Chasing the deer: hunting iconography, literature and tradition of the Scottish Highlands

Hunting inspired some of the greatest songs and stories of Gaelic literature and tradition—a theme which runs from the earliest Old Irish sources down to the literature of Modern Scottish Gaelic. This thesis examines the cultural history of hunting in the Scottish Highlands stemming from the late-medieval period through to the early modern. The three main areas covered are the iconography, literature and tradition of the chase.Many hunting topoi appear upon late-medieval west Highland sculptures, remarkably similar to those on earlier Pictish sculpture, which are complimented by the Gaelic literature and lore of hunting contained within Fenian ballads and narrative stories. The apogee of Gaelic hunting motifs are contained within panegyric poetry and verse of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, sustained in the main by a late manifestation of an heroic age. Such imagery reinforced and perpetuated the identity of the chief as the paragon of pre-modern Gaelic society, who was always seen as a hunter-warrior. Hunting themes and motifs are also prevalent within Gaelic folksong tradition. Although this overlaps in terms of content with the bardic imagery of professional poets, the vernacular folksongs offer a more emotive and direct response to moments of crisis or celebration. The scale of these great hunts in the Highlands, borne out by the literary evidence, from the medieval period onwards, reflects a complex matrix of power, patronage, politics and ultimately propaganda. As well as being a surrogate for war the tinchel, in Gaelic terms, was a seasonal mobilising of the sluagh, or host, who followed the fine, the Gaelic nobility. This enhanced their status while reinforcing clan solidarity in a shared symbol of sporting endeavour, by chasing the noble quarry of the deer. Notable, also, is illegal, or covert hunting which masked a complex deer-culture, and marked the familiar tension of exploiting natural resources by the many against the privileged few who tried to implement their inherited rights to hunt. Inevitably, superstition pervades much of the traditions of the hunt, as it would in any given belief system centred upon age-old customs.Hunting was an integral part of European culture, and it was a theme reflected in Gaelic literature, song, and tradition more evidently than in many other European cultures of a comparable period. This was because it reinforced strongly and perpetuated the idealised image of a warrior-hunter, the archetypal leader engendered within Gaelic cultural identity

Academic underperformance in ACT schools: An analysis of ACT school performance in NAPLAN over the period 2012 to 2016

These reports raise questions about the pervasiveness and causes of the apparent underperformance of ACT schools in NAPLAN. To shed further light on these issues, this report presents the results of an analysis that compared the NAPLAN performance of ACT primary and secondary schools to schools with similar socio-economic profiles. The analysis adds to the previous reports by covering all government and non-government school results for Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 over the period 2012 to 2016

Exoplanet Detection Techniques

We are still in the early days of exoplanet discovery. Astronomers are beginning to model the atmospheres and interiors of exoplanets and have developed a deeper understanding of processes of planet formation and evolution. However, we have yet to map out the full complexity of multi-planet architectures or to detect Earth analogues around nearby stars. Reaching these ambitious goals will require further improvements in instrumentation and new analysis tools. In this chapter, we provide an overview of five observational techniques that are currently employed in the detection of exoplanets: optical and IR Doppler measurements, transit photometry, direct imaging, microlensing, and astrometry. We provide a basic description of how each of these techniques works and discuss forefront developments that will result in new discoveries. We also highlight the observational limitations and synergies of each method and their connections to future space missions.Comment: 24 pages, 19 figures, PPVI proceedings. Appears as 2014, Protostars and Planets VI, Henrik Beuther, Ralf S. Klessen, Cornelis P. Dullemond, and Thomas Henning (eds.), University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 914 pp., p.715-73

Brae Lochaber Gaelic Oral Tradition and the Repertoire of John Macdonald, Highbridge

The aim of this study is to give as broad a prospectus as possible of the Gaelic oral tradition of Brae Lochaber. No one exemplifies the Gaelic tradition of the Braes better than John MacDonald who belonged to Highbridge. Our purpose here, then, is not simply to delineate John MacDonald as a story-teller but rather to analyse the representative content of his repertoire. By far the greater part of this corpus consists of historical traditions and supernatural tales. For that reason this study has attempted to give these aspects greater prominence and has included examples from other local tradition bearers and accounts from the literature, and thus John MacDonald is not exclusively foregrounded in the chapters dealing with historical legends and supernatural tales. Also, in order to reflect the content of John MacDonald's repertoire these particular tales are the ones studied in greatest depth. John MacDonald can be described as the last Lochaber seanchaidh as he was the last person of a long line who not only composed over a hundred songs but had a vast knowledge of Lochaber traditions, passed on from his father, James MacDonald. Somewhat unusually John only learnt these traditional tales later in life, shortly before his father died

Robert Garioch and aspects of the Scottish poetic tradition

This thesis is an examination of the work of Robert Garioch (1909-1981), and of his importance within the Scottish poetic tradition. It examines the way in which his reputation has suffered from too easy comparisons with Robert Fergusson, and seeks to reposition Garioch as a writer of greater breadth and depth than has often been acknowledged. The thesis takes in the gamut of Garioch's writing and treats it as a whole. Chapter I examines Garioch's kinship with Robert Fergusson and suggests that the connection between the two poets, while important, has often been over-emphasised, and suggests other equally important influences and precursors, while acknowledging Garioch's originality. Chapter II deals with Garioch's writing about Edinburgh in poetry, prose and drama. Chapter III is concerned with the longer poems and their importance, while Chapter IV deals with the translations, especially those from George Buchanan and Guiseppe Belli, and underlines their significance. Chapter V looks at Garioch's relationship with other twentieth century writers in Scots-both with his contemporaries within and outwith the Lallans movement and with his predecessors. By way of examining the whole of Garioch's work, including a significant number of his personal papers, and by contextualising it all, the thesis hopes to offer a more nuanced reading of Garioch's poetry, one which recognises his frequently undervalued poetic achievement