MULL HISTORICAL SOCIETY is back with a new (10th) album release for 2026, ‘In My Mind There’s A Photograph’, and today reveals its lead single: “Cattle Bells”. You can listen to it here. Following on from the critical and commercial success of the previous record, ‘In My Mind There’s A Room’ album, Colin MacIntyre AKA […]

A Marimba band from the SOS Children’s Village entertained Alexander when he arrived at the Village this week. This short clip gives you a real flavour of Botswana and the fun he is having on this adventure. Video created by Mats Ögren Wanger, photo-journalist and documentary maker accompanying Alexander on his trip back to Botswana. […]

A visit to Sweden Alexander has just returned from a visit to Sweden. A series of poems he wrote on the subject of trees has been used by a group of young composers as the basis for various compositions. The composers were all senior students of the Lilla Academien, Sweden’s most distinguished school for musically […]

In ‘Songs of Edinburgh’, the composer Tom Cunningham set to music nine poems by the best-selling author, Alexander McCall Smith. The poems are based on photographs in Edinburgh: A Work of Beauty – a book of vintage photographs and other pictures of the Scottish capital from the collection of Historic Environment Scotland. The songs are […]

The first Seven Hills composition now recorded Theory of the Earth, by the young Scottish composer Jay Capperauld, is the first of seven ‘hill’ inspired pieces commissioned by St Mary’s Music School’s Seven Hills Project. The work is inspired by Edinburgh’s volcano Arthur’s Seat and Alexander McCall Smith’s poem, ‘Arthur’s Seat and Geology‘ and is […]

The world premiere of the quite beautiful  ‘Ninian’s Gift’, composed by Tom Cunningham with words by our own Alexander McCall Smith, has taken place online as part of the Wigtown Book Festival. ‘Ninian’s Gift’ reflects on the lives of early Scottish saints, including St Ninian who came by sea to Whithorn in the 4th century. Some […]

These Are The Hands, a new album with words by Alexander McCall Smith and music composed by James Ross is now available. The music and the songs celebrate the presence of the sea in Scottish life, past and present. The sea defines Scotland’s character: it gives us our weather, our skies, and, even today, an important part of […]