Essays
![Man Carrying One Man Curragh Cruit Island, Photo E. H. Purser.](/resources/images/128x89/1x/18308059.jpg)
![Man Carrying One Man Curragh Cruit Island, Photo E. H. Purser.](/resources/images/180x180/1x/18308059.jpg)
ESSAY
![CARVED OUT OF MARBLE](/resources/images/128x89/1x/18282415.jpg)
![CARVED OUT OF MARBLE](/resources/images/180x180/1x/18282415.jpg)
essay
![A selection of Maori instruments and crafts](/resources/images/128x89/1x/18254937.jpg)
![A selection of Maori instruments and crafts](/resources/images/180x180/1x/18254937.jpg)
ESSAY
![City Chambers, Renfrew, Scotland, circa 1910 (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images).](/resources/images/128x89/1x/18233556.jpg)
![City Chambers, Renfrew, Scotland, circa 1910 (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images).](/resources/images/180x180/1x/18233556.jpg)
BACK IN THE DAY
![Duncan Williamson sang stories - only they weren't just stories Image: Leonard Yarensky](/resources/images/128x89/1x/18202856.jpg)
![Duncan Williamson sang stories - only they weren't just stories Image: Leonard Yarensky](/resources/images/180x180/1x/18202856.jpg)
ESSAY
![Susan was producing for BBC Radio Scotland’s religious affairs department and for some reason they had latched on to me as a presentably tame agnostic with spiritual leanings](/resources/images/128x89/1x/18175159.jpg)
![Susan was producing for BBC Radio Scotland’s religious affairs department and for some reason they had latched on to me as a presentably tame agnostic with spiritual leanings](/resources/images/180x180/1x/18175159.jpg)
Essay
![Margaret Fay Shaw and John Lorne Campbell gifted the island of Canna to National Trust for Scotland](/resources/images/128x89/1x/18148601.jpg)
![Margaret Fay Shaw and John Lorne Campbell gifted the island of Canna to National Trust for Scotland](/resources/images/180x180/1x/18148601.jpg)
ESSAY
![A foggy sunrise at Merklands Quay, 1956, taken by John Purser with a Box Brownie](/resources/images/128x89/1x/18132159.jpg)
![A foggy sunrise at Merklands Quay, 1956, taken by John Purser with a Box Brownie](/resources/images/180x180/1x/18132159.jpg)
ESSAY
![A whiskey maker and a composer who fled the Nazis](/resources/images/128x89/1x/18099478.jpg)
![A whiskey maker and a composer who fled the Nazis](/resources/images/180x180/1x/18099478.jpg)
ESSAY
![Hamish MacPherson looks at how St Andrews made golf in the final part of his series on the ancient town](/resources/images/128x89/1x/18076362.jpg)
![Hamish MacPherson looks at how St Andrews made golf in the final part of his series on the ancient town](/resources/images/180x180/1x/18076362.jpg)
BACK IN THE DAY
![Martin Dalby with John Purser who is playing the Caprington horn, Scotland's oldest surviving playable musical instrument](/resources/images/128x89/1x/18071605.jpg)
![Martin Dalby with John Purser who is playing the Caprington horn, Scotland's oldest surviving playable musical instrument](/resources/images/180x180/1x/18071605.jpg)
ESSAY
![Tom Fleming gave a 'monumental' performance in Carver, ably matched by Anne Kristen](/resources/images/128x89/1x/18046825.jpg)
![Tom Fleming gave a 'monumental' performance in Carver, ably matched by Anne Kristen](/resources/images/180x180/1x/18046825.jpg)
ESSAY
![Bertolt Brecht’s The Visions of Simone Machard at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17967676.jpg)
![Bertolt Brecht’s The Visions of Simone Machard at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17967676.jpg)
ESSAY
![A scene from a A Midsummer Night’s Dream](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17942751.jpg)
![A scene from a A Midsummer Night’s Dream](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17942751.jpg)
ESSAY
![John, Augustus Edwin; Zoe Hicks (1922-1996)](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17920240.jpg)
![John, Augustus Edwin; Zoe Hicks (1922-1996)](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17920240.jpg)
ESSAY
![The Beatles pictured in June 1963 as their fame soared (PA)](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17107477.jpg)
![The Beatles pictured in June 1963 as their fame soared (PA)](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17107477.jpg)
THE LONG READ
![General Sir Alexander Leslie](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17918512.jpg)
![General Sir Alexander Leslie](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17918512.jpg)
BACK IN THE DAY
![Rutherglen Town Hall on the Main Street, Rutherglen.](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17161702.jpg)
![Rutherglen Town Hall on the Main Street, Rutherglen.](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17161702.jpg)
BACK IN THE DAY
![Alan Riach speaks to Kenneth Munro](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17895743.jpg)
![Alan Riach speaks to Kenneth Munro](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17895743.jpg)
ESSAY
