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Sketches of the Character, Manners, and Present State of the Highlanders of Scotland
Sketches of the Character Manners and Present State of the Highlanders of Scotland Author:David Stewart Subtitle: With Details of the Military Service of the Highland Regiments General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1825 Original Publisher: Constable Subjects: Clans Highlands (Scotland) Art / Fashion Fiction / Romance / Historical History / Europe / General History / Europe / Great Britain Reference /... more » Genealogy Social Science / Anthropology / General Travel / Europe / Great Britain Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: SECTION II. System of Clanship -- Consequences of this system -- Effects of the laant of Laws on the Manners and Character of the People. The division of the people into clans and tribes, under separate chiefs, whose influence remained undiminished till after the year 1748, constitutes the most remarkable circumstance in their political condition, and leads directly to the origin of many of their peculiar sentiments, customs, and institutions. The nature of the country, and the motives which induced the Celts to make it their refuge, almost necessarily prescribed the form of their institutions. Unequal to contend with overwhelming numbers, who drove them from the plains, and, anxious to preserve their independence, and their blood uncontaminated by intermixture with strangers, they defended themselves in those strong holds, which are, in every country, the sanctuaries of national liberty, and the refuge of those who resist the oppression and domination of a more powerful neighbour. Thus, in the absence of their monarchs, and defended by their barrier of rocks, they did not always submit to the authority of a distant government, which could neither enforce obedience, nor afford protection. The division of the country into so many straths, valleys, and islands, ...« less