Birlinn: Longships of the Hebrides [Illustrated] [Paperback]

'MacAulay's book is strongly marked by his love of his country, its landscape, its people, and its boats. That certainly does him credit. And so does the pragmatic piece of advivce that completes his conclusion: "Never be long upon the sea in autumn by your own will."'

This is a study of the longships used by the lords of the Hebridean islands, describing the high degree of perfection achieved by the early shipwrights who fashioned the ships of carved wood in meticulous detail. The birlinns were used for the transport of men, great sea battles and clan feuds and raids. The birlinn is best known in its stylized form as a device used on crests and coats-of-arms, as a heraldic "galley". The book traces the evolution of the birlinn from the Viking longship, using the author's technical knowledge and the oral traditions of the islands to cast light on the practical skills which created these fabled vessels.

In the ancient church of St Clement's at Rodil, on the remote Isle of Harris off northwest Scotland, Alasdair Crotach - Alexander (the hunchback) Macleod - eighth chief of the Macleods of Harris and Dunvegan, prepared his elaborate tomb in 1528. Among the numerous intricately carved figures on the tomb is the finest true representation of a Hebridean brlinn in existence, carved with such meticulous technical detail that even the stitches on the panels of sailcloth are shown.

Magnificent in style and form, awesome in their power, a thrilling spectacle to behold - the brlinn of the Lords of the Isles. Imaginations are fuelled by the romance of those ancient ships, but very little thought is now given to the high degree of perfection achieved by the early shipwrights who accomplished this perfect marriage of wood, wind, and water; for the transport of men on epic voyages of discovery, great sea battles, clan feuds and raids, as well as the everyday tasks of a seafaring people.

The birlinn is best known today in its stylised form as a device used on crests and coats of arms - the heraldic 'galley'. John Macaulay, a Harris islander and himself an experienced seaman and shipwright, explores the reality behind this romantic image, as he traces the evolution of the brlinn from the Viking longship, using his own technical knowledge and the oral traditions of the Islands to cast light on the practical skills which created these fabled vessels. 'John Macaulay's book brings together, for the first time, all the surviving sources about the brlinn, and tells its story with all the verve and dash it richly deserves'. Magnus Magnusson

John MacAulay (fifty-five) is a writer and historian who now concentrates his efforts on researching the cultural links between the Hebrideans and the Norse. A former shipwright and charter yacht skipper, this native Hebridean who is a fluent Gaelic speaker is well equipped for the task. Born to a crofting/fishing family on the Isle of Harris, and brought up during a time when oral tradition and folklore had not yet succumbed to the pressures of modern society, he now recalls the wealth of information imparted by a people to whom 'heritage' was an element of daily life. Living with his wife Cathy on the family croft (their two daughters live on the mainland) he enjoys the isolation and closeness to nature which island life affords.