The Isle of Man, also known as Mann, is an island nation and self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland. The head of state, Charles III, holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Governor. The United Kingdom is responsible for the isle's military defence.
Historic Scotland was an executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage, and promoting its understanding and enjoyment. Under the terms of a Bill of the Scottish Parliament published on 3 March 2014, Historic Scotland was dissolved and its functions were transferred to Historic Environment Scotland (HES) on 1 October 2015. HES also took over the functions of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland.
Harris is the southern and more mountainous part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Although not an island itself, Harris is often referred to as the Isle of Harris, which is the former postal county and the current post town for Royal Mail postcodes starting HS3 or HS5.
David McKean is an English illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician. His work incorporates drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects, digital art, and sculpture. McKean's projects include illustrating books by authors such as Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Heston Blumenthal, Ray Bradbury and Stephen King, and directed three feature films.
Tartan is a patterned cloth consisting of criss-crossed, horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours. Tartans originated in woven wool, but now they are made in many other materials. Tartan is particularly associated with Scotland, as Scottish kilts almost always have tartan patterns.
Royal Mail plc is a British multinational postal service and courier company, originally established in 1516 as a government department. The company's subsidiary Royal Mail Group Limited operates the brands Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels). GLS Group, an international logistics company, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Mail Group. The group used the name Consignia for a brief period in the early 2000s.
Sir Ian James Rankin is a Scottish crime writer, best known for his Inspector Rebus novels.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a fantasy novel written by British author J.K. Rowling and the sixth and penultimate novel in the Harry Potter series. Set during Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts, the novel explores the past of the boy wizard's nemesis, Lord Voldemort, and Harry's preparations for the final battle against Voldemort alongside his headmaster and mentor Albus Dumbledore.
Laird Samuel Barron is an American author and poet, much of whose work falls within the horror, noir, and dark fantasy genres. He has also been the Managing Editor of the online literary magazine Melic Review. He lives in Upstate New York.
Debi Gliori is a Scottish writer and illustrator of children's books.
Horrible Geography is a series of children's non-fiction books written by Anita Ganeri, illustrated by Mike Phillips, and published in the UK by Scholastic. It is a spin-off from the Horrible Histories series, and is designed to get children interested in geography.
Alice Starmore is a professional needleworker, photographer and author of books on needlework, born in Stornoway, Western Isles, Scotland. As an author she is best known for her widely-read Alice Starmore's Book of Fair Isle Knitting, a guide to the complex technique of knitting pullovers and other items using a palette of five colours, on which she is an acknowledged expert. Her photographic work is devoted to the natural world, especially birds and insects.
Country definitives, formerly known as regional postage stamps of Great Britain are the postage stamps issued for regions of the United Kingdom, reflecting the regional identity of the various countries and islands of the British isles.
Angus Peter Campbell is a Scottish award-winning poet, novelist, journalist, broadcaster and actor.
Alison Goodman is an Australian writer of books for young adults.
Alethea Kontis is an American writer of Teen & Young Adult Books, picture books and speculative fiction, primarily for children. She lived in Ashburn, Virginia and then in Titusville, FL.
Catherine MacPhail was a Scottish-born author. Although she had had other jobs, she always wanted to be a writer but she didn't think she would be suited to it. Her first published work was a sort of "twist-in-the-tale" story in Titbits, followed by a story in the Sunday Post. After she had won a romantic story competition in Woman's Weekly, she decided to concentrate on romantic novels, but after writing two, she decided that it wasn't right for her. In addition to writing books for children around their teens, she also wrote for adults, she is the author of the BBC Radio 2 series, My Mammy And Me.
Kapka Kassabova is a poet and writer of fiction and narrative non-fiction. Her mother tongue is Bulgarian, but she writes in English.
Katie Morag is the title character of a series of children's picture books written and illustrated by Mairi Hedderwick. The gentle stories have been praised for their good humour, strong sense of place, and the feisty and independent character of Katie herself. The books are set on the fictional Isle of Struay, off the west coast of Scotland. Katie Morag lives close to the jetty above the island's only shop, where her mother is the postmistress and her father runs the general store.
Diana Lois Hendry is an English poet, children's author and short story writer. She won a Whitbread Award in 1991 and was again shortlisted for the prize in 2012.
