 years ago: ‘I was there.’ The journey is enriched by vivid wildlife encounters, a passionate and poetic account that binds the slow dereliction of the past to an optimistic future.

I invite you to read the Australian reader’s comment of the book on Amazon, and his page of comments too

The Isle of Skye Text by Jim Crumley Photograpy by Colin Baxter 1st edited by Colin Baxter in 2005

The Isle of Skye off Scotland’s West Highland seaboard, is renowned for the dramatic beauty of its landscape, and as the setting for some of the darkest moments to Scottish history. Today the island is buoyant again, and new generations of islanders and visitors fall uner the spell of its quicksilver light, its quick-change weather, and at the heart of it all, the ancient lure of the Cuillin Hills.
I’ve read The Isle of Skye  before going back there in 2007. It’s a little gem! Added to the stunning photographs taken by Colin Baxter, it contains  a detailed chronology and a very useful relief map of the island* with its main points of interest.

Cameron McNeish Gore -Tex Experience Tour Source: Mountain Equipment

The second article I’ve chosen in The Scots Magazine was written by Cameron McNeish and is entitled “Westward Ho” ! The mythical West call! The stunning landscapes of the western coast of Scotland are worth the effort of a 10-day walk especially when the walker can admire them from the heights of a Munro!

I turned away from the waves and faced west, my direction of travel for the next 10 days or so. Celtic traditions have it that in the far West, off the edges of all maps, lay the Otherworld, or Afterlife. (…)

I’d walked coast-to-coast across Scotland before, but the other way, from west to east, a direction that seemed to go against all my natural inclinations. (…)

(…) I was making a television programme for BBC Scotland, a coast-to-coast walk which I hoped would showcase the diversity of landscapes that we have here in Scotland and you probably couldn’t get more diverse sights than the beach at Aberdeen and my ultimate destination, the rugged hills of Knoydart.

Cameron McNeish is a wilderness hiker, backpacker and mountain walker, author and broadcaster. His programme “Coast to Coast” was diffused on 27 December 2011. I’d like to have stamina enough to follow Cameron McNeish in one of his walks, along some of the most beautiful landscapes of Scotland. It must be very hard to the legs but good to the mind !

The Skye Trail Cameron McNeish and Richard Else Mountain Media 2010

Of all Scotland’s islands none casts its spell quite as dramatically as the Isle of Skye. Celebrated in song and story, Eilean a’Cheo is a place of astonishing natural beauty and attracts climbers and walkers from all over the world. The 70-mile long Skye Trail connects two of the island’s most extraordinary landscapes; the world-famous Cuillin, the most rugged mountain range in Britain, and the Trotternish ridge, a rolling escarpment of basalt hills that look over the sea to the tumbled landscapes of mainland Scotland. This long walk through the island, the ‘Skitis’ of the Celtic world, follows ancient byways, cattle drovers’ routes, mountain footpaths and an old railway line, through a land where the first inhabitants sensed the presence of their gods in every nook and cranny, on every hill and crag, in every corrie and loch. Landscape and weather and an affinity with wild nature made up the very fabric of their lives. The route visits castles, takes in geological gems like the Quiraing and the Storr, follows rivers and loch-side paths and recalls those who were brutally removed from their homes during the Highland Clearances. It visits the site of the ‘last battle on British soil’ and climbs Bla Bheinn, surely the finest mountain on this island of fine mountains. The route then takes its finale along the old Marble Line to Broadford, and the end of a magnificent island journey. The Skye Trail is destined to be one of the most popular long distance walks in Britain. Adopted by the Highland Council as an official long distance walk, it was brought to life by BBC Scotland’s often repeated “Skye Trail” presented by Cameron McNeish. This illustrated book is based on the broadcast and Cameron’s experiences of the trail, the island, its people and its history and environment.

The Munros Scotland's Highest Mountains Cameron McNeish Lomond 1996

We have this book on our shelves… not that we intend to climb the Scottish Munros but why not dream of trying one or two little ones some day?

To give some more breadth to this article just have a look at  some videos made by Cameron McNeish. They will show you Scotland as you’ll probably never see it !

I hope you’ve enjoyed  these few moments  in company of Jim Crumley and Cameron McNeish. What a better  way to discover Scottish landscapes and wildlife than to listen to such  great Nature lovers !

A bientôt. Mairiuna

* no longer an island for some people the opening of the Skye  bridge in 1995. The toll was abolished in 2004.

Château de Chambord © 2012 Scotiana

Hi everybody,

BONNE ANNEE A TOUS !!!

We’re just coming back from Sologne where we spent the New Year holidays not far from Aubigny-sur-Nère and a few kilometers from two of the most famous châteaux de la Loire: Chambord and Cheverny.

Château de Cheverny en façade © 2012 Scotiana

Cheverny is the castle which served as a model to the Belgian comic book creator Hergé for the drawing of his fictional “Château de Moulinsart” (“Marlinspike” in English), Capitaine Haddock’s estate, in the Adventures of Tintin books. Moulinsart castle first appears in The Secret of the Unicorn.

Hergé's "Château de Moulinsart" in The Adventures of Tintin - Source : Wikipedia

On Hergé’s Moulinsart there are no outermost wings but the central tower and the two inner wings have been kept.

Château de Cheverny nursery © 2012 Scotiana

With its beautiful and well-furnished interiors, its magnificent painted ceilings recalling those of Crathes Castle in Scotland, the Château de Cheverny is very interesting to visit. The personal touch given by its owners can be seen in each room and its decoration which changes according to the season still adds to the very lively and cheerful atmosphere of the castle. We’ve visited it several times and it’s one of our favourites.

Château de Cheverny hunting dog © Marie Lorchat 2012

The Château de Cheverny is also famous for its pack of hunting dogs (beagles). I like very much Marie’s photo . The dogs are fed daily, and this time we arrived on time to assist to their dinner. It’s quite impressive !

A big creature waiting for us in the park of Château de Cheverny © 2012 Scotiana

Today, I’m going to tell you a few words about some of the gifts I’ve found under the Christmas tree … those with a Scottish touch

I can’t remember of any letter written by me to Santa Claus when I was a little girl though I’m pretty sure there must have been one at least ! But Father Christmas seems to be well-informed   Otherwise, how could he know that I’m collecting teddy bears, that I’m a fan of Scotland and that I do love books and… chocolates! This year, he has been particularly kind and generous with me for among the many marvellous presents which were waiting for me under the Christmas tree I didn’t find a single one which did not appeal to one of my favourite tastes. Stuck on some of them I found a little envelope with a message full of humour and tenderness. Dear Père Noël, many many thanks …

Now, just have a look at my Christmas presents !

Oeuvres de Walter Scott Histoire d'Ecosse Traduction AJB Defauconpret Furne 1835

 Un chef d’oeuvre en péril !

Il faudrait un miracle pour le restaurer.

Inutile d’appeler l’éditeur, car le téléphone n’existait pas lors de l’impression!!!

Seul un miracle…

(Le Père Noël)

The missing book ! That’s the first one…

A few years ago I had found on Abebooks a rather cheap but incomplete French edition of Sir Walter Scott’s books, translated by A.J.B. Defauconpret. This illustrated collection was composed of 30 violine half-shagreen volumes and had been edited by Furne, Ch. Gosselin, Perrotin in 1835, three years after Sir Walter’s death. Five volumes were missing (I’m still looking for them)  :  I : Waverley, IV : Rob Roy, VI : La prison d’Edimbourg, VII : La fiancée de Lammermoor and volume XXVII : Histoire d’Ecosse 2ème série,  the famous Tales of a Scottish Grandfather. The seller had been very kind to give me seven extra books, wee odd volumes (about 14 x 9 cm) from another collection (I’m also looking for the missing books ) : La prison d’Edimbourg (2 volumes), Le nain noir (1 volume), Les puritains d’Ecosse (2 volumes), Ivanhoe (first volume). These last ones had been edited by Librairie de Lecointe Paris 1830 (Sir Walter was still alive then !).

