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 [...]

In 2000, when we first visited Melrose Abbey, we did not know that the heart of Robert the Bruce, the famous Scottish King who defeated the English army at Bannockburn, on 24 June 1314, was buried there. Indeed, we didn’t know much about Scotland and its history for it was our first journey there, only [...]

Today people are discovering or rediscovering the great authors of the past. Walter Scott is one of them, a most famous one and not only in Scotland. In France, for example, a new translation of his books is under way, in the prestigious “Bibliothèque de la Pleiade”, each novel being translated, introduced, and annotated by [...]

. Hi Mairiuna!  I’m back online and must tell you that reading your great post about Sir Walter Scott’s romantic home, Abbotsford, brought back to mind the great number of memorable, historical and valuable objects we saw when visiting the many rooms of his beloved house. Let alone the magnificent library which contains more than 7,000 books, I was amazed [...]

Abbotsford! The Home of Sir Walter Scott! With hills, fields and woods in the background, like a fairytale castle, the old house emerges from beautiful gardens with its many chimneys, its crenellated turrets and crow stepped gables… No wonder Sir Walter was so deeply attached to Abbotsford. He designed the house in the same way [...]