Clan, Scottish, and Highland Books: What Do YOU Recommend?

[Kyle MacLea]

Hi all,

Jerry Schmidt decided to start the ball rolling on a "Suggested Reading List" we can include for Clan Society new members. A great idea!

He submitted these general books about Highland wear and the role of Scotsmen (and women) in history. What books would you add to our "Suggested Clan Bookshelf"??

1. So you're going to wear the kilt (J . Charles Thompson)
http://www.kilts-n-stuff.com/Books/so_g ... _kilt.html

"Interesting, detailed, and informative! Author J Charles Thompson's discussion of how the kilt and accessories are to be worn. A terrific guide and reference manual for the beginner or experienced wearer of kilts."


2. How the Scots Made America (Michael Fry)
http://www.amazon.com/How-Scots-Made-Am ... ewpoints=1


I would especially love to hear of books of interest related to the Clan in particular (Dr Livingstone, etc.)

Suggestions appreciated!

Kyle=

[Jill Richmond]

I think a Clan Bookshelf is a great idea. Here are a few suggestions:

ARGYLL, 1730 - 1850 by Robert A.A. McGeachy

THE OLDEST by Julian Calder & Alastair Bruce. It describes the barony of Bachuil as the oldest title and there is a full page photo of the late Alastair Livingstone of Bachuil

LIVINGSTONE by Tim Jeal

All these should be available from Amazon.

If you enjoy ferreting round secondhand book shops, you might be able to lay your hands on:

MISSIONARY TRAVELS AND RESEARCHES IN SOUTH AFRICA by David Livingstone. Livingstone wrote the dedication to the book in 1857. and so it must have been published around that time.

DAVID LIVINGSTONE, his life and letters by George Seaver. This was published in 1957.

And if you are looking for a nice cosy read, how about THE JACOBITE TRILOGY by D.K. Broster published by Penguin Books. This comprises her books THE FLIGHT OF THE HERON, THE GLEAM IN THE NORTH and THE DARK MILE, and Livingstones get a brief mention in "The Flight of the Heron".

Jill

[Canadian Livingstone]

HI Jill, Kyle and Jerry,

Yes I think Jerry's idea is a good one. A Clan Society reading list is a fantastic idea. We should have done this a while ago. In a posting in the old forum about two years I listed all of the original information that had been published regarding Clan Livingston with a critique on each one as some of the info on our clan to my way of thinking at least was not entirely accurate.I wish it was easier to access the old postings from the old forum. But yes there are in the general sense a alot of interesting books out there covering topics of interest to members of the Maclea Livingstone Society.

There are a number of good books out there regarding Dr. Livingstone, Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Rebellion of 1745, The Battle of Culloden, and unfortunately very few books that cover Clan Maclea Livingstone with any detail. Those that do I will be listing in a subsequent message. But for now I should remind you that our Baron Livingstone has published some of his research of the Clan in a booklet which is available through the Clan store. For more information I would suggest you visit our clan store site through the Clan Maclea Society Website. Dont forget to check out some of the fine items Baron Livingstone had made available to us.

I would be more than happy to share my reading list regarding Clan Maclea Livingston with you all. My own personal interest beyond Clan Maclea Livingston would the Battle of Culloden and the Rebellion of 1745 of which alot has actually been published over the years. With all the excitement we had regarding the Culloden Battlefield a year or two previous I started doing some reading and research on the subject. Some of the books are biased and distorted against the Jacobites. You dont want to read those. THere is a whole anti Jacobite movement in academic circles in Great Britain and an effort to make supporters of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Rebellion of 1745 look like romantic nutcases. Fortunately there are some writers who are balanced and fair in their assessment of Bonnie Prince Charlie and our Jacobite side and those are the books I have in my collection. I am certain my scottish ancestors would be quite annoyed with me were it any other way.

regards,

Donald

[Canadian Livingstone]

Hello All,

Yikes! Where to start. THere are regretably very few books that cover Clan Livingstones history in any depth and only a few give us even decent coverage. For many years our clan seems to have remained in quiet obscurity as far clan historians were concerned or was largely ignored as a smallish, insignificant sept of Clan Stuart. How wrong they were. I will dig up the info I wrote on that in an earlier posting. As mentioned yesterday our Clan Chief Baron Niall Livingstone has recently published the most authoratative account of Clan Maclea Livingstone and that is available through the Clan Store. Here are some other books you may enjoy for your general reading.

