No description available.

No description available.

Scottish authors throughout the ages have linked their art to their nationality. When the contemporary writer A. L. Kennedy observes, 'I believe that fiction with a thread of Scottishness in its truth has helped me to know how to be myself as a Scot,' she pinpoints the value of literature for both her predecessors and peers. However, the idea of Scottish literature as an autonomous and coherent national literature is controversial. Questions concerning self-sufficiency, unity, and value continue to haunt the idea of a Scottish literary tradition. Many studies have attempted to address the stereotype of Scottish literature's fragmentation and its place as a sub-category within English literature; however, few critical works have considered specific literary forms as constituting a basis for the Scottish literary consciousness. 'A Thread of Scottishness' argues that Scottish literature uniquely sustains an allegorical framework traceable from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to the present. Chapter one discusses allegory's history, definition and relationship with the reader. Chapters two, three, and four focus upon the specific theoretical strands of the Scottish allegorical form: nature, nationalism, and morality, respectively. Each of these three chapters begins with a discussion of works from the medieval period and follows the progression of the Scots' use of allegory through time. More modern works, including S. Ferrier's Marriage, R. L. Stevenson's The Master of Ballantrae, N. Shepherd's The Weatherhouse, are shown to reflect the narrative traditions of medieval and Renaissance texts, such as R. Henryson's Morall Fabillis and The Testament of Cresseid, King James I's The Kingis Quair, and Sir D. Lindsay's Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis. Thus, through a consideration of the use of allegory within specific Scottish texts, I posit continuity for Scottish literature as a whole.

This thesis examines the interaction between the Kirk’s institutions and the state between the fall of the earl of Arran’s government in 1585 and the full restoration of diocesan episcopacy in 1610. Due to the lack of focussed secondary material, reliance has been placed upon primary sources, especially information from the courts of the Kirk above the parochial level - the presbyteries, synods and the general assembly - on personal correspondence and on governmental and diplomatic sources. The role of the general assembly has been investigated by analyses of its composition and its interaction with the crown. The part played by the presbytery of Edinburgh and its successor as the principal standing committee of the Kirk, the commission of the general assembly, provides a more focussed investigation of the personnel involved in ecclesiastical politics at the highest level. Chapters are also devoted to the synods and the presbyteries, concentrating on how these regional and local courts responded to matters of national significance. Finally, a chapter on the question of ecclesiastical representation in parliament complements the analysis of the institutional framework of the Kirk by demonstrating how opinions on a particular issue were formed and changed by political circumstances. This analysis demonstrates that many of the historiographical constructs which have been placed upon the issue of ecclesiastical politics in the reign of James VI require fundamental reassessment. The idea of factions within the Kirk - ‘Melvillians’ , or ‘Presbyterians’ and ‘episcopalians’ - is misleading and has done much to cloud the true picture. The alternative view presented here suggests that there were, throughout the period, shifting patterns of opposition and obedience to the policy of the crown rather than fixed clerical parties. Opinions remained fluid and were affected by events. Historians have approached the sources with preconceptions concerning the existence of such factions and have thus tried to find what was often not there. It is also demonstrated that there was a crucial difference in royal policy on either side of the regnal union which, along with 1596, should be seen as a turning point. Prior to 1603, James VI had a firm gnp on his ecclesiastical policy as a result of direct personal involvement after 1596. Consequently, he was able to carry out a successful policy based on consensus. After his accession to the English throne, however, the indirect nature of hs contact with ecclesiastical politics caused him to lose that grip. The centralising tendency in government, which had become evident prior to 1603, accelerated and was a major factor in increased clerical opposition to royal policy during the first decade of the seventeenth century. It is, therefore, also asserted here that, contrary to the view of most historians, it was this factor and not the liturgical innovations of the second decade of the seventeenth century which brought about the loss of clerical confidence in the religious policy of James VI.

