The Haldanes of Gleneagles: A Scottish History from the Twelfth Century to the Present Day

(Hardback)

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The Haldanes have been in Scotland for over 800 years, and their story illustrates many of the defining themes of Scotland's history. Haldanes played significant roles in the Bruce war of independence, the political upheavals which accompanied the establishment of the Stewart dynasty, the religious struggles of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Darien Scheme and the Act of Union, the Jacobite rebellions, the development of the East India Company, and in the theological controversies of the nineteenth century. In the twentieth century, Haldanes are still to be found in the public eye with some influence on matters of national significance.

In this book, Neil Stacy follows the fortunes of the family, highlighting the extraordinary contribution they have made in so many areas as well as uncovering some of the more colourful episodes in the family's history, such as long-buried secrets of romance in the teeth of parental opposition, a military career threatened by a youthful liaison with a blackmailing barmaid, and an attempt to run a temperance hotel in the western Highlands which ended in high farce.

Reviews

'Delve into the records of Scotland's history, and for almost 900 years you will find Haldanes at the heart of the events which shaped this nation. Their story, as told in this splendid study, is the nation's story, seasoned with a rich and earthy humour, an often dramatic tale of triumph in the face of adversity, tragedy and loss'

-- Richard Oram, Professor of Environmental and Medieval History, Stirling University

'I had expected to be intrigued and entertained by this comprehensive history of the Haldanes of Gleneagles; and I was, abundantly. What I had not expected was to be moved by it; but I was, particularly by the turbulent role religion played over the centuries in the life of the family and its members'

-- Richard Holloway, former Bishop of Edinburgh

'For producing so many individuals of unusual distinction there can be few families to rival the Haldanes of Gleneagles. Neil Stacy does them proud, he relates their 900-year saga with with clarity and wit'

-- John Keay, author of India: A History

'It is very hard not to get hooked on The Haldanes of Gleneagles - the story of a remarkable Scottish family set against the great sweep of Scotland's history. Their struggle to survive, as traced in this remarkable piece of research, mirrors the history of the nation itself'

-- Magnus Linklater, former Scottish editor of The Times

Author Bio

Neil Stacy read History at Oxford (BA, 1962 and DPhil, 1970) and spent many years working in the theatre and TV before returning to historical research. He has produced books on the estates of the abbeys of Glastonbury and Shaftesbury, and contributed articles to scholarly journals and to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. His major work on the English baronage in the reign of Henry II is about to be published.