Modern Scottish Collections

A huge variety of books were added to the modern Scottish collections at the National Library of Scotland this week, including Arthur’s Seat: journeys and evocations by Stuart McHardy and Donald Smith. Published by Luath Press, this book is a fascinating look at the history and folklore of Edinburgh’s most distinctive natural landmark.

From one fascinating Scottish hill to another – Fraser Hunter and Kenneth Painter examine the hoard of silver discovered on East Lothian’s Traprain Law in Late Roman silver: the Traprain treasure in context. Full of wonderful photographs, this Society of Antiquaries of Scotland publication looks at the late Roman economy, society and at the use of silver in the Roman world.

Other recent additions include several children’s books in Scottish Gaelic. Spùinneadairean Dubh Na h-Oidhche is a tale of pirates by Peter Harris and Deborah Allwright, and An Coileach Cadalach by Nuala Nic Con Iomaire and Donough O’Malley is the entertaining story of a sleepy farmyard cockerel. Both books are published by Acair.

And finally, for those of you looking for a new knitting project, why not Knit your own Scotland? Jackie Holt and Ruth Bailey’s book provides patterns to allow you to knit your own Andy Murray, Billy Connolly, Scotch pie, Tunnock’s teacake and much more. Knit your own Scotland is published by Black and White.

Today is National Poetry Day! To celebrate, the National Library of Scotland has produced a set of web pages featuring poems from the pamphlets shortlisted for the 2012 Callum Macdonald Memorial Award. Each page includes poetry from the shortlisted pamphlet, along with biographical information about the poet.

We hope that you enjoy the quality and variety of poetry on offer at our National Poetry Day 2012 web pages. There are poems in Scots, Gaelic, and English, and the subject matter covers a variety of topics, from Hadrian’s Wall to the Museum of Anatomy at the University of Glasgow. Thank you to the poets and publishers who allowed us to use their work.

If you would like to read poetry from other years, please take a look at our previous National Poetry Day web pages.

You can find out more about the Callum Macdonald Memorial Award at the Scottish Pamphlet Poetry website and more about National Poetry Day at the official website.

This week saw the addition of another huge variety of material to the modern Scottish collections at the National Library of Scotland. One title of interest was Jamieson’s Dictionary of Scots: the story of the first historical dictionary of the Scots language by Susan Rennie. Published by Oxford University Press this is the first full account of the creation of John Jamieson’s Etymological dictionary of the Scottish language, which was published in 1808 as the first complete Scots dictionary. Susan Rennie discusses the methods used by Jamieson, as well as the contributions of others, such as Sir Walter Scott, to his work.

Tony Hogan bought me an ice-cream float before he stole my ma by Kerry Hudson tells the story of Janie Ryan’s childhood as part of a dysfunctional family living in an Aberdeen council estate during the 1980s. This is the first novel by Scottish author Kerry Hudson, who was born and brought up in Aberdeen. Tony Hogan … is published by Chatto & Windus.

The Edinburgh companion to Scottish women’s writing edited by Glenda Norquay is the latest title in the Edinburgh companions to Scottish literature series published by Edinburgh University Press. This work examines the important contributions of authors such as Margaret Oliphant, Naomi Mitchison, Isabella Bird and Denise Mina in historical context. Other areas discussed include oral traditions, nationalism, women in Gaelic culture and the act of reading.

With the Olympics almost upon us, the Guide to Scotland’s London 2012 cultural programme, published by Creative Scotland lists Olympic related events taking place in Scotland during 2012.

Maighread Challan won the 2011 Donald Meek Award with Air bilean an t-Sluaigh: sealladh air leantalachd beul-aithris Ghàidhlig Uibhist a Tuath, published by Queen’s University Belfast. Written in Scottish Gaelic, this work examines the oral tradition of North Uist in social and cultural context, looking at reasons for its decline and investigating to what extent the tradition continues. Further information is available on the Gaelic Books Council website.

The 2011 volume of Scottish Gaelic Studies has now been indexed on Scottish Bibliographies Online (SBO). SBO provides references to articles within this volume about the Scottish Gaelic language. There are articles concerning the historical usage and development of Gaelic, as well as discussions about collectors of Scottish Gaelic poetry and oral tradition, such as Duncan Kennedy and Alexander Irvine. The value of early Gaelic poetry as a historical source for investigating the history of kingship in early medieval Scotland is also investigated. Scottish Gaelic Studies, which contains articles in English as well as Gaelic, is published by the University of Aberdeen.

