"This is a book which will be welcomed not only by lovers of Argyll but by historians and folklorists the world over," - The Scots Magazine
The great travellers of the 17th century – Martin, Penant, Johnson et al – used the word ‘curiosity’ to mean many different things. They labelled as ‘curiosities’ people, plants, legends, historical facts and geological certainties. This book follows their example in a 21st century journey around Argyll and its islands.
It is difficult to find an area of Argyll which is not curious in some way: archaeology, geography, geology and genealogy have all served to mark out this western fringe of Scotland as unique. Discarding those curiosities which it is all too easy to find on any journey through the county, Marian Pallister has looked extensively into places, people and events which are curiously layered, and has created a book that is overflowing with enchanting ‘curiosities’ and local histories.
Marian Pallister has been a journalist since 1965 and has worked all over the world, particularly in Africa, India and the Balkans. She has won awards for feature-writing and has been Scottish Journalist of the Year. She founded Strong Women–Fragile Lives to aid women in rural India and is involved in community radio in Zambia, which she believes feeds from her experience of life in rural Argyll. Her most recent book is a biography of Marion Campbell. She lives in Kilmichael Glassary, Argyll.
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