Very pleased to have published two books this year, one non-fiction and one novel. Thrilled that the Scotsman newspaper included One Week in April: The Scottish Radical Rising of 1820 in their supplement Scottish Books of 2020. Currently writing the third novel in the Storm over Scotland series. Many thanks to all readers...
The Great Fire of Edinburgh of 1824 broke out on 15th November of that year and raged over the next four days and nights. It’s thought to have been started by a candle someone forgot to blow out when they left their business premises late in the afternoon. Thirteen people died, hundreds had to...
Two hundred years ago this month, on 8th September 1820, two men were hanged and then beheaded in Broad Street, Stirling. They were John Baird, aged 38, and Andrew Hardie, aged 28. Found guilty of treason at what can only be called a show trial, their crime had been their involvement in the Scottish...
‘Did ye ever see sic a crowd, Tammas?’ James Wilson, a weaver from Strathaven, a man who had harmed nobody, was put to death on Glasgow Green on Wednesday 30 August 1820 for his short-lived participation in the Scottish Radical Rising of that year. As the Glasgow Herald reported, it was a fine...
Events must be like buses. You wait ages for one and then two come along at the same time. Date for the second event is to be confirmed but the first one takes place online on Saturday 8th August at 7pm. Hosted by The Sassenach Stitcher, @sassenachstitch, details and tickets for the Covid Ceilidh...
Eighty years ago this month, on 10th June 1940, Italy entered the war on the side of Germany, declaring war on Britain and France. Italian men living and working in Britain were promptly interned as ‘enemy aliens’. As Churchill said when told most of them would be innocent of any fascist loyalties, “Collar the...
I’m beyond excited that the latest instalment of the life and adventures of Captain Robert Catto and Miss Christian Rankeillor is now available as an audiobook, evocatively read by the multi-talented Mr Steven Worsley. Steve is very much in demand as a narrator. He has read many novels, including by tartan noir authors such as Stuart...
JOIN IN ON YOUTUBE FROM THURSDAY 30TH APRIL AT 6 pm. ...
On Saturday 8th April 1820, the last bloody act of Scotland’s short-lived Radical War took place, although more blood was to be spilled later that year. On the Saturday, the men of the Port Glasgow militia were escorting five Radical prisoners from the overcrowded gaol at Paisley to the gaol or bridewell, as it...
On Thursday 6th April 1820, a group of weavers set off from their home town of Strathaven in Lanarkshire, thinking they were going to join a French army. They’d been told this was encamped on the Cathkin Braes south of Glasgow, ready to mount a Radical attack on the city. The Strathaven Pioneers, as...