Former Loudoun Academy pupils bring out unique Robert Burns book

Mar 13 2009 by Ian Russell, Kilmarnock Standard

LOOK out – there’s another Burns book about.

But the latest Homecoming year publication really is one with a difference, and a unique local link.

It’s the work of six friends who are all former pupils of Galston’s Loudoun Academy.

Collectively, Craig Johnstone, Scott Francis, Gavin Curr, Kayleigh Wright, Tom Brodie-Browne and Fiona Morton run Giglets, a niche company publishing its own range of educational resources for children north of the border.

The lads and lassies are now either at college or university, but still pursuing the Giglets business dream which began at school with the highly successful Tam O’Haggis book.

The book has sold more than 4000 copies, mostly to local education authorities, which has delighted the Giglets writing and design team, who are now eagerly looking forward to the launch of the follow-up, Tam OHaggis: The Life and Times of Robert Burns.

Kilmarnock’s Park Hotel is the venue for the launch of Life and Times on Wednesday, March 18 at 3.30pm.

The event is sponsored by the Park Hotel and supported by the Ayrshire Chamber.

Said Giglets’ Craig Johnstone, from Darvel,: “The new book is a bit of a quantum leap for us. Business has been good over the last 18 months and this takes Tam a stage further.”

The Robert Burns slant to the title is fitting because it’s Homecoming Year of course and Craig says the Giglets team is hopeful that Tam volume two will continue their good fortune.

“It will be available in most Borders stores in Scotland, the WH Smith shop at Prestwick Airport and other private bookstores,” he said, “as well as through Amazon and Play.com. But, like its predecessor, most of the books will be sold directly to local education authorities.

“We are just waiting to see how councils fix their education budgets for the year.”

The new book sees main character Tam guide the young reader from the birth of Robert Burns, through his childhood and his adult life as a poet, to his untimely death brought about by his excessive lifestyle.

Craig says that Giglets’ principal aim is to create a comprehensive archive of Scottish history, culture and heritage, through materials such as the Tam O’Haggis books, audio CDs and educational software, to help teach children the history and culture of the country in which they live.

Tam O’ Haggis: The Life and Times of Robert Burns ‘is a celebration of both Robert Burns and more generally Scotland’.

A new Giglets website is under construction and there’s a third book in the pipeline.