Skipness

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The estate of Skipness had been in Campbell hands since 1511, when it was given to Archibald, second son of the second Earl of Argyll. The last Campbell laird, Walter, sold it in 1843 to William Fraser, whose son in turn sold it in 1866 to the Grahams, who had made their money in the grocery and wine trade in Glasgow. It remained in Graham hands until 1936.

Angus Graham’s book is an affectionate and gently humorous account, based on personal experience and family anecdote, of a highland estate from the Victorian period until well into the present century. With learning lightly worn, the author takes in the archaeology and history of the area, the impact of the new, improving lairds on the local scene and its economy, as well as conjuring up, with elegance and economy of style, the way of life, now gone, of a leisured class of yesteryear.

Skipness was originally published by Tuckwell Press.

Angus Graham, born in Skipness in 1892, lived there as a boy, went back as occasion offered in later years, and maintained a close connection with the place until 1922, when, after education at Oxford and war service with the Highland Light Infantry, he went to Canada, being the youngest son, to earn his living in forestry. Returning home in 1933, he was appointed Secretary of the Royal Commission on the Ancient monuments of Scotland in 1935, and was also for many years Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. He died in 1980 and is buried at Skipness.