Roddy Martine

Discover the essence of Scotland’s cultural brilliance with Demarco’s Scotland, an immersive journey into the heart of one of the world’s most captivating nations. Experience the richness of Scottish identity, woven with threads of history, art and tradition. This, the compelling sequel to Demarco’s Edinburgh, is where the soul of Scotland is laid bare through the eyes of Richard Demarco and Roddy Martine. Explore the profound connections between art, culture and history as you trace Scotland’s evolution from ancient pilgrimage routes to modern-day artistic endeavours. Whether you are a seasoned Scot or a newcomer to its shores, Demarco’s Scotland is a celebration of the country’s enduring spirit and timeless quest for meaning. The perfect read for Festival enthusiasts, cultural explorers and history buffs.

Nestling in an exquisite glen just seven miles from the centre of Edinburgh, Rosslyn Chapel is one of the world's most extraordinary places. Ever since it was built in the mid fifteenth century it has cast a mesmerising spell over all who have visited it, exuding an aura of profound mystery, as if it holds the key to some vast, unearthly secret. Six hundred years later it continues to confound and intrigue, inspiring stories of The Knights Templar, the Holy Grail and a myriad of esoteric beliefs, most notably in the 1980s bestseller The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail and Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, which made the chapel known to millions throughout the word. In this book Roddy Martine sifts through mounds of unfounded conjecture and fantasy to make sense of it all. The Secrets of Rosslyn is the only book that lets the facts speak for themselves, showing ultimately that the truth is no less amazing than fiction.

Gallery Director, artist and teacher Richard Demarco was in at the very start of the Edinburgh Festival in August 1947. Born at the beginning of that same year, Roddy Martine’s involvement commenced in 1963 when, at the age of sixteen, he edited an Edinburgh Festival magazine. Therefore both Richard and Roddy have highly individual memories of the most remarkable international festival of the arts the world has ever known. At the same time, both have witnessed its evolution from the noble vision of its founders. Now in its seventy-sixth year, can the Edinburgh Festival survive? Demarco’s Edinburgh will be a hit with any Edinburgh Festival regular, newbie or on-and-off visitor. It will also be of interest to anyone who wants to learn more about the modern history of Edinburgh or the world of the arts, given the central role the festivals hold in the culture of both.

Throughout the world there exists an enduring fascination with our ancestry – who we are and where we come from. Nowhere is this more evident than with the generations of Scots who over the centuries have left their native Scotland to create a new life in the New World – North America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. The Scots are a remarkable race with a justifiably proud history and culture which they have successfully passed on through generations. This compact book sets out to identify the larger Scottish clan and family names, their tartans, septs (dependent family names), heraldic crests, mottos, ancestral lands and allegiances. This book features full colour photographs of each tartan as opposed to digital reproductions, allowing readers to see both the textures and patterns.