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Ancient Animosity: The Appin Murder and the End of Scottish Rebellion

Dr. Lee Holcombe

published by Tim Breen at
AuthorHouse, 1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200, Bloomington, IN 47403
http://www.authorhouse.com/

A review (©, 2004) by the publisher Tim Breen
Original Copyright by Tim Breen Timbreen2426@aol.com. Used by permission of the author. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission of the author.

Closing nearly 20 years of research into the tales surrounding the crime of a wrongful hanging and escaped murderer, shooting matches, buried treasure, spies, treachery, and exileÑacclaimed historian Dr. Lee Holcombe has solved Scotland's infamous Appin murder. The results of her work appear in this, her latest book, the definitive volume on the 1752 crime.

The murder shocked Britain, and many feared it would fire the ancient animosity between the Campbell and Stewart clans and plunge the nation into its fifth rebellion in two generations. But the Highlands remained quiet, and Scotland soon emerged a transformed and modern state. Now, in Ancient Animosity, Dr. Holcombe shows who really killed Colin Campbell, whether the hanging of James Stewart was justified, and how the deaths of both men described the historical trends then shaping Scotland.

To be sure, the murder of the Red Fox and trial of James of the Glen have been written of before, most notably by the great British adventure novelist Robert Louis Stevenson more than a century ago and most recently by several authors in the run-up to the 250th anniversary of the crime. But time has a way of distorting things, and most writing on the Appin murder has been closer to tall tales and propaganda than truth. Most writers, notwithstanding even the recent work;s revelation of new evidence, have not felt confident enough to name a trigger man.

Not only does Dr. Holcombe name the culprit, her use of nearly 500 sources allows her to vividly depict the yearsÑcenturiesÑof tension, bloodshed, and rebellion leading up to the clans' final reckoning; to root in reality some of the most intriguing personalities in British history, while still offering the most colorful stories connected to them; to relate the trial of James Stewart and painstakingly critique the renderings of previous writers; and to fix the murder and trial in historical context, showing that the public display of James's body until the bones blew down was just the most gruesome of events and policies driving the transformation of Scotland.

Reviews of previous books:

• Victorian Ladies at Work
     Meticulously documents the stupendous barriers Victorian ladies confronted in taking the first tentative steps towards women's equality in employment opportunities and remuneration. Holcombe has gathered an immense amount of detailed material. - Victorian Studies
     Written with clarity, concreteness, and economy. Dr. Holcombe has given us a valuable book. Ð American Historical Review
• Wives and Property
     A salutary reminder of the blood, sweat, and politics which went into passage of the Married Women's Property Act. Holcombe does an admirable job of outlining the intricacies of English married women's property law. The amount of entirely new research involved in the book is immense and it constitutes the first comprehensive exposition of the subject of women and property for the Victorian period. - Albion
     The book is obviously of great use not only to students of this aspect of the law but also to readers interested in women's studies....Crisp and concisewhen analyzing the contents of the acts.We must be grateful for so lucid a guide to the intricacies of these vital legal changes. - American Historical Review
     Indispensable for anyone seriously interested in the women's movement in Victorian England, and indeed for anyone interested in the reform politics of the era....Her mastery of the technical details of the legal materials is outstanding.Holcombe carefully analyzes the ideology and partisan considerations involved in every parliamentary debate of importance to her subject. She tells us not only what was said, but who said it and under what circumstances. [The biographical sketches] are extremely useful and a real contribution to scholarship. An essential resource for any future work on the period. - Victorian Studies

Author: Dr. Holcombe is uniquely qualified to offer us Ancient Animosity, her third book. The first American to publish on the Appin murder, she brings detachment where British authors too often have written in partisan terms. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Mount Holyoke College, she earned a Ph.D. in history at Columbia University and taught at the university level for three decades, retiring as distinguished professor emeritus. She is the author of two books on law in Victorian England, both cited as groundbreaking in their field and hailed most for their original research, deft use of huge amounts of previous work, mastery of complex legal matters, and insight into ideology and politics. Dr. Holcombe brings these talents to bear in Ancient Animosity, making it another authoritative work. (The book was being published posthumously through the efforts of her son, journalist and photographer Tim Breen, and includes 15 full-page, black-and-white photographs of sites related to the murder.)

ISBN: 1-4140-2578-5 (e-book); 1-4140-2577-7 (paperback)
644 pages.
Price: $22.50 paperback, $6.95 electronic book.

[Capital Scot advisory: The author assures that this novel is safe for kids of all ages, and meets the UK safe surfing standard for all ages.]

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