Scotland Journey

The Radical War

And The Martyrs of 1820

The use of “agent provocateurs” is an ancient tactic, used by governments all over the world to defuse or defeat both potential terrorist groups and genuine popular uprisings. The distinguishing feature of the agent provocateur is that he doesn't just gather information and pass it on to the authorities. Instead, he infiltrates or even creates radical organizations in order to try to talk potential radicals into breaking the law so that they can be arrested or killed.

Read more about The Radical War

Galloway

Forgotten Chapter of Gaelic History

These days, people tend to think of the Scottish Highlands as being the Gaelic part of Scotland, and the Lowlands as being the “Scots” part. “Scots,” however, originally meant “Gaelic,” and sections of the Lowlands were Gaelic in both language and culture until the seventeenth century.

The most significant of these Gaelic holdouts was the area known as Galloway. This region of southwestern Scotland was initially peopled by speakers of Cumbric, a language closely related to Welsh. It became a Gaelic region between the ninth and eleventh centuries, then acquired a Gaelic-Norse aristocracy due to the Viking raids. Galloway was an independent kingdom for a time, but was then absorbed into the kingdom of Scotland, slowly losing its Gaelic identity.

Read more about Galloway

The United Scotsmen

A Forgotten Rebellion

While many have heard of the United Irishmen, far fewer have heard of the United Scotsmen, a similar late eighteenth-century revolutionary organization with two main goals: universal suffrage (the right to vote) and Scottish independence. The United Scotsmen were organized in imitation of the United Irishmen, but both groups were also inspired by the recently successful revolutions in France and America.

Read more about The United Scotsmen

Clans of Scotland: The Clan Chattan Confederacy

Ancient Cat Tribe?

One of the most interesting Scottish clans is the Clan Chattan Confederacy of the eastern Highlands, an alliance of several clans under the overall leadership of the Mackintoshes. Their name literally means the “cat clan confederacy,” and their coat of arms features a rearing cat with the slogan “touch not the cat bot a glove,” or “don't touch the cat without a glove.”

Thus, it would be fair to say that the cat functions as a kind of totem animal for the members of this Confederacy, and this is born out by the fact that the cat was seen as a bad omen by all Highlanders except Clan Chattan members, to whom it was a lucky omen.

Clans of Scotland: The Campbells

"Never Trust a Campbell"

It's a saying in Scotland even today- “Never trust a Campbell.” The infamous Campbells are the clan everyone loves to hate, the black sheep of Scottish history. There are two reasons for this sinister reputation.

One is simply that the Campbells had a real knack for picking the right side at the right time. They weren't the sorts to pick the doomed yet idealistic crusade- they'd size up the odds correctly and back the winner every time.

Clans of Scotlland: The Kerrs

Left-Handed Warriors

In Scotland, the term “clan” was not only applied to the Gaelic kinship groups of the Highlands, but to a similar yet distinct society that developed along the Anglo-Scottish border. This was the culture of the Border reivers or “raiders,” and the outlaw families that thrived along the border were known at the time as “clans” just as surely as their equivalents up north.

Clans of Scotland: The MacDonalds

And the Campbell/MacDonald Feud

When we think of a Scottish clan, we normally think of a small, decentralized family-based unit. The mighty Clan MacDonald wasn't really much like this. It was more like a small nation in its own right, able to put several thousand soldiers on the battlefield, negotiate on an equal basis with the kings of nations, and rule the Irish Sea with a massive armada of war galleys.

The MacDonalds were the rulers of the Lordship of the Isles, but they retained much of their power even after the Lordship was destroyed. However, the central power of the Lordship was lost, and Clan MacDonald broke down into several factions including Clan Donald North and Clan Donald South.

Clans of Scotland: The MacGregors

"MacGregor Despite Them"

“It was ordained that the name of MacGregor should be abolished and that the whole persons of that name should renounce their name and take some other name and that they nor none of their name and that they nor none of their posterity should call themselves Gregor or MacGregor under pain of death .... that any person or persons of the said clan who has already renounced their names or hereafter shall renounce their names or if any of their children or posterity shall at any time hereafter assume or take to themselves the name of Gregor or MacGregor .... that every such person or persons assuming or taking to themselves the said name .... shall incurr the pain of death which pain shall be executed upon them without favour.”

The Battle of Harlaw

Highlanders Vs Lowlanders?

The Battle of Harlaw in 1411 has often been portrayed as an epic struggle between the Scottish Highlanders and the Scottish Lowlanders, with the Lowlanders winning a major victory even more important than their victory over the English at Bannockburn.

The trouble with this interpretation is that it's anachronistic, because a distinct Highland/Lowland divide was not yet set in stone by the time of this battle. Many of the warriors on the Lowland side were apparently Gaelic-speaking, making them every bit as “Highland” as their adversaries.

Battle of Culloden

Last Stand of the Jacobites

A somber but historically important place to visit in Scotland is the battlefield of Culloden, where the Jacobite clans fought their final battle against the British Army in 1746. When you see the flat, empty ground of Culloden Moor, it is easy to feel empathy with the Highland warriors who were asked to charge across this bleak and completely exposed patch of land into artillery and musket fire, armed with swords and shields and knives.

Read more about Battle of Culloden