Hunting Grounds
Praise for Hunting Grounds
Bloody funny and spot on about ‘going to the game’ in all its weird and wonderful forms – The Herald
A terrific tome. Would be cheap at a squillion times the price – Scotland on Sunday
The madness is infectious. It might even be enough to persuade you to go to Peterhead - When Saturday Comes
One of the most conclusive guides to Scottish football - The Daily Record
Hunting Grounds: A Scottish Football Safari (Birlinn)
Some people bag Munros. I went bagging football grounds. Over the course of a season, I visited every one of Scotland’s 42 grounds, documenting the singing, the swearing, the frequent rain and the occasional football.
An odd kind of safari, Hunting Grounds is an alternative travelogue round Scotland, ranging from Dingwall to Berwick and all points in between. Even Methil. It’s a tale of fluffed penalties, raging supporters, strange train journeys and the sight of seagulls flying backwards in Arbroath. Bets are placed, buses are missed, pies are scoffed. Basically I did it all so you don’t have to.
Great Balls of Fire
Praise for Great Balls of Fire
Sutherland is a genial host with a genuine gift for comic writing – The Herald
A very funny and surprisingly touching sideways look at modern Scotland and its people – Press & Journal
Get this book if you love a laugh, or if you love – or loved - your dad – Orkney Today
Sit down, have a cup of tea and let Sutherland take you away. He’s a good guide and a good writer – The Scotsman
Great Balls of Fire: A Year of Scottish Festivals (Birlinn)
Old habits die hard in Scotland. You’ll happen across the strangest activities if you search hard enough. Throughout the year, communities across the country get up to all sorts of capers in the name of tradition. There’s more to Scotland than Burns’ Night.
My year of living ceremoniously resulted in this custom-made guide to Scotland, the nation’s annual festivals revealed in all their wonder and eccentricity and ‘did that actually happen?’. Brawling Orcadians, thrawn Brochers, singing Vikings, Devil-burning Borderers, a terrifying walking man-plant, I witnessed them all and lived with the occasional hangover to tell the tale.
Golf on the Rocks
Praise for Golf on the Rocks
Sutherland has holed it with this odyssey – Scotland on Sunday
A marvellous romp – Daily Telegraph
Beautifully written and evocative. Rich with wry humour and pathos – Scottish Field
Daftly enjoyable. A refreshing and heartfelt journey – The Big Issue
A wonderful, joyous book – Undiscovered Scotland
Golf on the Rocks: A Journey Round Scotland’s Island Courses (Hachette Scotland)
Waterstone’s Scottish Book of the Month – July 2011
I was a lapsed golfer until I acquired my late dad’s putter. After studying a crumpled golf map of Scotland, I decided to embark on a voyage. My target was to play 18 rounds of golf on 18 Scottish islands in honour of my dad, a ship’s captain who, when he wasn’t at sea, was never off the golf course.
My journey would take me from the Northern Isles to the Outer Hebrides. Playing in the Harris hail and Arran sunshine, I would encounter an odd variety of golfing hazards, including sheep on the tees, cows on the fairways and electric fences round the greens.
This is golf in the raw – a million miles from St Andrews. It’s a life-affirming tale of remembrance and discovery. It’s about having a laugh and holding on to what’s dear. And it’s about a putter with magical properties. You can believe what you want to believe, but it all happened…
A heart-warming tale of hooks, slices, ferries, fairways and friendship that’ll make you want to pick up a golf club and phone your dad – Charlie Connelly, author of Attention All Shipping