Brownie of Bodsbeck

I just added this to my goodreads list of books I have read and I highly recommended it.  I enjoyed it primarily because the main character is a Laidlaw and my ancesters were Laidlaws.  The book is set in the killing times and it not only covers a bit of Scotland's history but also its culture.  Happily the brownie was not really a brownie so the story has a happy ending.  If the Scots had been less violent in their religious differences and their relationships with each other, their history would be very different.

The Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language

I recently acquired the early 19th century etymological dictionary of the Scottish language by Jamieson and found it very resourceful in reading such delightful novels as The Brownie of Bodsbeck by James Hogg.  
When the political forces do not support us, the spiritual forces will.
A bit of oversimplification of a plot element.

Getting back to the dictionary, Hogg uses the word whilk.  What's a whilk?  The dictionary takes me to Quhilk with a definition of a pronoun meaning which or who under the alternate spelling of quhilk and references to several works that use the same term.
The quotations require further ventures in the dictionary since old Scots is not my native tongue.

Mull of Kintyre

One more opportunity to enjoy cheese from the Mull of Kintyre with Scotch whisky..
Our latest Scotch tasting/Murder Mystery dinners once more enjoyed a sampling of Campbletown Single Malts.  Glen Scotia is now distributing a new variety of whisky and I highly recommend the Victoriana bottles.  The extra charring of the barrels produces a much more interesting whisky.  This old distillery was out of business for a while.  Try it now.  You will like it.

Marmion

Marmion is the second of Scott's narrative poems published in 1808.
I am reading Sharpe's 1808 edition which is richly illustrated by Richard Westall.


Marmion is historically based on the battle of Flodden Field in 1513 in which King James IV was killed.

A very familiar quote from Marmion:

 O what a tangled web we weave
 When first we practice to deceive

Yes, Sir Walter Scott wrote this, not Shakespeare.  Surprising sometimes how some of Scott's quotes are attributed to other authors.

Homework assignment:  In which film does Danny Kaye quote this?

I thoroughly enjoy collecting films even more recent than this wherein I hear a Scott quote.  Scott's books may not be as popular as they were 200 years ago, but obviously someone is still reading them.

Speyside Whisky

Last night our scotch tasting/murder mystery evening included a sampling of the following single malts from Speyside:

Glenlivet
Glenfiddich
Cragganmore
Longmorn
Balvenie Double Wood
Balvenie Peat Week

The overall consensus was the Balvenie Double Wood was the best, but the complexity of Cragganmore was very interesting.

A  good time was had by all.

Fair Maid of Perth

The Edinburgh Sir Walter Scott Club is tweeting this novel.  Should be interesting how they tweet 3 volumes.  I have not read this one yet so I will read the original text then see what they do with the tweet version.  Somehow I think something will be missing.  More on this later.

Campbeltown

When I purchased the Mull of Kintyre cheese at the local grocery store, I was unaware that I was delving into popular culture.  I thought it was just a cheese from Scotland.  When I discovered Paul McCartney wrote a song with that name and he lived on the Mull of Kintyre, I decided Campbeltown Scotch whisky would be a good choice for last night's murder mystery/scotch tasting evening. Campbeltown has a unique geography which provides very interesting malt whiskys.  We sampled the 10, 12 & 15 year old Springbank, Hazelburn, Longrow and Kilkerran single malts.  Kilkerran was one of the twelve apostles of Ireland who studied under St. Finian making this whisky even more interesting.  Here is a link to a recording of Paul McCartney's song with some impressive imagery of Kintyre.  https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=AwrDQ2oEeSZbSVgA4Y40nIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTBzdmtvYW9lBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDdmlkBHZ0aWQDBGdwb3MDMjA-?p=mull+of+kintyre&vid=794af4058d881f996c09996bc17ae9dd&turl=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOVP.gtXPuCRgVKk3Z245ylacFwEsCo%26pid%3D15.1%26h%3D168%26w%3D300%26c%3D7%26rs%3D1&rurl=https%3A%2F%2Fvimeo.com%2F61221966&tit=Mull+Of+Kintyre&c=19&h=168&w=300&l=271&sigr=10qmq2don&sigt=10f3a4osb&sigi=12r79sf7t&age=1362620841&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Av&fr=yhs-prodege-prodege_001&hsimp=yhs-prodege_001&hspart=prodege&tt=b