This thesis examines the relationship between the character 'Deirdriu', depicted within Longes mac n- Uislenn, and the woman later referred to as Derdri, Deirdri, Deirdre or Derdrinne. It explores the initial construction and gradual evolution of this character, in relation to the manuscript tradition of Longes mac n-Uislenn and its descendants within the Ulster Cycle. It is proposed that the characterisation of Deirdriu constitutes a form of commentary upon the flawed nature of Conchobor mac Nessa’s kingship of Ulster, but that she is not a figure of sovereignty in the sense in which it has been understood by previous critics of the tradition. The thesis reassesses the contents, structure, and manuscript tradition of the textual witnesses to Longes mac n-Uislenn and Oidheadh Chloinne hUisneach, its later development, and assesses the validity of regarding both tales as primarily concerned with the portrayal of Deirdriu. It is argued that several distinct strands of material relating to the relationships between Deirdriu, the sons of Uisliu, Conchobor mac Nessa and Fergus mac Róich may be identified, ranging from the Early Medieval to the Early Modern period, and that these strands have exercised varying levels of influence upon subsequent revisions of these relationships, up to and including the period of the nineteenth- and twentieth-century Irish Renaissance. The conclusions of this thesis proceed from close textual analysis of the primary source material, supplemented, where appropriate, by narratological theory. Chapter 1 introduces the issues to be considered, and reviews the relevant literature to date. Chapter 2 outlines the methodological approaches adopted throughout the following textual analysis. Chapter 3 defines the episodic structure of Longes mac n-Uislenn, and analyses its contents. Chapter 4 presents a detailed consideration of the Glenmasan Manuscript, the earliest extant witness to Derdriu’s evolution within the Early Modern period. Chapter 5 argues that the characterisation of Deirdriu within the Ulster Cycle constitutes a form of commentary upon the flawed nature of Conchobor mac Nessa’s kingship of Ulster – within the earlier tradition – and upon the compromised honour of Fergus mac Róich within the later.

This thesis aims to deepen our understanding of ‘An Cuilithionn’, which is generally considered to be Sorley MacLean’s most important political poem, by examining the main symbol in the poem, the mountain, in its interaction with the secondary symbols, and also the historical-political figures who figure in the poem. Very little detailed work on ‘An Cuilithionn’ has been carried out, and for this reason this thesis has to establish a sound foundation for research on ‘An Cuilithionn’. A multi-disciplinary approach allows a fuller understanding of the poem to emerge. The specific aim of the thesis is to understand more fully how heart and mind interact in MacLean’s vision of the hero on the mountain. I view ‘An Cuilithionn’ as MacLean’s meditation on human nature and, because this poem was composed at a time when many of the Scottish intelligentsia of which MacLean was part were assessing their own views on action and pacifism, I also postulate that in ‘An Cuilithionn’ MacLean contemplates the nature of his own identity in that light. The argument of the thesis is based on the premise that in ‘An Cuilithionn’ politics significantly contribute to how MacLean views heroism and his identity is defined by how he perceives figures of history such as Lenin, Dimitrov and James Connolly. I use the psychological approaches of both Julia Kristeva and C.G. Jung as well as the literary theory of Northrop Frye to gain a broader perspective on the topic. In Chapter 1 MacLean’s literary influences as well as the contemporary literary and political climate of Scotland in general are examined. In Chapter 2 and 3 I define the theoretical framework of my inter-disciplinary approach to the subject. In Chapter 4 I speculate whether the main symbols in the poem, the mountain and morass, originate from MacLean’s own personal view of the universe and in Chapter 5 I examine the secondary symbols, the seamonster and stallion, which reflect the personal and political themes in the poem. The dynamic, which I propose is present in the symbols that I have already looked at in the previous chapters, is further considered in Chapter 6 in relation to MacLean’s ideal of the self-sacrificed hero using, in particular, James Frazer’s meta-narrative of the dying and reviving god and Northrop Frye’s literary myth of death and rebirth. In Chapter 7 I connect the theme of self-sacrifice in ‘An Cuilithionn’ to MacLean’s use of Hugh MacDiarmid’s poem, ‘If there are bounds to any man’, which he incorporated into Part V of ‘An Cuilithionn’, and I show that MacLean’s socialist ideals are inextricably linked to his belief in the eternal striving of the hero, which leads him towards a fuller understanding of the course of mankind as a whole. This thesis raises the question of how MacLean views the individual and the collective as well as the personal and the political. It also explores MacLean’s responses to his major influences such as Communism and religion and examines how he deals with these in both an intellectual and emotional way.

