A Sense of Place in Scottish Fiction and in Scotland

What a good idea, Janice, to have chosen this quotation from Sue Walker. It perfectly illustrates the idea of a “sense of place” which has always played so important a part in Scottish literature.

Sue Walker is a popular Scottish crime fiction writer.  As she was born and has lived for some time  in Edinburgh she is particularly well placed to speak of this town as an inspiring place for creating the setting of her novels, the importance of which she clearly underlines when she says : ‘Location, location, location” …

Sue Walker - The Dead Pool

(published in May 2005, February and October 2007)

Sue Walker - The Burning

So far Sue Walker has published 3 novels and a fourth one is about to come out on October 1st, 2009 . The action takes place in Edinburgh and the neighbourhood, as it has been the case with Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus stories. To give ourselves an idea of the importance of the setting in her crime stories, let us read two extracts from The Reckoning and The Dead Pool.

Fidra in the Firth of Forth is one of a group of five small islands dotted along Scotland’s East Lothian coast. It is commonly held to have been the model for R. L. Stevenson’s Treasure Island (…)

“Treasure Island“

Historians, archaelogists and local folklore have created a rather colourful picture of this little island. Fidra has seen immense activity over the centuries, much it spiritual. There is evidence of what was thought to be a medieval monastery. There are also the ruins of a chapel, built by the monks and used as a place of pilgrimage for local nuns. The monastery building is believed to have served as a hospital during times of plague. Unsurprisingly, given its history, there are tales of the island being haunted by a hooded figure – ‘The Dark Monk of Fidra”.

(Extract from Fidra- An Island History, by Duncan Alexander, Whitekirk Publishing, 1st edition,1978. Page quoted in the Prologue of The Reckoning)(…)

Four months later.

How Well Do You Know Edinburgh’s River ?

Why not Enjoy a Guided Walk Along the Water of Leith ?

Whether you were born and bred here, or you are a tourist from another part of the world, all should sample the delights of the Water of Leith, the river that winds through Edinburgh. From its source in the Pentland Hills, the river meanders through some of the most beautiful parts of the city, ending its 35 km journey down at the port of Leith, where its waters pour into the Firth of Forth.

And you can share that journey with one of the great authorities on the Water of Leith, Jamie Munro.  A former lawyer and well-known face in the Scottish courts, Jamie has owned a riverside house for more than thirty years.  He has spent his retirement getting to know our river intimately, and Jamie now heads up our team of volunteers who patrol the Water of Leith and offer guided walks.

Kirstin Rutherford folded the bright green A5 flyer, put it back in her pocket, and knelt down to tend the rose bush she’d planted a few minutes earlier.

‘Christ, Jamie; What the hell happened to you ? ‘ She lost her balance as the tears started………(…)

(The Dead Pool – Chapter 1)

A Sense Of Place - Book Cover

This fine collection of evocative essays and stories ranges widely across Scotland from Assynt in the far North to the Solway Firth in the Border country, from the cities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee to the small villages and farms of Scotland’s rural regions. The writing is diverse, sometimes lyrical, often factual and perceptive, occasionally humorous. What comes through is a veritable kaleidoscope of views on “a sense of place” in Scotland at the beginning of the new millenium. ( A Sense of Place – A collection of new Scottish writing – 2005 – Foreword by Tom Devine)

The  “sense of place”,  the right kind of  feeling to be cultivated by the traveller whatever his road.  In our quest for Scotland, as soon as we began to  travel there, we felt that there was something very special about it and as we got to know the country better our “sense of place”  grew stronger …

Edinburgh close 2006

No wonder Scotland has inspired so many authors for it is really a fascinating country.  You  can feel its very specific atmosphere in town as well as in the country. It’s not only a question of lansdcape, whatever varied and beautiful it may be, it’s also the  light. The weather is of such a changing nature there, that dark and light are constantly playing on the setting, giving birth to the most beautiful and unexpected spectacles. Nowhere else have I seen so many beautiful rainbows drawing their perfect curbs in the sky. And there is the mist too, which so greatly contributes to create mystery everywhere.

In towns, when suddenly confronted to the gloomy atmosphere of  an old street, a narrow close or some dilapidated and seedy area, one can easily understand why dark and crime fiction proliferates here. But there is always something bright to lighten the darkest place.   In Scotland, anyway, and perhaps more than anywhere else, you can  expect to find the best and the worst. Don’t forget  you are in the country that gave birth to such stories as James Hogg’s The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner and Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde .

Ballachulish 2006

Let us give the final word to Sue Walker :  “More than one person has remarked that I seem to like using the most beautiful locations and turning them into places of hell. ‘You put the dark into light’, as someone told me not long ago.”

Glen Etive 2007

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Yes, Scotland is a fascinating country and maybe the best way to discover it is to try to feel the sense of place … so let us immerse ourselves in the country while letting it have its say.

A bientôt!

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