![Scotland’s unending renaissance](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17868987.jpg)
![Scotland’s unending renaissance](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17868987.jpg)
![Peter Jewell (right) will hopefully attend a Glasgow Short Film Festival screening of early short 8mm films by Bill Douglas](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17843068.jpg)
![Peter Jewell (right) will hopefully attend a Glasgow Short Film Festival screening of early short 8mm films by Bill Douglas](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17843068.jpg)
ESSAY
![Kenneth Munro on his rediscovery of Bill Douglas](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17814266.jpg)
![Kenneth Munro on his rediscovery of Bill Douglas](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17814266.jpg)
ESSAY
![Paolozzi in the studio](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17680325.jpg)
![Paolozzi in the studio](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17680325.jpg)
BACK IN THE DAY
![Illustration from Symmes Theory of Concentric Spheres, 1878.](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17788586.jpg)
![Illustration from Symmes Theory of Concentric Spheres, 1878.](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17788586.jpg)
ESSAY
![What happened to the common ground between the SNP and Labour, asks Gerry Hassan](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17786961.jpg)
![What happened to the common ground between the SNP and Labour, asks Gerry Hassan](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17786961.jpg)
COMMENT
![Elgin Cathedral](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17768328.jpg)
![Elgin Cathedral](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17768328.jpg)
BACK IN THE DAY
![An opera inspired by a poem about Robert the Bruce is to be staged in Glasgow Cathedral](/resources/images/128x89/1x/13432028.jpg)
![An opera inspired by a poem about Robert the Bruce is to be staged in Glasgow Cathedral](/resources/images/180x180/1x/13432028.jpg)
ESSAY
![If anyone was truly a ‘millennium man’, it was surely Nelson Mandela](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17714564.jpg)
![If anyone was truly a ‘millennium man’, it was surely Nelson Mandela](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17714564.jpg)
ESSAY
![New Lanark World Heritage Scotland](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17059689.jpg)
![New Lanark World Heritage Scotland](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17059689.jpg)
BACK IN THE DAY
![Newmarket street, Falkirk town centre in 2019](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17671755.jpg)
![Newmarket street, Falkirk town centre in 2019](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17671755.jpg)
Back in the day
![Nobel Prize winner Derek Walcott at his home in St Lucia (Photo by Micheline Pelletier/Corbis via Getty Images)](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17667573.jpg)
![Nobel Prize winner Derek Walcott at his home in St Lucia (Photo by Micheline Pelletier/Corbis via Getty Images)](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17667573.jpg)
ESSAY
![Sean Connery as James Bond](/resources/images/128x89/1x/15428619.jpg)
![Sean Connery as James Bond](/resources/images/180x180/1x/15428619.jpg)
ESSAY
![Why have the stories of independence not been enough?](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17642322.jpg)
![Why have the stories of independence not been enough?](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17642322.jpg)
THE LONG READ
![William Golding and Stevie Smith feature as Alan Riach explores the 1950s](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17621179.jpg)
![William Golding and Stevie Smith feature as Alan Riach explores the 1950s](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17621179.jpg)
ESSAY
![MA mither an faither lued haein faimily an friens roon aboot thaim on Hogmanay](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17599293.jpg)
![MA mither an faither lued haein faimily an friens roon aboot thaim on Hogmanay](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17599293.jpg)
Essay
![The Cuillin Hills](/resources/images/128x89/1x/16836567.jpg)
![The Cuillin Hills](/resources/images/180x180/1x/16836567.jpg)
ESSAY
![My attempts at genealogy were continually hampered by the way everyone in the past had the same names](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17587958.jpg)
![My attempts at genealogy were continually hampered by the way everyone in the past had the same names](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17587958.jpg)
ESSAY
![The institution of marriage has played a role in shaping Scotland throughout history](/resources/images/128x89/1x/7812472.jpg)
![The institution of marriage has played a role in shaping Scotland throughout history](/resources/images/180x180/1x/7812472.jpg)
BACK IN THE DAY
