The Tower of Babel

     Mike Seeley joins the battle of the clans, although I am not sure who is against whom. He writes:


     Well, Ron, my grandmother was a MacDonnel, a subset, I think, of the MacDonalds, although hostile to them. After Culloden, the MacDonnels, almost wiped out because they futilely charged the English after all was lost, fled westward, pursued by English troops. The MacDonnel castle was sacked and burned. Eventually, my grandmother's people ended up in Nova Scotia. When I visited the Highlands in the 60s I saw the unrestored castle, and at a hotel nearby there was a book for people to sign who contributed to the restoration. I think there had been a total of 200 pounds given over the centuries. Interestingly, there was still one quite old lady who was a cousin of my grandmother and remembered her.
     The history of the clans is incredibly complex and full of oral history that is probably at least half made-up stories.
     Linguistically, my grandmother was well educated for her day and spoke excellent English; but she had grown up knowing Gaelic and taught me quite a bit. She lived to be 101 and was one of the toughest people I have known.


     My comment: In the Highlands, only the toughest survived. When I came to this country as a Commonwealth Fund Fellow, there was another one from the Highlands. Driving through Tidewater Virginia, he chatted with a black and for a joke spoke to him in Gaelic. To his amazement, the black replied in Gaelic: "When I came here, I was just like you, and if you stay here long enough you'll go just the way I've gone." My friend did not know that in Tidewater Virginia there were some Highland Scots who taught Gaelic to their servants.

Ronald Hilton - 09/16/99