In Russian, you can find the concept "clearing the estates" Highlands of Scotland, which, in my opinion, there is a circumcision to go further. Therefore, I took it upon myself to discuss from all sides the issue of land relations in Scotland, primarily the Highlands, and I will try to briefly and intelligibly summarize.

Let's start with the so-called "clearing estates"(what an ugly cesspool term!). On the English language it is called Clearances(Clearing or, in a modern way, Cleansing). The Scottish Highlanders call this thing Fuadach nan Gaidheal(Expulsion of the Gaels) - they really have something to be offended by.

In general, in England, which, as you know, took refuge south of Scotland, agricultural restructuring began somewhere else in the 16th century. Thanks to this, I even managed to somehow correct my unenviable school marks by history. When the teacher asked us what the process was called in the agricultural England in the 16-17 centuries, what we went through a year before and had already successfully forgotten, I miraculously remembered this Magic word – fencing, raised his hand and received his five points, for a flash of memory. As far as I remember, the essence of this process, in short, was the division of communal land between members of the community, who then fenced off their plots. Over time, such plots were enlarged, which was beneficial due to improved production technologies, and for natural reasons, large landowners, hired workers and extra workers appeared, which were just required for the emerging manufactories. That is to say, capitalist relations came to the English countryside. As you know, in the field of exploitation of both its own and others, England was ahead of the rest. But in wild Scotland, everything was different and much later.

Closer to England in terms of economic development - and related-territorially - was Lower Scotland. And it was there that at the end of the 17th century, and especially after the Union of 1707, transformations began in the village. As land cultivation technologies improved and productivity grew, the cost of land lease increased accordingly. And now only large farms and landowners who could apply these new improvements could survive in the new conditions.

Small farmers, or, in their language, crofters (crofter), were forced to abandon the rent of land plots, which is now too much for them. And in order not to starve to death, they were hired as laborers to large landowners, or moved to the industrial Glasgow, Edinburgh or the north of England in the hope, often in vain, of finding work there, or even went overseas in search of happiness. In general, typical capitalism has crossed the border, already rather conditional, and finally got to the village of South Scotland.

Some zealous historians are trying to give this case a name Lowland Clearances(that is, the Clearing of Low Scotland), comparing it in importance with Highland Clearances(Clearing the Highlands). Which, in my opinion, is fundamentally wrong, because in essence, not to mention the scale, tragedy, impact on the fate of people and the whole nation, these processes differed like heaven and earth. Which will be shown below.

Until the 17th century, a patriarchal clan way of life still reigned in the highlands of Scotland. Which, according to all the laws of the economic genre, hampered the growth of labor productivity and the standard of living of the population. Yes, to tell the truth, the Highlanders were poor in general, and lived on crops, as far as the harsh nature would allow, and on raising cattle for sale in Low Scotland and northern England. However, they lived merrily and happily, they danced, played the bagpipes, and sometimes, for the sake of entertainment, arranged wars between clans.

Initially, the land was considered common among them, almost like under communism. All of them, according to centuries of tradition, obeyed the leader of their clan or sept. He will lead them into battle and judge, if anything. But the government settled in Edinburgh did not like such freedom of the highland clans. And here, at the beginning of the 17th century, the Scottish Stewarts sit on the English throne, which marks the beginning of the actual unification of England and Scotland. And, accordingly, the economic relations characteristic of England begin to creep into Scotland. And so, to encourage the loyalty of the leaders of the highland clans, the Scottish government contributed to the gradual transformation of them into the owners of all the land of the clan. The leaders were, of course, only happy about this, and the rank and file members of the clan, like obedient children (in general, the Gaelic word clann and means children) were not accustomed to grumbling - all the more so because at first it didn’t change much for them.

The clan system finally ordered to live long after the defeat in 1746 of the last Jacobite uprising led by Prince Charles Edward Stuart, nicknamed Handsome Charlie(Bonnie Prince Charlie). In London (for after the Union of 1707 Scotland was ruled from there) laws were passed that abolished all the legal rights of the leaders of the clans and transferred them to the state sheriffs. In addition, legislative acts were also adopted that prohibited the highlanders from having heavy weapons - broadswords and guns, as well as light weapons in the form of tartans, kilts, bagpipes, obliging the highlanders to immediately surrender all unregistered weapons.

And so the leaders of the clans, having become the owners of the land that previously belonged to the entire clan, sooner or later forgot about their patriarchal duties to their relatives. Of course! Once they were already deprived of the burdensome right to judge and pardon, but in return they were endowed with such sweet rights as an owner. That is why they simply turned into sybarites and tried to join the elite of society, or into businessmen, for whom the main thing is profit. They either sold the land to moneybags from the south, and themselves moved to permanent residence in Edinburgh and put the money into circulation, or hired managers who were already adept at extracting profit from the land. And some of the leaders, leading a life on a grand scale, and then, having sold the land and paid off the accumulated debts, found themselves with an empty trough and were forced to seek their fortune in distant lands.

Thus the land in the Highlands became the private property of all sorts of entrepreneurial owners. What do entrepreneurs do? They strive to get the maximum profit from their assets! Correctly.

Of course, in this situation, the ordinary highlanders lost all respect for the former leaders, on which the clan system was based for centuries. Thus, it can be said that the old way of life of the Highland Celts was successfully destroyed by efficient managers from the south.

Well, let's go. The beginning of the Clearing is commonly associated with the introduction of sheep farming into the Highlands, sometime around 1760. The business was extremely profitable. One flock of sheep required 6 acres of pasture on the hillsides for the summer and a large covered paddock in the valley for the winter. And only one shepherd! And the income was much higher than the miserable pay from small farmers who were already barely making ends meet.

So many landowners and their managers tried by hook or by crook to expel the tenants from their lands and send hordes of sheep there instead of them. Tens of thousands of people were evicted from their homes, deprived of their homes, which were often burned down. And the expulsion of each family is, of course, a tragedy, tears, grief. A bundle in your hands and forward, into the unknown, and behind you they are still urging you on with a stick.

That is why people hated these cute animals, which, according to the highlanders, deprived them of work and shelter. So, 1792 was called Year of the Sheep(Bliadhna nan Caorach in Gaelic). Nothing to do with the eastern calendar, according to which, as I remember now, it was then the year of the Rat. So, on July 27, 1792, warmed up by drinking and wedding festivities, angry at the sheep-pressing them in Rossshire, the highlanders in Rossshire gathered around the district a herd of these beautiful animals - strangers, of course - and drove along the road in the direction of Inverness, protesting in this way against the dominance of sheep. On the way, mountaineers from other places joined them for the company, and not from empty handed, and also rounded up the surrounding sheep. As a result, about 400 mountaineers drove about 6,000 sheep to the town of Boath.

And there they were already waiting for soldiers from the Black Watch regiment (Scottish regiments in the service of the government). 12 instigators were immediately arrested. 5 of them were soon tried and sentenced - some to imprisonment, some to deportation, some to hard labor (strangely, not to hanging). However, everything ended happily, because the convicts eventually managed to escape and hide in the labyrinths of the Highlands.

As a rule, the highlanders were forced to move to very infertile plots of land that were not suitable even for sheep pastures and on which it was unimaginably difficult to feed themselves. It often happened that after such a farmer raised virgin soil with sweat and blood, cultivated the land a little, he was asked to either pay a higher rent - the land is now more fertile! - or move to another virgin area that has never been cultivated. And when the farmer, sighing and groaning, got away from the plot he had cultivated, the good land lord let the lambs go there, on the green fresh grass. And what can you do for these cute animals!

