From the magical fiction of traditional stories, to the pungent realism of William Alexander, from the sentimental and romantic images conjured up by the writers of the Kailyard School, to the imaginative and outstanding creators of one-off voices and idioms, this anthology shows the length, breadth, and wealth of Scottish short story-writers. This collection includes tales of "The Battle of the Birds", and "The Wee Bannock", and features household names such as Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, and J.M. Barrie. There are a host of stories by a number of modern writers: Shena MacKay, Alan Spence, Margaret Elphinstone, Ronald Frame, and Janice Galloway to name but a few. With an informative introduction by Douglas Dunn, tracing the Scottish short story from its roots in the Ballads to the talents of the modern day, this anthology aims to give a representative selection of the best of Scottish writing.