The history of the first 200 years of the Royal Celtic Society has been marked in a new book.
Priscilla Scott has chronicled the history in The Royal Celtic Society 1820–2020, a lavishly illustrated history of this little-known organisation, published to celebrate its bicentenary.
The society (which did not become ‘Royal’ until 1873) was founded in Edinburgh in 1820 by Captain William MacKenzie of Gruinard with the specific aim of promoting the wearing of Highland dress by civilians, a practice which had fallen out of use due to proscription in the period 1747–82.
In this aim it may be said to have been highly successful. Its early endeavours were spectacular, consisting of providing guards of honour to King George IV on his visit to Edinburgh in 1822, and organising lavish Highland balls, which continued until late in the century.
Early members of the society included Sir Walter Scott and the flamboyant Alasdair Macdonell of Glengarry, who resigned in protest at its liberal and inclusive attitudes.
It has reinvented itself several times since then, first running school competitions, then sponsoring the arts, mounting public lectures and making grants for publications, but it has stayed true to its more general aim of promoting the history, language, tradtions, arts and music of the Highlands.
This is a colourful book, firmly based on documentary sources, with the serious purpose of tracing a strand that runs through the intellectual, cultural and social history of the Highlands for 200 years.
Its author, Dr Priscilla Scott, is a Gaelic-speaking scholar who specialises in the history of women in nineteenth-century Highland organisations.
There is a supplementary chapter on the period 1968–2020 by the society’s current chairman, Alan Hay.
HRH Princess Anne has been revealed as the society’s patron for its bicentenary.
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