7. McWatt’s different love interests dovetail with the end of Mhairi and Marco’s marriage. Did it surprise you how close she became to McWatt despite her desire to distance herself from her husband, even to the extent of moving across the Atlantic Ocean? How do these two men in their own ways similarly compel her to achieve and pursue her own career?
8. What did you think was the true cause of Mhairi and Marco’s separation? How did their different passions first work in favor of their relationship, and then against it?
9. Discuss Agnes’s role in Mhairi’s plight. How do her responses to her parents’ breakup—her isolation in school, and her relentless sense of inquiry and curiosity—both distract and ground Mhairi while she and Agnes are on the island? What do the two learn from each other during the course of the novel, and how does Agnes function as her own character? Are mother and daughter more similar or different in the end in terms of their respective passions, and in how they greet Marco in the final scene?
10. What does Mhairi sacrifice in her relationship with Agnes to pursue her various affairs—first romantically with Pascal, then intellectually with McWatt? Are there ramifications for her self-interest, and what parallels are there between those choices and some of McWatt’s?
11. What do Mhairi’s and McWatt’s respective work/personal lives suggest about the thrill of novelty versus the steadiness of what’s familiar and good? How do they each resist the familiar in their lives in their choices and in their identities? What does looking at them together in the space of the novel, a shared (auto)biography, help illustrate about the risks one takes for art and the pursuit of fame?
12. Discuss the significance of the various “inventories” throughout the book—of flora and fauna, Scots words for weather and tools, the glossary, bibliography, appendices of recipes and music, etc. Did you feel these disparate lists were effective in helping you get a sense of McWatt’s Scotland: did they make up a true “Fascaray Compendium,” and how does Mhairi’s experience on the island fit into the novel’s “compendium”?
13. Toward the end of the novel, politics becomes increasingly important in McWatt’s work. Did you notice any parallels in his plight with other artists’ who affected larger social change, historically or in a more contemporary context? In your mind, who might have been an inspiration for McWatt’s character and legacy in the novel?
14. McWatt writes “Transparency. Lucidity. This is a service we Scots can perform” (this page). How does he perform such a service in his work, or claim to? What did the reveal of his real past by his sister do to complicate this claim?
15. What made McWatt’s song so compelling across generations and nationalities? How does his devotion to “hame”—home—stand up even in light of the truth of his birth country? What does his legacy, and Mhairi’s role in perpetuating it with A Granite Ballad, suggest about the legitimacy of a self-constructed identity and home? Can you relate to this impulse in your own family and/or life?
Suggested Reading:
Elif Batuman, The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them
A. S. Byatt, Possession
Jonathan Galassi, Muse
Seamus Heaney, Preoccupations
Barry Lopez, Horizon
Rebecca Mead, My Life in Middlemarch
Vladimir Nabokov, Pale Fire
Ali Smith, How to Be Both
Nell Stevens, Bleaker House: Chasing My Novel to the End of the World
Glossary
A
aa all
abeich aloof, apart
ablo under, below
abreed wide apart, open
abuin above, overhead
acause because
aefauld honest, faithful
agane again
agin against
agley awry, astray
Ah I, first-person singular
ahint behind, late
aiblins perhaps
aik oak
ain own
airn iron
airt direction, to airt out to discover
ane one, an, a
aneath beneath
anely only
antrin occasional, rare, odd
asclentit aslant, aside, astray, “to the one side like Gourock”
asure blue
athin within
atweesh between
aw all
awfie awful
awra all the
aye yes, always
ayebidin everlasting
ayont beyond
B