The plots of this barren land, where the highlanders were forced to move, were usually closer to the sea coast, where, if desired, one could retrain as fishermen or engage in kelping(kelping). Not to be confused with camping. Kelping is the collection, preparation and processing of algae, from which iodine was extracted and used in the production of soap and glass. Initially, this fishery was engaged only in the Hebrides. But the war with France cut off supplies from the Continent, and clever landowners, smelling profits, began to organize kelping on the west coast of the Highlands and the islands.

About 10 thousand people were employed in this branch of the national economy. Businessmen sold a ton of seaweed for 20 pounds to Liverpool, about 2 pounds went to them to pay for the work of the highlanders. Now calculate the rate of return! By 1820, the war on the continent was over, economic ties were restored, the need for algae fell and the Scottish highlanders were left, as always, with an empty trough.

But on the northern and eastern coasts, there was much less algae, and the highlanders had to earn extra money exclusively by fishing, although the fishermen of them were so-so. In fact, neither fish nor algae could feed such a lot of people. Yes, and patches of land, initially almost barren, began to completely deplete. And the insatiable landowners kept raising and raising the rent for their worthless land. Many highlanders had to eventually recover in the cities in search of work.

To tell the truth, there were also highly moral individuals among the landowners who did not seek to expel tenants from their lands. However, this was not at all a disinterested benevolence. For the land lords offered the highlanders to become hired workers on their lands. Their labor was cheap, which means it promised the owners b about more profit.

In addition, young highlanders could actually be sold! For the landowners received money from the government if their peasants or hired laborers enlisted in the government regiments. And cannon fodder was so necessary for the Empire for wars in overseas colonies. Thus, one of the conditions for the return of confiscated estates to the Jacobite lords in the second half of the 18th century was the indispensable enrollment of the highlanders from their lands into the British army. For all the time of the Cleansing, about 48 thousand highlanders, according to such rules, joined the ranks of the army of the Empire. On the one hand, the mountain regiments were considered the most persistent, enduring and unpretentious in the British army, and on the other hand, the British commanders did not mind sending them into the most terrible meat grinder.

And of course, from such a life, the hordes of mountaineers were forced to wave their hand to their native shores and emigrate to North America. So, from 1763 to 1803, about 70 thousand highlanders left for the ocean. And then another 20,000 destitute potential immigrants were on the way.

But the Empire, more than ever, needed cannon fodder, a lot of meat. And so many landlords actually benefited from people not leaving Scotland! For the more free laborers, the cheaper their cost. Elementary Watson!

Then they lobbied Parliament to pass the Passenger Vessels Act in 1803. This law was allegedly supposed to show the Empire's concern for emigrants, to improve the conditions for their transportation. Of course, for more comfortable travel conditions, a higher ticket price is also required. Therefore, this humane law also increased the transfer to travel to America. And that was the most important thing! Now it was much more difficult for the impoverished highlanders to leave. Have the conditions changed? Where there! Often the highlanders were transported in the same holds as the slaves a little earlier, and under the same unbearable conditions. It is not surprising that, having paid the fare as in the VIP class, some unfortunate people managed to die along the way from lack of water, air and a doctor and from an excess of dampness, stuffiness and harmful miasms.

And here's more Walter our Scott, probably without realizing it, helped the process of colonization of Highland Scotland. The great writer in his novels fanned this country with the most attractive halo of romance, leaving behind the real problems and misfortunes of the highlanders, uninteresting to the reader.

When his paunchy majesty George IV deigned to visit Edinburgh in 1822, our writer supervised the preparation of the whole event, and he also convinced the king to put on a kilt - allegedly that, i.e. George IV, was from the Stuart dynasty, which means that he is the most real Scottish highlander. Oh well.

While many of the ex-chiefs of the clans and landowners invited to the ceremony were very enthusiastic about the eviction of the highlanders and the eradication of their culture. And in his welcome pamphlet on the arrival of the king, Scott wrote in servile manner: "We are The Clan and our King is The Chief!", I mean "We are the Clan, and our leader is the King!" How! The empire even expropriated the culture of the highlanders.

Inspired by the novels of Walter Scott, many thousands of Englishmen who got rich in overseas colonies desired to visit these "romantic" places without fail. Catch a fish there

or hunt for oleshkov.

And since there is demand, then, according to the laws of the market genre, there must also be supply. That is why the English, who are richer, bought estates in the Highlands for their entertainment. Yes, and many local landowners arranged parks and hunting grounds in their possessions, where they received tourists from the south with great hospitality and where, of course, there was no place for simple highland farmers, so that the goners would not be an eyesore to the respectable public.

After graduation french war Kelping fell into decline, agricultural production began to decline, and the soldiers began to return to the hut. The hardships of the mountaineers intensified. The Empire did its job, siphoned off all the resources from the Highlands: got mountains of cannon fodder, used pastures to raise their sheep, drove the Highlanders to the most rocky, infertile lands, made them the cheapest labor force in Britain, tried to kill their culture as much as possible and traditions...

And the newly minted capitalists, the Scottish landowners, sought to compete in material prosperity and luxury with their English counterparts. That is why they often got into huge debts. Which led to the transfer of land from Scottish landowners, descendants of clan leaders, to English moneybags, who had even less concern for the local population. Huge territories were set aside for parks and hunting grounds - all for the pleasure of rich Pinocchio.

And then back in 1846 it began a string of lean years(in Ireland and Scotland), especially for potatoes, which didn’t want to grow, and that’s it. They say nutritionists - diversify your diet! And among the highlanders, it consisted of 80% potatoes. It is not surprising that a real famine has come.

The merciless cleansing of Highland Scotland continued almost until the end of the 19th century. Not bad, although a certain K. Marx wrote on this subject in a one-sided way. For example, in this article he shares his impressions of visiting the Highlands of Scotland and gives examples of the ruthless attitude of the state towards the Scottish highlanders.

british empire treated the Highlands, in fact, as his colony from which you need to squeeze more juice. If in continental Europe and in England in Agriculture advanced technologies were introduced to produce food for a growing population, the Highlands were used only as a source of profit. And she was not at all worried about the fate of her people. All in the spirit of the Empire!

Did the highlanders resist the Cleansing? Well, firstly, after the defeat of the Jacobite movement, they were forbidden under penalty of death to own weapons. Secondly, in the event of a rebellion against the Highlanders, government troops stationed in Scotland advanced. And therefore, at first, the highlanders were limited to petty dirty tricks - they stole sheep, poached and mowed down like a fool, which sometimes resulted in spontaneous riots like the Year of the Sheep, as mentioned above, well, and arranged other messes.

After 1880, farmers massively protested against the increase in rent by non-payment of this very fee and by holding unsanctioned rallies.

In the early 1880s, the Highland Land League (Highland Land League, Highland Law Reform Association or Crofters "Party) appeared, and in 1885 they even made it to Parliament.

And then the British government deigned to suddenly see all the atrocities that accompanied the Clearing of the Highlands. Probably due to the fact that the sheep business has already ceased to be super-profitable, and due to some political maneuvers Conservatives vs. Labor. In 1886, the British Parliament even passed the Crofters holdings act, which guaranteed small farmers hereditary rights to the patches of land they cultivated, more precisely, the right to work there for a moderate rent. But what is a dead poultice? The train left a long time ago and, of course, no one has returned from across the ocean. And the majority of the land was already firmly in the hands of the capitalist landowners. Therefore, it is not surprising that the protests of the highlanders have resumed. However, the Moor did his job, and to power in Yu.K. came the conservatives, who do not like to babysit. Therefore, troops were sent to the Highlands to suppress the protests. And the Crofter party assimilated with the Laborites - together it is somehow more convenient to hold out against the bourgeoisie.

