- Paperback: 364 pages
- Publisher: Birlinn Ltd; New edition edition (30 May 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 184158200X
- ISBN-13: 978-1841582009
- Product Dimensions: 21.9 x 13.9 x 3.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 344,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
'The scholarly dignity of this book is impressive, yet delightfully unforbidding. It makes splendid reading' - Country Life 'The story of Canna is one of optimism, memorably written by a man who cares passionately for people, their language and their landscapes' --The Scotsman
Product Description
An account of Canna, a beautiful Hebridean island. Small though it is, many of the major historical trends of the Hebrides have touched it, from St Columba through the Benedictine monasticism of Iona to the Lordship of the Isles. Following the Reformation the island was of considerable importance to the Irish Franciscan mission of the 1620s and also the Jacobite risings before being swept up in the tragedies of depopulation and clearance of the 19th century. Gifted to the National Trust in 1981, the island is undergoing something of a revival, with the creation of the St Edward Centre on Sanday, and the proposed developments of Canna House. Archaeological surveys and historical research has uncovered more evidence about the island. Hugh Cheape of the Royal Museum of Scotland, who has been intimately involved with the Canna project, has edited this volume. This edition contains new contributions which update and fill out the account of the island.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
It's quite the thing nowadays to focus on a small district as exemplifying wider historical movements, but it was still a fairly revolutionary idea 25 years ago, when Dr Campbell wrote this history of the island he had then lived on and owned for some forty years. To the `centrist' orthodoxy of Scottish history, in which the Highlands hardly warrant a mention, it opposes an island-centred view different in language, culture and religion.
Historical evidence specifically about Canna is patchy, so Campbell concentrates chapters around what there is. The result is really a series of snapshots of the island at different times. The author draws on a host of sources outside the mainstream, including clan documents and traditional storytellers. Added to this are sections on placenames, wildlife, folklore and archaeology, forming the most comprehensive document imaginable.
Except...there are two important omissions. One is a proper map of the island, surprising in a book so specific about topography. The other is any substantial discussion of the twentieth century in which the process of depopulation, begun long before, became almost complete. We are left to speculate about whether Campbell regarded this as inevitable or, if not, what he thought could have been done to prevent it.
This remains, as far as I'm concerned, one of the best books available about the Highlands.
Historical evidence specifically about Canna is patchy, so Campbell concentrates chapters around what there is. The result is really a series of snapshots of the island at different times. The author draws on a host of sources outside the mainstream, including clan documents and traditional storytellers. Added to this are sections on placenames, wildlife, folklore and archaeology, forming the most comprehensive document imaginable.
Except...there are two important omissions. One is a proper map of the island, surprising in a book so specific about topography. The other is any substantial discussion of the twentieth century in which the process of depopulation, begun long before, became almost complete. We are left to speculate about whether Campbell regarded this as inevitable or, if not, what he thought could have been done to prevent it.
This remains, as far as I'm concerned, one of the best books available about the Highlands.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
An excellent resource of info about the MacDonald's of Canna
14 April 1999
Format:Paperback
There are few books about this small Hebridean island, but J.L. Campbell has written a fully detailed book, giving the history of the people who lived on Canna as far back as the 13th century. As well, he explains their leaving and where they landed in America.
A very good history written by the owner of the island
3 Nov 2007
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I visited Canna twice in 2003 during a one week sailing trip on a classical ship with the name Edda Frandsen. We also sailed close to Rum and Eigg and visited several of the outer islands. I have dear memories of the loneliness of the environment and I have been reading about its history ever since.
John Lorne Campbell owned Canna before he donated it to the National Trust for Scotland. I like the idea of now knowing the persons living in the manor house that is so visible from the harbour. The manor house owned most of the penny lands. These are small farms stocked with seven cows and two horses. The arable land was fertilized by carrying seaweed onto it. Most inhabitants lived at subsistence level. The people in the manor house usually were the only ones on the island who were literate. This is a well written and complete history starting 4000 BC and carrying us through Columba, the Vikings and Culloden into modern times. Like the other islands and mainland Scotland, people lived in a social system called servitude until very recently. Their life at subsistence level became unacceptable in modern times and many inhabitants emigrated from the overpopulated island. There is a high degree of personal involvement from the writer who clearly loves his island and its Gaelic culture. It is a very good book.
John Lorne Campbell owned Canna before he donated it to the National Trust for Scotland. I like the idea of now knowing the persons living in the manor house that is so visible from the harbour. The manor house owned most of the penny lands. These are small farms stocked with seven cows and two horses. The arable land was fertilized by carrying seaweed onto it. Most inhabitants lived at subsistence level. The people in the manor house usually were the only ones on the island who were literate. This is a well written and complete history starting 4000 BC and carrying us through Columba, the Vikings and Culloden into modern times. Like the other islands and mainland Scotland, people lived in a social system called servitude until very recently. Their life at subsistence level became unacceptable in modern times and many inhabitants emigrated from the overpopulated island. There is a high degree of personal involvement from the writer who clearly loves his island and its Gaelic culture. It is a very good book.
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