I Remember: Memories of Raasay

Raasay is one of the least-known jewels of the Hebrides. Sheltered by Skye to the west, this side of the island contrasts with the stark grandeur of the eastern cliffs and valleys which lie under the spectacular mountain Dun Caan. It is here that the cleared townships of Hallaig, Suishnish and Screapadal, made famous by the poet, Sorley Maclean, perhaps Raasay’s most famous son, are to be found. First published in 1989, John Nicolson’s volume of memoirs covers his early life on Raasay up to the point he left in 1941. It is the story of Raasay and its people in the inter-war years told through the eyes of someone who loved and knew both intimately. It provides a glimpse of a lost way of life, when Gaelic language and traditions had a much stronger hold and when crofting held a much more dominant position.

Reviews of I Remember: Memories of Raasay

"For all that, there is no sentimentalising, no false reverence, no suggestion of a seamless society or a tensionless Golden Age. John writes as a member of a community in which individuals – and what resolute individuals these men and women were – are allowed their virtues, their foibles and their quirks of personality. He is realistic, often playful, but he is never demeaning. These are his kinsfold and his people. -John MacInnes