This thesis reviews archaeological material, medieval literature, place-names and palaeoenvironmental data cited in explorations of the early Viking Age North Atlantic area, and proposes a reassessment of chronology for the earliest settlement of Iceland. After analysing previous scholarship and discussing the problems inherent in study of early North Atlantic settlement, it is suggested that a multi-disciplinary approach is needed and can be articulated (by drawing upon Karl Popper’s ideas) to foster a fruitful conversation between disciplines. This methodology for engaging with multi-disciplinary materials is then presented. Three sections follow, tackling in turn three areas of Viking Age scholarship that have caused difficulty and frustration in the past: the toponymy of Hebridean Pap-islands (Chapter Three); the chronology of carve construction, occupation and human-environmental interactions at Seljaland in southern Iceland (Chapters Four, Five, Six, and Seven); and the İrland et mikla tradition of medieval literature, including discussion of the views of the largely forgotten nineteenth-century scholar Eugène Beauvois (Chapter Eight). Couched in a Popperian methodology, the new archaeological and palaeoenvironmental research that forms the bulk of the thesis is integrated with small-scale studies of place-names and medieval literature. Tephronchronology plays a large part in the Seljaland section. Chapter Six, for instance, introduces the tephra contours technique for study of past environments. The thesis concludes with a new proposal for the first settlement of Iceland and its connections to Atlantic Scotland, arrived at by considering the archaeological and tephra deposits at Seljaland, in conjunction with art-historical, toponymic and literary material. The thesis proposes that southern Iceland’s Seljaland caves were built c. AD 800 – earlier than the traditional Norse foundation of settlement on the island – and that cross sculpture in these caves suggests a connection with Gaelic monasticism found across the Scottish islands in this period.

The aim of this study has been the examination of the form, structure, metre, language and style of that body of verse written in Middle Scots which is characterized by long lines whose metre is accentual and marked by alliteration in certain consecutive stressed syllables. Most of the Middle Scots works which merit this description are composed in alliterative stanzas of thirteen rhyming lines: nine long lines followed by a wheel of four short lines. The method followed has been to first submit one long poem to detailed examination and to apply the data and comparisons thus assembled, and a tailored version of the method, to an examination of the other works.

The thesis, The Bagpipe: perceptions of a national instrument, is a work offered to the University of Edinburgh for the degree of PhD by research publications, and includes a portfolio of published items and research papers, amounting in total to approximately 63,600 words, with a critical review and a CD. Research papers: 1. ‘Making a national collection of a national instrument.’ Lecture to the American Musical Instrument Society and Galpin Society Conference, 3-9 August 2003. 2. ‘The Early History of the Scottish Bagpipe’, in Ellen Hickmann, Arnd Adje Both and Ricardo Eichmann eds., Studien zur Musikarchäologie V (Papers from the 4th Symposium of the International Study Group on Music Archaeology, 19-26 September 2004) Rahden/Westf.: VML 2006, 447-461. 3. ‘Musician and Milieu: piping, politics and patronage through three centuries.’ The John Macfadyen Memorial Trust Annual Lecture, 19 March 2004. 4. ‘Traditional origins of the piping dynasties.’ RSAMD Research Seminar 31 May 2007 (publication forthcoming). 5. ‘The Pastoral or New Bagpipe: piping in the Neo-baroque’, in The Galpin Society Journal, 2007-2008 (forthcoming). 6. ‘Taste and Humour: the Union Pipe of Britain and Ireland’, in Seán Reid Society Journal Volume 3 (2007) [electronic format]. 7. ‘Donald MacDonald, Bagpipe Maker’, in Proceedings of the Piobaireachd Society Conference Volume XXXIII (2006), 10-18. These papers are discussed in a critical review whose thesis and structure is explained in the Prospectus. The critical review amounts to approximately 24,200 words and is divided into seven Sections (as listed on the Contents page) which relate specifically to their respective research papers and summarise their findings. There is some imbalance of wording between the Sections, for example there are more words in sections ‘Piping Dynasties’ and ‘the Maestros’, and this reflects a perceived need to strengthen the statements in these areas in order to deliver the arguments of the thesis more effectively.

