Monday, April 14, 2008
“Ten thousand years of history crammed into 50 minutes..”
If the first programme was likely to offend the young-Earthers, and the second the not necessarily mutually exclusive grouping of neo-creationists, the third might work for everyone else. The BBC NI natural history series Blueprint ends tonight by tackling People, BBC1 9pm. Those more easily digested clips will be online later. As presenter Will Crawley says it on his blog
“The programme starts at Mountsandel, near Coleraine, the site of the earliest [known] human settlement in Ireland. We use computer imaging technology to rebuild the Mountsandel settlement, then follow the story of our Bronze Age ancestors as they made their home here. From Mountsandel, the story widens to take in a great sweep of history, including the ancient kings of Ireland, the arrival of Christianity, the Plantation, the Famine, and the urbanisation of modern Ireland. Ten thousand years of history crammed into 50 minutes of television.”
There might be some earlier supernatural beliefs mentioned.. and they might even attempt to explain why there is no Celtic section in the National Museum of Ireland. Oh, but don’t expect an apology for what the Vikings did 1,000 years ago.. Adds Well it certainly benefited, in comparison with the first two programmes, from dealing with a relatively short period of history. Still a bit thread-bare in parts though. But amibitious. And that’s worth applauding.
Pete Baker @ 07:07 PM
Greenflag, regarding the town of Wexford it’s Waesfjord, not Viksfort. It means the inlet of the mud flats, so little has changed in the intervening 1200 years. Not that any of that distracts from the substance of your post, it’s just my inner pedant emerging blinking into the light.
Posted by on Apr 16, 2008 @ 11:40 PMGreenflag
‘The prob didnt stop in the north because they were repelled and found more interesting ports along the coast.” ‘
The where and when referred to the Vikings being repelled by the northerners and settling in the south.
I’m not aware of any evidence that the Vikings got a kicking up here and settled for snatching land of the softies in the south.
They’re more likely to have been put off by the accents and the potato farls. Enough to make any self respecting berserker go sane.
Perhaps you know different?Posted by on Apr 17, 2008 @ 06:54 AM‘I’m not aware of any evidence that the Vikings got a kicking up here and settled for snatching land of the softies in the south.’
Neither am I. The ‘commercial travellers’ wanted the booty to be found in the rich monasteries of the south. Henry VIII (he of the 6 wives and Tudor dynasty later followed their example ) The ‘commercial travellers’ were not interested in land holdings more in trade , including slaving, pillage, extortion etc . The ROI (return on investment) was much higher in the latter business sectors. Farming in Ireland at that time would have been too much like hard work and after all they remembered why they had left their homelands i.e to get rich quickly . Far easier to raid the surrounding countryside for the requisite calories or set up a protection racket with the ahem ‘cooperation’ of nearby local Irish chieftains in return for goods filched from around the coasts of these islands and even further afield .
Potao farls I think not . At this time 8th to 11th centuries our national ‘vegetable’ was still native to the Andes by which I mean the South American mountain range not the fingered extension at the end of your arm . (cockney joke geddit )
But you have a point re the commercial travellers tending to avoid the North apart from perhaps Armagh . Which is strange when they had a very strong presence in the western isles of nearby Scotland . Dublin appears to have been the centre of their ‘commercial’ activites with York another centre . The Orkney’s , Isle of Man and other ‘strategic’ locations appear to have been staging posts or places of refuge to escape to when they had to beat a hasty retreat on the few occassions when they upset the Irish so much that the latter summoned up enough unity to temporarily boot them out for over extortion etc etc .
‘They’re more likely to have been put off by the accents ‘
Good point - I did’nt think of that but now that you mention it - at the first sound of the dreaded ‘whine’ it’s not unknown for even non berserkers to find urgent business elsewhere :)
But we can ‘thank’ the Vikings for establishing the first real trading ‘towns’ in Ireland . Prior to their ‘arrival’ the monasteries were the main ‘urban ‘ developments and centres of commercial activity . Had the Vikings not arrived it’s possible that Clonmacnoise might today be the ‘capital’ of Ireland ?
It is wrong to believe that it was only the Vikings who raided the monasteries . Various Irish Chieftains muscled in on the act when it was opportune and times were hard. Perhaps the local ‘chieftains’ were more avid in their monastery pillaging in Ulster given it’s more marginal ‘agricultural ‘ status , poorer weather etc which might have disheartened the ‘clergy’ and also reduced the potential for capital accumulation thus encouraging the ‘commerical travellers’ to look elsewhere for a better return ?
