Go Scotland!

As part of Masterton’s Rugby World Cup celebrations the CBD has been divided up into twenty blocks, each supporting one of the teams competing for rugby’s greatest prize, the Webb Ellis Cup. Here at Masterton Library we are very pleased to be within the group supporting Scotland. I decided then that this would be the ideal time to look at what the library has that might be relevant to anyone interested in this great nation.



Just received by the library are the latest Lonely Planet books on Scotland and Edinburgh, giving readers the most up to date information on visiting Scotland and its famous capital. The Aerofilms Book of Scotland from the Air by James Campbell is an older book but provides some wonderful views of the Scottish landscape including the stunning Highlands. Anyone contemplating a trip to Scotland should not be put off by the title of Bill Watkin’s highly entertaining Scotland in not for the Squeamish in which the author relates his adventures around Scotland with a collection of true and tall tales.


Scotland has experienced an often turbulent past, particularly in relation to the English, and we have a number of books on Scottish history. These range from the general such as Tom Steel’s Scotland’s Story and Scotland: a History edited by Jenny Wormald, to more specific titles such as The Battle of Bannockburn 1314 by Aryeh Nusbacher and Damn’ Rebel Bitches by Margaret Craig which tells the story of the many women caught up in the Jacobite Rising of 1745-46. Nigel Blundell’s Ancient Scotland is a lavishly illustrated book depicting the landscapes, castles, monuments and artefacts that tell Scotland’s history.


Partly in response to this turbulent history Scots have emigrated to a number of different countries including of course New Zealand. As a result many New Zealanders have Scottish ancestors as anyone looking through a phone book can attest, with the numerous McDonalds, McKenzies, McPhersons etc. We have a number of books available for people wanting to investigate their Scottish ancestry including the Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia and Tracing your Scottish Ancestry by Kathleen B. Cory. Local woman Elizabeth Waddington is one of many New Zealanders who have traced their Scottish ancestry and The Bairds of Winton, which she helped compile, tells the story of James and Elizabeth Baird who came to New Zealand from Scotland in 1870.


Intrinsically linked with the clans, and indeed Scotland, is tartan and The Complete Book of Tartan by Iain Zaczek and Charles Phillips is a comprehensive directory of 400 different tartans and their place in Scottish history. Perhaps the other most iconic association with Scotland is the bagpipes and although we don’t have any books on how to play the pipes, we do have two CDs Amazing Grace: Pipes & Drums of Scotland and The Pipes of Scotland which feature traditional Scottish music.


There are of course also many famous and popular Scottish authors of fiction. Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sir Walter Scott are well known names from Scottish literary history but there are also many well-known contemporary Scottish authors. Iain Banks, Quintin Jardine, Val McDermid, Manda Scott, Alexander McCall Smith and Ian Rankin are just some of the Scottish authors whose books can be found on our shelves. There are also many popular Scottish children’s authors including Debi Gliori, Theresa Breslin, and Julia Donaldson, and you don’t get much more well known than J.K. Rowling, who although born in England, has lived in Scotland since 1993 and wrote the first Harry Potter story in an Edinburgh cafe.


For a relatively small nation (even today the population is not much over five million) Scotland has made a very large impact on global history. Scots have been responsible for some of history’s most important inventions and famous Scottish inventors include James Watt (the steam engine), Alexander Graham Bell (the telephone), John Logie Baird (the television) and Alexander Fleming (penicillin). In I never knew that about Scotland Christopher Winn describes some of the less well known aspects of Scottish history such as in 1825, John Moir of Aberdeen producing the world’s first tinned salmon; the bicycle being invented in Keir Mill, Dumfriesshire in 1839 by Kirkpatrick Macmillan; and Prestwick, Ayrshire being the only place in Britain where Elvis Presley set foot, stopping there for refuelling on the way home from Germany after being discharged from the army.


Perhaps in part because of the wide global spread of its people and in part because of the tremendous achievements of many famous Scots, Scotland has a cultural influence far beyond her own borders. Sean Connery reflects on this in his book Being a Scott which looks at the unique Scottish character as well as his own personal history growing up in Edinburgh. As this brief review has shown there is much to be learnt about Scotland and the Scots from books held here in the Masterton Library and I hope this article may have sparked a bit of interest. And to the Scottish team and their supporters – welcome to New Zealand and good luck in the Cup – until you meet the All Blacks that is!

Jon Adams
Community Outreach Librarian
Masterton District Library