Bromin' in the Gloamin

'Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure like No Other' by Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish, with Charlotte Reather

Everyone has their favourite box set, and, if nothing else, lockdowns I, II, and III have given us plenty of opportunity to drink our fill of our favourite shows.  One of mine is the time-travel romance 'Outlander', and I've just finished 'Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure like No Other' by two of the show's stars, Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish.

Billy Connolly's Greatest Hits

'Tall Tales and Wee Stories' by Billy Connolly (Two Roads, 2019)

Billy Connolly is one of Scotland's greatest exports.  Now well into his 70s, the musician, actor, artist and stand up no longer performs live, but you can relive some of his best bits through 'Tall Tales and Wee Stories'. 

'Tall Tales and Wee Stories' is a collection of Connolly's classic monologues, drawn from sixty years of sell out performances across the globe.  The ex-welder first found fame as a folk singer, but discovered a talent for public storytelling when he forgot a song's lyrics while on stage.  He filled the gap with a story and it was so well received that it became part of the act.  Eventually, storytelling routines took over from the music altogether.  This book includes favourites such as a Cardinal's school visit, a children's countryside outing, a working class Scottish house party, the workings of airplane toilets, how a cat caused trouble for a film armourer, the infamous Crucifixion sketch and many, many more.  These 'Tall Tales and Wee Stories' are silly, sweary and surreal, in short everything you'd expect from the Big Yin.

Feathered Fiends?

Earlier this week, I finished 'The Story Keeper', the second novel by Anna Mazzola. If you want moody Gothic with a heroine coming to terms with herself and her past, you've come to the right place!

September 1857: Audrey Hart escapes a miserable home life to the Isle of Skye, pursing her dream of becoming a folklorist.  As well as stories of fairies and magic, she comes to seek the truth about herself, as this is where her mother died in tragic circumstances.  Audrey enters the employ of the reclusive Miss Buchanan and struggles to earn the trust of the local people, scarred by the unkindnesses of the Buchanan family.  Everything changes when Audrey finds the body of a young, local girl washed up on the shore.  While she suddenly gains acceptance in the community, she also finds herself part of something more sinister.  Can the mythical Sluagh, the spirits of the dead in the form of flocks of black birds, really be abducting the young women of Skye, or is something more Earth-bound - and more terrible - at work?

There's Something About Mary

Goodness, it's been a long time since I finished a book!  It's taken me about two months to read 'My Heard is My Own', John Guy's biography of Mary, Queen of Scots.  Not a good start to 2013, but nevermind, I'm still determined!

'My Heart is My Own'
by John Guy (2004,
Fourth Estate)

'My Heart is My Own' explores the life of Mary, Queen of Scots, from her birth at Linlithgow Palace in 1542 to her execution in at Fotheringay Castle in 1587.  It's a story full of excitement and intrigue from the very beginning as Queen Mary battles forces seen and unseen to stay on the throne.  As soon as she's born, Mary is under very real threat from the Scottish nobility and they remain a thorn in her side all her life.  The key theme of Queen Mary's life seems to be 'nothing going to plan' or, if you're feeling less generous, 'bad decision-making'.  As well as her efforts to control the bickering nobles in Scotland resulting in uprising and exile, none of her three marriages go as expected and a final appeal for her 'sister Queen' Elizabeth in England ultimately leads to imprisonment and death.  In the end, even her family abandon her.  But despite all this, Mary remains a strong character and, as a reader, I couldn't help but wonder if I'd have done anything differently in her situation.  This is the story of a fallible human being, which contrasts well with the popular myth of almost unimpeachable Elizabeth I.

I didn't know much about Mary, Queen of Scots, before reading this book, which is why I bought it in the first place.  I have a lifelong admiration for Elizabeth I, which led to a less than flattering idea of Mary, a prejudice that I didn't even realise I had.  It just goes to show that powerful. positive image Elizabeth created of herself in the popular imagination has managed to survive more than 400 years.  Just as her grandfather Henry VII rewrote history to make Richard III and his predecessors wicked tyrants, she recreated herself as the venerable 'Gloriana', England incarnate, bold, beautiful, just and bountiful.  Mary, Queen of Scots, is often portrayed on screen as the opposite of Elizabeth, so I'm glad I read this book to realise that things certainly aren't that clean cut.

