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 … Continue reading →
Hi Mairiuna! 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 … Continue reading →
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 … Continue reading →
. 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 … Continue reading →
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 descent … Continue reading →
Hey Mairiuna, hope you don’t mind if I talk again today about our favorite crime writer, Ian Rankin. I’m just kidding, as i know you will be thrilled to read about the subsequent books that were published after the “Rebus finale“. Upon the publishing of his final book featuring Detective Inspector John Rebus, Exit Music, Scottish crime writer Ian Rankin … Continue reading →
Ian Rankin’s Exit Music, published in December 2007, was to be the final instalment of a series of eighteen ( if we include Death Is Not The End, a novella that was further expanded in the novel Dead Souls) crime novels featuring the well known and charismatic Edinburgh’s Inspector John Rebus. Book reviews quoted Exit Music to be one the … Continue reading →
As morning slowly lightened above the flow of the river Tweed, running broad and luminous over its pearl-white pebbles, Walter Scott, arrayed in a rough shooting-jacket, might have been seen lightning his library fire and seating himself at his desk. Never later than six a.m. he was well at work, – his papers neatly arranged before him, his books of … Continue reading →
Hi Janice ! How interesting your post about Carlyle! You know, I remember pretty well the quiet village of Ecclefechan, near the town of Moffat, having gone there in 2004 and 2006. We found Carlyle’s grave, with its two enigmatic dragon heads carved on the stone and also his statue dominating the area, a lonely figure forever sitting on its … Continue reading →
You know, Mairiuna, how much I love going out to book sale events and I am very happy to let you know that my most recent outing to research Scottish author’s books was a rewarding one. Maybe not as much in quantity as the McGill University Annual Book Fair but still, the quality of books found was definitely worth the … Continue reading →
. I’m sure you know where I was last week Mairiuna ;-). You’ve guessed! That’s right, in the Redpath Hall of Montreal’s oldest university, the McGill University, toting my own box in which I’ve managed to haul almost fifty books on mainly Scottish related subjects. Wow…you can imagine how happy I was of finding these fascinating books. 🙂 This gathering … Continue reading →
From a vision to reality… One hundred and seventy-five years ago, on the 20th December, 1825, in the hall of Anderson’s College, the principal citizens of Glasgow heard the President of the College, Doctor Ure, conclude his address with the confident prophecy that “the time is not far distant when chariots winged with fire shall be seen flying over metallic … Continue reading →
The 11th Wigtown Book Festival has just closed its doors. So, once more they did it ! And if the feast is over the music can still be heard ! The 2008 Wigtown Book Festival won the Thistle Award for Best Regional Event and Festival but there is no doubt that the 2009 edition will have been as successful as … Continue reading →
As Mairiuna and myself are keen sherlockian memorabilia seekers, we could not resist bidding on a quiz-type blotter advertising the SIMCA 1000, a small French car quite popular back in the 1960-70’s. Translation: ” In the Gleendark castle, Herlock Sholmès and his loyal Ratson are tracking the SIMCA 1000. Find it before them and go see it at a SIMCA car … Continue reading →
A good festival should be an encounter : with ideas, people, cultures and the landscape. It should look outwards but rejoice at the best of what’s local. Above all, it should be festive. Adrian Turpin. Festival Director. The very interesting and colourful Wigtown Book Festival programme which Catherine, the Arts Administrator and Children’s Programmer of this famous Stena Line sponsored … Continue reading →