In 1909, the Highland Land League was again formed in Glasgow, which this time advocated not only for protecting the rights of farmers, but even for the autonomy of Scotland and the nationalization of all land. Well, neither give nor take the most that neither is the Bolsheviks. The government was a little scared and promised a lot of things to them. But after the First World War, everything was forgotten together. And the Farmers' Party, as before, dissolved into the orderly ranks of the Laborites. True, in the late 1920s, when sheep breeding was no longer a profitable business, a lot of land (about 800 thousand acres) was transferred to farms, mainly in the Hebrides, and on a slightly smaller scale in northern Scotland and the Shetland Islands.

More in the 20th century, there were no special changes in land ownership in Scotland. Unless in 1976, at the numerous requests of workers, they adopted the Farmers Act - Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 1976, which allowed Scottish farmers to buy the land they cultivated into their own property. Yes, perhaps, in 1994, when the ruling conservatives, the defenders of the rich Pinocchio, introduced preferential taxation on land used NOT to generate income, for example, by growing agricultural plants on it, but for the entertainment of the owner of the land: hunting there, horseback riding or cultivation of eye-pleasing gardens and parks.

Alas, everything is according to Marx. An increase in labor productivity reduces the need for the amount of labor, which flows to where it is needed. So it turned out that economic progress, coupled with the pursuit of profit, drove an entire people out of their native lands and let them go around the world, literally and figuratively. Today, this sad episode in the history of the Highland clans is easy to use for propaganda purposes if desired. For example, to raise the spirit of nationalism (the rich English - oh, scoundrels! - expelled the highlanders from their lands) or to fight the financial and industrial magnates (the moneybags bought up the lands of Highland Scotland to get profits and expelled their inhabitants). Or you can simply treat it as a cost of economic progress. And nothing personal...

Although, from my point of view, the main reason for the Cleansing of the Highlands was the exorbitant expansion of the British Empire in all directions. And the Highlands were simply used as a colony, and the Highlanders were simply used as cheap labor. All resources were pumped out, culture and traditions were destroyed. Moreover, everything was arranged with amazing hypocrisy, where England was presented as the beacon of civilization, and the ungrateful Scottish highlanders were lazy and robbers who preferred to leave their homeland and escape across the ocean for a better and freer life.

Of the good news, it should be noted that Scotland achieved autonomy at the very end of the last century. A few years ago, the SNP, the Scottish National Party, came to power in Scotland. Already in 2015, she plans to start a radical land reform. All privileges for "sports" estates will be cancelled. It is planned to transfer about 1 million acres of land to public use by 2020. And the most stubborn landowners will be obliged to sell the land to the communities and, moreover, it is still unknown at what price. The landowners are in a panic and fear - and rightly so! - that they will feel like foreigners in their own country.

The opponents, all sorts of Tories and Laborites, are known to be great lovers of demagogy and therefore they frighten the people because in this case agricultural production will decrease, and the prices of products in shops will go up. But be afraid of wolves, do not go into the forest.

In short, big changes are coming to Scotland in the coming years.

An article by Sir Hugh Tevor-Roper in the collection "The Invention of Tradition" edited by E. Gobsbaum gives an interesting impression "I've already seen this somewhere. Here, recently." The ancient Scotland of the Highlanders, according to the author, turns out to be an illusion, a fairy tale created in several approaches at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries. And the deconstruction of this tale can be very useful for an inquisitive mind.

The "traditional image" of a Scot today is a kilt and a bagpipe.

Part 1 - The Coming of the Kilt

So, highland Scotland, the birthplace of an incredibly attractive for some ladies type of a stern Scot in a kilt of the colors of his native clan, walking with bagpipes in the mountains. Until the 17th century (and partly until the 18th century), western Scotland was culturally a colony of Ireland, strange as it sounds to us. Moreover, the Scottish highlanders represented an "overflow of Ireland", an excess of Ireland included in the Irish "cultural field" as a consumer. The creation of a separate cultural field, the creation of the myth of the Scottish Highlander, a myth polished in the Victorian period, began with three steps:
- with a peculiar cultural revolution and reversing the consumer-producer relationship; - Now Highland Scotland was supposed to act as the cradle of "Celtic";, and not a cultural province;
- with the invention of "ancient and authentic"; mountain traditions, first of all those that are most conspicuous, i.e. external attributes of the "Scottish highlanders";
- and finally - with the spread of (from) the acquired traditions of traditions to southern and eastern Scotland.

Hollywood creates an image of "good old Scotland" with 18th century kilts and 4th century blue faces.

Throughout the 18th century, a number of Scottish intellectuals developed the concept of the autochthonous culture (and indeed) of the population of northwestern Scotland. In 1738, David Malcolm's Dissertation on the Celtic Languages ​​was published, but the main action began in the 1760s, when namesakes John Macpherson (a priest on the Isle of Skye) and James Macpherson (Ossian's translator) began to intensively distort Irish folklore, translating it into the soil of the Scottish highlands. James “found” Ossian’s ballads, John wrote a “Critical Dissertation” in support of the authenticity of the ballads, 10 years later James wrote out the ready-made concept of “Eternal Scotland” in his “Preface to the History of the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland” - as a result, the people of Highland Scotland appeared before the reader , reflecting the blows of the Romans and creating a great epic even when the Irish "went under the table." The thoughts of the two MacPhersons captivated even the cautious Gibbon, who confessed that they were his landmarks in Scottish history. A thorough (and destructive) criticism of the works of both MacPhersons began only at the end of the 19th century (when the myth had already taken root and it didn’t matter what scientists argued about as long as people were fascinated by the image), although already in 1805 Walter Scott in his critical article about Ossian denied the authenticity of the Ossian ballads. However, in the process of criticism, Scott himself made a rather sensational statement - since ancient times, the highlanders of Scotland have worn a kilt (filibeg) made of "plaid" fabric. Even the MacPhersons didn't say that.

Checkered fabric has been known in Scotland since the 16th century, when it was brought to the mountains from Flanders through the Scottish valleys, but kilts came into use only after 1707 and were invented by an Englishman. Until the 18th century, the Scottish highlanders practically did not differ from their Irish neighbors - long shirts, short trousers, the richer ones wore plaids and long tight trousers (trews) from "plaid". Beginning in the 17th century, when cultural ties between the two kindred regions began to weaken, long shirts were replaced by costumes from the Scottish valleys - shirt, trousers and (for the rich) camisole.

However, checkered plaids not only did not disappear, but began to be massively used by Scottish soldiers during the civil wars of the mid-17th century as cheap outerwear - the plaid was wrapped around the waist, the rest of the fabric was thrown over the shoulder, and in case of bad weather they were simply wrapped up to the throat. It was this way of wearing a plaid (wrapped on the belt around the pants and thrown over the shoulder) that was originally called the "kilt". And only in the late 1720s did the kilt become a kilt - at the initiative of Thomas Rawlinson from Lancashire.

