The Life of John Lorne Campbell of Canna by Ray Perman
A view of Florence from 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 and although the market square is busy, the Via Vecchia Fiesolana, a narrow lane between high walls a few yards away, is quiet and cool.
A letter in the post. Not a bill or a fast food flyer but a real letter. One of the lasting rediscoveries I have made in researching and writing John’s life is that letters are a great way of making and keeping contact with other people. And in the post, this is not just any letter. Read more
The dining room in Canna House
Margaret and John would not be best pleased, but there is a curious connection between Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and the Laird of Canna’s Royalist ancestor Major-General Archibald Campbell.
Before the hurricane struck, I was looking for words to end the old year or, since the clock was ticking, start the new one. I found Margaret’s letter typewritten late at night during another storm-tossed Christmas. At almost the same time I came across the December West Word, an action packed newsletter written by gas and candle light as the western highlands and islands recovered from a battering which felled trees, flattened outbuildings, lifted roofs and wrecked power and water supplies. Read more
He lost the use of one arm fighting Arab slave traders in central Africa. In later life that did not stop him joining the Killermount golf club in Glasgow where he played very badly but with great enthusiasm much to the dismay of caddies who had to chase after him. Fred Moir is now something of a legend in Malawi where he played an active part opening what was then British Central Africa to “trade and robust Christianity”. So what is his link with Canna?
In the latest review, the Daily Mail critic said I should have included more gossip. So here’s some. Read more
The name John Lorne Campbell provokes reminiscences in all sorts of people. Donald Macinnes, chief executive of Scotland Europa, mentioned the book at the members’ meeting in Glasgow and one of the participants approached me at lunchtime. Read more