You are here to never back down, and to always let people in.
For you, too, there might come a time, one day, when the wrinkles are reconciled, and the shadows lengthen across the bedroom floor, and your little ones have little ones of their own, running into your arms. In those far off days, they’ll climb around on you, and their eyes will look up into yours. Right then, for the first time ever, you might realize what it was like for your grandma to hold you in her arms so many years before, and watch over you.
And when these grandchildren of yours are a little older, they’ll ask you about where they come from, and maybe this is when you’ll sit back in your chair and pause. Maybe you’ll smile, look away into the distance for a bit, and think about how to say it all. Then you’ll begin to tell them about us.
Their ancestors.
Tell them our stories, and tell them what we used to say. Tell them about the ones who had to flee, and the ones who made a new life.
Tell them that our old hearts are still full.
Say that we never forgot the big things, and say that we always held fast, and say that we have left all of our traces behind.
Say that we are shining, for them, like stars in the darkened sky.
NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will go to the Glencoe Heritage Trust. To find out more, please go to www.glencoe-heritage-trust.com.
I would like to thank my wife Penny, and all of my family, for believing in this book and making it possible. I would also like to thank my cousins and friends who were central to this story and have graciously allowed me to recount their parts in it: Bob and Judy Collins, Elizabeth DiMichele, Namjoo and Armita Hashemi, Alistair and Rosalin MacDonald, Brundage and Ella MacDonald, Colin and Doreen MacDonald, Lachie and Diane MacDonald, Michael MacDonald, Alexander McDonald, David McDonald, Jim McDonald, Leroy McDonald, and Robert and Jeanette Watt.
I am grateful for the help of the genealogists, researchers and others who provided the clues that led the way: Ray Bell, Anne Taylor Brown, Charles Hamble, Michael Hait, Dennis Korinek, Mark MacDonald, Kathy Vockery, James Ward, Harriett Worrell, and the archivists and other staff members at the Library of Virginia. I am thankful, as well, for the many people whose Internet pages and posts have shed light on this path, anonymously or not.
In addition, I appreciate Katherine Boyle’s critiques and steadfast support, David Drummond’s cover design, Stephanee Killen’s editing, Erik Christopher’s e-book conversion, and Snehal Avichal’s website design. Thanks, also, to Michael Bauer for his Gaelic translations, to Jim McLean for permission to quote lyrics from his song “The Massacre of Glencoe,” and to Andrew, Paul and Neil for getting Penny to the church on time.
Finally, please note that the spellings of certain words in older quotations have been modernized in the text, and that a pseudonym was used to protect the privacy of one person.
SOURCE NOTES
Note: The Massacre of Glencoe, and the broader history of the Scottish Highlands as sketched in this book, have been so well documented—and so often retold—that particular citations are unnecessary. However, all historical facts stated in the text, including all quotes from historical figures and documents, can be verified by consulting the sources listed in the Bibliography.
Chapter 1:
“Blow on a dead man’s embers”: Graves, Robert. Complete Poems, Volume 2. Manchester: Carcanet, 1997, 96.
Chapter 2:
“The Economist, in a book review”: “Big Macs.” The Economist 15 June 2000.
“They came in a blizzard”: McLean, Jim. “The Massacre of Glencoe.” Duart Music, 1963.
Chapter 3:
“According to some websites, the name McDaniel”: Hanks, Patrick, ed. Dictionary of American Family Names. Vol. 2. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Chapter 5:
“I am not, and never will be,” etc.: Basu, Paul. Highland Homecomings: Genealogy and Heritage Tourism in the Scottish Diaspora. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2007, 2, 177-78, 183.
Chapter 12:
The aspects of Highland culture sketched in this chapter, including the Gaelic proverbs and the story of Alasdair MacDonald of Keppoch, are set forth here: Newton, Michael. Warriors of the Word: The World of the Scottish Highlanders. Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2009.
Chapter 17:
“Alistair MacDonald is not a rich man,” etc: MacWilliam, Bruce. “The MacDonalds of Glencoe.” Scots Heritage Magazine Aug. 2003: 48-51.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Basu, Paul. Highland Homecomings: Genealogy and Heritage Tourism in the Scottish Diaspora. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2007.
Beattie, William, ed. Life and Letters of Thomas Campbell. Vol. 1. London: Hall, Virtue & Co., 1852.
Boardman, Stephen. The Campbells: 1250-1513. Edinburgh: John Donald, 2006.
Buchan, John. The Massacre of Glencoe. 1933. Staplehurst, Kent: Spellmount, 1999.
Davis, Julia. Never Say Die: The Glengarry McDonalds of Virginia. Stafford, Virginia: American History Press, 1980.
Devine, T.M. Clanship to Crofters’ War: The Social Transformation of the Scottish Highlands. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1994.
— Clearance and Improvement: Land, Power and People in Scotland 1700-1900. Edinburgh: John Donald, 2006.
— Scotland’s Empire and the Shaping of the Americas 1600-1815. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian, 2003.
— The Tobacco Lords: A Study of the Tobacco Merchants of Glasgow and Their Trading Activities c. 1740-90. 1975. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1990.
Devine, T.M., ed. A Scottish Firm in Virginia 1767-1777. Edinburgh: Scottish Historical Society, 1984.
Dobson, David. Scottish Emigration to Colonial America, 1607-1785. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 2004.
Driscoll, Stephen. Alba: The Gaelic Kingdom of Scotland AD 800-1124. Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2002.
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“Big Macs.” The Economist 15 June 2000.
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— Glencoe: A Short History. Glencoe: Glencoe and North Lorn Folk Museum, 2006.
Forbes, Robert. The Lyon in Mourning. 3 vols. Edinburgh: Scottish Historical Society, 1896.
Fyfe, J.G. The Massacre of Glencoe. Stirling, Scotland: Eneas MacKay, 1948.
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Graves, Robert. Complete Poems, Volume 2. Eds. Beryl Graves and Dunstan Ward. Manchester: Carcanet, 1997.
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Linklater, Magnus. Massacre: The Story of Glencoe. London: Collins, 1982.
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Macdonald, Donald J. Clan Donald. 1978. Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican, 2008.
— Slaughter Under Trust: Glencoe 1692. 1965. Greenvill
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MacWilliam, Bruce. “The MacDonalds of Glencoe.” Scots Heritage Magazine Aug. 2003: 48-51.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ryan Littrell grew up in Chatham, Illinois and graduated from Northwestern University, followed by Boston College Law School, where he served as an Executive Editor of the Boston College Law Review. He lives in New York City, and Reunion is his first book.
To find out more, please go to www.RyanLittrell.com.
Reunion: A Search for Ancestors Page 21