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Around the year 1885, Alfred Barnard was secretary of Harper's Weekly Gazette, a journal which featured facets of the wine and spirit trade. In order to provide his readers with the history and detailed descriptions of the whisky-making process, Barnard was determined to visit all the distilleries in Scotland, England and Ireland. The results of his tour were written up in Harper's Weekly Gazette, and then published in this book, which includes entries on names which still inspire the whisky connoisseur to this day – Bowmore, Glenlivet, Highland Park, Macallan and Talisker – as well as others which, though popular at the end of the nineteenth century, have not stood the test of time. The appeal of Barnard's book lies not only in his descriptions of the technical properties of each distillery, comparing equipment and differences in the distillation procedure, but also in the colourful descriptions of his journeys. Filled with historical references and anecdotes as well as details of how Barnard and his companions actually got to distilleries in some of the remotest parts of Britain, the book is also a lively picture of life and travel in the Victorian age. This facsimile edition is a valuable companion to all those with an interest in Scotland's national drink, and is superbly illustrated with over 200 engravings which show both the distilleries themselves as well as key parts of the distillation process. Includes five additional publications by Alfred Barnard, as well as entries on distilleries which still inspire the whisky connoisseur today, including Bowmore, Glenlivet, Highland Park, Macallan and Talisker.

Discover how one man's obsession changed the world. Witches – whether broomstick-riding spell-casters or Wiccan earth-worshippers – have been culturally relevant for centuries. For centuries, too, belief in the potency of witchcraft has been debated, accused witches have been hunted and punished, and film and TV productions have brought the witch and the witch-hunter to big and small screens.But where did our perception of witches – good and bad – come from? What motivated wide-scale panics about witchcraft during certain periods? How were alleged witches identified, accused, and variously tortured and punished?Steven Veerapen traces witches, witchcraft, and witch-hunters from the explosion of mass-trials under King James VI and I in the late sixteenth century to the death of the witch-hunting phenomenon in the early eighteenth century. Based on documents and the latest historical research, he explores what motivated widespread belief in demonic witchcraft throughout Britain as well as in continental Europe, what caused mass panics about alleged witches, and what led, ultimately, to the relegation of the witch – and the witch-hunter – to the realm of fantasy and the fringes of society.

"It’s like ice cream, Mr Flynn," Bertie continued. "When you have ice cream, you need to eat it straight away, otherwise it melts. If there are people who haven't got any, you should share it, if you can."When despair for the world grows, Bertie’s theory of ice cream reminds us that it’s the simple pleasures in life that we should hold onto. And everyone’s favourite seven-year-old has a lot to put up with: at home, Irene is planning lessons on Irish Culture for Bertie; at school, he is forced to join Olive and Pansy’s book group, and during a day out with his best friend Ranald Braveheart Macpherson, the boys find themselves unexpectedly invited to a wedding.Meanwhile, Bruce’s latest property venture goes horribly wrong after trying to move a flat’s front door to give it a more prestigious address. At Nine Mile Burn, Matthew and the triplets try to adopt an unwillingly-vegan dog. And Sister Maria-Fiori dei Fiore Montagna discovers the missing part of the Stone of Scone in Drummond Place Gardens.Filled with Alexander McCall Smith’s trademark warmth and humour, this latest book in the series is a must-read.

The most famous living rock musician on the planet, Paul McCartney is now regarded as a slightly cosy figure, an (inter)national treasure. Back in the 1970s, however, McCartney cut a very different figure. He was, literally, a man on the run. Desperately trying to escape the shadow of the Beatles, he became an outlaw hippy millionaire, hiding out on his Scottish farmhouse in Kintyre before travelling the world with makeshift bands and barefoot children. It was a time of numerous drug busts and brilliant, banned and occasionally baffling records. For McCartney, it was an edgy, liberating and sometimes frightening period of his life that has largely been forgotten.Man on the Run paints an illuminating picture: from McCartney's nervous breakdown following the Beatles' split through his apparent victimisation by the authorities to the rude awakening of his imprisonment for marijuana possession in Japan in 1980 and the shocking wake-up call of John Lennon's murder. Ultimately, it poses the question: if you were one quarter of the Beatles, could you really outrun your past?

