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Wishing she could play with the stars, a tiny lassie sets out to obtain them. ... Read more

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1893. This book explains and interprets the origin of superstitions connected with Scottish lochs and springs. It sheds light on how these misinterpretations have come about and how the imagination can distort reality. Partial Contents: Worship of Water, How Water became Holy, Saints and Springs, Stone Blocks, Healing and Holy Wells, Water-Cures, Water-Spirits, Charm-Stones, Sun-Worship and Well-Worship, Wishing-Wells. ... Read more

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Myths determine the way cultures understand themselves. The papers in this volume examine culturally specific myths in Britain and the German-speaking world, and compare approaches to the theory of myth, together with the ways in which mythological formations operate in literature, aesthetics and politics - with a focus on the period around 1800. They enquire into the consequences of myth-oriented discourses for the way in which these two cultures understand each other, and in this way make a significant contribution to a more profound approach to intercultural research. ... Read more

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Was there such a thing as a modern notion of race in the English Renaissance, and, if so, was skin color its necessary marker? In fact, early modern texts described human beings of various national origins--including English--as turning white, brown, tawny, black, green, or red for any number of reasons, from the effects of the sun's rays or imbalance of the bodily humors to sexual desire or the application of makeup. It is in this cultural environment that the seventeenth-century London Gazette used the term "black" to describe both dark-skinned African runaways and dark-haired Britons, such as Scots, who are now unquestioningly conceived of as "white."In Shades of Difference, Sujata Iyengar explores the cultural mythologies of skin color in a period during which colonial expansion and the slave trade introduced Britons to more dark-skinned persons than at any other time in their history. Looking to texts as divergent as sixteenth-century Elizabethan erotic verse, seventeenth-century lyrics, and Restoration prose romances, Iyengar considers the construction of race during the early modern period without oversimplifying the emergence of race as a color-coded classification or a black/white opposition. Rather, "race," embodiment, and skin color are examined in their multiple contexts--historical, geographical, and literary. Iyengar engages works that have not previously been incorporated into discussions of the formation of race, such as Marlowe's "Hero and Leander" and Shakespeare's "Venus and Adonis." By rethinking the emerging early modern connections between the notions of race, skin color, and gender, Shades of Difference furthers an ongoing discussion with originality and impeccable scholarship. ... Read more

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From the publisher
Book Description:
Angela Carter once said 'I'm in the demythologizing business'. The same can be said of Pam Gems. This book vividly describes the radical impact Gems' work has had upon British mainstream theatre and the innovative approaches that have made such an impression upon the dramatic landscape. The author describes Gems' striking ability to perceive the tremors of social change before they emerge, thus creating a pervasive sense of progression within her work. Gems' cannily unravels the obscure yet widely accepted mythologies surrounding notions of gender and sexuality through a radical style of stagecraft. Her vision locates itself firmly within feminist discourse and, in creating strong female parts, redresses the balance of female representation in dramatic history. In particular, the book highlights the writer's powerful influence upon normative theatrical forms and the psychology of male-dominated theatre. Drawing upon feminist, postcolonial and queer theory, the book offers a perceptive and accessible analysis of Gems' dramaturgy. Despite her highly prolific career, there has been a gaping absence of detailed critical analysis of her work until now. 'Queer Mythologies' is the first comprehensive and explicit study of one of the most significant figures in British mainstream theatre.

Synopsis:
This book on Gems has a thesis or a 'backbone' which elicits the title 'Queer Mythologies'. Pam Gems has written over 25 plays, and has not had adequate detailed analysis of her plays to date. She is a popular playwright produced often at the West End and has a widespread appeal by being on the pulse of cultural iconology. Gems writes strong central characters for both male and female actors, and often writes almost cinematically, with time shifts in a non-linear narrativization. Her characters are metaphors for contemporary women and men and she often 'herstoricizes', thus righting the balance of dramatic history by creating parts for women in British drama. Her dramaturgy brings to the mainstream theatre the identities and subcultures of class, race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality making her plays queer mythologies.

