Whisky, Kilts, and the Loch Ness Monster
Page 28
Because I’m not a Scot it’s not my cause. I just tripped through part of the nation on a short journey and can offer only an outsider’s limited perspective. I can’t imagine that anyone needs or wants my counsel on this issue. But I’m a passionate outsider; I care about this country and its past and its future. I’m going back to Scotland no matter what. I don’t have a drop of Scottish blood in me, as far as I know, but there’s surely something coursing in me that connects me to this very special place in a very special way.
Finally, I do take deep satisfaction from a headline that passed my way a year and a half after my journey ended. It had to do with the economic crisis that gripped so many nations in the fall of 2008, including England and Scotland. The effects were felt in many places, including at one institution that had invested so haphazardly, mismanaged its resources and mistreated the public that it had to be included in a near-$75-billion rescue by the government of Great Britain. What was that great institution? Well, do you remember a certain Scottish bank that kept trying to make someone pay a hefty fee to cash a travelers check written in English pounds?
That bank? That was the Royal Bank of Scotland. Those greedy little bastards. I could have told them.
Justice was mine. Finally.
I just love Scotland. Heck, I think I might even like Mel Gibson.
Selected Bibliography
As should be clear to readers, I have not attempted to write a scholarly book, although my hope is that I have produced one that scholars would not find distasteful. In the process of researching and writing the book, I made use of hundreds of materials in two countries. Some were much more useful than others; all helped in one way or another to give me a clearer sense of eighteenth-century Scotland and the lives and travels of James Boswell and Samuel Johnson. I have divided sources into the categories of nonfiction, poetry and fiction; neither section is meant to represent an exhaustive list. The nonfiction books are essential sources. The novels and stories indicated offer many pungent insights into Scotland in the eighteenth century and today. I recommend them highly.
Several books figured prominently in my research, and I want to acknowledge them even as I beg to absorb all blame that accrues from any misunderstanding of the work of their authors. Ronald Black’s single-volume edition of Johnson’s Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland and Boswell’s Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, published in 2007, proved indispensable. His editing is exemplary, and his notes, comprehensive and lucid, helped me over many a trouble spot. I urge anyone wanting to read Johnson and Boswell for the first time, or to reacquaint themselves with these wonderful journals, to acquire this book.
Peter Martin’s splendid biographies of Boswell and Johnson, both published in the last decade, reflect the most recent scholarship on both men and offer readable, perceptive guides to the complex lives of my two companions. I envy Martin’s skill at breathing life into Boswell and Johnson while capturing the remarkable fullness of their lives within single volumes. I warmly endorse both. Moray McLaren’s The Highland Jaunt (1955) was a delight to read and helped me learn about Scottish landmarks visited by the two men. Frank Delaney’s A Walk to the Western Isles after Boswell and Johnson (1993) offered contemporary views that were consistently edifying and perceptive. G. B. Hill’s nineteenth-century Footsteps of Dr. Johnson remains a classic of knowledge about the places Boswell and Johnson visited. And the legion of books about Boswell and Johnson and their works brilliantly edited and written by Frederick A. Pottle and his colleagues is no less inspiring now than those many books have been since they first appeared in print. Pottle’s scholarship is deservedly recognized as a landmark in Boswellian studies, and I and everyone who write about these men owe him a huge debt.
Finally I should mention Charles Jennings’s Faintheart, not because it provided a wealth of material on Boswell and Johnson but because reading its dark, cynical, laugh-out-loud humor helped me find a balance between the adulatory and the critical in my approach to writing this book. Jennings is an Englishman, and his view of Scotland is decidedly jaundiced; I hope my isn’t, but I’m grateful to him regardless.
Nonfiction
Ballindalloch Castle. Derby: Heritage House, 2004.
Bate, W. Jackson. Samuel Johnson. Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint, 1998.
Black, Ronald, ed. To the Hebrides: Samuel Johnson’s Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland and James Boswell’s Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides. Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2007.
Blackden, Stephenie, and Christopher Hartley. Brodie Castle. Edinburgh: National Trust for Scotland, 2007.
Bold, Alan. Scotland’s Kings and Queens. Norwich: Jarrold Publishing, 2004.
Boswell, James. An Account of Corsica: The Journal of a Tour to That Island, and Memoirs of Pascal Paoli. Edited by James T. Boulton and T. O. McLoughlin. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
Brady, Frank. James Boswell: The Later Years, 1769–1795. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1984.
