Scottish Highlands Research Articles

The case of the two Irish Jigs

Irish and Scottish migration to Australia included the transportation of traditional arts, including dance. Dance competitions were popular community activities, but the presence of an Irish Jig in the canon of Scottish Highland dance and its imputed association with the vaudeville ‘stage Irish’ provoked anger among Irish migrants. This is because it threatened their notions of the representation of Irish identity through dance. The controversy surrounding the Irish Jig in the nineteenth century was perceived by Irish dancers as illustrating the wider socio-cultural circumstances of Irish immigrants in Australia.

The acoustics of three-way lateral and nasal palatalisation contrasts in Scottish Gaelic.

This paper presents an acoustic description of laterals and nasals in an endangered minority language, Scottish Gaelic (known as "Gaelic"). Gaelic sonorants are reported to take part in a typologically unusual three-way palatalisation contrast. Here, the acoustic evidence for this contrast is considered, comparing lateral and nasal consonants in both word-initial and word-final position. Previous acoustic work has considered lateral consonants, but nasals are much less well-described. An acoustic analysis of twelve Gaelic-dominant speakers resident in a traditionally Gaelic-speaking community is reported. Sonorant quality is quantified via measurements of F2-F1 and F3-F2 and observation of the whole spectrum. Additionally, we quantify extensive devoicing in word-final laterals that has not been previously reported. Mixed-effects regression modelling suggests robust three-way acoustic differences in lateral consonants in all relevant vowel contexts. Nasal consonants, however, display lesser evidence of the three-way contrast in formant values and across the spectrum. Potential reasons for lesser evidence of contrast in the nasal system are discussed, including the nature of nasal acoustics, evidence from historical changes, and comparison to other Goidelic dialects. In doing so, contributions are made to accounts of the acoustics of the Celtic languages, and to typologies of contrastive palatalisation in the world's languages.

Plaided or Dusky Forms: Highland Landscape in Scotland and Kenya

Accounts of empire in postcolonial critique largely remain silent on colonial relations internal to the United Kingdom, tending to elide the work of Scots, Irish, and Welsh within a solely English imperial enterprise. This article draws on recent reevaluations of the Scottish role in empire to outline the ambivalent place of Britain’s “Celtic Fringe” in its global hegemony. Focusing on eighteenth-century cartography and Scottish accounts of African exploration, it argues that the aesthetic practice of colonial control developed in Scotland established a pattern imperial agents could repeat in overseas territories. The colonization of the “White Highlands” in Kenya, it suggests, relied on aesthetic forms that originated in the landscape of the Scottish Highlands. By focusing on landscape's influence in a constellation of fields—in aesthetics, cartography, and natural history—this article also moves toward an understanding of landscape as a form of aisthesis, a “regime of sense perception.”

Water loss during dynamic recrystallization of Moine thrust quartzites, northwest Scotland

AbstractInfrared absorption measurements of molecular water in sheared Cambrian quartzites in the footwall to the Moine thrust reveal a decrease in water content from 4080 to 1570 ppm with increasing recrystallization traced toward the overlying thrust at the Stack of Glencoul in northwest Scotland. These results are contrary to the expected correlation between shear strain and water content for quartz deformed by dislocation creep and water-weakening processes. The observed inverse correlation indicates that fluid inclusions and hydrous defects within grains were lost by mobile grain boundary sweeping and grain boundary diffusion. Although reduced water contents might lead to hardening as chemical weakening is diminished, quartz mylonites in the immediate footwall (5 mm) to the thrust are characterized by intense strain localization and contain the least water, and there is little evidence of shear zone widening. Water weakening appears to have been important throughout the quartz mylonites, controlled by the presence of water, not by water concentration. Fluids present within relict inclusions and at grain boundaries may have governed the high water fugacities critical for water weakening.

The North Coast 500: Developing tourism in the Northern Scottish Highlands

This paper looks at the development of the North Coast 500 (NC500) route as a key initiative contributing to the increase of tourism in one of the least visited parts of Scotland. Drawing upon data on visitor numbers within the area between 2014–2018 it considers whether the NC500 has catalysed and encouraged tourism to an area of the country that has for many years been a peripheral region in terms of visitation. The findings highlight that the route seems to have had an impact upon a number of different aspects of tourism within the area generating increased expenditure and employment.