Oeuvres de Walter Scott Histoire d'Ecosse 2ème série Traduction AJB Defauconpret Furne 1835

So… the book I’ve found under the Christmas tree belongs to a sister edition of my own 1835 edition of Paris, Furne, Ch. Gosselin, Perrotin. Only the cover is different. There seems to have been many editions of Sir Walter Scott’s books at that time in English and in French too. M. Defauconpret was a great admirer of Sir Walter Scott and he was invited to Abbotsford with his wife. I’m very impressed by the huge work of translation he did in so little time.  He was helped in this work by his son. I’ll try to know more about these translators…

Journal des voyages et des aventures de terre et de mer n° 826 mai 1893 - Les Superstitions d'Ecosse by F. Morans © 2012 Scotiana

Les prédictions de la Gypsie :

Epreuve de la pomme et du miroir – Epreuve de la graine de chanvre

Le chou arraché – Epreuve de la meule de foin – Epreuve du van dans la grange.

 

(…) La superstition a peuplé les clairières et les solitudes de spectres ou de génies tutélaires, et le “Shellycoat”, – génie des eaux, qui égarait les voyageurs attardés, après les avoir fascinés par le cliquetis de son armure, – a laissé son nom à plus d’un rocher et plus d’un écueil dangereux.

Le foyer domestique a perdu peu à peu ses dieux, avec les ruines moussues, les bruyères et les grèves. L’Elf seul a bravé le “chant du coq” qui, dans Shakespeare, “dissipe les illusions et les esprits nocturnes” ; il hante encore les vallées perdues au fond des cantons montagneux et boisés ; s’il n’a plus de fidèles que chez les hommes de moeurs simples et de foi traditionnelle, – que n’a point encore atteint le scepticisme moderne,  – son souvenir s’y conserve, indécis et vague, abrité par le sentiment national.

Le voyageur rencontre bien sous les hêtres et les chênes séculaires des ombres épaisses et mystérieuses, mais rien qui ressemble aux êtres surnaturels dont nous entretient la légende. Les arbres contemporains du “Conquérant” étalent fièrement leurs membres tordus et leur feuillage sombre, qui se détache sur les fauves bruyères ; un léger nuage plane au-dessus d’un feu grêle, alimenté de bois vert, qui jette plus de fumée que de flamme ; mais ce n’est point “la braise de minuit”, allumée par le “brownie” fantastique et capricieux ; les rayons de la lune tombent avec une sérénité blafarde sur le toit rond ou pointu de deux ou trois tentes dont la toile grossière frissonne au souffle du vent ; un âne, parfois un vieux cheval, broutent paisiblement en liberté l’herbe courte ; un hibou glapit par intervalle sous la futaie ; hommes et femmes en haillons sont accroupis autour des coquemars et chantent une vieille ballade, interrompue souvent par les faibles aboiements des chiens hargneux ; ce ne sont point les sorcières de Macbeth, ni les génies protecteurs de la forêt, c’est un clan de gypsies, de “Rums” et de “juwas” ; à défaut des fées, on y trouve des devineresses olivâtres et des diseuses de bonne aventure (…)

(F. Morans)

 L’Ecosse est un pays de traditions…

Il est de tradition chez certains de chercher des introuvables, tout en évitant les doublons !!!

(Le Père Noël)

 

Sur les bruyères d'Ecosse P. Kinsbourg et M. Gratiot Paris 1893

Un voyage d’Ecosse raconté en 140 pages !… Disons bien vite que ce récit est simplement l’itinéraire de la sixième de nos excursions. Vous ayant ainsi prévenus, nous serons sûrs, au moins, de ne pas vous tromper.

Dans vingt ans, en relisant ces petites feuilles, nous nous souviendrons de tout ce qui nous a charmés dans le pays de Walter Scott et des Highlanders. Et c’est là notre seule pensée. D’ailleurs le voyage que nous voulons vous tracer n’a pas été seulement une longue pérégrination pédestre à travers coteaux et montagnes : les lacs écossais ont fait plus souvent de nous des navigateurs que des marcheurs. – Que de fois, depuis deux années, nous parlions de cette Ecosse qui semblait toujours nous échapper ! Retardée déjà à deux reprises, cette excursion passait presque à l’état de chimère, et voilà qu’elle nous semble maintenant un ancien souvenir…

(P. Kinsbourg et M. Gratiot -1893)

Mairiuna's Amazon Kindle © 2012 Scotiana

And last but not least… look at what dear Québécoise Mère Noël brought to me ! An Amazon Kindle… WOW !!!… it arrived only two days ago but Mr Kindle is already a great friend of me. For somebody who has always been a book addict and who owns hundreds of old and new books it comes as a surprise !  I can’t believe it.  It doesn’t replace my books but it is quite complementary to them… Just imagine : no more need to take with me a heavy suitcase full of books when I travel… Mr Kindle has already ingested lots of books and my virtual library is growing rapidly. And guess what were the first two collections to enter Mr Kindle’s library? The Complete Works of Sir Walter Scott (Illustrated) and of Robert Louis Stevenson

Now, let us end this post with Scotiana’s good resolutions for 2012 :

more posts but shorter ones (hum…),

reading reading reading Scottish authors… focusing on Iain Rankin, Walter Scott, Stevenson, George Mackay Brown, Iain Crichton Smith, Neil Gunn and many other ones… short stories, ghost and mystery stories, Scottish myths and tales…

discovering Scottish landscapes, castles, monuments, lighthouses…

and, last but not least, the planning of Scotiana’s Itinerary 7 : we’ll share with you the outline, making you know about our choice of places to visit and accommodation (campsite, wigwams, youth hostels, hotels and B & Bs)…

It can be useful to those of our readers who want to go to Scotland, one of them in particular dreams to visit Scotland on his Harley Davidson

Teddy the Biker Scotiana © 2012 Scotiana

Il y a un biker qui sommeille en chacun de nous !!!

Alors bienvenue au chapter.

Teddy the biker.

Bonne lecture ! A bientôt. Mairiuna.

Tombe la neige Source: Le portail anti-crise

Joyeux Noël à tous !!!

Santa Claus will very soon be at our doorstep or should I say up on the roof, ready to drop precious little presents into our chimney, ‘wee surprises’ as Iain and Margaret would say . Why not read or re-read some good Scottish Christmas stories while waiting for him?

Storytelling has always been very popular in Scotland and indeed the country has given birth to some of the greatest storytellers: Sir Walter Scott, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson first come to my mind but there are so many others…

George Mackay Brown being my favourite storyteller, I’ve chosen him to illustrate my purpose. He wrote a number of Christmas stories, some of them being very thrilling ghost stories which I’m particularly fond of. Most of these stories were first published in the newspapers in very attractive Christmas special issues. Some of them have been collected in Winter Tales. The two book covers I’ve inserted below are quite expressive of the contents of this marvellous book which I intend to re-read during Christmas holidays:

Winter Tales George Mackay Brown Flamingo 1996

Light and darkness are common themes in these tales, which all have a fireside ambience.

It is easy to imagine Mackay Brown… enthralling all before him as the peat crackles and another bottle of malt is broached.

(Sunday Express)

It was in winter that the islanders gathered round the hearth fire to listen to the stories (…)

Going over tales I’ve written during the last decade or so, I was not too surprised to see that many of them are calendar tales, that yield their best treasure in midwinter when the barns are full.

