Scots Books

My Heart Is My Own: The Life of Mary... Queen of Scots. John Guy has accomplished in his new work what many historians can only dream of: to write an exceptionally scholarly book which, through the effectiveness of the author's writing, attracts a wide readership. Guy's ability to return to the archives, no doubt a legacy of being Elton's student, enables him to uncover documents that have remained unread for centuries and to shed new light upon the many myths that surround the Scottish queen.

Scots Cooking: The Best Traditional and... Contemporary Scottish Recipes. From Arbroath fisherman's soup to Hebridean lamb with skirlie stuffing, Scottish cookery is famed for its honest, strong flavours and traditional, unpretentious ingredients. The names say it all: haggis; neeps and tatties; cullen skink; partan bree; Forfar bridies; apple frushie; and - no translation needed - whisky and honey ice cream. Sue Lawrence has collected together over 200 of the best regional recipes, using only fresh local ingredients such as the fish, beef, lamb and venison for which Scotland is famous.

The Scottish Enlightenment: The Scots'... Invention of the Modern World. In 1696, on an unseasonably cold August evening, Thomas Aikenhead joked to friends as they hurried through Edinburgh's wind-blown streets that he would rather be in 'hell, to warm myself there.' The young theology student would pay for this remark with his life. Yet within one hundred years, the nation that began the eighteenth century dominated by the harsh and repressive Scottish Kirk had evolved into Europe's most literate society, producing an idea of modernity that has shaped much of civilisation as we know it.

Mary Queen of Scots (Women in History S.) Mary Queen of Scots passed her childhood in France and married the Dauphin to become Queen of France at the age of sixteen. Widowed less than two years later, she returned to Scotland as Queen after an absence of thirteen years. Her life then entered its best known phase: the early struggles with John Knox and the unruly Scottish nobility; the fatal marriage to Darnley and his mysterious death; her marriage to Bothwell, the chief suspect, that led directly to her long English captivity at the hands of Queen Elizabeth; the poignant and extraordinary story of her long imprisonment that ended with the labyrinthine Babington plot to free her, and her execution at the age of forty-four.

Two Queens in One Isle: The Deadly... Relationship of Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots. The relationship between Queen Elizabeth I of England and her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, is one of the most complex, tempestuous and fascinating in history. United in blood but divided by religion, the two women were in some ways uniquely close; in others, poles apart. Championed by English Catholics as the rightful Queen of England, Mary was nevertheless given protection by her cousin after she was deposed amid outrage at her immoral behaviour. Rumours of papist plots involving Mary were rife and Elizabeth was put under extreme pressure to be rid of this dangerous threat to her sovereignty and to the Protestant church in England. After much reluctance and procrastination Elizabeth finally signed Mary's death warrant.

Concise Scots Dictionary (Scottish... The Scots language in one volume, from the earliest records to the present day. The dictionary gives meanings of words, as well as pronunciations and etymologies and indication of where and when they are, or were, used.

The Scots Fiddle: Tunes, Tales and... Traditions of the Western Highlands, Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland. J. Murray Neil has compiled a collection of the fiddle music of Scotland from the Western Highlands and Islands. Extensive biographical sketches, narratives and anecdotes accompany the tunes and provide an insight into the rich inheritance of Scottish and Gaelic culture. Famous fiddler/composers and songwriters, past and present; famous characters and landmarks; history, legends and traditions; language and dialect; and poetry and song are represented in the account. The selection contains over 160 tunes, including airs and pastorals, reels, strathspeys, marches, jigs, hornpipes, waltzes, polkas and minuets. There are melodies by well-known and lesser-known fiddler/composers and songwriters, new and unpublished tunes, as well as compositions from the 18th and 19th centuries.

Bairn Rhymes: Scots Verse for Children J. K. Annand''s three books of Scots verse for children - Sing it Aince for Pleasure, Twice for Joy and Thrice to Show Ye - are published together in this collection of bairn rhymes.

On the Make: How the Scots Took Over... London. From Fleet Street to the world of medicine, from the City of London to the corridors of power in Whitehall, Scots have exerted a determining influence on key areas of British life since the Union of the Parliaments. Now that Scots dominate Westminster and run their own parliament in Edinburgh, is the tartan takeover complete? In this controversial new book, the writer and BBC journalist David Stenhouse asks whether the Scots have enacted nothing less than a Caledonian capture of the British State.

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