Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Scotch whisky tasting

All five single malts we tasted at the scotch tasting/murder mystery dinner were from Pitlochry and nearby distilleries.  Pitlochry is a scenic town just south of Killiecrankie where John Graham of Claverhouse won the battle but perished.
The five whiskies:
Edradour 10 year old
Edradour 12 year old
Aberfeldy 12 year old
Blair Athol 12 year old
Robertsons of Pitlochry MacDuff Limited Release (bottle 22 of 320)

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Lay of the Last Minstrel

Breathes there the man, with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land!
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd,
As home his footsteps he hath turn'd
From wandering on a foreign strand!
If such there breathe, go, mark him well;
For him no Minstrel raptures swell;
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;
Despite those titles, power, and pelf,
The wretch, concentred all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonour'd, and unsung.
--Sir Walter Scott
Every see the film "Groundhog Day?"  The female lead quotes part of this.  Have you read "The Lay of the Last Minstrel?"  Not as well developed as "The Lady of the Lake" but it has magic and this quote by itself should be enough of an incentive to read it.
The plethora of plays and operas based on Scott's works that filled the theatre's of the 19th century may be more difficult to find now, but this film is not the only 20th century hollywood production that quotes Scott.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

The Lion and the Mouse

Robert Henryson's Moral Fables include a tale taken directly from Aesop.  The author justifies this with the medieval dream device wherein Aesop narrates the story during a dream.  Justice tempered with mercy is a significant portion of the well developed legal argument in this tale and is worthy of study by law school students as well as literary scholars.  Morality and spiritual leanings may be fading in current educational trends so perhaps Henryson's lion and mouse story will disappear into the Book Wraith's mist.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

This book is short, reads well and appears on school reading lists so will undoubtedly continue to be popular for some time. I see few references to a previously addressed book by James Hogg but the similarities are obvious.  Ian Rankin stated he has attempted to make Rebus a Jekyll and Hyde character to some degree and makes references Hogg's Justified Sinner in the very opening of The Black Book to make it easy for the reader.  Edinburgh itself may be a Jekyll and Hyde city with the popular imagination being one and Rankin's view being the other.  Will any of these works survive the test of time or will the Book Wraith claim them all as his own?