Author Archives: Iain Nicholas Mackenzie

About Iain Nicholas Mackenzie

I'm the Librarian for the Kinrowan Estate. I do love fresh brewed teas, curling, English mysteries and will often be playing Scandinavian or Celtic  music here in the Library here in Kinrowan Hall if the Neverending Session is elsewhere. I'm a violinist too, so you'll me playing in various contradance band such as Chasing Fireflies and Mouse in the Cupboard as well as backing my wife Catherine up on yearly Christmas season tours in the Nordic countries.

What’s New for the 1st of January: music from Sunas, banana French toast, music in fiction and other matters…

Posted on 1st January 2017 by Iain Nicholas Mackenzie

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and auld lang syne? Robert Burns Shhh… We need to be more than just a wee bit quieter than usual as a lot of the residents of … Continue reading →

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What’s New for the 4th of December: Ursula Le Guin fiction, Ragnarok and beyond, Jack’s favorite reading place, Nordic traditions, chocolate and other matters

Posted on 4th December 2016 by Iain Nicholas Mackenzie

English autumn mornings are often like mornings nowhere else in the world. The air is cold. The floorboards are cold. It is perhaps this coldness which sharpens the tang of the hot cup of tea. Outside, steps on the gravel … Continue reading →

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A Kinrowan Estate story: Venison Stew (A Letter to Tessa)

Posted on 17th October 2016 by Iain Nicholas Mackenzie

A letter from the journal of Alexandra Margaret Quinn, Head Gardener here in the Reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria to her friend, who was staying in Constantinople as of this letter. Alex, as she was known, copied her personal … Continue reading →

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What’s New for the 11th of September: Chicago’s Lincoln Park Conservatory, an Oysterband retrospective collection, contemporary Estonian music, a Swedish porridge restaurant, a Tam Lin novel, card catalogues and other matters…

Posted on 11th September 2016 by Iain Nicholas Mackenzie

I can remember the title, author, and location of every book in this library, Matthew. Every book that’s ever been dreamed. Every book that’s ever been imagined. Every book that’s ever been lost. Millions upon millions of them. That’s what … Continue reading →

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What’s New for the 3rd of July: Reese’s Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups, SF from Lavie Tidhar and Warren Ellis, de Lint has a song for a us, a Charles Vess gallery in a book and other goodies as well!

Posted on 3rd July 2016 by Iain Nicholas Mackenzie

She is our moon. Our tidal pull. She is the rich deep beneath the sea, the buried treasure, the expression in the owl’s eye, the perfume in the wild rose. She is what the water says when it moves. ― … Continue reading →

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What’s New for the 6th of January: del Toro: Pan’s Labyrinth, Yugoslav folk music, Richard and Linda Thompson doing trad Irish music, Cape Breton music, a wee hedgehog puppet, Finnan hadddie, more chocolate, Armenian folk music, fantasy noir and a lot more!

Posted on 6th January 2016 by Iain Nicholas Mackenzie

Whatever happened next, good or bad, it would be wonderful finding out. — Mathew Swift, the Midnight Mayor, in Kate Griffin’s A Madness of Angels Ahhhh, plump pork sausages sizzling in their own fat, eggs any way you like them, palacsinta … Continue reading →

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What’s New for the 20th of December: Winter Holiday food and drink, a dreydl tale, Debussy’s ‘War Carol’, Kage Baker and Christmas, an egg nog recipe, a Solstice story, an offbeat Christmas film, Steeleye Span & Pratchett, Christmas Revels, music by Loreena McKennitt and much more!

Posted on 20th December 2015 by Iain Nicholas Mackenzie

It was Christmas and Kinlocochbervie had a festive atmosphere about it. Decorations and fir trees decked out with tinsel stood in windows, lighting the dull afternoon with flashes of cheerful Technicolor brilliance, and the door to the Compass was adorned … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Commentary, Film, Food and Drink, Music, Stories | Comments Off on What’s New for the 20th of December: Winter Holiday food and drink, a dreydl tale, Debussy’s ‘War Carol’, Kage Baker and Christmas, an egg nog recipe, a Solstice story, an offbeat Christmas film, Steeleye Span & Pratchett, Christmas Revels, music by Loreena McKennitt and much more!