6 SCOTTISH ISLANDS EXPLORERNOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2016
Page Index Header
INSIGHTS
e vibrant main street of the main town
on Mull is photogenic - with its brightly-
coloured frontages and iconic waterfront.
Here is a collection of the work of three
acclaimed, local photographers who have
captured images of places, people,
communities, events and wildlife encoun-
ters. e aerial views and stunning sunsets
set the scene for a town to be recommended
for holidaying and a book for giing.While Iona has come a long way since the
early writings by and of Columba,
Professor Crawford has brought together
a wide range of stories, poems, assess-
ments, analyses and reflections. e island
annually attracts hundreds of thousandsof visitors, for it is a place of pilgrimage
and a tourist trail destination. is book
deserves to attract the same length queues
as those generated by the ferry.e author saw Soay for the first time in
1989, having found an advertisement for a
property there. She was smitten, purchased
and moved to be one of 17 residents. Now,
including Anne and her husband, Robin,
there are three. is is a first-person
account of transition from urban life to self-
sufficiency, of landscape and characters, of
present-day activities and past endeavours,
such as those of Gavin Maxwell.Visitors to the Outer Hebrides on a
Sunday will be aware of the popularity of
church-going among the Protestants in
the north and the Catholics in the south.
Secularisation has been relatively slow to
develop, but in the religious culture of
most of the UK and much of the USA it
has been widespread. Bryan Wilson
considers changes since the publication of
his Religion in Secular Society50 years ago.is is the first history of the canal that is
a significant monument to British civil
engineering. It has been called ‘Britain’s
most beautiful shortcut’ and from 1801
saved commercial shipping from
journeying around the Mull of Kintyre to
reach the West Coast and the Hebridean
islands. Victoria and Albert made a return
voyage in 1847 and encouraged tourists to
follow the ‘Royal Route’.is is for the adventurous knitter who
wishes to be inspired by classic Shetland Fair
Isle patterns and colourways as well as by
Norwegian-created motifs. Income from
this book will be used by the Shetland Guild
of Spinners, Knitters, Weavers and Dyers to
promote all aspects of their traditional
textile skills that are also encouraged on the
website http://www.ravelry.comTobermory
by Nic Davies, Sam Jones
and Brian Swinbanks
£9.99 Birlinn 978-1-78027-315-The Book of Iona -
An Anthology
Edited by Robert Crawford
£14.99 Polygon 978-1-84697-351-Island on the Edge -
A Life on Soay
by Anne Cholawo
£12.99 Birlinn 978-1-78027-349-Religion in Secular Society
by Bryan R Wilson
Edited by Steve Bruce
£27.50 Oxford University Press
978-0-19-878837-A Shetlander’s Fair Isle
Graph Book
with an Introduction by
Dr Carol Christiansen
£20.00 e Shetland Times Ltd
978-1-910997-08-The Crinan Canal
by Marian Pallister
£9.99 Birlinn
978-1-78027-346-Books with Seasonal Interests - as Presents or for Personal Pursuits