Bray, Elizabeth. The Discovery of the Hebrides: Voyages to the Western Isles 1745–1883. Edinburgh: Birlinn, 1996.
Bryson, Bill. Notes from a Small Island. New York: William Morrow, 1996.
Buchanan, David. The Treasure of Auchinleck: The Story of the Boswell Papers. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1974.
Campbell, John Lorne. A Very Civil People: Hebridean Folk, History and Tradition. Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2004.
Chapman, R. W., ed. A Tour to the Hebrides: Johnson & Boswell. 1924. Reprint, London: Oxford University Press, 1957.
Clarje, David, and Patrick Maguire. Skara Brae. Edinburgh: Historic Scotland, 2004.
Clingham, Greg, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Samuel Johnson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Cowan, Edward J., ed. The Wallace Book. Edinburgh: John Donald / Birlinn, 2007.
Craik, Roger. James Boswell 1740–1795: The Scottish Perspective. Edinburgh: HMSO, 1994.
Cunningham, Alastair. Dunnottar Castle. Aberdeen: Gilcomston Press, 1998.
Dargie, Richard. Scottish Castles & Fortifications. Thatcham: GW Publishing, 2004.
Delaney, Frank. A Walk to the Western Isles after Boswell and Johnson. London: HarperCollins, 1993.
Fawcett, Richard. Arbroath Abbey. Edinburgh: Historic Scotland, 2006.
———. Elgin Cathedral. Edinburgh: Historic Scotland, 1999.
———. Stirling Castle. Edinburgh: Historic Scotland, 2005.
Finlayson, Iain. The Moth and the Candle: A Life of James Boswell. London: Constable, 1984.
Fenton, Alexander. The Arnol Blackhouse: Isle of Lewis. Edinburgh: Historic Scotland, 2005.
Foster, Sally. Maeshowe and the Heart of Neolithic Orkney. Edinburgh: Historic Scotland, 2006.
Fraser, Donald, Ben Notley, and Steve Townsend. Killiecrankie. Edinburgh: National Trust for Scotland, 2004.
Fry, Michael. The Union: England, Scotland and the Treaty of 1707. Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2006.
Gill, A. A. This Angry Island: Hunting the English. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005.
Gow, Ian. The Palace of Holyroodhouse. London: Royal Collection, 2005.
Grove, Doreen. Doune Castle. Edinburgh: Historic Scotland, 2003.
Herman, Arthur. How the Scots Invented the Modern World. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2001.
Hewison, W. S. The Great Harbour: Scapa Flow. Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2005.
Hibbert, Christopher. The Personal History of Samuel Johnson. New York: Harper & Row, 1971.
Hill, G. B., ed. Boswell’s Life of Johnson, Together with Boswell’s Journey of a Tour to the Hebrides and Johnson’s Diary of a Journey Into North Wales. London: Clarendon, revised and enlarged, L. F. Powell. ed., 6 volumes, 1934–50; reprint, revised, 1979.
Hill, G. B. Footsteps of Dr. Johnson (Scotland). 1890. Facsimile edition, Menston: Scolar Press, [ca. 1980].
Humphreys, Rob, and Donald Reid. The Rough Guide to Scotland. 7th ed. New York: Rough Guides, 2006.
Hutchinson, Roger. All the Sweets of Being: A Life of James Boswell. Edinburgh: M
ainstream, 1995.
———. Calum’s Road. Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2006
———. Polly: The True Story behind Whisky Galore. Edinburgh and London: Mainstream, 1998.
Hyde, Mary. The Impossible Friendship: Boswell and Mrs. Thrale. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1972.
———, and Gordon Turnbull, eds. James Boswell’s “Book of Company at Auchinleck” 1782–1795. N.p., 1995.
Innes-Smith, Robert. Glamis Castle. Derby: Pilgrim Press, 2000.
Jauncey, James. Blair Castle. Derby: Heritage House, 2004
Jennings, Charles. Faintheart: An Englishman Ventures North of the Border. London: Abacus, 2002.
Johnson, Alison. A House by the Shore: Twelve Years in the Hebrides. London: Gollancz, 1987.
Johnson, Paul, and George Gale. The Highland Jaunt. London: Collins, 1973.
