Ain't it great?
I've heard it said (and I agree) that the difference between the
Irish and the Scots is at least the Irish fight over REAL things.
I'm tired of the Campbell bashing too (my father's mother's surname
was Dalrymple -- try mentioning THAT in Scotland). Actually, we get
bashed by Campbells too, sometimes, sniff sniff.
My mother's family is from Antrim: Andersons, Blacks, and Beatty. The
Beatty's were granted lands in Antrim after the Boyne and so left
Aryshire. I am a direct linear descendent (with thousands of others)
of the chief of the Beatty border clan on the west march -- till James
VI. I do beleive he enjoyed fighting with Prince William at the Boyne
and driving off the Stuarts. (Yikes, my Scots is showing). Though Antrim
was traditionally McDonald, and the Blacks were allies of the
Lamonts -- so if you think you got problems <grin>....
Actually the Campbells are a classy lot and I enjoy them, though
the McDonalds are a fun lot and I enjoy them too.
However we're definitely and quite proudly lowlander. Neither side of
the family gives a hoot about clans nor did I ever hear a relative
say the word "clan" though they did say "farls", "haggis",
"Robert
Burns" a lot. The notion that Scotsmen all have or need clans is a
rather
modern notion (See Macaulay).
I'm assisting in starting an Ulster Scots group and I'm wearing their
kilt because I'm tired of the Campbell/Dalrymple/McDonald thang. I'm
also Irish so I don't plan on fighting them either. THAT fight is real
old too.
To recover your balance, I recommend a dose of Macaulay. Read
The History of England. Penguin Classics offers an inexpensive one
volume edition with notes. Macaulay explains the details clearly.
He is very entertaining. And if I wasn't afraid of being pelted with
stones, I would quote him here. He describes in detail from his
perspective in mid 19th century the romanticization of highland culture
which has occured. I am not saying he is objective -- he's not. But
he is corrective.
Page 63!!I read it often, when my kilt starts to itch.
If you memorize Page 63 I guarentee you can be run out of any Highland
Games by a large mob consisting of both Campbells and MacDonalds. I've
not -- too well brought up. It must the Campbell side of me. If I were
really McDonald, I'd do it.
Ah well -- I always end up talking to an isolated Irishman about Ireland
at those games. Ulster Scots is something I an identify with.
Linda Merle