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Lewis Grassic Gibbon
Lewis Grassic Gibbon was the pseudonym of James Leslie Mitchell (13 February 1901 – 7 February 1935), a Scottish writer. He was best known for ''A Scots Quair'', a trilogy set in the north-east of Scotland in the early 20th century, of which all three parts have been serialised on BBC television. Biography Born in Auchterless and raised from the age of seven in Arbuthnott, in the former county of Kincardineshire, Mitchell started working as a journalist for the '' Aberdeen Journal'' in 1917 and later for the ''Farmers Weekly'' after moving to Glasgow. Gibbon grew up in Stonehaven, and attended Mackie Academy. During that time he was active with the British Socialist Party. In 1919, Mitchell joined the Royal Army Service Corps and served in Iran, India and Egypt before enlisting in the Royal Air Force in 1920. In the RAF he worked as a clerk and spent some time in the Middle East. When he married Rebecca Middleton (known as Ray) in 1925, they settled in Welwyn Garden City. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Auchterless
Auchterless ( gd, Uachdar Leasa, meaning the "Upper Part of Less") is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland; grid reference NJ 713 416, postcode AB53 8BG. The nearest large settlement is Turriff. It is traditionally known as "Kirkton of Auchterless". History The history of Auchterless dates back to prehistoric times, with prehistoric remains including stone circles, and the remains of earthen huts. Ruined St Drostan's Church retains a birdcage bellcote, a chamfered arch window and bell dated 1644. Towie-Barclay farm incorporates Tolly Castle, once a Barclay stronghold. It is two miles north east of Auchterless. It was built in the 14th century, but the bulk of the remains are from the 16th century. Auchterless (New Parish) Church was built in 1879 by W & J Smith. Parts of the previous church are built into the tower wall. The Duff of Hamilton mausoleum, 1877, has pedimented gables and a marble coat-of-arms. Auchterless station served the settlement and was opened in 1857 b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sunset Song (television Series)
''Sunset Song'' is a 1971 BBC Scotland adaptation of Lewis Grassic Gibbon's novel of the same name for television. It consists of six episodes of around 45 minutes each. The series was the first colour drama made by BBC Scotland, and also contained the first nude scene. The series made the important change from the novel of turning Chris Guthrie, the main character, into the narrator. It was shown in the USA on Masterpiece Theatre in 1975–76. The composer Thomas Wilson was commissioned to write the theme music, which the BBC retained for the remaining two parts of the trilogy ''A Scots Quair'', commissioning Wilson again to compose the incidental music for the remaining productions of ''Cloud Howe'' and ''Grey Granite''. Chris Guthrie was played by Vivien Heilbron. The cast included several other leading Scottish actors of the time, including Andrew Keir, Edith MacArthur, Anne Kristen, Roddy McMillan, Alex McAvoy and John Grieve. The script was by Bill Craig, and it was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Mearns
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with pronouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of pronoun '' thee'') when followed by a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grey Granite
''A Scots Quair'' is a trilogy by the Scottish writer Lewis Grassic Gibbon, describing the life of Chris Guthrie, a woman from the north-east of Scotland during the early 20th century. It consists of three novels: ''Sunset Song'' (1932), ''Cloud Howe'' (1933), and ''Grey Granite'' (1934). The first is widely regarded as an important classic (voted Scotland's favourite book in a 2005 poll supported by the Scottish Book Trust and other organisations) but opinions are more varied about the other two. Sunset Song The central character is a young woman, Chris Guthrie, growing up in a farming family in the fictional Estate of Kinraddie in The Mearns (Kincardineshire) in north-east Scotland at the start of the 20th century. Life is hard, and her family is dysfunctional. She marries a farmer, Ewan Tavendale, who dies in World War I. Cloud Howe ''Cloud Howe'' continues the story of Chris Guthrie. She marries for a second time to Robert Colquhoun, a Church of Scotland minister. At ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mungo Park (explorer)
Mungo Park (11 September 1771 – 1806) was a Scottish explorer of West Africa. After an exploration of the upper Niger River around 1796, he wrote a popular and influential travel book titled ''Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa'' in which he theorized the Niger and Congo merged to become the same river. He was killed during a second expedition, having successfully traveled about two-thirds of the way down the Niger. With Park's death, the idea of a Niger-Congo merger remained an open question although it became the leading theory among geographers. The mystery of the Niger's course, which had been speculated about since the Ancient Greeks and was second only to the mystery of the Nile's source, was not solved for another 25 years, in 1830, when it was discovered the Niger and Congo were in fact separate rivers. If the African Association was the "beginning of the age of African exploration" then Mungo Park was its first successful explorer; he set a standard for al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cloud Howe
''A Scots Quair'' is a trilogy by the Scottish writer Lewis Grassic Gibbon, describing the life of Chris Guthrie, a woman from the north-east of Scotland during the early 20th century. It consists of three novels: ''Sunset Song'' (1932), ''Cloud Howe'' (1933), and ''Grey Granite'' (1934). The first is widely regarded as an important classic (voted Scotland's favourite book in a 2005 poll supported by the Scottish Book Trust and other organisations) but opinions are more varied about the other two. Sunset Song The central character is a young woman, Chris Guthrie, growing up in a farming family in the fictional Estate of Kinraddie in The Mearns (Kincardineshire) in north-east Scotland at the start of the 20th century. Life is hard, and her family is dysfunctional. She marries a farmer, Ewan Tavendale, who dies in World War I. Cloud Howe ''Cloud Howe'' continues the story of Chris Guthrie. She marries for a second time to Robert Colquhoun, a Church of Scotland minister. At ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Three Go Back