The Rawlinsons were a fairly well-known family name in Lancashire, employed in the steel industry. In the 1720s, having difficulty supplying his smelters with coal, Thomas Rawlinson turned his attention to Scotland, where, thanks to the resources of the country, smelting production could be established. Therefore, in 1727, Rawlinson leased the forest land of Ian MacDonald from Glengarry for 20 years, and set up steelmaking on site using raw materials from Lancashire (i.e., not coal went south, but ore went north). The enterprise was not crowned with success, and after 7 years it was curtailed. In any case, Rawlinson came up with the idea for the kilt while visiting the smelters where plaid-wrapped Scots worked. Observing a rather clumsy costume (because in a hot shop in such a dress it is rather uncomfortable), Rawlinson decided to increase productivity by detaching part of the plaid and leaving it on the belt, but already as a skirt - thus, the upper body was not bound by the plaid. The experiment was a success - in the local garrison, skirts were sewn from plaids (the tailor was probably very surprised at such a strange order), which the workers liked. So, from the overalls for steelworkers, created by an Englishman to increase productivity, the legendary skirt was born, quickly spreading throughout Scotland. So quickly that after the Jacobite rising of 1745, the kilt was among the items of clothing that were forbidden to be worn (thus the British government decided to humiliate the highlanders). The ban on wearing kilts, tight pants, fanny packs, tartan items, etc., hit the local culture so hard that 10 years after the ban, neither plaid nor kilt could be found anywhere - nothing. Kilts appeared in the life of Scotland already as a local semi-holy symbol such as vyshyvanka for two reasons.

The first reason was the fascination of the local intelligentsia with the concepts of "noble savages", especially since the noble savage (highlander) was now tamed, moreover, he threatened to disappear, which the local elites could not allow. We will talk about this movement a little later.
The second reason was the use of kilts by the Scottish regiments of the British army. After the suppression of the uprising of 1745 and the ban on wearing "highlander" clothes, a special exception was made for the soldiers of the Scottish regiments (primarily for the 42nd and 43rd infantry regiments) - they, like loyal and brave highland soldiers, could wear Scottish clothes. The originally plaid-wearing soldiers did not fail to take advantage of the idea of ​​wearing the kilt, and thus, during the era of general extinction, the kilt survived and received a certain amount of fame as a distinguishing feature in the glorious Scottish regiments.

Moreover, it is possible that the system of "tartans", i.e. the definition of a particular clan according to a special pattern of fabric was born precisely in the Scottish regiments for the allocation of battalions. However, we will talk about tartans next time.

Part 2 - From kilt to tartan

In the middle of the 18th century, the kilt skirt, banned shortly after its entry into the historical price, became a symbol of either the military or hidden Jacobites (or their relatives), at the same time it did not take root in Scottish society, not only because the Highlanders in Scotland they were a small (and, moreover, constantly decreasing) and not very respected part of the population, but also because for the highlanders themselves, the kilt was an innovation. However, in the second half of the century the situation changed.

In 1778 in London, with the aim of preserving and encouraging the ancient Scottish traditions The Highland Society was formed. Despite the fact that the society included a large number of Scottish aristocrats, it was led by a lawyer from the Temple, John Mackenzie. The members of the society were both of the aforementioned MacPhersons, one of whom "discovered" the texts of Ossian in Gaelic, after which John Mackenzie handed over the texts for editing and publication (in 1807) to the historian John Sinclair. Thus, the society fought "for the revival of the old Gaelic language."

The second area of ​​activity of the society was the struggle for the abolition of the ban on wearing Highlander clothes in Scotland. To do this, members of the society, on completely legal grounds (since they were in London, and not Scotland), gathered: in such clothes, which were famous for being the clothes of their Celtic ancestors, and on such occasions they had to read ancient poetry and explore interesting the customs of their country. But even then, the kilt skirt was not among the items of clothing that members of the society were obliged to wear - such items included only tight pants and a belted plaid, which was discussed earlier. In 1782, through the Marquis of Graham, the society was able to lobby in Parliament for the abolition of the ban on wearing "highland dress", which was extremely pleased with the Scottish intelligentsia. However, there were also colder minds, for example, one of the greatest Scottish antiquarians, John Pinkerton, was skeptical about kilts - in his opinion, these were the most perfect innovations, along with tartans.

John Sinclair, a historian of the Highland Society, also did not become a supporter of the idea of ​​kilts - when in 1794 he organized the squads of Rothesay and Caithness to serve during the war with France, he, having tried to dress his wards as "Sholtan" as possible, did not dress soldier in kilts, but chose tight pants from the "plaid". The following year, Sinclair turned to Pinkerton for advice on what to wear. Pinkerton gave a number of arguments as to why a plaid should not be worn, pointed out that tartans and kilts are generally a remake, and advised staying true to tight pants. True, Mr. Pinkerton especially noted about Sir Sinclair's tartan - very nice, and this is the main thing.

In 1804, the British War Office, apparently trying to unify the uniform, abolished the wearing of kilts as a uniform item, introducing the wearing of tight plaid pants instead (i.e. without abandoning the Scottish flavor). This step aroused the indignation of some officers, who felt that it was impossible to change military traditions in this way. Some, in the heat of the moment, summed up the "historical base" for their indignation - this is what David Stewart did, for example. This fierce opponent of the abolition of the kilt justified his opinion by referring to the public opinion that plaids and kilts were part of the "national costume" of the Scottish highlanders for many, many years. True, Stuart's critics were ironic about his statements, asking how a person who, from the age of 16, was in the army far from his home, and who had not seen Scotland for decades, could appeal to the opinion of the highlanders.

In any case, Colonel Stewart, apparently wanting to more thoroughly substantiate his position, after 1815 began to investigate sources on the clothes of the highlanders - it was impossible to admit the thought that the kilt was invented by an Englishman. The result of his research was the book Essays on the Manners, Character and Present Condition of the Highlanders of Scotland, published in 1822, which then became for many years the main work for fans of the mountain clans. True, the book did not substantiate the traditions of wearing kilts and tartans for clans.

At the same time, in 1820, Colonel Stewart founded the Celtic Society of Edinburgh for Youth, whose task was to "promote the general use of the ancient Highland dress in the Highlands." Sir Walter Scott was elected president of the society, and things began to spin - young Scottish aristocrats and intellectuals joyfully held gatherings, drinking parties, processions, and all this in kilts. Walter Scott himself was not imbued with the idea, and continued to wear tight Scottish trousers during events.

The year of the triumph of the kilt can be safely called the year 1822, the year of the state visit of King George IV to Scotland, the first visit of the monarch of the Hanoverian dynasty. In order to meet the king with dignity, a committee for the organization of celebrations was created, the head of which was elected Walter Scott. His assistant in part of the ceremonies was ... Colonel Stuart. It is not surprising that for the protection of the king, parades, ceremonies and other events, the organizers chose mainly lovers of kilts, "dressed in proper costume." Walter Scott himself turned to local aristocrats to come to Edinburgh with a kind of "retinue", i.e. the visit turned into a kind of medieval event with carnival costumes and a fake retinue.

But not only kilts became the highlight of the visit. In 1819, when the discussion of the future visit began, talk began that “each clan would need to distinguish itself”, including tartan (before that, the clans did not have “their own” pattern, monotony in any clan could achieved, for example, by purchasing a large batch of fabric for tailoring.In any case, the aristocrats valued the fabric more colorful, regardless of the pattern, it happened that one person's clothes were made of fabric with completely different patterns). Such talk was largely inspired by the Scottish woolen fabric manufacturers, who realized that in connection with the visit and mass tailoring, it would be possible to earn extra pounds on "exclusivity". Thus, the Wilson and Son company from Bannockburn, the largest manufacturer of woolen fabric in Scotland, began a joint project with the London Highland Society - in 1819, the company sent a catalog of its fabrics to London, and the society distributed the fabrics by clans and confirmed that one or another pattern is a pattern of a particular clan. As soon as the visit was confirmed, the Scottish aristocracy was seized by real hysteria - good fabrics with “their own patterns” were sold out so quickly that tartans began to be distributed without any system - just to warm up demand. Thus, the MacPherson clan (heirs of James MacPherson, mentioned above) received as a "clan tartan" a pattern that was previously used in fabrics supplied to the West Indies for sewing clothes for slaves.

