The horror of Culloden and the 'pacification' campaign carried out in it's aftermath destroyed the ancient clan system and it's whole way of life. Then came the Highland Clearances, a very good description of what happened is told by the Scots Canadian writer, John Prebble. It started in Southerland when the widowed wife of the Earl married an Englishman (Southerland was firmly in the government camp). It's here we have the adage - sheep are more profitable than men'. It was then the destruction of the vast forests began and the people were rounded up like cattle and shipped off to Canada, New Zealand, America and Oz. The forests were also cleared for better hunting. Today a lot of land is scarred with Sitka pine plantations. It's hard today to imagine that the now empty glens were once full of people. Without the Clearances there would soon have been a problem of over crowding. One of the reasons that the Gaelic Celts moved from Erin to Alba was just that - overcrowding. For the future - less people more forests please.
You might be glad to know that the birth rate is below replacement rate in almost all of the world. We're heading for a population crash.
cracked case - not in Africa and most of Asia, Japan and South Corea excepted. Chairman Mao Mk 11 wants Chinese women to have 3 + as does Turkey's Erdogan. The ideal population for UK + Ireland aka self sufficiency would be around 10 million. A lot of societies problems around the world have nothing to do with race creed or culture, it's about overcrowding and exhausting resources. ie. Ethiopia pop. 1900 = 10 million: pop. 2022 = 120 million and rising.
With a combined pop. in Ireland and the UK of 10 million - no problem with food production of any kind, literally everything from spices and fruits could be grown in modern 'growhouses'. Instead of selling fish/shellfish abroad - eat at home. Forests replanted not for profit (Sitka pine) but there would be profits in time - oak/ash/walnut. The French make a lot of money selling oak abroad because they never cut down their forests. I get to pick cob, walnut and chestnuts for free.
Richard Ellis is a city man - At art college there was an American from Texas. His father worked as a geologist in the oil business. At that time they were just starting to use aerial data to find new fields and my friend had visited Arizona and asked his father if he could locate any water sources way out in the back of beyond, he did. His father gave him enough money to buy a really big parcel of land dirt cheap that had an aquifier big enough for two people, a vegetable plot and a couple of dogs. His nearest neighbour was about 10 miles away. He built a small home, had a diesel generator, a great sound system that he could play at any time without hassling other people. He invited a friend from New York to come and stay, he didn't stay long - the space frightened him. You either love space or hate it. He found it difficult to find a woman that could handle the space, the energy or letting go the brain chatter. He first ran naked at first light but soon returned and realised why ancient man used a loin cloth. Forests, deserts and mountains confront you with yourself, some simply can't handle that. In the forest are you listening to the sound of the forest or is the forest listening to you, especially after rain.
With a combined pop. in Ireland and the UK of 10 million - no problem with food production of any kind, literally everything from spices and fruits could be grown in modern 'growhouses'. Instead of selling fish/shellfish abroad - eat at home. Forests replanted not for profit (Sitka pine) but there would be profits in time - oak/ash/walnut. The French make a lot of money selling oak abroad because they never cut down their forests. I get to pick cob, walnut and chestnuts for free.
Richard Ellis is a city man - At art college there was an American from Texas. His father worked as a geologist in the oil business. At that time they were just starting to use aerial data to find new fields and my friend had visited Arizona and asked his father if he could locate any water sources way out in the back of beyond, he did. His father gave him enough money to buy a really big parcel of land dirt cheap that had an aquifier big enough for two people, a vegetable plot and a couple of dogs. His nearest neighbour was about 10 miles away. He built a small home, had a diesel generator, a great sound system that he could play at any time without hassling other people. He invited a friend from New York to come and stay, he didn't stay long - the space frightened him. You either love space or hate it. He found it difficult to find a woman that could handle the space, the energy or letting go the brain chatter. He first ran naked at first light but soon returned and realised why ancient man used a loin cloth. Forests, deserts and mountains confront you with yourself, some simply can't handle that. In the forest are you listening to the sound of the forest or is the forest listening to you, especially after rain.
