The Man Who Sold Nelson's Column

And Other Scottish Frauds and Hoaxes

Birlinn 2007

Paperback 216 pp

Black and White Photographs

978 1 84158 612 0

£9.99

This book is a fascinating selection of stories recounting great Scottish frauds and hoaxes. It includes the account of Arthur Furguson who sold Nelson’s Column in London, plus eighteen other hoaxters:

The Bogus Laird; Loch Ness Monster hoaxes; Burns Temple Hoax; Highland Famine Fiddle; false military hero; Prince of Poyais; The Buchanites; Forgers; German Attrocity Letters; MacNab of MacNab; Old Boy at School; Laird of Drumblair; ‘Antique’ Smith; Electric Medicine, Bogus Minister; MacPherson’s Ossian, Perfect Hosts and the Bogus Lord.

Featuring an astonishing variety of frauds spanning hundreds of years, this book offers a fascinating and entertaining insight into human nature, showing how inventive—and gullible—people can be.