Ireland And A Strath

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28268, 4 May 1957, Page 3

Ireland And A Strath

of The Story of Ireland. By Brian o- Inglis. Faber and Faber. ,g, 270 pp. Index. )n Romantic Strathspey—-its Lands, s ‘ Clans and Legends. By James ® Alan Rennie. 191 pi>. Index, el ■’ These two books are similar in le that each shows how the mental outlook of peoples has been as moulded by history and geore graphy. In all other respects the PS two books differ as chalk from cheese. Brian, Inglis, a trained )n historian, has taken the whole of n Ireland for his theme, whilst es James Rennie writes only of his el own native valley in Inverness. a - The Irish story is therefore broad s- in its sweep and the author has deliberately made a study of as present day institutions and emo,s, tions in order to explain the n movements underlying current s- events. The Scottish story on the s- other hand is mainly descriptive b. and anecdotal, and whilst many n interesting historical details are d brought to light, the author is n more interested in the doings of individuals. One is a general hisy tory; the other combines local •e history with an account of the e attractions of one small district, d In the course of a round-the->f world trip in 1949, Eamonn de ■ s Valera, out of office after sixteen d years as Premier of Eire, made a brief visit to New Zealand. The d highlight was a short Sunday e evening talk broadcast over the l " main national stations just before " his departure—a talk which ° puzzled many a hearer. For his ’ main theme was an unambiguous f claim that Northern Ireland was still part of Eire: whereas we in o New Zealand knew or at least , r had the impression that Northern k Ireland was a separate self,t governing Dominion, whose gov--1 ernment had been firmly estabg lished for many years by the will „of the great majority of its people. De Valera's talk failed completely to whip up anti-Par-tition feelings in New Zealand d for the reason that the average e New Zealander (even of Irish v descent) is not very interested in e Irish politics, and anyhow the h visitor seemed to be living in d the past. , | * d This living in the past is so ' d characteristic of the Irish gene- : o rally that no-one who wishes to e understand the Ireland of today ' „ can do so without a knowledge “ of Irish history. Bui the reader 1 |f who wishes to learn is so often i e discouraged by the impenetrable . e jungle of strange names, places n and events, that in the end he : 0 gives up. What was needed was < n a short outline written from what t v is already known, and then relat- < n ing the past to what is happening e in the present. Brian Inglis has ; a written his history in just this 1 n way. He begins with an intro- < s ductory chapter on the country < today, as it is seen through visi- < e tors’ eyes, He then goes back } I in history to trace and examine 5 the roots of what we see at the f -j present day. He divides his story ( into three parts: one deals with j B nationalism, one with the land £ " and the people, and one with cul- t s ture arid religion. These three c parts being the story up to 1921, t t the date of the Treaty by which ( f the Irish Free State gained its c > independence. The final chapter a a of the book considers Ireland, i : both north and south of the bor- s

; der, since 1921. As a whole, his . book makes lively and informa- , tive reading, and will be genu- , inely appreciated by the general j reader as well as by the more serious student. . After finishing the more serious ■ study of Ireland’s story, reading ; “Romaptic Strathspey" is like holidaying in the mountains. The name . Strathspey means "the valley of ' the Spey." and the place is the ancient stronghold of the drant clan. The Grants have always been closely* allied with the MacGregors and are accepted as a branch of the ancient Siol Alpine ; This is made up of eight clans: the Grants, the Mac Alpines, MacAulays, MacGregors, McKinnons, Mac Nabs, MacPhees and MacQuarries —all of whom claim de- ■ scent from Alpin. King of Scots. This account of the topography, history and legends of a famous Highland strath is eminently readable. James Alan Rennie is himself a hundred per cent. Scottish Gael, weaned on tradition and tales of long ago. He loves his strath with its mountains, bird-life and fishing; and he loves and understands the people and is proud of their history. This enthusiasm he transmits to the reader so vividly that a desire is created to visit the district to enjoy it at first hand. An excellent map and twenty-five full page illustrations reproduced from I

photographs help to make this indeed a fascinating story. Many besides Scotsmen will enjoy this book, and every member of the Grant clan will certainly wish to j possess his own copy.