I think you mean Sutherland, which in the old Norse was Suðrland ('southern land'). I learned that on Wiki!
Despite being located at the extreme north of the Scottish mainland, the county was a 'southern land' with respect to Orkney!
Look out for them at the Up Helly Aa fire festival which is held every year in Shetland! 😀
Somewhere way back I was 'informed' that many of the Vikings which came to Britain were in fact from
their Normandy contingent! There is no way I can reference this input without a lot of work which I am not willing to undertake.
their Normandy contingent! There is no way I can reference this input without a lot of work which I am not willing to undertake.
The Normans that invaded England in 1066 (the Battle of Hastings and all that jazz!) came from Normandy in Northern France.
However, they were originally Vikings from Scandinavia.
You got it all wrong - the natural forests were destroyed for sheep and hunting. These plantations (not forests) were only created after the invention of the forklift truck. Sitka pine is really only good for making pallets,before fork lift trucks came along, pallets as such weren't made.
'The goal was to clear land for more economically viable activities' I think only an American could use that description aka 'sheep were more profitable than men'. The fact that the lairds were of the same blood/clan as the human beings they removed by force shows how the Jacobite cause and defeat totally destroyed the way of life that was thousands of years old. The biggest landowner in Scotland now is ironically a Danish billionaire. The whole Celtic way of life is now really just a Hollywood type charade, a manufactured tourist attraction. The once very real bond between the clans and the land they lived on is long gone. the English word - outcast doesn't convey the horror for a Celtic person before and after Culloden - muigh in Gaelic. To be outcast was literally to be cast out out of your clannad/immediate family and clan/extended family and to lose your land was like losing your heart. Alcoholism then became a very common problem for a lot of men and is so to this day. This is the same for all clan people everywhere. For those who havn't lost that connection to visit those empty lands you can feel the sorrow and desolation that hangs like a shroud across the land. I know my father never let this show but I could feel it none the less. When my uncle Andrew took me on trips around the western Highlands, as a 10 year old it was palpable. To stand on the heights looking down on Loch Lomond the feeling of empty sorrow was very real. Today it has been commercialised - economically viable activities sums it up very well.
That sycamore was not like Dick Gaughan's - The Yew Tree, a thousand years old but it's roots grew from the soil of all the different peoples that had criss-crossed that land leaving their blood and bones, the tree was their marker. in the years to come no one will remember the bipeds that cut it down, it will be as if they never existed.
'The goal was to clear land for more economically viable activities' I think only an American could use that description aka 'sheep were more profitable than men'. The fact that the lairds were of the same blood/clan as the human beings they removed by force shows how the Jacobite cause and defeat totally destroyed the way of life that was thousands of years old. The biggest landowner in Scotland now is ironically a Danish billionaire. The whole Celtic way of life is now really just a Hollywood type charade, a manufactured tourist attraction. The once very real bond between the clans and the land they lived on is long gone. the English word - outcast doesn't convey the horror for a Celtic person before and after Culloden - muigh in Gaelic. To be outcast was literally to be cast out out of your clannad/immediate family and clan/extended family and to lose your land was like losing your heart. Alcoholism then became a very common problem for a lot of men and is so to this day. This is the same for all clan people everywhere. For those who havn't lost that connection to visit those empty lands you can feel the sorrow and desolation that hangs like a shroud across the land. I know my father never let this show but I could feel it none the less. When my uncle Andrew took me on trips around the western Highlands, as a 10 year old it was palpable. To stand on the heights looking down on Loch Lomond the feeling of empty sorrow was very real. Today it has been commercialised - economically viable activities sums it up very well.
That sycamore was not like Dick Gaughan's - The Yew Tree, a thousand years old but it's roots grew from the soil of all the different peoples that had criss-crossed that land leaving their blood and bones, the tree was their marker. in the years to come no one will remember the bipeds that cut it down, it will be as if they never existed.
Following the Battle of Culloden, the British government banned clan tartans and bagpipe music.
No wonder the Highlanders turned to drink!
