Modern Scottish Collections

Image from 'Newes from Scotland'.

A new resource looking at witches in Scottish literature is now available on the Learning Zone section of the National Library of Scotland website. The Learning Zone is a dedicated area of the NLS website where teachers and learners can find learning resources, web features, images, and collections material relating to curriculum topics.

The Witches in Scottish literature feature looks at seven sources from the collections featuring Scottish witches. The sources illustrate differing treatments of witchcraft in various genres of literature from the last 400 years. Works by James VI, Shakespeare, Burns, James Hogg, John Buchan, Edwin Morgan, and Rona Munro are discussed alongside some historical background on the fascinating history of the witch-hunts in Scotland.

If you would like to learn more why not visit the website or watch a video of Julian Goodare, Reader in History at the University of Edinburgh, talking about the historical context of witch-hunting in Scotland.

New Scottish publications recently added to the National Library of Scotland’s collections include The Edinburgh companion to James Hogg edited by Ian Duncan and Douglas Mack. Part of the Edinburgh companions to Scottish literature series published by Edinburgh University Press, this work contains a collection of essays examining the life and work of the Scottish author and key Romantic figure, James Hogg (1770-1835). You can find references to further items by and about James Hogg on Scottish Bibliographies Online.

Shetland vernacular buildings 1600-1900 by Ian Tait is the result of 25 years of research and fieldwork investigating the history, architecture and usage of farm buildings in Shetland. Published by Shetland Museum & Archives, this volume includes many illustrations reproduced in print for the first time.

The recent Highland Railway Society publication Aberfeldy’s railway by C.J. Stewart draws on research and interviews to provide a fascinating account of the history of the railway in the Tay Valley. References to many more books, chapters and articles on the history of Scottish railways can be found in Scottish Bibliographies Online.

Skagboys is the latest novel by Scottish author Irvine Welsh. The prequel to Trainspotting, this novel explains the circumstances that pushed Mark Renton and friends towards herion addiction in 1980s Edinburgh. Skagboys is published by Jonathan Cape.

A good selection of new Scottish material was received by the National Library of Scotland this week, including a new printing of the 35 volume Complete works of Robert Louis Stevenson, published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing Classical Texts.

A new edited collection of essays about James Hogg was also received this week. James Hogg and the literary marketplace : Scottish romanticism and the working-class author, edited by Sharon Alker and Holly Faith Nelson aims to examine the character and literary range of Hogg, his place within nineteenth-century Scottish literature and the broader ‘literary marketplace’.

Also new in this week was Part-truths : poems by 24 year old Scottish poet Michael Pedersen and published by Koo Press. This is the first poetry pamphlet produced by Michael, who is currently travelling and teaching in Cambodia.

Perennial Christmas favourites The Broons are back! This week we received The Broons and Oor Wullie : the glory years 1956-1969, featuring all the best Broons and Oor Wullie strips from that era.