Scottish Studies
type: channel
description: Scottish Studies is the journal of the School of Scottish Studies, University of Edinburgh. The journal reflects the eight main research areas of the school: tales, custom and belief, material culture, song, instrumental music, place-names, dialectology and social organisation.
publisher: University of Edinburgh
language: en
publication name: Scottish Studies
issn: 2052-3629
items: Obituary: Ian A. Fraser, 1941-2025
items: Understanding Scotland Musically: Folk, Tradition and Policy, ed. Simon McKerrell and Gary West
items: Gun Sireadh, Gun Iarraidh: The Tolmie Collection, ed. Kenna Campbell and Ainsley Hamill
items: Standing on the Edge of Being: Scotland 1850 to COP 26, by Richard D. Oram
items: The Order of the Elephant': Symbols and Power in the Policing of Land Agitation in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland
items: Why was Agnes Randolph 'Black'?
items: Join Together, Fight Together, Die Together: Scottish Sportsmen, the Great War and Enlistment
items: Portraid Dhonnchaidh Bhàin?
items: Student Singing and Song Books in Scotland
items: Catastrophe at St Kilda: Vulnerability and Resilience in an Island Community
items: Front Matter
items: Index of Contents by Author
items: Subject Index
items: Contributors and Editors, 1957-2024
items: Reviews
items: Scottish Studies Index: Volumes 1-40
items: Chronological Index: Contents of Volumes 1-40
items: A bheil am feur gorm fhathast?: Some problems concerning language and cultural shift
items: Book Reviews
items: Sport and the Calendar: Archery and rifle shooting in Scotland in the nineteenth century
items: Conceptualising Neighbourhood: Charity Labour Gatherings in Rural Perthshire, 1850-1950
items: A Historical Review of Second Sight: The Collectors, Their Accounts and Ideas
items: Books Noticed
items: Front Matter Volume 33
items: Scottish Fairs and Fair-Names
items: Editorial
items: Scottish Studies, Volume 33 (1999): Full Volume
items: The Scottish Fair as seen in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Sources
items: Those Having Business There: Fairs in Scottish Almanac Lists

Obituary: Ian A. Fraser, 1941-2025
type: item
subject: Obituaries
  topic: section
subject: Ian Fraser
  topic: keywords
subject: Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: Scottish
  topic: keywords
subject: place-names
  topic: keywords
subject: placenames
  topic: keywords
subject: obituary
  topic: keywords
creator: Jacob King
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
date: 2026-02-25
publication date: 2026-02-25
starting page: 125
ending page: 127
doi: 10.2218/1qsmd044

Understanding Scotland Musically: Folk, Tradition and Policy, ed. Simon McKerrell and Gary West
type: item
subject: Book Reviews
  topic: section
subject: Scottish
  topic: keywords
subject: music
  topic: keywords
subject: practice
  topic: keywords
subject: musicians
  topic: keywords
subject: media
  topic: keywords
subject: policy
  topic: keywords
subject: folk music
  topic: keywords
subject: tradition
  topic: keywords
subject: traditional
  topic: keywords
subject: politics
  topic: keywords
subject: authenticity
  topic: keywords
subject: folk revival
  topic: keywords
subject: Simon McKerrell
  topic: keywords
subject: Gary West
  topic: keywords
subject: Jo Miller
  topic: keywords
subject: David Francis
  topic: keywords
subject: Fiona Mackenzie
  topic: keywords
subject: Mairi McFadyen
  topic: keywords
subject: genre
  topic: keywords
subject: hybridity
  topic: keywords
subject: Joshua Dickson
  topic: keywords
subject: David McGuiness
  topic: keywords
subject: Morag Grant
  topic: keywords
subject: Stuart Eydmann
  topic: keywords
subject: Simon Frith
  topic: keywords
creator: Jane Pettegree
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
date: 2026-02-25
publication date: 2026-02-25
starting page: 120
ending page: 124
doi: 10.2218/weqpqa13

Gun Sireadh, Gun Iarraidh: The Tolmie Collection, ed. Kenna Campbell and Ainsley Hamill
type: item
subject: Book Reviews
  topic: section
subject: Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: Scottish
  topic: keywords
subject: Skye
  topic: keywords
subject: Hebrides
  topic: keywords
subject: Western Isles
  topic: keywords
subject: Gaelic
  topic: keywords
subject: song
  topic: keywords
subject: Frances Tolmie
  topic: keywords
subject: collection
  topic: keywords
subject: Kenna Campbell
  topic: keywords
subject: Ainsley Hamill
  topic: keywords
creator: Virginia Blankenhorn
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
date: 2026-02-25
publication date: 2026-02-25
starting page: 114
ending page: 119
doi: 10.2218/3x5bm818