This thesis investigates radicalism and reform in Scotland, from the collapse of the post- 1815 popular movement for parliamentary reform in 1820, to the achievement of parliamentary reform in 1832, and burgh reform in 1833. It focuses on the ideologies and languages that were used in contesting issues of political reform, both by elites and by popular movements. One of its aims is to explore the debate over the position of Scotland within Britain that was facilitated by the reform of political institutions and the system of representation. Chapter one examines the broad critique of Scottish institutions and society that had developed from the 1790s, and particularly following the end of the Napoleonic Wars. This was apparent in parliament, in three attempts to amend various aspects of Scotland's system of representation, and outside parliament, in numerous reform campaigns with both political and religious objectives. Chapter two investigates the political context of the 182Os, focusing on the reaction in Scotland to the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts in 1828. Catholic Emancipation in 1829 and the revolution in France in 1830. Chapter three provides a narrative of the drafting and passing of the Reform Act (Scotland), and of the popular movement outside parliament. It identifies the key stages in the development of the legislation, and the various problems its architects had to surmount. Chapter four looks at the debate on reform among Scotland's political elites and, in particular how this debate was prosecuted in parliament. Chapter five investigates the popular movement for reform in Scotland, briefly considering the functional factors that contributed to its creation and the maintenance of unity. It argues that while reformers and radicals made claims using a number of different languages, the reform movement after 1830 was characterised by the appeal to 'popular constitutionalism'. This language provided a coherent and flexible critique of the unreformed political system and allowed the reform movement to monopolise the language of patriotism and loyalty. The final chapter considers the consequences of parliamentary reform. It had a major influence on the languages and strategies used to contest issues in Scottish politics, and the patriotic consensus that had been achieved between 1830 and 1832 began to deteriorate. Finally, the consequences of parliamentary reform were sectarian as well as political. Changes made in the constitution and the state bolstered calls for changes to be made in the church. Movements calling for the end of religious establishments, or for their improvement, emerged during and after the agitation for parliamentary reform, and the 'Ten Years' Conflict' and the Disruption of the Church of Scotland in 1843 should be seen in the context of the reforms of 1829 to 1833.

A study has been made of a 2 km2 catchment at Peatfold, Glenbuchat in north-east Scotland. The catchment is underlain by basic igneous rock, predominantly quartz-biotite-norite, which has been deeply weathered in Tertiary times and subsequently affected by glacial and periglacial processes such as solifluction of glacial drift. Vegetation is predominantly heather moorland. The chemistry and mineralogy of the soils and parent material was investigated in detail. Precipitation and river water chemistries were studied through a one year period, which involved collection of weekly and monthly precipitation samples and regular weekly and storm river water samples. River samples were analysed for pH, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, chloride, sulphate, phosphate, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, bicarbonate, iron, aluminium, manganese, silicate and total organic carbon. Precipitation was acidic (mean pH 4.3), dilute (mean total dissolved solids 13-7 mg 1-1) and dominated by hydrogen ion, sodium, chloride and sulphate. Its composition varied greatly, but distinct seasonal trends as a result of varying influence from oceanic, industrial and terrestrial sources were observed. River water was neutral (mean pH 7.0), more concentrated (mean total dissolved solids 70 mg 1-1) and less variable in composition. The latter was dependent upon hydrology with calcium, magnesium, silicate and bicarbonate increasing in concentration at low discharges and hydrogen ion, potassium, transition metals and total organic carbon increasing in concentration at higher discharges. Since hydrology has influenced soil type, variations in river composition related to soil type being drained could be detected. Seasonal trends in composition were also observed. Inputs in precipitation and outputs in river water were calculated for all species for one year. All species had a net output except hydrogen ion, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, sulphate and phosphate. Outputs of silicon (32 kg ha-1), calcium (22 kg ha-1) and bicarbonate (114kg ha-1) were large. The large net output of chloride (35 kg ha -1) indicates the importance of dry deposition of aerosols of oceanic spray. When this is allowed for, the calculated rate of outputs of elements due to weathering in kg ha-1 is: Si > Ca > Mg > Na > K > Fe > Al.

The phasic, cyclical model of Calluna-dominated vegetation dynamics, proposed by A.S. Watt, is evaluated by investigation of the gap in the degenerate plant. Succession in the gap is analysed by Markov models and found to be non-Markovian, with a number of processes occurring simultaneously. Vegetation changes are better interpreted in terms of certain ecological attributes of the species concerned. The inter-relationships between three important moss species are investigated further. Regeneration of Calluna is very variable. Seedling establishment requires a safe site and sufficient moisture, and depends on wet summers. Vegetative layering occurs more frequently but varies between parent plants and substrate types. The presence of soil micro-organisms appears necessary for adequate adventitious root production. An outbreak of heather beetle was monitored and contrasted with outbreaks in the Netherlands. The population was reduced by a parasitoid which acted density independently. At these low densities, a mosaic of gaps is formed in the vegetation by spatial heterogeneity of heather beetle attacks. These gaps behave in a similar fashion to degenerate gaps, and most Calluna regeneration occurs by layering. The value and limitation of Watt's model is discussed, especially by reference to forest gap-dynamics theory.

No description available.

Bookstore in Skaebost Skye

Christine and Muriel discuss what it was like to be a kid who sang when she lived in Carloway Lewis