A Scottish Fling


Book Description

Nestled on the east coast of Scotland, with rolling hills to one side and the sun glinting over the gentle swell of the sea on the other, St Giles is not the place you’d expect to find a dead body… August 1902. A family trip to Scotland to visit her in-laws had been Eliza’s idea. But now they were here, she wondered what she’d been thinking of. Archie’s parents were less than pleased to see her but at least she had best friend Connie to keep her company. On their second evening in the village, Eliza and Connie spot an unidentifiable shape on the beach, but with the light fading and high tide approaching, they are warned to stay away. When the shape is confirmed to be the dead body of an elderly ex-resident, there are questions to answer. Why was she in St Giles? And who knew she was visiting? With no apparent reason for her death, Eliza struggles to uncover a motive for murder. But when past indiscretions surface, it’s clear that long held secrets refuse to stay hidden... This is the fifth standalone story in the Eliza Thomson Investigates series. If you like Miss Marple-style murder mysteries, and historical heroines with attitude, you’ll love this step-back-in-time cozy series. Get your copy today! Books in the Eliza Thomson Investigates series: •A Deadly Tonic •Murder in Moreton •Death of an Honourable Gent •Dying for a Garden Party •A Scottish Fling •A Christmas Murder •The Palace Murder NB. This series is written in UK English







Final Fling


Book Description

When the wicked witch of the competitive Highland Dance world is found down on the Scottish Games athletic field, her skull crushed by a caber, it seems clear that someone wanted her very dead. Book Four in the Loch Lonach Mystery Series ICU nurse Ginny Forbes is not inclined to divert time from the preparations for her wedding to investigate yet another suspicious death. But when the police decide her Maid of Honor is the prime suspect, Ginny vows to do whatever is necessary to clear her friend's name, including a flying trip to New Orleans to collect evidence. Caught in the act, Ginny is captured, hauled off to an alligator farm, and incorporated into an ancient and thoroughly illegal voodoo ceremony. With no way to call for help and no one who knows where she is, it's a race against time with Ginny's wedding—and her life—hanging in the balance. A riveting mystery amply supplied with red herrings and spiced with surprises. If you like Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, and Ellis Peters, you’ll feel right at home in this highly entertaining fourth book by Maggie Foster. Read what people are saying about Final Fling FIVE STAR REVIEW – Foster breathes new life into the cozy genre with a suspenseful and clever murder mystery that keeps you guessing until the end. Unlike any cozy mystery you've read, Maggie Foster has created a world that will make you want to join the town of Loch Lonach and be part of the community. Final Fling is a must-read and a must-have for every mystery reader as it possesses true originality and an upbeat spirit with Scottish charm, a suspenseful murder mystery, and a unique world view. Readers' Favorite, Liz Konkel "I absolutely love the setting for this piece! You have nailed it." Judge, Writers League of Texas, Manuscript Contest “Final Fling is the fourth in a series, but don't let that stop you. The plotting and characterizations are masterful. The pace is perfect. I never saw the end coming! One thing I can promise, if you haven't read the others, you'll want to after reading this one!” Amazon Reader, Kim S. “For anybody who loves a good mystery, I HIGHLY recommend this series and this book in particular! The concept in this book is my favorite so far! BONUS FUN-There is an element in here that seems completely implausible but is based on a true story.” Mary H., Librarian “Rich in detail, satisfyingly rife with misdirection, and offers a complete secondary story line for the red herrings. There is no problem understanding why each of the not-guilty might wish to put the victim out of everyone’s misery. A new twist is that, in this novel, all of the active red herrings (and there is one who qualifies as passive) think they might actually be guilty. My advice? Read Final Fling, then write Maggie and demand she get busy on the next book!” Amazon Reader, Clio B.




Scottish Dance Beyond 1805


Book Description

Scottish Dance Beyond 1805 presents a history of Scottish music and dance over the last 200 years, with a focus on sources originating in Aberdeenshire, when steps could be adapted in any way the dancer pleased. The book explains the major changes in the way that dance was taught and performed by chronicling the shift from individual dancing masters to professional, licensed members of regulatory societies. This ethnographical study assesses how dances such as the Highland Fling have been altered and how standardisation has affected contemporary Highland dance and music, by examining the experience of dancers and pipers. It considers reactions to regulation and standardisation through the introduction to Scotland of percussive step dance and caller-facilitated ceilidh dancing. Today’s Highland dancing is a standardised and international form of dance. This book tells the story of what changed over the last 200 years and why. It unfolds through a series of colourful characters, through the dances they taught and the music they danced to and through the story of one dance in particular, the Highland Fling. It considers how Scottish dance reflected changes in Scottish society and culture. The book will be of interest to scholars and postgraduates in the fields of Dance History, Ethnomusicology, Ethnochoreology, Ethnology and Folklore, Cultural History, Scottish Studies and Scottish Traditional Music as well as to teachers, judges and practitioners of Highland dancing and to those interested in the history of Scottish dance, music and culture.




American English Compendium


Book Description

A compendium of American proverbs, expressions, slang, colloquialisms; British-US glossary; abbreviations and acronyms; and other various odds and ends. Widely used by non-native speakers and translators.