And when you think about those times in that light one is struck by some present day return on investment ‘similarities ‘ :)
Posted by on Apr 17, 2008 @ 10:11 AMI am not sure what is meant by the mention of the “Celtic department” in QUB. I’m not aware of its existence. I do know however that the archeology department there is very against the use of the term “Celtic”! This is currently the view point of the majority of archaeologists/historians within Europe.
Brian Boru’s army actually included many “vikings”
most of whom had married Irish women and become integrated into Irish society, so I don’t think there is any question about them being “allowed to stay”.Vikings also most likely settled the south as the land there is better for farming then the less fertile north. However Irish agriculture at this time was heavily focused on livestock, especially cattle. It is unlikely that they lived through raiding, as Irish records show that viking raids were a fairly uncommon event when compared to raids by Irish groups on one another.
This is evidence for the point that despite having a high-king, Ireland was never a truly untied as a single “state” as such until the English arrived. Before hand it was just a collection of different tribes that hated each other most of the time. Hence different dialects, especially in Ulster which has some Gaelic words that are in fact closer to Scottish Gallic.
It is also important to remember that Irish archeology has been heavily affected by its politics, especially in the past. Firstly it is important to remember that the Normans first arrived in Ireland due to an invitation to Richard de Clare from Dermot MacMurrough, who let him marry his daughter and so become King of Leinster.
During the plantation a number of Irish lords made a profit and received a lot of land as well. Further more as the program showed, most of the land that Planters were given was bog or poor quality land that hadn’t been farmed and was of not much use.Thirdly the English did NOT cause the famine. A reliance on one food source did this - albeit the English did not do all they could to help. It is often forgotten that Armagh (a protestant county) was one of the most heavily affected.
Rath as I understand it is an anglicized Ulster term for a ringfort, and so lios is another more widely used term.
It is unlikely that this program would have got its facts wrong as Peter Woodman is one of the most respected Irish archaeologists of recent times. It its likely that confusion about facts presented in Blueprint have arisen due to the dumbing down of information to make the program more suitable for family viewing.
Posted by on Apr 17, 2008 @ 09:38 PMGreen Flag.... What IF ..... eh ?
Posted by on Apr 17, 2008 @ 09:43 PMThe thing is that all of you are only here on our invitation - and unless you behave we’ll send u back to your Bavarian caves where you belong.
“Thirdly the English did NOT cause the famine. A reliance on one food source did this - albeit the English did not do all they could to help. It is often forgotten that Armagh (a protestant county) was one of the most heavily affected”
Serously that is true which is why I’m astounded that modern Unionists completely ignore the famine.
Posted by on Apr 17, 2008 @ 09:51 PMFlint
“I am not sure what is meant by the mention of the “Celtic department” in QUB.”
From the Subject Review Report, October 2001, QUB, Celtic Studies.
“The study of Celtic began at Queen’s in 1849. Today, ICS teaches five Celtic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Manx and Cornish) with an emphasis upon modern Irish language and literature. It currently has 104 full-time and three part-time undergraduate students, as well as four full-time and six part-time postgraduate students. ICS has four full-time and five part-time academic staff, and a writer-in-residence jointly appointed with the University of Ulster. They are supported by one half-time secretary, a language laboratory administrator based within the School, and a computer officer shared with the Faculty.”
“I’m not aware of its existence.”
How disappointing.
“It is also important to remember that Irish archeology has been heavily affected by its politics, especially in the past.”
Which makes Ireland different from elsewhere in what way?
“Rath as I understand it is an anglicized Ulster term for a ringfort, and so lios is another more widely used term.”
Not an “Ulster” term and only anglicised in that the fada has been dropped.
“This is currently the view point of the majority of archaeologists/historians within Europe.”
Currently the view of a faction.
“It is unlikely that this program would have got its facts wrong as Peter Woodman is one of the most respected Irish archaeologists of recent times.”
I wonder is he aware of the Celtic studies at QUB, Oxford, Cambridge, Trinity, UCD, Ottowa for God’s sake!
“Before hand it was just a collection of different tribes that hated each other most of the time.”
As was the rest of Europe before the enforcement of the fuedal system.
“Hence different dialects, especially in Ulster which has some Gaelic words that are in fact closer to Scottish Gallic.”
And “Scottish Gallic” is close to what?
