tjj
|
Edited Mar 02, 2015, 16:16
Re: From aquabob to zawn
Mar 02, 2015, 16:13
|
|
Howburn Digger wrote: I live a few hundred yards from where Christopher Murray Grieve (Hugh MacDiarmid) lived out his days at Brownsbank. He unashamedly utilised Jameson's.
http://www.scotsdictionary.com/
Like Douglas Young and many others, MacDiarmid was inspired by the infinite expression in local dialects. Robert MacFarlane is another fellow traveller finding delight and inspiration in this rich furrow.
In years langsyne (afore I wisnae sae much buckled as deid-doun) I used tae wander in Knoydart wae my auld scunner Frazer. He took a dauner doon the Craw Road last year. I miss him ower much at times. Ah still hae mind o' pitchin' oor tent in the larach o' a clearance hoose. We kinnelt up a fire in the lee o' the broken dyke and sipped drams in the how-dum-deid wae a' the stars keekin' doon at us. Ye could still tell that even efter 250 years that thone wee larach hud aince been a gairden tae somebody an' their faimlie. Their auld tummled wa's geid us shelter on a nicht when we needed it. We kipped at Sourlie's the next nicht.
The Scots dialect is fascinating to some of us down here below the border. Robert Macfarlane book 'Landmarks' is about dialect and language in the British Isles. Chapter 2 (in the proof copy anyway) is called "A Counter-Desecration Phrasebook" and is mainly about language of the Outer Hebrides.
"The extraordinary language of the Outer Hebrides is currently being lost. Gaelic itself is in danger of withering on the tongue: the total number of native speakers in the the Scottish Gaidhealtachd is now around 58,000. Of those who do still speak Gaelic, many are understandably less interested in the intricacies of toponymy, all the exactitudes of which the language is capable with regard to landscape."
I highly recommend the book. I've already spoken on a different thread about Nan Shepherd and her little book "The Living Mountain" which is a later chapter. Also a chapter called Hunting Life where Robert Macfarlane talks about J.A. Baker's book "The Peregrine". What I like about Robert Macfarlane is the way he brings back to life writers who may have otherwise fallen into obscurity.
|
tiompan
|
Re: From aquabob to zawn
Mar 02, 2015, 16:53
|
|
There's been a resurgence of interest in the Baker book for some time , for years it was out of print and rare . Helen Macdonald's " H is for Hawk " is another recent successful "landscape " book that will boost it's popularity .
|
tiompan
|
Re: From aquabob to zawn
Mar 02, 2015, 16:58
|
Mention o Inverie reminds me of another couple of local non mba bothies .
Oban ,on Loch Morar, far end o Glen Pean and a wonderful spot , and Torcuilleainn just above Inverie , which is probabaly well secured these days .
|
Howburn Digger
|
Re: From aquabob to zawn
Mar 02, 2015, 17:26
|
|
tjj wrote: I've already spoken on a different thread about Nan Shepherd and her little book "The Living Mountain" which is a later chapter. Also a chapter called Hunting Life where Robert Macfarlane talks about J.A. Baker's book "The Peregrine". What I like about Robert Macfarlane is the way he brings back to life writers who may have otherwise fallen into obscurity.
They might have fallen into obscurity in some parts but MacDiarmid, Marion Angus, Neil Gunn and even Violet Jacob have a lot of shelfspace in my billet. I have a nice first edition of "The Quarry Wood" I picked up for pennies in the Gatehouse Charity Shop last October. Canongate pumped out Nan Shepherd's three novels plus the poetry anthology "In The Cairngorms" as a single volume about fifteen years ago.
WH Murray wrote beautifully about walking, climbing, hiking and just "being" in Scotland's mountains and hills. His "Mountaineering In Scotland" and "Undiscovered Scotland" must be some of the most beautiful books ever written about being out in Scotland's Hill and Mountain Landscapes. They came out in a single volume published by Baton Wicks about 25 years back. Very worth seeking out.
|
tiompan
|
Re: From aquabob to zawn
Mar 02, 2015, 18:12
|
|
And Bills autobiography "The evidence of things not seen " too .
|
tjj
|
Re: From aquabob to zawn
Mar 02, 2015, 20:04
|
|
tiompan wrote: There's been a resurgence of interest in the Baker book for some time , for years it was out of print and rare . Helen Macdonald's " H is for Hawk " is another recent successful "landscape " book that will boost it's popularity .
I was given "H is for Hawk" for Xmas - am reading it in between other books. It is not a book I want to rush, three chapters in I've learnt the difference between hawks and falcons. Her account of her father's sudden death was very moving. I also have Neil M Gunn's "Silver Bough" and of course Nan Shepherd's "The Living Mountain" to finish. On top of that I've joined a reading group at my local library which meets monthly so am finding myself reading books I wouldn't naturally select. Had to sit this month out though as it was the crime writer P.D. James - heard she is excellent but 'crime' could never inspire me.
|
tiompan
|
Re: From aquabob to zawn
Mar 02, 2015, 20:30
|
|
tjj wrote: tiompan wrote: There's been a resurgence of interest in the Baker book for some time , for years it was out of print and rare . Helen Macdonald's " H is for Hawk " is another recent successful "landscape " book that will boost it's popularity .
I was given "H is for Hawk" for Xmas - am reading it in between other books. It is not a book I want to rush, three chapters in I've learnt the difference between hawks and falcons. Her account of her father's sudden death was very moving. I also have Neil M Gunn's "Silver Bough" and of course Nan Shepherd's "The Living Mountain" to finish. On top of that I've joined a reading group at my local library which meets monthly so am finding myself reading books I wouldn't naturally select. Had to sit this month out though as it was the crime writer P.D. James - heard she is excellent but 'crime' could never inspire me.
I really enjoyed "H is for .. " good writer and great insight into falconry and much more besides ,grief etc .
Another recent read in what is consisdered to be the nature /landscape genre was "the dig " by Cynan Jones , very impressive memorable and very short , nothing to do with archaeology .
I prefer Laure to Pat and Gilou to Poirot .
|
tjj
|
Re: From aquabob to zawn
Mar 02, 2015, 20:51
|
|
tiompan wrote:
I prefer Laure to Pat and Gilou to Poirot .
'Spiral' was brilliant, not really crime more the underbelly of Parisian life.
|
tiompan
|
Re: From aquabob to zawn
Mar 02, 2015, 22:26
|
|
tjj wrote: tiompan wrote:
I prefer Laure to Pat and Gilou to Poirot .
'Spiral' was brilliant, not really crime more the underbelly of Parisian life.
I found the first to third series a wee bit too gritty , but really enjoyed the others , the legal system sub plots seem to fit better too .
|
