CONTENTS
Number 44
Page 10
Olympia by Jack Vettriano
10 JACK VETTRIANO
30 BEAVER HOMECOMING
Self taught and sneered at by the art establishment,
Beavers were hunted into extinction in Scotland in the
Jack Vettriano, the son of a Fife coalminer, is
18th century. Now, after 15 years of heated debate,
today one of the world’s best-known and most
the Scottish government has given per-mission for the
successful painters. His canvases routinely sell for
start of a carefully controlled trial release of European
six figure sums, but it’s the astute marketing of
beavers in mid-Argyll. Donald Cameron spoke with
his reproductions that has also made him one of
the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Simon Jones.
the world’s richest living artists. At his studio in
34 EDGE OF EMPIRE
London’s Knightsbridge, Jack Vettriano spoke with
In the second century AD, nearly 000 years ago,
Bruce Stannard.
the Roman Emperor, Antoninus Pius, issued orders
18 THE GATHERING
for a huge defensive wall to be built across the
All is now in readiness for what promises to be the
waist of Scotland, from the Firth of Forth to the
greatest assembly of clans and families in Scottish
Firth of Clyde. The 37-mile Antonine Wall, which
history. On the eve of The Gathering, Iain Gunn
marked the northernmost frontier of the Roman
speaks with Lord Sempill, the man whose initiative
Empire, has just been listed as a World Heritage Site.
and energy made it all possible.
In Edinburgh, Heather Ross spoke with Professor
20 TIES THAT BIND David Breeze, the distinguished archaeologist whose
In the Year of Homecoming, Alexander McCall unceasing efforts helped secure the listing.
Smith examines the importance of Scottish culture
42 A BIRD IN THE HAND
and kinship.
Christopher Rose is one of the world’s great wildlife
22 AUTUMN AT ALLADALE artists. A painter with an almost obsessive passion
September’s song, the roaring of the Red Deer stags for birds, his canvases also capture the subtle detail
in the annual rut, is one of the highlights of the of their habitat, landscapes that act as beautiful,
Highland year. Innes MacNeill, Head Ranger at the almost abstract backdrops to his minutely observed
Alladale Wildlife Reserve in Sutherland describes the studies of the birds themselves. At his home in the
Autumn ritual that ensures the survival of the fittest. Borders, Chris Rose spoke with Bruce MacWilliam.

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