Eggplant.place

19d

Manuscript fragments hiding in plain sight shed light on medieval Guernsey’s literary life

Researchers say texts from 12th to 15th centuries ‘hint at a culture which has not even been imagined’

by Dalya Alberge

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/aug/23/manuscript-fragments-discovery-medieval-guernsey

Books about Medieval Manuscripts at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/4087

#books #literature #old_Manuscripts #heritage

Title: Illuminated Manuscripts

Author: John W. Bradley

A leaf from a medieval illuminated manuscript featuring two columns of dense Latin Gothic script framed by a decorative vine-and-leaf border with small illuminated initial letters throughout.

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19d

From the calm and stillness of a Scottish morning,
as life becomes uncertain and strange
we send you a waking breath…

—“Our Waking Breath: A Poem-letter from Scotland to Ukraine”, curated by Kathleen Jamie in 2022

Today, 24 August, is the Independence Day of Ukraine
🇺🇦🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StrAumuwZj8

#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #Ukraine #IndependenceDayofUkraine

watch?v=StrAumuwZj8

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18d

Dorothy Dunnett (1923–2001) was born #OTD, 25 August, in Dunfermline. She is best known as a writer of historical fiction – in particular the six-part LYMOND CHRONICLES that begin with those fateful words:

“Lymond is back.”

A 🎂 🧵

@bookstodon

1/7

https://booksfromscotland.com/2019/06/rediscovering-dorothy-dunnett/

#Scottish #literature #DorothyDunnett #LymondChronicles #HistoricalFiction #novel

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18d

Oidhche nam Bàrd – Poetry in Art & Sound
10 September, Tramway, Glasgow – £20/£12

A landmark celebration of over 1000 years of Gaelic poetry, weaving together Gaelic voices of the past & the words of our greatest living poets, presented through live performance, music, & visual projection. Welcoming Gaelic speakers & non-Gaelic speakers alike, all poems read will be accompanied by on-screen English translations.

https://www.glasgowlife.org.uk/event/1/oidhche-nam-brd-poetry-in-art-and-sound

#Scottish #literature #Gaidhlig #Gaelic #poetry #Glasgow

oidhche-nam-brd-poetry-in-art-and-sound

Edited 18d ago

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17d

Lines etched on a window at Wingate’s Inn, Stirling, 26 August 1787

Here Stewarts once in triumph reign’d,
And laws for Scotland’s weal ordain’ d;
But now unroof’d their Palace stands,
Their Sceptre’s fall’n to other hands…

#OTD, 26 August, 1787, Robert Burns wrote this poem with a diamond-tipped pen on a window in Stirling

https://burnsmuseum.wordpress.com/2018/08/24/graffiti-artist/

#Scottish #literature #18thcentury #Jacobites #Hanoverian #republicanism #monarchy #RobertBurns #graffiti

Lines etched on a window at Wingate’s Inn, Stirling, 26 August 1787
Robert Burns

Here Stewarts once in triumph reign’d,
And laws for Scotland’s weal ordain’d;
But now unroof’d their Palace stands,
Their Sceptre’s fall’n to other hands;
Fall’n indeed, and to the Earth
Whence grovelling reptiles take their birth.
The injur’d STEWART-line are gone,
A Race outlandish fills their throne:
An idiot race, to honour lost—
Who know them best despise them most.

ALT

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17d

Moby Dick: The 19th-Century novel that challenged our fear of the 'monstrous' whale

By Elizabeth Sulis Kim

https://www.bbc.co.uk/culture/article/20260819-moby-dick-the-19th-century-novel-that-challenged-our-fear-of-the-monstrous-whale

Moby Dick is available at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2701

#books #literature

Title: Whale Fishery of New England

Editor: Mass.) State Street Trust Company (Boston

A small rowboat crew of whalers, harpoons in hand, approaching a large sperm whale as it thrashes at the surface with its tail raised. A larger sailing ship sits in the background.

