Donald S. Murray - The Loch Of The Bees

Donald S. Murray - The Loch Of The Bees

From Scots Whay Hae! by Alistair Braidwood

April 7, 2026 · 52 min

About this episode

Alistair Braidwood interviews writer Donald S. Murray about his novel The Loch Of The Bees and its inspirations.

For the latest Scots Whay Hae! podcast Ali headed to Stirling to talk to writer Donald S. Murray about his new novel The Loch Of The Bees , which is published with Saraband Books . The two met at the lauded venue the Tolbooth as Donald is a member of the Metagama Ensemble who are behind Metagama: An Atlantic Odyssey , a piece of theatre which mixes music, song, and spoken word, and which was playing the venue on the last night of its current tour. Donald tells us all about it, and to hear one of the songs stay on to the end of the podcast. The two then talk about The Loch Of The Bees . Donald gives a brief description before setting out the inspirations behind it, looking to stories of the past to better understand the present, the importance of place, the interlinked nature of the individual tales, the themes of love, religion, grief, & obsession, and how they emerge through the stories themselves. And then there are the bees! The conversation also touches upon the history of the Highlands & Islands, Gaelic culture and language (and the attempts to suppress both) and the author's personal connections to this novel. It's always a pleasure to talk to Donald, one of the…

People in this episode

Host: Alistair Braidwood

Guest: Donald S. Murray

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Saraband Books, Metagama Ensemble

Books & works: The Loch Of The Bees

Places: Stirling, the Tolbooth

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