Bill Lawson Publications

NEW – BILL LAWSON’S 60TH BOOK
The Isle of Lewis, the largest and most populous of the islands of the Outer Hebrides, has had an eventful history which stretches back thousands of years. In this eagerly awaited second volume of Lewis in History and Legend, Bill Lawson deals with the townships of the east coast of the island, from Tolsta in the north to the boundary with Harris in the south, and with Stornoway, the commercial and administrative capital of the island.

In his own inimitable style, he traces the story of the island from earliest times to the present day, describing the landscape and the physical remains of the past. More importantly, however, he excels in charting the history of the people themselves, weaving his way through the centuries with stories drawn from documented sources, oral tradition, Gaelic song and from his own experiences of many years travelling around the island and researching the history of its families.

The result is a unique insight in to the way of life and history of an island.

Bill Lawson founded the genealogy centre Co Leis Thus? and is genealogical consultant to Northton Heritage Trust, which now runs this research service. He has written sixty books on the genealogies and history of the western Isles. He regularly researches and lectures in North America and Australia. He lives in Northton, Harris.

This was Bill Lawson’s first book, published in Canada by the Compton County Museum. It is the first major genealogical listing of 350 families who emigrated from the Hebrides to Quebec.

The Church of the MacLeods of Lewis. History of the church, stories of individual residents of the parish going back to 1498 and gravestone inscriptions. 44 pages.

The Church of the MacLeods of Harris and Skye. History, gravestone inscriptions, listing of 22 tenant farmers in 1680 as well as short histories of individuals back to 1547. 44 pages.

History of the church and the parish with individual records of residents that emigrated and those who didn’t. The island was cleared in 1846, with many going to Cape Breton and Australia

This book compiles a selection of Gaelic songs from Harris.

This is the story of the communities and people of Harris in history and legend. One of the largest and most famous of all the islands of Scotland, astonishingly little has been written about the varied and eventful life of Harris, perhaps because the island has been so self contained. Including much material on the now deserted islands around Harris, including new information on St Kilda, Bill Lawson’s book is the first modern account of Harris and those who have shaped its history over thousands of years.

The Isle of Lewis, the largest and the most northerly of the islands of the Outer Hebrides, has had an eventful story from prehistoric times through to the present. Evidence of human occupation stretches back to 3000 BC, explicit in the iconic silhouettes of the Standing Stones at Callanish. After the Vikings left in the ninth century, the clans of West Scotland quickly moved in, and Lewis was the site of many feuds between the Morrisons, the MacAulays and the MacLeods. The island operated largely independently until it was purchased by the MacKenzies in 1600 and was finally drawn into Scotland

Like all the Hebrides, North Uist has a fascinating history, and a landscape scattered with historic sites, from Neolithic burial chambers and Iron Age forts, though medieval churches and battle-sites, to townships forged in the days of kelp trade, and the subsequent traumas of clearance and emigration. Of all the Western Isles, none has closer links with the turbulent history of Clan Donald than North Uist, and stories of their chiefs and battles are linked with sites all through the island, all set in a landscape which is one of the most varied and beautiful in the Hebrides.

Bill Lawson has woven a tapestry of stories about the island and its people, drawing on formal recorded history and also the rich tradition of story and song in which the informal history of the people was passed down, but also incorporating many of his personal reminiscences of his travels through the island, to give a unique insight into North Uist and the life of its people through the ages.

This book, dealing with the historical background to various items of interest connected with St. Kilda and its Church, is the third in a series looking at various historical sites in the Western Isles.