STUART McHARDY might be described as a lad o pairts - writer, musician, storyteller, folklorist, historian, linguist, poet, past president of the Pictish Arts Society, historical adviser to Edinburgh City Art Centre's Quest for Camelot exhibition in 2001/2 - and is known to lecture on many aspects of Scottish history and culture at the drop of a hat, or the pop of a cork. To date, McHardy has had five of his own books published, Scotland: Myth, Legend and Folklore, Strange Secrets of Ancient Scotland, Tales of Whisky and Smuggling, The Wild Haggis an The Greetin-faced Nyaff and Edinburgh and Leith Pub Guide. He introduced and edited the bestselling Scots Poems to be Read Aloud and for 5 years in the 1990s was Director of the Scots Language Resource Centre in Perth. He now lives in Edinburgh with the lovely (and ever-tolerant) Sandra and their talented son Roderick.