


BATTLEGROUND PERTHSHIRE is a concise account of the battles and minor military events that have taken place within the county of Perthshire. Comprising two thousand years of battles, raids, rebellions, sieges, riots, feuds, ambushes and skirmishes, Battleground Perthshire shines the spotlight on the military history of Scotland’s big county. Drawn from extensive primary and secondary sources: archives, eyewitness accounts and official records, it tells the fascinating stories of struggles for wealth, power, freedom and the right to self-determination. This chronicle of Perthshire’s military history stands as an important reminder of some of the events that have marked the development of the Scottish people. It will appeal both to the reader interested in the history of Scotland and to those interested in military history.
Battleground Perthshire can be bought from most bookshops in the Perthshire area: The Watermill at Aberfeldy; Sweet Words at Dunkeld; Waterstones - various stores including Perth; WHSmith - Perth and Pitlochry. And, in Perth Museum, the AK Bell Library, Gloagburn Farm Shop, the Brig Farm Shop by Bridge of Earn. Alternatively, it may be purchased for £7.00 with FREE postage and packing to any UK address {Please email for postage costs for locations outside UK}. Send cheque or postal order (payable to Tippermuir Books) to Tippermuir Books, c/o 3 Graham's Place, King Street, Perth, Perth, PH2 8HZ. It can also be bought through most of the UK online (internet) booksellers.

Spanish Thermopylae: Cypriot Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39 SPANISH THERMOPYLÆ is the story of the fifty-seven Cypriots who served in the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39. It is also the story of a war that defined the lives of a generation and whose outcome decided the fate of hundreds of millions of people across the world. Drawing on recently released records from the Comintern Archive in Moscow, Spanish Thermopylae will appeal both to the reader interested in the experiences of the Cypriot volunteers, and to anyone looking for a concise history of the Spanish Civil War. 'This is the first book devoted solely to the contribution made by Cypriots to the cause of democracy and progress in the Spanish Civil War. It bears witness to the injustice committed against humanity by fascism in Spain and the inspirational sacrifices made by a small band of Cypriot volunteers. Spanish Thermopylae is a fitting tribute to them, and the International Brigades.' Demetris Christofias, President of the Republic of Cyprus 'True to the best traditions of their Greek forefathers, the heroes of the Greek War of Independence, the Cypriots rallied to the support of Spanish democracy and independence, realising that a defeat for the Spanish people would have meant world war. On the Spanish battlefields was being decided the fate of Europe and with it that of Cyprus. They recognised fascism as the greatest enemy of humanity and volunteered to help crush it... Many Cypriots lie buried in the Spanish soil fighting fascism. Cyprus is proud of her heroic sons who fell in the anti-fascist cause, but the fight is not over. We fight on until fascism is destroyed from the face of the earth.' Ezekias Papaioannou, Cypriot International Brigades volunteer and General Secretary of AKEL (1949-88) "Before many years have passed, their own countries will feel equally proud of the volunteers. That will be their best and highest reward." Juan Negrín, Prime Minister of the Spanish Republic (1937-39). It is available from www.amazon.co.uk
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"In 1819 Robert Southey, poet laureate, together with Thomas Telford the engineer, undertook a tour of Scotland. The Journal of the Tour is coloured to some extent by his extreme Toryism but for all that is a lively, direct and on the whole sympathetic account of his travels." As the pair visited Aberfeldy they were less than awestruck by the town and its bridge: “Aberfeldy is a place that might properly be called Aberfilthy, for marvelously foul it is. You enter through a beggarly street and arrive at a dirty inn. A sort of square or market place has been lately built, so that mean as the village or townlet is, it seems to be thriving. The burn of Moness passes through the place and falls into the Tay near it; there are some falls upon this burn, which when the streams are full should be among the vivenda of this part of the country. Near Aberfeldy is a bridge over the Tay, built by General Wade; but creditable neither to the skill nor taste of the architect. It resembles that at Blenheim, the middle arch being made the principal feature. At a distance it looks well but makes a wretched appearance upon closer inspection. There are four unmeaning obelisks upon the central arch, and the parapet is so high that you cannot see over it. The foundations are also very insecure, for we went into the bed of the river and examined them.” They were proved wrong in their statement as regards the bridge (designed by the father of Robert Adam), for it still stands proudly today. "Though the Journal is written by Southey, the many comments on the construction of roads and bridges bears the imprint of Telford’s knowledge and opinions."
Robert Southey was born at Bristol in 1774. He attended Westminster but was expelled for Jacobin ideas. He went up to Balliol in 1793 where he was inspired by Coleridge [Samuel Taylor Coleridge (October 21, 1772 – July 25, 1834) was an English poet, critic, and philosopher who was, along with his friend William Wordsworth, one of the founders of the Romantic Movement in England and one of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan, as well as his major prose work Biographia Literaria and the notion of the pantisocracy{a community in which all are equal and all rule}.] In 1795 he married Edith Fricker, whose sister married Coleridge. his political views moved to the right and Southey became a Tory, supported by the establishment in his literary work; Peel was an advocate of the Southey case. From 1813 he was Poet Laureate - his poetry was always overshadowed by his contemporaries such as Wordsworth and Byron.
Southey was traumatized over the death of his wife. He remarried but his new wife, the poet Catherine Anne Boules was never more than a nurse to the ailing Southey. Robert Southey died of softening of the brain on 21 March 1843.
Despite his name and significance to the society in which he lived and wrote, Southey's work is barely known today. His prose is usually considered superior to his poetry. The nursery classic, The Three Bears was his. His ballads however were influential at the time:
Hollytree
Battle of Blenheim
Old Women of Berkeley
His notable prose:
nelson (1813)
Joan of Arc (1795)
The Curse of Kehama (1810)
Roderick (1814)
Wesley (1820)
Bunyon (1830)
A Vision of Judgment (1821)
Book of the Church (1824)
Colloquies on Society (1829)
Naval History (1833-40)
The Doctor (1834-47)
Life and Correspondence (1849-50) - Letters
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