Nigel Tranter

(born November 1909 - died January 2000) - Glasgow and Edinburgh

Nigel Tranter was born in Glasgow, but schooled at George Heriot's in Edinburgh. His childhood interests included history and architecture, but his first profession was an account for his uncle's insurance company. He married Jean Campbell Grieve in 1933, and his first book was published a year later - The Fortalices and Early Mansions of Southern Scotland, which he illustrated himself He turned to fiction, and became a full-time writer in 1936.

During WWII he served in the Royal Artillery, but still found time to write five books. After the war, he returned to writing, producing childrens' books, romantic novels, and Westerns under the pen-name Nye Tredgold. But Tranter is most famous for his historical novels, particularly the Robert the Bruce trilogy written in between 1969 and 1971. The first of his historical novels was The Queen's Grace, about Mary Queen of Scots, and was inspired in part by his research into the architectural history of Scottish Castles.

Later novels featured many more Scottish figures, including Kings James II, V and II, Queen Margaret, Macbeth, King David I, the House of Stewart, and others.

Tranter also wrote a number of non-fiction books, particularly on Scottish architecture such as the five-volume The Fortified House in Scotland. He was an active public speaker, particularly on historical and political subjects, and was a firm Scottish Nationalist.

Nigel Tranter died in 2000, aged 91, from the flu. In all, he wrote over 130 books; his final novel, Hope Endures, wasn't published until 2004.

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  The Admiral
  Nigel Tranter - Paperback - Coronet
  This is a stirring 15th-century tale of seafaring hero Andrew Wood, loyal supporter of King James III. A humble laird from Largoshire, he is determined to avenge his father's murder by English pirates.
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  The Flockmaster
  Nigel Tranter - B & W
  A hero of the Peninsular War, Alastair MacRory returns home to Wester Ross to recuperate from a wound he suffered while fighting with the Higland Regiment. He is shocked to find his fellow clansmen being brutally dispossessed of their land.
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  The Islesman
  Nigel Tranter - Paperback - Coronet
  This is the story of Angus Og MacDonald, Lord of the Isles, grandson of the great Angus Mor, direct descendant and successor of Somerled himself.
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  Kettle Of Fish
  Nigel Tranter - Paperback - B & W
  This novels tells of Adam Horsburgh and his challenge of the 1857 Tweed Fisheries Act. It is an exciting adventure story set against the background of the Berwickshire and Northumbrian coasts.
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  Marie And Mary
  Nigel G. Tranter - Paperback - Hodder
  Marie de Guise ruled Scotland alone after the death of her husband James V. She foiled Henry Tudor of England's plans to marry her baby daughter to his son Edward and unite the two thrones under English rule by sending Mary to France. Mary Queen of Scots was welcomed back to the country of her birth after her mother died.
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  Right Royal Friend
  Nigel G. Tranter - Paperback - Coronet
  In this meticulously researched novel, Nigel Tranter vividly recreates the life and times of David Murray, King James VI's cup bearer and Master of the Horse. When David meets the girl of his dreams fate has different plans for the king's 'Right Royal Friend', but a quiet life is not one of them.
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  Rob Roy Macgregor
  Nigel G. Tranter - Paperback - Neil Wilson
  Rob Roy MacGregor was mythologised by Sir Walter Scott but was very much a fact in the Trossachs of Scotland in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Scott's romantic image is however, far from the rogue which Nigel Tranter protrays in this classic work.
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  The Wallace
  Nigel Tranter - Paperback - Coronet
  At the end of the 13th century Scotland suffered under the harsh domination of a tyrant usurper, the hated English King, Edward I. Motivated by revenge for the murder of his father, William Wallace vowed to set Robert the Bruce upon the throne.

Bibliography

MacGregor Trilogy

1. MacGregor's Gathering (1957)
2. The Clansman (1959)
3. Gold For Prince Charlie (1962)

Master of Gray Trilogy

1. Lord and Master (1961)
2. The Courtesan (1963)
3. Past Master (1965)

• The Master of the Gray Trilogy (omnibus) (1996)

Bruce Trilogy

1. The Steps To The Empty Throne (1969)
2. The Path of the Hero King (1970)
3. The Price of the King's Peace (1971)

• The Bruce Trilogy (omnibus) (1985)

Montrose

1. The Young Montrose (1972)
2. Montrose, the Captain-General (1973)

• The Montrose Omnibus (omnibus) (1987)

House of Stewart Trilogy

1. Lords of Misrule (1976)
2. A Folly of Princes (1977)
3. The Captive Crown (1977)

James V Trilogy

1. The Riven Realm (1984)
2. James By The Grace of God (1985)
3. Rough Wooing (1986)

• The James V Trilogy (omnibus) (1995)

