Publisher's Synopsis
Wigtown, officially designated as Scotland's National Book Town in 1998, is rightly conscious of its heritage. This reprint of an 1877 volume - published by a local Bookseller and dedicated 'to all those ... who take an interest in their dear old Burgh' - offers the reader a Nineteenth-Century view of that heritage. Drawing first on published scholarly research, as well as extracts from official Town and Kirk records, Fraser gives a lively description both of the local society and its history, all the while sketching the local character of the place and its people. The second half of the book contains a compilation of old customs and beliefs, stories and anecdotes, presented to illustrate 'wit and humour', of past Wigtonians and Whithornians. From a Twenty-First Century perspective, there is an added bonus in the insights into the Nineteenth-Century Town to be found in the Advertisements at the end of the book. From Gordon Fraser himself - 'Druggist, Printer, Bookseller, Stationer, and News-Agent', who offered Shorthand Classes in the winter months - to the Commercial Union Assurance Company, all Wigtown life is here.
