20121013- Forbes Inglis pictured at the launch of his new book The Sea Enriches: A Gable Ender's Trawl Through Time, at Montrose Museum on Saturday.
From the time of William Wallace through to the emergence of North Sea Oil, the sea has been good to Montrose and its inhabitants, nicknamed the Gable Endies. The Sea Enriches reveals aspects of the history of the Royal Burgh following its progress from a small fishing/trading settlement to a prosperous burgh run by local merchants who were often ahead of their time regarding improvements to the town.
The local newspaper, The Montrose Review, has been recording the story of Montrose since 1811 and, for almost 70 years, has run a feature by different writers under the byeline "Gable Ender". Some of the current Gable Ender's columns, based on the Review's files and earlier sources, are gathered here to give a flavour of the town's past. Subjects include: the first lunatic asylum in Scotland; the first lifeboat in Scotland if not the UK; flirtation with renewable energy during the 1920's; the connection to the Tay Bridge disaster; piracy and the murder of a local crew in Brazil; and women's lib - 17th century style - to a visit from the Iron Lady herself.
Forbes Inglis photographs and writes about the heritage of Scotland for publications at home and abroad. His particular knowledge of the history of Angus and Dundee has resulted in many speaking engagements to local groups, often about the paranormal, following publication of Phantoms and Fairies, his account of the supernatural in the area.
The macabre (but apparently popular) topic of the district's 18th and 19th century murders is the subject of his next book, Murders and Misdeeds in Angus and Dundee, 1765-1900.

Copyright Andy Thompson Photography.
No use without payment.