Nigel Tranter
(Nye Tredgold)

1909 - 2000

Historical novelist. Born in Glasgow, and educated at George Heriot's School in Edinburgh, Tranter is noted for his Scottish historical novels, together with several non-fiction works.

He published in excess of 110 books, from The Fortalices and Early Mansions of Southern Scotland (1935), to Envoy Extraordinaire (1999). Other major works include the four-volume The Fortified House In Scotland (1966), Outlaw of the Highlands: Rob Roy (1965), The Young Montrose (1972), The Wallace (1975), Macbeth the King (1978) and David the Prince (1980).

Tranter is admired for his depth of research and his ability to include real historical figures in his novels, inventing as little as possible. In addition, Tranter has published another eleven novels set in the American West, under the pseudonym of Nye Tredgold, including Bloodstone Trail (1958).

He lived most of his life in Aberlady, and latterly Gullane (East Lothian).

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