Land raids in Scotland have a long and honourable history. A history which, if we had been independent, might hopefully, have happened differently. The Vatersay land-raiders of 1908, for instance, got six months hard labour in the Tolbooth of Glasgow, Marines were used against the protesters in Skye and so on and so on, et cetera et cetera, ad bloody infinitum. The last land raid however, had some effect, an effect which we are just now seeing with land trusts such the Knoydart foundation.
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This is intended to be an introduction to the Jacobite rising of 1745, there are many misconceptions, inaccuracies and damn lies involved in the popular view of the rising. Some of these inaccuracies (this is me being generous) are as follows:-

Assumption 1 – The 1745 Jacobite rising was entirely a conflict between highlanders and lowlanders.
Incorrect. There were highlanders and lowlanders on both sides (along with Irish, English and Welsh) and French on the Jacobite side....

The Indian Mutiny of 1857, as it's known to the Anglosphere, is badly mis-named. In India it's sometimes known as the First War of National Independence - which is also a misnomer as, at the time, India was a mosaic of warring states. These states were inhabited by, among others, Rajputs, Sikhs, Marathas and Baluchis (note: these are merely examples as the list goes on forever). In fact the British army presence in India was limited to no more than 26,000 men. This small force was, of course far...

The Border Region


Is that part of Britain which straddles the frontier (yes, I said frontier. It's more far more than a mere border) between Scotland and England. In geographical terms it is a hilly upland plateau bisected by river valleys, but that doesn't tell the full story, it also comprises some of the bleakest, most dangerous and yet beautiful terrain in Britain (if not Europe). While it provides good grazing, there isn't much arable land but what there is, is good. There...

The Battle of Flodden took place on 9th September 1513. On the face of it this was nothing more than yet another instance of Scots and English having a go at each other – just because they were Scots and English, but this isn't so, even though both sides were, on occasion, guilty of just that.

It was, in fact, part of the War of the League of Cambrai (sometimes referred to as the War of the Holy League). This war, believe it or not, was a major conflict in the Italian Wars. The principal...