The author recalls her time living and working as a nurse on a remote island in the Scottish Hebrides.

The author recalls her time living and working as a nurse on a remote island in the Scottish Hebrides.

The daughter of a titled Scottish father recounts the horrors of her childhood in spite of popular beliefs about her fairy-tale lifestyle, describing her father's struggles with alcoholism that resulted in numerous brushes with death and the loss of his family's legacy. Reprint. 15,000 first printing.

When John McPhee returned to the island of his ancestors—Colonsay, twenty-five miles west of the Scottish mainland—a hundred and thirty-eight people were living there. About eighty of these, crofters and farmers, had familial histories of unbroken residence on the island for two or three hundred years; the rest, including the English laird who owned Colonsay, were “incomers.” Donald McNeill, the crofter of the title, was working out his existence in this last domain of the feudal system; the laird, the fourth Baron Strathcona, lived in Bath, appeared on Colonsay mainly in the summer, and accepted with nonchalance the fact that he was the least popular man on the island he owned. While comparing crofter and laird, McPhee gives readers a deep and rich portrait of the terrain, the history, the legends, and the people of this fragment of the Hebrides. When John McPhee returned to the island of his ancestors—Colonsay, twenty-five miles west of the Scottish mainland—a hundred and thirty-eight people were living there. About eighty of these, crofters and farmers, had familial histories of unbroken residence on the island for two or three hundred years; the rest, including the English laird who owned Colonsay, were “incomers.” Donald McNeill, the crofter of the title, was working out his existence in this last domain of the feudal system; the laird, the fourth Baron Strathcona, lived in Bath, appeared on Colonsay mainly in the summer, and accepted with nonchalance the fact that he was the least popular man on the island he owned. While comparing crofter and laird, McPhee gives readers a deep and rich portrait of the terrain, the history, the legends, and the people of this fragment of the Hebrides.

“A brisk and accessible guide to a thousand years of reiving and rivalry in the Highlands.

The extraordinary two hundred-and fifty-year tale of the British Army's most celebrated and iconic regiment.

A one-volume history of the Socttish nation.

A distinguished historian explores the seminal contributions of Scotland to the development of modern Western civilization, discussing the impact of such ideals as democracy, freedom of speech, equal opportunity, and a commitment to education and exploring Scottish accomplishments in the fields of philosophy, science, medicine, engineering, political thought, and more. Reprint. 75,000 first printing.

Presents the journals of Samuel Johnson and James Boswell describing their travels through Scotland.

What really happened to the mysteriously vanished lighthouse keepers—a true story, evocative ofThe Shining On December 26, 1900, the vessel Hesperus arrived at Eilean Mor in the remote Outer Hebrides with relief lighthouse men and fresh provisions. Staffed by three keepers, the lighthouse had been in operation for a year, but no light had been seen from Eilean Mor for 10 days. Upon arrival, the superintendent, Robert Muirhead, found the lighthouse to be completely deserted, and a subsequent search of the surrounding island failed to show any sign of what happened to the keepers. The last entry in the lighthouse logbook had been made on December 15, and contained a number of strange and distressing entries that offered clues as to the mental state of the men. One was reported to have been crying, while another had become "very quiet." When it was revealed that the men's oilskin coats were missing and the clock in the lighthouse had stopped, inevitable theories surrounding the keepers' fates were soon put forward. These included a giant wave washing them away, murder and suicide by the men themselves, and more esoteric explanations, as Eilean Mor was believed to have mystical properties. This book explores this mysterious and chilling story in depth for the first time and reveals a shocking conclusion.