Celtic Scotland
A History of Ancient Alban

This three-volume history, regarded as William Forbes Skene's most important work, was published between 1876 and 1880.

William Forbes Skene (Author)

9781108084284, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 22 November 2018

548 pages, 1 map
21.6 x 14 x 3.4 cm, 0.75 kg

The historian William Forbes Skene (1809–92), encouraged to learn Gaelic by Sir Walter Scott, a friend of his father, combined a career as a lawyer in his family's firm with a deep interest in the history of the Celts, which was strengthened by a period of philological study in Germany. This three-volume history of Celtic Scotland (or Alban, to give it the name used in the subtitle), regarded as his most important work, was published between 1876 and 1880. Skene's intention was 'to ascertain the true facts of the early civic history' of Scotland, given that the works of medieval Scots historians could not be relied upon for a factual narrative. The three volumes are organised by topic. Volume 3 discusses 'land and people', from the legendary origins of settlement, though the tribes of Scotland and Ireland to the pattern of land tenure in the fifteenth century.

Part III. Land and People: 1. Scotland in the reign of Alexander III
2. The seven provinces of Scotland
3. Legendary origins
4. The tuath or tribe in Ireland
5. The finé or sept in Ireland, and the tribe in Wales
6. The tribe in Scotland
7. The thanages and their extinction
8. The finé or clan in Scotland
9. The clans and their genealogies
10. Land tenure in the Highlands and islands subsequent to the sixteenth century
Appendix
Index.

Subject Areas: British & Irish history [HBJD1]