Mostrando resultados por autor "Tranter Nigel" en Todas las categorías

Rob Roy MacGregor has become a legend of the Highlands of Scotland. At times he was a cattle thief, a cattle dealer and ran a protection racket that modern criminals would envy. He was also a Jacobite supporter and fought for them. He led the Macgregors into battle and was also accused of standing by when the Battle of Sheriffmuir was fought. He was a complex character and despite his history, he died in his bed. Nigel Tranter makes his story come to life and questions some of the legends in this book.

In 1704 Colin MacColl of Ardcoll, the eldest son and heir to An Colin Mor, Chief of Clan Colin, returned to his father's castle, the castle of Duncolin in West Ross, after an enforced absence of three years. He found his father a caricature of his former self, having suffered an injury to his head, and that his younger brother, Cormac, had usurped his position as heir. It had been reported that Colin was dead. Cormac had been handfasted with Marsala Macleod who had previously been betrothed to Colin. Colin set about recovering his inheritance and his betrothed using all his guile, influence...

Set in the 1930's, this is the tale of a modern Highland Clearance. Lord Holtby, a self-made Yorkshire woollen manufacturer and millionaire, bought a large West Highland estate from a descendant of the Stewarts of Monach. His first action was to replace the factor, Mark Stewart who was, in fact, a relaive of the previous owner. He owned Duich, which was originally a lesser part of the Monach Estate, and lived there. That was followed by replacement of several other long serving estate people by Holtby's southern preferences. Holtby wished to modernise his new estate by establishing a model ...

A gripping tale of two groups of tenants of adjoining Scottish Highland sporting estates in the 1930s who are in dispute over the boundaries and shooting rights of their respective grounds – it leads to deer poaching and perhaps girl poaching.

This is a humorous tale of the successful efforts of a laird's daughter to promote to the world the small and remote island of Rum where she lives. It involves the entrapment of a young American film executive into the deception and relocation of a film company and finally, also of an American cruise liner, chartered by 400 Scotch-Americans, to her island. They became invaluable to the film company as extras for the unit's production on location before finally reverting to their intended destination.

An exciting tale of strife in the Highlands of Scotland. Neil Grant came to fish for brown trout to the place he had known in the Highlands, as a holiday from his work in the Sudan. It was not what it had been. A new laird, with whom he had clashed elsewhere, had placed many restrictions – there were notice-boards forbidding fishing and access and much discontent among the local people. He met Ian Gordon, a crofter, who had ignored the restrictions and had taken to the hills to avoid arrest. He also met Kirsty Fraser, who tried to mediate but failed. He got well involved in the opposition...

This captivating story is a pleasure to read. After the strange events of the introductory chapters, starting with a death during the Clearances of 1817, which give an understanding of the background, the tale unravels with an unsophisticated but finely described momentum. The reader is caught up in the events which unfurl and lead on to the satisfying culmination.

John Thriepwood comes to Scotland in 1946 with his small son after inheriting the family estate. The now Lord Thriepwood finds a ruined and neglected estate. This absorbing and easily read story quickly captures the readers interest and sympathy, as it recounts the perseverance and willing hard work needed in the face of continued problems and the initial mistrust of the local people

A humorous tale of a Chicago Trade Union boss discovering his “Scotch” roots and making his mark on his ancestral home in a Scottish island.

Erismore was an isolated small island in the Inner Hebrides and Finlay MacBride had been the Church of Scotland minister – but before he followed so many of the island's men to the colours, he had been aware that not all was well on the island. Aeneas Graham, serving as a doctor in Wellington's army, had made friends with Finlay MacBride who was attached to Lord Dunalastair Highlanders in the army. Lord Dunalastair was killed at Quatre Bras. Just before the battle of Waterloo, during a retirement of the army, Finlay Macbride became fatally ill and before he died asked his friend to visit ...

