Seton Gordon’s Cairngorms: An Anthology

Seton Gordon really created himself as naturalist, photographer and writer, the first such in the country, his first book appearing when he was eighteen. In all he wrote 27 books, two specifically about the Cairngorms where he grew up and first explored and returned to many times throughout his long life. He wrote with a revelational wonder and freshness, writing in poetic prose descriptions only possible by someone intimately at home in the hills with their interacting, connected features: birds, plants, trees, geology, weather, Gaelic culture, place names, history, folklore – an ecologist before the word was coined.Hamish Brown selected passages for Seton Gordon’s Scotland and has now made a fascinating choice from Seton Gordon’s extensive writings about the Cairngorms. There are descriptions of hill days throughout the seasons and intimate descriptions of wildlife. Seton Gordon lived to a great age but the Cairngorms were his first, young man’s enthusiasm. Hamish Brown, no mean mountaineer and lover of the outdoors, has garnered biographical material and archive pictures for a book which everyone with an interest in the Scottish hills will welcome.

Reviews of Seton Gordon’s Cairngorms: An Anthology

'Seton Gordon's Cairngorms is culled from a lifetime of his writing about the special range, and is illustrated with archival photographs that complement the selected prose. … Everyone with a love of the outdoors will find this book a joy. Hamish Brown has used his own considerable experience to create a memorable companion volume to Seton Gordon's Scotland (also published by Whittles Publishing). St. Andrews in Focus ——————– 'Some books are ideal for browsing, dipping into and re-reading and this is particularly true of Hamish Brown's anthology… … There is no better person than Hamish to digest and present Seton Gordon's sensitive and perceptive thoughts and observations. …his own song still rings out for those to have ears to hear.' The Scots Magazine ——————– '… If there is one book that i had to choose to epitomise the Highlands and its very special attraction then this is by far the one… … A must-have book for anyone remotley interested in the Highlands.' Highland News ——————– '… For anyone with an interest in the Cairngorm wildlife and Cairngorm history this book is an essential addition to the library.' Loose Scree ——————– 'Seton Gordon understood that the beauty and attraction of the mountains is not something that is only seen by the eye but is something that is felt by the heart and spirit and imagination. He proved his understanding and feelings on paper in a way that was skilful as any person that wrote about the cairngorms…' Cothrom