The Goshenhoppen registers of baptisms, marriages, and deaths are the sacramental records of the Catholic mission at Goshenhoppen, now Bally, in Washington Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. Beginning in 1741, the year the mission was founded, and extending, with some gaps, to 1819, these include sacraments administered at Goshenhoppen and outlying missions in southeastern Pennsylvania, particularly in the counties of Berks, Bucks, Northampton, Montgomery, Lehigh, and Lebanon, an area containing much of the early Germanic population of the state. Goshenhoppen's registers are believed to be not only the oldest extant Catholic church registers in Pennsylvania, but the oldest in existence of the original thirteen colonies Hence their overriding importance in Pennsylvania-German history and genealogy and the reason for their original publication, between 1886 and 1950, in the Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia. Taken as a whole, the Goshenhoppen registers contain entries relating to about 4,000 baptisms, marriages, and deaths, with references to about 15,000 individuals. Added to this work for the first time is a complete name index.

This book examines the power of the past upon the present. It shows how generations of Scots have exploited and reshaped history to meet the needs of a series of presents, from the conquest of the Picts to the refounding of Parliament.Dauvit Broun, Fiona Watson, and Steve Boardman explore the violent manipulations of the past in medieval Scotland. Michael Lynch questions well-entrenched assumptions about the Scottish Reformation. Roger Mason looks at the transformation of 'Highland barbarism' into 'Gaelicism'. Ted Cowan examines the 'Killing Times' of the covenanters, and David Allan the seventeenth century fashion for creative family history. Colin Kidd discovers the victims of Pictomania in Scotland and modern Ulster, and Murray Pittock uncovers the comparable mania driving Jacobitism. Richard Finlay links the cult of Victoria with the queen's idea of herself as the heiress of the Scottish monarchy. Catriona MacDonald considers the neglect of women and the dangers of reconstructing history to suit modern sensitivities. Finally David McCrone provides a sociologist's perspective on the continuing dialogue between the past and the present.By exploring how the people of Scotland have variously understood, used and been inspired by the past this book offers a series of insights into the concerns of previous generations and their understanding of themselves and their times. It throws fresh light on the evolution of history in Scotland and on the actions and ambitions of the Scots who have formed and reformed the nation.

This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) open access license. Discusses the transition from a largely oral to a fundamentally literate society in the early modern period. During this period the spoken word remained of the utmost importance but development of printing and the spread of popular literacy combined to transform the nature of communication. Examines English, Scottish and Welsh Oral culture to provide the first pan-British study of the subject. Covers several aspects of oral culture ranging from tradition, to memories of the civil war, to changing mechanics for the settling of debts. The time-span concentrates on the period 1500-1800 but includes material from outside this time frame, covering a longer chronolgical span than most other studies to show the link between early modern and modern oral and literate cultures.

This volume presents a detailed history of this Scottish noble lineage from the medieval Lords of the Isles to the mid–eighteenth century. Clan Donald is not the history of one clan, but of several important clans that descend from the old Kingdom of Macdonald. Each of these clans played its part in the history of Scotland until the fateful Battle of Culloden in 1746. Covering a period of six hundred years, the narrative begins with Somerled and the foundation of the Lordship of the Isles. It traces the narrative through the downfall of the Lordship in 1493 and the various branches that arose thereafter. The book then culminates in an overview of how the Celtic and Roman Churches were influenced by Clan Donald. Based on the original, three-volume edition of Clan Donald—first published between 1896 and 1904—this all-encompassing reference book is essential for members of the Clan as well as students of the Western Highlands and Isles.

This volume examines Highland society during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries highlighting the extent to which kinship and clientage were organising principles within clanship. Based on clans located in the central and eastern Highlands this study goes some way to addressing the imbalance in Highland historiography which hitherto has concentrated largely on the west Highlands and islands. Focusing initially on internal clan structure, the study broadens into an analysis of local politics within the context of regional and national affairs, raising questions regarding the importance of land and the nature of lordship as well as emphasising the need for Highland history to be integrated further into broader studies of Scottish society during this period.

This book focused on texts and contexts is dedicated to a great contemporary Romanist, legal historian and comparative lawyer: Professor Watson.

This study explores the history of the western seaboard of Scotland (the Hebrides, Argyll and the Isle of Man) in a formative but often neglected era: the central middle ages, from the mightly Somerled to his descendant John MacDonald, the first Lord of the Isles (c. 1336). Drawing on a variety of sources, this very readable narrative deals with three major and closely interrelated themes: first, the existence of the Isles and coastal mainland as a kingdom from c.1100 to 1266; second, the rulers of the region, Somerled and his descendants, the MacDougalls, MacDonalds and MacRuaris; and third, the often complex relations among the Isles, Scotland, Norway and England. A fully rounded history emerges, which transcends national viewpoints. While political history predominates, the changing nature of society in the isles is emphasised throughout, and separate chapters address the church and monasticism as well as the monuments – the castles, monasteries, churches and chapels that form an enduring legacy.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1875.

Surprisingly little is known of the geographical history of Gaelic: where and when it was spoken in the past, and how and why the Gaelic-speaking area of Scotland – the Gaidhealtachd – has retreated and the language declined. A hundred years ago there were 250,000 Gaelic speakers. Now there are 80,000. This book answers four broad questions: What has been the geography of Gaelic in the past? How has that geography changed over time and space? What have been the patterns of language use within the Gaedhealtachd in the past? And what have been the processes of language change? Emphasis is upon the changing geography of the spoken language from 1698 to 1981: from the earliest date for which it is possible to document the expanse of the Gaelic language area to the most recent census to record the numbers speaking Gaelic.