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.
Connections