Books related to 1745
"1745" by Christopher Duffy (A fair and balanced account of the Rebellion) You will find there are numerous books written regarding this monumental period in Scottish history however many of them are distorted and show great bias against the Jacobites and in particular Bonie Prince Charlie. It has been very trendy among History academics apparently to particpate in Bonnie Prince Charlie bashing I have found. Duffy while by no means a Jacobite sympathiser I think makes an honest effort at dipicting both sides with a great deal of balance and with out undue bias which I found very refreshing given some of the other dreadful books out there on this rebellion.

"Culloden "by John Prebble The author mentions Donald Livingston and Clan Livingston by name which is an honour in one of the finest books ever written about battle at Culloden in 1746. Other books by Prebble include "The Highland CLearances" and "Glencoe".

"No Quarter Given " Editors: Alastair Livingstone of Bachuil, Christian Aikman and Betty Stuart Hart. The late Baron Alastair Livingstone helped to shed light on those largely forgotten Jacobites who served in the Appin Regiment and other Jacobite regiments from 1745-1746 with info extracted from old muster rolls and other sources. We salute the late Baron Livingstone and all those who took the time to put this information together for us.

Dr Livingstone related reading

"Livingstone" by RJ Campbell. This book was reccomended to me by Baron Niall Livingstone and is in my view by far the best book written on Dr. Livingstone if your interest is his family origins as well as his later missionary work and explorations of Africa. It also discusses Clan Livingston which is a bonus.

"The Personal Life of Dr. David Livingstone" by William Garden Blaikie Published in the early 1880's with the approval of the late Doctor's next of kin this biography is considered by many to be one of the best and most informative books ever written on Dr. Livingstone. In terms of his early life I prefer the later book by R.J Campbell published in the late 1920's.

A quick overview of Scottish History
Before he died the renowned Scottish novelist Sir Walter Scott wrote a history of Scotland for his Grandson aptly titled: "Tales of a Grandfather". It was originally published I think in the mid 1800's but has been reprinted a number of times since then. You could purchase and expensive early edition as I did or also go with the more recently reprinted four volume set. It is now out of print but you can order the volumes from Abes Books and various used book dealers on line no doubt. Written for his grandson but a great read for anyone of any age who has little knowledge of Scottish history and wants to be better inform themselves on the major events and people in Scottish history.


"HOw Scots Invented the World" by Arthur Herman This book first published in 2001 is a great book in that it really gives ones an understanding of the significant impact the Scots have made on our world. THere is also a great book on how the Scots contributed to Canada but the name of the author slips my mind. We used the have the book but is seems to have mysteriously vanished without a trace. There was of course an huge influx of Scottish people into British North America which started out as a largely unpopulated remnant of the once mighty British North AMerica before the Revolution and in years that followed enventually became the Nation of Canada largely established with help of the Scottish people that settled there.

Biographies on the Stuart royalty
"Mary Queen of Scots" by Atonia Fraser. One of my all time favourite biographers. She also wrote a book on Charles the Second that gives one a good insight into this most fascinating and intelligent of the Stuart monarchs who brought fun back into drab and boring Cromwellian England.


Hope this inspires you to check out some of these book. I know you will enjoy them, though you may have to spend a bit of time and money finding them if they are not available at your public library. Abes Books is great source to a multitude of book dealers across the globe and many of these books may be available through Abes Books. Also AMazon.com has access to both new and used books.

regards,

Donald

[Kyle MacLea]

Excellent start, guys! Especially you, Donald! Thanks!

Kyle=

[Kay]

Hi, I've just fetched down my dissertation from 1998 entitled (rather pompously in retrospect):

'From Rob Roy to Braveheart. Sir Walter Scott and the Power of Romance in the Context of Devolution.'

