Nigel Tranter

Nigel Tranter

Nigel Tranter OBE was a Scottish historian and author.-Early life:Nigel Tranter was born in Glasgow and educated at George Heriot's School in Edinburgh. He trained as an accountant and worked in Scottish National Insurance Company, founded by his uncle. In 1933 he married May Jean Campbell Grieve...

is a Scottish author who wrote many novels based on actual historical events and characters.

This page includes those of his books set in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 from earliest times until the death of Alexander III

Alexander III of Scotland

Alexander III was King of Scots from 1249 to his death.-Life:...

 in 1286.

For other historical novel

Historical novel

According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...

s by Nigel Tranter see
Historical novels by Nigel Tranter set between 1286 and 1603 or
Historical novels by Nigel Tranter set after 1603

Historical novels by Nigel Tranter set after 1603

Nigel Tranter is a Scottish author who wrote many novels based on actual historical events and characters.This page includes those of his historical novels set in Scotland after the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when James VI of Scotland inherited the throne of England upon the death of his cousin...

For other books by Nigel Tranter see here.

Druid Sacrifice

First published in 1993 by Hodder & Stoughton

Hodder & Stoughton

Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.-History:The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged fourteen, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publisher for the Congregational Union...

. Paperback edition 1993.

Set during the period AD 518–543, the book tells the story of Thanea, or Denw, the daughter of King Lot

King Lot

Lot or Loth is the eponymous king of Lothian in the Arthurian legend. He is best known as the father of Sir Gawain. Such a ruler evidently first appeared in hagiographical material concerning Saint Kentigern , which feature a Leudonus, king of Leudonia, a Latin name for Lothian...

h (Lleuddun) of Gododdin

Gododdin

The Gododdin were a Brittonic people of north-eastern Britain in the sub-Roman period, the area known as the Hen Ogledd or Old North...

, and mother of Saint Mungo

Saint Mungo

Saint Mungo is the commonly used name for Saint Kentigern . He was the late 6th century apostle of the Brythonic Kingdom of Strathclyde in modern Scotland, and patron saint and founder of the city of Glasgow.-Name:In Wales and England, this saint is known by his birth and baptismal name Kentigern...

. When she objects to her pagan father's druid

Druid

A druid was a member of the priestly class in Britain, Ireland, and Gaul, and possibly other parts of Celtic western Europe, during the Iron Age....

ical practices, and refuses to marry the man picked out for her, she survives an 'execution' on Traprain Law

Traprain Law

Traprain Law is a hill about 221m in elevation, located east of Haddington in East Lothian, Scotland. It is the site of an oppidum or hill fort, which covered at its maximum extent about 16 ha and must have been a veritable town...

 and is cast adrift on the River Forth

River Forth

The River Forth , long, is the major river draining the eastern part of the central belt of Scotland.The Forth rises in Loch Ard in the Trossachs, a mountainous area some west of Stirling...

 in a Coracle

Coracle

The coracle is a small, lightweight boat of the sort traditionally used in Wales but also in parts of Western and South Western England, Ireland , and Scotland ; the word is also used of similar boats found in India, Vietnam, Iraq and Tibet...

. She seeks sanctuary with the monks of Saint Serf

Saint Serf

Saint Serf or Serbán is a saint of Scotland. Serf was venerated in western Fife. He is also called the apostle of Orkney, with less historical plausibility. Saint Serf is also somehow connected with Saint Mungo's Church near Simonburn, Northumberland...

, where she brings up her infant son.

Tranter's tale blends historical detail from early manuscripts with Scottish folklore and Arthurian legend. According to the latter, Loth is King Arthur's

King Arthur

King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...

 brother-in-law, and father of Gawain

Gawain

Gawain is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table who appears very early in the Arthurian legend's development. He is one of a select number of Round Table members to be referred to as the greatest knight, most notably in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight...

 and Mordred

Mordred

Mordred or Modred is a character in the Arthurian legend, known as a notorious traitor who fought King Arthur at the Battle of Camlann, where he was killed and Arthur fatally wounded. Tradition varies on his relationship to Arthur, but he is best known today as Arthur's illegitimate son by his...

.

Columba

First published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1987. Paperback edition 1990.

Set approx. 563–597, this tells of Saint Columba

Columba

Saint Columba —also known as Colum Cille , Colm Cille , Calum Cille and Kolban or Kolbjørn —was a Gaelic Irish missionary monk who propagated Christianity among the Picts during the Early Medieval Period...

.

Kenneth

Originally published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1990. Paperback edition 1992.

Set circa AD 832–843, the title character is Kenneth MacAlpin

Kenneth I of Scotland

Cináed mac Ailpín , commonly Anglicised as Kenneth MacAlpin and known in most modern regnal lists as Kenneth I was king of the Picts and, according to national myth, first king of Scots, earning him the posthumous nickname of An Ferbasach, "The Conqueror"...

