|
Showing 1 - 25 of
42 matches in All Departments
Commissioned especially for Scotland's Year of Stories, Storm and
Shore connects the west coast of Scotland's rich mythological past
with the present day. When artist Lucy Salter comes to a remote
Argyll coastline she aims to connect with nature in its wild state.
Aid worker Dave McArthur is fleeing traumatic conflict. But they
have both ventured into a borderland, layered by history, migration
and repressed violence. It is a liminal place, storied by centuries
of settlement and travel. Yet local tradition bearers, bard and
seannachaidh, can channel the past. From these hauntings, a
storytelling tapestry is woven from the sea, nature myth and
weather. The long roots of our global crisis are laid bare in
landfalls, wherein the crucible of Gaelic tradition, creatures of
the sea meet the shore.
Commissioned especially for Scotland's Year of Stories, Saut an
Bluid offers an inspired blend of traditional storytelling with
historical fiction to tell this tale that links Scotland and
Norway's pasts together. In nine days of drama, the full smeddum of
Scotland's Norse saga unfolds in pithy Scots. As Guid King
Alexander tumbles to his death, a gutsy backstory comes to the
boil. And at the heart of the crisis is Skald the Ferryman,
storyteller of Pittenweem. What is his connection with the Maid of
Norway, and the Corryvreckan whirlpool?
Lord Cockburn, Victorian defender of Edinburgh’s beauties,
describes Calton Hill as ‘the Glory of Edinburgh’. ‘It
presents us,’ enthused Cockburn, ‘with the finest prospects
both of its vicinity and the city… it is adorned by beautiful
buildings dedicated to science and to the memory of distinguished
men.’ Following on from the success of Arthur’s Seat, the
Journeys and Evocations series continues with a look at the events
and folklore surrounding Edinburgh’s iconic Calton Hill. Standing
only 338 ft (103m) high, this small hill offers a fascinating view
of Edinburgh both literally and historically. The book brings
together prose, poetry and photographic images to explore the
Calton Hill’s role in radical and nationalist politics through
the centuries, as well as taking a look at the buildings,
philosophy and intrigue of a central part of Edinburgh’s
landscape.
The garden is an oasis, a pocket of nature in our busy modern
lives, full of plants, animals, insects - and a fair bit of magic.
Folk Tales from the Garden follows the seasons through a year of
stories, garden lore and legends. Explore the changing face of
nature just outside your front door, from the tale of the Creator
painting her birds and the merits of kissing an old toad, to pixies
sleeping in the tulips, and an unusually large turnip.
This collection features four peer-reviewed literature reviews on
plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria in agriculture. The first
chapter considers the use of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria
(PGPR) as plant biostimulants in agriculture. It considers the
benefits of PGPR, such as their ability to promote plant growth and
productivity under both normal and abiotic-stressed induced
environments. The chapter also looks towards PGPR application as a
sustainable and efficient method to enhance crop production. The
second chapter reviews recent research on the use of PGPR as
biofertilizers to enhance root function and improve nutrient
uptake, with emphasis on their effects on root architecture,
metabolism and adaptation to abiotic stress. The third chapter
explores the use of microbial bio-effectors and their ability to
optimise the mineral nutrition of agricultural crops. The chapter
also reviews the wealth of research on the mechanism of action,
applications and efficacy of key plant growth-promoting
microorganisms (PGPMs). The final chapter reviews the use of plant
growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) as a biocontrol agent against
invertebrate pests. The chapter analyses the effects of PGPB
species against these pest types and enlists a case study on the
PGPB species Pseudomonas protegens to further demonstrate this.
Scotland's Democracy Trail goes from Edinburgh Castle, Greyfriars,
down the High Street, across North Bridge to Calton Hill, and then
on down to the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood. Apart from its
historic significance, the route encompasses Edinburgh's most
dramatic scenery and townscape. The Trail follows the emergence of
democratic thought and action in Scotland from the sixteenth
century, linking pivotal events to locations on the way. It is a
story of ups and downs, triumphs and tragedies, borne along by a
stubborn persistent advance. Although the roots of democracy run
deep in Scotland, here we concentrate on the footprint of democracy
in our capital city.
In the bicentenary year of the publication of Sir Walter Scott’s
first novel Waverley, this is a timely republication of Buchan’s
work The Man and the Book, originally published in 1925. Buchan’s
treatment is sympathetic but perceptive, and at points critical.
Whilst acknowledging Scott’s weaknesses, the book also touches
upon the creative pulse of his great predecessor’s achievement.
Interspersed with superb extracts exhibiting Scott’s narrative
arts, as a short introduction to and sampling of Scott, John
Buchan’s work has never been bettered. To this day, this book
remains the ideal advocate and guide to the great Sir Walter Scott.