The mystery of light out of darkness has been with us since the builders of Maeshowe five thousand years ago. The Celtic missionaries gave the mystery breadth and depth.

I like to think I am part of that tradition.

(George Mackay Brown - Winter Tales)

I am a raving fan of gorgeous book cover designs as those of Winter Tales,  for example, and I always like to anticipate my reading on catching a glance at the contents of a book even before buying it. Below is the contents of Winter Tales :

•  Foreword
• The Paraffin Lamp (first published in Hydro Electric Magazine – 1975)
• Lieutenant Bligh and Two Midshipmen
• The Laird’s Son (1989 in The Scotsman )
• The Children’s Feast (1989 in The Tablet)
  
• A Crusader’s Christmas
• The Lost Sheep (1990 in The Tablet)
  
• A Boy’s Calendar (1990 in The Scotsman )
• The Woodcarver (1991 in The Scotsman )
• Three Old Men (1991 in The Tablet)
  
• Ikey (1992  in The Scotsman)
• A Nativity Tale (1992 in The Tablet)
  
• Dancey
• Shell Story (1993 in Xanadu, USA)
  
• The Architect (1993 in  The Scotsman)
• St Christopher (1993 in  The Tablet)
  
• The Sons of Upland Farm (1994 in the Daily Telegraph)
  
• The Road to Emmaus
• The Fight in the Plough and Ox

Winter Tales George Mackay Brown Polygon 2006

Winter Tales is a superb collection of tender and compassionate tales, focusing on light and darkness, winter and its festivals,

by one of the greatest story-tellers of the twentieth century.

Through a variety of characters from shipwrecked Scandinavians to an Edinburgh gentleman,

George Mackay Brown looks at the impact of new ways of thinking on the traditional way of life of Orkney.

(From the back cover of  Winter Tales  Polygon 2006 )

Christmas Crime Stories The Folio Society London 2004

In my Folio Edition of Christmas Crime Stories I’ve found The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle (L’escarboucle bleue, in French), written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This story was first published in Strand Magazine in January 1892.

Below is the summary I’ve found in Wikipedia:

“Watson visits his friend Holmes at Christmas time and finds him contemplating a battered old hat, brought to him by the commissionaire Peterson after it and a Christmas goose had been dropped by a man in a scuffle with some street ruffians. Peterson takes the goose home to eat it, but comes back later with a carbuncle. His wife has found it in the bird’s crop (throat). Holmes makes some interesting deductions concerning the owner of the hat from simple observations of its condition, conclusions amply confirmed when an advertisement for the owner produces the man himself: Henry Baker.

Holmes cannot resist such an intriguing mystery, and he and Watson set out across the city to determine exactly how the jewel, stolen from the Countess of Morcar during her stay at a hotel, wound up in a goose’s crop. The man who dropped the goose, Mr. Henry Baker, clearly has no knowledge of the crime, but he gives Holmes valuable information, eventually leading him to the conclusive stage of his investigation, at Covent Garden. There, a salesman named Breckinridge gets angry with Holmes, complaining about all the people who have pestered him about geese sold recently to the landlord of the Alpha Inn. Clearly, someone else knows that the carbuncle was in a goose and is looking for the bird.
James Ryder imploring Holmes’ mercy

Holmes expects that he will have to visit the goose supplier in Brixton, but it will not be necessary: The other “pesterer” that the salesman mentioned shows up right then, a cringing little man named James Ryder whom Holmes prevails upon to tell the whole sordid story, by first mentioning that Ryder is probably looking for a goose with a black bar on its tail, a remarkable bird that “[laid] an egg after it was dead”. Of course, Holmes has already deduced most of it.

Ryder, believing he was being pursued for the theft, fed the carbuncle to a goose being bred by his sister Maggie Oakshott. He was to have that goose as a gift, but lost track of which one it was.

Thus, when Ryder cut open the goose and found no gem, he went back to his sister, who had provided the Alpha Inn geese, and asked if there was more than one goose that had a black bar on its tail. She said there were two, but he was too late: she had sold them all to Breckinridge at Covent Garden. Breckinridge already sold the geese to the Alpha Inn, and the other goose with a black bar on its tail found its way to Henry Baker as his Christmas fowl. Ryder and his accomplice — the countess’s maid, Catherine Cusack — contrived to disguise the crime to frame John Horner, a plumber who worked at the same hotel as Ryder and had previously been imprisoned for robbery.

Holmes, however, does not take the standard action against the man, it being Christmas, and concluding that arresting the clearly anguished Ryder will only make him into a more hardened criminal later. Ryder flees to the continent and Horner will be freed as the case against him will collapse without Ryder’s perjured testimony. Holmes remarks that he is not retained by the police to remedy their deficiencies.”

You can read the whole story on Gutenberg website=>  http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1661/1661-h/1661-h.htm#7

Christmas Crime Stories The Folio Society London 2004 Michael Foreman Illustration for Arthur Conan Doyle's The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle

It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an absolutely innocent man,

who had no idea that the bird which he was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made of solid gold.

(Arthur Conan Doyle The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle)

I would like to end this Christmas post on one of the most remarkable stories I’ve ever heard about.  It’s a mystery story but also a true story, the kind of story that can only happen in Scotland . It took place in Edinburgh, the Unesco City of Literature, the very place which gave birth to Sir Conan Doyle, Sir Walter Scott, Robert Luis Stevenson…

Edinburgh mystery sculpture 1 Source Edinburgh City of Literature website

Just try to imagine: since the month of March 2011 where the first sculpture had been dropped on the doorstep of The Scottish Poetry Library,  seven beautiful and very elaborate book sculptures have been left all across the City of Literature by an anonymous artist, all wearing the same tag with the words  “in support of libraries, books, words, ideas.”

I invite you to read the whole story on the Edinburgh City of Literature website. George Mackay Brown would certainly have found this story ‘marvellous’ and written about it in the Orcadian .

Ian Rankin and Edinburgh mystery sculpture Source Edinburgh City of Literature website

‘Ian Rankin, ex-board member of the Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust, drops in to marvel at the sculpture that was left for them.’

Edinburgh mystery sculpture 2 Source Edinburgh City of Literature website

Isn’t that an extraordinary story to enjoy at Christmas, an opportunity to rejoice at the end of a year which has given us so many occasions to be sad and last but not least, in our never ending quest, an invitation to discover more about Scotland and its amazing capital, Edinburgh, the UNESCO City of Literature…

Happy Christmas to everybody!

A bientôt.

Mairiuna

John MacCrae - Scott 487 - October 15, 1968

Ken McGoogan, Harper Collins, First Edition 2010

.

In reading Mairiuna’s very moving post “In Flanders Fields…Lest We Forget…“, a question came to my mind: when did John Alexander McCrae’s ancestors emigrated to Canada?

Glancing through the bookshelves of my library, looking for a reference book that could answer this question, I stumbled upon Ken McGoogan’s  book “How The Scots Invented Canada“.

Ah ah! maybe I’ll find my answer in here…

The book is divided in three parts:

• The Pioneers
• The Builders
• The Visionaries

Surfing down the table of contents, I get to chapter 14:  “Ladies from Hell” where I happily can read the title of a sub-chapter: John Alexander McCrae: In Flanders Fields.

Alleluia! I found something!

But, why in the world would John McCrae fall inside a category such as “Ladies from Hell” alongside with Guy Laffin, Margaret MacDonald, and Max Aitken ?!?

Let’s read on…

(…) But during the Great War, 600,000 Canadians had served in the military. More than 60,000 had died and 170,000 were wounded, including some who were disfigured or dismembered. Today, those figures look almost surreal.

Black Watch Piper Figurine

Proportionately, given a population of only eight million, Canada made a contribution which exceeded that of virtually any other country.

