The Gold Torque

The Gold Torque by Andrew McMormick, with wood-engravings by Agnes Miller Parker and a foreword by Philippa, Countess of Galloway, was publish by William MacLellan, Glasgow, in 1951.

The story of the Gold Toque follows the move from pagan to Christian beliefs by a tribe settled in the ancient Forest of Galloway.

Cairnsmore

Princess Efta, Prince Ruari, Saint Ninian and the Bridal Stane

The author, Andrew McCormick was the Provost of Newton Stewart and a local solicitor. He recorded many aspects of gypsy life in Galloway and for part of his life lived and wrote in a hut in the woods at Minnigaff where much of the Gold Torque is set.

The Discerning Squirrels

The illustrator, Agnes Miller Parker (1895-1980), was born in Irvine and educated at the Glasgow School of Art. She dedicated her career to book illustration and printmaking, becoming one of Britain's foremost wood engravers. Parker married a fellow student from Glasgow, William McCance the Scottish painter and sculptor in 1918. Working for a time with the Gregynog Press and living in England for most of her life, she returned in the 1950’s to Lamlash. Many of Parker's personal papers, including letters, sketches and proofs for illustrations, are held today by the Manuscripts Division of the National Library of Scotland.