Status Updates From Clans and Chiefs by Ian Gri...

This book is this far an overview of the bigger clans in Scottish history. Great. That said the writing is a little dry at parts so it reads a lot like Homer’s Book of Ships for whole swaths of pages.

The book has been explaining the significance of the plaid kilts worn by the males in Scotland. It is explained that originally the colors on the tartan (plaid) were insignificant, but that rich people enjoyed having more colorful kilts. However over time the kilts gained significance in identifying which clan a person was in.

It has now gotten into the specific clans and telling their significant stories. It told the story of Clan MacGregor and how in an effort of revenge, one clan member helped Venezuela gain independence and used their money and power to get other clans to go to the Mosquito Coast and then die. Pretty savage on his part.

The book has actually picked up a bit in the past week. It has gotten into talking more about specific Clans and how they affected Scotland as a whole. Specifically James III and how he was one of the more compassionate and effective Kings until he was murdered.

In the past pages there has been a lot more talk about the succession of kings. In the chapter that just started, they talk about how Scotland was still under the control of England because of the surrender 200 years earlier. Scots didn’t want to be under English rule, and they began to believe in the idea that although they were owned by the English, each person in the Scottish royalty owned their position of power.

Over the past couple of pages the book has been talking about the succession of the royal family, specifically of the kings of Scotland. It talked about how some of the kings were anglicanized because they were raised in England and no Scotland. This changed many of the customs there and some of the clansmen were upset by this. So yeah things have been really heating up in the Celtic lands.

Since my last update, the book has gone more in depth into the religions and how the religions and clan society has evolved and formed. It had a couple of pages about the role of women in the early “societies” and how they were revered by most people, even those from other countries. It also talked about the invasion and integration of the Norse folk and how it changed the languages and cultures.

So far the book has gotten into how the Celtic people moved from the origin of humanity to their place in Scotland and Ireland. I think that it is interesting how connected the Irish and Scottish are despite nowadays there being a disconnect between them. They also have interesting religious practices that the Romans attempted to put an end to.

The cover art is quite appealing.