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Assoc for Scottish Literature

George MacDonald Fraser (1925–2008) – author, historian, journalist, screenwriter – was born 100 years ago , 2 April, 1925

“His dedication to strongly researched stories, built firmly on a bedrock of historical fact, but always with an eye to the humour of a situation, was the core of what appealed to me”

Historical novelist Michael Jecks discusses MacDonald Fraser’s writing for the Royal Literary Fund:

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@bookstodon

rlf.org.uk/showcase/not-a-seri

The Royal Literary FundNot A Serious WriterHarry Flashman is a fictional character borrowed from a novel who purports to be telling the truth about real, historical events – an illusion supported by George MacDonald Fraser’s well-researched footnotes. Michael Jecks locates the realism at the heart of a series of historical novels masquerading as thrillers.
#Scottish#literature#historicalfiction
Assoc for Scottish Literature

@bookstodon

“QUARTERED SAFE OUT HERE … provides insight into what it takes an individual to survive, both (with luck) physically and, more importantly, ethically”

– retired Australian Army officer Jason Thomas on George MacDonald Fraser’s memoir of the WW2 Burma campaign

warroom.armywarcollege.edu/spe

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War Room - U.S. Army War College · ON GOOD PENMANSHIP: QUARTERED SAFE OUT HERE (DUSTY SHELVES)It's been a while but the DUSTY SHELVES series is back with a new look at an older book. WAR ROOM welcomes Jason Thomas as he reviews Quartered Safe Out Here by George MacDonald Fraser. An intriguing look at the oft forgotten China Burma India Theater of World War II, MacDonald Fraser is a skilled author that relays the experiences of the men of The Border Regiment through his personal history as an infantryman in the Burma Campaign. Jason pulls out the book's lessons of unit cohesion, integrity, ethics and resilience that are timeless and useful to any military leader and deems Quartered Safe Out Here worthy of a dust off.
Apr 02, 2025, 11:58 AM·Public·Web
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Assoc for Scottish Literature

@bookstodon

“At one moment when President Richard Nixon was taking part in his inauguration ceremony, he appeared flanked by Lyndon Johnson and Billy Graham […] it was one of those historical coincidences which send a little shudder through the mind…”

– George MacDonald Fraser, THE STEEL BONNETS (1971)

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…the descendants of three notable Anglo-Scottish Border tribes-families who lived and fought within a few miles of each other on the West Marches in Queen Elizabeth's time were standing side by side, and it took very little effort of the imagination to replace the custom-made suits with leather jacks or backs-and-breasts. Only a political commentator would be tactless enough to pursue the resemblance to Border reivers beyond the physical, but there the similarity is strong. Lyndon Johnson's is a face and figure that everyone in Dumfriesshire knows; the lined, leathery Northern head and rangy, rather loose-jointed frame belong to one of the commonest Border types. The only mystery is when the "t" which distinguishes Border Johnstones from the others of the name was dropped from his surname. Billy Graham has frequently advertised his Scottishness, perhaps a little thoughtlessly, since there are more Grahams on the southern side of the line than on the northern, but again, the face is familiar. Richard Nixon, however, is the perfect example. The blunt, heavy features, the dark complexion, the burly body, and the whole air of dour hardness are as typical of the Anglo-Scottish frontier as the Roman Wall. Take thirty years off his age and you could put him straight into the front row of the Hawick scrum and hope to keep out of his way. It is difficult to think of any face that would fit better under a steel bonnet.
Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, & Billy Graham at Nixon’s inauguration, 20 January 1969. Photo: William C. Beall, Washington Daily News. Courtesy of the DC Public Library Washington Star Collection © Washington Post. Billy Graham stands at a podium, reading a text. His left hand grips the podium and his right is raised slightly in front of him, his hand clenched into a fist. Richard Nixon looks over Graham's right shoulder. Lyndon Johnson stands to Nixon's right. Other figures in formal dress stand, some with bowed heads.
#Scottish#literature#history
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Assoc for Scottish Literature

@bookstodon

“There is a story they tell in Breadalbane:
Gordon of Achruach was at feud with Campbell of Kentallan, who hired certain Gregora, landless men, who took the Gordon unawares while he was hunting in the Mamore. And they cut off his head and put it in a bag to show the Campbell that the work was done. That was the way of it…”

– From “The Gordon Women”, by George MacDonald Fraser. Published in THE SHEIKH AND THE DUSTBIN (1988)

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There is a story they tell in Breadalbane: Gordon of Achruach was at feud with Campbell of Kentallan, who hired certain Gregora, landless men, who took the Gordon unawares while he was hunting in the Mamore. & they cut off his head & put it in a bag to show the Campbell that the work was done. That was the way of it. And as they fared for Kentallan, the Gregora came by the Gordon’s door at Achruach, & went in, & the Gordon’s wife (little knowing she was a widow) bade them to table, as the custom is, & went out for the Athol brose. & while she was gone the Gregora winked at one another, & set the Gordon’s head on a dish, with an apple in the mouth, to see what the good wife would make of it. That is the Gregora for you, hell mend the black pack of them. & the good wife came in, & saw her man’s head bloody on the board, but kept her countenance & never said a word, only smiled on the Gregora & bade them good cheer. The Gregora wondered at this. Has she not seen it? was in the mind of each of them. Still looked she never on the head, but said a word to her ghillie & sent him forth. & smiling on the Gregora, she told them a tale, never looking at the head, & held them spellbound, for she was great at the stories, & very fair besides. The Gregora wondered, has she not seen it yet? This is not canny, was in their minds, & they said they must be for the road, but she held them there by her tale & her presence, & so they bided whether they would or no. That was the way of it.
& still she spoke & looked not on the head, until the ghillie returned with her men of Achruach, who came in swift & sudden & stood behind the Gregora seated, one to one, & each Gordon with his dirk at a dirty Gregora neck. & she told on till the tale was done – aye, she was great at the stories – & then said she: “I see my man is come home, & has but an apple to eat. Give him to drink also, wine red & warm.” & at her word they slew the Gregora where they sat, & the red blood ran. That was the way of it. & the ghillie said: “Oh, mistress, how did you keep your countenance this long while in the presence of yon fell thing, & beguile these stark men?” & she answered: “The day I cannot keep my countenance, & hold men in their place & work my will on them, that is a day you will never see.” That was the way of it. That was a woman of the Gordons for you.
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hanktank61

@scotlit @bookstodon
#Scottish ...
As young Dutch working a few years on British Rail-stations, mainly Euston and King' s Cross in the 70' s. International trains from Holland to West European trains many years after. Plus wife' s Canadian branch with old Scottish/ Nova Scotia blood.( All " Gone" now...). Also many visits all over the UK meanwhile. Not for all regions, but I definitely recognize Scottish features in females, wherever I see them.
New training-session soon around Aberfeldy :).

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