When Scott met Burns

Painting depicting a young Sir Walter Scott meeting Robert Burns

    Today I was going to write about The National Library of Scotland planning in the next 10 years to make 8 million items in their care, accessible online to all. Featured will be manuscripts, poetry and letters belonging to famous Scots such as Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott.

National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh

    However, yesterday I went Abbotsford House, Melrose, home of Sir Walter Scott in the Scottish Borders. The large castle like building and gardens sit on the banks of the River Tweed and I can only describe them as being very grand. Befitting of an advocate and judge as Sir Walter Scott was.

Visitor book at Abbotsford House including signature of Oscar Wilde

     Scott was a collector of famous literary works and the visitors centre have some of these exhibited, one glass case contained volumes of, Pamela, by Samuel Richardson, dating back to the mid-eighteenth-century. There were also two visitor books which included the signatures of Oscar Wilde and Charles Dickens, to name but two of the many prestigious visitors to his home.

Burns, Tam O'Shanter changes done by Burns himself.

    One other thing that caught my eye was a painting by Charles Martin Hardie in 1893, depicting the one occasion that a young Sir Walter Scott met Robert Burns, a poet he much admired. The colours are still rich and captured the encounter as though it was painted recently.

Scott's home, Abbotsford House

     I'm sure when the 15-year-old Scott met Burns in Edinburgh in 1786, he never dreamed that both their works would be acclaimed by the World, or would be able to be accessed hundreds of years on.

Views from the terrace overlooking the River Tweed

digital.nls.uk

http://www.scottsabbotsford.com/visit/the-house/

It's Here!

    At 7.30 a.m yesterday morning, with my eyes half-closed I sat down in front of my P.C. Yawn! What exciting things were in the news today? Same old, same old.Taking a sip of my lukewarm cup of coffee, I signed into my Emails and opened my inbox. Suddenly my eyes opened wide and the fact that my morning beverage was rather tasteless seems totally irrelevant. There it was in the inbox, my book, the second in the Salvation series, Hyperlink to Lost Souls was about to be released.

    That was yesterday morning and now it's here! I want to share a little excerpt with you.

ENJOY!

Salvation, Hyperlink to Lost Souls 

by

Christina Rowell

Day One: On the Road

    OMG, I'm on my way to a place called Tuktoyaktuk in the Northern territories. It seems the locals call it Tuk and if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me. Besides, all those key depressions on my android could give me repetitive strain injury.

    Before I set off, Mikey said to me, "Make sure and pack lots of warm clothing for your trip." So, I can only assume it's going to be on the nippy side. He didn't enlighten me as to what the actual temperature will be, but he informed me that it was a land of ice caps, pingos, aurora borealis, and the midnight sun. Which I think translates into, brrrrrrrrr, shiver, shiver. Oh, and by the way, for those of you who have just joined me, Mikey is my pet name for Archangel Michael. Not to his face of course.

    Now, I need to tell you about my new amigo. His name is Stan Carter and he's a truck driver. Come on, keep up. How could he drive a truck if he was dead? Don't even try to justify what you thought or said out aloud. He's very much alive and kicking, and he's the driver of the truck I've managed to hitch a ride in.

    Oh, apologies, apologies to my new friends who have just joined me. You don't know that I'm D- I don't say the 'D' word when I'm referring to myself. I have difficulty with the whole concept. You really should have read the first book before starting this one. If you had done so, I wouldn't need to keep explaining things as I go along. Boring the socks off the guys who joined me at the beginning of my journey on Earth. Whoa, I'm not complaining, the more the merrier. I rely on all you guys out there in the real world and I appreciate your marvelous company.

    Back to Stan, I approached him at a diner some five hours back. He lives in Tuk and kindly agreed to take me there. Sorry, he agreed to take us the rest of the way. That's if you're sticking around.

    Pleeease, pleeease. I'm pleading with you; I won't plead for too long. Great, make sure you pack your woollies. Well, maybe not. If you're lying on an exotic beach reading this, you sure would look dumb.

    Stan says that we'll reach Tuk in another three hours, as we've only one hundred fifty kilometers to go. We've just left Inuvik and it's going to be ice road all the way now. The ice road being the Mackenzie River, which is frozen solid.