Mary Stewart

1. Price of a Princess (1994)
2. Lord in Waiting (1994)

• The Mary Stewart Omnibus (omnibus) (1998)

Novels

• Trespass (1937)
• Mammon's Daughter (1939)
• Harsh Heritage (1940)
• Watershed (1941)
• Eagle Feathers (1941)
• The Gilded Fleece (1942)
• Delayed Action (1944)
• Tinker's Pride (1945)
• Flight of Dutchmen (1946)
• Island Twilight (1947)
• Man's Estate (1947)
• Colours Flying (1948)
• Root and Branch (1948)
• The Stone (1948)
• The Chosen Course (1949)
• Fair Game (1950)
• The Freebooters (1950)
• High Spirits (1950)
• Tidewrack (1951)
• Fast and Loose (1951)
• Bridal Path (1952)
• Cheviot Chase (1952)
• The Queen's Grace (1953)
• Ducks and Drakes (1953)
• The Night Riders (1954)
• Rum Week (1954)
• Rio D'Oro (1955)
• There Are Worse Jungles (1955)
• The Long Coffin (1956)
• The Enduring Flame (1957)
• Balefire (1958)
• Spaniards' Isle (1958)
• Man Behind the Curtain (1959)
• The Flockmaster (1960)
• Nestor the Monster (1960)
• Spanish Galleon (1960)
• Birds of a Feather (1961)
• Kettle of Fish (1961)
• The Deer Poachers (1961)
• Drug On The Market (1962)
• Something Very Fishy (1962)
• Give a Dog a Bad Name (1963)
• Chain of Destiny (1964)
• Silver Island (1964)
• Pursuit (1965)
• Stake in the Kingdom (1966)
• Fire and High Water (1967)
• Lion Let Loose (1967)
• Tinker Tess (1967)
• Cable From Kabul (1967)
• To the Rescue (1968)
• Black Douglas (1968)
• The Wisest Fool (1974)
• The Wallace (1975)
• Border Riding (1977)
• Macbeth The King (1978)
• Margaret The Queen (1979)
• David The Prince (1980)
• True Thomas (1981)
• The Patriot (1982)
• Lord of the Isles (1983)
• Unicorn Rampant (1984)
• Cache Down (1987)
• Columba (1987)
• Flowers of Chivalry (1987)
• Mail Royal (1989)
• Warden of the Queen's March (1989)
• Kenneth (1990)
• Crusader (1991)
• Children of the Mist (1992)
• Druid Sacrifice (1993)
• Tapestry of the Boar (1993)
• Highness in Hiding (1995)
• Honours Even (1995)
• A Rage of Regents (1996)
• Poetic Justice (1996)
• The Marchman (1997)
• The Lion's Whelp (1997)
• High Kings and Vikings (1998)
• A Flame for the Fire (1998)
• Sword of State (1999)
• Envoy Extraordinary (1999)
• Courting Favour (2000)
• The End of the Line (2000)
• The Admiral (2001)
• Triple Alliance (2001)
• The Islesman (2003)
• Right Royal Friend (2003)
• Marie and Mary (2004)
• Hope Endures (2005)

Non fiction

Fortified House in Scotland

1. The Fortified House in Scotland Volume I: South-East Scotland (1962)
2. The Fortified House in Scotland Volume II: Central Scotland (1963)
3. The Fortified House in Scotland Volume III: Southwest Scotland (1965)
4. The Fortified House in Scotland Volume IV: Aberdeen, Angus and Kincardineshire (1966)
5. The Fortified House in Scotland Volume V: North and West Scotland (1970)

• The Fortified House in Scotland (1962)

Queen's Scotland

• The Heartland (1971)
• The Eastern Counties (1972)
• The Northeast (1974)
• Argyll and Bute (1977)

Other Non fiction

• The Fortalices and Early Mansions of Southern Scotland, 1400-1650 (1935)
• Pegasus Book of Scotland (1964)
• Outlaw of the Highlands - Rob Roy (1965)
• Land of the Scots (1968)
• Portrait of the Border Country (1972)
• Portrait of the Lothians (1979)
• Nigel Tranter's Scotland, A Very Personal View (1981)
• Scottish Castles: Tales and Traditions (1982)
• Travellers' Guide to the Land of Robert the Bruce (1985)
• The Story of Scotland (1987)
• Footbridge to Enchantment (1992)
• More Tales and Traditions of Scottish Castles (1997)

Books about Nigel Tranter

• Tranter's Terrain - Michael Pritchard & Alison Pritchard - 1994
• Nigel Tranter: Scotland's Storyteller - Ray Bradfield - 1999