From the Inside Flap
Queer Mythologies
The Original Stageplays of Pam Gems
By Dimple Godiwala

This book vividly describes the radical impact Gems' work has had upon British mainstream theatre and the innovative approaches that have facilitated such an impression upon the dramatic landscape. Drawing upon feminist, postcolonial and queer theory, the book offers a perceptive and accessible analysis of Gems' dramaturgy. Despite her highly prolific career, there has been a gaping absence of detailed critical analysis of her work until now. 'Queer
Mythologies'is the first comprehensive and explicit study of one of the most significant figures in British mainstream theatre.

About the Author
Dimple Godiwala was educated at the Universities of Bombay and Oxford. She is the author of 'Breaking the Bounds: British Feminist Dramatists Writing in the Mainstream since c. 1980' (Peter Lang), and has written in the field of cultural, feminist, dramatic and postcolonial theory. Her critical anthology 'Alternatives Within the Mainstream: British Black and Asian Theatres' is published by Cambridge Scholars Press (2006). She is currently compiling 'Alternatives Within the Mainstream II: Postwar Queer British Theatres'

Excerpted from Queer Mythologies: The Original Stageplays of Pam Gems by Dimple Godiwala. Copyright © 2005. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Foreword by Professor Tim Prentki
Queer Mythologies

Dr Dimple Godiwala has expertly undertaken the first comprehensive appraisal of the theatrical oeuvre of Pam Gems at a moment when her profound influence on the development of English drama is in danger of being seriously underestimated through critical neglect. Besides offering vital insights to the individual plays, Dr Godiwala has succeeded in linking them to a coherent internal development within the life and work of Pam Gems. She is assisted in this task by access to Ms Gems and her son for a plethora of unique insights into the contexts in which much of the work was created. Most importantly, she never loses sight of a particular play as a performance text and so is able to capture the theatrical essence in ways that transcend any literary achievement. This capacity is especially important in any analysis of Pam Gems' achievement since it is predicated upon a fierce desire to work against the grain of the theatrical establishment. Godiwala captures this anti-establishment motif that runs through the plays through her own development of a definition of queer theory which is used ingeniously and effectively to forge connections and to demonstrate the gradual unfolding of Gems' preoccupation with the outsider and the misrepresented. Yet at the heart of this strategy of defiance lurks a paradoxical desire to be let into the lime-light which many of the protagonists exhibit. This desire is implicitly linked to Gems' own situation: at once a scathing critic of the mainstream, yet simultaneously penetrating it to effect irrevocable changes to it. Central characters like Queen Christina and Edith Piaf who make their worlds on their own terms are nevertheless depicted as being at the mercy or rather the agency of those by whose permission they are allowed to appear in their starring roles. Though hungry for performance, they still cling tenaciously to an identity which defies the expectations of their audiences, even as Gems in her handling of their characters lures the audience towards a love/hate relationship to them. Godiwala reveals with clarity and penetrating insight, the ways in which this paradox is indicative of the attitudes that Pam Gems herself experienced in relation to the English theatrical establishment; at times enjoying the spotlight of the main stage and critical acclaim but more often suffering the consequences of a refusal to compromise her artistic vision.

This volume marks a significant contribution to the rehabilitation of Pam Gems' reputation and Dr Godiwala reveals herself as a major critical voice on the contemporary literary and theatrical scene. This monograph is an absolute necessity for any students of Gems' work and an important extension of applied critical theory in performance. Prof Tim Prentki, University of Winchester


... Read more

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Throughout the 19th century, myth and mythography underwent radical revision for reasons intimately connected with important changes in ideology.Theological controversy and the demythologizing of Christianity brought about the reexamination of ancient myths as expressions of primitive religious belief, and the development of anthropology led to the extensive and serious study of myths.This important collection of essays examines this changing role of mythology as expressed in 19th-century literature and painting.The contributors focus on one powerful myth to which 19th-century artists turned again and again:the myth surrounding the rising and setting of the sun, and the importance of the sun as a primal, generative force.Their essays analyze the ways in which such artists as Shelley, Byron, Turner, Tennyson, Ruskin, Swinburne, Darwin, Hardy, and Pater found inspiration in solar mythology and how they interpreted solar myths in light of their own culture. ... Read more

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South Asian migration during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was largely comprised of indentured labourers sent to British colonies after the 1833 abolition of slavery. Mythologies of Migration, Vocabularies of Indenture uses the critical paradigm of 'indenture history' to examine the local literary and cultural histories that have influenced and shaped the development of novel-length fiction by writers of the South Asian diaspora in national contexts as diverse as Mauritius, South Africa, Guyana, and Fiji.

