
Highlanders
Unlocking Identity Through History
James Mackillop(Author)
McFarland & Co Inc (Publisher)
Published on 4. January 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
282 pages
978-1-4766-9312-5 (ISBN)
Description
Rebellion was recurrent in the Highlands because the Gaels (Scoti) were an often-oppressed indigenous minority in the nation, Scotland, to which they gave their name. They spoke a language, Gaelic, few outsiders would learn, and had their own family and social system, the clans. Warfare was bloody, culminating in the catastrophe of Culloden Moor during the doomed quest to restore the Stuart kingship to all of Britain. Economic hardship, including the near-genocidal Clearances, in which tenant farmers were replaced with sheep, drove the Gaels from the glens and islands, so that most today live in the diaspora, including millions in North America. Although the Gaels lack a single genetic identity, they clearly draw from distinct roots in the Irish, Norse and Picts. Despite their hardship, the Gaels are also presented in romantic portrayals by the artistic elite of other nations. This book offers ways in which the reader might find roots and ancestry in unfamiliar terrain. Chapters discuss the landscape and language of the Highlanders, the rise of clans, feuds and invasions, and eventual emigration.
Reviews / Votes
"The author has scoured hundreds of arcane tomes and dozens of hard-to-reach archives to fill out a compelling, detailed nuanced story of a marginalized and frequently misrepresented people. But he wears his learning lightly. The reader is thankful that he often takes into account popular perceptions and mis-perceptions. Like cleaning up the distortions of history to be found in Mel Gibson's Braveheart."-Douglas Brode, author of Shakespeare in the Movies "To plumb the identity an elusive ethnicity with mixed antecedents, the author burrows through a dozen layers of relationships between the Highlands and Ireland. They begin with shared ancient artifacts that predate the arrival of Celtic languages. The Scottish Gaelic and Irish languages both derive from Old Irish despite many distinct differences. Citations of links to Ireland appear all though Highlanders because the story cannot be told without knowing the Irish contributions."-Maureen O'Rourke Murphy, past-president, American Conference for Irish Studies "Highland history is so remote from us that when persons emerge from the mist they look like ciphers in a folktale. MacKillop seizes these names for us, like Somerled the founder of dynasties, Colkitto the warrior, and the several Lords of the Isles, and puts flesh on them. They made noise and affected lives. So too with Gaelic poets usually known by their nicknames, Rob Donn or Iain Lom. Their verses were memorized and recited for generations."-Donna Woolfolk Cross, author of Pope JoanMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Jefferson, NC
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Interest Age: From 18 years
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
glossary, bibliography, index
Dimensions
Height: 254 mm
Width: 178 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
540 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4766-9312-5 (9781476693125)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
James MacKillop is an American Celtic scholar, arts journalist and academic living in Jamesville, New York.
Content
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
delete deleteThe Limits of Genealogy
A Note on the Words "Celt" and "Celtic"
1.?The Foundations
delete deleteWhere Are the "Highlands"?
delete deletePeopling the Landscape
delete deletePrehistoric Testimony
delete deleteThe Scots/Gaels: Ethnogenesis
delete deleteThe Picts
delete deleteIreland and the Highlands
delete deleteThe Norse in the Highlands
delete deleteThe Scottish Gaelic Language
2.?Medieval Highlands and Islands
delete deleteThe Hammer of the Norse
delete deleteThe Lordship of the Isles
delete deleteThe Rise of the Clans
delete deleteEnumeration, Rivalries, an Alliance
delete deleteFeuds and Forays
3.?The Seventeenth Century
delete deleteOne King, Two Kingdoms
delete deleteWars of the Three Kingdoms, 1639-1651
delete deleteA "Bald" Poet
delete deleteDeparture of the Stuarts: The First Three Decades
4.?The Dreary Eighteenth Century
delete deleteHighland Society Before Culloden
delete deleteThe Jacobites, 1745-1746
delete deleteMisery and Emigration
5.?Romantic Amelioration
delete deleteImposture in Badenoch
delete deleteIndigenous Voices
delete deletePoetic Admirers from the Outside
delete deleteAbbotsford
delete deleteThe Sett That Expresses
delete deleteA Royal Patroness
delete deleteAway from Balmoral
6.?After Romance
delete deleteSheep Over People
delete deleteThe Blight of the Tubers
delete deleteThe Great Disruption of 1843
delete deleteMightier Than a Lord
delete deleteThe Comic Highlander
delete deleteSuas Leis a' Ghaidhlig
Coda: Known Up Close Then Seen from Afar
Glossary: Persons, Places, Vocabulary
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
Preface
delete deleteThe Limits of Genealogy
A Note on the Words "Celt" and "Celtic"
1.?The Foundations
delete deleteWhere Are the "Highlands"?
delete deletePeopling the Landscape
delete deletePrehistoric Testimony
delete deleteThe Scots/Gaels: Ethnogenesis
delete deleteThe Picts
delete deleteIreland and the Highlands
delete deleteThe Norse in the Highlands
delete deleteThe Scottish Gaelic Language
2.?Medieval Highlands and Islands
delete deleteThe Hammer of the Norse
delete deleteThe Lordship of the Isles
delete deleteThe Rise of the Clans
delete deleteEnumeration, Rivalries, an Alliance
delete deleteFeuds and Forays
3.?The Seventeenth Century
delete deleteOne King, Two Kingdoms
delete deleteWars of the Three Kingdoms, 1639-1651
delete deleteA "Bald" Poet
delete deleteDeparture of the Stuarts: The First Three Decades
4.?The Dreary Eighteenth Century
delete deleteHighland Society Before Culloden
delete deleteThe Jacobites, 1745-1746
delete deleteMisery and Emigration
5.?Romantic Amelioration
delete deleteImposture in Badenoch
delete deleteIndigenous Voices
delete deletePoetic Admirers from the Outside
delete deleteAbbotsford
delete deleteThe Sett That Expresses
delete deleteA Royal Patroness
delete deleteAway from Balmoral
6.?After Romance
delete deleteSheep Over People
delete deleteThe Blight of the Tubers
delete deleteThe Great Disruption of 1843
delete deleteMightier Than a Lord
delete deleteThe Comic Highlander
delete deleteSuas Leis a' Ghaidhlig
Coda: Known Up Close Then Seen from Afar
Glossary: Persons, Places, Vocabulary
Bibliography
Index