bahookie backside
bairns babies, children
bampot idiot, person of low intelligence or away with the fairies (see sidhe)
bangster ruffian
barelins barely, hardly
bauchle untidy, clumsy or old person
bauld-daur audacious
bawbee coin, penny
bawheid idiot
bayin to lift up the voice loudly
beekin shining
ben in, inside, indoors, as in “ben the hoose”
beuchs boughs
bevvy alcoholic beverage
bickety trifling
bide stay, couples who reside together conjugally without marriage are known as “bidie-ins”
big build
bing a heap
binna except, unless
birl to rotate rapidly, revolve, whirl
birlinn long-oared boat, galley
birses bruises
birsie hot-tempered
blae blue
blaflum hoax, illusion, nonsense
blash a splash of liquid
blashy gusty
blether prattle, idle talk
bletherskite fool, babbler
bliss bless
blooter a jelly-like mass, blast of wind
blootert or bluitert drunk
boak retch, vomit
boch rapture, ecstasy
bodach old man
bogey flawed, invalid, as in “the gemme’s a bogey”
bogle spirit, ghost
bonailie a farewell drink
bonnie beautiful
booral small bedroom
bosie bosom
bothy hut, primitive shelter
bouk body, carcass
bowd billowing waves
bowsie fat, puffed up
brae hill
braibit depressed
braid broad
brall to soar, to fly
brammle berry
braw fine, splendid
breenge plunge, rush recklessly
brinn piercing, dry wind
broch a prehistoric tower
broukit broken
browstary embroidery
bruim-buss broom bush, genista, whin
bucht bend
bunnet firs Scots pines
burn river, stream
bygae go by
byous wonderful, extraordinary
C
cadgy happy, cheerful
cailleach old woman
callant stripling, youthful
caller-killt freshly killed
camsheuch crooked, deformed, perverse
camsteirie wild, excitable, riotous
cannie wise, shrewd, cautious
cantie lively, cheerful
cark anxiety, care
carnaptious quarrelsome, crabbed
cauld cold
caunle candle
caur left
caw call
chap (1) knock (2) lay a claim
chaumer room
chib blade, knife
chirker cricket
chitterin shivering
chuckie a small stone, pebble (for throwing, skimming)
clacha
n hamlet, small village
claggie sticky
clashmaclavers gossip, idle talk
clatty dirty
claucht caught, seized
cleed clothe
cleeked hooked
cleuch gorge, pit, ravine
clonger wild rose
clourt beaten, dented
cludgie restroom, toilet
clype to inform on someone, tell tales
cogie bowl
colf fill
collit shaped
con squirrel
coof rogue, blade
coolks reeds
corrieneuchin intimate conversation
coupon face
couthie pleasant, sympathetic, good company
cowp upset, fall, lay low
crack conversation, gossip
crammasie crimson
cranreuch frost
creesh fat
cried called, as in name
crochan mud
crood cooed, sang
crottle crumble
crooch crouch
cruin croon, mournful song
cuckoo-brogue violet
cuddie donkey, horse
cuild cooled
cuitle please, gratify
cuman milking pail
curnawin hunger
cushie doo darling dove, term of endearment
cutty short
cutty-stool low three-legged stool
D
dachlin dawdling, going slowly, hesitating
daedle linger
dag day
darg work
dashelt worn out
datchie secret
daud lump, piece
daunder saunter, stroll
dautie darling, pet
dawk dawn
deid dead
deil devil
dern hidden, secret, to hide
diacle compass
dicht washed, cleaned, wiped
diddies breasts
dings beats
dinkly dainty
dirl whirl, gust
dirr numb
dishantit abandoned, deserted
disjaskit downcast, dejected, depressed
dit close
doistert frenzied
doitert confused
donsie luckless, unfortunate
doo dove
doon down
douce sweet, pleasant, sober (usage in religious households only)
dover sleep, doze
dowe fade, wither
dowf weary, stupefied, dull, melancholy
dowie melancholy, sad
dowp to sit, buttocks
dowre to sleep
draik drench
dree suffer, endure, see thole
dreich wet, dull
drouthie thirsty
dùchthas ancient Gaelic spirit of connection with and kindness to the land
duds clothes
dufftie soft, spongy
dule sorrow
dunt batter, beat
dwaum dream, reverie, trance
dwm dumb
dwyne wither, fade, waste away
E
eariwig eavesdrop, overhear
eelist envy
eik grow
een eye, eyes
e’en (1) evening (2) even
ensenzie motto, slogan
erch coy, timid
ettle desire
eydent intent, busy
F
factor bailiff, estate manager