Standing on the Edge of Being: Scotland 1850 to COP 26, by Richard D. Oram
type: item
subject: Book Reviews
  topic: section
subject: Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: environment
  topic: keywords
subject: Richard Oram
  topic: keywords
subject: climate change
  topic: keywords
creator: Fredrik Albritton Jonsson
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
date: 2026-02-25
publication date: 2026-02-25
starting page: 112
ending page: 113
doi: 10.2218/k6xdwv93

The Order of the Elephant': Symbols and Power in the Policing of Land Agitation in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland
type: item
description: The Crofters’ War of the 1880s saw widespread protest at the unequal and exploitative modes of land management used in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. In this article, a study is made of medals awarded by William Ivory, the Sheriff of Inverness-shire, to police in the Isle of Skye for their involvement in the arrest of land agitators. Using a material culture approach, the medals are analysed in terms of their symbolism and placed in the context of the Highlands and Islands, Britain and its Empire. The main source is a memorandum on the medals compiled by Sheriff Ivory, encompassing letters and statements intended to defend them, as well as an extant medal awarded by Sheriff Ivory and communication on the design of a second. The biases of the memorandum are balanced with primary source material from newspapers and Gaelic songs that reveal contemporary views on the issues discussed. The discussion offers insight into the power dynamics involved in the policing of land agitation, and how the role of the police was perceived at the time.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: landlords
  topic: keywords
subject: Crofters War
  topic: keywords
subject: Sheriff
  topic: keywords
subject: William Ivory
  topic: keywords
subject: medals
  topic: keywords
subject: awards
  topic: keywords
subject: military
  topic: keywords
subject: police
  topic: keywords
subject: politics
  topic: keywords
subject: Skye
  topic: keywords
subject: Inverness
  topic: keywords
subject: Gaelic
  topic: keywords
subject: song
  topic: keywords
subject: media
  topic: keywords
subject: Norman Stewart
  topic: keywords
subject: Garalapin
  topic: keywords
subject: uniforms
  topic: keywords
subject: civilian
  topic: keywords
subject: Alexander McHardy
  topic: keywords
creator: Grace Wright
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
date: 2026-02-25
publication date: 2026-02-25
starting page: 83
ending page: 111
doi: 10.2218/xbqgz695

Why was Agnes Randolph 'Black'?
type: item
description: This study focuses on Agnes Randolph (1312–1369), famous for her defence of Dunbar Castle in 1338, and the origins of her nickname, ‘Black Agnes’. Nearly without exception, authors of the last two centuries explain the name as a reflection of her physical appearance, stating that she had a dark complexion. But is this explanation anachronistic? This article argues that the nickname ‘Black Agnes’ would have had significantly different connotations in the fourteenth century, with ‘black’ carrying political, literary, and even folkloric nuances. Arguing from detailed analyses of evidence adduced from literary sources, contemporary chronicles, medieval agnominal practices, and overlooked manuscripts, this article casts new light on the many shades of meaning that combine to constitute Agnes’s ‘Black’.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Dunbar
  topic: keywords
subject: castle
  topic: keywords
subject: Black Agnes
  topic: keywords
subject: Black Douglas
  topic: keywords
subject: Robert Bruce
  topic: keywords
subject: Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: Scottish
  topic: keywords
subject: history
  topic: keywords
subject: politics
  topic: keywords
subject: feminism
  topic: keywords
creator: Shelley Morwenna Williams
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
date: 2026-02-25
publication date: 2026-02-25
starting page: 56
ending page: 82
doi: 10.2218/9nz0sr43

