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Birlinn (Trade)

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Birlinn, Argyll Curiosities Birlinn, Argyll Curiosities
It is difficult to find an area of Argyll which is not curious in some way: archaeology, geography, geology and genealogy have all served to mark out this western fringe of Scotland as unique. Discarding those curiosities which it is all too easy to find on any journey through the county, Marian Pallister has looked extensively into places, people and events which are curiously layered, and has created a book that is overflowing with enchanting 'curiosities' and local histories.  


Price:   £9.99

Birlinn, 25 Walks The Scottish Borders Birlinn, 25 Walks The Scottish Borders
An area steeped in history and legend. It is a land of bright waters, wide moorland, rounded hills and forested glens. The walks lead to ancient burial grounds, prehistoric hill forts and romantic Border abbeys, as well as the haunts of Sir Walter Scott, James Hogg and John Buchan around the Tweed and Ettrick valleys and St Mary's Loch.  


Price:   £9.99

Birlinn, Calum's Road Birlinn, Calum's Road
Calum MacLeod had lived on the northern point of Raasay since his birth in 1911. He tended the Rona lighthouse at the very tip of his little archipelago, until semi-automation in 1967 reduced his responsibilities. 'So what he decided to do,' says his last neighbour, Donald MacLeod, 'was to build a road out of Arnish in his months off. With a road he hoped new generations of people would return to Arnish and all the north end of Raasay . . .' And so, at the age of 56, Calum MacLeod, the last man left in northern Raasay, set about single-handedly constructing the 'impossible' road. It would become a romantic, quixotic venture, a kind of sculpture; an obsessive work of art so perfect in every gradient, culvert and supporting wall that its creation occupied almost twenty years of his life.  


Price:   £7.99

Birlinn, The Drove Roads of Scotland Birlinn, The Drove Roads of Scotland
The Drove Roads of Scotland interweaves folklore, social comment and economic history in a fascinating account of Scotland’s droving trade and the routes by which cattle and sheep were brought from every corner of the land to markets in central Scotland.

The story of the drove roads takes the reader on an engrossing tour of Scottish history, from the lawless cattle driving by reivers in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to the legitimate movement of stock which developed after the Union of the Crowns, by which time the large-scale movement of stock to established markets had become an important part of Scotland’s economy. 


Price:   £8.99

Birlinn, The Grand Scuttle Birlinn, The Grand Scuttle
The sinking of the German fleet at Scapa Flow in 1919.
At Scapa Flow on 21 June 1919, there occurred an event unique in naval history. The German High Seas Fleet, one of the most formidable ever built and prime cause of the Great War, was deliberately sent to the bottom of the British Grand Fleet’s principal anchorage at Orkney by its own officers and men.

This is the remarkable story of the scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow. It contains previously unused German archive material, eye-witness accounts and the recollections of survivors, as well as many contemporary photos which capture the awesome spectacle of the finest ships of the time being deliberately sunk by their own crew.  


Price:   £7.99

Birlinn, The Guga Hunters Birlinn, The Guga Hunters
Every year, ten men from Ness, at the northern tip of the Isle of Lewis, sail north-east for some forty miles to a remote rock called Sulasgeir. Their mission is to catch and harvest the guga; the almost fully grown gannet chicks nesting on the two hundred foot high cliffs that circle the tiny island, which is barely half a mile long. After spending a fortnight in the arduous conditions that often prevail there, they return home with around two thousand of the birds, pickled and salted and ready for the tables of Nessmen and women both at home and abroad.  


Price:   £9.99

Birlinn, The Hebrides at War Birlinn, The Hebrides at War
The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest and toughest battle of the Second World War, and for the course of it, the Western Highlands and islands of Scotland represented the front line.

From 1939 to 1945, places like Oban, Tobermory, Tiree, Benbecula and Stornoway were important strategic bases and training centres for both the RAF and navy as they sought to protect vital Atlantic convoys from the German U-boat threat. This book brings together photographs and memories of the men and women who served and lived in Oban and the Hebrides during these years. It forms a fascinating and unique record of the events, tragedies, people and landscape of the war years in the west of Scotland. 


Price:   £10.99

Birlinn, Island Voices Birlinn, Island Voices
The subjects throughout this book are timeless - local belief and superstition, pastimes, work, health and cures, tales and proverbs. They are taken from a wide range of sources and periods, from Martin Martin in the seventeenth century to writing which dates from the end of the Second World War, a time which saw much change in Gaelic society as a whole. The material covers traditions and accounts of a very practical and often harsh existence, variations on tales which are more obscure as well as those that are well known. The stories illustrate the sharpness of phrase, shrewdness of observation and humour, characteristic of the Highlands and Islands in the west. 


