Bella Bathurst's epic story of Robert Louis Stevenson's ancestors and the building of the Scottish coastal lighthouses against impossible odds. 'Whenever I smell salt water, I know that I am not far from one of the works of my ancestors,' wrote Robert Louis Stevenson in 1880. 'When the lights come out at sundown along the shores of Scotland, I am proud to think they burn more brightly for the genius of my father!' Robert Louis Stevenson was the most...

A vivid, wide-ranging, and engrossing account of Scotland's history, composed of timeless stories by those who experienced it first-hand. Contributors range from Tacitus, Mary, Queen of Scots, and Oliver Cromwell to Adam Smith, David Livingstone, and Billy Connolly. These include not only historic moments-from Bannockburn to the opening of the new Parliament in 1999-but also testimonies like that of the eight-year-old factory worker who was dangled...

A vivid, wide-ranging, and engrossing account of Scotland's history, composed of timeless stories by those who experienced it first-hand. Contributors range from Tacitus, Mary, Queen of Scots, and Oliver Cromwell to Adam Smith, David Livingstone, and Billy Connolly. These include not only historic moments-from Bannockburn to the opening of the new Parliament in 1999-but also testimonies like that of the eight-year-old factory worker who was dangled...

There are millions of people whose ancestors originated in the Scottish Highlands, but few reliable guides about the daily lives of the people of this region, their vibrant culture, and their storied history during the era of the clan system. This book by award-winning scholar Dr. Michael Newton provides keys that unlock the mysteries of Scottish Highland heritage, answering such basic questions as: How did the division between the Highlands and Lowlands...

Before the Rebellion of Prince Charles in 1745, each Highland clan owned its own land. No one else, including the Government in Edinburgh, had the power to deprive them of it. (Travellers saw that in the mountains every crag was a new fortress for men defending their own country.) But, the Highland Jacobite rebels having been defeated at Culloden and scattered, and the Lowland Government in Edinburgh now being much stronger since the Union with England...

For many people, Tyninghame on the beautiful East Lothian coast means beaches, sea birds and salt marshes. But this place on the southern boundary of the Firth of Forth was once an important monastic site, the burial place of St Baldred and later a bishop's palace that eventually became the seat of the earls of Haddington. In the early eighteenth century, its landscape was dramatically changed by a young woman, Lady Helen Hope and her husband, Thomas...

The English King hosts a conference at Norham on the English side of the border between Scotland and England. All Norman Scots Nobility, Magnates and gentry, are obliged to pay homage and submit to Edward as their Liege Lord and Magnus Rex Supreme, by applying their mark and seals upon the instruments of the Ragemanus rolls of legal writ, in order that Longshanks may adjudicate and choose the next King of Scotland. Many Scots Nobles and Chiefs refuse...

The life and legend of William Wallace as never before told… William's early life was marred by the death of his mother Brìghde during the birth of his brother "Wee John". His father Sir Alain Wallace sent his sons to be raised by his uncle Malcolm, Chief bodyguard to Queen Yolande and confidante to the King of Scotland, 'Glorious" Alexander III. But although this tragic start opened up new opportunities for a noble education in Law, Arts, History,...

The events of 1000-1130 were crucial to the successful emergence of the medieval kingdom of the Scots. Yet this is one of the least researched periods of Scottish history. We probably now know more about the Picts than the post-1000 events that underpinned the spectacular expansion of the small kingdom which came to dominate north Britain by the 1130s. This expansion included the defeat and absorption of other significant cultural and political groups...

During the century and a half of their power the Black Douglases earned fame as Scotland's champions in the front line of war against England. On their shields they bore the bloody heart of Robert Bruce, the symbol of their claim to be the physical protectors of the hero-king's legacy. But others saw the power of these lords and earls of Douglas in a different light. To their critics the Douglases were a force for disorder in the kingdom, lawless,...