Join Together, Fight Together, Die Together: Scottish Sportsmen, the Great War and Enlistment
type: item
description: Significant numbers of amateur sportsmen in all sports enlisted, and their sacrifice had an effect on sporting engagement and sporting communities across Scotland for many years. The Pals Battalions of The Great War have been the subject of increasing research in recent years. Within this research into enlistment the Sportsmen’s Battalions have been less of a focus, despite sport being an embedded social and cultural presence in Scottish communities. While the main focus in Scotland has been the professional footballers of McCrae’s Battalion, few have examined the contribution of other sportsmen to the war effort. This paper explores the nature of enlistment and experiences from other sports such as athletics, rugby and shinty, as well as amateur football, through media representations by drawing on contemporary sources and archive material of various clubs. In addition to considering the narratives prevalent at the time regarding the contribution of sportsmen and enlistment, the paper also examines the competing discourses associated with social norms associated with signing up, and the wider need to preserve morale during a time of national crisis.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Great War
  topic: keywords
subject: World War 1
  topic: keywords
subject: WW1
  topic: keywords
subject: military
  topic: keywords
subject: recruitment
  topic: keywords
subject: sports
  topic: keywords
subject: football
  topic: keywords
subject: shinty
  topic: keywords
subject: amateur
  topic: keywords
subject: media
  topic: keywords
subject: propaganda
  topic: keywords
subject: McCrae's Battalion
  topic: keywords
subject: rugby
  topic: keywords
subject: Pals battalions
  topic: keywords
subject: athletics
  topic: keywords
subject: Scotland
  topic: keywords
creator: Hamish McD. Telfer
creator: Jonathan M. Thomas
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
date: 2026-02-25
publication date: 2026-02-25
starting page: 35
ending page: 55
doi: 10.2218/3bc36d47

Portraid Dhonnchaidh Bhàin?
type: item
description: A copy of the fourth edition (1834) of the poems of Donnchadh Bàn Mac an t-Saoir (1724 – 1812) held in the Centre for Research Collections at the University of Edinburgh has a pencil-drawn portrait of a man on the inside front cover. Although Donnchadh died in 1812, over twenty years before this edition was printed, there is some circumstantial evidence to indicate that this may be a portrait of the poet himself. If so, it would be the only extant portrait of the bard.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Duncan Bàn MacIntyre
  topic: keywords
subject: portrait
  topic: keywords
subject: drawing
  topic: keywords
subject: pencil
  topic: keywords
subject: Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: Gaelic
  topic: keywords
subject: bard
  topic: keywords
subject: poet
  topic: keywords
creator: Donnchadh Sneddon
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
date: 2026-02-25
publication date: 2026-02-25
starting page: 30
ending page: 34
doi: 10.2218/xyfsqq35

Student Singing and Song Books in Scotland
type: item
description: Students have always sung in the four Ancient Universities of Scotland. They were much later than German and North American universities, and a little later than England, in arranging the compilation and publication of national song books for students. These were The Scottish Students’ Song Book and The British Students’ Song Book and their few successors. The figure behind their creation was Professor John Stuart Blackie. Organised student singing in Scotland began in the late nineteenth century and continued until the middle of the twentieth century, when it gave way to other activities.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: songs
  topic: keywords
subject: singing
  topic: keywords
subject: songbook
  topic: keywords
subject: British
  topic: keywords
subject: universities
  topic: keywords
subject: Gaudeamus
  topic: keywords
subject: patriotic
  topic: keywords
subject: humour
  topic: keywords
subject: John Stuart Blackie
  topic: keywords
creator: Peter B. Freshwater
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
date: 2026-02-25
publication date: 2026-02-25
starting page: 17
ending page: 29
doi: 10.2218/r0r39s16

Catastrophe at St Kilda: Vulnerability and Resilience in an Island Community
type: item
description: A ‘sea of islands’ approach to the history of the Hebrides increases the possibility that aspects of St Kilda’s relatively well-recorded ethnography may be productively extrapolated to the wider and less well documented Hebridean region. However, cultural continuity in the archipelago may have been affected by two ‘catastrophes’, after which depleted populations were augmented by people from throughout the MacLeods’ domains. Island communities had low immunity to introduced diseases and were exposed to regionally endemic violence. In economic and political terms it made sense for chiefs (lairds) to re-populate islands demographically damaged by catastrophes, in order to continue the uplifting of food renders and other exports and to provide their travelling retinues with activities such as hunting, fishing and fowling; St Kilda would have presented abundant opportunities in this respect. In recent centuries, re-population may have introduced widespread Hebridean folklore and stories. The perpetuation of Norse words for seabirds and words connected with boats, and of toponyms particularly relating to the most important seascape features, may relate to the development of a lingua franca which would have aided cultural continuity during episodes of major population renewal.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: Scottish
  topic: keywords
subject: Hebrides
  topic: keywords
subject: St Kilda
  topic: keywords
subject: Middle Ages
  topic: keywords
subject: Vikings
  topic: keywords
subject: slavery
  topic: keywords
subject: disease
  topic: keywords
subject: sorning
  topic: keywords
subject: chiefdoms
  topic: keywords
subject: MacLeods
  topic: keywords
subject: culture
  topic: keywords
subject: continuity
  topic: keywords
subject: disruption
  topic: keywords
subject: plague
  topic: keywords
subject: population collapse
  topic: keywords
subject: resettlement
  topic: keywords
creator: Andrew Fleming
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
date: 2026-02-25
publication date: 2026-02-25
starting page: 1
ending page: 16
doi: 10.2218/4mh4vc23