During that war, members of Canada’s kilted regiments distinguished themselves. They performed so valiantly that they became known as “the ladies from hell“, because that is what the German troops are said to have called them. People also marvelled at the ethnic diversity of these Scottish battalions. Canadians of various heritages, including my Huguenot-descended grandfather, had taken to identifying themselves as warrior Scots.

And why not? Scots had begun forging a military reputation in Canada as early as the 1750s. Three Scottish regiments fought for Britain during the Seven Years’s War that saw the defeat of New France: : the Black Watch, the Montgomery Highlanders, and the Fraser’s Highlanders.

The first two had already distinguished themselves in that war, the Black Watch with a ferocious but futile assault on Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga), and the Montgomery Highlanders by capturing Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh) . (…) “

Now we know where the expression came from!

Getting back to my initial quest, here’s what Ken McGoogan reveals about the ancestors of John McCrae.

” The paternal grandparents of the doctor-poet, Thomas McCrae and Jean Campbell McCrae, came from Scotland in 1849 and settled in Guelph, Ontario. Their son David married Janet Simpson Eckford, and John (b.1872) was the second of three children.

He grew up staunchly Presbyterian and attended Central Public School and then Guelph Collegiate Institute. While there, he played the bugle in a military regiment commanded by his father, and also began writing poetry.

Photo by Bill Barber - Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wdwbarber/3012604983/

(…) McCrae had remained involved in the military, moving from Guelph militia regiment to the Toronto-based ‘Queen’s Own Rifles’, where he became a captain and commanded the company. He also continued to write – notably some poems inspired by the death of a woman he loved. While at university, he published sixteen poems and several short stories in various magazines, among them Saturday Night. (…) ”

Ken McGoogan | kenmcgoogan.com

As stated by Peter Mansbridge on the back cover of the book, ‘Ken McGoogan is required reading for any Canadian who want to know the real history of our country’. And that’s just what I am going to do…read the whole book. 

When I started researching on the subject of Scottish migrations to Canada, I was amazed to learn how many emigrants has become Canadian nation-builders from coast to coast, and a little book written by James Alexander Roy, ‘The Scot and Canada‘ is a ‘must’ for all Scottish-Canadian readers.

(…) By the time they have reached the second generation they have become more Canadian than Scot, yet they have retained the qualities that make for success, and have given their racial characteristics to Canada more than any group.

In the first half of The Scots and Canada, Professor Roy outlines the conditions which have governed the growth of the Scottish mentality. In the second half he comes down to cases, depicting some of the outstanding Scots associated with British North America, including those who came to Canada by way of Continental Europe and the United States.

He recalls romantic incidents that have been too lightly forgotten, as for instance in the pages dealing with Flora MacDonald which alone makes the book worthwhile.

The account of Lord Selkirk’s Settlements in Prince Edward Island and on the Red River is particularly good. Admirably told, also, is the story of the Scots in Upper Canada. (…)

Happy reading!

Talk soon,

Janice

PS: being myself a Scottish descendant, for my grandmother, on the paternal side, was Elizabeth Mitchelson, born in Berthierville, QC, Canada on January 1, 1888 from Scot descendant Joseph Mitchelson (b. May 1860) and Celanire Pelland Martin (b. March 1863), residents of ville Jacques-Cartier (which since 1969 was renamed “Longueuil” ) , I’m in the works of sketching out the branches to upper levels of ancestry.  Wish me luck my friends!

Collie's Magpie Jays by J.J. Audubon - USA Scott 1241

Gotta tell you all today about an article that recently caught my attention. Written by John McEwen, it was featured in the Scotman’s ezine .

The title “How the Scottish capital helped inspire a force of nature” triggered my curiosity as “Everything Scotland” is always of great interest.

John McEwen starts his article by announcing the new publication of John James Audubon’s  Journal of 1826 and then goes on to give us a glimpse at Audubon’s life journey.

John James Audubon Journal of 1826 Voyage Birds Of America

Inside his journal, John James Audubon reveals how the time spent in Edinburgh was instrumental to his now famous work of art, “The Birds of America“, the world’s most valuable and expensive book!

In the video further down, we can see the dimension of the book’s page.

They are huge my friend =>  90 cm x 65 cm as J.J. Audubon wanted his drawings to be nature size!

By the way, as mentioned on the selvage of the Canadian block of 4 stamps pictured below, 226 of the 435 plates that make up John James Audubon ” The Birds of America” depict typically Canadian birds.

J.J.Audubon - Birds of America - Canada - Scott 1979-1982

Born in the French colony of Santo Domingo (now Haiti) in 1785, educated in France, where he started to explore the natural environment and developped his drawing talent, John James Audubon then moved to a family estate’s farm, near Philadelphia, in the United States.

“After first experimenting with migration and bird-banding from the family estate near Philadelphia, he moved to art. He earned a living as a portrait painter and for a short time taught drawing in New Orleans.

His Birds of America plates were printed between 1827 and 1838 by a Scottish publisher.’

” (…) Audubon arrived in Edinburgh still in search of a publisher. The “splendid city” immediately impressed him, not least its “wonderful cleanliness” after “Dirty Manchester”; and having taken a handsome set of rooms at 2 George Street he eagerly went calling.

John James Audubon - Source: http://www-tc.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters

After three fruitless days, during which he tramped as far as Leith, noting how similar the working women were, both in gait and the way they carried baskets strapped to their heads, to the “Indian Squaws of the West”, he thought of giving up and going to London.

The breakthrough came on the 30th. After another wasted morning he stormed into the printer Patrick Neill’s office “as if the World was about being convulsed”. Neill calmed him down and took him to meet William Lizars, the famed engraver.

One of Lizars current projects was the Illustrations of British Ornithology by Prideaux John Selby. He lavished praise on Selby as he accompanied the silent Audubon back to George Street to see the folio. “I slowly unbuckled the straps, and putting a chair for him to set, without uttering a Word, I turned up a Drawing! – Now, Lucy, poor Mr Selby was the suferer [sic] by that movement – Mr Lizars, quite surprised, exclaimed, ‘My God, I never saw anything like this before’.” Friendship was instant and three days later Lizars committed himself to publish the great work. (…) ”

John James Audubon & Pink Flamingo

The text, Ornithological Biography, came out in five volumes between 1831 and 1839.

Scottish naturalist William MacGillivray collaborated with Audubon on the text and provided much of the scientific data. By 1838, Audubon had completed more than 400 paintings.”

I remember when we read the passage in Sir Walter Scott’s Journal about his encounter in January 1827 with John James Audubon.

The Journal of Sir Walter Scott Canongate Classics 1998

Edinburgh, Monday 21 January 1827

A long day of some pain relieved by labour. Dr. Ross come in and recommended some stuff which did little good. I would like ill to lose the use of my precious limbs. Meanwhile patience, Cousin, shuffle the cards*

Missie** dined with us to-day. An honest Scotch lass, ladylike and frank. I finishd about six leaves doing indeed little else.

(*) A favourite tag of Scott’s from Don Quixote, pt. ii, ch. 23

(**) Miss Macdonald Buchanan.

 

Edinburgh, Monday 22 January 1827

Work varied with camomile poultices – we get on though. A visit from Basil Hall with Mr. Audebon* the ornithologist who has followd that pursuit by many a long wandering in the American forests. He is american by naturalization, a Frenchman by birth, but less of a Frenchman than I have ever seen – no dash or glimmer or shine about him but great simplicity of manners and behaviour – slight in person and plainly dressd, wears long hair which time has not yet tinged – his countenance acute, handsome and interesting, but still simplicity is the predominant character. I wish I had gone to see his drawings. But I had heard so much about that I resolved not to see them – a crazy way of mine, your honour ! – five more leaves finishd.

