Waverley Scottish Classics – serie

This is a guide to names used in Scotland - Scots, Gaelic, international, ancient, modern, and timeless - and their origins and meanings. These names are either popular in modern Scotland, or are chosen because they have some special significance or historical link to the country. With Gaelic pronunciations, and historical and geographical references to the origin of first names and surnames, this book both helps parents choose a name for their baby, and also guides the reader to the history of Scotland's most common surnames. Find out whether you have Scots ancestry in this fascinating compilation.

A collection of jokes that combines favourite, classic Scottish oldies, with fresh jokes about our favourite stereotypes that make you laugh. It presents an irreverent view of Scotland and the Scots.

"Scottish Myths and Legends" is an entertaining taste of the feast of stories that Scotland has to offer. Fairy folk, witches, giants, monsters, tales of heroic princes, magic and miraculous feats - all are the stuff of the myths and legends of Scotland. Scotland is a nation made up of many peoples and cultures. This diversity of cultural influence is reflected in Scotland's vast store of myths and legends. This book contains a fascinating selection of these; some recent, some ancient, some obscure in origin and others based (however loosely) on fact. We invite you to revel in engaging tales of selkies, kelpies, glaistigs, fairy queens and changelings; wonder at the mysteries that may be hidden in the depths of Scottish lochs; and, shiver at tales of supernatural disappearances, deadly creatures and grisly deeds, and if you ever meet someone called Sawney Bean, who lived in a cave with his family and ate people - run for your life!

Towns, villages, islands, mountains, lochs and rivers of Scotland - all are listed, and the derivation of their names - some curious - some extraordinary - is given throughout. All have a story to tell, and Scotland's rich history is apparent in these place names. Celtic, Nordic and Anglo-Saxon influences that span 2,000 years from the beginning of the Common or Christian Era to the 11th century are shown. And as the incoming Celts did not find an empty land, some names can be traced to Pictish times. With the arrival of the Scots in the 6th century, Gaelic names began to appear, and then, a century later, Anglian names appeared from the south, to later be influenced by French and Dutch, becoming the 'Scots' tongue of the Middle Ages. The advent of the Norsemen in the 9th century produced Norse names in the North, the Northern and Western Isles and the South-West. Many names are Scots transliterations of Gaelic. Auchenshuggle, long thought of as an appropriate destination for Glasgow's tramcars is simply a Scots version of the Gaelic for 'rye field'.The book explains how, over successive generations with political, economic and cultural changes, while Scots became established, place names were not renewed or translated - they were merely Scotticised. And so today, with English as the common tongue, we can be reminded of the past at just about every turn. This book provides a fascinating journey that might take you from Aberbrothock to the Butt of Lewis, Cruachan to Dunnet, on to Ecclefechan and Friockheim, Gretna, Hoy, Ibrox, John o' Groats, Kells, pausing at Lanark before seeking out Mealfuarvounie, Nick, Oxgangs, Patna, Quanterness, Rum, Sciennes, Talisker, Uig,Voe, Waterloo, Yell and Zetland - your journey has just begun!