'My Heart is My Own' is an enjoyable, accessible read right up until chapter 22.  Unfortunately, I really hit a wall with chapters 22 (Mary's Story), 23 (Bothwell's Story), 24 (The Lords' Story) and 25 and 26 (dealing with The Casket Letters).  Up until that point, longer quotes from original sources had been kept to a minimum, so the author was in control of the narrative and able to give it pace and drama.  In these chapters, the pace changes completely and the true historian comes out, so we get longer quotes from the protagonists' letters.  Unfortunately, Mary isn't an easy writer to read and this is a stumbling block I didn't quite get over.  By this point in the book, the narrator has earned my trust and I didn't need to see all of Mary's own words to believe his interpretation of them.

The chapters dealing with the Casket Letters, a cache of probably faked correspondence used to show Queen Mary complicit in murder, was so confusing that I found myself rereading whole paragraphs to try and get to grips with them.  Really, this in depth analysis of the texts could've been consigned to an appendix, so it could still be read, but without interrupting the until then excellent narrative.  As it was, it stalled the story further and meant that the book began to lose my attention.  Reference to primary sources would be important in an essay, but wading my way through the archaic and sometimes incomprehensible language just made me feel disappointed after enjoying the book so much up to that point.

Overall, I did enjoy this book enough to want to read more by Mr Guy, but I am slightly worried that storytelling will be lost to academic analysis in his other publications.  I love history, but have to accept that I'm a casual reader without the time to take in indepth analyses of the evidence.  I need books such as 'My Heart is My Own' to balance readability with fact.  I'm very glad I read this book, however, as I've learned a great deal and gained a new perspective on an oft maligned historical figure.  It's also made me want to find out more about other figures, including William Cecil, who has also changed in my perceptions too.

I would recommend 'My Heart is My Own' to anyone with and interest in the era, but be prepared for the narrative shift in some chapters!

Rescue Me

After far more months than I can remember, I've finally finished dragging myself through 'Bob Servant: Hero of Dundee' by Neil Forsyth.  This is the follow up to 2007's brilliant  'Delete this at Your Peril', one of the first books I wrote about when I started this blog last year.  I thoroughly enjoyed 'Delete...', but am sad to say I don't feel the same about its sidekick.

'Bob Servant: Hero of Dundee' is the autobiography of the spammer-botherer Bob Servant.  It tells the story of his life in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, and his efforts to become a hero (sort of).  'Delete this at Your Peril' included his eccentric correspondence with email spammers and this book appears to aim to flesh out the characters and escapades mentioned in his messages.  As such, we find out the truth about the Cheeseburger Wars, the window cleaning racket and how he met Frank the Plank, Chappy Williams and Tommy Peanuts, as well as his unsuccessful pursuit of 'skirt'.

Sadly, this book feels like a writing exercise that, much like Bob, got a bit too big for its boots.  It has its moments, but it's neither consistent nor laugh-out-loud funny.  At best, it's gently amusing at times, but, as a reader, I felt that I had to work really hard to get from one joke to the next.

'Delete...' worked so well because it was original, something every internet user could relate to and (secretly) something we'd all like to be able to do ourselves to turn the tables on a bane of modern life.  Effectively, the spammers acted as Bob's stooge or straightman.  The first book was often funny because Bob's responses could be elusive and cryptic and leave things to the imagination.  

'Hero...' leaves behind everything that made the first book work and fills in gaps best left unfilled.  It's basically a case of a good joke being told, then ruined because someone explains it to you.  Or seeing behind the mask of your favourite superhero.

The book does start to improve towards the end, when it begins to feel like a series of snapshot-like newspaper articles.  Perhaps this would be a better direction for the character; a regular column where he reacts to current news stories.

Overall, I would not recommend this book to anyone.  To be honest, I wish I hadn't read it.  I feel it's tainted my enjoyment of the first book and put me off reading the third, which is a real shame.  Hopefully I'll forget all about it in time and be able to read the third book, but it's hard to tell right now.  Sorry Mr Forsyth.

Now, time for a classic I think...