Mariam Pirbhai perceptively identifies common patterns, developments, and concerns in this cross-continental body of writing, including a 'vocabulary of indenture' that invokes the mythology and plight of the indentured labourer among a newly reconstituted community of colonial émigrés. Pirbhai's innovative study considers authors who fall outside the established canon of post-colonial writing, challenging readers to reconsider traditional peripheries as centres of literary and cultural production that have made significant contributions to the Anglophone novel.

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Originally published in 1940, this classic volume of Scottish folklore is sure to delight and entertain today's reader as well. Twenty enchanting stories take the reader to an extraordinary world of magic harps, angry giants, mysterious spells and gallant knights. Tales of valiant Scottish men and women through history, along with stories of enchantment -- fairies, giants, kings and queens -- bring to life the legendary Scottish mythology of ages past. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Would you like never to tell a lie?
This book is worth its price just for Elizabeth W. Grierson's version of Thomas the Rhymer, or True Thomas as he was known after his seven years inElfland. A number of interesting characters people these stories, amongthem Ranald, the son of The Strong Man of the Wood,and Iain, thefisherman's son, who is the hero of several adventures and who eventuallybecomes a wise and good king. A dilemma tale ("The Inheritance")has a surprise ending, for the dilemma within the story is answered in sucha way that the person who solves it incriminates himself. ... Read more

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This work provides an A-Z of locations throughout Scotland and the folklore associated with each place. It traces the roots and traditions of Scottish folklore, and discusses recurring themes and influences. The book also contains a guide to studying Scottish folklore, and a subject and location index. Scotland's greatest writers have been influenced by the country's abundance of customs, superstitions, ghost stories and folktales. Robert Burns, Walter Scott, James Hogg and Robert Louis Stevenson all used Scottish folklore in their work. Scotland has one of the richest folklore bases in the world, with input from the Celts, the Picts, the Scots, the Vikings and the Anglo Saxons. This selection of folklore combines gypsy-lore and Arthurian legends with tales of magical beasts and demons, and also material on the Dark and Medieval Ages. Raymond Lamont-Brown is also the author of "Scottish Witchcraft" (1992) and "Discovering Fife" (1992). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Not to be read for pleasure
I ordered this book expecting to read stories from Scottish folklore. That is not the type of book this is. Instead it is like a "dictionary" to look up terms from folklore. There is an occasional, short narrative but this is the exception rather than the rule.

That being said, the book is informative and did teach me a bit about the various genres within Scottish folklore. This made the book worthwhile for me. So to did a few historical vignettes that helped to explain the genesis of particular traditions.

One problem with the format of this book, a dictionary, is that it makes it difficult for someone who does not already know all the terms. For example, if you had never heard the term "selkie" you would not know to look under this heading to find out about these creatures. My approach was not to try and solve this problem and read it from cover to cover. Some of the entries on place names were a bit dry but easily breezed over. The book is well written enough to be able to be read in this manner as a learning experience.

In short, this book is not light reading but it was interesting for someone seeking to learn a bit more about this subject. ... Read more

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Under-rated and valuable work by a great author
This one can usually be picked up very cheap, and it's a great value!

It is anthology of 15 ballads that have been collected and retold in prose or fairy-tale form by Ruth Manning-Sanders, for easier reading. Most, if not all, of the tales within are prose versions of the historically famous Child Ballads. In a lengthy introduction, Manning-Sanders writes: "For the people of the Middle Ages, the ballads took the place of story books, and they were made by the minstrels who roamed the country, singing their stories and accompanying themselves on the harp. ... The stories that the minstrels sang were on familiar themes. Tender stories of love, stirring stories of well-known battles, of daring raids and captures and rescues, exhilarating stories of heroic resistance and of the doings of bold outlaws, tragic stories of treason and sad deaths, comic stories, cruel and terrible stories, stories of that fairyland in which most men believed -- we find them all, sung in direct, vigorous verse to the accompaniment of the minstrel's music."