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17d

“The life of John Buchan reads like one of his adventure stories… he roamed both continents & careers alike, leaping from one cliffhanger to the next”

John Buchan (1875–1940) – from son of the manse to Governor-General of Canada – was born #OTD, 26 August.

A 🎂 🧵

1/9

https://www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2025/12/the-reign-of-saturn/

#Scottish #literature #JohnBuchan #20thcentury

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47d

Whare hae ye been sae braw, lad?
Whare hae ye been sae brankie, O?
Whare hae ye been sae braw, lad?
Came ye by Killiecrankie, O?

—“Killicrankie”, from James Hogg’s JACOBITE RELICS OF SCOTLAND (1819).

The Battle of Killiecrankie ⚔️ was fought #OTD, 27 July, 1689. A Jacobite force led by Ewan Cameron of Lochiel & Viscount Dundee defeated a Scottish government army commanded by Hugh Mackay

#Scottish #literature #EarlyModern #17thcentury #battle #Jacobite #song #folksong

Page images from James Hogg’s JACOBITE RELICS OF SCOTLAND (1819). Musical notation is supplied for the chorus: the full text of the song is also given:

Whare hae ye been sae braw, lad?
Whare hae ye been sae brankie, O?
Whare hae ye been sae braw, lad?
Came ye by Killiecrankie, O?

CHORUS:
An ye had been whare I hae been
Ye wadna been sae cantie, O;
An’ ye had seen what I hae seen,
I’ the braes o’ Killiecrankie, O

I faught at land, I faught at sea,
At hame I faught my auntie, O;
But I met the Devil and Dundee
On the braes o’ Killiecrankie, O
An ye had been, &c.

The bauld Pitcur fell in a furr,
And Clavers gat a clankie, O,
Or I had fed an Athol gled
On the braes o’ Killiecrankie, O.
An ye had been, &c.

Oh fie, Mackay, what gart ye lie
I’ the brush ayont the brankie, O?
Ye’d better kiss’d King Willie’s loof,
Than come to Killiecrankie, O.
It’s nae shame, it’s nae shame
It’s nae shame to shank ye, O;
There’s sour slaes on Athol braes,
And deils at Killiecrankie, O.

ALT

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16d

“Books Are Weapons in the War of Ideas.” The Incendiary Power of Literature in an Era of Censorship

Kenneth C. Davis on Book Bans, Reading as Exercising, and Turning to Shorter Books in the Age of Screens

https://lithub.com/books-are-weapons-in-the-war-of-ideas-the-incendiary-power-of-literature-in-an-era-of-censorship/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&utm_id=01M0Q5AQ5CFS2HC717W1XJR0VP&_kx=3MZUehzXM-41qlWAMPUiuNZadX2p0SByuNf_t0eMLB0.U5D8ER

Banned books at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=banned+books

#books #literature #bannedbook

The cover of the first English edition of the 1929 novel "All Quiet on the Western Front".

The illustration shows a German soldier in a steel helmet, rendered in an expressive, painterly style with barbed wire visible in the background.

ALT

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16d

Call for Applications: Crossing Tongues Poetry Residency

Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature invites a Scottish poet writing in English, Scots &/or Scottish Gaelic to undertake a 7-day residency in Nigeria, alongside the Hausa International Book & Arts Festival, December 2026

Applications open until 30 September

https://cityofliterature.com/opportunities/call-for-applications-crossing-tongues-poetry-residency/

#Scottish #literature #poetry #Nigeria #Scots #Scotslanguage #Gaidhlig #Gaelic #residency

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16d

NAMING THE SNAKES: New Writing Scotland 44
Glasgow launch
8 September, Waterstones Sauchiehall St, Glasgow – £5 / £12 with book

Celebrate the latest issue with a mix of readings of poetry, short fiction & non-fiction in English, Gaelic & Scots – all welcome!

