Periods in Highland History

This volume is a structured history of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland from prehistoric, pre-Christian times to the present. This lengthy timescale is divided into seven periods, each analyzed in terms of its political, economic and cultural conditions people, incident and event, lore and language were strongly marked and readily distinguishable as creatures of their own time. The history of the English-speaking peoples is well supplied with a succession of names of their ruling dynasties - Norman, Tudor, Jacobean, Georgian, Victorian and so on, from which we visualize specific period characteristics across a broad range of culture. Scottish history lacks similar convenient labels and Highland history more so, and their absence may leave us with little more than a vague knowledge and even misunderstandings of Highland history. On the basis of generalizations from detailed research, this book proposes a framework of periods to make sense of the sequence of events, the pattern of developments and social conditions, and the not inconsiderable achievements of art, craft and literature.