As to why she retells the ballads in prose instead of verse, Manning-Sanders explains: "And finally it must be said how much is lost in the telling of these stories in prose. They were born in song, and their lyric quality is their greatest charm. ... But, as the ballads have been collected and set down in the dialect of the people who sang them, they are not, in their verse form, easy for children to read. ... And so we are now giving you these stories told in prose; in hope that, coming to know them and like them in this form, you may later on be led to read them for yourself in the original verse."

Table of Contents

Introduction
The Young Lord of Lorn
Hind Horn
May Colvin
Adam Bell, Clym of the Clough, and William of Cloudesley
Childe Rowland
The Crafty Farmer
Tam Lin
King Estmere
Alison Gross
Young Bekie
Thomas the Rhymer
The Heir of Linne
The Lochmaben Harper
King Orfeo

A Tale of Robin Hood
1. The Birth of Robin Hood
2. Robin Hood and Sir Richard at the Lee
3. Sir Richard at the Lee and the Abbot
4. Little John and the Sheriff of Nottingham
5. Robin Hood and the Monk
6. The Sheriff's Shooting Match
7. The Sheriff Complains to the King
8. The King and Robin Hood ... Read more

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The Prose Marmion. please visit www.valdebooks.com for a full list of titles ... Read more

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INTRODUCTION.
,.".. ow ..... ow
TOE Author of this little work spent, many years ago, a few weeki
in Eskdale, the scene where she ba~ placed the principal events of ber
tale. The beauty of the country made a deep impression on ber mind
at tbe time j perhaps the more 80, from its being the farthest eXC1ll'.
sion southward that sbe had then made from her native home. She,
however, by no means pretends to portray its 6cenery in the course
of her narrative with minute accuracy. Too long a period has since
elapsed, snd she has seen in the interval too great a variety of places
to retain an exa.ct recollection of every spot in this delightful dale;
but its general features remain strongly fixed in her memory; and
she hopes that her young readers will not find her tale less interesting
from any slight inaccuracy they moy discover in the local description.
The general character and manners of the inhabitants are, she
believes, Inore correctly represented; for there is scarcely

Table of Contents

CONTENTS; InllODtJC'ltOJT ?; CRAPTER I-Description o( Eskdale History of Marlon Stott and John; Telfer lIe loses his Parents !-fr Martin, the Pastor, bef'rlends 111m; John engaged by Mr Lauria sa his Herd-boy lIelen "wOnts first; attempt at horscm&DsWp ?? I; CUAl''l'l:R II_Excursion towards the Glen Account of tbe Botdererl; The Minisler visits David Littlo's cottage Rustic manners, Canine; sagacity ? ? 8; CaUTER III-John gains the arrrobation of the Pastor Visit to "[r; EUlott A1Ti"al at Minkirk VIBlt at CraigJe Hall lira Scott's hos~; pilaJity John's uo}ucky disaster The party returns by moonlIght ? 17; CJUP1'I:R IV-John's reflections on entering service Receiv ... Read more

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Willy Reilly PREFACE To The Second Edition CHAPTER I. An Adventure and an Escape. CHAPTER II. The Cooleen Baum. CHAPTER III. Daring Attempt of the Red Rapparee CHAPTER IV. ... Read more

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A delightful book of ghost stories from the wilds of Scotland ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great in its own way
I got Scottish Ghost Stories ten years ago whilst on vacation in Scotland and it continues to prove an interesting read. It's a collection of 12 different stories with a couple of great illustrations by Tim Hunt for each.

The stories range from those about hidden rooms at Glamis Castle to glowing ladies in the night and scary dark cellars. At least half of the stories are excellent, although they're all quite readable but one or two do drag a little.

Many of the stories are those which the author has heard from others or are contributions. They all seem to have the same style though, ..., they're still great to read.

The style of writing could prove a little '1940s English' for some, but most books by older authors are like this. ... Read more

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