Recently, I came across a very interesting article published by Holly Kirkwood in the magazine Country Life. In this article Holly Kirkwood draws our attention to the so-called “peel-towers”, a type of construction typical of the Scottish Borders. “There are more than 100 peel towers in various states of repair and ruin scattered the breadth of the Borders“, she writes. … Continue reading →
How am I to sing your praise, Happy chimney-corner days, Sitting safe in nursery nooks, Reading picture story-books? (Robert Louis Stevenson – From A Child’s Garden of Verses) I could not have found more charming lines to introduce my new selection of books for Christmas than the above verses written by Robert Louis Stevenson in his lovely poem “Picture Books … Continue reading →
“The only pleasure in redecorating or moving house comes from stumbling across books that I’d almost forgotten I owned.” John Burnside As we are going to move soon from our house in the South of Bordeaux to a new home situated in a lovely corner of Périgord Noir, I am making boxes and boxes of books and it made me … Continue reading →
On my desk is Alex Nye’s book For My Sins, a fascinating historical novel I’ve just finished reading. I recommend it to all people interested in Mary Stuart’s life. There are many books devoted to Mary Queen of Scots but this one is particularly moving since the narrator is Mary herself. In my last selection of books for Christmas … Continue reading →
Dear readers, I’m very happy to be back on the keyboard to share with you new pictures, new stories, new books about our beloved Scotland. Time flies. January is already ending though, in the south west of France, we’re still waiting for the arrival of winter. The skye is as blue today as in a summer day and I … Continue reading →
Dear readers, Christmas time is quickly approaching now, so I’d better hurry to add a couple of books to Scotiana’s selection for Christmas. My problem is to choose among so many interesting books published in Scotland recently;-) A Drop in the Ocean, which I introduced in my last post, is a book which can certainly please all lovers of Scotland. … Continue reading →