As a result of such violent activity, "valley" Edinburgh met King George, dressed in semi-fantastic clothes of highlanders, who, according to the son-in-law of Walter Scott, were previously considered thieves and robbers by 9 out of 10 Scots. But the honoring of the king's arrival was a success - George himself, who fell under the spell of Walter Scott, seemed to be fascinated by how he, "practically Stuart and heir to the legitimate rulers of Scotland", was met in Edinburgh by feudal squads. He dressed in a kilt specially made for the occasion with a special "royal Stuart" tartan (the kilt was made by the British, George Hunter and Co. in London, more than 1300 pounds for the whole costume at the prices of that time), and walked, accompanied everywhere by a whole retinue - from event to event, following the script of a huge play, developed by Scott with the help of William Henry Murray, a local playwright from Scott's circle of friends. The culmination was a ball given by the Scottish nobility in honor of the king.

The organizers (Scott and co.) strongly recommended to come to the ball in the “highlander dress” or uniform, since the king himself had to come to the ball in a kilt. And so, the Edinburgh gentlemen began to seek out their mountain roots in order to pick up a tartan and sew a kilt. The shortage of kilts was so great in those days that some had to borrow kilts from the military from the Scottish regiments stationed around Edinburgh. The king's visit aroused massive interest in the "ancient dress" and "clan tartans", and also began to create a single image of the Scots, without a real-life division into highlanders and lowlanders. A new mass national identity. It was now up to the general spread of the image of the "Scot".

Part 3 - People Work

Despite the fact that Edinburgh was engulfed in 1822 by "tartan fever", the Allen brothers became the true creators of the concept of "tartans of the Scottish clans".

The grandchildren of British Admiral John Carter Allen, John and Charles, appeared in the story of tartans out of nowhere, but they appeared in time - between 1819 and 1822. At that time, in anticipation of the trip of George IV to Scotland, the firm of Wilson and Son was engaged in the manufacture of clothes for the greeters, and planned to publish a catalog of "clan tartans". The brothers, apparently, grasped the idea, but implemented it on their own and after many years. Prior to that, they traveled around Europe dressed in an extravagant "highlander dress" that amazed the continental inhabitants, and at the same time changed their names - first to the "more Scottish" Allan, then to Hay Allan, and finally to Hay. At the same time, the brothers began to "secretly tell" about their noble origin - they were descendants of the Hey family, Earls of Errol. In truth, this could be true, because some associated their grandfather with this surname, but there was no evidence of a connection.

Returning to Scotland, the brothers were able to attract the attention of the local nobility, partly by their behavior, partly by allusions to connections and origins. The patrons enticed by them granted them the right to hunt and live on their estates, and to one of such patrons, Sir Thomas Lauder, the brothers confessed that they had in their possession an ancient document that had once belonged to John Leslie, Bishop of Ross, and which was subsequently transferred to their father Charles Edward Stuart himself (the last of the Stuart pretenders to the British throne). This document, Vestiarium Scoticum, contained descriptions of clan tartans. But not just mountain clans, this document contained tartans and valley clans - absolutely incredible news! The original, however, in London, was immediately added by the brothers, but they have a copy in their hands, which must be published in order to correct errors in existing tartans.

Such news was simply mind-blowing - especially for the valley aristocrats, some of whom might gladly jump at the opportunity to "permeate the history of a glorious clan." But still, the sensation needed confirmation - therefore, they turned to Walter Scott for help, who, however, turned out to be very, very skeptical, pointing out that such a dubious document should be checked in London by specialists from the British Museum. Sir Thomas agreed with this approach, but the brothers provided him with a letter "from his father", with a complete refusal to provide a document on the margins of which some private information was recorded that were not subject to public disclosure. In addition, it was written in the letter, Walter Scott is not an authority at all, there is nothing to ask permission from him. The idea did not get any movement, because it clearly smacked of a scam, and the brothers hastily retired to the north of Scotland, under the wing of a new patron, Lord Lovat.

There, the brothers converted to Catholicism and “threw off their masks”, calling themselves the Sobessky-Stuart brothers (Sobesky - by the name of their puesdo-great-great-grandmother, Stuart - by the name of their great-great-grandfather), John and Charles. Having received a villa from Lord Lovat, the brothers created a small courtyard, called themselves nothing more than princes, constantly hinted at "secret documents", and at that time they were working on a new project.

In 1842, under the editorship of the brothers, a richly illustrated edition of the Vestiarium Scoticum was published in a small edition. The document itself, which has changed significantly since the first discovery of the "original", was accompanied by a preface proving that it was a genuine document - however, all references to other copies of the document that "confirm everything" usually ended with sighs over the fact that such copies simply disappeared – burned down, were stolen or simply evaporated. Despite the fact that the publication did not receive much popularity (partly due to its meager circulation), the brothers continued to work. Two years later they published the tome "The Suit of the Clans", in which they continued the Vestiarium Scoticum line. The new book contained not only rich illustrations, but also a theoretical part, in which the authors told that the clothes of the highlanders and their tartans are ancient robes, in which all of Europe once walked. However, this time too, references to sources raised doubts about the scientific nature of the book - a long series of disappeared manuscripts, or documents that were only in the hands of the Sobieski-Stewart brothers, references to the Vestiarium Scoticum as a genuine document, etc. As a result, A new book did not even become the object of criticism. The brothers continued to work.

The new book caused a strong reaction, but by no means the one that the brothers were counting on. The volume of the History of the Century, published by the brothers, caused a rapid decline in the popularity of the brothers. In "Stories" the brothers decided to move away from the usual description of "ancient mountain costumes" and wrote, in fact, a saga about themselves - the descendants of the Stuart dynasty. Considering that the brothers relied out of habit on “burnt manuscripts”, criticism did not leave stone unturned on the “History”, and besides, now it was about politics - pretenders to the throne are not announced every day. One cannot even imagine how quickly the brothers became outcasts - in any case, all their patrons turned away from them, sources of funding disappeared, and staying in Scotland became extremely undesirable (a little later we will talk more about how the Sobieski-Stewart adventures ended).

However, one thing remained after the brothers - the tartan designs contained in the Vestiarium Scoticum were borrowed unchanged by the London Highland Society. The base for popularization "among the people" was created, the matter was small - to retell Vestiarium Scoticum so that they "believed".

Part 4 - Fixing the image

Despite the fact that in the eyes of the scientific community Vestiarium Scoticum could not receive any value, this book has not disappeared from the pages of history. On the contrary, events took a rather predictable turn - the book became the basis for the popularization of tartans among the general population. The Highland Society of London was engaged in popularization, hiring another interesting couple to carry out the work - James Logan and Robert Makian.

James Logan, an Aberdian, was a great lover of his homeland and its history, even in its mythological form. In 1831, he published The Scottish Gael, in which he explained his point of view on what was happening. By analogy with today's fans to talk about ancient times, Logan laid out "the whole truth" about ancient kilts, tartans and other Scottish antiquities, promising readers to continue their research on tartans. For such work, he was elected president of the London Highland Society and set to work. At the same time, Logan was an agent for the Wilson & Son company, so his research took on a somewhat specific connotation, given that this largest Scottish woolen fabric company appeared wherever tartans were discussed. Logan worked on a work on tartans with a friend, Robert Ronald Macian, an artist.

The result of the work was the book The Clans of the Scottish Highlands, published in 1843 (a year after the publication of Vestiarium Scoticum), decorated with 72 illustrations, in which Makian tried, using his imagination, to show how to wear tartan. The fact that the book contained gratitude to the Sobessky-Stewart brothers “for excellent work” indicated that Logan studied the work of the brothers, especially since he simply “borrowed” some of the tartan designs from Vestiarium Scoticum. It is also known that the company Wilson and Son, which "worked" with Sobieski-Stewart, "corrected" Logan during the writing of his book. Fortunately for Logan, the Sobieski-Stewart brothers were discredited, and his book remained the only source of information about tartans published and not discredited in the public eye.