Estimating species distributions from spatially biased citizen science data

Ecological citizen science data are rapidly growing in availability and use in ecology and conservation. Many citizen science projects have the flexibility for participants to select where they survey, resulting in more participants, but also spatially biased data. It is important to assess the extent to which these spatially biased data can provide reliable estimates of species distributions. Here we quantify the extent of site selection bias in a citizen science project and the implications of this spatial bias in species distribution models. Using data from the BirdTrack citizen science project in Great Britain from 2007 to 2011, we modelled the spatial bias of data submissions. We next produced species occupancy models for 138 bird species, and assessed the impact of accounting for spatial bias. We compared the distributions to those produced using unbiased data from an Atlas survey from the same region and time period. Averaging across 138 species, models with spatially biased data produced accurate and precise estimates of species occupancy for most locations in Great Britain. However, these distributions were both less accurate and less precise in the Scottish Highlands, showing on average a positive bias. Accounting for the spatially biased sampling with weights led to on average greater accuracy in the Scottish Highlands, but did not increase precision. This region is both distinct in environmental characteristics and has a low density of observations, making it difficult to characterise environmental relationships with species occupancy. Accounting for the spatially biased sampling did not affect average accuracy or precision throughout most of the country. Spatially biased citizen science data can be used to estimate species occupancy in regions with stationary environmental relationships and good sampling across environmental space. The reliability of estimated species distributions from spatially biased data should be further validated and tested under a range of different scenarios.

Polymorphisms in the CTLA4 promoter sequence are associated with canine hypoadrenocorticism

BackgroundCanine hypoadrenocorticism is an immune-mediated endocrinopathy that shares both clinical and pathophysiological similarities with Addison’s disease in humans. Several dog breeds are overrepresented in the disease population, suggesting that a genetic component is involved, although this is likely to be polygenic. Previous research has implicated CTLA4 as a potential susceptibility gene. CTLA4 is an important regulator of T cell function and polymorphisms/mutations in CTLA4 have been associated with a number of autoimmune phenotypes in both humans and rodent models of autoimmunity. The aim of the current study was to undertake a case:control association study of CTLA4 promotor polymorphisms in three dog breeds, cocker spaniels, springer spaniels and West Highland white terriers (WHWT).ResultsPolymorphisms in the CTLA4 promoter were determined by PCR and sequence-based typing. There were significant associations with three promoter haplotypes in cocker spaniels (p = 0.003). A series of SNPs were also associated with hypoadrenocorticism in cocker spaniels and springer spaniels, including polymorphisms in predicted NFAT and SP1 transcription factor binding sites.ConclusionsThis study provides further evidence that CTLA4 promotor polymorphisms are associated with this complex genetic disease and supports an immune mediated aetiopathogenesis of canine hypoadrenocorticism.

Cotula alpina (Asteraceae) naturalised in the British Isles

Cotula alpina (Hook f.) Hook f. is an Australian herb that has been naturalised in Britain since the 1970s and is now locally abundant in parts of northern England and northwest Scotland. Its method of arrival is unknown but it is likely to have originated from gardens and perhaps also from wool shoddy. It appears to be spreading rapidly due to high seed production and effective dispersal by sheep, humans and vehicles and is now locally abundant on moorland tracks and in adjacent acid grassland and heather moorland managed for grouse. Due to its evergreen and mat-forming habit it can outcompete community dominants such as Agrostis capillaris and Festuca ovina in areas where levels of grazing are high. It appears to be well suited to the British climate and is therefore likely to spread into similar habitats in other regions where it could pose a threat to localized species associated with short grassland on acidic soils. Its overall abundance and ability to regenerate rapidly from seed means it is unlikely to be easily controlled or eradicated, although exclusion of grazing may help to reduce its abundance in some areas.

Emic and essentialist perspectives on Gaelic heritage: New speakers, language policy, and cultural identity in Nova Scotia and Scotland

AbstractThe concept of the ‘new speaker’ has gained currency in the sociolinguistics of minority languages in the past decade, referring to individuals who have acquired an additional language outside of the home and who make frequent use of it in the course of their daily lives. Policymakers and language advocates in both Scotland and Canada make frequent reference to the role that new speakers may play in the future of the Gaelic language on both sides of the Atlantic, and Gaelic language teaching of various kinds has been prioritised by policymakers as a mechanism for revitalising the language. This article examines reflexes of this policy in the two countries, juxtaposing the ongoing fragility of Gaelic communities with new speaker discourses around heritage, identity, and language learning motivations. In particular, I consider Nova Scotian new speakers’ sense of identity as ‘Gaels’, an ethnonym largely avoided or problematised by Scottish new speakers. (Ethnolinguistic identity, heritage, language revitalisation, new speakers)*

Police involvement, characteristics and outcomes of place of safety referrals in the Scottish Highlands.