    You know, appearances can be so deceptive. Let me explain myself; Stan is a big, scraggy faced guy, arms covered in tattoos and a head full of piercings. Well, not actually his skull, but you know the sort I mean. He has rings in his ears, nose, and eyebrows and his tongue clicks when he speaks, because there's a large silver stud in the middle of it. Eek! It was bad enough getting my demon early warning stud put in my earlobe. The thought of it still sends a shiver down my spine. Brrrrrr.

    What was I talking about before I digressed? Something that you newbies need to realize is that I do this on a regular basis. Oh, I was telling you about Stan. Yeah, yeah, Stan. If appearances were something to go by, you sure wouldn't pick a fight with this guy, no sir. But since I've been able to spend some one-on-one time with him, I've found out that he's a great big teddy bear.

    He's just invited me to stay at his place until I'm settled in Tuk. I'll fill you in on my cover story later. He said I can share a room with his son, who happens to be the same age as me. Coincidence? Don't think so. I've agreed because I believe this is where my adventure is about to start.

    Then again, it looks like my adventure could be starting here, right now. Holy cow! Visibility is very poor, a complete whiteout. Stan has slowed the truck down to 20 mph and the tail lights of the truck in front are no longer visible.

    Earlier some of Stan's fellow truckers warned him over the CB radio of the blizzards ahead. He tried to prepare me for this situation, but hell I never thought it would be as bad as this. Scar-eee. I don't know if I'm allowed to say hell in this context. Hell, I've said it anyway.

    "Don't panic, I know this road like the back of my hand. We just have to try to keep moving. The ice is real thin here and I don't feel like taking an ice-cold dip," says Stan calmly. He sounds unruffled, in fact he's as cool as a cucumber.

    "Neither do I. I didn't pack my swim shorts and I definitely don't fancy skinny dipping," I say, chuckling nervously. I can hear the ice road crackle under the weight of the wheels. Sooo, I'm hoping Mickey's following my progress and can give me some help if something goes wrong.

    Whoa, Stan has just slammed on the brakes. The truck's wheels have locked, we're now skating on the thin ice and we're not stopping. OMG, something very strange has happened to the road in front of us. A mound of sorts has risen up out of the ice and we're skidding straight towards it. Closer and closer we go.

I can see the front of it has opened up, like a grotto. The thing is, I don't think we're going to meet Saint Nick, or Our Lady of Lourdes in here. Aagh! I think we may be meeting up with the Tooth Fairy; we're now staring into the open jaws of a huge and I mean humongous, white cougar.

End of Excerpt.

You can read the rest of the excerpt and buy my Ebook http://www.featherweightpublishing.com/ShowBook.php?YA=CR_SALV_SOUL . Other stockists will be available in the next week.

Not so Outlandish

Culross Palace

    We take for granted switching on the light, the kettle or the coffee machine, never mind charging up the laptop. However, we're now aware that we have to find alternative methods of making the energy that is required to power our gadgets and the things that we see as essential in our everyday lives.

Firth of Forth

    Back in Elizabethan times cooking and heating in UK homes was dependent of wood. But as supplies depleted due to the timber also being used for the building of ships and houses, it was important that an alternative source of energy be found. Yes, history is repeating itself here.

    Coal was being mined in Great Britain in the 16th and 17th century, however, the techniques being employed for extraction were primitive compared to those of their European counterparts. Ultimately, production was low and resulted in many of the mines falling into disuse.

Culross Palace, Bruce's home

    One  engineer, Sir George Bruce of Carnock, saw a business opportunity and took out the lease on one such disused mine in the coastal village of Culross, West Fife. By bringing the mine up to European standards and devising a way to make a workable tunnel out under the Firth of Forth, he was able to use the seam to its full potential.

Typical cobbled street

     The small port became a hub of activity, from here vessels took the coal and salt that was panned in the area, all over the world. Bruce himself became a wealthy man and had a large house built in the village or as it had become, Royal Burgh. The distinctive red tiles on the roof of his home and other roofs throughout the village were the return cargo on the ships that came back from Holland. Unfortunately unlike his mine many of these tiles have stood the test of time and examples of these can still be seen there.