So, by the 1850s, there were ideas about how the Scots should look like. In the 1850s, when the "Scottish theme" reached the royal court and gained a foothold there, works intended for the general reader began to appear - only in 1850 three works appeared. All of them were based on two sources - on the book of Logan and Vestiarium Scoticum (which was used without mention, simply borrowing drawings and descriptions from there).

Today, tartans and kilts (as well as bagpipes and a glengarry cap, whose "tradition" we will not describe) are " calling card»Scots, perceived as the ancient traditional attire of the Scottish people. Souvenir shops in Scotland are filled with kilts and checkered things, quite a lot of Scots continue to wear "ancestral clothes" and even more dress in "clan tartans" on holidays, and the number of tartans is constantly increasing with the emergence of new surnames, clans and groups. And, despite the fact that the history of these "clothing" traditions is not what they imagine it to be, people are happy, "and this is the main thing." Particularly happy are the heirs of the Wilson & Son business, such as the Sikh Singh family, which runs 25 traditional Scottish clothing stores in Scotland.

For this, let me finish the story of the valiant Scots.

This series of notes is based on Sir Hugh Trevor Roper's article "The Invention of Tradition: The Highland Tradition of Scotland", in The Invention of Tradition edited by Eric Hobsbawm, first published in 1989.

This version, however, has opponents (Scots and their descendants in the US, mostly) who claim that the kilt skirt appeared in the late 17th and early 18th century before Rawlinson's inventions. However, they provide no evidence for such claims.

Scottish Highlanders

Wars of Scotland that went from sword to musket. At first they served as the Scottish army, later they began to fight on the side of Britain.

Because of their clothes and strength, they were nicknamed "ladies from hell", "Amazons" and the mountaineers were always very strong and courageous, for example, in one of the battles the mountaineers were tired and exhausted, but they were very inspired and they took off their kilts and went into battle with all his anger and pride for the country.

But let's stop in the 18th-19th century, when the Scottish regiments were created in the British army. The highlanders were somewhat different from the rest of the line infantry, which cost only a colorful piper who performed the tasks of a drummer. The uniforms of the highlanders were shorter than those of the English soldiers, but in general they did not differ much, but the main attribute of the Scottish regiment was the kilt, I think it’s not worth explaining what a kilt is)

In the matter of armament, the Scottish Highlanders, again, did not differ much from the British. In Scottish regiments senior officers were armed with infantry sabers. The rest of the officers, sergeants and bagpipers wore traditional Scottish broadswords with a large hemispherical guard.

“Ask any Highlander about the Campbells and he will spit before answering” is the most comprehensive characterization of the Campbell clan that has been preserved in the memory of the Scots. The largest families of the mountain Scots from ancient times exterminated each other like the damned. So in the history of each there is a couple of extremely unsightly moments: betrayals, brutal murders, genocide and - even worse - cooperation with the British. But the Campbells took these crimes of clan strife to an unprecedented level. For example, once they burned 120 people in a church and hanged another 35 from one tree. So they tried to joke about the family tree.

Who are the Campbells

The Campbells are one of the largest and most influential clans in the Highlands, that is, the Highlands. The family has lived in the west of this country since ancient times, its history stretches back to the 11th century, and its roots go even further, into the very depths of local history. It is believed that the name "Campbell" is translated from Celtic as "Crooked". Their family crest is a severed boar's head, around which is a belt with the inscription "Ne Obliviscaris" in Latin, which means "Do not forget!".

During the hottest centuries of Scottish history, the Campbell clan followed the same strategy. And if you do something for five hundred years in a row without changing course, then someday you will come to success. They always tried to side with the strongest player in local politics, even if he had many enemies. Especially if he had many enemies! So the Campbells supported first the Scottish throne, and then, when things got really bad for that, already English.

Now it seems that this is the most obvious and reasonable way out and there is nothing remarkable in it - help the strong and he will share with you part of his strength. But at the time, it didn’t seem like a clear winning strategy at all. The position of the Scottish kings was in many ways very shaky and often only nominally extended to the Highlands. In reality, however, all power belonged to the local clans, who could slaughter each other for hundreds of years because of claims to a barren rock or because of a dispute over a herd of goats that happened five generations ago.

The Campbells actively imposed themselves as friends on the legitimate ruler, and he, in return, made them the conductors of his will in the Highlands. Other clans did not care about the king and did not expect help or handouts from him. But the Campbells have always tried to show themselves loyal to the centralized government. For this, they often received almost unlimited local power. Hiding behind the war with the rebels, this clan received the right to attack, steal cattle, set fires, and even openly alienate foreign territories. For the glory of the crown, of course!

Campbell Castle

This also raises the answer to the question of why the neighbors did not get together and strangle every single Campbell right in family nest. They took on the role of local policemen, and even their tartan, that is, the clan pattern, became the semi-official pattern of the local law enforcement forces loyal to the king.

But power, as we know, corrupts. All these powers, which they achieved by serving the monarchs (while the rest of the mountaineers hated kings) made the Campbells cruel, treacherous and vindictive. The Campbells knew that they were hated and were only waiting for the moment to stop their kind, so they themselves launched preemptive strikes on their neighbors. They attacked peaceful villages, burned the disobedient right in the churches, buried them alive and showed such miracles of meanness that even after hundreds of years they cannot get rid of the stain of shame.

Among all their atrocities, the people's memory has preserved the three most terrible. These are the events known as the Maniverd Massacre, the Dunoon Massacre, and the Glencoe Massacre.

Massacre at Maniverd

In fairness, only the Campbells cannot be blamed for this massacre, they were not the instigators, but, true to their eternal strategy, joined the winners (when the outcome of the enmity was already clear) and took part in the brutal massacre.

There are two main sides of contention in this story - the Murray clan and the Drummond clan. But besides them, as is usual in the Highlands, several more allied clans gladly took part in the conflict. The Murrays and the Drummonds had been at enmity for a long time and cruelly, despite the fact that they were related and tried many times to seal the union by marriage. Shortly before 1490, there was another breakdown in their relationship: Lord Drummond usurped the Strathearn Valley from the leader of the Murray clan, William Murray.

Colleen Campbell

The Murrays, in turn, had a trump card in their hands: Abbot John Murray of their clan was the local rector, and therefore the conductor of the power of the Catholic Church in these godforsaken valleys. The Drummonds, knowing this, caused him all sorts of inconveniences and plotted political intrigues.

One day Abbot John's patience snapped. When the abbey lost all its money (largely through the fault of the Drummonds), he, by the authority given to him by the Roman Church, ordered the church taxes to be shaken off the village of Ochdertir, which belonged to the Drummonds. Of course, in this matter, he called on relatives to help, and they "collected taxes" from old enemies with such passion that the Drummonds took this as a declaration of war.

Lord Drummond's son, David, gathered the troops of the clan and immediately moved to smash and destroy the Murrays. In addition, three more clans joined him: the same Campbells, led by Duncan Campbell, as well as McRobbie and Feishni. However, the Murrays were warned about the raid and flocked from all around for the sake of the upcoming fun. However, all the forces of their clan were not enough and they had to flee to the north, where they fought a general battle in the town of Rottenreoch, but were utterly defeated. Many Murrays died on the battlefield, and another part fled (allegedly with their families) towards the same ill-fated Ochderteer that started it all.