When a traveling peddler discovers the murder of a farm family in
colonial North Carolina whose bodies have been left in bizarre
positions, circumstances point to an Indian attack. But Harry
Woodyard, a young planter who is the volunteer constable of Craven
County during a period in America's past when there was no
professional police force, finds clues that seem to indicate
otherwise. The county establishment wants to blame the crime on a
former inhabitant, an elderly Indian who has suddenly reappeared in
the vicinity like an old ghost. But he is a person to whom Harry
owes much. Defying the authorities, Harry goes off on his own to
find the real killer. His investigation takes him up the Atlantic
seacoast and turns into a perilous hunt for even bigger quarry that
could affect the future of Britain in the American continent.
BALLAD of the FIVE MARYS Yestreen the Queen had Four Marys Tonight
she’ll hae but three There was Mary Seton, and Mary Beaton And
Mary Carmichael and me. from ‘Mary Hamilton’, The Child Ballads
The Mary Carmichael of the well-known ballad may be a fiction but
Marys Seton, Beaton, Livingston and Fleming, together with Mary
Stewart, comprised the real five Marys – assertive young women
unafraid to question their place in society. Who was Mary Queen of
Scots? Vilified as an adulteress, only to be immortalised as a
martyr, where does history become legend? Why was Mary deposed? Who
killed Darnley? Five hundred years after the Battle of Flodden and
the birth of John Knox, this new take on Mary’s life explores not
only the historical events which led to her demise, but the
relationships and emotions of an increasingly isolated young woman
faced with political and religious upheaval and her country’s
gradual loss of independence. Our Sovereign Lady who now Reigns at
this Hour, The Mighty Lord be ever her Protector And Make Her
Marriage as He thinks Best, That Her Liege may Reign in Peace and
RestTHE FORMAN ARMORIAL, C.1562
Experience the scenery and folklore of Edinburgh's iconic Old Town
through new eyes in the latest installment in the Journeys and
Evocations series. This blend of prose, poetry, photography and
history is the perfect gift for any visitor to Scotland's capital
city.
Two extraordinary women come back to full-bodied life. Flora McIvor
has been rescued from the pages of Sir Walter Scott, who sent her
to a nunnery. Her close friend, the real life Clementina
Walkinshaw, was the love of Bonnie Prince Charlie, and mother of
his only child. Both are caught up in a tangle of espionage and
treachery following the defeat of the 1745 Jacobite Rising in
Scotland. The novel ranges over Europe, and finally to America,
showing the international reach of Scotland’s culture and
politics. Flora struggles through political failure and personal
tragedy towards creative fulfilment in the arts of theatre, and a
late discovery of love. In this drama, which combines storytelling
with opera, she defies Scott who wrote her out of ‘Waverley’ as
a woman without a future.
Introduced by Donald Smith. Set in Rome during Nero's reign of
terror, The Blood of the Martyrs is a disciplined historical novel
tracing the destruction of one cell of the early church. With a
cast of slaves, ordinary Roman people, exiles and entertainers, it
is thorough in its historical interpretation and in its
determination to make the past accessible and readable. Written in
1938-9, the novel contains many symbolic parallels to the rise of
European fascism in the 1930s and the desperate plight of
persecuted minorities such as the Jews and the left-wing activists
with whom Naomi Mitchison personally campaigned at the time. With
the invasion of Britain a real possibility, she felt compelled to
write a testament to the power of human solidarity which, even
faced with death, can overcome the worst that human evil can
achieve. The Blood of the Martyrs is the least autobiographical of
Mitchison's major works of fiction, yet, with its implicit credo,
is her most passionately self-revealing.
Fionn Cycle: A loose collection of tales originating in Scotland,
Ireland and the Isle of Man which surround hunter-warrior leader
Fionn, his band of men and his poet son, Ossian. Old Grey Magician:
A mystical, morally ambivalent figure who appears throughout Celtic
mythology; in Ireland he is the Dark Druid, and often he appears as
a seabird. The shapeshifting sorcerer is a thorn in Fionn’s side,
solving impossible problems but always asking too much in return.
George W Macpherson has been telling the traditional tales of Fionn
and the Fianna for years, artfully drawing in audiences with his
storytelling talent. Gathered from sources all over the country and
occasionally beyond, and collected here for the first time, the Old
Grey Magician’s exploits offer a fascinating insight into the
traditions of Scotland and the development of oral storytelling.
Introduced and situated in physical and literary history by Donald
Smith, this collection reminds us of the importance of retaining
the stories that shaped us.