Price:   £9.99

Birlinn, Island Walks, The Southern Hebrides and Arran Birlinn, Island Walks, The Southern Hebrides and Arran
 


Price:   £5.00

Birlinn, Island Walks, The Western Isles, Skye and the Small Isles Birlinn, Island Walks, The Western Isles, Skye and the Small Isles
 


Price:   £5.00

Birlinn, Isolation Shepherd Birlinn, Isolation Shepherd
In August 1956 a young shepherd, his wife, two-year-old daughter and ten-day-old son sat huddled in a small boat on Loch Monar in Ross-shire as a storm raged around them. They were bound for a tiny, remote cottage at the western end of the loch which was to be their home for the next four years. Isolation Shepherd is the moving story of those years.  


Price:   £7.99

Birlinn, Haunted Scotland Birlinn, Haunted Scotland
by Roddy Martine

ISBN: 9781841587400, Publication Date: Oct 2010, Format: Paperback

In the global world of the Internet, where anything is possible, where scientists never cease to astonish yet seem to provide more questions than answers, Roddy Martine looks beyond the everyday and the normal, searching for answers in the mysteries of Haunted Scotland. Collected over many years, the author retells stories that have evolved through the mists of time, while others he recounts are based on interviews with those who claim to have experienced real-life paranormal encounters. Divided into geographical chapters covering the Borders, the South West, Strathclyde, the South East, the Central Belt and Trossachs, the Eastern Highlands, the Kingdom of Fife, the Western Highlands, the North, the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Inverness, Roddy Martine examines stories of paranormal activity and the legends and folklore of haunted Scotland. 


Price:   £7.99

Girlinn, James McLevy, The Edinburgh Detective Girlinn, James McLevy, The Edinburgh Detective
by James McLevy

ISBN: 9781841587417, Publication Date: Oct 2008, Format: Paperback

Edinburgh has provided the backdrop to stories of detection for almost a century and a half. In the 1860s, a few years before Conan Doyle began his medical studies at Edinburgh University, there appeared a hugely popular series of books with titles including Curiosities of Crime in Edinburgh, The Sliding Scale of Life and The Disclosures of a Detective. They were all the work of one James McLevy, an Edinburgh policeman.
The now largely forgotten, McLevy was one of the first exponents of the crime genre and a likely influence on the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Like Conan Doyle, McLevy had an Irish background. He was born in Co Armagh, the son of a small farmer. Largely self-educated, he joined the Edinburgh police force in 1830 as a night watchman before rising up through the ranks to become a detective. The collection of stories in this book are based on some of the 2,220 cases he dealt with in the course of his career, wonderfully evoking the spirit of the city, and the vivid descriptions of its criminal classes as they moved between the very different worlds of the Old and New Towns.
In 1833 James McLevy became a detective and handled over two thousand cases during his 30-year career, almost always securing a conviction, before going on to publish a series of extremely popular books in the 1860s. 


Price:   £9.99

Birlinn, Jutland to Junkyard Birlinn, Jutland to Junkyard
On 21 June 1919, at Scapa Flow, in Orkney, one of the most extraordinary events in naval history occurred. To the astonishment of those who witnessed it, the German High Seas Fleet, one of the most powerful in history began to sink.

This account of the salvage operation, which was first published in 1973, begins with a description of the origins of the German High Seas Fleet, its role during the Battle of Jutland, its surrender under the terms of armistice in 1918 and scuttling in Scapa Flow.

The bulk of the book is dedicated to the story of its salvage, recounting the extraordinary ingenuity, courage and resourcefulness of the salvagers in the face of extreme odds.  


Price:   £7.99

Birlinn, Lewis in the Passing Birlinn, Lewis in the Passing
by Calum Ferguson

ISBN: 9781841585475, Publication Date: Jan 2007, Format: Paperback

Positioned at the uppermost tip of Britain and facing the battling winds of the Atlantic, the isle of Lewis has always had a strong identity of its own. A community defined by tradition for hundreds of years, the twentieth century presented huge challenges to its way of life, leaving it completely altered by the arrival of the millennium. Lewis in the Passing is a form of time-capsule, containing twenty-one autobiographical sketches of Lewis natives, all born before the Second World War. From crofter to musician, house-wife to clergyman, the selection spans the spectrum of Lewis society. Theirs are lives which have experienced these great changes, from economic disaster in the 1920s, to mass emigration in the 1930s, the 'obscenity of battle' during the Second World War, and afterwards the decline of the Gaelic language and the slow demise of crofting. All are interviewed by fellow islander Calum Ferguson, who presents his subjects' stories and journeys, and understands how, in spite of the rainy climate and wind-blasted scenery, the island's hidden magnetism continues to draw them all 'back home'.  