Hector Ross returned to his Highland home from the Far East to help in the development of hydro-electric power. He found the scheme of which he was in charge had been altered for the financial benefit of the new English landlord and to the detriment of the local community. He failed to get the alterations reverted by legal means and joined with the locals in violent action. Throughout this time, a romance developed and blossomed. The story ends with a successful conclusion and a big bang!

Seven years on and the principal characters of Trespass are in the Scottish Borders at David Scott's home at Hyndlaw during the Second World War. A Polish refugee and staff have become tenants of an adjoining estate and appear to be up to no good. However, that is resolved to the satisfaction of all. Subsequently a German agent joins them under false pretences and then tries to abduct three of the staff and their secrets. Some romantic activities occur while the tale unfolds. “A spy thriller, with a nice romantic touch,”---The Star.

After the Jacobite Rising of 1745, in which the Highland clans took part, the clan system was destroyed and the relationship between the Chief of the clan and the people changed from a communal one to that of landlord and tenant. The “Clearances” of the Highlands took place between 1785 and 1850 and refer to the removal of the clanspeople to make way for large scale sheep farming. Some were resettled on marginal coastal land and some forced to emigrate, to the south or overseas. The process was sometimes brutal. This is the engrossing story of the Clearance of the Clann Varish from the ...

David Scott and his wife, Margaret, were well involved in the by-election for Central Peebles and the East March in the Scottish Borders – David, because a wartime comrade, Archie Butler, had been selected as the candidate for An Co-fhlaitheachd, a Scottish Republican party, and Margaret, because an old friend, Grace Bellenden, was the daughter of the establishment candidate – and both used the Scott's home, Hyndlaw Tower, as their base. The election campaigns conducted by both sides were unscrupulous and somewhat robust and the leader of An Co-fhlaitheachd had more than just this ...

Ardrinish Bay, on the west coast of Kintyre, is well known for wild fowl, waders and sea birds. Some of the locals have always exercised their rights to shoot wild fowl between low and high tide marks. The bird population also attracts bird-watchers. Inevitably, this led to a conflict of interest. A confrontation between the different interests and their supporters eventually happened and attracted nationwide Press coverage. The local sideline of illicit distilling of whisky and smuggling of duty free goods was in danger of being exposed – but luckily the discovery of an osprey's nest led...

David Scott and his wife Margaret, of Hyndlaw, go to visit an old friend in Suffolk and do some duck shooting. A good read that builds up from a gentle start. With plenty of action and fine descriptions of the surrounding coastal fen land, the likeable characters find themselves involved in a . . . mysterious crime. Flashes of humour add to the reader's enjoyment.

Iain Findlater was a news editor on the Daily Courier in London. While covering a conference in Edinburgh, he arranged to stay in an hotel in Craigmouth so that he could visit the nearby Craigmouth Bay to see the abundant bird life there. It was hardly twenty miles east of Edinburgh, on the East Lothian coast, so it was quite convenient. There, he heard of the recent death of a local landowner which was something of a mystery to the local people. By chance he met the young widow who was now living alone in Craigness House on the shore of the Bay. After returning to London, he was later ...

Alan Kinnear was on a working holiday, attempting to rejuvenate his writing skills, in the Cairngorm area of the Highlands. He was unwittingly involved, on the side of the law, in deer poaching on an industrial scale which was seriously affecting a sporting estate, one of whose tenants he was lodging with. The story tells of his climbing exploits, discovery of poachers, relations with the local people, help in quelling a serious forest fire and final discovery of love.

Here is a simple tale of a simple man to whom simple circumstances---and his neighbours---proclaimed that he required a wife to look after his children, his cows and his goat. Since most of the women on his native island were near relatives to himself, it seemed that he would have to go to look for her on the Scottish mainland, resort of women innumerable. A simple quest, indeed. What Ewan MacEwan, of the Inner Hebridean Isle of Eorsa, made of it in the end, however, was far from simple. In 1959, it was made into a film directed by Frank Launder and starring Bill Travers, George Cole and ...