Claymore and Kilt

Eleven tales explore the early history of Scotland’s constant struggle for freedom from the English

Scottish history is full of tales of blood and sacrifice, great heroes and fierce warriors, and above all, the constant battle between the Scots and the Brits for Scotland’s independence. For hundreds of years, Scotland and England teetered between war, peace, and unity, and being Scottish royalty could bring as much danger as it could power and riches.

The legendary stories included in Claymore and Kilt follow the rise and fall of the great Scottish kings of old. With tales including those of the sons of Cathmor, who vowed to avenge their father’s murder, the strange riddle that saved a lord’s life, and the king who loved only one thing more than his beautiful dog, this collection gives a voice to the complicated history of Scottish kings and castles.

“Here is the stuff of Scottish history from the ancient Caledonians to the end of Scotland as an independent Kingdom in eleven crisp, direct tales and an introduction to each. . . . Unlike the author’s earlier collections, most of these tales are not legends so much as historical narratives, and their interest is in discovering what was once rather than in imagining once-upon-a-time. . . . As a group they are for the historical fiction buff (and anyone with a tartan in his family tree).” —Kirkus Reviews Sorche Nic Leodhas (1898–1969) was born LeClaire Louise Gowans in Youngstown, Ohio. After the death of her first husband, she moved to New York and attended classes at Columbia University. Several years later, she met her second husband and became LeClaire Gowans Alger. She was a longtime librarian at the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she also wrote children’s books. Shortly before she retired in 1966, she began publishing Scottish folktales and other stories under the pseudonym Sorche Nic Leodhas, Gaelic for Claire, daughter of Louis. In 1963, she received a Newbery Honor for Thistle and Thyme: Tales and Legends from Scotland. Alger continued to write and publish books until her death 1969.