Title and author’s name are printed in bold roman type. Next to the author’s name is the image of an “improved duck” (a device invented by Vague McMenamy, protagonist of the story “The Crank that Made the Revolution”, to enhance duck mobility). Arranged around the lettering is a grid of black and white squares. In each one, a winged foetus nestles within the cross-section of a skull. A horizontal strip across the bottom shows a recumbent child attached to a kite, floating over a Chinese city in flames – an image echoed in the story “Five Letters from an Eastern Empire”. On the spine, a naked woman is the object of amorous attention from the legendary beast in the tale “The Comedy of the White Dog”.

    Part love story, part adventure story, the trilogy is also a picture of a close-knit community embroiled in a civil war.The Flight of the Heron was first published by William Heinemann in 1925.The Gleam in the North was first published by William Heinemann in 1927.The Dark Mile was first published by William Heinemann in 1929.

    Cursed with poverty, an ineffective president and a string of defeats, the Thistle players are running low on morale, especially when so many people are against them, including the devious local policeman, the idealistic and sanctimonious new minister and sometimes their own wives. Despite their dismal prospects the team cling to the beautiful game as a last hope and dream. And, when they begin to win, a momentum springs up in their community as they soon come to represent ambition and hope. The Holy Grail of football, the Scottish Junior Cup, glitters at the end of a string of matches and suddenly the entire town of Drumsagart is depending on it. This edition includes an introduction by Harry Reid, former sportswriter and editor of The Herald.

    This work recaptures the days of the Clydesdale horse and the hired man, the old speak, the cottar and the crofter.

    

    It tells the story of the struggle to construct the line through mountain passes, across deep ravines and over the wilderness of the Moor of Rannoch.

    The book also examines the depredations of the Vikings and the Battle of Clontarf.