“Recollections of an Argyllshire Drover” & Other West Highland Chronicles

“Recollections of an Argyllshire Drover” & Other West Highland Chronicles by Eric R. Cregeen, (Foreword by Prof. T. C. Smout), Edinburgh: Birlinn: 2004, second edition 2013.

Synopsis:

 "Recollections of an Argyllshire Drover" & Other West Highland Chronicles Eric Cregeen's groundbreaking research into the Argyll Estate Papers and into the oral tradition of the Scottish West Highlands are at the heart of this collection. During his appointment at the University of Edinburgh's School of Scottish Studies, Cregeen tape-recorded tradition bearers in both Gaelic and English, gathering information that is today priceless, such as the descriptions of the last Argyll drover. He was a founding member of the Scottish Oral History movement, but his tragically early death in 1983 robbed Scotland of a great scholar, social historian and folklorist and of other proposed books. This collection, selected and edited by Dr Margaret Bennett, will be welcomed by a wide range of readers, especially those who share Cregeen's enthusiasm for 'approaching the history of the Highlands with a mind alert to the claims of oral tradition.' The book begins with a masterful introductory essay by the editor and also includes a comprehensive bibliography of Cregeen's work. This edition brings invaluable and beautifully written material to a new generation keen to reconnect with Scotland's Highland history and tradition.