Abstract
Reviews the career of John Stuart Blackie (1809-1895), poet, professor successively of humanity in Aberdeen and of Greek in Edinburgh, and a tireless advocate for the Scottish Highlands and Celtic culture; sketches his growing criticism of Highland landlords and the eviction of crofters from Scottish estates, in relation to more recent perspectives; and discusses his successive literary treatments of the Clearances in his "Highland Sonnets," his long poem "The Highlander's Lament," and, most fully, in his 'novel' or mixed-genre prose work Altavona: Fact and Fiction from My Life in the Highlands (1882), commenting also on Blackie's revisions to the book for later editions in light of the Crofters' Commission report and related reforms.
Recommended Citation
Mitchell, Brooke McLaughlin
(2016)
"John Stuart Blackie's Altavona: A Late Victorian Reaction to the Highland Clearances,"
Studies in Scottish Literature:
Vol. 41:
Iss.
1, 209–220.
Available at:
https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/ssl/vol41/iss1/17