Like all the Hebrides, North Uist has a fascinating history and a landscape scattered with historic sites, from Neolithic burial chambers, Iron Age forts and medieval churches to battle-sites and townships forged in the days of kelp trade and deserted during the subsequent traumas of clearance and emigration. In this informative book, Bill Lawson writes about the island and its people, drawing on recorded history and also the rich tradition of story and song in which the informal history of the people was passed down. He also incorporates many personal reminiscences of his travels through the island.

n medieval and early modern Europe, the use of charms was a living practice in all strata of society. The essays in this latest CEU Press publication explore the rich textual tradition of archives, monasteries, and literary sources. The author also discusses texts amassed in folklore archives and ones that are still accessible through field work in many rural areas of Europe.

This guide offers 40 walking routes on the Uists and Barra - a unique 100km cluster of islands in Scotland's Outer Hebrides. The walks are varied and graded, from short, flat beach walks beside crystal clear waters to long excursions across wild mountainous terrain, the routes visit all the major islands from Berneray to Vatersay but also those smaller and offshore such as Eriskay and Mingulay. Routes are described in four sections, by area, and illustrated with vivid colour photographs and OS 1:50,000 mapping. Walking across these landscapes, especially the hill country, gives a sense of remoteness and peaceful solitude that cannot be found in the mainland's National Parks or on the Munros busy with peak baggers. Despite a relatively narrow area, Uist and Barra's diverse islands offer a contrasting walking terrain and many ancient historic sites such as chambered cairns and standing stones as well as lots of local wildlife. Upland areas are home to red deer and golden and white-tailed eagles, while along the coast grey seals are common and thousands of birds set up their breeding grounds in the machair. Daily flights between Glasgow and Benbecula as well as the ferry network mean that all of the islands are readily accessible.

This guidebook contains 44 great sea kayak trips around the archipelago of the Outer Hebrides, Berneray to the Butt of Lewis and including St Kilda. The book presents all the navigational and tidal information a sea kayaker needs on this section of coast.

Western Isles Folk Tales is a representative collection of stories from the geographical span of the long chain of islands known as the Outer Hebrides. Some are well-known tales and others have been sought out by the author, but all are retold in the natural voice of a local man. You will find premonitions, accounts of uncanny events and mythical beings, such as the blue men of the stream who test mariners venturing into the tidal currents around the Shiant Islands. Also included are tales from islands now uninhabited, like the archipelago of St Kilda, in contrast to the witty yarns from bustling harbours. The author was the inaugural winner of the Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship (1995) and his Acts of Trust collaboration with visual artist Christine Morrison won the multi-arts category in the first British Awards for Storytelling Excellence (2012). Both author and illustrator live in Stornoway, Isle of Lewis.

The definitive Gaelic-English anthology of medieval Scottish verse: an annotated treasure trove of literary history spanning a millennium. Duanaire na Sracaire—or Songbook of the Pillagers—is the first anthology to bring together Scotland’s Gaelic poetry from c.600-1600 AD, a time when Scotland shared its rich culture with Ireland. It includes a huge range of diverse poetry: prayers and hymns of Iona, Fenian lays, praise poems and satires, courtly songs and lewd rants, songs of battle and death, incantations and love poems. All poems appear with facing-page translations which capture the spirit and beauty of the originals and are accompanied by detailed notes. A comprehensive introduction sets the context and analyses the role and functions of poetry in Gaelic society. This collection will appeal to poetry lovers, Gaelic speakers and those keen to explore a vital part of Scotland’s literary heritage.

Riddoch on the Outer Hebrides is a thought-provoking commentary based on broadcaster Lesley Riddoch's cycle journey through a beautiful island chain facing seismic cultural and economic change. Her experience is described in a typically affectionate but hard-hitting style; with humour, anecdote and a growing sympathy for islanders tired of living at the margins but fearful of closer contact with mainland Scotland.