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Discovering the Scottish Borders: “Peel towers”…

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 […]

January 30th, 2023 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Category: Castles, History, Sir Walter Scott | Leave a comment

A Selection of Scottish Authors & Books for Christmas 2021

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 […]

November 30th, 2021 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Category: Books, Children's Literature, George Mackay Brown, Robert Louis Stevenson | Leave a comment

Forgotten treasures and new gems in my Scottish Library!

“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 […]

March 31st, 2021 | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Category: Books | Leave a comment

1586: From her prison cell Mary Queen of Scots remembers…

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 […]

June 6th, 2017 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Category: Books, Historical Fiction, History | Leave a comment

Short Stories by Great Scottish Authors: George Mackay Brown

Cloudy sunset over Hoy Sound from a beach near Warbeth cemetery © 2012 Scotiana

 

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, […]

January 29th, 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , | Category: Authors, Books, George Mackay Brown, Orkney | Leave a comment
 
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