Early Irish literature, other Celtic literatures and later folklore are rich with descriptions of personal contact with the sacred. The Otherworld, or spiritual aspect of reality, is a constant and vivid presence in the legends. This reality does not seem distant, but rather, always ready to break through into physical reality, transforming those who encounter it. In earlier times, druids, and sometimes heroes and saints, seem to function fully as shamans as described by Mircea Eliade in his definitive work on shamanism, undertaking spirit journeys into the Otherworld. and returning with gifts for their people. In later times, when overtly primal shamanic practice was increasingly repressed, personal contact with the sacred became in many cases less defined and more individual. However, we continue to see contact with the Otherworld in folklore. hagiography and the mystical experiences fostered by later spiritual movements. While scholars such as Carey, Nagy and Melia have recognised and explored some of the shamanic themes present in Early Irish literature, the full complex of these themes, along with their implications for our understanding of Early Irish and Celtic culture, have not yet been hlly examined. A holistic approach to these difficult issues indicates that one must not just dissect the texts themselves for meaning, but take into account the research of archaeologists, anthropologists, psychologists and neuroscientists as well as Celticists. By doing so, I hope to show not only the evidence for Celtic shamanism itself, but suggest possible fbnctions of shamanic experience in Early Irish, and more broadly, Celtic culture, Because shamanic traditions typically have a clear cosmology and ideas about spiritual growth, I have also considered if the early Irish and, more broadly, the Celts may have had such a cosmology and ideas of harmonising with the sacred they came into such intense contact with.

The Maclagan Manuscripts (1892–1903) are derived from transcriptions of an extensive range of oral traditional narratives collected from a large number of named loci throughout the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, but principally from Argyllshire and the Inner Hebrides. They are named after Dr R. C. Maclagan (1839– 1919), an Edinburgh doctor, who began the collection at the instigation of the British Folklore Society and continued to supervise the collectors’ work till its completion. From the multifarious number of subjects included in the manuscripts, the chosen topic of the thesis was selected for detailed research and examination because of the recorded accounts of diseases, illnesses and treatments experienced by patients and their families within the framework of traditional healing beliefs and practices derived from a distinctive Celtic ethnographic culture. The main objectives within the selected methodology of the thesis were, firstly, to present a comprehensive description of the nature of holistic beliefs and practices associated with healing named diseases; secondly, to interpret the named diseases and the likelihood of success or failure of treatment in relation to the presumed underlying causation. Finally, it was considered important to set the experiential suffering of illness and diseases against the contextual background of daily life cycle of beliefs and communal daily living as found in the manuscripts. I am confident that the first two stated objectives of the thesis have been achieved within the limits of the oral narratives; the attempt to meet the requirements of the final phase of research, while complete within the defined set limits, has clearly shown that the manuscripts, in their entirety, represent an extensive original resource of oral traditions from the Highlands and Islands which have as yet not been researched in detail (Mac-an- Tuairnear 2007). Completion of this thesis was facilitated by the formation of a Microsoft Access database inclusive of all the manuscript key subjects- samples of which can be found in the Appendix.

