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The Man Who Gave Away His Island, A Life of John Lorne Campbell of Canna, by Ray Perman is available now on Birlinn. Click here to order your copy.
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Tag Archives: John Lorne Campbell
The new postscript should not be the end of the story
‘Alone in his attic study John Lorne Campbell made an astonishing discovery. Painstakingly going through old papers, he uncovered the family secret which had caused an unbridgeable emotional gap with his father and burdened his early years with heavy debt.’
Posted in News
Tagged Canna Island, John Lorne Campbell, Land ownership, The Man who Gave Away His Island
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Canna whisky tasting
When I was researching John’s story I came across unopened bottles of long-forgotten brands of whisky in his desk, relics of the SS Politician which foundered on Eriskay in 1941. Now, revising The Man Who Gave Away his Island for … Continue reading
Posted in Extracts
Tagged Canna Island, Compton Mackenzie, John Lorne Campbell, whisky
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A return to Fiesole
The No 7 bus takes only 15 minutes to climb the hairpin bends from Florence to the hilltop town of Fiesole, but when you arrive you are in a different world. The heat and bustle of the city are left behind … Continue reading
Posted in Memories and anecdotes
Tagged Fiesole, John Lorne Campbell, Villa Girolamo
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Midsummer wedding and burial on Canna
On another bleak midsummer John’s remains returned to Canna. By poetic coincidence his coffin made the journey on the Loch Nevis in the company of a wedding party. And now long friends of Canna, Gordon and Julie Galloway return to … Continue reading
John Lorne Campbell at home in The Big Tent
What would John Lorne Campbell make of his story being told at a music festival? T in the Park would not be his style but he might feel quite at home in The Big Tent, a green festival celebrating sustainable … Continue reading
Posted in Book Festivals
Tagged Falkland Centre for Stewardship, John Lorne Campbell, The Big Tent
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A short story for Valentine’s Day
There was an inevitability about the meeting of John Lorne Campbell and Margaret Fay Shaw; their paths and their interests had been intertwining for years. Several times they had been in the same place at the same time, but had not met until … Continue reading
Strange things
Interesting to see that this year’s theme for Faclan: The Hebridean Book Festival, is An Dà Shealladh, or Second Sight, although how Alistair Darling snuck in there I don’t know. The former Chancellor has a holiday home in Lewis, as … Continue reading
Posted in Book Festivals, News
Tagged Alistair Darling, Hebridean Book Festival, John Lorne Campbell, Second Sight
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Modernising Canna farming
Canna in 1938 by Margaret Fay Shaw In the 1930s it wasn’t that unusual for wealthy men to buy up whole islands, but John Lorne Campbell was an unusual young man. A nice surprise in the post, a review in … Continue reading
The Canna Story podcast: Episode 3
What future for Canna? by Thecannastory on Mixcloud Questions from the floor at Glasgow’s Aye Write! book festival have become highly topical. Looking forward to an equally stirring discussion with Andy Wightman at Edinburgh Book Festival next month.
Canna questions
Today’s story in the Guardian moves me to write a letter to the editor. Severin Carrell’s report on the sudden depopulation of Canna draws attention to the difficulties of living in a small, remote community and the problems facing the … Continue reading →