, who united the Picts

Picts

The Picts were a group of Late Iron Age and Early Mediaeval people living in what is now eastern and northern Scotland. There is an association with the distribution of brochs, place names beginning 'Pit-', for instance Pitlochry, and Pictish stones. They are recorded from before the Roman conquest...

 and Scots.

High Kings and Vikings

First published in 1998 by Hodder & Stoughton. Paperback edition 1998.

Set in the years 995–1006

MacBeth the King

First published in 1978 by Hodder & Stoughton. Paperback edition 1981.

Covering the years 1032–1057, this book tells of Macbeth

Macbeth of Scotland

Mac Bethad mac Findlaích was King of the Scots from 1040 until his death...

, who acceded the throne of Scotland in 1040. Basing the story around what is known of MacBeth, Tranter has fleshed out the story, and his final 'Historical Note' explains some of his suppositions. From historical record, it is certain that Macbeth was a young, well-liked king, and bore little resemblance to Shakespeare's fictional version

Macbeth

The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...

.

Margaret the Queen

First published in 1979 by Hodder & Stoughton. Paperback edition 1981.

Set in 1069–1093, this book tells the story of Saint Margaret of Scotland

Saint Margaret of Scotland

Saint Margaret of Scotland , also known as Margaret of Wessex and Queen Margaret of Scotland, was an English princess of the House of Wessex. Born in exile in Hungary, she was the sister of Edgar Ætheling, the short-ruling and uncrowned Anglo-Saxon King of England...

 and her husband, Malcolm III

Malcolm III of Scotland

Máel Coluim mac Donnchada , was King of Scots...

 (Canmore).

David the Prince

First published in 1980 by Hodder & Stoughtton. Paperback edition 1982.

Set in 1100–1153, Tranter tells the story of Queen Margaret's sons Alexander I

Alexander I of Scotland

Alexander I , also called Alaxandair mac Maíl Coluim and nicknamed "The Fierce", was King of the Scots from 1107 to his death.-Life:...

 and David I

David I of Scotland

David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later King of the Scots...

.

Lord of the Isles

First published in 1983 by Hodder & Stoughton. Paperback edition 1985.

1135–1164 Somerled

Somerled

Somerled was a military and political leader of the Scottish Isles in the 12th century who was known in Gaelic as rí Innse Gall . His father was Gillebride...

Tapestry of the Boar

First published in 1993 by Hodder & Stoughton. Paperback edition 1994.

Set between 1160–1166, the storyline centres around Hugh de Swinton and his relationship with Malcolm IV

Malcolm IV of Scotland

Malcolm IV , nicknamed Virgo, "the Maiden" , King of Scots, was the eldest son of Earl Henry and Ada de Warenne...

Sword of State

First published in 1999 by Hodder & Stoughton. Paperback edition 1999.

Set 1214–1249, the story follows Patrick II, Earl of Dunbar

Patrick II, Earl of Dunbar

Patrick II , called "5th Earl of Dunbar", lord of Beanley, was a 13th century Anglo-Scottish noble, and one of the leading figures during the reign of King Alexander II of Scotland....

 in his dealings with Alexander II

Alexander II of Scotland

Alexander II was King of Scots from1214 to his death.-Early life:...

.

Envoy Extraordinary

First published in 1999 by Hodder & Stoughton.

Set 1249–1286, this book continues the tale of the Cospatricks

Earl of Dunbar

The title Earl of Dunbar, also called Earl of Lothian or Earl of March, was the head of a comital lordship in south-eastern Scotland between the early 12th century and the early 15th century. The first man to use the title of Earl in this earldom was Gospatric II, Earl of Lothian, son of Gospatric,...

, by following the life of Patrick III, Earl of Dunbar and Alexander III

Alexander III of Scotland

Alexander III was King of Scots from 1249 to his death.-Life:...

.

Crusader

First published in 1991 by Hodder & Stoughton. Paperback edition 1991.

Set between 1248–1264, the book tells the story of Alexander III

Alexander III of Scotland

Alexander III was King of Scots from 1249 to his death.-Life:...

 and David de Lindsay

True Thomas

First published in 1981 by Hodder & Stoughton. Paperback edition

Set ?1265–1292. Based on Thomas the Rhymer

Thomas the Rhymer

Thomas Learmonth , better known as Thomas the Rhymer or True Thomas, was a 13th century Scottish laird and reputed prophet from Earlston . He is also the protagonist of the ballad "Thomas the Rhymer"...

, it follows the life of Alexander III, and the turmoil of the kingdom following his death.