To characterise police involvement with those detained under place of safety legislation and determine factors associated with admission to hospital. Place of safety referrals over a 1-year period were identified retrospectively and evaluated. Place of safety legislation is generally used with regard to concerns about suicide. Individuals are often removed from high-risk areas and referrals to police are frequently initiated by individuals themselves. A diagnosis of mental illness or personality disorder predicted hospital admission. Presence of senior nursing staff at assessment, but not the seniority of the doctor, was associated with discharge. Closer multiagency working is required as police are currently being recruited to fill a void between mental health services and the population they serve. Junior doctors require more senior support in making complex, and often risky, emergency management decisions with this population.

Botanic Garden Profile Inverewe: gardening on the edge

Set in the heart of the Scottish Highlands, Inverewe is one of the most spectacular garden locations in the UK. Situated beside the A382 on the North Coast 500 tourist route, the property receives over 100,000 visitors each year, drawn to see a diversity of plants and to enjoy the breathtaking backdrop of mountains and seascape it affords. Since its first plantings in 1864, the property has been a centre for experimental approaches to establishing and growing tender woody and herbaceous perennials, while a diaspora of alumni have gone on to fulfil prominent roles in the horticultural industry over the years. The garden today covers approximately 22 ha of mainly woodland gardens, renowned for the diversity of their designed elements and whose conservation management is based on a thorough understanding, appreciation and analysis of the garden’s historical development and its significance in local, regional and national contexts.In recent years, Inverewe has faced a number of challenges related to the growing impact of global change, with increased occurrences of extreme weather events, and emergent pest and disease incidents associated with climate change and the movement of plants and their vectors, which include human-aided transport of problems between sites. In this context, this article provides a lens on the drivers of change that the plant collection is facing in the early decades of the 21st century. After an introduction to the garden, its evolved collections and management approach, three case studies are highlighted as examples of emerging threats to Inverewe as a garden and work of art. Inverewe is presented as a landscape that endures through adaptation to social, economic and, increasingly, environmental challenges that shape the direction it takes as a garden and plant collection growing on the edge.

‘Queen of Scots’: The monarch’s body and national identities in the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum

On 20 September 2014, in the wake of the Scottish Independence Referendum, the pro-union, right-wing British broadsheet The Daily Telegraph’ s front page was dominated by a photograph of Queen Elizabeth II in the grounds of her Balmoral Estate in the Scottish Highlands, under the headline ‘Queen’s pledge to help reunite the Kingdom’. This article takes the headline as a departure point through which to explore competing discourses of national identity during the Independence Referendum. Understanding the Queen’s body as a site of symbolic struggle over these discourses, this article undertakes visual analysis to unpack the composition of the photograph, in order to understand its social, historical, political and cultural meanings. In so doing, it argues that the use of ‘Queen of Scots’ in The Daily Telegraph at the specific conjunctural moment of the Scottish Independence Referendum reveals the complex intersections between monarchy, power, (geo)politics, symbolism, sovereignty, national identity/identities and landscape in the United Kingdom.

Atopic dermatitis in a cohort of West Highland white terriers in Switzerland. Part II: estimates of early life factors and heritability.

There is accumulating evidence in studies of allergic diseases in humans and dogs that environmental experiences during the first months of life can influence the development of allergic disease. No prospective study has evaluated this in veterinary medicine. To assess early-life risk factors for canine atopic dermatitis (cAD) and estimate its heritability. A West Highland white terrier birth cohort (n=107) followed up to three years of age recording the development of cAD. The effect of environmental factors [house dust mites (HDM), hygiene, feeding, lifestyle] and early-life determinants [breeder, mode of delivery, birth season, sex, litter size, early-life immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels] were assessed, using Stata SE 15.1 statistical analysis. Heritabilities were estimated using the R program packages MCMCglmm and QGglmm. Maternal allergic status [P=0.013, odds ratio (OR 3.3)], male sex (P=0.06), mode of delivery (P=0.12), breeder (P=0.06), presence of HDM (P=0.11) and environmental hygiene level (P=0.15) were identified as possible influence factors by bivariate analyses. In the multivariate analysis the male sex was significantly associated with the development of cAD in the offspring (P=0.03, OR 2.4). The heritabilities on the observed scale were 0.31 (direct), 0.04 (maternal genetic effects) and 0.03 (maternal permanent environmental effects). These results suggest that several environmental factors could influence the development of cAD but clearly demonstrate the genetic influence of the individual and the dam. Further studies are needed to identify specific environmental factors, which could be potential targets for primary disease intervention.