This tale of intrigue and betrayal goes to the heart of events
surrounding the Treaty of Union in 1707. Daniel Foe (better known
as Defoe), sent to Scotland to sway opinion towards Union, reports
to his English spymaster. But Edinburgh is already a hotbed of
counter-plots and nascent rebellion. Foe's encounters with a
landlady who is not what she seems, and with a beautiful Jacobite
agent, lead him to become a novelist, against his better instincts.
Born in 1861 to a Methodist family, William Henry Jackson grew up
in Ontario before moving to Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, where he
sympathized with the Métis and their struggle for land rights.
Jackson became personal secretary to Louis Riel. After the Métis
defeat, a Regina court committed the young English Canadian
idealist, who had become a Catholic in the Métis camp, and who had
later accepted Louis Riel as the prophet of a reformed Christian
church, to the lunatic asylum at Lower Fort Garry. He eventually
escaped to the United States, joined the labour union movement, and
renounced his race. Self-identifying as Métis, he changed his name
to the French-sounding "Honoré Jaxon" and devoted the remainder of
his life to fighting for the working class and the Indigenous
peoples of North America. In Honoré Jaxon, Donald B. Smith draws
on extensive archival research and interviews with family members
to present a definitive biography of this complex political man.
The book follows Jaxon into the 1940s, where his life mission
became the establishment of a library for the First Nations in
Saskatchewan, collecting as many books, newspapers, and pamphlets
relating to the Métis people as possible. In 1951, at age ninety,
he was evicted from his apartment and his library was discarded to
the New York City dump. In poor health and broken in spirit, he
died one month later. Heavily illustrated, Honoré Jaxon recounts
the complicated story of a young English Canadian who imagined a
society in which English and French, Indigenous and Métis would be
equals.
|
Midlothian Folk Tales (Paperback)
Lea Taylor; Illustrated by Sylvia Troon; Foreword by Donald Smith
|
R310
R254
Discovery Miles 2 540
Save R56 (18%)
|
Ships in 12 - 17 working days
|
Storyteller Lea Taylor brings together stories from the rugged
coastlines, rushing rivers, uplands and sweeping valleys of
Midlothian. In this treasure trove of tales you will meet kings and
queens, saints and sinners, witches and wizards, ghosts and giants,
fools and tricksters - all as mysterious and powerful as the
landscape they inhabit. Retold in an engaging style, and richly
illustrated with unique line drawings, these humorous, clever and
enchanting folk tales are sure to be enjoyed and shared time and
again.
|
East Lothian Folk Tales (Paperback)
Tim Porteus; Illustrated by Mags MacFarlane; Foreword by Donald Smith
|
R311
R255
Discovery Miles 2 550
Save R56 (18%)
|
Ships in 12 - 17 working days
|
Storyteller Tim Porteus brings together stories from the rugged
coastlines, golden beaches, rolling countryside and dramatic
Lammermuir Hills of the ancient county of East Lothian. In this
treasure trove of tales you will meet Scottish kings and queens,
saints and sinners, witches and wizards, ghosts and giants, fools
and tricksters - all as fantastical and powerful as the landscape
they inhabit. Retold in an engaging style, and richly illustrated
with unique line drawings, these humorous, clever and enchanting
folk tales are sure to be enjoyed and shared time and again.
The distinctive blend of emotions and responses each landscape
stirs up are echoed in stories filtered through the voices of
storytellers, the pens of poets and historians, and the tools of
artists and crafters. We hope you will experience these too, as you
journey with us through the landscape. The popular Journeys and
Evocations series continues with the fourth instalment Travelling
the Tweed Dales, an exploration of the Scottish Borders. Six
journeys take the reader from Eildon Hills to Tweeddale, from Kelso
to Gala Water, Ettrick and Teviotdale. The long history of the
Borders and their unique culture is evoked through key
personalities, events, stories and folklore. Complete with driving
instructions and directions, the book is a travelogue, expressed
through story, poetry and song, set against the landscape, in a
previously unexplored way. Whether by foot, bike, bus, armchair or
car, this book is your perfect travelling companion. Previous
Journeys and Evocations books focused on Scotland’s capital city,
exploring Arthur’s Seat, Calton Hill and Edinburgh Old Town.
This lively and entertaining collection of folk tales from the
Scottish Borders is rich in stories both tall and true, ancient and
more recent, dark and funny, fantastical and powerful. Here you
will find the Lochmaben Harper, Tam Linn, Thomas the Rhymer, Muckle
Mou'd Meg and Michael Scot the wizard. These well-loved and magical
stories - some appearing in print here for the first time - are
retold in an engaging style, shaped by James Spence's many years of
storytelling. Richly illustrated and enlivened by the rhythmic
Scots language of the region, these enchanting tales are sure to be
enjoyed and shared time and again.
|
|