Crofter's comment about 'sheer abuse'

[Crofter]

The struggle has been a long one. From the Declaration of Arbroath:

“Yet if he (Bruce) should give up what he has begun, and agree to make us or our kingdom subject to the King of England or the English, we should exert ourselves at once to drive him out as our enemy and a subverter of his own rights and ours, and make some other man who was well able to defend us our King; for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom -- for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.”

Some of the signatories to this Declaration were the same people who gave Wallace up to the English and who shortly afterwards did, for riches and honours, sell out to the English.

From around this time, and for almost 300 years after, the Western Highlands and Islands were controlled by the Lords of the Isles, who ruled there as Kings. The Writ of Scottish Kings in Edinburgh did not extend to the Isles. They did not sell out. They continued to fight and their greatest adversaries were Lowland nobles.

In 1597 James VI of Scotland, whose profligacy emptied Scotland’s coffers, needed money. He turned his attention on the Western Isles and had two laws passed that he thought would enable him to get his hands on them .
The following month, 28th June 1598, the Privy Council at Edinburgh ratified a contract between the King and eleven Lowland landed gentlemen binding them “to plant policy and civilisation in the hitherto most barbarous Isle of Lewis……and to develop the extraordinary rich resources of the same for the public good and the King’s profit”

These gentlemen are better known to history as the Fife Adventurers.

He goes on to explain how, despite his efforts, he could not reduce the Highlands and Islands to obedience; “by reason of the evil disposition and barbarity of the inhabitants who from time to time have directly opposed the introduction of any policy or civility among them”

He “perfectly understands that the lands are by special providence and the blessing of God enriched with an incredible fertility of corns and store of fisheries and other necessesities, surpassing far the plenty of any part of the inland. And yet, nevertheless, the same are possessed by inhabitants who are void of any knowledge of God or His religion, and naturally abhorring all kind of civility, who have given themselves over to all kinds of barbarity and inhumanity.. occupying in the meantime and violently possessing His Highness’s proper lands without payment of dues”.

The Adventurers, for their part, agree to “advance and set forward the Glory of God, build four parish churches on Lewis, honour of their native country and His Majesty’s service, pay the necessary duties diligently.”

They were given full legal authority over the local population, to use them in whatever way they saw fit. An army was at their disposal to back them up. The Population of the Islands resisted this influx of Lowlanders. The King went ballistic. The Duke of Lennox and the Marquis of Huntly were granted a commission of lieutenancy with the Earl of Errol, the Earl Marischal, Lord Forbes and others to assist.

The Act in Council proffering this authority was filled with the usual derogatory descriptions of the Islanders, referring to “the frequent villainies and barbarous cruelties of the wicked and rebellious inhabitants of the Isles who are void of all fear or knowledge of God, destitute of reverence for prince, law or justice, and guilty of treason, murders, and intolerable actions, very often every one of them batheing themselves in the blood of others.” The other old complaint of the loss of revenue to His Majesty and disappointing the King’s service, is also aired. A full indemnity is given for any “slaughter, mutilation, fire-raising or other inconveniences” which Lennox’s forces might commit in the execution of their duties.

To cut a long story short this ploy did not succeed either. In June 1602 he appointed a Convention of the Estates to discuss this issue and decide on further action. He proposed that an army be sent to retake Lewis by force and requested £20,000 Sterling for this purpose. The Convention was willing to curse and vilify the Islanders to the heart’s content of their King but not another penny of the nation’s money would they allow to be spent on any more schemes for the Islands. He pleaded with them that it “was inconsistent with his honour to submit to the indignities which he had suffered at the hands of the barbarous Lewismen….that the people of England were saying that a King who could not rule a handful of people like the inhabitants of Lewis was not fit to govern them.” After all their Sovereign had defeated the Spanish Armada, the superpower of the day.

On 19th July 1602 another proclamation was duly issued, calling on all Scots from sixteen to sixty to form an armed force for an invasion of Lewis or face loss of life, lands and goods. It contained all the usual uncomplimentary terms to describe the character of the people that they were up against. This time, though, it was felt those were not enough to describe their baseness, so it was necessary to travel beyond the bounds of Britain to find a parallel to the wickedness of the Islanders; “their monstrous cruelties were such as has not been heard of even amongst the Turks or the Infidels”

Before this atrocity could be carried out on the 24th March 1603 an event beyond the control of any of the participating parties occurred which put Lewis affairs clean out of King James VI’s head. He became King James I of Great Britain and Ireland on receiving news of the death of Queen Elizabeth I of England.

