Scotland’s National Book Town will burst into life with the start of the annual Wigtown Book Festival this week.
Well-known names at this year’s event include poet Pam Ayres, The Hebridean Baker Coinneach MacLeod, food legend Sue Lawrence, Scotland’s National Chef Gary MacLean, Former BBC Moscow correspondent Martin Sixsmith, author Irvine Welsh.
There will also be appearances from musician and author Cerys Matthews and MasterChef finalist Sarah Rankin, Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes and actor James Cosmo.
Galloway’s 10-day celebration of all things literary will kick off with a parade of pipers and a firework display, after which the town of less than 1,000 residents will welcome up to 8,000 visitors.
There will be more than 250 events, including the Big Wig children’s programme. And the second weekend features a festival-within-a-festival dedicated to food and cookery.
One of the past’s greatest powers will be brought into focus by Dr Fraser Hunter, Principal Curator of Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology at National Museums Scotland.
He will explode some of the myths surrounding the presence of a colonising power which came north, saw and conquered no less than three times.
Fraser said: ‘I want to address some of the myths. We often think of their world stopping at Hadrian’s Wall – it didn’t, Scotland was in or on the edge of the Roman world.
‘They invaded three times, coming twice into Galloway.
‘We also often have a bit of an Asterix view of the Romans, poor Italians shivering in the cold and facing fierce, indomitable tribesmen.
‘It was much more complex than that. Who was a Roman?
‘The army was a huge ethnic and cultural mix and very few of the soldiers serving here would have been from the heart of the empire.
‘And as for the people living here. What do you do when the Roman army turns up on your doorstep? Fight, run, do a deal?
‘I want to give a sense of how different groups made different decisions.’
For Fraser, it will be a welcome homecoming as he was born and raised in the area – his mother is from Kirkcudbright and his father Jack, a much-loved historian of the region, was from Wigtown.
His event taps into a deep fascination and ambivalence towards the Romans that has passed down through the ages.
Archaeological evidence shows that some people keenly acquired Roman goods and saw them as a source of status, while there was also an upsurge in Celtic artwork, suggesting that others were determined to assert their own cultural identity.
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