Celebrate 150 years of Hibs.Charting the highs, lows and many misadventures of Hibernian FC, and featuring countless characters, from George Best to John McGinn via the Famous Five and the side that became world champions, this is the ultimate celebration of the beloved Edinburgh sporting institution. It sweeps from the founding of the club in 1875 to the triumphs and tribulations of the 21st century.In 150 bitesize helpings, the story of Hibs is served up in delicious fashion. Who could forget the pass of the millennium or the swoon-inducing swagger of sixties heartthrob Peter Marinello? And who wouldn’t recoil at the memory of the wine bar empire entwined in the club’s darkest hour? Written by a lifelong Hibee, Hibs at 150 bridges the generations and peels back the layers of a century and half of Hibsteria.

The global bestseller and winner of the Indies Choice Honor AwardA poignant and inspirational love story set in Burma, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats spans the decades between the 1950s and the present. When a successful New York lawyer suddenly disappears without a trace, neither his wife nor his daughter Julia has any idea where he might be - until they find a love letter he wrote many years ago, to a Burmese woman they have never heard of.Intent on solving the mystery and coming to terms with her father's past, Julia decides to travel to the village where the woman lived. There she uncovers a tale of unimaginable hardship, resilience, and passion that will change her life once more.

This book is the essential companion for those who wish to learn about and visit the Inner Hebridean islands of Eigg, Muck, Rum and Canna, known collectively as the Small Isles.As well as focusing on history, archaeology and landscape change from earliest times to the present day, it is a fascinating account of the people who have lived there – their subsistence, legends and superstitions, interactions and the ways in which they exploited the land and the sea.It takes the reader through prehistoric landscapes and Iron Age forts into the Age of the Saints and the incoming Vikings. The islands are rich in monastic tradition and rife with the clan feuding of the Middle Ages. Contemporary descriptions help explore population change, townships, the boom and bust of the kelp industry and the devastation brought about by the Clearances before the late 19th century, when wealthy aristocrats created great sporting estates.

The Perfect Passion Dating Company at No. 24 Mouse Lane in Edinburgh's New Town is run by Katie Donald who has an innate instinct for bringing people together. She has developed a skill for finding out what it is that people really want. Along the way, Katie learns profound lessons about her own desires as she works at better understanding others. Although Katie has little in the way of direct experience, with the help of her amiable and handsome office neighbour William Kidd, she soon finds herself making matches for the lonely hearts tired of meeting online – and who want a more personal touch.For fans of Alexander McCall Smith's many beloved series and romantic standalone novels, The Perfect Passion Company shows him at his most perceptive, playful, and generous. In the way that only McCall Smith can, this novel offers a glimpse inside the psychology of matchmaking, the search for love and companionship, and the mysterious spark of attraction that can, at times, catch hold of us all.Two stories that wind their way into this wonderful novel were previously available in different forms as e-book only shorts.

What if you met the person you were destined to be with? And what if you never saw them again . . . ?There’s a new case for the Perfect Passion Company. After a serendipitous meeting in a supermarket, Clea meets the man of her dreams. But having left suddenly without his phone number, she can’t stop thinking about what might have been. Can apprentice matchmaker Katie, with the help of her enigmatic neighbour William, help orchestrate the forces of Kismet and choreograph another happy union?And now that the newly single William’s engagement is off, can Katie seize the moment to tell him how she feels before her chance has gone forever?

Shakespeare fed us the myth of the Macbeths as murderous conspirators. But now Val McDermid drags the truth out of the shadows . . . A thousand years ago in an ancient Scottish landscape, a woman is on the run with her three companions – a healer, a weaver and a seer. The men hunting her will kill her – because she is the only one who stands between them and their violent ambition. She is no lady: she is the first queen of Scotland, married to a king called Macbeth.As the net closes in, we discover a tale of passion, forced marriage, bloody massacre and the harsh realities of medieval Scotland. At the heart of it is one strong, charismatic woman, who survived loss and jeopardy to outwit the endless plotting of a string of ruthless and power-hungry men. Her struggle won her a country. But now it could cost her life.Part of Polygon's DARKLAND TALES series.

'A call to arms for a better society' – BBC Radio 4 Often a small and seemingly insignificant event can change the course of our lives.Not long after starting a new job, Neil meets Chrissie. Romance soon blossoms and together they move to a lavish flat in Edinburgh. Everything seems to be falling into place perfectly.But an innocuous, throw-away comment unintentionally causes Neil’s career to collapse, and, at the same time, a cruel betrayal shatters the life he thought he knew.His only option is to escape to the secluded, remote beauty of a breathtaking Hebridean island. Here, he finds a different way of life, and new friendships develop. But he can’t escape the past forever, and soon he must confront a life-changing decision once more.From the world's favourite author of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, this novel is about chance encounters; it is richly atmospheric and packed with compassion and humour.  Praise for Alexander McCall Smith's writing: 'The author's prose has the merits of simplicity, euphony and precision. This is art that conceals art' – Sunday Telegraph'Bags of warmth and wisdom and easy, accomplished writing that begs for a comfy chair' – The Times'Charming, delightful, feel-good stuff' – Daily Express

