Modern Scottish Collections

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.

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