Your starter for 10.Posted by on Apr 18, 2008 @ 07:14 AM“Thirdly the English did NOT cause the famine. A reliance on one food source did this - albeit the English did not do all they could to help. It is often forgotten that Armagh (a protestant county) was one of the most heavily affected.”
And how was it then that a majority of peasant folk became so dependant on the spud? Was it coz it became the fashionable gourmet choice of a poor and landless people?
An easy way of understanding this is to see the variety of indigenous dishes that each culture throughout the world has produced, ie paella, moussaka, grattin, ghoulash, spaghetti, tagine, etc...All mainly derived by the peasants of the land, eventually becoming ‘haute cuisine’ and each nations ‘national dish’. Each country having many dishes too, not just one and all individually prepared in their own unique way with herbs and spices and alcohol etc...to enrich the flavours.
And then we have Ireland’s national dish...the spud - introduced by the planters and becoming the staple diet for the masses. The spud - the basis of an ‘exotic’ Irish stew or bacon and cabbage! And this from an agricultural and fertile land where almost anything can be grown and teeming with game, fish and fruits.
Any ‘exotic’ grub that was produced was soley for the toffs or exported for the toffs consumption across the water.
So basic and rudimentary was the peasants stew - just put anything you have that’s edible in a pot of boiling water and stew it. There is no loving preparation of adding herbs and spices or marinading for hours to enrich the flavours to delight the palate as what can be seen in other cultures. If there was it was all somehow lost. No baking, no roasting, no sauces, no licquors. Evidence that a people were so damn poor and hungry that they were happy to immediately eat whatever they got, cooked or raw. It was a basic subsistence that the masses of Irish peasants endured and mainly all the time. So where do we put the blame for creating such conditions? Where do we put the blame for curtailing the development of a people? Our ruling masters at the time of course. No wonder the famine was so detrimental.Posted by on Apr 18, 2008 @ 09:23 AMObserver,
I apologise for not knowing the department of Celtic Studies. All I can say in my defence is I knew of it as the Irish Studies department, and was unaware of its full title. Its very small size in comparison with other departments of QUB which has allowed it to slip under my radar.
Scottish Gaelic (as I should have said)at the time of the English Plantation was actually probably more influenced by Middle English than Gaelic. This can still be seen with Ulster Scots.
However I still believe you will find that the “Celtic” idea is disapproved of now by more than just a “faction” of people.
O’Frainclin,
Some modern beliefs now state that the potato was actually introduced into Ireland from Spain by the fishermen who frequented our waters. This is due to documents from the 16th century that mention the “Spanish potato” and that the fact that the varities grown were different from those grown in England. The date that the potato arrived in Ireland is also several hundred years earlier than the Planters.
‘And this from an agricultural and fertile land where almost anything can be grown and teeming with game, fish and fruit’
Before the invention of modern farming techniques much of Ireland was hard land to cultivate. Potatos were grown as they took up little space, and could be grown in poor soils. This was worse as Irish subdivision of the land between sons made farms smaller and smaller, and the land got worse and worse. Hence people got poorer and poorer Therefore potato farming became increasingly important as nothing else can be grown. This was made worse by overpopulation caused by a tradition of having a large number of children, which was an idea promoted by the Catholic chuch - NOT the protestant English.
Ireland has no history of a fishing culture. Many reports of the famine do talk about shellfish being eaten but people did not have the skills or knowledge to go on large scale fishing trips. We also do not have a climate suitable for growing large amounts of fruit (bar perhaps blackberries and apples), while game such as vension was likely owned and controlled by landowners (Irish and English).
However I am in now way denying that the English did not help the Irish productivly during this troubled time, and it is obvious they could have contributed more to saving lives if they had desired.
Posted by on Apr 18, 2008 @ 01:39 PM“Some modern beliefs now state that the potato was actually introduced into Ireland from Spain by the fishermen who frequented our waters. This is due to documents from the 16th century that mention the “Spanish potato” and that the fact that the varities grown were different from those grown in England.”
• Indeed, quit possible, considering the west of Ireland’s age old seafairing links with Spain. However, the programme stated that the planters introduced the potato to Ireland. Maybe someone trying to take the credit.
“Before the invention of modern farming techniques much of Ireland was hard land to cultivate. Potatos were grown as they took up little space, and could be grown in poor soils.”
• Hard to believe then that Normans ever arrived and settled here, bringing their ‘modern’ agricultural methods with them.