(*) John James Audubon. During his visit to Edinburgh he read a paper to the Royal Society on 9 February; he was later elected a Foreign Member.

 

Edinburgh, Monday 23 January 1827

I have got a piece of armour, a knee-cape of Shamoy leather, which I think does my unlucky rheumatism some good. I begin to sleep a night which is a great comfort. Spent this day completely in labour ; only betwixt dinner and tea while husbanding a tumbler of whisky and water I read the new novel Elizabeth de Bruce*– part of it that is -

(*) By Christian Isobel Johnstone, 1827

 

Edinburgh, Monday 24 January 1827

Visit from Mr. Audubon who brings some of his birds. The drawings are of the first order, the attitudes of the birds of the most animated character and the situations appropriate – one of a snake attacking a bird’s nest while the birds (the parents) peck at the reptile’s eyes – They usually in the long run destroy him says the naturalist – The feathers of these gay little sylphs, most of them from the Southern states, are most brilliant, and are represented with what were it [not] connected with so much spirit in the attitude I would call a laborious degree of execution. This extreme correctness is of the utmost consequence to the naturalist [but] as I think (having no knowlege of virtue) rather gives a stiffness to the drawings. This sojourner in the desert had been in the woods for months together. He preferd associating with the Indians to the company of the Back Settlers, very justly I daresay for a civilized man of the lower order, that is the dregs of civilization, when thrust back on the savage state becomes worse than a saffage. They are Wordsworth’s adventurer

 

Deliberate and undeceived

The wild men’s vices who received

And gave them back his own.**

 

The Indians he says are dying fast : they seem to pine and die whenever the white population approaches them. The Shawanese, who amounted Mr. Audubon says to some thousands within his memory are almost extinct and so are various other tribes. Mr. Audubon could never hear any tradition about the mammoth though he made anxious enquiries. He gives no countenance to the idea that the red Indians were ever a more civilized people than at this day or that a more civilized people had preceded them in North America. He looks on the bricks etc. occasionally found and appeald to in support of this opinion to the earlier settlers, or where kettles and other utensils may have been found to the early trade between the Indians and the Spaniard.

John Russell and Leonard Horner came to consult me about the propriety and possibility of retaining the Northern pronunciation of the latin in the new Edinburgh academy. I will think of it until tomorrow, being not great judge. We had our solitary dinner ; indeed it is only remarkable nowadays when when we have a guest.*

(*) Anne writes on this theme to Sophia on the 26th: ‘He is working very hard, ten minutes at dinner is all I see of him… I wish I was at Abbotsford where I might have somebody staying if it was only for the pleasure of talking for I am sure I will lose the use of my tongue… I shall be glad when Buonaparte is done what a horrid long dose of History we will have to read.’ Abbots.

(**) Ruth, II

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Walter Scott's study at 39 North Castle Street, Edinburgh

‘This posthumous portrait by Sir John Watson Gordon dates from the 1840s or 1850s. It depicts, somewhat fancifully, Scott’s study at 39 North Castle Street, Edinburgh, where he lived between 1801 and 1826 (see Homes).

Scott is shown reading a large book at his writing desk. On an adjoining table to the right sits Scott’s cat Hinse of Hinsefeldt. A dog, probably Camp, lies on the floor in the foreground. Light is provided by a window to the left. On the wall behind Scott hangs a map with a suit of armour standing to its left.

To the right, above the chimney-piece, hangs a portrait of Scott’s mother, also by Watson Gordon. In reality, Scott’s study was lined with bookshelves and dominated by a portrait of John Graham of Claverhouse, portrayed by Scott in Old Mortality.

The painting is now held by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. It was engraved once, in 1871, by Robert Charles Bell’

Source: http://www.walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk/portraits/paintings/gordoncastlest.html

Birds of America - John James Audubon - Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Birds of America by John James Audubon - Edition Folio

Thanks Mairiuna for sharing the picture of your own Folio Edition of “The Birds of the America“. It looks just great!

Clicking on the image will navigate to Amazon’s marketplace, for anyone wanting to purchase this superb and magnificient book. Below, for your convenience, are Amazon customers reviews.

5.0 out of 5 stars

Mr. Burke (Miami, Florida)

This review is from: Audubon’s Birds of America: The Audubon Society Baby Elephant Folio (Hardcover)

We keep this beautiful book open on a fine antique table in the foyer of our home. Every few days someone will change the page to a new, breath-taking piece of art. This is an American masterpiece and by far the most beautiful and affordable collection accessible to most people. It comes with a very stout slip case and dustjacket. The book is well constructed and I expect it to last a lifetime.

 

5.0 out of 5 stars The most priceless bird book to treasureBy

Amanda A. (NE, TN)

This review is from: Audubon’s Birds Of America: The Audubon Society Baby Elephant Folio (Hardcover)

I adore this book, with it’s priceless drawings of birds by members of the Audubon Society. Being a birder, the illustrations are fantastic in helping one delineate between different bird species. It is such a big and beautiful tome, you can also have it on your coffee table for friends and family to admire.

 

3.0 out of 5 stars Preposterous. Honestly

By Caraculiambro (La Mancha and environs)

This review is from: Audubon’s Birds of America: The Audubon Society Baby Elephant Folio (Hardcover)

I bought this book as a gift for my parents, who are elderly and who enjoy watching birds and looking at pictures of birds.

But when I later went to visit them I got an unpleasant surprise: this book is HUGE. Ridiculously huge.

It’s the biggest book I’ve ever seen. It’s about the size of a computer tower laid on its side. Bigger than any unabridged dictionary.

As a result my parents never use it: it’s simply too heavy for them to lift. I’m not joking around here. They’re afraid of getting a hernia or hurting their back if they lift it.

So it just sits on the shelf gathering dust.

Actually, not on the shelf, since this book won’t fit on any normal bookshelf. So they just stand it on the floor.

If you buy this, make sure the person you’re getting it for is in excellent shape.

You’ve been warned.

 

Enjoy and all the very best,

Janice

I’m happy to learn, inside your latest article touring us around Arcachon’s ‘less known heights’, that old villas of the area had a Scottish link!

Great discovery my friend .

And I just love the black & white postcards you showcased, as they romantically travel us back into time …

The following excerpt from your post caught my attention:

So, here we were, in Alley Faust, just in front of  “Craigcrostan”, the beautiful neo-Palladian villa built in 1880 by a London architect for William Laird Mac Gregor, a wealthy Scottish lord. The fact that he had renamed villa “Eugénie” into villa “Glenstrae”, after the name of a land occupied by the MacGregor clan in Scotland, shows how deeply attached he was to his Scottish roots. Why he did change “Hermosa’”, the name of his other villa, into “Soleil Levant” I don’t know, but what is sure is that from the “belvédère” (gazebo) of Craigcrostan he could admire the sun rising and setting on the beautiful Arcachon Bay.

Villa Glenstrae in Arcachon, France - Old postcard - Scotiana library

Used to come there for health problems William Laird MacGregor had finally settled in Arcachon. I’ve read that at that time there was an important English and Scottish community there.  He was known as an eccentric man, never breaking his daily ritual ride in a horse car, beginning its trip snugly wrapped in a lot of blankets which he took off one after the other at defined ‘checkpoints’ where a servant was waiting for him to fetch the blankets back home.

Source:  A Mysterious William Laird Mac Gregor in Arcachon… Mairiuna, Scotiana

You mention above that William Laird Mac Gregor renamed villa “Eugénie” into villa “Glenstrae”,  ‘after the name of a land occupied by the MacGregor clan in Scotland, ..(…)...’

That’s what triggered my curiosity. Glenstrae? Don’t recall reading about or viewing this part of Scotland. Where is it located?

Off am I to research about this piece of land and the relationship it has with the clan Mac Gregor.