fae (1) from (2) foe
fank (1) confusion (2) sheep pen
fankelt mixed up, confused, tangled
fash trouble, annoy, irritate
fauld sheepfold
fause false
faw fall
feart afraid
fecht fight
fedders feathers
fegs faith
feuch rage
fire-flaucht lightning
fit foot
fiver fever
flane arrow
flaucht weave
fleech flatter, wheedle, beseech
flicht flight
flirry blossom
flit move, as in moving house
flochter flutter
flum flattery
fog moss
forby besides, as well, in addition to
forfauchelt exhausted, worn out
forhou forsake
fou drunk, full
fouth abundant
fowed forked
fower four
fowk people
frae from
freuch hard, dry
fung kick, toss, fling
furrin foreign
fykie intricate
fyle foul
G
gab mouth, beginning
gairdie hand, fist
gallus reckless, bold
gallehooing noisy, foolish blustering
gamawow a fool
gamf mimic
gang go
gangrel vagrant
gar make, coerce, cause
geck scorn
gealit frozen
geggie mouth
gemmster gambler
gey very
gillum jewel, jewelled
gin if
girn grimace
girtholl sanctuary
gizz face
gizzern throat
glagger, glaggin to yearn, long for
glaikit foolish
glaise to warm, as at a fire
glaister glitter
glaur mud, ooze, slime
gleed glowing coal, burning peat or ember, fire
gleek peep, glance
glen valley
glisk glimmer, glance
gloamin twilight, fusk
glormach gaudy
gluives gloves
goad god
gowan daisy
gowd gold
gowen gown
gowk fool, cuckoo
gowp stare gormlessly
graff grave
graig gurgling noise
gree prize
greet cry, weep
grotho sorrow, vexation
gru atom, particle
grue horror
gruggie cloudy
guddle mess, confusion
guga young gannet, hunted by Fascaradians for centuries
gullion a marsh, a swamp
gunkit bitterly disappointed
gurley wild, stormy
gyrie circuit
H
haar mist
haffet cheek, temple, face
hain protect
hairiken hurricane
hairst autumn, harvest
haiveless meaningless, senseless
hame home
hamelt belonging to home, internal, native, domestic
hameseek homesick, selfish
hamesucken the offence under Scots law of premeditated assault on a person in his own dwelling place
handsel a present to bring good luck to a new enterprise, be it a new home, a baby or the New Year at Hogmanay
hap cover
hauch low ground, meadow
haulflin adolescent
haw-buss hawthorn
hecht vow
heeld to lean, slant
heeze to rise
heich high
heid head
heiv’n heaven
hen affectionate term for a woman
hend end, last
hert heart
heuch to shout joyously, as at a ceilidh
hewit colour, hue
hicht height, e
xalted position
hidlins secret, hidden
high heid yins self-anointed rulers
hingins curtains
hinmaist last
hinnie honey
hishie murmur, whisper
hissel hazel
hochmagandy sexual congress
hod hold
hollae hollow
hoob land exposed at ebb-tide
hoor whore
hooshit silent, hushed
howdie midwife
howdiein birth
howe deep, hollow, hoe
howff a public house or inn, meeting place
howked dug
huff blow
huily slowly
hummel humble
hyne far away
hynie distance
I
ilka each, every
ill-kyndit ill-willed, th’ill kyndit yin the devil
ill-mynded forgetful
ilsket malicious
imalded overwhelmed, buried
impignorate to pawn
J
jamphi mocking, jeering
jessamine wood anemone
jink to move nimbly, dodge, dart
jouk play truant
jube deep place, bog or morass
K
kail kale, leafy-green vegetable originally part of Scots diet, now universal
kailyard sentimental school of Scots writing dealing with rural domestic life
keech excrement
keek glance, peep
keelie rowdy fellow (see ned)
ken to know, knowledge
kenspeckelt familiar
killie-shangie uproarious argument
kinchie merry
kinrick kingdom
kirn mix
kittle to stimulate, please, perplex
knock time, the hour
knowe small hill
knype to knock, strike
kowk to retch, vomit
kye cows
kythe appearance
L
laich low
laid load
laith hatred
laldie a thrashing, perform vigorously
lang long
lave remainder, rest
laverock skylark
laylocks lilacs
lea field
leal loyal
lee lie
leep period of warm weather
leid language
leif life
lettern desk
lig recline, lie, rest
limmer harlot, rascal
lin rest
linn waterfall
lintie linnet
list wish, desire
loon young man
loorach tattered, trailing
lootch stooped
loue love
lounder severe thrashing
lown quiet, silent, peaceful
lowp leap