The remarkable debut from Thomas Stewart.In his debut collection, Real Boys, Thomas Stewart examines the death of his father and explores questions of grief, guilt, mental health, identity, sexuality and masculinity. As these poems unfold, a hallway of mirrors is created. Through the lens of father-son relationships, cinema, art and Welsh mythology are expanded and rethought. This collection grapples with what it means to be a father, a son and a self. Subverting the notions of gender, Stewart addresses both the damage of old stereotypes and the passage of generational trauma, questioning how we might change.'A wonderful meditation on the language of grief, want, lust and hope' – Jenni Fagan'A beautiful and wistful collection which wrangles with life’s ample grief and heartache' – Andrés N. Ordorica'These poems are a revelation. I took great comfort from Thomas Stewart’s collection' – Lotte Jeffs

A powerfully poignant tale of one of the most turbulent moments in Scotland's history: the North Berwick Witch Trials.IT’S THE 4TH OF DECEMBER 1591.On this, the last night of her life, in a prison cell several floors below Edinburgh’s High Street, convicted witch Geillis Duncan receives a mysterious visitor – Iris, who says she comes from a future where women are still persecuted for who they are and what they believe.As the hours pass and dawn approaches, Geillis recounts the circumstances of her arrest, brutal torture, confession and trial, while Iris offers support, solace – and the tantalising prospect of escape.Hex is a visceral depiction of what happens when a society is consumed by fear and superstition, exploring how the terrible force of a king’s violent crusade against ordinary women can still be felt, right up to the present day.'This series has already produced two works of note and distinction. It raises the question – if a country cannot re-tell its history, will it be stuck forever in aspic and condemned to be nothing more than a shortbread tin illustration? Hex and Rizzio are showing the way towards a reckoning, and about time too’ – Stuart Kelly, Scotland on Sunday

Fully revised edition with updated information on the surviving members of the orca pod.In 2014, marine biologist Dr Natalie Sanders joined the crew of the research vessel Silurian to seek out Britain’s West Coast Community of orca and study them before we lose them forever. Though this orca pod has delighted scientists and whale watchers for years, we still know relatively little about them, and what we do know comes mostly from citizen science and chance encounters. But what is abundantly clear is that pollution, entanglement, military sonar and climate change continue to have an enormous impact on whales and dolphins and other marine life throughout the world’s oceans.This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the marine world in this age of climate change. A captivating yet poignant account, it takes the reader from the Western Isles of Scotland to Vancouver Island and elsewhere. It also delves deep into the history of our relations with these beautiful and sentient creatures to explain what their loss means and how we can avoid similar tragedies in the future.

New from bestselling illustrator Eilidh Muldoon.Gardening is one of the most popular hobbies in the country. This book includes lots of garden-themed illustrations by bestselling artist Eilidh Muldoon to colour in.From gardening tools, ponds, greenhouses, allotments and herb gardens to beehives, walled gardens, hanging baskets, garden residents such as birds, insects and hedgehogs, as well as many native plants flowers, and vegetables, there’s something for everyone with green fingers in this superb and imaginative colouring book.

David Sempill is being torn apart. Young and idealistic, his loyalty to his King conflicts with his Covenanting sympathies, which are, in turn, tested by the brutality he witnesses towards Montrose's beaten army. When black magic is uncovered in the ancient Witch Wood, as a man of God he must fight it, but his love for the beautiful, pagan Katrine and the religious extremism of the time puts him at the centre of a deadly spiral. Buchan's favourite novel - and an inspiration for the young C.S. Lewis - is a terrifying portrait of a cruel and intolerant age.With an introduction by Allan Massie.This edition is authorised by the John Buchan Society.

