“Assembled with skill by a craftsperson”: Review of Clearances Companion
Delighted that the journal Ethnologies is getting caught up with book reviews this month (Ethnologies 36 (1-2)), because three CBUP books are included: French Taste in Atlantic Canada, Celtic Threads and Bearing the People Away
Of Bearing the People Away: The Portable Highland Clearances Companion, by June Skinners Sawyers (CBUP 2013), the reviewer writes:
“Bearing the People Away is a fascinating read, with a wealth of information. It serves as a significant resource for the focussed study of the Highland Clearances and, at the same time, an introduction to the general story of the Clearances. Historians and casual readers will find plenty to interest them.
“Throughout the volume, the tone is even-handed and almost understated, making the information contained even more chilling when presented in prose of such restraint. “Part of the charm of the book is in its digressions, which stray into music, politics, film, ethnomusicology, visual arts, cultural history, a bit of engineering, etc. All of them are fascinating.
“Any visitor to the Highlands is struck by the “dry stane dykes” that are scattered throughout the landscape. These stone fences delineate fields and crofts; built meticulously by hand with stones from the field and without mortar, many have lasted hundreds of years. Bearing the People Away is like those dykes, assembled with skill by a craftsperson with a deep understanding of her materials. The large foundation stones of documented events, the stonework of primary resources, and the small pebbles of details form a solid structure that will last the test of time.”