Landmark Trust. Auchinleck House. Berkshire: Landmark Trust, 2001.
Lewis, D. B. Wyndham. The Hooded Hawk, or, The Case of Mr. Boswell. New York: Longmans, Green, 1947.
Lipking, Lawrence. Samuel Johnson: The Life of an Author. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1998.
Lustig, Irma S. and Frederick A. Pottle, eds. Boswell: The Applause of the Jury, 1782–1785. London: Heinemann, 1982.
Lynch, Jack, ed. Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary: Selections from the 1755 Work That Defined the English Language. New York: Walker, 2003.
Lynch, Michael. Scotland: A New History. London: Pimlico, 2007.
———, ed. Oxford Companion to Scottish History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Macdonald, Finlay J. A Journey to the Western Isles: Johnson’s Scottish Journey. London: Macdonald, 1983.
———. Crowdie & Cream: Memoirs of a Hebridean Childhood. London: Futura, 1988.
MacGregor, Alasdair Alpin. The Western Isles. London: Hale, 1949.
Maclean, Charles. Island on the Edge of the World: The Story of St. Kilda. Edinburgh: Canongate, 2006.
MacLeod, John. Dunvegan Castle. Isle of Skye: MacLeod Estate, 2005.
Magnusson, Magnus. Scotland: The Story of a Nation. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2000.
———. Vikings! New York: Dutton, 1980.
Martin, Martin. A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland circa 1695 / A Voyage to St. Kilda. Edinburgh: Birlinn, 1999.
Martin, Peter. A Life of James Boswell. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000.
———. Samuel Johnson: A Biography. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2008.
Massie, Allan. The Thistle and the Rose. London: Murray, 2006,
McLaren, Moray. The Highland Jaunt: A Study of James Boswell and Samuel Johnson upon Their Highland and Hebridean Tour of 1773. New York: Sloane, 1955.
McPhee, John. The Crofter and the Laird. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1992.
Mitchell, Ian. Isles of the North: A Voyage to the Realms of the Norse. Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2004.
———. Isles of the West: A Hebridean Voyage. Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2004.
Mooney, Harald. St. Magnus Cathedral Orkney. Norwich: Jarrold Publishing, 1995.
Motion, Andrew. Keats. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999.
Muir, Edwin. Scottish Journey. 1935. Reprint, Edinburgh: Mainstream, n.d.
Nicolson, Adam. Sea Room: An Island Life in the Hebrides. New York: Harper, 2007.
Nokes, David. Samuel Johnson: A Life. New York: Holt, 2009.
Pearson, Hesketh. Johnson and Boswell: The Story of Their Lives. New York: Harper, 1958.
———, and Hugh Kingsmill. Skye High. Pleasantville: Akadine Press, 2001.
Pennant, Thomas. A Tour in Scotland and a Voyage to the Hebrides 1772. Edinburgh: Birlinn, 1998.
Plant, Marjorie. The Domestic Life of Scotland in the 18th Century. Edinburgh: University Press, 1952.
Prebble, John. Culloden. London: Pimlico, 2002.
Pringle, Denys. Spynie Palace. Hawick: Historic Scotland, 2006.
Pottle, Frederick A. Pride & Negligence: The History of the Boswell Papers. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1982.
———, and Charles H. Bennett, eds. Boswell’s Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, LL.D 1773. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1961.
Redford, Bruce, ed. The Letters of Samuel Johnson: Volume II, 1773–1776. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992.
Richards, Eric. The Highland Clearances: People, Landlords and Rural Turmoil. Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2005.
Ritchie, Anna, and Ian Fisher. Iona Abbey and Nunnery. Edinburgh: Historic Scotland, 2004.
Rixson, Denis. The Hebridean Traveller. Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2006.
Rogers, Pat. Johnson and Boswell: The Transit of Caledonia. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Rogers, Pat, ed. Johnson and Boswell in Scotland: A Journey to the Hebrides. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993.
Rosie, George. Curious Scotland: Tales from a Hidden History. New York: Thomas Dunne / St. Martin’s, 2006.
Royle, Trevor. Precipitous City: The Story of Literary Edinburgh. New York: Taplinger, 1980.
Ruzicki, Gerald M., and Dorothy A. Ruzicki. In Search of Ancient Scotland: A Guide for the Independent Traveler. Mead: Aspen Grove, 2004.