Selecting a few titles from the bibliography that might be relevant:

Brown. D (1979) Walter Scott and The Historical Imagination. Routledge, London
Butler. M (1981) Romantics, Rebels & Reactionaries. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Daiches. D. (1964) The Paradox of Scottish Culture, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Gerber. P (1992) The Search for the Stone of Destiny. Cannongate, Edinburgh
Gordon. RC (1969) Under Which King? Oliver and Boyde, Edinburgh
Scott. Paul H (ed) (1993) Scotland - A Concise Cultural History. Mainstream Publishing, Edinburgh.
The Scottish Office (1997) Scotland's Parliament. HMSO, UK
Webb. K (1977) The Growth of Nationalism in Scotland Penguin, Harmondsworth, UK.

There are other titles set in Sir Walter Scott's time which take an opposing point of view, but they are, in my opinion, just stirrers!


Hope that helps.

[Kay]

Sorry to butt in again so soon; this on Amazon covers huge achievements and vast distances.

Scotland's Empire 1600-1815, author T.M Devine.

'One of the first references to America in Scottish records appeared in 1597...' T.M. Devine.

Right I'll pipe doon now.

[Kyle MacLea]

No, no, really appreciate that, Kay! Thanks!

Kyle=

[Canadian Livingstone]

Hi Kay,
Sorry I regret to say I missed your response to our reading list message in January.
Thank-you. Those books look like great reading to further one's knowledge of Scottish history. Perhaps you could tell us more about your about your own Scottish history research and any family genealogy you are undertaking.

regards,

Donald

[Canadian Livingstone]

Hi All,

As a followup to Jerry's suggestion for the creation of a reading list here are a few books that have anything substantial in them on highland Clan Maclea Livingstone. As you may have discovered there is very little available in your public library on highland Clan Maclea Livingstone. Heres what is out there.
1. K.W. Grant, Myth,Tradition and Story from Western Argyll published in 1925 has a large section devoted to Clan Livingstone. One of my favorites.

2. Robert Bain, The Clans and Tartans of Scotland originally published in 1938 has had numerous editions since then. Not much on Livingstones.Its claim to fame however is having one of the earliest reproductions of our clan tartans in any publication with very brief history of the lowland family and an even briefer history of the highland Livingstones. (Hey at least we were mentioned.)The Lord Lyon at the time also came out with a Clan tartan book in the 1930's but its illustration of a Livingston tartan was of very poor quality and not a very accurate depiction. Bain does not ultimately shed any light on the earliest origins of our tartan and have checked these old 19th century collections that are cited in tartan books as having early fragments of 18th century tartans and alas it appears that no highland livingstone oldtimer turned a sample of the tartan that the clan wore in the 18th or early 19th century to early tartan researchers or to the Highland Society. Bain himself is sometimes referred to as the source of the Highland Livingstone tartan which is of course not true. Robert Bain was a Glasgow Librarian who published a book on Clan Tartan in the 1930's. The tartans reprinted in the book were sourced from a tartan manufacturer according to Bain. Perhaps the manufacturer had some information on the Livingstone tartan.

3. Iain Moncrief of that Ilk, "The Highland Clans" published in 1967 has several pages devoted to an in depth account of our clan.

4.Clan Chief and Baron Niall Livingstone, "Clan Maclea Livingstone", a 68 page booklet published in 2009 for clan society members and anyone interested in Livingstons is probably your best bet if you want to really understand the origins and history of this ancient clan. In this most comprehensive of books on our Clan the Baron discusses all the theories and facts regarding one of the most interesting highland clans from Western Argyll. Available through the Clan Maclea Livingstone Society Store that can be accessed through the Clan Maclea Livingstone Society Website.


Before these books were published there was of course folklore Collector and historian ALexander Carmichael's extensive research and published articles on the highland Livingstones in the early 1900's which were originally published in the Celtic Review and which Baron Livingstone has included on the Maclea Livingstone Website. Duncan Livingstone a relative of Donald Livingstone (1728-1816) of Savary, Morvern also wrote an article in 1896 in the Celtic Monthly on the Appin Stewarts at Culloden which covered highland Clan Livingstone and Donald Livingstone.

If you are interested in learning more about the Island of Lismore itself, Archibald Campbell published a book in the 1880's "Records of Argyll" which covers among other things the ancient folklore and history of the Island of Lismore. I noticed that an original edition of this book is a now a collectors item and can be quite pricey.

regards,

Donald