Culross Abbey and House 

      Culross's cobbled streets, Market square (Mercat Square), Palace and Abbey have made it a film maker's dream. In the TV series, Outlander, it featured as the fictional village of Cranesmuir and it also played host to cast and crew of the 1971 film Kidnapped, starring Sir Michael Caine.

The Townhouse

     This village of approximately 400 residents is so timeless it would be easy to imagine that I had travelled there by time machine rather than a car. The Townhouse, a large 17th-century building which is now utilised as a visitors centre is where I stopped to take my last picture. In its history, it has had many usages, two being a court and prison to those accused of witchcraft.

    If one of its former inmates had appeared at a window while I was clicking away, I wouldn't have found it so outlandish. Of course, they would have popped by on a broomstick, not a motorcycle as in my picture.

A Real Page Turner

River Clyde

    Surrounded by woodland and overlooking the River Clyde, is the sleepy 18th century, a former cotton spinning village of New Lanark.

    This World Heritage site receives visitors from all over the world and over the next four days it is planning to cater for those of us who are book lovers.  http://www.newlanark.org/

The Village of New Lanark

    The public will be able to go along to meet and listen to a host of featured Scottish authors, in New Lanark's first-ever book festival and will take place in the, Institution for the Formation of Character building.

   
    I went there last week and I can't think of a more picturesque setting to sit back and get to know our home-grown writers, read a book, sample Scottish food and drink. Similar to a stimulating and engaging book, New Lanark is a real page turner.   #NLBookFest

The Institution for the Formation of Character

From Cradle to Grave

Dunfermline Abbey and Palace

    This will be the last post featuring Scotland's ancient capital, Dunfermline and as you would expect from a capital of Scotland it has a palace and an abbey worthy of royalty.

Approach to the abbey and palace

 
    Dating back to the 11th century the abbey and palace has been home to our great Kings and Queens from cradle to grave.

    The nursery in the palace being the birthplace of Charles I; the abbey's nave a stately tomb to Queen Margaret, wife of King Malcolm III and their son David I.

Gatehouse and Refectory

    But, most famously King Robert Bruce minus his heart was also interred here.

Inside the nave

    Inside the nave I found the atmosphere fairly eerie, however it was a place that I wished that the walls could have come alive and tell me their story. A story like no other.

Stained Glass window inside the nave

The Beach Rose

Digging deep into the sandy soil,

They edge our coastal roads.

When summer arrives their thorny exterior,

with colour explodes.

The white and magenta rose,

Wafts a scent that brings pleasure to the nose.

Their pollen provides the insect world,

With an abundance of heavenly food.

The red hips can be used to make syrup, tea or marmalade,

Whatever takes the mood.

They flourish in the sun and enjoy the sea's salty air.

Oh my pretty beach rose you grow in wild abandonment with such flair.

Generosity Personified

Statue of Andrew Carnegie

    Dunfermline and Pittsburgh are linked in today's blog post once again. Seventy-seven years after the death of Brigadier Colonel John Forbes, featured in September 13th blog, in a modest home in Dunfermline, Andrew Carnegie was born.

View from the statue towards Dunfermline, High Street

    Carnegie famous for Pittsburgh Steel and philanthropy left Scotland with his family at the age of thirteen years. Similar to Scot's poet and author, Robert Burns, Carnegie's parent's encouraged him to read and although his schooling was somewhat limited, he gained his education through reading books.

Steps into the Glen, Pittencrief Park 

    He never forgot his roots and in 1883, Dunfermline is where the first of the approximately 2,600 libraries throughout the UK and US opened with funding from Carnegie.

Gardens of Pittencrief Park

    However, in my view one of the most generous gifts he gave to the town of his birthplace was the gift of Pittencrief Park. Having fond memories of sneaking in here to play as a child, Carnegie wanted this fantastic 76 acre estate to be a place that could be enjoyed by all.

    His purchase in 1902 meant that it was no longer under private ownership and whereas previous owners including the Forbes had restricted access, all the town's people could now take pleasure from the beauty of the site.

Gardens of Pittencrief Park

    His statue within the grounds, reminds the town's folk of his generosity and of course he can keep an eye on his old town.

Central Library, Edinburgh also funded by Carnegie