WINNER OF THE GUARDIAN FICTION OF THE YEAR AWARDONE OF THE LIST’S BEST SCOTTISH BOOKS OF ALL TIMESet in nineteen-sixties Glasgow, this novel portrays the struggles and conflicts of young working-class hero and would-be novelist Mat Craig, whose desire to define himself as an artist creates social and family tensions.This classic of Scottish twentieth-century literature is renowned for its vivid descriptions of Glasgow and the fight for individual creative expression; it remains as authentic and relevant more than fifty years after its original publication.Includes an Introduction by Alasdair Gray as well as Archie Hind’s unfinished novel Fur Sadie and one of his essays ‘Men of the Clyde’.*‘An exciting first novel worth a dozen more seasoned efforts’ - Guardian‘The best novel ever written’ - Skinny‘A touching insight into human strength and frailty’ - Daily Mail

Being a doctor is a privilege; it is also very demanding and can be stressful, and to be able to look after others, we need to look after ourselves. We offer you this little book of poetry, Tools of the Trade, as a friend to provide inspiration, comfort and support as you begin work.Tools of the Trade includes poems by poet-doctors Iain Bamforth, Rafael Campo, Glenn Colquhoun, Martin MacIntryre and Gael Turnbull.

In Three Fires, award-winning author Denise Mina re-imagines the 'Bonfire of the Vanities', a series of fires lit throughout Florence at the end of the fifteenth century - inspired by the fanatical Girolamo Savonarola.Girolamo Savonarola was a Dominican friar living in Florence at the tail end of the fifteenth century. An anti-corruption campaigner his hellfire preaching increasingly spilled over into tirades against all luxuries that tempted people towards sin. These sermons led to the infamous ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’ - a series of fires lit throughout Florence for the incineration of everything from books, extravagant clothing, playing cards, musical instruments, make-up and mirrors, to paintings, tapestries and sculptures.Railing against the vice and avarice of the ruling Medici family, he was instrumental in their removal from power, and for a time became the puritanical leader of the city. After turning his attention to corruption in the entire Catholic Church, he was first excommunicated and then executed by a combination of hanging and being burnt at the stake.Denise Mina brings a modern take to this fascinating historical story - drawing parallels between the febrile atmosphere of medieval Florence and the culture wars of the present day. In dramatising the life and last days of Savonarola she explores the downfall of the original architect of cancel culture and in the process explores the neverending tensions between wealth, inequality, and freedom of speech that so dominate our modern world.

Scotland has one of the richest traditions of folklore in the world, and the nation’s greatest writers have been influenced by the country’s abundance of customs, superstitions, ghost stories and folktales. Robert Burns, Walter Scott, James Hogg and Robert Louis Stevenson all used Scottish folklore in their work.This book traces the roots and traditions of Scottish folklore and introduces all its key parts, combining a huge range of material from gypsy-lore and Arthurian legend to tales of magical beasts, demons and witches and lore associated with the natural world.

Scottish produce is celebrated the world over. The demand for game, for example, far exceeds what can be supplied, and Scottish cheeses surpass many from mainland Europe. In this book Claire Macdonald celebrates the very best of home-grown ingredients - from oatmeal, dairy produce, meat and fish, fruit and vegetables and even whisky - in 60 imaginative recipes for starters, main course and puddings, as well as for sauces, dressings, baking and other treats.Recipes include: Grilled goat's cheese on stir-fried beetroot with orange and Balsamic vinegar Chocolate oatmeal biscuits Iced honey and whisky creams Herb crepes with smoked salmon, creme fraiche and diced cucumber Steam-baked cod with lentils, coriander and lime Venison fillet with green peppercorn, ginger and port sauce

Scotland’s largest city features a huge variety of buildings from every period, as well as parks, open spaces and the great River Clyde. This book features 23 views, from Glasgow Cathedral, George Square and the People’s Palace to Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Buchanan Street and the Barrowland Ballroom. All are beautifully drawn, packed with detail and ideal for all levels of colouring. Includes:Glasgow Cathedral • Kelvingrove Museum • Riverside Museum • Gallery of Modern Art • Pollok House • People’s Palace • CCA• Tramway • The Lighthouse • Museum of Transport • Glasgow Science Centre • Glasgow Film Theatre • Theatre Royal • SEC Hydro and Finnieston Crane • Oran Mor • Barrowland Ballroom • Ashton Lane • Merchant City • George Square and City Chambers • Buchanan Street • Botanic Gardens • Holmwood House • Templeton on the Green • Tenement House • Kelvingrove Park • Central Station • Glasgow University • The Squinty Bridge

Feuding had an effect on the history of most of Europe. Scotland provides a fascinating focus for the study of the bloodfeud because feuding survived until remarkably late there, and thus is much better documented than in other European societies. This examination of the Scottish evidence shows its relevance to the wider European community to which the Scots belonged, reveals much about the nature of the bloodfeud in general, and explores the changes in society which at last brought about its suppression.The bloodfeud has been the subject of anthropological rather than historical investigation, partly because it largely disappeared at an early stage in the development of literacy in Europe and has never been a fashionable research topic for historians. In this study of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century feud in Scotland, Keith Brown focuses on its context in society, politics and the ideology that served to uproot the tradition. The book will be of value to historians of many different cultures and periods.

