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The Whaler of Scotland Yard

Author: Jock Murray

Publisher: Birlinn

Published: 2011-11-01

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 0857900870

Jock Murray looks back over an extraordinary and varied life in this entertaining autobiography. From humble beginnings on a croft in the Outer Hebrides, at the age of fifteen he went on to work in the Hydro tunnels on the mainland as the Hydro-Electric board embarked on some of the most ambitious civil engineering projects of the century. By seventeen he had sailed several times round the world and spent two years as a whaler in the Antarctic. And over a long career in the Metropolitan Police he served on 6 Divisions as well as in specialised squads (regional crime squad, flying squad, stolen car squad, central drug squad as well as several murder squads), which gave him an intimate and unrivalled knowledge of the murkier aspects of London life. In 1977 he was involved in Operation Ohio as the police dealt with a major and vicious spate of armed robbery in the Midlands and south of England. Since returning to Lewis he has maintained a high profile, both for his charity work (he has raised money for Leukaemia research and the Anthony Nolan Trust) as well as more controversial things, such as serving alcohol in his pub on Sundays and campaigning for Sunday flights and ferries. All this, and much more, is covered in this witty and amusing memoir which is bound to appeal to Hebrideans both at home and abroad, as well those with an interest in true crime and all readers who appreciate the story of those with a remarkable zest for life.

Highland Herald

Author: David Ross

Publisher: Birlinn Ltd

Published: 2018-10-18

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13: 1788850874

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From 1988 to 2017 David Ross was the Highland Correspondent of The Herald. His patch stretched from the Mull of Kintyre in the south to the Shetland island of Unst in the north; and from St Kilda, in the West, to the whisky country of Speyside in the east. From his home on the Black Isle he covered all the big stories, from the fight against a nuclear waste dump in Caithness to plans to remove half a mountain on the island of Harris. He helped the first community land buyout in modern times in Assynt, covered in depth the anti-toll campaign on the Skye Bridge, the efforts to save Gaelic and protect ferry services. In Highland Herald he reflects on the important issues which affected the Highlands and Islands during his time. He tells how his late father-in-law, the Gaelic poet Sorley MacLean, helped him. He had never written in depth about Sorley when he was alive, as it would have been 'excruciatingly embarrassing for both of us', but does so now.

Jessie's Journey

Author: Jess Smith

Publisher: Birlinn

Published: 2012-04-05

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 0857901788

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From the ages of 5 to 15, Jess Smith lived with her parents, sisters and a mongrel dog in an old, blue Bedford bus. They travelled the length and breadth of Scotland, and much of England too, stopping here and there until they were moved on by the local authorities or driven by their own instinctive need to travel. By campfires, under the unchanging stars they brewed up tea, telling stories and singing songs late into the night. "Jessie's Journey" describes what it was like to be one of the last of the traditional travelling folk. It is not an idyllic tale, but despite the threat of bigoted abuse and scattered schooling, humour and laughter run throughout a childhood teeming with unforgettable characters and incidents.

A Life in the Hills

Author: Katharine Stewart

Publisher: Birlinn Ltd

Published: 2018-08-23

Total Pages: 655

ISBN-13: 1788850017

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Katharine Stewart, who died in 2013, was one of Scotland's best-loved writers on rural life in the Highlands. A Croft in the Hills, her first book, tells the story of how a couple and their young daughter, fresh from city life, took over a remote hill croft near Loch Ness and made a living from it. Full of warm personal insights, good humour and a love of living things, it has become a classic and has rarely been out of print since it was first published in 1960. This omnibus gathers A Croft in the Hills together with some of Katharine's later books: A Garden in the Hills, describing a year in the life of her Highland garden; A School in the Hills, a vivid history of the school at Abriachan which eventually became the Stewarts' family home; and The Post in the Hills, which tells the dramatic story of the postal service in the Highlands, from the point of view of Katharine's later role as postmistress of the smallest post office in Scotland, run from the porch of her Abriachan schoolhouse. Each of these books glows with what Neil Gunn described as 'its unusual quality, its brightness and its wisdom'. The omnibus will bring the grace, charm and wisdom of Katharine Stewart's writing to a new generation of readers.

Is There a Pigeon in the Room?

Author: Cameron Wyllie

Publisher: Birlinn Ltd

Published: 2022-06-02

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 1788854993

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Is There a Pigeon in the Room? is a deeply personal book about Cameron Wyllie's remarkable four-decade career in teaching. It's a tapestry of anecdotes and reflections on topics like drugs, parenting and sex education, laced with stories about memorable individuals. What did he say to the Third Year after drinking too much gin with the Head? Who was Adolf? What happened to the horrible bus driver? While the intention is to make the reader laugh plenty, Cameron also deals with discipline, refugees, tragic events, his own status as a gay man and tells us the story of Tes, an Eritrean boy who inspired hundreds of young people with his love of education. Cameron taught over 8,000 students in his career. Having been once described as 'the place where Jean Brodie meets Kenneth Williams' the book also charts the surprising trajectory of a career which culminated in his appointment as Principal of George Heriot's, one of Edinburgh's most prestigious schools.

The Herald Diary 2012

Author: Ken Smith

Publisher: Black & White Publishing

Published: 2012-11-14

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 184502799X

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It was the year that saw Rangers Football Club face administration, that saw Greece struggle with teetering debt, that saw Scots wrestle with the idea of a referendum on independence, and saw the Scottish football team once again watching an international competition from the outside. And what did most Scots do? Well, what they usually do - they laughed about it. Fortunately they then sent their musings to "The Herald" newspaper's "Diary" column where their views on world affairs, plus all the stories of all the daft and amusing things that happened in Scotland's pubs, trains, streets and homes were gathered, polished and printed. This is the compilation of the best of these stories. It is where the best of Scottish humour is gathered and kept so that the stories are not lost forever, and if you are a Scot anywhere in the world, you will recognise the humour in them. And even if you are not Scottish you should still be able to smile, even though you have to ask a Scot for the occasional piece of clarification.

The Story Of Scotland Yard

Author: Basil Thomson

Publisher: Librorium Editions

Published: 2020-02-13

Total Pages: 417

ISBN-13: 3967247759

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THE INGRAINED love of personal liberty inherent in the British people and their distrust in giving additional power to their governments made Great Britain one of the slowest countries in the world to institute police. Jurists were far in advance of public opinion. Jeremy Bentham (1747-1832) considered police necessary as a method of precaution to prevent crimes and calamities as well as to correct and cure them. Blackstone in his Commentaries (1765) wrote, "By public police and economy I mean the due regulation and domestic order of the kingdom, whereby the individuals of the State, like members of a well-governed family, are bound to conform their general behaviour to the rules of propriety, good neighbourhood and good manners; to be decent, industrious and inoffensive in their respective stations.