Karen writes: >Since many of us are looking for something to flesh out the bare >genealogical bones of our Orkney heritage, I should like to recommend the >books by George Mackay Brown. . . . He has written >several books of short stories and his novel, 'Beside the Ocean of Time' . . . Definitely worth a look for a better >insight into the Orkneys. I could not agree more, in addition to the novel she cites, might I also recommend an early volume (1969) 'An Orkney Tapestry'. As many of you will know, he was a regular contributor to the local newspaper, 'The Orcadian', with even a posthumous poem of his launching 1999 on the front page. I do wonder how many editors in how many places (certainly few in the U.K.) would risk their readship being cultured enough to appreciate such an offering on the front page? His writings extend from the distant to the more recent past. He has also been the most fruitful source of texts for Orkney's foremost resident composer, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. George 'Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds' Albert Einstein $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Dr. George Mowat-Brown, Tel & Fax.: +44 (0)181 580 8430 High Point, 13 Borough Road, e-mail: geomowat@zetnet.co.uk Isleworth, Middlesex, TW7 5DY, UK. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$