A Compendium of Scottish Series

Scottish Life and Society Volume 3

Published 8 December 2003

In recent times there has been a substantial flow of Scottish books on architectural themes. 'Scotland's Buildings' goes further than these. The concept of buildings is taken to include structures built for any functional purpose. The perspective of the volume is thus very wide, which gives it a unique quality.

Scottish Life and Society Volume 9

Published 21 November 2005

In The Individual and Community Life this has been achieved in four parts. In Part One the notable stages of the life cycle ? birth, death, childhood and maturity ? are considered. However, there are many external, independent and varied influences which shape a life. Part Two widens the scope of topics examined before going on to more directly consider the placing of the individual within a community. The different types of community, from secure settlements to travelling societies are then explored in Part Three. The final section looks at a different kind of community, that of the wider ethnic and social world and of the results of immigration into Scotland, where a large variety of cultures have arrived, forcing the Scottish community to reassess itself. The Individual and Community Life is the fourth volume to appear in the planned fourteen volume series, A Compendium of Scottish Ethnology, the major project of the European Ethnological Research Centre. The overall aim of this project being to examine, in their international setting, the interlocking strands of history, language and traditional culture that go into the making of a national identity.

Scottish Life and Society Volume 8

Published 8 June 2009

The movement of people, goods, services, ideas and information has dictated the nature of everyday life in Scotland since the earliest times, and has helped to determine the boundaries and character of the nation itself. This multi-author volume explores a variety of topics on the broad theme of transport and communications. The chapters are divided into five thematic sections: water transport, land transport, air transport, communications, and transport and communications in their wider contexts. The chronological and geographical coverage is wide, ranging from the birlinns of the medieval western seaboard to aviation in the Northern Isles, and a variety of approaches to the study of the subject is offered. Each chapter can stand alone, but taken together they indicate the profound influence that transport and communications have on Scottish life and society.

Scottish Life and Society Volume 5

by Alexander Fenton

Published 22 November 2007

Food, like procreation, is one of the major concerns of the human race. It affects every aspect of life, at all social levels. In Scotland, as elsewhere, the farther back in time we go the more the daily diet is related to the local environment. This book explores the nature of food in the past, including game and wild plants, cereals and dairy products, flesh and drink, whether home-brewed ale or wines from abroad. Through extensive research and examination of long-held customs, the author provides a detailed appraisal of the realities and complexities of the Scottish diet. Food such as the everyday oatcakes and cheese, prepared in a special way for seasonal or work (especially harvest) occasions, and for the personal occasions of birth, baptism, marriage and death, is discussed in a major section of the book. The adoption of hot drinks - chocolate, coffee and tea - from the end of the seventeenth century marked an economic upswing, at first at high social levels. The resulting change in the composition and timing of meals was reinforced by the industrial age a century later.

Dependence on rural products was gradually reduced by imports and by preservation techniques, - canning, refrigerations, etc, - which have facilitated the consumption of foods from any part of the world, at any season. The apparent monotony of the past diet is now replaced by an embarrassment of choices, in which health considerations play a considerable role.

Scottish Life and Society Volume 10

Published 7 August 2007

Volume 10 of the "Compendium of Scottish Ethnology" brings together a series of essays by a diverse range of authors on the themes of oral literature and performance culture. The topics covered in this volume include: narrative collection and performance; music (traditional, folk & classical); Gaelic song and verse; ballads; bothy ballads; chapbooks; child lore; dance; and, theatre and drama. The cultural motifs that have over the years been gathered together to constitute the National Song Book and National Drama are identified and discussed. In so doing, the role of 'tradition' in these key aspects of the cultural life of the Scots is thrown into relief. It emerges that tradition and identity are cultural traits which are capable of bearing many meanings. The characterisation of 'tradition' as the immutable source, unadulterated by human invention is challenged in this volume, and in its place is a recognition of the dynamic nature of many of those cultural forms which are described as 'traditional'.

This volume acts an ethnographic source in its own terms - drawing together details and insights regarding phenomena such as the Folk Revival of the 1950s and the collection and collectors of 'folk' stories and songs. The impressive range of this volume demonstrates the many ways in which Scots have communicated and continue to communicate with each other regarding the local and national and the communal and the intimate concerns of yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Scottish Life and Society Volume 7

Published 4 December 2008

The movement of people from a rural to an urban environment is one of the most striking features of Scotland's past. This movement was the result of a shift in the general pattern of work from agricultural to industrial in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This was followed by a notable shift in the pattern of urban work, from manufacturing industry to the provision of services, in the late twentieth century. Beneath these general patterns there lies a myriad of individual lived experiences, also explored in this volume.As well as outlining the history of settlement and work, this volume considers the working lives of those engaged in feeding, housing and protecting the population, those who work to keep the population healthy, and those who are engaged in work of the imagination rather than work to meet material needs. Since the nineteenth century an increasing number of services have been controlled by government, both local and central. The importance of public service is discussed, as is the industrial way of life and the ways in which workers have to co-operate, in the interest of their employer, themselves and society.

Scottish Life and Society Volume 11

Published 1 December 2000

This project of the European Ethnological Research Centre is planned in 13 volumes. Their overall aim is to examine the interlocking strands of history, language and traditional culture, in their international setting, that go into the making of a national identity. Other volumes cover Scottish ethnology; farming and landscape; Scotland's buildings; boats and fishing; coast and sea; the food and the Scots; hearth and home: the culture of the dwelling house; crafts, trades and professions; transport and communications; the individual and community life in Scotland; oral literature and performance culture; institutions of Scotland: religious expression; and institutions of Scotland: the law.

Scottish Life and Society Volume 12

Published 26 July 2006

Its overall aim is to examine the interlocking strands of history, language and traditional culture within an international context and their contribution to the making of a national identity. Each volume is a detailed examination of a societal topic and can stand-alone. Together, the fourteen volumes set a cultural benchmark for the new millennium and are of immense value to our understanding of what has shaped Scottish society today.

Scottish Life and Society Volume 6

Published 31 October 2006

The story of 'home life' in Scotland is one which is familiar and varied. This wide-ranging volume considers Scotland's domestic life by examining that variety, and considering changes in the structures in which Scots have lived and the ways in which they have lived in those homes. The great advantage of studying domestic life is that, it is something to which everyone can relate, no matter his or her background. Most of us are in some way already ethnologists of the home. "Scottish Life and Society: A Compendium of Scottish Ethnology" is a major project of the European Ethnological Research Centre in fourteen volumes. Its overall aim is to examine the interlocking strands of history, language and traditional culture within an international context and their contribution to the making of a national identity. Each volume is a detailed examination of a societal topic and can stand alone. Together, the fourteen volumes set a cultural benchmark for the new millennium and are of immense value to our understanding of what has shaped Scottish society today.

Scottish Life and Society Volume 1

Published 29 July 2013

The publication of 'An Introduction to Scottish Ethnology' sees the completion of the fourteen-volume Scottish Life and Society series, originally conceived by the eminent ethnologist Professor Alexander Fenton. The series explores the many elements in Scottish history, language and culture which have shaped the identity of Scotland and Scots at local, regional and national level, placing these in an international context. Each of the thirteen volumes already published focuses on a particular theme or institution within Scottish society. This introduction provides an overview of the discipline of ethnology as it has developed in Scotland and more widely, the sources and methods for its study, and practical guidance on the means by which it can be examined within its constituent genres, based on the experience of those currently working with ethnological materials. Theory and practice are presented in an accessible fashion, making it an ideal companion for the student, the scholar and the interested amateur alike.