Collins Guide To Scots Kith & Kin - Harper Collins Publisher - Glsgow - c1989

I found a little book in the Scottish Clans section of my library, bought while shopping at “The Book Shop” in Wigtown, Scotland, a few years ago, titled “Collins Guide To Scots Kith & Kin – A Guide To The Clans & Surnames of Scotland“, inside which there’s a fold-out color map of Scotland showing the homelands of the clans and illustrating significant events in Scottish history.

Fold-out Color Map Od Scotland Clans Homelands - from Collins Guide To Scots Kith & Kins

From it I cropped the image below to show the MacGregors homeland. It clearly indicates they were nested in between the Campbells and the Stewarts of Balquhidder lands.

Clan Mac Gregor homeland on Scotland's map

But what I am now looking for is a map that displays geographically the Glen.

On Hal MacGregor’s website, I collected a little bit more info,

By the beginning of the 16th century, there were five main  MacGregor geographical districts, in valleys (Glens):  Glen Dochart, Glen Orchy, Glen Lyon, Glen Strae, and Glen Gyle.  There were also adjacent areas where the Gregor clan was prevalent.

and I was glad to come across John Hennessy’s beautiful landscape photography of the glen. Contemplating this photo brings me into calmness of mind. Can’t wait to go back to this marvellous country…

Photo by John Hennessey | Source:http://www.johnhennessy.co.uk

Still looking for a geographical map, I googled my way around.

Ah! Getting closer…here’s an aerial view of the area:

Glen Strae-Scotland| Source:http://www.scottish-places.info| Click On The Image For Larger Size

It’s near Stronmilchan, encapsulated between Beinn Eunaich and Beinn Donachaine. There we go!

It will now be easier for me to imagine the scenes, in those not so far away times, when the Scottish Clans were focusing on territorial possession.

Flipping through the pages of the book, I found another reference to Glenstrae under the MacGregor descriptive text. I’ve scanned it for you below:

Scottish Clan MacGregor Spreading To Glenstrae and Perthshire

MacGregor Scottish Clan Crest - 'Our Race is Royal'

Convinced that Nigel Tranter (23 November 1909 – 9 January 2000) had written something about the MacGregors, I grabbed “The Nigel Tranter Bibliography” from the bookshelf, as it compiles all his writings.

By the way, this is such a great book for bibliophiles, as it contains every single edition of every single work published (more then 137) by Nigel Tranter during his career! Quite impressive.

The Nigel Tranter Bibliography - Colin Mills - Underhill Publications 2003

This compilation is an ‘extraordinary labour of love’ and I am grateful to Colin Mills for undertaking this great project thus giving us the opportunity to grasp the intensity of Nigel Tranter’s writing career and have such a great reference available. If not on your bookshelf yet, it’s a must, especially if you’re a fan of Scottish history.

On page 104 of the book, there’s a reproduction of the text printed on the front flap of the 1st edition of his book: ” Children Of The Mist”. It goes like this:

”

Children Of The Mist by Nigel Tranter 1st Ed Hodder&Stoughton 1992

“Our race is royal” was the proud claim of the MacGregors. Yet as resounding as was their background, and far from negligible their fighting qualities, they were small as highland clans went and they had the misfortune to occupy lands fairly close to the great Clan Campbell.

“By the end of the sixteen century Alastair MacGregor of Glen Strae, the young chief, fell heir to a dire heritage indeed. With little left to his clan save Glen Strae and some smaller lairdships, where once they had owned more than half of Scotland, he is faced with a challenge. And although no warlike character, he sought to meet that challenge

“The principal threat was Black Duncan of the Cowl, Campbell of Glenorchy, a dangerous foe indeed, clever as he was unscrupulous, and with the ear of King James the Sixth. This is the story of their conflict, of intrigue and folly, courage and treachery, and sheerest drama, which shows Nigel Tranter at the peak of his form, unveiling the heart and fascination of Scotland’s history.”

You know what? From all the books written by Nigel Tranter housed in my library,  I don’t have ‘Children Of The Mist‘ ! Amazon, here I come

Children of the Mist by Nigel Tranter - Coronet Books 1998

The MacGregors have such an important role in Scotland’s history, that I think we should write some articles on Scotiana , dwelving even deeper into the dramatic events that took part in those late 16th century years amongst the ancient Scottish clans. It’s a very complex system and it would be worthwhile to give some writing time to the subject.

MacGregor's Gathering by Nigel Tranter - 1st Paperback Edition Coronet 1974

MacGregor's Gathering - Nigel Tranter- Coronet Books - 1993 Reissue

What do you think Mairiuna?

Until next, all the very best.

Janice

PS:  You might also want to check out Bookabus’s Ebay Store for gorgeous Canvas Art Print on MacGregor Tartan

'Girl stands in a field reading her book' Harold Knight (1874-1961)

Hi everybody!

With autumn already touching our gardens and woods with its warm colours, it may seem a little late to write a page about “summer reading” but isn’t it a good idea to make  summer last a little longer. Indeed, the Indian Summer is still to come, isn’t it Janice?

But before embarking on our ”summer reading’ I would like to deeply thank our dear friends Iain and Margaret for their last Letter for Scotland. Never have I read  such a beautiful text about WWII. Margaret’s page entitled ‘The Leningrad Album, a Token of Scottish-Russian Friendship in War ..’ is an unforgettable one and I can but highly recommend Margaret’s little book Dear Allies !  Had I learned history in such a marvellous way at school, I certainly wouldn’t have forgotten a single page of it!

As mentioned by Iain, we do correspond regularly by email! A very friendly and entertaining Scottish-French-Canadian correspondence, I can tell you .  And to quote Iain:

We write in English, Marie-Agnès and Jean-Claude in French, and Janice often alternates between the two languages. I enjoy being reminded of French words I’d rarely come across since schooldays; my old French teacher would wisely give us little groups of words to be written together in our notebooks, to make clear the differences and to help us remember! For example, «une librairie» is a bookshop (or a publishing house); «une bibliothèque» a library (or collection of books; or even a set of bookshelves!) Yes, Marie-Agnès, we do have upstairs une bibliothèque tournante – a revolving bookcase. It’s a small one, but it holds a surprisingly large number of books.

.
‘Une bibliothèque tournante’! What a dream of a bookcase! I remember pretty well the very nice story Margaret told us, in one of her first messages, about this unique Scottish piece of furniture ‘faite sur mesure’.

My French Notebook - Mon cahier anglais Paul Schwartz and Maylis Treuil

By the way, while I was trying to find an image to illustrate my answer to Iain and Margaret, I fell upon an interesting method to learn each other’s language…  I’ve not tried it still but it could prove useful at the start of a new school year

'In the Garden Doorway' Peter Ilsted 1913

Books, books, books ! YES definitely

So, back to my ‘summer reading’.

'Reading' Igor Zhuk oil canvas 70 x 50 cm

The expression “summer reading” conjures up a lot of pleasant images, the summer being the season supposed to offer us fine weather as well as much time to read our favourite books. The chosen ones are of course a matter of personal choice and I’m not sure many readers will choose to read Proust’s A la recherche du Temps perdu A hard and big job according to Big Lou, one of the vivid characters depicted by Alexander McCall Smith in 44 Scotland Street (same title in English and in French), the first volume of the ’44 Scotland Street ‘ series (‘Les Chroniques d’Edimbourg’ in French).

Alexander McCall Smith’s 44 Scotland Street is a favourite on my summer reading list for it is exactly the kind of book I like when I want to relax.

