Please don’t withdraw

To Leigh Anne McGinty (Insulting rant; SN 21/03/14), I would say only two things:

1. Please don’t withdraw your intelligent contributions because an impassioned individual has had a go at you. I’m always pleased when opponents miscall me; it means they can’t knock down my arguments so they have to attack the messenger.
2. The history, interpretation and analyses are available in high quality research by Brian Smith and Stuart Hill and both accounts are fascinating and highly readable.

Stuart Hill put it all together in his book Stolen Isles, available online for £9.95 + p&p from his website of the same name, including where he differs from Brian Smith’s article When did Shetland become part of Scotland: A contribution to the debate, which you can buy from Orkney Heritage Society in their New Orkney Antiquarian Journal No5, which contains other interesting articles and is well worth the £17.50, including p&p.

John Tulloch
Lyndon
Arrochar