https://www.waterstones.com/events/new-writing-scotland-44-launch/glasgow-sauchiehall-street

#Scottish #literature #Gaidhlig #Gaelic #Scots #Scotslanguage #poetry #shortfiction #shortstories #booklaunch #writingcommunity #Glasgow

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16d

This interactive atlas captures more than a thousand literary journeys.

https://lithub.com/this-interactive-atlas-captures-more-than-a-thousand-literary-journeys/

#books #literature #atlas

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16d

The law of the innocents: Ireland’s medieval precursor to the Geneva conventions

How a seventh-century monk drew up a blueprint for modern international humanitarian law.

by Chris Doyle

https://theconversation.com/the-law-of-the-innocents-irelands-medieval-precursor-to-the-geneva-conventions-290278?utm_campaign=the-daily-39245&utm_content=the-daily-39245_uk%7C2%7C39245%7Cdb6f109c&utm_medium=email&utm_source=braze&utm_term=The+law+of+the+innocents%3A+Ireland%E2%80%99s+medieval+precursor+to+the+Geneva+conventions

Books about Medieval Ireland at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subject/26627

#books #literature #history

Ancient centre of Christianity and learning: how Iona Abbey looked in the 19th century.

This view of Iona Abbey shows the Abbey in its ruinous condition before work to restore the Abbey commenced in the early C20

It shows the abbey in a ruined state, with the tower and roofless nave visible amid the rocky, coastal landscape, overlooking the Sound of Iona toward the Ross of Mull in the background.

ALT

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16d

In Conversation: Callum McSorley

“I read THE CUTTING ROOM by Louise Welsh and everything clicked into place. Here was Glasgow, as I knew it but also totally different. Welsh had created a Glasgow that had all the glamour and seediness of hardboiled LA. This is what I wanted to write.”

Callum McSorley in conversation with Sindhu Rajasekaran about writing crime fiction & sequels, & his latest novel RAT RACE.

https://www.thesubjectivespace.com/callum-mcsorley

#Scottish #literature #crimefiction #Glasgow #TartanNoir

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15d

“Weird” is a weird word

From Beowulf to Shakespeare to you

by Colin Gorrie

https://www.deadlanguagesociety.com/p/weird-is-a-weird-word

Beowulf & Shakespeare at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=beowulf
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/65

#books #literature #language

Macbeth, IV, 1, Macbeth in witches cave (1829), Johann Heinrich Ramberg.

An armored figure stands watching a group of witches around a bubbling cauldron in a cave, with bats and other creatures flying overhead, small demonic imps gathering firewood, and an apparition of a bloodied infant floating in the smoke above.

ALT

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15d

31 Medieval Manuscripts from the Czech National Library Now Available Online

Among them is a medical manuscript containing a previously unknown copy of advice written for Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund.

https://www.medievalists.net/2026/08/medieval-manuscripts-czech-online/

Medieval manuscripts at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/subjects/search/?query=medieval+manuscripts

#books #literature #old_Manuscripts

FROM SCHOEFFER’S CANON OF THE MASS.

Title: Early Printed Books

Author: E. Gordon Duff

The page shows Latin liturgical text rendered in a gothic typeface with an ornate decorated initial letter.

ALT

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15d

nuair a tha mi fhìn nam sheasamh
aig ceann Loch an Dala
’s mi a’ coimhead thar cuain geur
a’ deàrrsadh ’s a’ deàlradh
fo ghrian na sìorraidheachd
chan fhaic mi sgath dhen ghlasadh cheilteach…

—Iain S. Mac a’ Phearsain, “ceann Loch an Dala”
published in Friends & Kangaroos: New Writing Scotland 17

#Scottish #literature #Gaidhlig #Gaelic #poem #poetry #Islay

ceann Loch an Dala
Iain S. Mac a’ Phearsain

nuair a tha mi fhìn nam sheasamh
aig ceann Loch an Dala
’s mi a’ coimhead thar cuain geur
a’ deàrrsadh ’s a’ deàlradh
fo ghrian na sìorraidheachd
chan fhaic mi sgath dhen ghlasadh cheilteach
a’ ciaradh Ile
na eilean shìthichean faoin
ach soitheach mo shinnsearan
a’ triall dhan iar
Gilleasbaig is Eòghann
a’ cur cùl ri Cill’ Nèimh
an aghaidh leis a’ ghaoith
’s an làmhan air a’ chliathaich
blàth ’s cha mhòr air chrith.