By this one act an English Queen provided an immeasurable service to the Islanders of Lewis who would otherwise have been put to the sword by their own King and an army of their fellow countrymen.

The Fife Adventurers failed in their attempt to settle Lewis. The punishment meted out to them is too horrible to relate here, suffice to say, most of them were killed for their audacity in thinking they could displace us. Nobody has tried it since.

Perhaps it would be appropriate to conclude by taking a line from the Declaration of Arbroath and adabt it to suit this onslaught on the Gaelic language and culture: “for as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be subordinated in our own land to an English culture. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom -- for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.”

As one of the 100, JC, you will always be welcome. Andy would do well to consider the fate of the Fife Adventurers. When you pick on us you pick on the wrong ‘uns

Regards,

Crofter.

[ANDY-J3]

I'm not going to be responding to any further comments on here but that's not because I feel that the arguments put forward are necessarily valid and shouldn't be challenged but because I'm aware that now the line has been crossed and the debate has descended into personal abuse there couldn't be any open and honest debate only more rancourous exchanges and I don't really want to go there.

[Calum Mac Neill]

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. ANDY-J3 provokes us to laughter.

He states, "the line has been crossed and the debate has descended into personal abuse." Ah, that particular line was crossed when ANDY-J3 talked of my "prejudices", me being "disingenuous" and "deliberately provocative and condescending" and "intellectually dishonest" and that I "spit [my] venom", and that's only on this thread.

Apparently, Crofter's "unless it is your intention to come across as a pillock" phrase, ie, a conditional clause, suggesting the possibility that ANDY-J3 intends to appear idiotic, is 'personal abuse'. If you so, no matter, ANDY-J3 has earned it as payback for the same kind of material.

Now that Crofter is taking us rather more fully into particular instances of the Anglophone 'Scot' leaders' somewhat compromised nature in relation to England, ANDY-J3 decides the game is up. Perhaps it was up rather before now. ANDY-J3 states, "there couldn't be any open and honest debate" now. However, Crofter's historical instances are a matter of honest historical record and therefore only require honest interpretation for their significance, which Crofter has made quite openly on this forum.

It is ANDY-J3 who crosses the line by making every insult on this thread and thereby attempting to devalue people and their legitimate arguments with personal and ridiculous accusations of not being "open" or "honest" in discussion.

As for "more rancourous exchanges ... I don't really want to go there" - I approve but it is rather too late, since ANDY-J3 went there as soon as he slung the word "prejudice" at me. Personal rancour is something he knows all about and, of course, myself, Crofter and JCfromGA can see through him so he would be wise to steer clear of us. Obviously, people are not just going to sit back and take it any more, playing the saint while people like ANDY-J3 deride and accuse and attempt, and fail, to invalidate.

Crofter, you are quite right, he is picking on the wrong people. You have chosen particularly aposite examples of a general anti-Scottish and anti-Gaelic trend which descends through the centuries. Time for Anglophone 'Scots' to recognise the historical facts of their oppression of the Gael on the one hand, and their schizoid fellow-feeling/hatred for the English on the other, and question just how Scottish that is, and maybe start picking on themselves for a change, rather than Gaels on the one hand and the English on the other.

Thanks to the modern age, Scotland's history of oppression is no longer hidden and ANDY-J3 and his like can only ignore it studiously, as he did with me on the thread "Lowland 'Scots' was the ruin of Scotland", or flee it, as he is now doing with Crofter. However, there are others who will acknowledge it willingly and be disturbed at what has been done to Scottishness down the centuries by the Anglophone hegemony of Scotland. Thanks to their influence, it took until 1995 before the Scots could get their first patriotic Scottish mainstream film and who made it? Americans, of course. Payback for the historical inaccuracies of Shakespeare's Macbeth. It is time all who would claim to be true Scots supported the Scottish language and culture and were as proud of it as a true Welshman is of Welsh and of being Welsh.

Suas leis a' Ghàidhlig!

[JCfromGA]

Andy, you argue subjective opinion, not fact. I have time and time again explained research based evidence that contradicts your claims. You claim that you have that your historian is a specialist... how many of us have read the history of Scotland? ok the true history of Scotland... not written by the victors of the majority party. If you want to talk about using a specialist to argue facts (not opinions) then that would be me. I am specialized in this area, can provide decades worth of evidence... but you're not interested because my arguments contradict your opinion.

