Editor's Introduction to the Seventh Edition of the Clann Tartan Manual
2005
Maeve Kane, Ed.
Introduction and Bylaws
Interpretive
Clothing
Scottish Culture
History
Music and Dance
Military Life
Language
Bibliography, Sources
and Library Materials
I am honored and somewhat daunted to find myself among those who have contributed to or edited this manual, although not as daunted as I was by the original task.
The seventh edition of the Clann manual has undergone some radical changes from what it once was. This edition of the manual is available in both print and electronic editions, and the electronic edition now includes some of our dance music, drum calls, a short video, and some photographs of our group in action. I will repeat what past editors before me have repeated: this manual is not the be-all nor the end-all of what our group can and should know. Everything in the manual is accurate to the best of our knowledge, but research changes. Many of the articles from the original manual have been cut from this and previous editions due to new research, and I expect future manuals to cut some of the articles in this edition due to new research. For that reason, this manual is intended as a jumping off point and a base of common knowledge for our members.
It's common practice for each editor of the manual to outline areas for future editors to improve upon. In this edition of the manual, we have greatly expanded the music section, and added articles and images to other areas of the manual. However, although we have added some articles on religion in the Highlands, I would like to see future editors continue to encourage research and discusstion on that part of Scottish life. The time we portray was one of the most complicated in terms of religious change, upheaval, discussion and dissent, and I find it a shame that we do not incorporate those conflicts more into our portrayal of the last great religious war in European history.
That said, always remember that the study of history is the science of "nailing jelly to the wall." Our period of study is one of profound change and little concrete evidence, comparatively speaking. Scottish history in any period is ill documented, and ours is like any other. What evidence and records we do have are slippery, change in light of other evidence, and sometimes the minutae of what is available overwhelms the larger question. There is a wealth of information on exportation of Scottish textiles to other parts of Europe, but what does that mean for someone looking for information on the domestic textile market? Chapmen carried chapbooks, but what kind? Religious? Secular? Long? Short? No matter what wealth of research is done, there will always be unanswered questions. The best we can do in "nailing jelly to the wall" is to make our best approximation based on reasearch.
Maeve Kane
September 2005