However, can we really associate the events of the mid 18th century with the scourge of alcoholism in the early 21st century?
Galu, the 'English' government also banned Gaelic, men were hung for speaking their only language, none of this is ever taught in English schools. Yes we can definitely associate alcoholism with the 18th century. All the indigenous peoples of North America suffered exactly the same, indeed they suffered worse and alcoholism was and is a problem today. These ancient languages were beaten out of the children in Christian schools as were their customs. This happened all over the planet with colonisation. The only reason that Celtic languages are at the point of disappearing is because of centuries of actively being 'discouraged' from London. I remember seeing comments from English s/home buyers in the 90s' complaining about TV programmes being dubbed into Britonnic in Cymru. Down the road from me lived a 6th form teacher of maths. He was English and his wife was 'Welsh' ( Danish derivation) To hear her speaking with ease between Britonnic and English was something. The 'Welsh' language is indeed a lovely language to listen to.
It has always been the colonisers wish to wipe out the indigenous langauges - destroy the language - destroy the people. The Romans always demanded that conquered peoples learn Latin. That's why most European languages today are based on Latin.
It has always been the colonisers wish to wipe out the indigenous langauges - destroy the language - destroy the people. The Romans always demanded that conquered peoples learn Latin. That's why most European languages today are based on Latin.
I would add that the foremost 'villain' was the First Duke of Sutherland, an English coal mine owner from Derbyshire. Through marriage he controlled most of Sutherland and it was he who played the largest part in the 'clearing' of land for sheep. [The present Duke lives about 12 miles from here in the Scottish Borders]
A large and imposing statute of the first duke is situated outside Golspie in Southerland; it bears the inscription 'built by public subscription'...as if those who subscribed had any real choice in the matter!
A large and imposing statute of the first duke is situated outside Golspie in Southerland; it bears the inscription 'built by public subscription'...as if those who subscribed had any real choice in the matter!
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The Dress Act banning the wearing of tartan was issued by the British Parliament in 1746 and was repealed in 1782.
The Lord Lyon King of Arms carried out historical research on my uncle's behalf that recognised him as a clan chief with the right to design his own tartan.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Lyon_King_of_Arms
I still have the kilt made from that tartan, which I wore as a little boy.
The Lord Lyon King of Arms carried out historical research on my uncle's behalf that recognised him as a clan chief with the right to design his own tartan.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Lyon_King_of_Arms
I still have the kilt made from that tartan, which I wore as a little boy.
Investigating further, it seems that the Dress Act of 1746 did not ban the playing of bagpipes or speaking Gaelic.
And the only direct mention of banning tartan in the Act was with regard to the tartan which was used for coats and jackets.
Read the Dress Act here: https://www.scottishhistory.org/resources/dress-act-1746/
And the only direct mention of banning tartan in the Act was with regard to the tartan which was used for coats and jackets.
Read the Dress Act here: https://www.scottishhistory.org/resources/dress-act-1746/
That is not fair. Not all bagpipe music is marching-band into battle music - which can become tiring.
There are many pipers who can play airs which can sound truly beautiful when played by a top piper.
Up in Brora many years ago I heard a teenage girl play the most wonderful and engaging music.
I am also fully familiar with well played uilleann pipes...the above girl was achieving almost the same sweetness
from Scottish bagpipes (War Pipes as they are called in Ireland). I seem to remember that the girl piper was surnamed
Hunter
An excellent factual post brianco. Not known by many Scots is that long before Culloden most of the Scottish aristocracy were anything but real Celts. That's why is was so easy for them to clear the land of ordinary people. I have a cousin who took early retirement in 2022. He like both sides of my family has always been into long distance walking and not being able to travel abroad (Covid) walked a thousand miles in the north of Scotland and most of the time he had the land to himself.
The biggest opportunity for Alba was when the oil and gas wealth was known - imagine UDI in 1971. Scotland would be like Norway today which has the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world. I spent a very short time in the Spring of 82 in Norway - lots of space and wilderness and few people.
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