Front Matter
type: item
subject: Front Matter
  topic: section
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
date: 2026-02-25
publication date: 2026-02-25
doi: 10.2218/1v61e182

Index of Contents by Author
type: item
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: Scottish Studies
  topic: keywords
subject: journal
  topic: keywords
subject: volume
  topic: keywords
subject: issue
  topic: keywords
subject: 00
  topic: keywords
subject: index
  topic: keywords
subject: 1-40
  topic: keywords
subject: authors
  topic: keywords
creator: [Editor]
rights: Copyright (c)
date: 2024-07-01
publication date: 2024-07-01

Subject Index
type: item
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: Scottish Studies
  topic: keywords
subject: journal
  topic: keywords
subject: volume
  topic: keywords
subject: issue
  topic: keywords
subject: 00
  topic: keywords
subject: index
  topic: keywords
subject: geography
  topic: keywords
subject: history
  topic: keywords
subject: languages
  topic: keywords
subject: linguistics
  topic: keywords
subject: ethnology
  topic: keywords
subject: social anthropology
  topic: keywords
subject: scholarship
  topic: keywords
creator: [Editor]
rights: Copyright (c)
date: 2024-07-01
publication date: 2024-07-01

Contributors and Editors, 1957-2024
type: item
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: Scottish Studies
  topic: keywords
subject: journal
  topic: keywords
subject: volume
  topic: keywords
subject: issue
  topic: keywords
subject: 00
  topic: keywords
subject: index
  topic: keywords
subject: 1-40
  topic: keywords
subject: authors
  topic: keywords
subject: contributors
  topic: keywords
subject: editors
  topic: keywords
creator: [Editor]
rights: Copyright (c)
date: 2024-07-01
publication date: 2024-07-01

Reviews
type: item
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: Scottish Studies
  topic: keywords
subject: journal
  topic: keywords
subject: volume
  topic: keywords
subject: issue
  topic: keywords
subject: 00
  topic: keywords
subject: index
  topic: keywords
subject: 1-40
  topic: keywords
subject: books
  topic: keywords
subject: reviews
  topic: keywords
subject: review
  topic: keywords
creator: [Editor]
rights: Copyright (c)
date: 2024-07-01
publication date: 2024-07-01

Front Matter
type: item
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: Scottish Studies
  topic: keywords
subject: journal
  topic: keywords
subject: volume
  topic: keywords
subject: issue
  topic: keywords
subject: 00
  topic: keywords
subject: index
  topic: keywords
subject: 1-40
  topic: keywords
subject: front matter
  topic: keywords
creator: Virginia Blankenhorn
rights: Copyright (c)
date: 2024-07-01
publication date: 2024-07-01

Scottish Studies Index: Volumes 1-40
type: item
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: Scottish Studies
  topic: keywords
subject: journal
  topic: keywords
subject: volume
  topic: keywords
subject: issue
  topic: keywords
subject: 00
  topic: keywords
subject: index
  topic: keywords
subject: 1-40
  topic: keywords
creator: [Editor]
rights: Copyright (c)
date: 2024-07-01
publication date: 2024-07-01

Chronological Index: Contents of Volumes 1-40
type: item
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: Scottish Studies
  topic: keywords
subject: journal
  topic: keywords
subject: volume
  topic: keywords
subject: issue
  topic: keywords
subject: 00
  topic: keywords
subject: index
  topic: keywords
subject: 1-4-
  topic: keywords
subject: contents
  topic: keywords
subject: chronological
  topic: keywords
creator: [Editor]
rights: Copyright (c)
date: 2024-07-01
publication date: 2024-07-01

A bheil am feur gorm fhathast?: Some problems concerning language and cultural shift
type: item
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Scottish
  topic: keywords
subject: Gaelic
  topic: keywords
subject: language
  topic: keywords
subject: culture
  topic: keywords
subject: change
  topic: keywords
subject: attitudes
  topic: keywords
creator: Sharon Macdonald
rights: Copyright (c)
date: 1999-01-01
publication date: 1999-01-01

Book Reviews
type: item
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Kvideland
  topic: keywords
subject: Sehmsdorf
  topic: keywords
subject: Scandinavian
  topic: keywords
subject: folktales
  topic: keywords
subject: Cox
  topic: keywords
subject: ogam
  topic: keywords
subject: inscription
  topic: keywords
subject: mary macpherson
  topic: keywords
subject: Meek
  topic: keywords
subject: songs
  topic: keywords
creator: R. D. Clement J. Shaw
rights: Copyright (c)
date: 1999-01-01
publication date: 1999-01-01