44 Scotland Street Alexander McCall Smith Edition 10-18 2007 frontcover

44 Scotland Street Alexander McCall Smith Abacus illustrated edition 2005 frontcover

As a matter of fact, I’ve just finished 44 Scotland Street and I’m quite eager to begin Espresso Tales, the second volume of this series (to me, the French title Edimbourg Express is more evocative of “un train express” than of a cup of Italian coffee!). 44 Scotland Street has made me smile, laugh and always eager to know what is going to happen next page. I’ve also learned in this book a lot of things about Edinburgh and its lifestyle, about Scotland and some of its artists, painters more especially. Last but not least, the author seems to have a talent for introducing in the dialogues and without taking them too seriously, a number of fundamental questions.

Each chapter has been given an expressive title and the English edition has black and white illustrations by Iain McIntosh. In the very interesting Preface written by the author we learn that the book was first published as a daily series in The Scotsman.

 

44 Scotland Street Alexander McCall Smith The Scotsman edition frontcover

“Most books start with an idea in the author’s head. This book started with a conversation that I had in California, at a party held by the novelist, Amy Tan, whose generosity to me has been remarkable. At this party I found myself talking to Armistead Maupin, the author of Tales of the City. Maupin had revived the idea of a serialised novel with his extremely popular serial in The San Francisco Chronicle. When I returned to Scotland I was asked by The Herald to write an article about my California trip. In this article I mentioned my conversation with Maupin and remarked what a pity it was that newspapers no longer ran serialised novels. This tradition, of course, had been very important in the nineteenth century, with the works of Dickens being perhaps the best known examples of serialised fiction. But there were others, of course, including Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, which nearly landed its author in prison.

My article was read by editorial staff on The Scotsman, who decided to accept the challenge which I had unwittingly put down. I was invited for lunch by Iain Martin, who was then editor of the paper (…) At that stage I had not really thought out the implications of writing a novel in daily instalments; this was a considerable departure from the weekly or monthly approach which had been adopted by previous serial novelists. However, such was the air of optimism at the lunch that I agreed.

The experience proved to be both hugely enjoyable and very instructive. The structure of a daily serial has to be different from that of a normal novel. One has to have at least one development in each instalment and end with a sense that something more may happen. One also has to understand that the readership is a newspaper readership which has its own special characteristics.

The real challenge in writing a novel that is to be serialised in this particular way – that is, in small segments – is to keep the momentum of the narrative going without becoming too staccato in tone. The author must engage a reader whose senses are being assailed from all directions – from other things on the same and neighbouring pages, from things that are happening about him or her while the paper is being read. Above all a serial novel must be entertaining. This does not mean that one cannot deal with serious topics, or make an appeal to the finer emotions of the reader, but one has to keep a light touch.

When the serial started to run, I had a number of sections already completed. As the months went by, however, I had fewer and fewer pages in hand, and towards the end I was only three episodes ahead of publication. This was very different, then, from merely taking an existing manuscript and chopping it up into sections. The book was written while it was being published. An obvious consequence of this was that I could not go back and make changes – it was too late to do that.

(Extract from the Preface of 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith)

To this day, the ’44 Scotland Street series’ (‘Les chroniques d’Edimbourg’) is composed of 7 volumes:

2005     44 Scotland Street (44 Scotland Street, traduit en français par Élisabeth Kern, éditions 10/18, coll. « Domaine étranger » Paris 2007)

Edimbourg Express Alexander McCall Smith 10-18 edition 2009 frontcover

Espresso Tales Alexander McCall Smith 2005 frontcover

2005     Espresso Tales (Édimbourg Express, traduit en français par Élisabeth Kern, éditions 10/18, coll. « Domaine étranger » Paris 2009)

Alexander McCall Smith L'amour en kilt Edition 10-18 2009

Alexander McCall Smith Love Over Scotland 2006

2006     Love Over Scotland (L’Amour en kilt, traduit en français par Élisabeth Kern, éditions 10/18, coll. « Grands détectives »  Paris, 2009)

Alexander McCall Smith Le monde selon Bertie Edition 10-18 2010

Alexander McCall Smith The World According to Bertie 2007

2007     The World According to Bertie (Le monde selon Bertie, traduit en français par Élisabeth Kern, éditions 10/18, Paris, 2010)

Alexander McCall Smith The Unbearable Lightness of Scones 2008

2008     The Unbearable Lightness of Scones (Ouvrage non encore traduit en français)

Alexander McCall Smith The Importance of Being Seven 2010

2010     The Importance of Being Seven (Ouvrage non encore traduit en français)

Alexander McCall Smith Bertie Plays the Blues 2011

2011      Bertie Plays The Blues (Ouvrage non encore traduit en français)

A lot of books to read, don’t you think?

Next time, I will tell you why I do love 44 Scotland Street and more about the other volumes as soon as I have read them.

Bonne lecture ! A bientôt.

Mairiuna

Abbotsford Nigel Tranter exhibition author's typewriter © 2006 Scotiana

Since we are speaking of Robert the Bruce I would like to introduce today Nigel Tranter, a very popular Scottish author who has written, among many other books of historical fiction, a trilogy about the great Scottish king. He died in 2000, at the age of 90.  He was a great admirer of Sir Walter Scott and indeed, we discovered this author in 2006, at Abbotsford where a very interesting exhibition was devoted to him in Sir Walter’s bedroom  … but I will let Janice tell you more about this fascinating author…  

Mairiuna in  Robert the Bruce’s Heart Buried at Melrose Abbey  

Hi Mairiuna. Thanks for the invite! I am pleased to write about Nigel Tranter, one of Scotland’s best-loved author and acclaimed storyteller. Indeed, we have both a number of his books.

Quite young he took interest in castles and delved into their history, which led him, at the age of 25 to publish his first book, The Fortalices and Early Mansions of Southern Scotland 1400-1650. (1935) 

His wife then encouraged him to write his first novel.  He wrote In our Arms our Fortune which was rejected by the publishers, but the following one, Trespass (1937) launched his career. 

Trespass by Nigel G Tranter -Ward Lock - Ed 1941

Since those early days, he wrote more than 130 books, including some children books, during a passionate life-long interest of his own country’s history. 

Furthermore, he accomplished this noble task without the help of a computer, as he relied solely on his elderly manual typewriter! 

Nigel Tranter At Work At His Typewriter- Copyright The Scotsman Publications

Upon visiting in 2006 the Nigel Tranter Exhibition at Abbotsford, (which has since been relocated in one of the aisles of Athelstaneford Church, where he celebrated his marriage to May on July 11^th, 1933) we discovered a wealth of fascinating insights about his writings. 

I remember how thrilled the three of us were to explore the different aspects of his life and  literary career throughout the exhibits. 

Let’s take a closer look today at one of his most popular novel:  The Bruce Trilogy. 

This trilogy ( 1. The Steps To the Empty Throne, 2. The Path To The Hero King and 3. The Price of The King’s Peace ) is all about the story of Robert the Bruce, along side of  William Wallace, another great hero of Scotland, fighting for his most burning desire: an independent Scotland. 

Born in Glasgow on 23 November 1909, on the same day that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was chairing a public meeting in Edinburgh on Congo, and in the same year Geronimo died, he grew up to work as an accountant in the Scottish National Insurance Company. 

Married to May Jean Campbell Grieve in 1933, the loving couple had two children, Frances May and Philip. 

(…) In the first couple of decades of their marriage, May’s retiring nature and the presence of young children in the house, combined with Nigel’s deliberate encouragement of his outside interest in public affairs, led to a situation in which he developed a full and busy life of committees and public meetings in which May did not share, or could only share vicariously, and which regularly took him away from the house in the evenings: she occasionally took him to task about it, complaining she never saw him, but it had no very noticeable effect. 

She once counted up that he was chairman of eleven different organisations, a story he is fond of recounting, with a hint of pride in his achievement. 