Crofter, your information was very interesting. I hope to work there soon for a year or two and would be interested in continuing adult education... one in Scottish history 2) formal study in Gaelic. I will assure you that here in the US, there is lots of support for Gaelic culture... since that is the background of the majority of the Scottish Americans. After all these years, we're all still very peeved about what took place... add a little American frankness.. and we have no problem telling people exactly what we think about it. Those who are American with Lowland ancestors, and have not lived in Scotland... from a objective point of view.. or being removed from Lowland culture, admit that the Gaelic cause was just.

Calum, like you've said, this abusive nature and cruel remarks seemed to be targeted at the Gaelic culture... Lord forbid anyone make an inquiry into anything Gaelic. As if everyone is supposed to be 'mainstream'... It really is a racist stance... against the Gaelic race.

I hope this message finds you all well.

[Crofter]

Andy - I am pleased that you have chosen to withdraw at this point in order that you may effect repairs to what remains of your tattered integrity. Do you mean it this time?

You are quite right. When you decided to cross the line and get personal you lost the ability to be open and honest. Your ability to back up your arguments with facts was replaced with ill-founded offensive nonsense.

Only four members took part in these exchanges. You have attempted from your very first posting and throughout to demean all four, but you were successfull in demeaning only one, yourself.

A modicum of consideration and appreciation for the feelings of others is all I ask, not too much to expect, wouldn’t you agree? I believe Calum’s expectations were similar.

In the meantime good luck with your history studies. I feel confident that you will achieve NVQ Leve1 1 eventually, but you must stick at it, you hear? Also try and get out more, and see if you can make another friend.

To JC – Appreciate fraternal greetings and support from across the pond. There was an expression very popular over there which Andy would do well to heed in future; “Butt Out”

Regards,

Crofter.

[wullie m]

Crofter, a good post on the "Fife Adventurers" I believe there are still descendants of these proto-colonists still in Stornoway (Leslie?) they were told that the island was so endowed with gold that the sheep had gold teeth! well, ye ken Fifers!!! I think Mackenzie of Kintail was at the back of the whole enterprise, knowing it would fail, and he would pick up Lewis from the wreckage, Argyll was more successful with his plantation of Kintyre by Ayrshire folk, but that was just across the water. What, to me, is a mystery, is the adherence of folk to the house of Stuart thereafter. Even the '45 saw the Raasay Macleods (same tribe as the forfeited Macleod of Lewis) risking everything in the rebellion! P.S,The Leoidhsaichs had the last laugh as they now monopolise the TV & Black Puddin Industry! Deoch Slainte
wullie m.

[Calum Mac Neill]

I hear the sound of released exasperation.

It is sad comment on ANDY-J3's efforts that the only consensus he could achieve on this thread was with me on the literal meaning of the word 'Anglophone'. Even then, I would not use it in a whitewashing way in an attempt to make all the inhabitants of Scotland appear linguistically the same just because today they can all speak some descendant of Anglo-Saxon.

JC's comment on the more balanced American viewpoint was very interesting. Lowlanders in Scotland, by virtue of being linguistic descendants of the English in Scotland, do have a sense of compromised identity when they find out that Scotland was created under a Scottish, ie Gaelic, hegemony and that their own language comes from English, not from the Scots, ie the Gaels.

The Gael has always recognised this, of course, by calling the English speakers in Scotland 'Goill' (foreigners), thus, the French speaking writer of "de Situ Albanie" wrote as late as the 13th century that the Firth of Forth "divides the kingdoms of the Scots and of the English". In the light of this, one can understand why English speakers from the 14th/15th century onwards decide to claim the title 'Scot' for themselves in their own language and to call the Gaels 'Irish' in an attempt to make it seem like the descendants of the Anglo-Saxon from the continent were the 'native' Scots and that the Gaels who came from Ireland were the foreigners. While it is true that both were foreigners to the original British but only one group were the original Scots of Scotland, and the British, being Celts, seemed more willing to accept Scottish rule than the English of Northumbria were when being incorporated into the Scottish dominion.

Today Lowlanders' identity as a linguistic community is further compromised by the historical evidence of ethnocidal actions intended not merely to subdue but also to incorporate the Gael into their own culture by removing the Gael's language. The 'inferiority' argument which attempts to blame Highlanders for what was done to them as if they did it to themselves just will not stick. Lowland culture must be held to historical account for its post-Culloden actions in relation to the Highlands and Islands. Lowlanders must acknowledge their past in this matter and the reason that ANDY-J3 will not condemn Anglophone 'Scot' targeting of Gaelic enquirers is surely related to his denial of such a past with all its implications of anti-Scottishness.