Sport and the Calendar: Archery and rifle shooting in Scotland in the nineteenth century
type: item
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: Scottish
  topic: keywords
subject: sport
  topic: keywords
subject: archery
  topic: keywords
subject: shooting
  topic: keywords
subject: rifle
  topic: keywords
subject: nineteenth
  topic: keywords
subject: century
  topic: keywords
creator: John Burnett
rights: Copyright (c)
date: 1999-01-01
publication date: 1999-01-01

Conceptualising Neighbourhood: Charity Labour Gatherings in Rural Perthshire, 1850-1950
type: item
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: community
  topic: keywords
subject: neighborhood
  topic: keywords
subject: neighbourhood
  topic: keywords
subject: charity
  topic: keywords
subject: labour
  topic: keywords
subject: rural
  topic: keywords
subject: perthshire
  topic: keywords
creator: Gary J. West
rights: Copyright (c)
date: 1999-01-01
publication date: 1999-01-01

A Historical Review of Second Sight: The Collectors, Their Accounts and Ideas
type: item
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: Scottish
  topic: keywords
subject: second sight
  topic: keywords
subject: historiography
  topic: keywords
subject: psychic
  topic: keywords
subject: supernatural
  topic: keywords
subject: foretell
  topic: keywords
subject: prophecy
  topic: keywords
subject: vision
  topic: keywords
creator: Shari A. Cohn
rights: Copyright (c)
date: 1999-01-01
publication date: 1999-01-01

Books Noticed
type: item
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: Scottish
  topic: keywords
subject: books
  topic: keywords
subject: published
  topic: keywords
subject: 1996-1999
  topic: keywords
subject: history
  topic: keywords
subject: ethnography
  topic: keywords
subject: tradition
  topic: keywords
creator: Alexander Fenton
rights: Copyright (c)
date: 1999-01-01
publication date: 1999-01-01

Front Matter Volume 33
type: item
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: Scottish Studies
  topic: keywords
subject: journal
  topic: keywords
subject: volume
  topic: keywords
subject: issue
  topic: keywords
subject: 33
  topic: keywords
subject: front matter
  topic: keywords
creator: [Editor]
rights: Copyright (c)
date: 1999-01-01
publication date: 1999-01-01

Scottish Fairs and Fair-Names
type: item
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: Scottish
  topic: keywords
subject: fairs
  topic: keywords
subject: antiquity
  topic: keywords
subject: placenames
  topic: keywords
subject: place-names
  topic: keywords
subject: fair-names
  topic: keywords
subject: calendar
  topic: keywords
subject: custom
  topic: keywords
subject: material culture
  topic: keywords
creator: Ronald I. M. Black
rights: Copyright (c)
date: 1999-01-01
publication date: 1999-01-01

Editorial
type: item
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Scottish Studies
  topic: keywords
subject: editor
  topic: keywords
subject: editorial
  topic: keywords
subject: introduction
  topic: keywords
creator: Emily Lyle
rights: Copyright (c)
date: 1999-01-01
publication date: 1999-01-01

Scottish Studies, Volume 33 (1999): Full Volume
type: item
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: Scottish Studies
  topic: keywords
subject: journal
  topic: keywords
subject: volume
  topic: keywords
subject: issue
  topic: keywords
subject: 33
  topic: keywords
subject: 1999
  topic: keywords
creator: [Editor]
rights: Copyright (c)
date: 1999-01-01
publication date: 1999-01-01

The Scottish Fair as seen in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Sources
type: item
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: Scottish
  topic: keywords
subject: fair
  topic: keywords
subject: market
  topic: keywords
subject: social
  topic: keywords
subject: structure
  topic: keywords
subject: eighteenth
  topic: keywords
subject: nineteenth
  topic: keywords
subject: century
  topic: keywords
creator: John Morris
rights: Copyright (c)
date: 1999-01-01
publication date: 1999-01-01

Those Having Business There: Fairs in Scottish Almanac Lists
type: item
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Scotland
  topic: keywords
subject: Scottish
  topic: keywords
subject: fair
  topic: keywords
subject: fairs
  topic: keywords
subject: almanac
  topic: keywords
subject: annual
  topic: keywords
creator: Kaye McAlpine
rights: Copyright (c)
date: 1999-01-01
publication date: 1999-01-01