Highland Warrior: Alasdair MacColla and the Civil Wars - Softcover

Stevenson, David

4.12

17 ratings by Goodreads

9780854110599: Highland Warrior: Alasdair MacColla and the Civil Wars

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0854110593 ISBN 13: 9780854110599

Publisher: Saltire Society, 1994

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In 1644 James Grahame, Marquis of Montrose, stormed his way into legend with a series of astonishing victories over the Covenanters. At his side stalked a shadowy but terrible ally - Alasdair MacColla, who had a far more ancient agenda of his own. MacColla's aim was nothing less than the effective destruction of the power of Clan Campbell and its replacement by the older overlordship of the Macdonalds. MacColla was the first - and perhaps the last - great Celtic general of modern times, who lived at a dynamic time which saw the increasingly forgotten and marginalised Gaelic speaking peoples of Scotland and Ireland nearly succeed in regaining control of their lands and destiny. The author argues that it was in fact MacColla and not Montrose who was the true architect of the 'Year of Victories', and that without his Highland ally, Montrose's blunders would have doomed him to disaster, thus presenting a compelling and radical reappraisal of Scottish history during the crucial years of the 1640s. As MacColla's actions were unwittingly to lead his people and culture to ruin, so his own career ended in chaos when, despite leading his own troops in a victorious charge, an incompetent general led him to defeat and death at Knocknanuss in Ireland. Superbly written, Highland Warrior is a compelling and dramatic sweep through some of the most eventful years in Scottish history, told in a text both authoritative and highly readable.

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Review:

'Have you ever forgotten that battle at Lochy, When we with our blades mowed you down like oats standing? And likewise Auldearn where our mighty MacColla Left your hero from Lawers lying lifeless and silent, That rebel from hell with his regiment accurst! You scattered and fled like sheep from a martin, On the day of Kilsyth your panic was fearful... We left not alive a single survivor Of the breed of MacCailean we met in that battle...' - Alexander MacDonald

Synopsis:

Up and down the glens, the length and breadth of Scotland, harrying, sacking, plundering, winning battle after battle against the Government, ranged James Grahame, Marquis of Montrose, during the fateful years 1644-45. At his side stalked the shadowy Alasdair MacColla, seeming to the Covenanting Government like an avenging fury. MacColla had an agenda of his own - compelling the Campbells to disgorge ancestral MacDonald territories in the west of Scotland - and he revealed himself as the first (and perhaps the last) great Celtic general of modern times. MacColla ushered in a century (1644-1746) during which the forgotten Gaelic-speaking peoples of Britain and Ireland nearly succeeded in regaining control of their lands and destiny. This book describes the tragic course of events when, despite MacColla's saving the reckless Montrose from himself on several occasions, the alliance fell to pieces, Montrose was defeated at Philiphaugh, and MacColla withdrew from Scotland and was killed in southern Ireland.

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