Boyle, Andrew. The Ayrshire Book of Burns Lore. 1996.
Mackay, James. Burns Lore of Dumfries and Galloway. 1988.
Also useful are the general tourist guides to Scotland or its specific cities/areas. Most tour books will contain information on literary sites (a famous author's home, or a subject treated in literature, like the Brig o' Doon), museums and historical sites. Especially commended here: Blue Guide to Scotland. The general biographical guides will usually contain some information about the connection between a given writer and the geographical areas he concentrated upon-for example, the Dictionary of National Biography. Highest recommendation here: Trevor Royle's. The Mainstream Companion to Scottish Literature.
A particularly fine fictional introduction to Literary Scotland is Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, Kidnapped (1886). Stevenson intended the book as a primer for Scotland itself-its history, culture and geography. The "kidnapped" hero, David Balfour, must wander all over Scotland, and almost everywhere he goes, he encounters historical characters and famous places. To follow his journey, with a map and preferably an automobile, is a rewarding pursuit.
As mentioned, the standard general anthology is David McCordick's three volume Scottish Literature: An Anthology. Its brief introductions to Scottish Literature, and to the various periods and writers are useful for our purposes. Virtually all important Scottish writers are represented here.
The only significant academic journal devoted to Scottish literature is Studies in Scottish Literature, edited by G. Ross Roy, published in annual hard cover editions by the University of South Carolina, and now up to volume XXXI. The series is especially valuable for its extensive book reviews. The standard literary history is the History of Scottish Literature, 4 vols., ed. by Cairns Craig, et al.
A good one-volume survey is
Maurice Lindsay's A History of Scottish Literature.
The Literature of Scotland,
Roderick Watson.
Modern Scottish Literature,
Alan Bold.
Scottish Poetry: a Critical
Survey, J. Kinsley.
A History of Scottish
Theater, Bill Findlay, ed.
The best single-title edition
of Scottish Classics, of all genres, is the recent Canongate Classics,
a body of inexpensive, well-chosen paperbacks reprinting the major works
of Scottish literature, financed through a sizable grant from the Scottish
Arts Council.
The Poetry of Scotland,
Roderick Watson, ed. (standard)
The Oxford book of Scottish
Verse, MacQueen and Scott, eds.
The Faber Book of Twentieth
Century Scottish Poetry, Douglas Dunn, ed.
An Anthology of Scottish
Women Poets, Catherine Kerrigan, ed. (good bibliography, and biographical
notes)
Dream State: The New Scottish
Poets, Daniel O'Rourke, ed. (best book on most recent Scottish poets)
The Devil and the Giro:
The Scottish Short Story, Carl MacDougall, ed. (best)
The Giant Book of Scottish
Short Stories, Carl MacDougall, ed.
The Oxford Book of Scottish
Short Stories, Douglas Dunn, ed.
Classic Scottish Short
Stories, J. M. Reid, ed.
Among other general reference books, Collins Encyclopedia of Scotland, John and Julie Deay, eds., is worth consulting. The most convenient Scots dictionary is the one-volume Concise Scots Dictionary, available in paperback, edited by Mairi Robinson.
Online, consult the "City Life" web site for information about what's on, in Glasgow. "The List" is the best printed guide for what's on in Glasgow, though it purports to cover Edinburgh as well.
"What's On Edinburgh" is the best guide to events in Edinburgh. These sorts of guides are readily available in bookstores and tourist offices.
Finally, the entire Table
of Contents for the instructor's three volume Scottish Literature: An
Anthology is given in this website, as it is the standard collection,
and one which gives an almost complete listing of important Scottish poets
and short story writers, and at least a reasonable glimpse of the major
playwrights and novelists (though their short stories). The Table is especially
useful in that the number of selections and total pages given to each author
is a rough approximation of their relative importance to Scottish Literature.