The essays in this book, all by distinguished historians, illuminate the main activities, preoccupations and aspirations of the families whose territorial power and local leadership made them a central factor in medieval Scottish society. Issues discussed include the influence of Anglo-Norman England on earlier medieval Scotland, patterns of land accumulation by the aristocracy, noble residences, the legal and administrative aspects of baronial lordship, clientage, and dealings between magnates and the Church.Throughout, the essays stress the importance of recognising that, before the Wars of Independence, the nobility of Scotland was closely bound by ties of kinship and property with the nobility in England and emphasise that the common assumption of perpetual opposition between baronage and the Crown is a myth. First published in 1985, these essays remain essential reading on the subject.

In viewing Galloway from the wider context of the northern British mainland, Irish Sea and wider Hebridean zone, it has been possible to explore the dynamics of state-building, dynastic interactions, and the close inter-relationships of the territories connected by the western seaways, which most traditional ’national’ histories obscure. From this wider perspective, the development of the lordship of Galloway can be considered in the context of the spreading power and regional rivalries of English, Irish and Scottish kings, and a reassessment of the emergence of the unitary lordship controlled by Fergus of Galloway and his family.Traditional interpretations of the relationship of Fergus and his successors with the kings of England and Scotland are challenged and new light is thrown on the beginnings of the processes of progressive domination of Galloway by, and integration into, the kingdom of the Scots. The end of the autonomous lordship in the 1230s is projected against the backdrop of the aggressive state-building activities of King Alexander II and the transformation of its rulers from independently minded princes and warlords into Anglo-Scottish barons.

Tales for Twilight offers a spine-tingling selection of unnerving tales by writers from James Hogg in the early eighteenth century to James Robertson, very much alive in the twenty-first. Scottish authors have proved to be exceptionally good at writing ghost stories.Perhaps it’s because of the tradition of oral storytelling that has stretched over centuries, including poems and ballads with supernatural themes. The golden age was during the Victorian and Edwardian period, but the ghost story has continued to evolve and remains popular to this day.Includes stories from Sir Walter Scott, George Mackay Brown, Muriel Spark, Margaret Oliphant, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Guy Boothby, Algernon Blackwood, Eileen Bigland, Ronald Duncan, James Robertson and Ian Rankin.

In this modern age the regional and national boundaries which define Scotland seem fixed and permanent. But of course this has not always been so.In this book Alistair Moffat looks at the shifting political shape of the land long before its modern borders were created. In doing so he brings to vivid life the half-forgotten kingdoms that came and went during Roman times, the Dark Ages and the early medieval period. This is a fascinating journey into a tantalisingly little-known period of our history, yet one which is crucial to our understanding of who we are and where we came from.'Moffat's tireless reasearch ... and commanding knowledge bring these forgotten peoples to life' – Scottish Field

One of the BBC Arts 100 Most Inspiring NovelsEdinburgh, 1930, and the world is on the brink of change. Leading the charge is the glamorous, free-spirited Miss Jean Brodie, schoolteacher at the Marcia Blaine Academy, whose guiding principle is ‘Give me a girl at an impressionable age and she’ll be mine for life. I am dedicated to you in my prime.’ While Miss Brodie manipulates and charms ‘her girls’ – known as the Brodie Set – with notions of romance and heroism, tragedy and a cruel betrayal beckon.This is one of the 22 novels written by Muriel Spark in her lifetime.

This study examines the political ambitions and influences of the Balliol dynasty in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries in Scotland, England and France. The generally accepted opinion in previous historiography was that John (II), king of Scots from 1292 to 1296, and Edward Balliol (d. 1364) were politically weak men and unsuccessful kings. In a reassessment of the patriarch of the family, John (I) (d.1268), the Balliols are revealed as committed English lords and loyal servants of the kings of England, underlining how the family has been unfairly judged for centuries by both chroniclers and historians, who have assessed them as Scottish kings rather than as English lords.Despite the forfeiture of the Balliol estates in England and Scotland in 1296, John (II) and Edward retained close relationships with the successive English kings and used these connections to fuel their political ambitions. Their kingships illustrate their desires to recover some influence in English politics which the family had enjoyed in the mid-thirteenth century. This re-evaluation of the Balliols highlights their relationship with the English crown.