Set Adrift Upon the World

Set Adrift Upon the World PDF Author: James Hunter
Publisher: Birlinn Ltd
ISBN: 0857902628
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 426

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Book Description
Winner of Saltire Scottish History Book of the Year They would be better dead, they said, than set adrift upon the world. But set adrift they were - thousands of them, their communities destroyed, their homes demolished and burned. Such were the Sutherland Clearances, an extraordinary episode, involving the deliberate depopulation of much of a Scottish county. What was done in the course of that episode was planned and carried out by a small group of men and one woman. Most of those involved wrote a great deal about their actions, intentions and feelings, and much of it has been preserved. There are no equivalent collections of material from those whose communities ceased to exist. Their feelings and fears are harder to access, but they are by no means irrecoverable. In this book James Hunter tells the story of the Sutherland Clearances. His researches took him to archives in Scotland, England and Canada, to the now deserted straths of Sutherland, to the frozen shores of Hudson Bay. The result is a gripping, moving, definitive account of a people's struggle for survival in the face of tragedy and disaster which includes experiences which have not featured in any previous such account.

Set Adrift Upon the World

Set Adrift Upon the World PDF Author: James Hunter
Publisher: Birlinn Ltd
ISBN: 0857902628
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 426

Get Book Here

Book Description
Winner of Saltire Scottish History Book of the Year They would be better dead, they said, than set adrift upon the world. But set adrift they were - thousands of them, their communities destroyed, their homes demolished and burned. Such were the Sutherland Clearances, an extraordinary episode, involving the deliberate depopulation of much of a Scottish county. What was done in the course of that episode was planned and carried out by a small group of men and one woman. Most of those involved wrote a great deal about their actions, intentions and feelings, and much of it has been preserved. There are no equivalent collections of material from those whose communities ceased to exist. Their feelings and fears are harder to access, but they are by no means irrecoverable. In this book James Hunter tells the story of the Sutherland Clearances. His researches took him to archives in Scotland, England and Canada, to the now deserted straths of Sutherland, to the frozen shores of Hudson Bay. The result is a gripping, moving, definitive account of a people's struggle for survival in the face of tragedy and disaster which includes experiences which have not featured in any previous such account.

The Appin Murder

The Appin Murder PDF Author: James Hunter
Publisher: Birlinn
ISBN: 1788853229
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 301

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Book Description
On a hillside near Ballachulish in the Scottish Highlands in May 1752, a rider is assassinated by a gunman. The murdered man is Colin Campbell, a government agent traveling to nearby Duror where he’s evicting farm tenants to make way for his relatives. Campbell’s killer evades capture, but Britain’s rulers insist this challenge to their authority must result in a hanging. The sacrificial victim is James Stewart, who is organizing resistance to Campbell’s takeover of lands long held by his clan, the Appin Stewarts. James is a veteran of the Highland uprising crushed in April 1746 at Culloden. In Duror he sees homes torched by troops using terror tactics against rebel Highlanders. The same brutal response to dissent means that James’s corpse will for years hang from a towering gibbet and leave a community utterly ravaged. Introducing this new edition of his account of what came to be called the Appin Murder, historian James Hunter tells how his own Duror upbringing introduced him to the tragic story of James Stewart.

How an Island Lost Its People

How an Island Lost Its People PDF Author: Robert Hay
Publisher: Birlinn Ltd
ISBN: 1788856333
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 168

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Book Description
In 1830, the little Hebridean island of Lismore was one of the granaries of the West Highlands, with every possible scrap of land producing bere barley or oats. The population had reached its peak of 1500, but by 1910, numbers had dwindled to 400 and were still falling. The agricultural economy had been almost completely transformed to support sheep and cattle, with ploughland replaced by the now familiar green grassy landscape. With reference to documentary sources, including Poor Law reports, the report of the Napier Commission into the condition crofters in the Highlands and Islands, as well as local documents and letters, this book documents a century of emigration, migration and clearance and paints an intimate portrait of the island community during a period of profound change. At the same time, it also celebrates the achievements of the many tenants who grasped the opportunities involved in agricultural improvement.

The Legacy of Rome

The Legacy of Rome PDF Author: Lawrence Keppie
Publisher: Birlinn Ltd
ISBN: 1788852516
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
As an outpost of empire, Scotland played a significant, if unusual, role in the Roman world. The south and east were occupied intermittently from AD 79 to the early third century, while the north and west remained outside Roman control, though certainly not beyond its influence. The conquest was therefore incomplete in Scotland, and military occupation was not followed up by a period of peaceful development; no towns were built, and surviving remains are of camps and forts for the most part. Despite this, the Romans left an important imprint on Scotland. Much documentary evidence sheds light on the native population and archaeological research has led to detailed understanding of the range and distribution of the forts and other sites, and aerial photography has made possible a number of discoveries, filled gaps in our knowledge and opened up new avenues of enquiry. In this revised edition of his highly praised book, originally published as Scotland's Roman Remains, Lawrence Keppie sets out the various stages of Roman occupation in their historical context and shows how literary and archaeological evidence can be used to build up a picture of the Roman period. It incorporates a large amount of new material based on recent discoveries and research, making it one of the best guides to Roman Scotland available.

