Scotland

by Colin Baxter

Book by

Genres: Scotland, Nonfiction

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Anne Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not often that the text of a photoguide to a country is so impressive that I sit back and think, "I've never seen that word used in a sentence before." And it wasn't as if they were Scottish dialect words, either! Here is a book that really manages well the fine balancing act between technically precise terms to describe the landscape and an accessibility of meaning.

But that said, just the meaning of a few "local" words for my collection:
Loch Nevis - Loch of Heaven (p6)
Glasgow - dear green place (p9)
Skye - called "cloud island" by the Vikings (p44)
Tiree - land below the waves (p47)
Gaidhealtachd - land of the Gael (p49)

Edinburgh has seven hills, like Rome. (p8)
Craignethan Castle was a stronghold of the Hamiltons (p22) and claims to be the original Tillietudlem from Sir Walter Scott's Old Mortality.
John o'Groats is not the northern extremity of Britain, it's Dunnet Head.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely pictures, often of places I hadn't heard of. Ideas for future exploration