MEM Donaldson Online

I just came across online versions of two of MEM Donaldson's books: Wanderings in the Western Highlands and Islands (1921), and The Isles of Flames (1913). 'Wanderings' is one of the classic books on the Highlands and Islands, and copies can be hard to find. I found mine in Maclaren's Bookstore in Helensburgh about 20 years ago for 45 pounds. But you don't need to spend anything to read this fascinating book these days. You can find an on-line version here.

The Isles of Flames (1913) is an historical fiction novel about St Donnan of Eigg, and how he was martyred around 617 AD. It is worth reading, and you can find it here. I do find it odd that the archive.org website indicates that these works are not in copyright, for as far as I know copyright expires 70 years after the death of the author. MEM passed away in 1958, so I think we have another twelve years to go. But I don't think she'd mind that these two books now have universal distribution. Take a look, I think you will find them interesting.

Over the years, MEM's Wanderings in the Western Highlands and Islands has inspired me to visit several islands. One of them was little Eilean Munde, the burial island of Loch Leven (see book 1, chapter 23). This small island is covered in graves, and had been the traditional burial ground for the Stewarts of Ballachulish, the Camerons of Callart, and the MacDonalds of Glencoe. It was an amazing places to see, and it had not changed much since how MEM described it a hundred years ago (see pages 281-287 in Wanderings in the Western Highlands and Islands).

Eilean Munde - Loch Leven