Faith of the Scots

by Gordon Donaldson

An historical investigation of the beliefs of the Scots from the appearance of Christianity to the present day, examining how their religion affected their lives and shaped their society. The book draws upon hitherto unpublished source material and includes specially commissioned photographs.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Professor of Scottish History at Edinburgh University, 1963-1979. Historiographer Royal in Scotland, 1979-1993.

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is another example of the late Professor Donaldson's ability to distil complex topics into readable, concise and often entertaining prose. While the subject itself does not hold much interest for me (hence the miserly four stars), the author's rigorous application of historical method is a joy. And the then Historiographer Royal in Scotland set himself a daunting task: "...to discover how widely and how deeply the Christian faith was held and how it influenced the lives of individuals and communities".
The paucity of source material, particularly for the earlier periods, was stark: "In the whole tenth century only some fifty events are known to have happened in what is now Scotland". But through the use of correspondence, diaries, memoirs and testamentary declarations, as well as the more standard sources of ecclesiastical history, Donaldson presents the reader with a convincing picture of the faith of the Scots over two millennia.