“Before the invention of modern farming techniques much of Ireland was hard land to cultivate.”
• This was solely in the west of Ireland, was it not? What about the rich lands of Leinster, Munster and Ulster.
“Therefore potato farming became increasingly important as nothing else can be grown. This was made worse by overpopulation caused by a tradition of having a large number of children, which was an idea promoted by the Catholic chuch - NOT the protestant English.”
• Yep indeed, the poor peasant folk were more concerned paying their dues to the landlords. All they had in their ignorance was their popish faith.
“Ireland has no history of a fishing culture. Many reports of the famine do talk about shellfish being eaten but people did not have the skills or knowledge to go on large scale fishing trips.”
• hard to believe then think that the seafairing Norse settled here in Ireland. Perhaps they were’nt fish eaters.
“However I am in now way denying that the English did not help the Irish productivly during this troubled time, and it is obvious they could have contributed more to saving lives if they had desired.”
• Indeed, peasant popish paddy was expendable. So much for the Union being a union of equal nations.
Posted by on Apr 18, 2008 @ 02:23 PMDewi,
‘Serously that is true which is why I’m astounded that modern Unionists completely ignore the famine.’
And Irish History also the ‘native version’ anyway :) It would not sit well with their ‘heroic mythology’ and of course vice versa for us Nationalists :)
Posted by on Apr 18, 2008 @ 03:11 PMflint 101,
‘Scottish Gaelic (as I should have said)at the time of the English Plantation was actually probably more influenced by Middle English than Gaelic. This can still be seen with Ulster Scots.’
Scottish Gaelic was a dialect of Irish ‘introduced ‘ into Scotland from Ireland around 100 AD or so . The languages remained very similar until the English/Normans subdued Scotland and cut off/reduced contacts between NE Ireland and Scotland . By about the 17th century Scots Gaelic had diverged enough from Irish to be called it’s own language . Even so any modern Irish speaker can probably understand about 90% of Scots Gaelic as it’s written down.
Ulster Scots is mostly a variant of border’s english i.e the language which was spoken across the Anglo Scots border since ancient times. It probably has adopted a few Ulster Irish words just as all neighbouring languages do.
‘However I still believe you will find that the “Celtic” idea is disapproved of now by more than just a “faction” of people.’
What do you mean by the Celtic idea ? How about the Anglo Saxon idea ? the Norman idea ? the Roman idea ? the American idea ?
Linguistically Celtic languages did and do exist . There was a ‘Celtic’ culture in central Europe prior to and after the birth of Christ .
As the average American sits down to his ‘idea’ of an all American i.e USA meal of chicken , peas and mashed potatoes he or she might wonder where the food on his/her plate originally came from.
The Chinese were the first people to domesticate the ‘chicken ‘ -the people of the Fertile crescent were the first to cultivate and ‘domesticate ‘ the ‘pea’ and the Incas were the first to grow the potato. Nothing American about it at all at all . Not that it’ll matter when it’s down the hatch time :)
Posted by on Apr 18, 2008 @ 03:27 PM“Scottish Gaelic (as I should have said)at the time of the English Plantation was actually probably more influenced by Middle English than Gaelic. This can still be seen with Ulster Scots.”
I think that is the silliest thing I have ever read on Slugger, oh wait wait ..
“Ireland has no history of a fishing culture.”
I think stunned silence is enough to answer this.
I am no famine expert but I think if Irish people actually owned their own land 1. they would not have been dependant on the potato and 2. they would have had enough land to grow other crops even if they were.
The fact that people had to pay rent to absentee English landlords for the land their people lived on for a very long time before the English set foot in Ireland also explains a few things.
Posted by on Apr 18, 2008 @ 03:34 PMGreagoir Frainclin
• hard to believe then think that the seafairing Norse settled here in Ireland. Perhaps they were’nt fish eaters. ‘
Not the cleverest I’m afraid those early norse . Apparently they insisted on taking their dairy cattle to Greenland to replicate the life at home in good old Norway /Denmark . They refused to eat ‘fish’ or whale blubber like the local Inuit /Eskimos . Too good for them :) only skraeling food not fit for ‘christians’ .
We know what happened to the Norse colony in Greenland . Refusal to adapt or learn from the ‘natives’. It happens .
As for the ‘potato’ the Irish took to it with some alacrity . For it was ideal for Irish growing conditions . In terms of energy expended to grow the crop as compared to the energy derived from eating it the potato was far more productive than any other staple food at that time in europe . Thus the population expanded from about 2 million in 1700 to almost 8.5 million by the the mid 1840’s .