Nigel and May Tranter in the garden of Quarry House, Aberfeldy, Scotland

But it must have looked somewhat different to May, sitting at home by the fire, and she must have felt at times that she had to share him with half Scotland. 

When great success came to him in the 1970s after the publication of the Bruce trilogy she of course rejoiced for him, but she had no taste for the public exposure and razzmatazz that went with it, nor did she enjoy the invasion of their private life. 

She was a willing accomplice when it came to composing letters to the press, but she would have preferred not to have them about the house. And she fiercely protected Quarry House as his workplace as well as her home, barring the way to the importunate. 

 

(…) He himself approached the writing of the Bruce trilogy with some trepidation, partly on grounds of its magnitude and partly because of the sheer importance of the subject, having thrust it from him for some years. 

Once started, it quickly became all-absorbing. When it was over, he wrote to a correspondent, “For the past four years, I have practically been Robert Bruce. The job is finished now and to some extent I feel quite lost.” Tranter of course writes all his heroes largely out of his own experience, posing the question “What would I have done?” where the historical material fails him, but Bruce was a move up to a new dimension. 

Source: Nigel Tranter Scotland’s Storyteller, Ray Bradfield, B& W Publishing Ltd, Edinburgh 1999 

SYNOPSIS – BRUCE TRILOGY

‘In a world of treachery and violence, Scotland’s most famous hero unites his people in a deadly fight for national survival. In 1296 Edward Plantagenet, King of England, was determined to bludgeon the freedom-loving Scots into submission. Despite internal clashes and his fierce love for his antagonist’s goddaughter, Robert the Bruce, both Norman lord and Celtic earl, took up the challenge of leading his people against the invaders from the South. 

After a desperate struggle, Bruce rose finally to face the English at the memorable battle of Bannockburn. But far from bringing peace, his mighty victory was to herald fourteen years of infighting, savagery, heroism and treachery before the English could be brought to sit at a peace-table and to acknowledge Bruce as a sovereign king. 

In this bestselling trilogy, Nigel Tranter charts these turbulent years, revealing the flowering of Bruce’s character; how, tutored and encouraged by the heroic William Wallace, he determined to continue the fight for an independent Scotland, sustained by a passionate love for his land and devotion to his people.’ 

Bannockburn - Battle For Liberty by John Sadler

The battle of Bannockburn took place on June 24th, 1314. It was a decisive battle in the first war of Scottish Independence and the Scottish victory helped to lead to the independence of Scotland being fully recognised in 1328. 

We will dig more into this subject in upcoming posts, but  meanwhile, be sure to get your hands on a copy of The Bruce Trilogy if you have not done so yet! 

.
 

Take care and talk soon, 

Janice

Rob Roy MacGregor – Engraving – Source: Wikipedia

In February of 1671, was born in Glengyle, a couple of hundred yards above river Gyle’s northern bank, near Loch Katrine, the third son of Donald MacGregor (aka Donald Glas, or pale, from the natural pallor of his skin), a chief of Clan Gregor and his wife Margaret Campbell.

Rob Roy's Country - Scotland

Rob Roy’s descent was from both the Clan Gregor and Clan Campbell chieftains of Glengyle and Glenlyon. Donald Glas and his clan were protestants. The parish church of Callander was nominally of the Presbyterian Church, but the minister had sympathy for the Episcopalians and later, for the Jacobites.

He had his mother’s bright red hair, eye-catching even by candlelight,a halo destined to darken with the years, as hers had too, but meantime to be enjoyed, her boy’s peculiar glory and constant reminder of her lost youth. If she already called him “Rab ruadh” (anglicised by the world to Rob Roy) she would breathe it as an inward whisper, for ill-luck was held to attend open declaration before the sprinkling of water.

Rob Roy was of middle height or little under – the average height of Highlanders was 5’4″ to 5’6″ -spare and compact with an extraordinary breadth of shoulder. His strongly muscled legs were likened to those of a Highland bull, both in light-footed agility and thighs furred with red hair. No less remarkable were the length and power of his arms. When Scott was told of this, he forgot about the Highlander’s peculiar sense of humour – a gift gross exaggeration, which they delight in using to point up a general truth. Instead of giving Scott the prosaic fact that Rob Roy had long arms, they said, “Och, the man could tie his garters without stooping”, and Scott in writing passed this onto posterity as literal truth. Rob Roy MacGregor, his life and times. W.H. Murray, Richard Drew Publishing, 1982

Reminds me of myself: when friends and family tell me things, I have a tendency of absorbing same at first degree while they are just kidding and putting me on.

The life of this famous Highland partisan inspired Sir Walter Scott in 1817 to write Rob Roy, which was published anonymously on December 31st, in three volumes. Since then, it’s been re-printed in numerous copies! As mentioned in earlier posts, Mairiuna and I are fascinated by the beautiful graphic designs of the different editions and we cannot resist buying a same title when the book cover differs from the ones we have.

Here’s a small image gallery sampling some editions:

To put ourselves in the historical context, let’s mention that in 1707 the Union Act ended Scotland’s independence and gave birth to a new nation: Great Britain.

Many Highlanders resented the accession of the Hanoverian King George, and this fact lightened up explosive situations between Highlanders and Lowlanders.

Rob and his father joined the Jacobite rising led by John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee, along with many Highland chiefs and chieftains, to support the Stuart King James II and VII who had been deposed by William of Orange, the Stadtholder of the Netherlands and a scheming, ambitious Protestant but also the son-in-law of King James.

http://romanchristendom.blogspot.com/2008/01/rob-roy-mcgregor-king-of-outlaws-or.html

Rob Roy - Sir Walter Scott The Edinburgh Edition of The Waverley Novels, 2008

Since Rob Roy is a favourite among Scott’s books, we are happy to offer our readers an audio rendering of this popular novel belonging the Waverley series.

Get a beverage of your choice, sit down comfortably and then click on the audio players below to listen (in English or French version) the adventures of Francis, a businessman’s son who falls out of favour with his father and is sent to stay in the Scottish Highlands.

At his uncle’s house, he meets Rashleigh, the youngest son (to whom Francis’s father will leave his inheritance), and beautiful Diana Vernon, Rashleigh’s cousin.

Diana Vernon by Millais (1880) from the novel Rob Roy novel - Photo Martin Beek on Flickr

When Rashleigh sees Diana attracted to Francis, he determines to destroy him. Rashleigh did not foresee that Francis would seek the help of Rob Roy MacGregor, a very powerful outlaw who fights with courage for justice and dignity for the people of Scotland.

Even though the plot unveils itself slowly, do be patient! as it becomes a fascinating tale of adventure and love.

The glorious Scottish past will unveil itself in this historical portrait of the haunted Highlands, as the story of the “Robin Hood” of Scotland begins…

Rob Roy by Sir Walter Scott , Thomas Nelson and Sons 1905 edition

 

English version – Chapter 1

Narration: Janice

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Rob Roy by Sir Walter Scott

Version francaise – Chapitre 1

Narration: Mairiuna

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Note : we estimated the reading time of this novel to be approximately twenty five hours. Therefore, we are chunking it down into chapters.

UPDATE:  A dedicated section was created on the blog to house the ongoing recording of Rob Roy’s novel. Click here to access the page => Scotiana’s Audios On Air!

Rob Roy's Statue, Stirling Castle, Scotland Photo: gumdropgas on Flickr

Rob Roy passed away on December 28th, 1734 in Balquhidder, Perthshire.

Rob Roy's grave - Balquhidder - Perthshire - Scotland © Scotiana 2006

My foot is on my native heath,

and my name is Rob Roy McGregor

Rob Roy's grave - Balquhidder - Perthshire - Scotland © Scotiana 2006

Talk soon,

Janice