ALT

head of Loch Indaal
John Scott MacPherson

personally, when I stand
at the head of Loch Indaal
and look out
over a razor-sharp sea
shining and radiating
under an everlasting sun
I see none of the Celtic twilight
reducing Islay
to an island of vacant faeries
but my ancestors’ ship
heading for the west
Archibald and Hugh
turning backs on Kilnave
facing downwind
their hands on the gunwhales
warm and almost shaking.

ALT

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15d

A boy leaves a small house
Of sea light. He leaves
The sea smells, creel
And limpet and cod.

The boy walks between steep
Stone houses, echoing
Gull cries, the all-around
Choirs of the sea…

—George Mackay Brown, “Island School”
published in Carve the Runes: Selected Poems (Polygon 2021)

https://birlinn.co.uk/product/carve-the-runes/

#Scottish #literature #Orkney #poem #poetry #GeorgeMackayBrown #backtoschool

Island School
George Mackay Brown

A boy leaves a small house
Of sea light. He leaves
The sea smells, creel
And limpet and cod.

The boy walks between steep
Stone houses, echoing
Gull cries, the all-around
Choirs of the sea,

Ship noises, shop noises, clamours
Of bellman and milkcart.
The boy comes at last
To a tower with a tall desk

And a globe and a blackboard
And a stern chalk-
smelling lady. A bell
Nods and summons.

A girl comes, cornlight
In the eyes, smelling
Of peat and cows
And the rich midden.

Running she comes, late,
Reeling in under the last
Bronze brimmings. She sits
Among twenty whispers.

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14d

I pulled all my mother’s expectations
with me, like a child’s kite, giddy with stir
of spring…

—Lynn Valentine, “St Kilda Crossing”
from DON’T. EVEN. ASK. TOO. HOT.: New Writing Scotland 42 (ASL, 2024)

Today, 29 August, marks the 96th anniversary of the final evacuation of St Kilda.

https://asls.org.uk/publications/books/newwriting/nws42/11111

#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #StKilda

ST KILDA CROSSING
by Lynn Valentine

I pulled all my mother’s expectations
with me, like a child’s kite, giddy with stir
of spring. Because she was cancer-cracked
I turned tourist by proxy, crouched into cleits
looking for leavings of last century.

I photographed fawn smallness of Soays
felt the crash of wind-whipped stacs,
my pockets salt-filled. I leant
on those islands as my mother leant on me,
filled my lungs with their breeze
and leaping green language of sea.

I tried to hold my breath for days,
took it back to my mother, exhaled
island air on her weakened frame –
whispered broken stories of birds and rain.

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13d

What Is the Plot of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland?

Lewis Carroll’s beloved 1865 children’s book Alice in Wonderland has been adapted repeatedly for film and stage. The original plot explores the collapse of logic, authority, and identity, culminating in her self-realization and return home.

by Lauren Jones

https://www.thecollector.com/plot-of-lewis-carroll-alice-in-wonderland/

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Alice%27s+Adventures+in+Wonderland

#books #literature

It grunted again so violently that she looked down into its face in some alarm.

Title: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Author: Lewis Carroll

Contributor: Austin Dobson

Illustrator: Arthur Rackham

Alice holds the "pig-baby," the infant that the Duchess hands to her which then transforms into a piglet.

