Posts Tagged ‘tartan’
The Heretic is a gripping read from start to end
The prequel to The Heretic, Liam McIlvanney’s The Quaker, earned him ‘The Scottish Crime Book of the Year’ prize. I’ve little doubt this will do just as well. It has all the ingredients for a classic piece of crime fiction: a dark, gritty plot, authentic characters and an unpredictable ending. Set in Scotland’s Dear Green…
Read MoreTeam at Prickly Thistle expands thanks to HERO scheme
A company which describes itself as the ‘tartan rebels in the Scottish Highlands’ have recently been able to expand its team. Prickly Thistle, who have the only tartan weaving mill in the mainland Highlands, work with clients to design and create bespoke tartan which is manufactured at their mill and transformed into a wide range…
Read MoreA mystery with a hint of some Gothic romance
Author Gillian Galbraith is one of the gems of Tartan Noir. As a writer, her Alice Rice mystery series has been crtically acclaimed, and, during the first lockdown in 2020, her library eBook borrowings outstripped Hilary Mantel, Michelle Obama and Sally Rooney – in the top ten, the first novel in the series Blood in…
Read MoreSir Harry Lauder – a treasure or an embarrassment?
To many people he was a national icon but for others he was an embarrassment – and even today Sir Harry Lauder splits opinion. It seems apposite that the Sir Harry Lauder Road is the bypass road between Portobello and Edinburgh. On one hand, Portobello was his birthplace; on the other, the Scottish intelligencia have…
Read MoreSophie’s designs on success with new tartan
A Scottish student art graduate had designs on success after winning a compettiion to come up with a new tartan design. Sophie Anne Campbell (23), from Oban, studied textile design at Glasgow School of Art and graduated this summer, and is now studying an MA at the school of textiles in Galashiels. One of her…
Read MoreA dark thriller set in a fictional highland village
Partial to Tartan Noir and a dram by the fire? Then this is a no-brainer. Alan Gillespie’s prose is as intense as a peated single malt (a seriously macabre tone is set from the off with brutal descriptions of a cat lying on the road). Set in a fictional Highland village, there are more twists…
Read MoreRegistration for online clan gathering set to open
People looking to take part in the Maclean Clan Virtual Gathering event can pre-register their interest from Tuesday, June 8. The event, usually held on the Isle of Mull, will take place online between 22 and 26 June and will feature a wealth of talent, including the famous MacLean Brothers who broke three world records…
Read MoreUpdate your wardrobe with Edinburgh Cashmere
The arrival of summer signals the perfect time to update your wardrobe with stoles, capes and scarves for one of the most fashion-forward seasons of the year. With the weather outside still chilly at times you owe it to yourself to acquire some new and warmer key pieces, many of which will make beautiful gifts…
Read MoreCaledonia writer pens new song for clan gathering
Dougie MacLean, famous for writing the Scottish folk ballad Caledonia, is to record a new music video for the Maclean Clan Virtual Gathering event in June. The event, usually held on the Isle of Mull, will take place online between 22 and 26 June and will feature a wealth of talent, including the famous MacLean…
Read MoreTea set made to welcome Queen Victoria goes to auction
An extensive porcelain breakfast service made to welcome Queen Victoria and Prince Albert on their first visit to Scotland in 1842 comes for sale at auction house Lyon & Turnbull this week. The historic Worcester service of more than 280 pieces, each painted with sprigs of heather and the family coronet, is among 43 lots…
Read More