Jonathan Trew: Fans of Westlife will be delighted that last month’s gig at the SECC, part of their final, farewell, this-time-we-really-mean-it tour, was not the last chance to see them in Scotland

Published on 18/06/2012 00:00

THOSE of us who had fondly imagined that we had bid adieu to the Irish balladeers might be rather more disappointed to learn that they are back in Glasgow tonight

I can’t help but think of the school bully who promises to leave you alone if you give him your lunch money only for the trouble to start up again by afternoon break.

Less mawkish pleasures can be had at Harmony House Gardens in Melrose, where the Brewin Dolphin Borders Book Festival is underway. Today’s big hitters include Ian Rankin, Chris Brookmyre and Hilary Mantel. The latter, the writer of Wolf Hall, will be discussing its sequel, Bring Up The Bodies. Mantel’s event has sold out, but fans can buy tickets for a live streaming of her appearance.

Also sold out but available for streaming is this afternoon’s literary Mastermind hosted by Sally Magnusson. The contestants include Rory Bremner, John Sessions, Kathy Lette and Kirsty Wark. Sex is among the specialist subjects picked and, were I a bookie, then it would be odds-on that Lette is the contender who chose it. Even as I write this, it seems likely that Lette is already preparing a devastating arsenal of groan-worthy puns and double entendres to deliver with each answer.

Moving away from Harmony House but sticking with the stately homes theme, those of you missing your Downton Abbey may like an event this afternoon at Lauriston Castle in Edinburgh. Food historian Ivan Day will discuss the realities of life below stairs in a large Edwardian household. He will also reconstruct a staggeringly complex dish from a recipe by the redoubtable Agnes Marshall of the Mortimer Street Cookery School. Apparently, Marshall was the Nigella of her day although one imagines that, as an Edwardian, she would have held little truck with Ms Lawson’s more fruity recipe demonstration techniques.

www.westlife.com; www.bordersbookfestival.org; www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk