The Journal of The Scots Heritage Society 

Published November 2007.

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REGULARS

4       Editorial

6       Letters to the Editor

8       SCOTS Q & A. 

42     Painting with Light - Andy Lock - Glen Etive.

102   SCOTS Book Reviews - Seumas MacLeod  

106   Clans and Societies

108   SCOTS SHOWCASE

FEATURES

10 Canna - The Campbell Legacy

For nearly half a century from 1939 the island of Canna was home to a remarkable couple, the Gaelic scholar Dr John Lorne Campbell and his wife, the musicologist and folklorist, Dr Margaret Fay Shaw.  In a gesture of extraordinary generosity, the Campbells gave the island and their vast Celtic library into the care of the National Trust for Scotland.  In Edinburgh, Angus Urquhart spoke with Hugh Cheape, Dr Lorne Campbell's executor.   

18 The Gathering 2009

In July 2009, Edinburgh will host what promises to be the biggest Highland Gathering in Scottish history.  All 140 Clan Chiefs are expected to invite their clansfolk from all over the world to attend this two-day event, to be known as The Gathering 2009.  The event is the brainchild of Jamie Sempill, vice convenor of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs.  Ian Gunn spoke with Lord Sempill in Edinburgh. 

22  Malcolm MacGregor's Outer Hebrides

Sir Malcolm MacGregor of MacGregor is one of Scotland's most distinguished landscape photographers.  In his latest book, The Hebrides, he captures the heart-wrenching beauty and desolation of Scotland's most remote islands.

30  Tooth and Claw

Scotland's predators always have been targets of relentless persecution.  So much so that large carnivores like wolves, bears and lynx have been driven into extinction, while others, including otters, pine martens, sea eagles and golden eagles have but a tenuous hold on survival.  Now, the tide of public opinion may be turning in favour of these magnificent creatures.  Renowned wildlife photographers Peter Cairns and Mark Hamblin make a powerful contribution to the debate with their new book, Tooth & Claw.  Bruce MacWilliam spoke with peter Cairns at his home in Glenfeshie.

36  The Thistle Chapel  

Visitors tend to be so overwhelmed by the medieval splendour of Edinburgh's St Giles' Cathedral that they sometimes miss the beautiful little Thistle Chapel discretely tucked away in the High Kirk's south-eastern corner.  The Chapel is one of the most beautiful and richly decorated sacred sites in all of Scotland and after a year long restoration it is emerging in an entirely new light.  In Edinburgh, Catriona Stuart spoke with Graham Tristram, the architect in charge of the project.  

44  Magnificent Obsession

David Scott Mitchell, the son of an Edinburgh surgeon, was a passionate bibliophile who spent vast sums of money accumulating the world's pre-eminent collection of books, manuscripts, maps and pictures relating to Australia and the Pacific.  One hundred years ago, in a gesture that remains Australia's greatest benefaction, he gave his entire collection to found the magnificent Mitchell Library in Sydney.  Donald Cameron spoke with the library's Senior Curator, Paul Brunton. 

50  Land and Legacy

Hugh Cheape looks at music and literature in his tribute to the Highlands.

52  My Highland Perthshire

Writer and artist Lavinia Grant recalls her home by the shores of Loch Tay. 

58  Isolation Shepherd - The Great Strath

Iain Thomson describes the wild beauty of Glen Strathfarrar in Wester Ross, the Highland glen in which he lived and worked as a shepherd.  

64  Scotland's Castles

Christopher Tabraham concludes his series on Scotland's castles with an examination of the great blockhouses at Dunbar, Tantallon, St Andrews, Blackness and Craignethan. 

72  Edinburgh Castle's Prisons of War

Christopher Tabraham concludes his series by examining the fate of the pirates and privateers thrown into the vaults at Edinburgh Castle, and some of the imaginative ways in which they whiled away their time in captivity.  

78   Weaving Wrods - The Art of Anna King

Anna King is one of Scotland's leading fibre artists.  Her work, which encompasses tapestry, woven textiles, basket-making and paper-making is currently the subject of a retrospective at National Museums Scotland.  <s King spoke with Heather Ross. 

84  Troup Head

At Troup Head, the RSPB's magnificent reserve on the coast of Aberdeenshire, scientists are monitoring a persistent and dramatic decline in the numbers of breeding seabirds.  Climate change is believed to be responsible for disruptions in the food chain.  Isla Macdonald spoke with RSPB Warden, Scott Paterson.  

88  To the Hebrides with Johnson and Boswell

The great lexicographer. Dr Samuel Johnson, and his Scottish biographer, James Boswell, spent the autumn of 1773 touring the Lowlands and Highlands of Scotland.  The books they wrote on their travels remain magnificent historical documents as well as vivid portraits of two extraordinary men of letters.  Ronald Black, Celtic scholar, author and journalist, has edited both their accounts and brought them together in the most complete edition ever published.  At his home in the Borders he spoke with Iain Gunn.

92  Scotland's People

In the spring of 2008 a unique new family history resource, to be known as the 'ScotlandsPeople Centre', will open in Edinburgh.  For the first time, digitised records of the General Register of Scotland, the Court of the Lord Lyon and the National Archives of Scotland will be available using modern computer technology in a new centre located at Register House in the heart of Edinburgh.  Robinj Blair, Lord Lyon King of Arms, reports.