The Buik Neuk
The most recently-added titles are posted in the box at the top of the page. Titles are subsequently incorporated into the alphabetical list (by author) below.
John Burnett, Robert Burns and the Hellish Legion National Museums Scotland, 2009.
The John Burnett book is interesting because it gives an overview of what life was like for the ordinary folk at the time of Burns. It goes into detail about such subjects as health, superstition, the progress of the year and how, generally, people were dominated by their environment - be that city, town or county. The book should prove popular with Burns enthusiasts.
Ian Brown, Thomas Owen Clancy, Susan Manning and Murray Pittock (eds.), The Edinburgh History of Scottish Literature, 3 vols.
Edinburgh University Press, 2007
The Edinburgh History of Scottish Literature consists of three handsome volumes covering 'From Columba to the Union', 'Enlightenment, Britain and Empire' and 'Modern Transformations: New Identities'. It is comprehensive and scholarly but highly accessible. Scottish Literature in Gaelic, Latin Norse, Welsh, Scots and Scottish English are all included. This is a book to dip into time and time again.
John Corbett, J. Derrick McClure, Jane Stuart-Smith (eds.), The Edinburgh Companion to Scots
Edinburgh University Press, 2003
The Edinburgh Companion to Scots is essential reading for anyone studying Scots at university level.
It is a clear, comprehensive introduction to Older Scots and Modern Scots illustrating research methods in grammar,
vocabulary, pronunciation etc. Place-names, planning issues and the development of Scots overseas are also covered.
Bill Findlay, ed. Scottish People's Theatre: Plays by Glasgow Unity Writers
Association for Scottish Literary Studies, 2008
This 2008 ASLS volume contains five influential plays of lasting power and sensitivity in the genuine voices
of Glasgow from the 1940s: The Gorbals Story by Robert McLeish, Men Should Weep by Ena Lamont Stewart,
Gold in his Boots by George Munro, The Lambs of God by Benedick Scott and All in Good Faith by Roddy
McMillan.
Billy Kay, Scots The Mither Tongue
Mainstream
Publishing, 1986
This is a highly readable, very informative and
often passionate introduction to the Scots language by a well known
writer and broadcaster. Even if you already know a lot about Scots,
this is a book that will delight you with well chosen excerpts and
stimulating commentary.
Christian J. Kay and Margaret A. Mackay (eds.), Perspectives on the Older Scottish
Tongue
Edinburgh University Press, 2005
This
celebration of A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue brings
together a number of distinguished scholars writing on topics as
varied as 'Wyne confortative', murder and traditional building
methods. It is both enjoyable and authoritative and illustrates the
breadth of uses to which a dictionary may be put.
Caroline Macafee, Traditional Dialect in the Modern World: a Glasgow case study
Peter Lang, 1994
This in depth sociolinguistic study explores standardisation and erosion of traditional dialects. It provides a vivid and accurate account of Glasgow speech and its objective account of the views of speakers themselves is central to the understanding of language retention and change. The methodology and the outcomes cast light on similar linguistic tensions throughout Scotland and, indeed, in a European context.
Caroline Macafee and Iseabail Macleod (eds.), The Nuttis Schell: Essays on the Scots Language
Aberdeen University Press, 1987
This wide-ranging collection of essays by distinguished Scots scholars, presented to A. J. Aitken, remains essential reading for anyone with a serious interest in the Scots Language. Lexicography, Older Scots and Modern Scots are all represented.
Nicole Meier (ed.), The Poems of Walter Kennedy
Scottish Text Society, 2008
After having had his gas put at a peep by Dunbar in the Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy, the long neglected Kennedy at last takes centre stage in this scholarly edition of his poems. The ample dimensions of the book belie the comparatively small canon of Kennedy's works but it includes all the manuscript versions and the Chepman and Myllar Prints for comparison. The introduction is comprehensive and often infectious in its enthusiasm for a very underrated Scots poet.