Price:   £14.99

Birlinn, Midges (New 5th Edition) Birlinn, Midges (New 5th Edition)
The tiny Tartan terror - Culicoides impunctatus or meanbh chuileag depending on whether you favour Latin or Gaelic - has a wingspan of a mere 1.4 mm but can provoke outright hysteria in those they find particularly attractive. There are various suggestions (usually from those people midges don't like) about how to avoid being bitten into oblivion, but with so much in life laughter is the best medicine.
Midges by Alasdair Roberts is a hilarious wee guide to the minuscule marauder throughout history (find out how Bonnie Prince Charlie Queen Victoria outmanouvred the midge), what science is doing to help and includes a section on remedies and repellents.
 


Price:   £4.99

Birlinn, The New History of Orkney Birlinn, The New History of Orkney
For much of its history, Orkney existed as one of Europe’s sub-nations, with its own language, culture and institutions. The prehistoric inhabitants produced monuments which are unmatched anywhere in Europe, and the medieval period saw the magnificent earldom that expressed itself through the Orkneyinga Saga and the building of St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall. Like Shetland, Orkney was heavily influenced by Viking traders and raiders from Scandinavia, and for a long period it formed an outlying part of the kingdom of Norway. Over 500 years ago, however, the islands lost their Scandinavian links and since then have had a sometimes difficult association with mainland Scotland. More recent times have seen the use of Orkney as a strategic stronghold during two world wars, and the far-reaching impact of oil and gas exploitation in the North Sea. It is an enthralling story, masterfully summarised and retold, and of interest to readers far beyond the rocky shores of Orkney itself. 


Price:   £16.99

Birlinn, Night Falls on Ardnamurchan Birlinn, Night Falls on Ardnamurchan
Weaving his own humorous and perceptive account of making a living from the land with extracts from his father’s journal - a terse, factual and down-to-earth vision of the day-to-day tasks of crofting life Alasdair Maclean creates an unusual and memorable story. At the same time this moving and beautifully-written book also illuminates the shifting, often tortuous relationships between children and their parents, revealing the author’s own struggle to come to terms with his background and the isolated community he left so often, and to which he returned again and again 


Price:   £7.99

Birlinn, Nightmare at Scapa Flow Birlinn, Nightmare at Scapa Flow
The truth about the sinking of HMS Royal Oak.
Sinking the battleship HMS Royal Oak in the Royal Navy’s home anchorage, with the loss of more than 800 of her crew, was Germany’s first shattering blow against Britain in the 1939-45 war. Within six weeks the long-standing German dream of breaching the defences of Scapa Flow had been achieved.

The author has interviewed Royal Oak survivors, members of U-47’s 1939 crew, Lt. Prien’s widow and members of the firm which published his autobiography. His quest for the truth led through England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Orkney, Norway, West Berlin, Cologne, Freiburg and even distant Amman. He has patiently investigated every point of controversy until he was able to set down a documented, definitive account of the Royal Oak naval disaster. 


Price:   £7.99

Birlinn, Orkney a Historical Guide Birlinn, Orkney a Historical Guide
A marvellous companion to the fascinating Orkney islands, offering a broad overview of their history.

Starting with the prehistoric period, from which survives the famous settlement of Skara Brae, it goes on to discuss the flowering of the Celtic Church in the sixth and seventh centuries and the subsequent invasion by the Vikings, who settled there in large numbers and established a powerful Norse earldom. This was perhaps the most dynamic period of Orkney’s history, and is characterised in the famous Orkneyinga Saga, one of the major literary works of its time. 


Price:   £9.99

Birlinn, Recollections of East Fife Fisher FOlk Birlinn, Recollections of East Fife Fisher FOlk
by Belle Patrick

ISBN: 9781841582818, Publication Date: Jan 2003, Format: Paperback

During the early part of the twentieth century, fishing still formed one of the main industries in this famous corner of Fife. Belle Patrick spent her first thirty years in and around Anstruther, and in the mid 1960s wrote this memoir in order to put on record the fishing way of life, believing it was 'so individual, so independent, so different from the present-day standardised pattern of life that it deserve[d] to be put on record'. She describes how the fishing year began shortly after the New Year, as soon as the men had sobered up after Hogmanay, with the 'winter herring', and goes on to recount the arrival of the fish-buyers from all over the country.  