North Uist in History and Legend

North Uist in History and Legend PDF Author: Bill Lawson
Publisher: Birlinn Ltd
ISBN: 1788852745
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 275

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Book Description
Like all the Hebrides, North Uist has a fascinating history and a landscape scattered with historic sites, from Neolithic burial chambers, Iron Age forts and medieval churches to battle-sites and townships forged in the days of kelp trade and deserted during the subsequent traumas of clearance and emigration. In this informative book, Bill Lawson writes about the island and its people, drawing on recorded history and also the rich tradition of story and song in which the informal history of the people was passed down. He also incorporates many personal reminiscences of his travels through the island.

The Small Isles

The Small Isles PDF Author: Denis Rixson
Publisher: Birlinn Ltd
ISBN: 085790972X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
This is the first book ever to be written on the collective history of the little group of islands between Ardnamurchan and Skye. As some of the best known Hebridean islands, Canna, Rum, Eigg and Muck have a long and varied history, but are also amongst the least documented. Rum was the playground of the Macruari kings of the Northern Hebrides; Eigg was the island meeting point where their descendants conceded primacy to the Islay Macdonalds, while Muck and Canna were the property of Iona, spiritual nerve centre of the west. With reference to both the extensive material remains on the islands and rare original source material, this book is a dynamic and wideranging account of the Small Isles and their history.

Onion Johnnies

Onion Johnnies PDF Author: Ian MacDougall
Publisher: Birlinn Ltd
ISBN: 1788856430
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
For almost 150 years until the late twentieth century, French Onion Johnnies (or 'Ingan Johnnies', as they were usually known in Scotland) were a familiar group of seasonal workers in towns and cities throughout Britain. In this book, nine Onion Johnnies (including one 'Jenny') who worked in Scotland at one time or another between the 1920s and the 1970s recount their lives. The recollections, recorded in interviews in Brittany and at Leith in 1999 by the Scottish Working People's History Trust, provide a fascinating insight into the lives and experience of those whose livelihood and way of life have vanished forever. It paints a poignant picture of the past and a way of life about nothing in any detail has ever been published before.

Argyll Curiosities

Argyll Curiosities PDF Author: Marian Pallister
Publisher: Birlinn Ltd
ISBN: 178885098X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
The great travellers of the 17th century – Martin, Penant, Johnson et al – used the word 'curiosity' to mean many different things. They labelled as 'curiosities' people, plants, legends, historical facts and geological certainties. This book follows their example in a 21st century journey around Argyll and its islands. It is difficult to find an area of Argyll which is not curious in some way: archaeology, geography, geology and genealogy have all served to mark out this western fringe of Scotland as unique. Discarding those curiosities which it is all too easy to find on any journey through the county, Marian Pallister has looked extensively into places, people and events which are curiously layered, and has created a book that is overflowing with enchanting 'curiosities' and local histories.

Glasgow Street Names

Glasgow Street Names PDF Author: Carol Foreman
Publisher: Birlinn Ltd
ISBN: 1788852702
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
There is a story in the name of almost every street and district in Glasgow, with some tracing their origins to pagan times, long before Glasgow could even be called a city. In this hugely informative and entertaining book, Carol Foreman not only investigates the influences and inspirations for many of the city's most famous thoroughfares, but also considers the origins of particular districts, buildings and even the great River Clyde itself. This revised edition includes new information on city-centre street names from the M8 to the north bank of the Clyde, to Glasgow Green and Bridgeton in the east and to Kingston Bridge in the west. Also included are the districts of the Gorbals, the West End and Anderston. Packed with fascinating information and enhanced with over a hundred photographs and drawings, Glasgow Street Names is an indispensable book which introduces the history of the city in an imaginative and accessible way.

Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands, 1848-1861 & More Leaves, 1862-1882

Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands, 1848-1861 & More Leaves, 1862-1882 PDF Author: Queen Victoria
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192646087
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
'This solitude, the romance and wild loveliness of everything here . . . all make beloved Scotland the proudest, finest country in the world.' Queen Victoria (1819-1901) wrote a diary nearly every day of her life. Originally intended for private circulation, later expanded to appeal to a wider public, these published diary entries cover not only the family holidays at Balmoral Castle in the Scottish Highlands which the Queen and Prince Albert enjoyed up until his death in 1861, but also the Queen's journeys - as sovereign and as "Royal Tourist" - around Scotland, Ireland, and other regions within the British Isles. The books offer intimate views of the most important woman of her time as she shares her love of her family and of the Highlands, and demonstrates her intense interest in all corners of her realm and in the lives of individuals from all classes of society. Queen Victoria's writings about her life and travels in Scotland and the British Isles are fascinating and entertaining to read. Extremely popular when they first appeared, they shaped Victoria's image in the nineteenth century, and their impact on public perceptions of the monarchy continues to this day. This volume includes complete and authoritative texts of the two journals; an introduction and explanatory endnotes providing historical and cultural contexts and new information about the Queen's work as author and editor; maps of the Queen's travels; a Cast of Characters briefly identifying many of the individuals the Queen meets or mentions; a Glossary of unfamiliar terms; and Suggestions for Further Reading. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.