‘I wish that anyone who dares to write anything about Gaelic Scotland would read this book first’ – Angus Peter Campbell
‘John MacInnes is unique . . . no one understands the Gaelic language and the traditions of the Highland people as well as he does’ – Ronald Black
Described by the Rev. William Matheson as the ‘the last of the native scholars’, Dr John MacInnes is the foremost living authority on the oral tradition of the Scottish Highlands. Having spent some five decades recording the Gaelic lore of tradition-bearers from all over Scotland and Canada on behalf of the School of Scottish Studies, he writes eloquently on an inheritance analysed with intellectual rigour. This collection of seminal articles covers many aspects of life, history and literature in the Scottish Highlands, from clan sagas to Clearances, from the supernatural to Sorley MacLean. Although these articles are profound in their insights, they are written clearly and unpretentiously, and are accessible to the non-specialist.
Born in Uig, Lewis, in 1930, John MacInnes spent most of his childhood on Skye and Raasay. There he acquired a keen interest in the traditional songs, folktales and culture of the Scottish Highlands, which led him towards formal study and the awards of degrees and distinctions at Edinburgh University. He was appointed to the School of Scottish Studies in 1958, and continued there until his retirement in 1993.
Michael Newton, the editor, was awarded a PhD in Celtic Studies from the University of Edinburgh in 1998. He has written a number of articles and books about the culture and literature of the Scottish Highlands, including A Handbook of the Scottish Gaelic World.
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