Surnames give us a sense of identity and belonging. Even in today's mobile society they can have strong links with particular areas. They are keys to our family history. And they always have an original meaning. This new collection of some 400 names, gathered from Shetland to Galloway, provides an informative and reliable guide to Scottish surnames from Abercrombie and Abernethy to Younie and Yuill.In each case the original meaning is given, along with the original location and its...

For more than 400 years, the big-gun warship stood as the supreme naval war machine. It was not only a major instrument of warfare, but a visible emblem of a nation’s power, wealth and pride.The World’s Greatest Battleships features 52 of the greatest warships to have sailed in the last 500 years. Beginning with English king Henry VIII’s flagship, Henry Grace à Dieu, the book covers all the main periods of battleship development, including the great sail ships, suc...

Bobby and Joey's new mobile disco business seems like the answer to everything, until they lock horns with the local gangster … First in the critically acclaimed, hilarious and heartbreaking Disco Days Trilogy, by one of Scotland's finest writers.***Longlisted for the Authors' Club First Novel Award***'This is a book that might just make you cry like nobody's watching' Iain MacLeod, Sunday Mail'Ross creates...

The 2000-plus years of Scottish history have seen a huge variety of events, from great national moments to personal achievements, each one helping to make and mould the character of the nation. This compendium takes note of the milestones – historical as well as cultural, serious as well as entertaining – but also of the many steps between them.Carefully chosen and researched for their interest and variety, they make a fascinating record: 150 vignettes form a 'family album' of the ...

David Ross has produced an extraordinary, eclectic and hilarious collection of thematically arranged Scottish insults, abuse and invective which has been wonderfully illustrated throughout by Rupert Besley. The best insults, according to the author, occupy an indefinite space between wit and abuse, containing elements of both to varying degree; they must always sting the victim, or else they are a failure. This book is full of rich and expressive examples of insult and invective for all oc...

The Scots have always had a reputation for clarity of thought and also for the vigour with which it is put into words.This collection spans the entire gamut of a nation's recorded thought and experience from Roman Scotland to the present day. It covers a vast range of subject matter and demonstrates a remarkable variety of moods and tones, from the literary to the colloquial and bawdy. Packed with sharp observation and humour, it sounds other notes too. Meditative, triumphant, trag...

From 1988 to 2017 David Ross was the Highland Correspondent of The Herald. His patch stretched from the Mull of Kintyre in the south to the Shetland island of Unst in the north; and from St Kilda, in the West, to the whisky country of Speyside in the east. From his home on the Black Isle he covered all the big stories, from the fight against a nuclear waste dump in Caithness to plans to remove half a mountain on the island of Harris. He helped the first community land buyout in mo...

From poverty to immense wealth, from humble beginnings to international celebrity, George and Robert Stephenson's was an extraordinary joint career. Together they overshadow all other engineers, with the possible exception of Robert's friend Isambard Kingdom Brunel, for one vital reason: they were winners. For them it was not enough to follow the progress made by others. They had to be the best. Colossal in confidence, ability, energy and ambition, George Stephenson was al...

For almost a thousand years, Scotland and England have been neighbour nations. For more than half that time, they were foreign countries, often at war. Four hundred years ago, they began to share a monarchy; three hundred years ago, they joined in a United Kingdom. A new concept of 'Britishness' arose, but for most purposes Scots remained Scots and English remained English, and the old sense of rivalry remained. In olden times, a war of words and propaganda accompanied the fighting. As the...

Life is too short to waste on unproductive workshops and draining meetings.We've all sat through workshops and meetings that drag. Perhaps participants were overwhelmed by "zoom fatigue" or there were plenty of opinions but no agreed way forward.This book provides a fail-safe methodology to address these common pitfalls and design and host workshops and meetings that produce real business outcomes.Created by a leading workshop training provider, the...

“In Confronting the Storm, David passionately argues for a shift from the predominant legacy thinking that struggles with our greatest challenges to a regenerative and collaborative mindset within leaders. Humanity is at a fork in the road so new, creative, and urgent leadership is essential. For us all and future generations to be able to thrive on Spaceship Earth, this book makes for compelling reading.” –David Houle, MD, The Sarasota Institute and 5x TEDx speak...

Running Fitness presents a structured and practical training guide aimed at a large portion of the running community, including beginners and those looking to improve in the sport. Author David Ross, a runner of many years experience, provides a training path that develops running capability from a simple 5K race up to full marathon, whilst making the sport easily accessible to those who wish to enjoy many years of fulfilment, success and longevity. Learn about warm-up and cool-down drills...