![Riach considers the literature of the 1930s, a decade of winter and a great depression following the aftermath of the Second World War](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17583212.jpg)
![Riach considers the literature of the 1930s, a decade of winter and a great depression following the aftermath of the Second World War](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17583212.jpg)
ESSAY
![Igor Stravinsky chose to set his Oedipus Rex in a dead language to emphasise the contemporary relevance of the apparently archaic](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17560487.jpg)
![Igor Stravinsky chose to set his Oedipus Rex in a dead language to emphasise the contemporary relevance of the apparently archaic](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17560487.jpg)
ESSAY
![The Auld Alliance was one of the first mutual defence treaties, with France and Scotland promising to respond to any English invasion by supporting each other against England](/resources/images/128x89/1x/16274733.jpg)
![The Auld Alliance was one of the first mutual defence treaties, with France and Scotland promising to respond to any English invasion by supporting each other against England](/resources/images/180x180/1x/16274733.jpg)
BACK IN THE DAY
![Shetlandic alternative R&B artist Philomenah](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17557991.jpg)
![Shetlandic alternative R&B artist Philomenah](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17557991.jpg)
THE LONG READ
![Australian troops, Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele), 29 October 1917](/resources/images/128x89/1x/11062265.jpg)
![Australian troops, Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele), 29 October 1917](/resources/images/180x180/1x/11062265.jpg)
ESSAY
![The work of Oscar Wilde and Charles Darwin provided fertile ground for the literature of the 20th century](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17510538.jpg)
![The work of Oscar Wilde and Charles Darwin provided fertile ground for the literature of the 20th century](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17510538.jpg)
ESSAY
![Alec Guinness (left) as the titular character in William Shakespeare's Macbeth](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17485723.jpg)
![Alec Guinness (left) as the titular character in William Shakespeare's Macbeth](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17485723.jpg)
ESSAY
![Alan Riach takes the long way round to explore some
further thoughts on distances and differences, and to find
some unanswerable questions and unresolved enigmas …](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17463149.jpg)
![Alan Riach takes the long way round to explore some
further thoughts on distances and differences, and to find
some unanswerable questions and unresolved enigmas …](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17463149.jpg)
ESSAY
![Clava Cairns bronze age stones outside Culloden, Inverness](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17442450.jpg)
![Clava Cairns bronze age stones outside Culloden, Inverness](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17442450.jpg)
BACK IN THE DAY
![All the present ghastliness is worse precisely because the visible world events are reduced to an exclusively intrusive visibility](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17436863.jpg)
![All the present ghastliness is worse precisely because the visible world events are reduced to an exclusively intrusive visibility](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17436863.jpg)
Essay
![The remains of the neolithic chambered cairn near Creetown, Kirkudbrightshire, Scotland](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17414341.jpg)
![The remains of the neolithic chambered cairn near Creetown, Kirkudbrightshire, Scotland](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17414341.jpg)
BACK IN THE DAY
![Alan Riach on his visit to the Carhaix Book Festival in Brittany where this year’s theme was Scotland](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17409925.jpg)
![Alan Riach on his visit to the Carhaix Book Festival in Brittany where this year’s theme was Scotland](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17409925.jpg)
ESSAY
![King William II](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17409187.jpg)
![King William II](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17409187.jpg)
BACK IN THE DAY
![Summerhall reception.](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17408191.jpg)
![Summerhall reception.](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17408191.jpg)
![The coast of Brittany has inspired many great works of literature, writes Alan Riach](/resources/images/128x89/1x/17400070.jpg)
![The coast of Brittany has inspired many great works of literature, writes Alan Riach](/resources/images/180x180/1x/17400070.jpg)
Loading...