Drummond Warrior

It is not known exactly how many fugitives there were: a minimum of 20 men, a maximum of 120 Murrays, along with women and children. In any case, what happened to them was terrible and just went down in history as the Maniverd Massacre.

On October 21, 1490, those who fled from the wrath of the Drummonds and Campbells were overtaken in the town of Maniverd, where they took refuge and barricaded themselves in the church. At that time, this seemed like an incredible success, because few would dare to encroach on the stronghold of the Catholic faith: the laws of religion and clan hatred did not allow the thought of attacking the temple, even if the worst enemies found refuge there.

But the Murrays were wrong. For the time being, the Drummonds scoured the neighborhood and the fugitives went unnoticed. But one of the Murrays could not stand it and succumbed to a thirst for revenge: he fired a bow at an unsuspecting enemy warrior and killed him. Thus, the mountaineer betrayed himself and his hiding place, and the Drummond army rushed to Maniverd Church.

What remains of the church in Maniverd after destruction and rebuilding. What it was before the massacre can only be judged approximately.

The attackers did not hold the siege, and after short "peace negotiations", which most likely looked like abuse and arrows flying from behind the walls of the shelter, they decided to act with cruel measures. They surrounded the church with brushwood and firewood and set it on fire. Everyone inside perished in the fire and suffocating smoke. To drown out the screams of the dying, the Campbells and Drummonds ordered the pipers to play at full strength. What a humane gesture towards their troops!

A young warrior in the costume of the Murray clan

Judging by the fact that no one ever got out of there, at least for the sake of battle, the church was indeed either almost entirely women and children, or the Drummonds and the Campbells did not plan to let the fugitives out. It is possible that they themselves barricaded the doors from the outside so that all the Murrays would stay there forever. Although both options are not mutually exclusive.

Only one Murray survived the fire, who managed to slip out of the church window. The only reason he wasn't killed was because he was the cousin of the attackers' commander, Thomas Drummond. And we remember that both warring clans were in many ways related (which, however, did not prevent one from burning the others alive). Thomas allowed his cousin to escape from the scene of the massacre and for this "misconduct" was severely punished by exile from Scotland. For many years after that he lived in Ireland, and when he nevertheless returned, he received an estate in Perthshire from the Murrays in gratitude.

But justice, in a sense, nevertheless triumphed. Word of the massacre at Maniverd quickly spread throughout Scotland. King James IV of the country ordered an investigation, and as a result, both instigators - both David Drummond and Duncan Campbell - were arrested and hanged in the city of Stirling. Apparently, even loyalty and fawning before the royal court did not save Campbell from execution.

Massacre at Dunoon

Another episode of Campbell villainy that the Scots remember happened in 1646, when they almost completely exterminated the Lamont clan, along with women and children. Moreover, they did it with incredible brutality.

To mid-seventeenth century, relations between the two clans reached the point of mutual hatred. The Campbells had views of the Lamont territories and dreamed of annexing them to their lands, and the Lamonts, in turn, fiercely resisted. In 1645, this led to a major battle at Inverlochy, in which the Campbells received a good beating, and the Lamonts, believing in their strength, rushed to the enemy's lands to plunder well.

Archibald Campbell, the organizer of the most merciless massacre in the history of Scotland.

The following year, the Campbells, led by their leader, Archibald, struck back and invaded Lamont territory, not just to plunder, but to expand their borders. Having fought to reach the fortress of Tovard (aka “Toll Aird” in Gaelic), the Campbells locked the opponents in their ancestral castle. The siege began, and luck was clearly not on the side of the Lamonts.

In the end, the head of the Lamonts, James Lamont, decided to negotiate peace. As a result of an attempt at reconciliation, he managed to negotiate a surrender on acceptable terms. The Campbells assured the leader that they had calmed down, avenged the loss of last year and, like good gentlemen, were ready to forget the old sins. But it was just a dastardly ploy.

The Campbells declared an end to the hostility and asked the Lamonts, who had already surrendered, to show generosity to the winner and let the exhausted warriors into the fortress for the night. Together with the losers, the Campbells celebrated the end of the glorious war in the same castle of Tovard, and they were allowed to stay. Now it looks wild, but then the laws of mountain hospitality ordered the Lamonts to do just that.

During the night, the Campbell warriors stood up on command and carried out a monstrous massacre. They did not spare a single Lamont: along with the men, children, women and old people were slaughtered in their beds. James Lamont again asked for mercy from the winner for those who had not yet been exterminated, and vowed to end the hostility forever. But instead of stopping the carnage, the inflamed Campbells only went on a rampage.

The warriors of the clan threw the dead into the wells of the castle to poison the water, they buried 36 people alive here, another 35 Lamonts were hung together on one sprawling tree. Apparently, this is how the Campbells in a perverted way beat the metaphor of the "family tree". During this attack, more than 200 people were killed - every single one who surrendered to the mercy of the winners.

Ruins of Lamont Castle Ruins of Lamont Castle

This brutal massacre went down in history as the Dunoon Massacre, after the nearby town. The ruins of Tovard Castle are still preserved. Of course, Toll Aird is considered cursed by the locals, and local legends abound with stories of two hundred ghosts of those who were brutally murdered by the Campbells.

Retribution overtook Archibald Campbell only 16 years later, in 1661, when he was beheaded by order English king Charles II. But the cause was not the Dunoon massacre at all, but treason. However, the Campbells did not change their strategy and did not openly go against the government, just during civil war their intuition failed them and they bet on the wrong monarch.

Massacre at Glencoe

But the most famous event associated with the Campbells was the Glencoe massacre, during which they massacred an entire branch of the MacDonald clan. It happened in 1692 and in many ways echoed the Dunoon massacre, which only strengthened the Scottish highlanders in their dislike of the Campbells.

To late XVII century in Britain there was the so-called "Glorious Revolution", which, in general, was not a revolution. Instead of one monarch, James II, another came to power - William of Orange, who had previously ruled the Netherlands, but was married to the daughter of this king.

James II was expelled from the country and, according to the law of succession to the throne (and thanks to intrigue, of course), a king from the continent came to power. Naturally, many in Britain were unhappy. In particular, this applies to the Scots. Why, some upstart Dutch Protestant will command glorious Catholics in kilts! A new uprising broke out and the supporters of Jacob, the Jacobites, tried to overthrow the new king. They failed to do this, and Wilhelm remained on the throne.

William of Orange

Together with Wilhelm, the Campbells also remained in power, who quickly sensed where the wind was blowing and what it promised them. Once again, they took the side of the central government against their restless mountaineer neighbors. Moreover, the role of a policeman on guard in the rebellious region gave the clan almost unlimited power. If everyone around was not loyal enough to the new king, then it was possible to attack everyone without fear of getting back.

William of Orange decided to behave like a more or less enlightened monarch and showed ostentatious mercy to the highlanders. He gave them assurances that no one would be subjected to pressure and would receive all due civil rights if the clan leaders swore allegiance to the new king. A year was given for all this, but it turned out to be not enough. The leaders first waited for permission from the old king, James, who officially surrendered and dropped out of the race, and only then hurried to the administration in order to show loyalty to the new regime.

The Campbells were embarrassed as hell. If all these yesterday's rebels become respectable citizens with one stroke of the pen, then how is it possible to take away their lands and livestock and beat them with clubs?

Neighborhood of Glencoe

The MacDonald clan was among those who hesitated, who nevertheless were ripe for an oath to the new government. Alistair Macian, head of the Macdonald branch of the large village of Glencoe, hastened to complete the paperwork and secure his clan. But he took too long with it. Moreover, being a highlander and a simple man, Alistair did not take into account the power of the most powerful and destructive element, that is, the bureaucracy.