Ireland had suffered earlier famines but none had the impact that the 1840’s one had . When the Irish had their own Parliament up to 1800 the local administration cut off food exports to England e.g circ 1740 to assist in the relief . By the 1840’s England’s population had reached 35 million and Ireland’s non potato agricultural exports had to be exported to Britain to keep John Bull’s huge new industrial army of coalminers , factory workers ‘fed’ . And as you say Ireland had to go the end of the line and starve.
Today in the USA there are ‘tomato ‘ pickers in Florida (immigrants) who haven’t had a pay increase in 20 years . The growers supply tomatoes to the big American fast food companies such as Burger King , McDonalds etc etc . As Americans sit down to enjoy a big MAC they don’t want to know that their fast food lunch is only possible at the price they can afford to pay by paying ‘slave’ wages to fellow americans .
Who said life had to be fair ?
Posted by on Apr 18, 2008 @ 03:53 PM‘Gaelgannaire’
‘The fact that people had to pay rent to absentee English landlords for the land their people lived on for a very long time before the English set foot in Ireland also explains a few things.’
True but not the whole truth . The rent had in many cases to pass through seven levels of parasites /middlemen/ agents / landlords representatives etc before what was left of it could be given to the absentee landlord at his West End Club or at his debauched gambling palace . Each ‘level’ had to receive a cut of the rent . The poor Irish ‘cottier’ had to support seven layers of parasites above him before he could look after his own family :(
The ‘intervening’ levels of this huge pyramid were of course mainly staffed by Irish people themselves as the ultimate ‘owner’ in distant London was not able to speak to his ‘tenants’ As Gaeilge (in Irish ).
Posted by on Apr 18, 2008 @ 04:05 PMgaelgannaire’
‘I think stunned silence is enough to answer this.
True enough such ignorance is appalling but understandable given it’s origin :(
‘I am no famine expert but I think if Irish people actually owned their own land 1. they would not have been dependant on the potato and 2. they would have had enough land to grow other crops even if they were’
I would say they would still have been dependant on the potato but perhaps not as much . Ownership of the land is a moot point . Land ownership in England was in the hands of a small minority and had been so since the Norman conquest in 1066 . The early industrial revolution saw ‘commons land’ being enclosed so that those english who were having a ‘marginal’ agricultural like existence were forced off these lands and into the new cities . Growing industrialisation and new wealth allowed England to import cheap food and Ireland happened to be one of it’s nearby suppliers .
Posted by on Apr 18, 2008 @ 04:14 PM>>Scottish Gaelic was a dialect of Irish ‘introduced ‘ into Scotland from Ireland around 100 AD or so . The languages remained very similar until the English/Normans subdued Scotland and cut off/reduced contacts between NE Ireland and Scotland .<<
Greenflag
An oft used quote I use is that the seaways were as the motorways of our ‘Celtic’ lands, thus Gaelic was most certainly flourishing(especially in ancient Galloway) for God knows how long before 100AD.
Also many Scottish kings sought to temper the influence of the great Somerled, a Gael perhaps of partly Norse blood and his ancestors for hundreds of years(his sons head all the great clan families). These Lords of the isles were pretty much autonomous and ruled over the whole of the western seaboard as far south as the mull of Kintyre, as well as much of northern Scotland, around a third all in. until finally curbed of their power they rarely did the bidding of Scots kings who themselves rarely felt able to challenge the might of the Lords of the Isles. The last Lord of the isles had perhaps been conspiring WITH the English to attack Scotland. The Normans had no part in their downfall 400 years too late :) and the English negligible if any part. Some German bears the title ‘Lord of the Isles’ in his title today, along with another obscure one, the Prince of Wales.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_the_Isles
I believe that the reformation and subsequent plantations stopped the flow of the Gallowglasses, thus gradually lessening the ties between Scotland and Ireland.
Posted by on Apr 18, 2008 @ 07:06 PM“ am no famine expert but I think if Irish people actually owned their own land 1. they would not have been dependant on the potato and 2”
Actually the Potato a wondeful source of nutrients, vitamins etc. Brfore the Famine the Irish people the healthiest people in the Islands
Posted by on Apr 18, 2008 @ 07:28 PMgaelgannaire
“I think that is the silliest thing I have ever read on Slugger, oh wait wait ..”
Stick around.
