Category: News

The Greek myths, retold in English, were a small but memorable part of my earliest education. We followed the exciting journeys of Odysseus and the difficulties that he overcame, including…

‘Frolics in the Face of Europe, Sir Walter Scott, Continental Travel and the Tradition of the Grand Tour’, by Iain Gordon Brown (published by Fonthill) A quotation from a letter…

It was the 11th November as I sat down to write. I was listening to the Remembrance Day evensong from Ely Cathedral, having just read Barbara Millar’s moving account of…

‘A Friendship in Letters, Robert Louis Stevenson & J M Barrie’, edited by Michael Shaw (published by Sandstone Press, Inverness) Researching in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library in…

It has been an interesting week. Not only the excitement of the Presidential Election and the looming disaster of a no-agreement Brexit, but also the rising interest in Long Covid…

‘The Ghost at the Feast: Religion and Scottish Literary Criticism’, edited by Patrick Scott, ‘with an essay and afterword by Crawford Gribben’ (published by ‘Studies in Scottish Literature’) My friend…

31 January 2023 Home Become a Friend It is worrying to learn that, according to UNESCO, as many as half of the world’s 6,000-plus languages face dying out in the…

30 June 2021 Home Become a Friend As the traditional Marching Season approaches, Sir Tom Devine explores new evidence on contemporary Orangeism in Scotland I first became interested in Orangeism…

‘Shuggie Bain’, by Douglas Stuart (published by Picador) Shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize, this may well be the bleakest and saddest novel I have ever read. The Booker Prize…

14 October 2020 Home Become a Friend The following statistic is decidedly heart-wrenching. I’ve learned that working days lost every year in the UK to anxiety, stress and depression now…