Tour 7 – The Long 17th Century and Linn nan Creach
'S beag iongnadh mi bhith trom-osnach,
'S meud an dosgaidh th' air mo chàirdibh;
Gur tric an t-eug uainn a' gearradh
Rogha nan darag as àirde.
IF YOU really want to understand the evolution and establishment of the society of warrior clans, this is the best tour.
As Scotland moved out of the realm of an old tradition with the establishment of a printing press in Edinburgh in 1503, early Scots literature began to contain increasingly alienating language about the Highlands and its Gaelic inhabitants. Tragically Scotland became divided between notions of Highland and Lowland, of Gaelic and English. The Royal Stuart policy of controlled anarchy and the freehand given to local “strongmen” led to a period of unprecedented destruction and internal bloodshed among the Gael – Linn nan Creach - the century of raids.
Paradoxically it was also an era of extraordinarily rich poetry and song, much of it composed by women. It was the period too of the great piping colleges. You will learn that perhaps one of the greatest laments – Macintoshes’ Lament – once had an older association with the Clan MacLean.
The tour will include visits to the sites of the many clan battles ranging from the royally sanctioned affair on the North Inch of Perth to the bloody and internecine skirmishes between MacDonald and MacIntosh, Keppoch and Fraser, Maclean and MacDonald and will provide ample opportunity to listen in words and music to the voices of the clans in an age of turmoil.
Click on the Listen button below to hear Griogal Cridhe, a Perthshire lullaby composed for her son Alistair McGregor by Mòr Chaimbeul, nighean Dhonnchaidh Ruaidh Chaimbeil Ghlinn Lìobhainn, Mary Campbell the daughter of Red Duncan Campbell of Glenlyon and sung by Seonag NicCoinnich Joan Mackenzie, as part of BBC Alba's Song for the Day.
small wonder that I am filled with deep sighing,
considering all the misfortune that has befallen my
friends. Death is constantly cutting off from us the
best of the tallest oaks.
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