The Finlay J. Macdonald Omnibus

by Finlay J. Macdonald

An ominibus edition of Finlay J.Macdonald's nostalgic and often hilarious accounts of growing up on the Hebridean Island of Harris between the wars. They were published individually as "Crowdie and Cream", "Crotal and White" and "The Corncrake and the Lysander".

Genres: Scotland, Memoir

Paperback

Published January 1, 1991

About the author

Finlay John MacDonald - Fionnlagh Iain MacDhòmhnaill - was born on Harris in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. He spoke Gaelic at home, and started English when he went to primary school. His three books, Crowdie and Cream, Crotal and White, and The Corncrake and the Lysander detail his childhood growing up. Crowdie and Cream was also a series of talks on BBC Radio. He also had a long and successful career as a radio drama and talks producer, a television director, and also a writer and editor.

Reviews

[S.C. Skillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've had these 3 memoirs on my shelf for 8 years: 'Crowdie and Cream', 'Crotal and White' and 'The Corncrake and the Lysander'. They were amongst several books which I inherited from a friend who died in 2005. And I've only just got round to reading them. I find this sadly can happen with our books, even when we're keen readers; they languish on shelves unread, because life, and many other books, have claimed our attention first. But now I've read Finlay J Macdonald's wonderful trilogy about his early life in Harris, in the Outer Hebrides. And I've discovered that his stories are touching, poetic, racy, colourful and so moving.

What a wonderful writer he was. These books - based as they are on BBC radio talks he did some 30 years ago - represent the compelling narrative of a truly gifted raconteur. Some of his sentences are half a page long, and you have the feeling of a mature, experienced man regaling you with colourful tales from his own distant past in a thick Hebridean accent, and you're captivated. His vivid descriptions of the landscape in south Harris, and his piquant tales of the characters in the community of crofters are beguiling.

For many of us,perhaps, in England, the Outer Hebrides are those little specks off the top lefthand corner of Britain; but now Finlay Macdonald has filled me with a desire to go there in the near future, and experience the Outer Hebrides for myself.

[Robert McNicol]

Wonderful. My father knew Finlay well and I recently visited Harris and stayed 2 nights very close to where he was brought up.
The book gives an excellent insight in to what life was like in the 1930s. I have recommended the book to several acquaintances and my copy is at present on loan to a friend in her 80s. She is enjoying the book tremendously.
BBC made a programme in the 90s based on Crowdie and Cream and is repeated regularly. Google regularly and hopefully it will again be repeated shortly.

[Connie Glasgow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really happy to have read this trioloy. Elizabeth, who Linda and I met on our recent cruise to Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Lerwick/Shetland Aberdeen, and Leith(Edinburgh), in Scotland recommended this on our cruise. She is from the isles -and this book just tempts me to return.

Scotland - England - Castles, Churches & graveyards will be my quest!