If you have ever completed a trifling document for more than two weeks, you can understand the leader of the Macdonalds. In his case alone, hundreds of lives were at stake, including his own. The oath papers were thrown from office to office, and on many occasions the Campbells, who, of course, were densely occupied bureaucratic posts, did not let the papers go.

Eventually, the documents even reached the Secretary of State for Scotland, John Dalrymple. But he did not want to move the case and ignored the fact of the oath. Simply put, this official committed a crime against the state in order not to allow the highlanders to get an amnesty so easily.

John Dalrymple

Dalrymple himself dreamed of becoming famous as a fighter against rebels and faithful dog His Majesty. It was impossible to do this while doing a clerical routine, so he went to extreme measures. The power granted by the monarch allowed him to carry out repressions against those clans that openly opposed Wilhelm. Apparently, no one, to the great regret for the official, did not want to do this, so he arbitrarily appointed the MacDonalds as rebels and ordered an act of intimidation against them.

In order for the action to be successful and, if possible, bloody, John Dalrymple brought in those who were best suited to organize the massacre. Not surprisingly, they turned out to be the Campbells, who, moreover, had a special hatred for the MacDonalds.

Two companies of soldiers were sent to Glencoe, led by Robert Campbell. There they were quartered, ostensibly in order to wait a while and move on. locals and especially Alistair Macian, head of the village and the local branch of the MacDonalds, received the soldiers with cordiality. They were quite sure that the story with the oath ended favorably, so that the clan was protected by the amnesty of the new king.

A detachment of Campbells and English soldiers stayed in Glencoe for more than two weeks. There they were provided with housing, received according to the laws of the mountains and treated as guests. Surely the MacDonalds thought that such gluttonous and arrogant guests were somewhat abusing hospitality, but the hosts had nothing to do.

On February 12, Robert Campbell received a long-awaited order from John Dalrymple. The soldiers were ordered to destroy the traitors, killing everyone under the age of 70, and to put this village on fire. In the evening of the same day, the future killers feasted with the MacDonalds, most likely knowing that tomorrow the massacre would begin. Robert once again allowed his fighters to have a hearty dinner and drink at the expense of the mountaineers, and at five in the morning, he raised them on command and ordered them to kill as many of the inhabitants of Glencoe as possible.

To the great annoyance of Robert Campbell, among his soldiers were traitors who refused to kill children and women on the orders of the commander. Many of them even managed to inform the owners of the houses in which they lodged about the threat. As a result, the valiant fighter against unrest failed to fulfill the order of his superiors in full.

Only about forty people were killed on the spot. Among them was Alistair Makian, who until the last was sure that his oath gave him protection. Even more residents of Glencoe managed to escape to the mountains, but their fate was also unenviable - forty of them froze to death there, fleeing the persecution of soldiers.

The news of the massacre reached London and caused indignation not only throughout the country, but also among William of Orange himself. He became even more furious when, as a result of the investigation, it turned out that the inhabitants of Glencoe were, in fact, full citizens who were killed due to petty clan feuds and careerist Dalrymple's ambitions.

In the new place, Wilhelm, who was a seasoned politician, tried to show himself as a peaceful ruler, realizing that his position was very precarious. Massacre with the murder of babies was clearly not part of his plans. Dalrymple was held responsible, and the Glencoe massacre was classified as a murder. However, this did not prevent John Dalrymple, who left his post, to wait for the death of the king and rise even more than before. Under the new Queen Anne, he did receive the title of count.

"No entry for street vendors and Campbells"

People from the Campbell family can no longer be called a clan of butchers and scoundrels - ordinary Scots, many of whom have dispersed all over the world. There is even Clan Campbell whiskey, and the furious descendants of the Murrays, MacDonalds and Lamonts are unlikely to try to burn down the producers' warehouses. Although, they say, there are places in the Highlands where the Campbells are still not shaken at a meeting, and in some pubs they are not allowed, according to the rule “No street vendors, dogs and Campbells allowed!”.

The kilt is made from a large piece of fabric about 12 "ells" (1356 cm), it is wrapped around the waist and fastened with special buckles and belts. The kilt comes with a small bag for personal belongings - sporran, and the kilt itself can be “large” (Great Kilt, Breacan Feile) and “small” (Little kilt, Feileadh Beg). A large kilt can be thrown over the shoulder and covered with it in bad weather. Now the kilt is about four or five yards (3657-4572 mm) long and 56-60 inches (142-151 cm) wide.

The kilt is the clothing of the Scottish Highlanders. (pinterest.com)

Real highlanders, with a kilt, carry a knife behind the right stocking. If the knife is located on the outside of the golf course (in front), then this meant a declaration of war. Scots from the very early XVII centuries used skin okkls (sgian achlais) - an axillary dagger located in the left sleeve under the armpit. The traditions of hospitality demanded that the weapon be in plain sight when visiting, and the mountaineer would shift the knife from a secret pocket to the garter of the right golf. Over time, they began to constantly wear a knife, and it was called skin doo.

Battle. (wikipedia.org)

The first description of a kilt in the highlands of Scotland is found in 1594: "Their outerwear is a speckled robe of various colors, with many folds to the middle of the calves, with a belt around the waist, pulling the clothes together."

And in the description of 1746 it says: “These clothes are quite loose and help men who are accustomed to them overcome difficult obstacles: make quick transitions, endure the severity of the weather, cross rivers. The kilt is equally comfortable for life in the forest and in houses. In a word, it helps to cope with what ordinary clothes cannot do.”

Inhabitants of Scotland. (pinterest.com)

The very word "Kilt" comes from the Old Norse kjilt ("folded") and the formidable Vikings with tartan. Tartan is a woolen material with lines of various widths and colors that cross each other at certain angles. The slope, color and width of the tartan is different for each clan, which made it possible to immediately identify a stranger. By the number of tartan flowers, one could recognize the social status of a person: one - a servant, two - a farmer, three - an officer, five - a military leader, six - a poet, seven - a leader. Now there are about 700 designs (sets) of tartans, although many were forgotten during the ban on kilts.

The kilt skirt was not worn by all Scots, but only by the Highlanders. In Scotland (Highlands) a large kilt was very convenient for rainy climates and mountainous terrain. The kilt warmed well enough, provided freedom of movement, dried perfectly, and at night became a warm blanket. During the battle, when maximum freedom of movement was required, the mountaineers threw off their kilts and fought in the same shirts.

Clash of Clans

There is a legend about such a battle. In 1544, there was a battle of clans between the Frasers, MacDonalds and Cameroons, it was called Blar-na-Leine, which means “Battle of the Shirts”. But this is just a play on words: "Blar na Leine" comes from "Blar na Leana", which translates as "Place of the swampy meadow".

There was also a real battle without kilts. In August 1645, the Battle of Kilseith took place. The Marquess of Montrose, with 3,000 Scots and Irish, met in battle against the 7,000-strong army of William Baillie. The Scottish Highlanders, who hit the center of the enemy positions, dropped their kilts during the battle and defeated the superior forces in the same shirts.

Kilt. (pinterest.com)

In the XVIII century. British authorities tried to ban the Scots from wearing the kilt, which they saw as highlanders' waywardness, and force them to wear trousers. But the proud and stubborn Highlanders got around the law and walked in a kilt, and wore trousers on a stick.

The small kilt supposedly originated in 1725 at the suggestion of the Englishman Rawlinson. The manager of the steel mill suggested leaving only the lower part of the kilt for convenience, and cutting off the rest. The length of the kilt was determined as follows: the owner squatted down and the edge of the material that touched the floor was cut off.

Now the kilt is popular not only with the militant Scots, but also with the decorous English.