‘Will you stand, Mrs Darcy?’ Buchanan suggested.
She levered herself up, feeling such pride that she was torn between laughing and weeping. The clearing of the Highlands had been a tragedy, but these families had rebuilt, just as her own family had recovered from disgrace and privation—and through the same benefactor …
She pulled at Darcy’s sleeve. ‘Stand, William! I cannot accept all the acclaim!’
Reluctantly he acquiesced, and pointed.
‘Did you notice the road name?’
She looked through the cheering throng, and a further wave of fulfilment surged through her. The sign was written in Gaelic and English. Sràid Elisaid. Elizabeth Street.
Afterword
Darcy’s Highland Fling (DHF) follows Pride and Prejudice up to the proposal at Hunsford. Elizabeth reads Darcy’s letter, but tours the Lakes instead of Derbyshire, while Darcy and Bingley visit Ireland. As a result, Lydia is not rescued, Mr Bennet falls ill, and the Bennets suffer ruin as well as disgrace. The theme, obviously, is their recovery from this loss, echoed on a larger scale by the struggle of the Highlanders forced to leave their homes and make a new life in the Americas.
The Highland Clearances in the 18th and 19th centuries are still debated by historians. DHF focuses on the notorious Sutherland clearances, described in James Hunter’s book Set Adrift Upon the World, and includes some historical figures from the time—most notably, the Marchioness of Stafford, her factor Patrick Sellar, and the scientist Sir John Sinclair. It also highlights the controversial evictions at Strathnaver in 1814.
Elizabeth Leveson-Gower (1765-1839) was married to the Marquis of Stafford, to whose wealth she added her Scottish estates, including most of the county of Sutherland. Her husband George Leveson-Gower became Duke of Sutherland, and has been estimated the wealthiest individual of the 19th century. The Marchioness is generally portrayed as talented, formidable, charming to some, overbearing to others. As described in DHF she was an accomplished water-colourist who painted at Dunrobin and other Scottish beauty spots. Her son Earl Leveson-Gower went to Harrow and founded a society for bibliophiles, as described. You can find pictures and other information about the family on Wikipedia.
Patrick Sellar (1780-1851) has been cast as the villain of the clearances, both at the time, and later. He was responsible for evictions all over Sutherland, and in 1816 stood trial for offences at Strathnaver in 1814; these included burning of an old woman’s cottage while she was still inside. An account is given in Ian Grimble’s The Trial of Patrick Sellar (see also James Hunter’s book referenced above). Sellar was acquitted, and his accusers forced to make humiliating retractions. Some historians still defend his actions; most argue that even if legal, these evictions were carried out with heartless cruelty.
Sir John Sinclair (1754-1835) was a distinguished scientist and politician, renowned for instigating the huge 21-volume Statistical Account of Scotland, compiled by soliciting reports from clergymen in response to a list of specific questions. The detail in these reports is remarkable, and many are available online (e.g., in Google Books). Sir John’s daughter Janet, who became Lady Colquhoun, a religious writer, is mentioned briefly in the novel, but the Inglis family are fictional: he was not uncle to James and Margaret. As to Sir John’s achievements and character, there is a biography in History of Parliament online (google his name and history, parliament): he is described as vain, but full of energy and good intentions.
In London, Almack’s Assembly Rooms are of course historical, and the Honourable Clementina Drummond-Burrell was a patroness, one of the cabal of socialites who vetted applications for season passes. Coincidentally she hailed from Scotland: her parents commissioned a dance, named after her when she was three years old, which you can view (along with her biography and picture) by googling Miss Clementina Sarah Drummond of Perth.
In Edinburgh, most places mentioned in DHF are historical, including roads, Assembly Rooms, Physic Garden, and John Dowie’s tavern. The Literati and other clubs are fictional (although similar clubs existed); so are the Napiers. But the intellectual and social background aims to be accurate, and is based especially on Arthur Herman’s The Scottish Enlightenment: The Scots Invention of the Modern World, a fascinating book.
The Highland settings Strathmaran, Laramore, Larraig, Callach, and the nearby villages, are fictional; so is the river Maran. They are situated on the coast west of Thurso (a real town), near the boundary between Sutherland and Caithness, in reality the catchment area of the river Halladale. Achness is a real place near Loch Naver, but there is no record of a village burned by Sellar: events here are based on other reports from that area. Graham Ross is fictional, as are Kirstin Keir and the other inhabitants.
Descriptions of Laramore were guided by a visit to the Highland Folk Museum at Newtonmore in the Cairngorms. Entrance is free, and the highlight is a small village as it might have looked in the early 19th century. For more information google Highland Folk Museum; or view photographs by searching on this phrase in Google Images.
The Mackays of Strathmaran are fictional, but in some ways resemble a family that actually lived in that area, the Mackays of Bighouse. The matriarch and counterpart of Flora was Louisa Mackay née Campbell (1751-1835), who inherited the estate in her teens and was known as the portioner of Bighouse: if you google this phrase you will find a portrait of her. Married to George Mackay (1736-1798), Louisa produced nine sons and 12 daughters. The family had interests in the Caribbean: several sons moved there, several daughters married there. The oldest son to remain in Scotland was Major Colin Mackay, the counterpart to Hector. However, Flora in DHF resembles Louisa only in being a portioner with a large family, and Hector resembles Colin only in being a major who became laird. Neither for Louisa nor Colin did I trace any record of their characters, or attitudes to modernisation.
As for the other Mackays, Robert, Morag, and Isobel are entirely fictional, while Henrietta is based on Louisa’s daughter Harriet (also sometimes called Henrietta), who married Harry Hackshaw of St Vincent, and Anna on another daughter Joanna who married a Sinclair from Forss (the counterpart of Larraig). As before, I found no record of what the historical Harriet and Joanna were like: the only resemblances are that Henrietta in DHF emigrates to St Vincent, and Anna marries a Sinclair. These surnames, incidentally, are not arbitrary: Mackay clans dominated the central regions of the north coast, and Sinclair clans the north-east.
Regarding events at Strathmaran, I do not know when, if ever, the villages near Bighouse were cleared. This part is entirely fictional, and based on what was happening in estates further along the coast. The factors Niall Brodie and MacFarlane are fictional; so are the Kirdys and other villagers. Elizabeth’s husband Thomas Bailey is fictional; this surname was quite common in the region, but usually spelled Baillie.
There is no evidence that Highlanders from Caithness actually migrated to Glengarry; this could only have been a special arrangement due to Darcy’s intervention. Kenyon was settled around this time, but by emigrants from Inverness-shire; for details see Lucille Campey’s The Scottish Pioneers of Upper Canada 1784-1855: Glengarry and Beyond. The fictional Canadian town Maran is situated in the region now called North Glengarry, in Ontario. Its parallel in the real world is the small town of Maxville, which every year hosts a festival of Scottish culture called the Glengarry Highland Games. You can find clips by searching on this phrase in YouTube.
And believe it or not, 500 yards from the site of the Games, there runs a road named Elizabeth Street.
M. A. Sandiford, July 2018
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Darcy's Highland Fling Page 24