Clans of Scotland

In this six-part BBC Scotland program, Paul Murton presents what amounts to a series of 12 half-hour lectures delivered on location, each devoted to one of the celebrated clans of the Scottish Highlands—MacGregor, MacDonald, MacLeod, Campbell, Fraser, MacKenzie, Armstrong, Cameron, Douglas, Maclean, Stewart, and Grant. Murton delivers each history lesson—spanning as far back as the 11th century and occasionally reaching into the present—while ambling through ancestral lands and visiting points of interest along the way. Interspersed throughout are interviews with academics and librarians who offer scholarly observations, as well as current clan members who happily recite tales of their ancestors, sing ballads recounting their triumphs and tragedies, and sometimes demonstrate their clan's seafaring technique or dress up in period garb to illustrate their fighting style. Maps and excerpts from old texts offer contextual background, while visits to reunions and current Highlands regiments of the British military add a contemporary flavor. While the discussion offers specifics about individual groups—the Armstrong notoriety for being marauding reivers, the Grant involvement in the slave trade, the Stewart transformation into a royal dynasty—the overarching theme here revolves around what Murton himself calls a culture of unparalleled violence, with murderous feuds and bloody battles dominating the narratives. Obviously of special interest to those of Scottish descent, not to mention fans of Braveheart, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)