''Three Go Back'' is a novel by J. Leslie Mitchell published in 1932. Plot summary ''Three Go Back'' is a novel in which an airship goes back in time 25,000 years and the passengers encounter Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals. Reception Dave Langford reviewed ''Three Go Back'' for ''White Dwarf'' #79, and stated that "it's a pleasant novel, and reminds you that while American magazine heroes were zapping greenskins with their blasters, some 1930s authors still considered SF a literature of ideas." Reviews *Review by C. A. Brandt (1932) in Amazing Stories, August 1932 *Review by Bill Collins (1986) in Fantasy Review, July-August 1986 *Review by Chris Morgan (1986) in Fantasy Review, July-August 1986 *Review by Edward James (1986) in Vector 134 *Review by Don D'Ammassa (1987) in Science Fiction Chronicle DNA Publications was an American publishing company that existed from 1993 to 2007 and was run by the husband-and-wife team of Warren Lapine and Angela Kessler. Initially based in Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicola Sturgeon
Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (born 19 July 1970) is a Scottish politician serving as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since 2014. She is the first woman to hold either position. She has been a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) since 1999, first as an additional member for the Glasgow electoral region, and as the member for Glasgow Southside (formerly Glasgow Govan) from 2007. Born in Ayrshire, Sturgeon is a law graduate of the University of Glasgow, having worked as a solicitor in Glasgow before her election to the Scottish Parliament in 1999. She served successively as the SNP's shadow minister for education, health, and justice. In 2004, Sturgeon announced she would stand as a candidate for the leadership of the SNP, however, she later withdrew from the contest in favour of Alex Salmond, standing instead as depute (deputy) leader on a joint ticket with Salmond. Both were subsequently elected, and as Salmond was still an MP ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ternan
Saint Ternan (''fl.'' fifth or sixth century) is venerated as the "Bishop of the Picts". Not much is known of his life. Different historians place him either at the mid-fifth century or the latter part of the sixth. Those who place him in the earlier period, associate him with Palladius (bishop of Ireland), Palladius. Life Ternan, is believed to have been born in Fordoun in Aberdeenshire, and may have been converted by the followers of Ninian. He was educated at Candida Casa in Whithorn and baptised by a Celtic cleric named Paulinus. A contemporary of Saint Serf, according to Alban Butler, Ternan was a monk at Culross, which had been founded by St. Serf. Ternan established a small monastery on the north side of the River Dee, Aberdeenshire, River Dee near the current graveyard in what is now the town of Banchory. As well as preaching the Christian gospel, he and his followers taught the local people farming, arts and crafts. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Play For Today
''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted. The individual episodes were (with a few exceptions noted below) between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration. A handful of these plays, including '' Rumpole of the Bailey'', subsequently became television series in their own right. History The strand was a successor to ''The Wednesday Play'', the 1960s anthology series, the title being changed when the day of transmission moved to Thursday to make way for a sport programme. Some works, screened in anthology series' on BBC2, like Willy Russell's ''Our Day Out'' (1977), were repeated on BBC1 in the series. The producers of ''The Wednesday Play'', Graeme MacDonald and Irene Shubik, transferred to the new series. Shubik continued with the series until ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugh MacDiarmid
Christopher Murray Grieve (11 August 1892 – 9 September 1978), best known by his pen name Hugh MacDiarmid (), was a Scottish poet, journalist, essayist and political figure. He is considered one of the principal forces behind the Scottish Renaissance and has had a lasting impact on Scottish culture and politics. He was a founding member of the National Party of Scotland in 1928 but left in 1933 due to his Marxist–Leninist views. He joined the Communist Party the following year only to be expelled in 1938 for his nationalist sympathies. He would subsequently stand as a parliamentary candidate for both the Scottish National Party (1945) and British Communist Party (1964). Grieve's earliest work, including ''Annals of the Five Senses'', was written in English, but he is best known for his use of "synthetic Scots", a literary version of the Scots language that he himself developed. From the early 1930s onwards MacDiarmid made greater use of English, sometimes a "synthetic English ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spartacus (Gibbon Novel)
''Spartacus'' is a historical novel by the Scottish writer Lewis Grassic Gibbon, first published in 1933 under his real name of James Leslie Mitchell. Although Gibbon is mainly known for his trilogy ''A Scots Quair'', this is his best-known full-length work outside that trilogy. As its name suggests, it is an account of the great slave revolt in Ancient Rome, led by the former gladiator Spartacus. Plot summary The central character is not Spartacus himself, but Kleon, a fictional Greek slave and eunuch who, despite occupying a privileged position in his master's household, flees to join Spartacus' rebel army. In the first chapter, we are told how he was sold into slavery as a child and sexually abused by his first owner before being castrated and receiving his education. Another important character is Elpinice, a slave woman who helps Spartacus and his fellow gladiators escape from Capua, and who becomes Spartacus's lover. She gives birth to a son, but while Spartacus is distr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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