Posted by on Apr 18, 2008 @ 10:09 PM‘An oft used quote I use is that the seaways were as the motorways of our ‘Celtic’ lands’
Historically true and it makes just common sense . Believe it or not it was easier and faster to get from Wexford to Dublin by boat 150 years ago than by road . Those Wickla mountains and no coast road would have made for a rough trip.
‘I believe that the reformation and subsequent plantations stopped the flow of the Gallowglasses, thus gradually lessening the ties between Scotland and Ireland.’
Thats true if you are referring to contacts between the Gaelic speaking areas of the west ofscotland and Ireland but less true of the contacts between the new ‘planters ‘ and Scotland particularly during the industrial revolution and in educational matters. Many Ulster ‘prods’ including the great Lord Kelvin were educated at Scotland’s universities . Many northern Irish catholics from the poorer west of Ulster also emigrated to Scotland in the 18th and 19th centuries .
The ‘gallowglasses’ ran out of remunerable activites following the battle of Culloden . After a suitable interval the gaelic speaking highlanders were formed into the Black Watch Regiment which was soon following in a mannerof speaking the ancient highland tradition of ‘gun for hire ‘ .
Posted by on Apr 18, 2008 @ 11:29 PMGreenflag
Actually in retrospect I believe that I may have done your original point regarding the Normans a disservice. When King Malcolm III took the throne of Scotland his wife was Margaret sister of the then Norman English king. She revolutionised religion in Scotland away from our ‘Celtic’ church and looking more to Rome. Mass stopped being said in Gaelic ect. She was sainted, and her sons who became known as the margaretsons continued her work of de-gaelicising Scotland, indeed steering Scotland on a more European course. Considering that we know from the experience of religion and language in Wales this must have been a big blow to Gaelic.
>>gaelic speaking highlanders were formed into the Black Watch Regiment<<
Ahhhh the Scottish version of the UDR, some clans valued ancient enmities over their neighbours as being of more importance than being known as traitors to their nation.
Posted by on Apr 19, 2008 @ 06:17 AM“Ahhhh the Scottish version of the UDR, some clans valued ancient enmities over their neighbours as being of more importance than being known as traitors to their nation”
Eoghain,
Do ye refer to the twisted mouths of Argyll?
Sure it back fired, its a Big Mac, not the Big C!
Posted by on Apr 19, 2008 @ 10:47 AMDewi,
‘Actually the Potato a wonderful source of nutrients, vitamins etc. ‘
Indeed Dewi nothing beats the taste of the first crop of new potatoes cut in half then split through the middle and dolloped over with parsley butter . I recall eating 37 in one sitting as a teenager :) The sin of boiled gluttony I know for which I’m destined for the hot place :(
Nowadays we import most of our potatoes from Holland. It’s a crazy world.
Posted by on Apr 19, 2008 @ 10:50 AM‘some clans valued ancient enmities over their neighbours as being of more importance than being known as traitors to their nation.’
There were ‘clans’ before ‘nations’ and all politics is local as the man said . Sometimes it can get a little too local for comfort as some residents of Derry and Belfast have found to their cost these past 40 years or more.
Posted by on Apr 19, 2008 @ 11:03 AM>>Do ye refer to the twisted mouths of Argyll?
Sure it back fired, its a Big Mac, not the Big C!<<
Aye gaelgannaire though they were by no means alone, it was also wan ae them that led the forces of King William who massacred the MacD’s of Glencoe. An absolutely sacriligious thing to do after they had taken the local hospitality. Funny enough all the Campbell’s I’ve ever came across personally have been jungle’s or socialists. Go figure.
Greenflag, for sure the clan was all important, sadly these powerful and often beautiful bonds eventually led to the peoples downfall. The clan chief did not own the land he was only a figurehead for his people(often many autonomous sub-clans) anyhow sometime or other the pen pushers in Edinburgh needed to register the land, so put it under the ownership legally of the clan chiefs for ease of understanding. They did not comprehend the complexities of Gaelic society. Post 1746 especially, many generations were sent to be educated in England or catholic Gaelic hating parts of lowlands. Several generations of marrying outsiders and living apart from their people led to the situation whereby they could happily force their people off their land. Sheep and the profits on promise ensured the clans either went to their death or boarded coffin ships to the new world. Even though they did not really own the lands that they held title for, and did not in any way resemble the clan chiefs of 50 to 100 years previously.
Posted by on Apr 19, 2008 @ 04:32 PM
