Alistair Moffat - Britains Last Frontier: A Journey Along the Highland Line

This eBook edition published in 2012 by
Birlinn Limited
West Newington House
Newington Road
Edinburgh
EH9 1QS
www.birlinn.co.uk

First published in 2012 by Birlinn Limited

Copyright Alistair Moffat 2012
Introduction copyright James Naughtie 2012

The moral right of Alistair Moffat to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form without the express written permission of the publisher.

eBook ISBN: 978 0 85790 228 3
ISBN: 978 1 84158 829 2

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

For Kate, Sam, Holly, Chloe, Stephen, Charlotte, Tim, Louise, Will and all the Moffateers. You were all much on my mind as I wrote this book.

Writing in the early morning, filling pages with scribbled longhand in a pool of angle-poise light, focusing closely on the unspooling of an idea or a narrative, those quiet hours are the best of it. What sets apart the writing of a book from all of the other things I do is that it is a solitary activity, something that is entirely my responsibility and, for the period of its writing, something under my sole control. And I like that, wish I could do more not less, and when it has gone well, there is no satisfaction better than that experienced at the end of a good day at my desk. For once, an evening glass of something seems deserved.

But after I change, edit, score through and finally type up my pages of scrawl, the work of other people begins. My agent, David Godwin, is simply the best, not only one of the calmest, most civilized and cheery of men but also now the author of his own book, a beautifully written little gem on the travails of handicap golf. Now we are all sure he feels our pain.

Jan Rutherford of Birlinn made this book happen and it would not have been published without her. Jans good sense, warmth and boundless patience have been invaluable. Her colleague, the excellent Andrew Simmons, is the complete professional as he steers manuscripts deftly through the process of production. Nothing is ever a problem to Andrew and it is a pleasure to work with him. And my old friend, Jim Naughtie, surely the busiest man on earth, has done me proud and found time to write a superb introduction to this journey. Thanks, Jim.

And finally to the Moffateers Kate Andrews, Sam Fowles, Holly Patrick, Chloe Hill, Stephen Kelly, Charlotte Baker, Tim Foley, Will Lord, Lovely Louise and all the others, my deepest thanks for your support. While writing this, I took time out to run for Rector of the University of St Andrews, my alma mater. Calling themselves, the Moffateers, these sparkling young people were the core of my campaign team. It was a wonderful time and we won! By a mile! Forty years after graduating from St Andrews and 36 years after being married there, Lindsay and I have a better reason than nostalgia to come back, and there are moments when it seems as though we never left.