A cross-sectional survey of the perspectives of older people in the Scottish Highlands on the management of their chronic pain.

Although there is evidence of suboptimal outcomes in older people with chronic pain, little emphasis has been placed on those in remote and rural settings. To describe the perspectives of older people in the Scottish Highlands on their chronic pain management. Cross-sectional survey. NHS Highland, the most remote and rural geographical health board in Scotland. Home-dwelling members of the public aged ≥70years. Anonymised questionnaires were mailed to a random sample of 1800 older people. Questionnaire items were demographics, nature of any chronic pain, management regimens and perceived effectiveness. Validated scales were the Pain Disability Questionnaire and the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia. Adjusted response rate was 39.3% (709/1755). One-quarter (25.0%, n= 177) were experiencing chronic pain, being more likely to live in deprived areas (P< 0.05). Median pain intensity was 6 (IQR 4-7, 10 high), causing distress (median 5, IQR 3-7). Respondents largely consulted GPs (66.1%, n= 117) with a minority (16.4%, n= 29) referred to a specialist pain clinic and few consulting other health professionals. Over three quarters (78.0%, n= 138) were receiving prescribed medicines, most commonly paracetamol, alone (35.6%, n= 63) or in combination with opioids (16.4%, n= 29). One-third (31.6%, n= 56) expressed a desire for more effective medicines; few reported using any non-pharmacological therapies. The median scores for the Pain Disability Questionnaire and Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia were 74 (IQR 34-104.5, 150 high) and 40 (IQR 35-45, 68 high). Evidence of provision of appropriate integrated and person-centred chronic pain care is lacking.

Impact of the early-life skin microbiota on the development of canine atopic dermatitis in a high-risk breed birth cohort

Canine atopic dermatitis (CAD) is a prevalent inflammatory skin disease of dogs worldwide. Certain breeds such as the West Highland White Terriers (WHWT) are predisposed to suffer from CAD. Microbial dysbiosis is known to play a significant role in the pathogenesis of the disease, which is similar to its human counterpart, atopic dermatitis (AD). To date, no large cohort-study has been conducted in a predisposed dog breed to study the impact of the early-life microbiota on the development of CAD, as well as the possible implication of factors such as hygiene and access to the outdoors. In this study skin samples of 143 WHWT, including 109 puppies up to three weeks old and 34 parent dogs, from 17 breeders, were subjected to 16S rRNA gene and ITS2 amplicon sequencing to disclose the bacterial and fungal oral and skin microbiota, respectively. The oral samples served as a control group to confirm differences between haired and mucosal surfaces. The cutaneous microbiota differed between sample sites and age of the dogs. The season of sampling, geographical origin as well as hygiene status of the household and the access to the outdoors shaped the skin microbiota of the puppies significantly. However, we found that the individual early-life microbiota did not predispose for the later development of CAD.

Vowel nasalisation in Scottish Gaelic: No evidence for incomplete neutralisation in initial mutation

The existence of incomplete neutralisation in connection with processes like final devoicing is well-known, but little work exists on typologically more uncommon morphological processes such as Celtic initial mutation. This paper reviews the small existing literature on incomplete neutralisation in initial mutation, showing that no convincing evidence has been found so far, and presents a new nasal airflow study on four speakers of Scottish Gaelic that adds to these negative results.Radical initial /p/ and /m/ in Scottish Gaelic are neutralised to [v] under the lenition mutation. Vowels following radical initial /m/ in Scottish Gaelic may display either categorical phonological nasalisation or gradient phonetic nasalisation. Nasal airflow in items with radical initial /p/ and /m/ is measured in order to determine whether the degree of vowel nasalisation after [v] in lenited forms is sensitive to the identity of the corresponding radical consonant. LME model comparison finds that only categorical phonological nasalisation, and not gradient phonetic nasalisation, may be subject to morphological conditioning. This is at odds with widespread existing findings for processes such as final devoicing, where the gradient phonetic properties of neutralised segments display sensitivity to paradigmatic effects.The absence of incomplete neutralisation in initial mutation is consistent with recent proposals that restrict the types of morphophonological processes that may bring about incomplete neutralisation to highly transparent, phonetically natural processes involving conflict between word-specific morphological pressures and language-wide phonotactic constraints. These findings can inform us about the structure of the mental lexicon and the derivation of morphologically complex forms.

