Songs of exile and longing.

[Raingeanach]

Note the following:

Many of the landlords now lived in the south for at least part of the year, and the tacksman (next down in the pecking order) was remitted to deputise for the chief in the collection of rents...This became increasingly difficult: "Guma slan do na fearaibh" poignantly illustrates the shame of not being able to pay the rent, and the terror of where this would lead. Embarrassed by the situation into which they had been forced, the tacksman class were often the first to give up and leave, depriving the community of the most able men, and/or persuading the rest of the community to come with them to the New World. Increasingly, thereafter, the depopulated estates were run by professional teams, led by the most hated figure of all: the factor. Typically belonging neither to the clan nor the community, usually Lowland in origin and non-Gaelic speaking, the factor had no reason to be lenient towards or sympathise with the people. They either had to pay up or get out. The most notorious factor of all was Patrick Sellar, the Duke of Sutherland`s man, who burned people out of their homes if they would not leave.

Some of the victims of the Sutherland clearances were the parents and relatives of the British Army heroes who formed "The Thin Red Line", the 93rd (Sutherland) Highlanders at the Battle of Balaclava.

Given such a climate, the emergence of the great Skye poetess Mary Macpherson is all the more remarkable: Mairi Mhor nan Oran (Great Mary of the Songs as she is always known) with her abundant emotional vitality, her intense, passionate affection for her native Skye, its community and way of life, and the poetry she began writing in her fifties, with its sharp feel of immediate experience while at the same time conveying the pressure of contemporary events.

From Songs of Gaelic Scotland by Anne Lorne Gillies (Birlinn-2005)

Anne Lorne is a Gaelic speaker and writer. Foreign posters should note that not one academic historian operating out of Scotch universities is able to read Gaeic sources. Now, how shameful is that?

[ScotsTraveller]

Originally Posted by Raingeanach

Foreign posters should note that...

... Raingeanach is someone you should really ignore! After all, when he comes out with statements such as...

Originally Posted by Raingeanach

not one academic historian operating out of Scotch universities is able to read Gaeic sources

... it is unlikely he can prove it! If asked for proof chances are he will ignore the question, just like he ignores anything that challenges anything else he spouts!

[Raingeanach]

Originally Posted by ScotsTraveller

... Raingeanach is someone you should really ignore! After all, when he comes out with statements such as...
... it is unlikely he can prove it! If asked for proof chances are he will ignore the question, just like he ignores anything that challenges anything else he spouts!

Well, you are, I suspect, just about to supply the name of the solitary exception. I know who he is. Go ahead, name him and perhaps a measly second Scotch historian who knows what he or she is talking about regarding ethnic cleansing in the Highlands of Scotland . We are waiting!

[ScotsTraveller]

You're the only one that is waiting! Its obvious that you have a problem with Scots - every single one of your posts on here proves that!

[bell-the-cat]

Originally Posted by Raingeanach

Anne Lorne is a Gaelic speaker and writer. Foreign posters should note that not one academic historian operating out of Scotch universities is able to read Gaeic sources. Now, how shameful is that?

I'm pretty certain that that will be wrong - not because I know for certain that it is wrong, but because I would hope that it would be impossible for any historian interested in that field to be respected without being able to access such source materials.

[ScotsTraveller]

Well, Raingeanach made the claim - its up to him to prove it... however, I doubt he can - unless of course he has checked out EVERY historian at EVERY Scottish university - and the chances of him having done that? Absolutely NIL! If you re-read his comments you'll see that he has managed to contradict himself:

not one academic historian operating out of Scotch universities is able to read Gaeic sources

you are, I suspect, just about to supply the name of the solitary exception. I know who he is. Go ahead, name him

He's a classic case of someone that makes statements that he knows are false and then proceeds to make a fool of himself! Anyway, I think I will stick with my extremely low opinion of Raingeanach and he will continue to ensure my opinion always remains that way!

[ScotsTraveller]

Originally Posted by bell-the-cat

I would hope that... any historian interested in that field...

... would either be able to read the Gaelic sources (although much of Scottish history would have been written in Latin) or know of a reliable source to either translate the Gaelic correctly or where a correctly translated Gaelic source could be found!

I still have to question why the Rain-man has to question the integrity of the Scottish people in this way... what is his problem? (Other than the obvious of course!)