To find references to material written in Scottish Gaelic (including books, chapters, articles and more) you can search the Bibliography of Scottish Gaelic (BOSG), which is part of SBO. All of SBO is searchable via the National Library of Scotland’s search discovery tool.

Next Thursday on December 1 here at the National Library of Scotland, we have the announcement of the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year Awards.

The shortlist for the four categories came out earlier this week and features a wide range of works by or about Scots and Scotland. Competing for the Scottish Book of the Year Award are Scots as celebrated and diverse as John Burnside, Alasdair Gray, Jackie Kay, A.L. Kennedy, Ali Smith, and the late Sorley MacLean.

Publishing Scotland has put together a handy summary of all the shortlisted books in the four categories.

Meanwhile the Costa Book Awards nominations include three distinguished Scots – the novel A Summer of Drowning by John Burnside, and two competing poetry collections Fiere by Jackie Kay, and The Bees by Carol Ann Duffy. All are serious contenders.

A good selection of Scottish interest material was received by the National Library of Scotland this week, including John Byrne: art and life by Robert Hewison. Scottish artist and playwright John Byrne is perhaps best known as the writer of the award winning television series Tutti Frutti and acclaimed plays such as The slab boys. However, Byrne is also a successful artist and during his career has designed record covers and book jackets as well as theatre sets. This illustrated account of Byrne’s life and work examines the substantial contribution he has made to the literary and visual arts in Scotland. John Byrne: art and life is published by Lund Humphries. You can read more about John Byrne and his play The slab boys on our 12 key Scottish plays web feature.

Golf on the rocks: a journey round Scotland’s island courses by Gary Sutherland (published by Hachette) follows the author as he travels around the Scottish islands playing golf on some of Scotland’s lesser known and most remote golf courses in locations such as Arran, Skye, Orkney and Shetland. As well as describing the golf courses, the author also gives a general account of his travels and the people (and animals) he encounters both on and off the course. You can read more about Scottish golf on our Golf in Scotland web feature and find many references to items about golf in Scotland on Scottish Bibliographies Online.

The work of celebrated Scottish Gaelic poet Sorley MacLean is the subject of Peter Mackay’s book Sorley MacLean, published by the Research Institute for Irish and Scottish Studies. An English language introduction to MacLean, this book examines his poetry in cultural and historical context, providing in depth analysis of several key works.

Sorley MacLean’s Dàin do Eimhir agus Dàin Eile is regarded as the most important 20th century work in Scottish Gaelic. Sangs tae Eimhir by Derrick McClure provides a parallel translation of Dàin do Eimhir into Scots, allowing readers to view the original Gaelic text side by side with McClure’s Scots translation. Sangs tae Eimhir is published by Acair. You can find references to items by and about Sorley Mclean on Scottish Bibliographies Online.

Items recently received by the National Library of Scotland included The witches of Pollok by Scottish author and actor Anne Downie. Anne was born in Glasgow and has worked in theatre, film and television. Anne is also the author of many plays and short stories as well as scripts for radio and television. Her novel, The witches of Pollok, is based on true events concerning allegations of witchcraft on the Pollok estate in 17th century Scotland. The witches of Pollok is published by Capercaillie Books.

Urban fox : memoirs of an Edinburgh poacher is a memoir of one man’s love of and adventures in the urban ‘countryside’. Although born in Manchester, author Bob Redwater spent much of his life in Edinburgh. This book tells the story of his hunting with dogs, fishing rods, ferrets and boomerangs within the city of Edinburgh. The book is illustrated with engravings by Skye based illustrator Kathleeen Lindsley and is published by Crowood Press.

Donald Meek’s Steamships to St Kilda : John McCallum, Martin Orme, and the life and death of an island community looks at the steamships that served St Kilda for over a century, in particular the SS Hebrides and the SS Dunara Castle. The author’s research has uncovered new material relating to the role of McCallum, Orme and Company, including photographs which are reproduced in this publication. Steamships to St Kilda is published by The Islands Book Trust.