Price:   £7.99

Birlinn, Scapa Birlinn, Scapa
It was from Scapa Flow that the Grand Fleet sailed to Jutland in 1916; from there it was where Russian convoys set off; and it was in that beautiful, bleak anchorage that the German High Seas fleet committed the greatest act of suicide ever seen at sea - ’The Grand Scuttle’ - before being raised and scrapped in one of the most astonishing examples of maritime salvage. It was also in Scapa that we have our last photographs of Kitchener before he boarded the Hampshire, sunk by mine off Marwick Head 


Price:   £9.99

Birlinn, The Sea Kingdoms Birlinn, The Sea Kingdoms
Alistair Moffat's journey, from the Scottish islands and Scotland, to the English coast, Wales, Cornwall and Ireland, ignores national boundaries to reveal the rich fabric of culture and history of Celtic Britain which still survives today. This is a vividly told, dramatic and enlightening account of the oral history, legends and battles of a people whose past stretches back many hundred of years. The Sea Kingdoms is a story of great tragedies, ancient myths and spectacular beauty. 


Price:   £9.99

Birlinn, Skipness, Memories of a Highland Estate Birlinn, Skipness, Memories of a Highland Estate
by Angus Graham

ISBN: 9781841584201, Publication Date: Apr 2005, Format: Paperback

The estate of Skipness had been in Campbell hands since 1511, when it was given to Archibald, second son of the second Earl of Argyll. The last Campbell laird, Walter, sold it in 1843 to William Fraser, whose son in turn sold it in 1866 to the Grahams, who had made their money in the grocery and wine trade in Glasgow. It remained in Graham hands until 1936.

Angus Graham's book is an affectionate and gently humorous account, based on personal experience and family anecdote, of a highland estate from the Victorian period until well into the present century. With learning lightly worn, the author takes in the archaeology and history of the area, the impact of the new, improving lairds on the local scene and its economy, as well as conjuring up, with elegance and economy of style, the way of life, now gone, of a leisured class of yesteryear.

Skipness was originally published by Tuckwell Press
 


Price:   £7.99

Birlinn, Skye, The Island and its Legends Birlinn, Skye, The Island and its Legends
by Otta Swire

ISBN: 9781841584799, Publication Date: Jun 2006, Format: Paperback

This book is a fabulous treasury of legend and wonder; tales of monsters who dwell in lakes, of small people who trap humans in earthen mounds where time stands still; of dark, shape-shifting spirits whose cloak of human form is betrayed by the sand and shells which fall from their hair.
In the absence of a written tradition, for generations of Skianachs, these tales, handed down orally, contained the very warp and weft of Hebridean history. They take us far beyond Christian times, to the edge of the Iron Age, and interweave with threads from the wider Atlantic tradition of Gaelic heroic myth and legend.
 


Price:   £7.99

Birlinn, The Stornoway Black Pudding Bible Birlinn, The Stornoway Black Pudding Bible
Seumas MacInnes, is not afraid to take issue with the national bard over the sobriquet 'Great chieftain o' the puddin race'. Without slighting the qualities of haggis, or indeed white pudding, he wholeheartedly maintains that the title rightfully belongs to black pudding - and, very specifically, Stornoway black pudding. Raised in Glasgow with a Hebridean heritage, he rates black pudding as a versatile and uniquely flavoursome ingredient which can be served in myriad ways that will come as a revelation to those who still mistakenly associate the humble marag dubh solely with fried breakfasts.

The 100 recipes in The Stornoway Black Pudding Bible include everything from the Cafe Gandolfi's black pudding and mushrooms with pancakes, to black pudding pakoras, black pudding tarts and black pudding, chorizo and bean stew. Black - or blood - pudding has a venerable past that stretches back to allusions in Homeric literature and a present that ensures its enduring popularity in the cuisines of, among others, Spain, France and Portugal. The Stornoway Black Pudding Bible is a celebration of the quality and versatility of black pudding, and above all is an encouragement to strike out in novel and fresh ways of cooking and enjoying this remarkable and underrated ingredient.

 


Price:   £4.99

Birlinn, Tales and Traditions of the Lews Birlinn, Tales and Traditions of the Lews
by Donald MacDonald

ISBN: 9781841580555, Publication Date: Apr 2004, Format: Paperback

After his retirement from a career in medicine, Donald Macdonald turned his acute and wide-ranging mind to the study of the history and traditions of his native Lewis. Despite suffering from severe osteoarthritis, he was extremely active in the social and cultural life of the island, and contributed numerous articles to the Stornoway Gazette. However, much of his collection of tales, legends and history remained in private circulation until after his death in 1961, when his wife Emily arranged for the publication of this volume. With over sixty essays on people, places and tradition, it reveals the full range of the author's erudition, and is informed by his love and deep knowledge of his native island. To read through or simply to dip into this collection is a fascinating experience for anyone who loves Scotland and her islands. 


Price:   £7.99

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