The Raiders

‘'The Raiders ' vibrates with sufficient dramatic action for a dozen ordinary novels. We are swept breathlessly on from one exciting situation to another; while throughout the story runs a vein of heedlessness and reckless daring that intensifies the boldness of the effect. Mr Crockett is himself a raider; far into the heart of the country of romance he penetrates, daring much, and proving his right and his might on its highways. He has written a story of really absorbing interest.’ The Raiders’ is Crockett’s best known novel and immerses the reader in a world of gypsies, smugglers and free traders. Set in early 18th Century Galloway, the young ‘bonnet laird’ Patrick Heron is an ‘ordinary’ hero who is driven to extraordinary acts very much in the Stevensonian tradition of adventure romance. Crockett uses history and adds the alchemy of the romancer to take natural description, historical events and local folklore and weave them into spellbinding stories. ‘The Raiders’ is a fine example of his skill and just as gripping a story today as it was a century ago. The Galloway Collection is a wholly new edited version of the works of S.R.Crockett, not a reprinted facsimile or a scanned copy. Ayton Publishing Limited is committed to achieving a high production standard at a reasonable price. The original conventions of punctuation and style have been kept where appropriate but each volume has been individually edited, typeset, proofed and produced to modern standards and includes an original introduction by series editor Cally Phillips.

‘Crockett may succeed to some extent in doing for Galloway what Scott did for Midlothian and other parts of Scotland.’ S.R.Crockett was a bestselling author from the 1890’s through to his death in 1914. His work still appeals to those who love stories packed with history, adventure and romance and is now brought back into publication for a new generation by Ayton Publishing Limited, to mark the centenary of his death.