Also published by The Islands Book Trust is Obair gun duais? Alasdair MacGilleMhìcheil a’ tional ainmean Gàidhlig eun / A thankless task? Alexander Carmichael as a collector of Gaelic bird names by Tristan ap Rheinallt. Alexander Carmichael (1832-1912) is perhaps best known for his Carmina Gadelica, a collection of Gaelic folklore, songs, prayers, hymns and poetry gathered during from the period 1855 to 1910. Alexander also collected Gaelic bird names and this book examines the extent of his success in this field, looking at the reliability of his research and whether indeed his task was a “thankless” one.

A good and varied selection of Scottish interest material was received by the National Library of Scotland this week, including Gorbals diehards: a wild Sixties childhood, the third volume of memoirs by Colin MacFarlane. This volume describes the adventures of Colin’s childhood gang, the ‘Incredible Gorbals Diehards’ and gives a detailed account of life in the Gorbals during the 1960s.

Slogans galore: Gaelic words in English by George McLennan is a fascinating guide to Gaelic words and derivatives in common usage in English. Words such as ’slàinte’ probably need no introduction, however, a lesser known example is the English word ‘galore’ which derives from the Gaelic ‘gu leòr’. More information on this and other examples can be found in this alphabetically arranged reference work.

Any given day is a play by Scottish playwright Linda McLean. Linda grew up in Glasgow and has travelled widely throughout Europe, Africa and South America, where she spent time working with new writers. Any given day was first performed by the Traverse Theatre Company earlier this year.

The coastline of the Outer Hebrides is explored in The Outer Hebrides: sea kayaking around the Isles and St Kilda by Mike Sullivan, Robert Emmott and Tim Pickering. This book describes 44 possible kayak routes around the Isles, providing all the necessary tidal and navigational information alongside descriptions of the wildlife and local history of the area.

Fhuair sinn Teas an t-seachdain a seo chaidh, nobhail ùr anns a’Ghàidhlig le Maoilios Caimbeul, foillsichte le Clàr. ‘S e bard àrd-eòlaiche a tha ann, as An t-Eilean Sgiathanach, agus tha e a’sgriobhadh ficsean airson inbhich agus clann cuideachd. Tha an sgeulachd stèidhte ann an Inbhir Nis anns Na h-Ochdadan, agus tha an leabhar a’gealltainn ceistean cudromach fhaighneachd mun dòigh-beatha againn agus àirainneachd againn an-diugh.

We received Teas last week, a new novel in Gaelic by Myles Campbell, published by Clàr. He is an acclaimed poet, from Skye, and he writes fiction for adults and children also. The story is set in Inverness in the Eighties, and the book promises to ask important questions about our way of life and environment today.

(This blog is contributed by Jennifer Giles, Modern British Collections)

This week’s Scottish titles included several collections of short stories by leading contemporary Scottish authors, such as Collected stories by Janice Galloway. This volume brings together short stories from two of Janice’s previous short story collections, Blood and Where you find it. You can locate information on titles by Janice Galloway at Scottish Bibliographies Online (SBO). Similarly, you can also search for articles about Janice and her writing on SBO by clicking here.

Another short story collection received this week was the Vintage paperback edition of Reheated cabbage : tales of chemical degeneration by Irvine Welsh. This collection brings together seven short stories previously published elsewhere with one completely new story. As with Janice Galloway, there is information on items by and about Irvine Welsh on SBO.

Also newly received this week was The brothers Boswell by Philip Baruth. Set in 18th century London, this novel centres on the character of James Boswell’s brother and his jealous plot to murder the increasingly famous James. James Boswell was born in Edinburgh in 1740 and is best known for his biography of Samuel Johnson.

Another recent addition was Robert Burns and pastoral: poetry and improvement in late eighteenth-century Scotland by Nigel Leask. This volume aims to comprehensively reassess the poetry and songs of Robert Burns in the context of the developments taking place in Scottish agriculture at that time.

Also recently received was Two views of Harris / Na Hearadh bho dhà shealladh by Lesley and Alisdair Wiseman. With text in both English and Gaelic, this book shows various views of Harris as painted by Lesley and Alisdair Wiseman in their contrasting styles. You can find information on more Gaelic titles by searching Scottish Bibliographies Online.