The Highlands and Islands of Scotland

In rich and telling detail, Alistair Moffat relates the remarkable story of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.

In the beginning was the formation of the awe-inspiring landscapes which set the scene for the arrival of hunter-gatherers at the last ice age. Geography made history as people began to leave indelible marks on the landscape. Orkney invented henges and a cult based around extraordinary stone monuments that spread south to create Stonehenge.

Mystery swirls around the mountains and the straths, first described in the lost language of the Picts and bounded by their strange symbol stones. Crosses were carved on them to mark the coming of Christianity from Ireland. Gaelic eclipsed Pictish and when the Vikings came, a version of Norse was spoken for a millennium in the Northern Isles. In the Hebrides the great the Lordship of the Isles was a cultural adornment until the late 15th century. As he traces the political shifts of history, Moffat also focuses on the origins of much of Highland iconography: piping, tartan, whisky, peat-cutting, Harris Tweed, Highland games and much else.

In the modern period, the Highlanders was the key battleground for the Stuarts' attempts to regain the throne and the place that suffered appalling destruction as a consequence of Bonnie Prince Charlie's ultimate failure at Culloden in 1746. The Clearances and emigration saw many thousands leave as the Highlands and Islands emptied and working landscapes became scenery. 

But after centuries of decline, the north is being renewed, the land is coming alive once more and this unique story ends on an upbeat note as the Highlands and Islands of Scotland look forward to a future of possibilities.