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I am finally working on the last material from the Sutherland Estate papers; this material concerns the second round of the Highland Clearances in 1819 - 1821 under Factor 'Chief' Gunn. This Highland Clearance material makes me think - on a first reading - that one should view the Sutherland Estate Highland Clearances in two waves. The first wave being under Patrick Sellar, the second after him. I will explore this difference in detail at another time.
On another issue - it is worth restating that all the early primary source documents (lots of them) from the 1600s and 1700s which concern the Mckaimish line has absolutely no mention of that line being Chief or Chieftain of the Clan Gunn. Even material written by the Mckaimish line, where being 'Clan Gunn Chief' would be central to the points they are making, have no such mention. One has to assume that the lack of such mention is because neither the Mckaimish line nor the Sutherland Estate saw the Mckaimish line as being Chief. Was a Gunn 'Chief' idea shoehorned into Gunn history in the early 1800s to make Gunn history conform to the romantic Highlands 'history' peddled by Sir Walter Scott?
1 Comment
22/4/2014 18:00:46
Ah yes, the dreaded "Balmorafication" of Scottish history. The first and most important layer to peel back before we can get to some interesting facts about what actually happened in Gunn history. I have to hope that some of the written work from the 1600s survived the civil wars and may one day shed light on some of the history between 1400 and 1650. Finding them could be a life's work. Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
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