Where and how can the live experience 'being there' be positioned in Scottish live art culture? Such transformatively liminal corporeity is situated in three examples of performative objects intrinsically linked to readings of Scottish identity. By collating a 'blood culture imprint' of 1970s performance art with Scottish live artist Alastair McLennan's positioning of the artist body as art, the thesis presents a revised understanding of how and where the live can be placed within Highland Gaelic culture. The specificity of this frame is intrinsically linked to the 'blood culture imprint' of Culloden and as such presents a liminal outworking in the three examples chosen which collectively portray an object body in the form of a textual anatomy of 'Scotland' or 'Alba'. Using contemporary live art discourse, the ontological origins of performance art in Scotland are situated as potentially live within the transfixed frame of the thesis itself, thereby positioning the authorship and readership of its contents as a revivifying act per se, reflecting the theoretical argument. I will argue that despite a seeming lack of performance art tradition in Scotland, this 'blood culture imprint' of the 1970s can be used to define Culloden and post- Culloden culture as necessarily animated by instances of live art. The examples chosen are James Clerk Maxwell's first colour photograph of a tartan ribbon, scalping survivor Scotsman Robert McGee's cabinet card and James MacPherson's Ossian repositioned as a post-genocide numinous wish text. Each performative object betrays its ontological origins, displaying a textual anatomy which argues that collating a performer body of 'Alba' can demonstrate a fundamental and historical performance culture.

Mermaids and human-seal hybrids, called selkies, are a vibrant part of Celtic folklore, including ballad and song traditions. Though some of these songs have been studied in-depth, there is a lack of research comparing them to each other or to their contemporary renditions. This research compares traditional melodies and texts of the songs “The Mermaid,” “The Grey Selchie of Sule Skerry,” and “Hó i Hó i” to contemporary recordings by top female vocalists in Scottish and Irish music. The texts and melodies I have identified as “source” material are those most thoroughly examined by early ballad and folklore scholars. The source material for “The Grey Selchie of Sule Skerry” is a 1938 transcription by Otto Andersson. The source of notation and text for “The Mermaid” is the ballad’s A version from the Greig-Duncan Collection. The melody of “Hó i Hó i,” collected by folklorist David Thomson and published in 1954, serves as the third source version. Modern recordings included in the study are “The Mermaid” by Kate Rusby, “The Grey Selchie” by Karan Casey with Irish-American band Solas, and “Òran an Ròin,” a variant of “Hó i Hó i,” by Julie Fowlis. This study compares the forms, melodic contours, and texts of these variants, examining ways that contemporary recordings have maintained the integrity of traditional songs and ballads from which they are derived while adapting them to draw in a contemporary audience. The thesis illustrates the continued and evolving presence of mermaids and selkies in Scottish and Irish song.

This thesis is a critical study of Scottish literary culture since 1989. It examines and interrogates critical work in Scottish literary studies through a ‘critical nationalist’ approach. This approach aims to provide a refinement of cultural nationalist literary criticism by prioritising the oppositional politics of recent Scottish writing, its criticism of institutional and state processes, and its refusal to exempt Scotland from this critique. In the introduction I identify two fundamental tropes in recent Scottish literary criticism: opposition to a cultural nationalist critical narrative which is overly concerned with ‘Scottishness’ and critical centralising of marginalised identity in the establishment of a national canon. Chapter one interrogates a tendency in Scottish literary studies which reads Scottish literature in terms of parliamentary devolution, and demonstrates how a critical nationalist approach avoids the pitfalls of this reading. Chapter two is a study of two novels by the critically neglected and politically Unionist author Andrew O’Hagan, arguing that these novels criticise an insular and regressive Scotland in order to reveal an ambivalent, ‘Janus-faced’ nationalism. Chapter three examines representations of Scottish traditional and folk music in texts by A. L. Kennedy and Alan Bissett, engaging with the Scottish folk tradition since the 1950s revival in order to demonstrate literature and music’s ambivalent responses to aspects of literary and cultural nationalism. Chapter four examines texts by Janice Galloway, Alasdair Gray and James Kelman, analysing the relationships they construct between gender, nation and class. Chapter five examines three contemporary Scottish texts and elucidates an ethical turn in Scottish literary studies, which reads contemporary writing in terms of appropriation and exploitation.