author
Robert William MacKenna
1874–1930
A Scottish doctor who also built a literary career, he wrote historical novels steeped in the world of the Covenanters while making his mark in dermatology. His life joined medicine, fiction, and reflective non-fiction in a way that still feels unusual and memorable.
1 Audiobook
Flower o' the Heather: A Story of the Killing Times
by Robert William MacKenna
About the author
Born in Dumfries in 1874, Robert William MacKenna was a Scottish physician and author who managed to sustain both a medical career and a serious writing life. He is best known as R. W. MacKenna, and his work ranged from fiction to non-fiction, with a particular reputation for historical novels set in the era of the Covenanters.
Alongside his literary work, MacKenna was active as a dermatologist and physician. That dual identity helps explain the range of his books: some draw on Scottish history and storytelling, while others reflect a more thoughtful, essay-like interest in life, death, and the human condition.
He died in Liverpool in 1930. For readers today, his appeal lies in that unusual combination of professional authority and imaginative reach: a medically trained writer with a strong sense of Scottish history and character.