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13d

“…my habitual residence was on the blank and dreary northern shores of the Tay, near Dundee…”
—Mary Shelley, introduction to FRANKENSTEIN (1831 edn)

Mary Shelley (1797–1851) was born #OTD, 30 August. Prof Daniel Cook examines why Scotland mattered so much to Mary Shelley, & considers Shelley’s position in the Scottish Gothic tradition

@litstudies

https://www.nls.uk/papercut/mary-shelley-and-the-scottish-gothic-tradition/

#Scottish #literature #gothic #horror #Dundee #MaryShelley #Frankenstein #FrankensteinDay

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13d

The blind man did not hate me.
I saw him through the window,
through the rippling circle my own
hot breath had melted
in the spiky flowers of the frost…

—Liz Lochhead, “2. What the Creature Said”, from DREAMING FRANKENSTEIN & Collected Poems 1967–1984 (Birlinn, 2011)

https://birlinn.co.uk/product/dreaming-frankenstein-2/

#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #Frankenstein #FrankensteinDay

Liz Lochhead
from Dreaming Frankenstein

2. What the Creature Said

The blind man did not hate me.
I saw him through the window,
through the rippling circle my own
hot breath had melted
in the spiky flowers of the frost.

I was exhausted,
imagine it. Midwinter. Mountains.
Forest. Dragging my bad leg
over iron ground, impossible passes,
pained by that fleshwound where
that villager's silver bullet
grazed me.

There he was, bent
above the hot soup, supping
his solitude from a bone spoon.
And when my single rap
at the glass spun him full face
towards me, mild as a cat,
my heart stopped but oh
he did not flinch

Then I saw his
milky eyes stared right through me,
unblinking, and he fumbled
oddly forward to meet me at the latch.
I lifted it and entered,
sure that I found a friend.

ALT

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13d

“Can a man ‘make’ a feminist? It is the final riddle of a mesmerising mind game in which not even the heroine, and certainly not the author, can be trusted”

Alasdair Gray’s 1992 novel POOR THINGS was inspired by FRANKENSTEIN (& several other things)

https://alasdairgrayspace.net/who-is-alasdair-gray/poor-things

#Scottish #literature #MaryShelley #Frankenstein #FrankensteinDay

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13d

Everywhere she dies. Everywhere I go she dies.
No sunrise, no city square, no lurking beautiful mountain
but has her death in it.

—Norman MacCaig, “Memorial”
from THE POEMS OF NORMAN MacCAIG (Birlinn, 2009)

Today, 30 August, is Grief Awareness Day

https://birlinn.co.uk/product/the-poems-of-norman-maccaig/

#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #NormanMacCaig #grief #GriefAwarenessDay

Memorial
by Norman MacCaig

Everywhere she dies. Everywhere I go she dies.
No sunrise, no city square, no lurking beautiful mountain
but has her death in it.
The silence of her dying sounds through
the carousel of language, it's a web
on which laughter stitches itself. How can my hand
clasp another's when between them
is that thick death, that intolerable distance?

She grieves for my grief. Dying, she tells me
that bird dives from the sun, that fish
leaps into it. No crocus is carved more gently
than the way her dying
shapes my mind. – But I hear, too,
the other words,
black words that make the sound
of soundlessness, that name the nowhere
she is continuously going into.

Ever since she died
she can't stop dying. She makes me
her elegy. I am a walking masterpiece,
a true fiction
of the ugliness of death.
I am her sad music.

ALT

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12d

40 Years On: Aberdeen, Enlightenment, & Global Legacies
15 Oct, in-person & online – free

A landmark 1986 gathering placed Aberdeen at the centre of Scottish Enlightenment studies. This event revisits that scholarship & explores new perspectives on Aberdeen’s intellectual, cultural, & global impact

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/40-years-on-aberdeen-enlightenment-and-global-legacies-online-tickets-1992760674822

#Scottish #literature #culture #culturalstudies #Enlightenment #ScottishEnlightenment #18thcentury #Aberdeen

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