Cathedrals of North of England and Scotland

What’s the story? From early Celtic influences to English reformation and the rise of Scots Calvinism, Scotland and the north of England has had a turbulent religious history. Here you will solve the mystery recently uncovered in a mass grave in the country’s oldest cathedral. Find a link to one of the UK’s most famous…

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Book review – The Story of Edinburgh by John Peacock

What’s the story? The Story of Edinburgh by John Peacock details the rich history of Scotland’s capital city from as far back as 8,000 BC to the modern day. John Peacock shares his knowledge of how Edinburgh was affected by worldwide developments such as industrialisation, immigration, wealth and poverty and how new transportation systems exposed…

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Trainspotting writer backs new Scottish campaign

Scottish Book Trust has launched a rebellious campaign to get the nation writing. The national charity changing lives through reading and writing is encouraging people of all ages and backgrounds across the country to submit true stories on the theme of Rebel. All entries will appear on Scottish Book Trust’s website and a selection of…

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Scottish artist turns her hand to writing fairytales

Give the people what they want, as the old saying goes – and that’s just what Fife artist Jenny Gudgeon has done. Five years ago, Jenni was surprised to hear all her visitors at Open Studios North Fife telling her to write a book. She’d been entertaining people with the silly stories she made up…

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Edinburgh will host eleven busy festivals in 2018

Everyone knows that Edinburgh is the home of Scottish festivals. But did you know that during the year, there are 11 different festivals taking place? Festivals Edinburgh work with Edinburgh’s 11 major year-round festivals which offer some of the most exciting experiences in global entertainment, debate, visual and performing arts. Edinburgh’s medieval closes and Georgian…

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Book review – Loch Maree’s Missing Sea Trout

What’s the story? Jaffa has long maintained that salmon farms are not to blame for the decline of wild salmon and sea trout stocks in rivers on Scotland’s west coast, and this book sets out to prove his point. By focusing on Loch Maree at the time of a so called collapse in the 1980s,…

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Honest Alastair returns a ‘lost’ library book to Stornoway

Most of us have encountered a fine when borrowing books from our local libraries and returning them late. But the honesty of Alastair McIntosh has to be commended. When the Alastair ordered a second hand book on eBay recently, he was thrilled to get a first edition with the dust cover still intact. However, he…

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Book review – The Day She Saved the Doctor

What’s the story? To mark International Womens Day 2018, BBC Books have released Doctor Who – The Day She Saved The Doctor. Containing a quartet of short stories, these have been written by four women – two of whom, Jenny T Colgan and Susan Calman, are Scots – with a female cover artist, it’s very…

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Scots of note added to UK’s historical biography

Prominent Scots are among 216 contemporary individuals who have been added to the new edition of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (DNB). The latest update of the DNB has been published, and gathers biographies from stand out men and women who transformed the UK in one way or another. The online edition of the…

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Musical compositions in one new volume

A major collection of James Scott Skinner’s musical compositions has been compiled by fiddler Alastair Hardie. The author of The Caledonian Companion has collected 33 famous tunes for violin, arranged in sets, composed or played by The Strathspey King, James Scott Skinner (1843-1927) as he performed in Scotland, England and America and also found in…

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