Gaelic Cape Breton Step-Dancing


Book Description

The step-dancing of the Scotch Gaels in Nova Scotia is the last living example of a form of dance that waned following the great emigrations to Canada that ended in 1845. The Scotch Gael has been reported as loving dance, but step-dancing in Scotland had all but disappeared by 1945. One must look to Gaelic Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, and Antigonish County, to find this tradition. Gaelic Cape Breton Step-Dancing, the first study of its kind, gives this art form and the people and culture associated with it the prominence they have long deserved. Gaelic Scotland’s cultural record is by and large pre-literate, and references to dance have had to be sought in Gaelic songs, many of which were transcribed on paper by those who knew their culture might be lost with the decline of their language. The improved Scottish culture depended proudly on the teaching of dancing and the literate learning and transmission of music in accompaniment. Relying on fieldwork in Nova Scotia, and on mentions of dance in Gaelic song and verse in Scotland and Nova Scotia, John Gibson traces the historical roots of step-dancing, particularly the older forms of dancing originating in the Gaelic–speaking Scottish Highlands. He also places the current tradition as a development and part of the much larger British and European percussive dance tradition. With insight collected through written sources, tales, songs, manuscripts, book references, interviews, and conversations, Gaelic Cape Breton Step-Dancing brings an important aspect of Gaelic history to the forefront of cultural debate.




Cataclysm


Book Description

New Summary This exciting new science novel threatens the World with devastation. The author offers a plausible explanation for the many poorly understood natural phenomena of the past such as the numerous changes in Magnetic North, the sudden death of the Dinosaurs, the Ice Age, etc. This same expanation forbodes the imminent devastation to the World and the United States in particular. The reader is challanged with the probability that this may not be Science-fiction and could occur at any time." OLD SUMMARY This exciting new Science-fiction novel threatens the World with devastation. The author offers a plausible explanation for the many poorly understood natural phenomena of the past such as numerous changes in Magnetic North, the sudden death of the dinosaurs, the Ice Age, etc. This same explanation forbodes the imminent devastation to the world and the United States in particular. The reader is challenged with the probability that this may not be Science-fiction, and could occur at any time.




The Scottish Minstrel


Book Description




Ira Gershwin


Book Description

To the perennial question "which comes first, the music or the words?" Ira Gershwin always responded, "the contract." The jest reveals both Ira's consummate professionalism and the self-effacing wit with which he ducked the spotlight whenever possible. Yet the ingeniously inventive melodies George Gershwin composed for such classic songs as "Someone to Watch Over Me," "Embraceable You," "Fascinating Rhythm," "It Ain't Necessarily So," and "Love is Here to Stay" live on in no small part because of the equally unforgettable lyrics of Ira Gershwin, lines crafted with a precision that earned him the sobriquet "The Jeweller" among his Broadway peers. In Ira Gershwin: The Art of the Lyricist, the older and less flamboyant of the Gershwin brothers at last steps out of the shadows to claim his due as one of American songwriting's most important and enduring innovators. Philip Furia traces the development of Ira Gershwin's lyrical art from his early love of light verse and Gilbert and Sullivan, through his apprentice work in Tin Pan Alley, to his emergence as a prominent writer for the Broadway musical theater in the 1920s. Furia illuminates his work in satirical operettas such as Of Thee I Sing and Strike Up the Band, the smart "little" revues of the 1930s, and his contributions to the opera Porgy and Bess. After describing the Gershwin brothers' brief but brilliant work in Hollywood before George's sudden death--work that produced such classics as "They Can't Take That Away From Me" and "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off"--Furia follows Ira's career through such triumphs as Lady in the Dark with Kurt Weill, Cover Girl with Jerome Kern, and A Star is Born, with Harold Arlen. Along the way, Furia provides much insight into the art of the lyricist and he captures the magic of a golden era when not only the Gershwins, but Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II, Gertrude Lawrence, Fred Astaire, and other luminaries made the lights of Broadway and the Hollywood screen shine brighter than ever before. From his first major success, the now-classic "The Man I Love" (1924) to his last great hit, "The Man That Got Away" (1954), Ira Gershwin wrote the words to some of America's most loved standards. In Ira Gershwin: The Art of the Lyricist, Philip Furia illuminates the craft behind this remarkable achievement to reveal how Gershwin took the everyday speech of ordinary Americans and made it sing.




Echoes of Color


Book Description

Echoes of Color By Paulette After tragedy hits her family, teenage Albany flees her home in Arkansas and sets off to make a new life for herself. Her reputation grows quickly as a strong, spirited woman who won’t back down from a fight and who knows how to handle a gun. Echoes of Color, set in the post-Civil War United States, is a gripping epic of one woman’s ambition to build a strong, supportive environment for the family and friends around her. In both her courtship and marriage to Clayton Drew (a Frenchman known as both a skillful gunman and ladies’ man) and her raising of seven children, Albany continually stands up for what she believes is right, refusing to give in to anyone, including her husband. Echoes of Color will leave you crying, laughing, and gasping in surprise — and sometimes all on the same page.