Sadler, John. Culloden. Stroud: Tempus Publishing, 2006.
Scott, Paul Henderson. Walter Scott and England. Edinburgh: Saltire Society, 1994.
Shenker, Israel. In the Footsteps of Johnson and Boswell: A Modern Day Journey through Scotland. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1982.
Sked, Phil. Culloden. Edinburgh: National Trust for Scotland, 2006.
Smout, T. C. A Century of the Scottish People, 1830–1950. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1986.
Stevenson, David. The Hunt for Rob Roy. Edinburgh: John Donald / Birlinn, 2004.
Strathnaver, Lord. Dunrobin Castle: Jewel in the Crown of the Highlands. Derby: Heritage House, 2003.
Stucley, Elizabeth. A Hebridean Journey with Johnson and Boswell. London: Christopher Johnson, 1956.
Tabraham, Chris. Edinburgh Castle. Edinburgh: Historic Scotland, 2004.
———. Huntly Castle. Edinburgh: Historic Scotland, 2005
———. Urquhart Castle: Loch Ness. Edinburgh: Historic Scotland, 2005.
Thomson, Oliver. Crathes Castle and Garden. Edinburgh: National Trust for Scotland, 2006.
Thomson, William. A Tour in England and Scotland in 1785. N.p.: Kessinger Publishing, 2008.
Topham, Edward. Letters from Edinburgh, 1774–1775. Edinburgh: James Thin / Mercat Press, 1971.
Trevor-Roper, Hugh. The Invention of Scotland: Myth and History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008.
Wain, John. Samuel Johnson: A Biography. London: Macmillan, 1974.
Williams, Terry. “The Unraveling of a Noble Cloth.” Scottish Life 13 (Autumn 2008).
Yeadon, David. Seasons on Harris: A Year in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides. New York: HarperCollins, 2006.
Poetry
Brown, George Mackay. The Collected Poems of George Mackay Brown. Edinburgh: Murray, 2006.
Fiction
Beside the Ocean of Time. Edinburgh: Polygon/Birlinn, 2005.
Gibbon, Lewis. Sunset Song. Edinburgh: Canongate, 2006.
Gunn, Neil M. Butchers Broom. Edinburgh: Polygon/Birlinn, 2006.
———. The Silver Darlings. London: Faber & Faber, 1999.
Macintyre, Lorn. Tobermory Days: Stories from an Island. Glendaruel: Argyll Publishing, 2003.
Mackenzie, Compton. Reprint, Whisky Galore. London: Vintage, 2007.
Maclean, Alistair. Night Falls on Ardnamurchan. Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2001.
MacNeil, Kevin. The Stornoway Way. London: Penguin, 2006.
Munro, Neil. Para Handy and Other Stories. Reprint, Glasgow: Lomond, 1999.
———. The Daft Days. Reprint, Colonsay: House of Lochar, 2002.
Smith, Ian Crichton. Consider the Lilies. London: Phoenix, 1987.
———.The Dream. London: Macmillan, 1990.
Smollett, Tobias. The Expedition of Humphry Clinker. Reprint, London: Oxfo
rd, 1998.
Index
2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick)
abbeys
Aberbrothock. See Arbroath
Aberdeen
Account of Corsica, An (Boswell)
Act of Union
Adams, William
Adoman
Agricola
Airdrie
Albany, duke of
Albert, king of England
Allan, Charles Stuart
Allan, John Hay
America (United States): immigration to; Scots opinion of; Civil War
An t-Eilean Sgitheanac. See Skye
Anoch
Arbroath
Arbroath Abbey
Argyle, duke of. See Argyll, duke of
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Argyll, duchess of
Argyll, duke of
Argyll Hotel
Armadale
Arnol
Arran
Arsaig
Arthur, king of Camelot
Atholl, duke of
Atholl Highlanders
Auchinleck
Auchinleck, Lord
Auchinleck Estate
Ayrshire
Ayrshire Village
Ballindalloch Castle
Ballindalloch Castle (Russell)
Balmaha
Banff
Bank of England
Bannockburn, battle of
Barra
Barrie, J. M.
Barvas
Battles. See also “Bonnie Prince Charlie”; Jacobite Risings; William Wallace
Beatles, the
Becket, Thomas
Ben More
Ben Nevis
Bill Haley and the Comets
Birnam
Black, Ronald
Blair Atholl