Maciver, Ruairidh Iain (2018) the Gaelic Poet and the British Military Experience, 1756-1856
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Maciver, Ruairidh Iain (2018) The Gaelic Poet and the British military experience, 1756-1856. PhD thesis. https://theses.gla.ac.uk/30582/ Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] 1 The Gaelic Poet and the British Military Experience, 1756-1856 Ruairidh Iain Maciver M.A., MLitt Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Humanities / Sgoil nan Daonnachdan College of Arts / Colaiste nan Ealan University of Glasgow / Oilthigh Ghlaschu 2 Abstract This thesis examines Gaelic poetry and the military between 1756 and 1856. While previous studies have collated and analysed the poetry of two of the other major impacts on Gaelic society at this time, clearance and emigration, there has so far been no concerted attempt to examine and place in context the corpus of Gaelic military material of the period – despite this verse being widespread in the poetic record. This poetry has been largely neglected by scholars of Scottish history, and, though selected pieces have been examined by scholars of Celtic Studies, it has not received the fullness of attention that such a major concern in the poetic record deserves. This thesis therefore directly addresses this gap in previous scholarship. The study first considers the historical and literary context for this corpus of poetry, in order to establish the background to Gaelic military verse in the post- Culloden period. A chronological approach is taken to consider this poetry over the course of five chapters. The first period explored is that between the outbreak of the Seven Years’ War and the French Revolutionary War (1756-93). Two chapters cover the period of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815), focussing respectively on verse by soldiers and non-combatants. The next chapter has as its focus the period between the British Victory at Waterloo and the end of the Crimean War (1815-56). The last chapter takes a different chronological approach to those which preceded it, examining women’s poetry and the military across the one-hundred year time period. Each of these chapters explore the background to, contemporary context for, and content of this corpus of Gaelic military verse from 1756 to 1856. A full database of the corpus of 178 poems is also included. There is a focus throughout the thesis on the manner in which poets drew from and utilised their poetic tradition to contextualise the British military and its influence. Another major strand of the research is its examination of loyalty as expressed or revealed in the poetic record. The thesis contends that this corpus of poetry deserves a central place in the military historiography of the Highlands and Gaelic literary criticism. 3 Table of Contents Abstract 2 Acknowledgements 5 Author’s Declaration 6 Introduction 7 Boundaries and Focus 7 Poets and Texts 9 Approach 9 Structure 11 1: Literature Review 14 2: Historical Context 32 3: Literary Context 53 From Classical to Vernacular 53 The Vernacular Tradition: Post-1745 57 Gaelic Publishing in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries 58 The Panegyric Code 62 4: Seven Years’ War to French Revolutionary War (1756-1793) 65 The Seven Years’ War (1756-1763) 66 Service in America 68 Homecoming 77 The American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) 82 Reactions 84 Departures 89 Iain Mac Mhurchaidh: The Soldier’s Perspective 92 Europe and India 97 5: French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815): Soldiers 105 Duncan Bàn Macintyre 107 Alexander MacKinnon 113 Duncan Campbell 125 Alasdair Mac Iain Bhàin 134 4 Homeland 145 6: French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815): Non-combatants 155 Officers and Heroes 157 Alexander MacKay 164 Invasion Threat 172 Lament 181 7: Waterloo to Crimea (1815-56) 188 1815-54 188 Highland Officers: The Security of Hierarchy 189 Rights and Obligations 192 Highland Soldiers and Queen Victoria 198 Displacement-complaint Motif 202 The Crimean War (1853-56) 211 Corpus of Poetry from the Crimean War 213 Soldiers 214 Non-combatants 218 8: Women’s Poetry (1756-1856) 229 Inherited Traditions 232 Margaret Cameron and Mairearad Ghriogarach 237 Praise of Officers 239 Annexed Estates 245 Poetry of Separation 250 Conclusion 266 Bibliography 271 5 Acknowledgements My sincere thanks to Dr. Sheila Kidd, who, as my primary supervisor, was a constant source of encouragement and advice. Dr Kidd’s honours course on the nineteenth century Gàidhealtachd was where my interest in this subject began, and her help since then has been invaluable. Sincere thanks also to my second supervisor