Really are they that scared!

[MacFhearchair]

I really enjoyed and agreed with the first five paragraphs of your post Mac Fhearchair but the sixth above is problematic. I don't know what you mean by fighting for Scottish Independence but the last wars fought for that purpose occurred before 1603. If you are referring to the Jacobite rebellions of 1715 and 1745 they were not fought for Scottish Independence but for the Stuart dynasty's claim to the personally united thrones of Scotland, England, and Ireland and the restoration of Absolute Monarchy over a Parliamentary and Constitutional Monarchy. There was very little Free about the lives of the average Highland clansman living under the tyranny of heritable feudal jurisdictions prior to 1747. I am generally supportive of the Scottish diaspora love of the kilt and Scots heritage, but equating Jacobitism with Scottish Freedom and/or Independence is to completely misconstrue Scotland's (and the rest of Britain's) history and culture.

Hmm. Well, the way I've come to understand it is very different from how you describe matters, but I don't feel like I have a robust enough education in this corner of history to really argue, so I'll opt to backpedal.

I was under the impression that the Jacobite uprisings, had they been successful, would have allowed Scotland a separate government which is what many, especially in the north, wanted. In any case, the fact remains, at least as I've understood it, that Scotland's cultural uniqueness was deeply damaged by what happened thereafter, when dressing too much like a highlander among other things was a criminal act for.. what? a generation?

...that said, I'll concede that you very well may be right and I ought perhaps to get back to my books.