Participatory Improved Potato Technology Promotion: The Case of Smallholder Farmers in North, West and Southwestern Highlands of Ethiopia

Utilization of healthy planting material is a key factor to improve potato yields to reduce the dissemination of diseases and pests. Quality seed is one of the major bottlenecks hindering the production and productivity of potato in major potato growing regions of the country. Therefore, participatory on-farm seed production and improved potato technologies promotion have been carried out during the year 2014-2016 at five districts, Jeldu, Dendi, Wolmera Degem and Kersana Malima of central Ethiopia. To produce quality potato seed various rapid multiplication techniques were used. Thus, improved potato technologies were demonstrated using different methodologies such as the farmers’ field schools, the farmers' research group and field days. To supply clean tubers about 138,886 high-quality mini-tubers of improved varieties of Belete, Gudanie, Jalenie and Awash were produced. Moreover, a total of 257.08 tons of seed tubers of 15 released potato varieties were produced and disseminated in different parts of the country for research and developments. The participant farmers produce 442.9 tons of relatively clean seed tubers and sold to different parts of the country. During, this activity positive selection technique was demonstrated and participant farmers applied the techniques that helped them to improve the yield and quality of seed potato. Farmers obtained a 40% yield increase and a 33% vigour improvement when positive selection techniques were applied. Training on improved potato production and postharvest handling technologies have also been given for farmers, development agents, agricultural experts and home agents. Therefore, decentralized quality seed production reduces the movement of dangerous diseases like bacterial wilt and viruses from invading areas with high potential for seed production due to purchase of seed only from within one’s same region.

Jesuits in the Highlands: Three Phases

The Jesuit mission to Scotland began with minimal numbers in the sixteenth century but built up with the support of Catholic nobles. Leading members of the Society had serious hopes of converting James vi to his mother’s religion although the king merely used them and their lay patrons as a counter to Presbyterian pressure. Apart from the show-piece victory at Glenlivet there was no Jesuit presence in the Highlands. John Ogilvie was not, as has been suggested, a Highlander. During most of the seventeenth century, gentry families in the Grampian mountains were served on a small scale from neighbouring Lowland bases. No knowledge of Gaelic was required. The final phase represented a change of approach, as Jesuits worked among some of Scotland’s poorest people in forbidding terrain and extreme weather. Setting themselves to learn the Gaelic language they achieved notable success in Braemar and Strathglass.

Love as a linguacultural space (on the basis of paroemias in the English, Welsh, Gaelic and Scots languages)

The present work explores the feeling of love in linguistic world pictures of different ethnic groups that comprise a single nation. The authors attempted to describe this feeling as a linguacultural space and define its aspects, both universal and nationally specific. The methodology of the research encompassed a comparative method, continuous sampling method, method of structural and semantic analysis and method of contextual analysis. The paper offers the analysis of paroemiological units in English, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Scots languages. Qualitative and quantitative characteristics of representation of the concept of Love were defined. Semantic structure of this word was revealed. There were described nationally specific features of representation of “man’s” matter when structuring Love within the framework of linguistic culture in the linguistic world picture. As the result of the study, a generalized scheme of the linguacultural space of Love is revealed at the level of a nation’s linguistic picture of the world, and the idioethnic one at the level of an individual ethnic group. Certain standards and stereotypes contained in this linguacultural space are distinguished as well.

Interarticulatory Timing and Celtic Mutations

After providing an analysis of Celtic phonology as per the approach to phonology known as Laryngeal Realism, this paper addresses the differing realizations of the two mutations common to Goidelic and Brittonic, the first lenition and nasalization. It is proposed that differences in interarticulatory timing between consecutive segments led to the attested differing realizations of these mutations. Some attention is also paid to the differing realizations of nasalization between Irish and Scottish Gaelic.