Dr Michel Byrne for his ever-insightful comments and guidance as the thesis progressed. I would also like to thank Dr Finlay Macleod for reading and commenting on each chapter; his unique insights and suggestions were always appreciated. Thanks also to Dr Anja Gunderloch and Dr Aonghas MacCoinnich for their considered and incredibly helpful comments on this thesis as examiners. Thanks to all the staff in the Celtic and Gaelic department of the University of Glasgow, and to my office mates, Martina, Joan, Andrew, Gordon, Susan and Max. Thanks also to Dr. Martin MacGregor’s reading group on Gaelic history, which was a regular source of inspiration and coffee. A special thanks to my family for the multiple ways in which they have helped me with this thesis. My father, Iain, read the thesis at every stage of its development, and helped me iron out anything that was unclear. Finally, I want to dedicate this thesis to the memory of my mother, Ina Maciver, to whom I owe more than I can express, and who would have been extraordinarily proud to see its completion. 6 Author's Declaration I declare that this thesis is entirely the result of my own work. I have referenced sources from the work of others where necessary. This thesis has not been submitted for any other degree at the University of Glasgow or any other institution. 7 Introduction The wars of the British Empire and the experience of soldiers who served in the Highland regiments constitute one of the major themes of Gaelic poetry in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The post-Culloden period, leading into the age of clearance and emigration, was, in manifold respects, traumatic for Scottish Gaeldom; society in the Highlands experienced a series of fundamental shocks and disturbances during these years (as has been examined and elucidated in a number of studies, considered in more detail in the next chapter).1 Despite this period of societal trauma, the poetic tradition in the Highlands stayed strong, indeed flourished for a time, and Gaelic poets continued in their role as spokespeople of their communities. And as the British military significantly extended its influence in the Gàidhealtachd from the mid eighteenth century onwards, poets turned to their literary tradition to make sense of this new military order. While previous studies have collated and analysed the poetry of two of the other major impacts on Gaelic society at this time, clearance and emigration, there has so far been no concerted attempt to examine and place in context the corpus of Gaelic military material of the period – despite this verse being widespread in the poetic record.2 While the literature review makes clear that there have been some important works dealing with selected Gaelic military poetry, including Wilson McLeod’s recent article covering the period from the mid eighteenth to mid twentieth century, the subject has not received the fullness of attention that such a major concern in the poetic record deserves.3 This thesis therefore directly addresses this gap in previous scholarship. Boundaries and Focus The time period explored here is 1756 to 1856. This encompasses the century from the outbreak of the Seven Years’ War (1756-63) to the conclusion of the Crimean War (1853-56), and also includes the American Revolutionary War (1775-83) and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1793-1815). The Seven Years’ War was the first major conflict of the post-Culloden period.; it saw the creation of a 1 See for instance: T. M. Devine, Clanship to Crofter’s War: the social transformation of the Scottish Highlands (Manchester, 1994); A. I. Macinnes, Clanship, Commerce and the House of Stuart (East Linton, 1996); E. Richards, The Highland Clearances: people, landlords and rural turmoil (Edinburgh, 2008). 2 See: M. MacDonell, The Emigrant Experience: songs of Highland Emigrants in North America (Toronto, 1982); D. E. Meek, Tuath is Tighearna: an anthology of Gaelic poetry of social and political protest from the Clearances to the land agitation (Edinburgh, 1995). 3 See: J. Macinnes, ‘Gaelic Poetry in the Nineteenth Century’, in D. Gifford (ed.), The History of Scottish Literature vol. 3 (Aberdeen, 1988), pp. 377-95; W. McLeod, ‘Gaelic poetry and the British military enterprise, 1756-1945’, in C. Sassi and T. v Heijnsbergen (eds.), Within and Without Empire: Scotland across the (post)colonial borderline (Newcastle, 2013), pp. 61-76. 8 number of Highland regiments and the genesis of the popular identification of Highland soldiers with the British military (and vice versa). The end of the Crimean war in 1856 marked the last large-scale conflict in which the Highland regiments fought in the nineteenth century.