The Tweed Dales

About the Book: 

The distinctive blend of emotions and responses each landscape stirs up are echoed in stories filtered through the voices of storytellers, the pens of poets and historians, and the tools of artists and crafters. We hope you will experience these too, as you journey with us through the landscape.

The Journeys and Evocations series continues with this exploration of the Scottish Borders. Six journeys take the reader from the Eildon Hills to Tweeddale, from Kelso to Gala Water, Ettrick and Teviotdale. The long history of the Borders and their unique culture is evoked through key personalities, events, stories and folklore.

Complete with driving instructions and directions, this discursive travelogue is expressed through story, poetry and song set against the landscape in a unique mway – whether by foot, bike, bus, armchair or car, your perfect travelling companion.

Reviews: 

Two of the city’s leading storytellers have sifted through the centuries to compile the remarkable guide to Edinburgh’s famous landmark. Edinburgh Evening News on Athur's Seat

A fascinating spotlight on the Hill’s unique position in centuries of Edinburgh life. Edinburgh Evening News on Calton Hill

About the Author:

ELSPETH TURNER grew up in the Scottish Borders. She held a senior lectureship in Economic and Social History at the University of Edinburgh and is returning in retirement to these and other storytelling roots after career shifts to facilitate equal access to higher education for school leavers – she was the first Director of Lothians Equal Access Programme for Schools and later a researcher and co-author in the field of Children’s Rights with her husband, the late Stewart Asquith. She latterly worked for the Scottish Funding Council and lives in Edinburgh.

DONALD SMITH is a renowned storyteller, founding Director of the Scottish Storytelling Centre, and an experienced playwright and theatre producer. He was also a founding Director of the National Theatre of Scotland, for which he campaigned over a decade. Born in Glasgow of Irish parentage, Donald Smith was brought up in Scotland, immersed in its artistic and cultural life. Smith’s non-fiction includes Storytelling Scotland: A Nation in Narrative, God, the Poet and the Devil: Robert Burns and Religion and Arthur’s Seat: Journeys and Evocations, co-authored with Stuart McHardy. His Freedom and Faithprovides an insightful longterm perspective on the ongoing Independence debate, while Pilgrim Guide to Scotland recovers the nation’s sacred geography. Donald Smith is currently Director of Tracs (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland), based at the Storytelling Centre.