In the Highlands of Scotland till modern times lived a warrior-society that was in many ways like those that flourished in the Iron Age over two thousand years ago. Focused on the central role of the warrior, the Scottish clan system, built round the ties of blood, continued to exist alongside the modern rapidly industrialising society of eighteenth century Britain.
The clans were united by claims of common descent from a distant ancestor and these could be Picts, Scots or even Norsemen, the peoples who roamed first millennium Scotland. The warriors of the clan, fiercely loyal to each other and to the chief, the centre of all clan life, were known for their remarkable courage and endurance, selfless loyalty and highly developed military skills. Not for nothing were they considered the best fighting men in the world. These skills in time formed the backbone of the British Armies that conquered the world, the Highland regiments.
The tales collected here illustrate the drama and the dynamism of a society that lived close to nature, had little in the way of material wealth but possessed a treasure house of story and song. That tradition gives us instances of outstanding bravery and cold-hearted deceit, loyalty to the death and the eeriness of the magic and the supernatural.
Contents:
Introduction
Highland Honour
- Real Highland Hospitality
- The Silver Spoon
Origins
- A Grand Archer
- Son of the Carpenter
Native Intelligence
- The Sweetest Bite
- Using the Head
- The Tables Turned
- Donald Og
- Highland Candlesticks
On the Battlefield
- In Roman Times
- The Battle of the North Inch
- The Battle of Harlaw
- The Battle of the Park
- Big Duncan of the Axe
- The Battle of the Shirts
- The Battle of Mulroy
- The Loch of the Sword
No Honour Here
- A Talented Man
- The False Bride
- The World of a Campbell
- Donald Gorm
The Ladies
- Colonel Anne
- Fair Annie and the Black Colonel
- Mary Cameron
- Morag of the Heads
- The Old Woman of Moy
- MacLaine and the Ugly Woman
Man's Inhumanity to Man
- The Smooring of the MacDonalds
- And Blood Shall Lead to Blood
- The Slave Ship
- An Expensive Meal
- A Cruel and Savage Chief
Magic and Superstition
- The MacLeods and the Fairies
- The Magic Candle
- A Change in the Weather
A Dish Best Served Cold
- The Well of the Seven Heads
- An Eye for an Eye
- The Night is the Night
- Donald Cam Macaulay
- Stickability
- The Chief Who Asked too Much
- The Well of the Head
- A Gentle Giant
- A Revenger's Tale
